The Book of Daniel is a prophetic book that was written by Daniel around 535 BC. He wrote down the occurrences, which happened from around 605-535 BC. While the first half of the book is about Daniel’s life (history), the second half brings to attention Daniel’s visions (prophecy).
These cataclysmic dreams (chapters 8-12) give a brief look at God's objective for the ages, including the immediate divination of the Messiah. We will put our attention on the last chapter.
Who Are the Wise?
Significant languishing (suffering) is in store for Israel over the time ahead. This method of portraying what is to come is likewise utilized by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 30:7) and Jesus (Matthew 24:21). However, incredible suffering is lightened by an extraordinary guarantee of hope for all genuine believers.
This is a reasonable reference for both the unsaved and the saved at the time of the resurrection, albeit the timeless destinies of each will be incredibly unique.
As of yet, the instruction about the resurrection was not normal, even though each Israelite trusted to be encompassed in the rebuilding of the new Kingdom one day. The testimonial to the resurrection of both the saved and the lost was a sensational proposal (Job 19:25-26; Psalm 16:10; Isaiah 26:19).
Many individuals endeavor to sparkle like stars in the transient universe of entertainment, just to realize that their fame is brief. God lets us know how we can be everlasting stars by leading as many as possible to the righteousness of God.
If we do share our Lord with others, we can become genuine stars, brilliantly shining and lovely in the sight of God.
Believers are to do exactly that today, be a shining light. Jesus mentions this in John 5:35, “John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.” How long of a season are we willing to be a light for Christ?
Philippians 2:15 says, “So that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.” Our lives ought to be described by moral immaculateness, tolerance, and tranquility so we will "shine as lights" in this screwy, messed up, and unreasonable world.
A changed life is a viable witness to the force and power of God's Word. Is our light sparkling brilliantly or is it blurred by grievances and contending? We are to be a perfect, brilliant light, sparkling out for God.
God's workers in the final days of the Great Tribulation will shine as lights. The remainder in that day will be God's witness on the planet and they are going to "turn many to righteousness."
Christ’s righteousness is the only righteousness that is satisfactory to God. "All our righteousness’s are as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6) in his sight, not ours. We might believe that we are very great, yet we miss the mark.
We congratulate one another and let each other know how magnificent we are, while all that we produce is just a lot of filthy clothes. God is not tolerating our works however, he is tolerating the exemplary nature of Christ, and that is given simply by leaning on an unshakable conviction, faith in Christ.
In verse four, we see that the words were shut up and sealed. It was to be secured and safeguarded to give the desired hope to people at the end of days that God will eventually overcome all malevolence.
Why Is it Important to Shine?
Daniel did not comprehend the specific significance of the when and the happenings in his vision. Because we are in the final days, we can witness the events as they develop. Until the world’s set of experiences peaks, the entire book will not be perceived and understood.
In verse seven, “the power of the holy people” is squashed over and over since the beginning of time. God's repetitive reason in this is to break the pride and self-reliance of his people and to encourage them to acknowledge him as their Lord. “Time, times, and a half,” can likewise be interpreted as three and a half years. This would point toward a part of the tribulation period.
Vexation and oppression, when we are amidst them, have neither rhyme nor reason. Yet, they can refine us if we are prepared to learn from them. After we endure a troublesome time, we should try to understand the reasoning from it with the goal that it can help us later on (Romans 5:3-5).
In verse eleven, “the abomination” that was set up in the Temple alludes to where Antiochus IV Epiphanes offered pigs as a sacrifice on the altar of Zeus. Some perceive that it will have a twofold attainment and allude to the Antichrist or one of his horrendous demonstrations of wickedness.
More probable, this and the prophecies at the early part of the chapter allude explicitly to Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and afterward the movements to the final days.
The evacuation of the everyday sacrifices implies the expulsion of worship of the genuine God and the abuse of his believers. There is a lot of hypotheses about these two arrangements of numbers. Their implications were shut off to Daniel, and they are shut to us. Eventually, they might be open for us to comprehend.
The fact of the matter is that this season of mistreatment has an end. God is in charge of it, and he will be triumphant over evil. Christians need to stop worrying about what they may not understand. The time will come when all will be revealed if God wants us to know it (Luke 8:17; Isaiah 48:6; Jeremiah 33:3).
The resurrection guarantee is reiterated to Daniel. He would one day see the satisfaction of his works, yet he was not to use the remainder of his life thinking about what his dreams may mean. All things being equal, he was to rest in the solace of God's supremacy and anticipate when he would spend everlasting life with God.
God does not uncover everything to us in this life. We should be happy with the fractional picture until it is in his time so that we might see more. He will inform us of what we need to know only when the time is right for us to know it.
Daniel stands tall as one of the most amazing servants of God. Brought into the world of royalty yet taken into imprisonment when he was just a teen, he was dedicated to God faithfully during his imprisonment.
Even at an incredible individual expense, Daniel spent his whole life giving advice to his detainers with strange insight. God picked him as his servant to record a portion of the events of the imprisonment and some critical occasions concerning what is to come.
What Does This Mean?
As an elderly man, having been devoted to God consistently, God promises Daniel that he will be restored from the dead and he will obtain his part in God's everlasting Kingdom. There is a substantial prize, maybe not in this life, but definitely in the life to come for those who remain faithful to God.
Like Daniel and many others throughout the Bible, we too can stand and “shine as the brightness of the firmament,” but only if we have accepted Christ as our personal Lord and Savior and we live that life that God wants us to live. Put aside our earthly desires and follow Christ as only he can lead us toward eternity.
For further reading:
What Is the Spiritual Gift of Wisdom?
Do We Value God’s Wisdom or Our Own?
Finding Hope in the Light of the World
How Is the Fear of the Lord the Beginning of Wisdom?
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