Participants 70
Discussion Questions
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How does the apocalyptic section of the Book of Daniel (chapters 7-12) illustrate the sovereignty of God?
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15 Replies
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God was always there. He and His angels worked together for a common goal and that was to be the last government standing. He came to Daniel in dreams and revealed some of His truths. There is still more to come, according to the book of Daniel.
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Humans are constrained by the temporary dimension of time. These apocalyptic chapters illustrate that God is not so constrained. He is sovereign over all. He sees the span of human history as we see the view outside our kitchen window. He not only sees the panorama of history, He is responsible for every second of its execution. The apocalyptic scripture illustrates His power over all creation and His supreme wisdom in making the perfect plans to insure all His purposes are accomplished.
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This section shows that God has a plan for the world. It also shows how he is working. Throughout history everything that has happened has been for a purpose. Even though we might not understand it, we can trust in the sovereignty of God, and that he works all things together for good.
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The apocalyptic section of the book of Daniel, painted the vivid picture of God as a sovereign God. He is pictured in the apocalyptic section as the one who determines the time and the events of the universe. He has a set time which he has determined by his sovereign power for event that will take place. The time for the restoration of Judah has been determined by him.
The events that will unfold to bring about the restoration of the Exiles has been planned and settled by his sovereign power. Nothing happed by chance, they followed the sovereign plan and arrangement of God. The enthronement and dethronement of kings come by his divine purpose and plan. King reigns by his sovereign will. He determines when an era is going to expire.
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Those chapters show that, whatever kingdoms or governments rise up in history, they are all temporary, are being replaced by one another, and will all be eclipsed by the ultimate Kingdom of God. God raises whom He chooses to, and disposes of whom He chooses to, in His timing. God is at work in unseen ways in each of these human powers, even the evil ones, to bring about His ultimate purposes.
#Daniel
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What are one or two life-lessons you can learn from the Book of Daniel?
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21 Replies
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Never give up faith in something that you truly believe, and stand up for what you believe, never be quiet about what you understand to be true, even if it is just your belief that God is real and He truly loves you,
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The story of Daniel’s life and ministry instructs me in the importance of obedience and faith. Daniel was obedient to God, no matter what circumstances he found himself in. He was obedient in all things, even what we might consider the little things. Daniel was obedient in something so seemingly insignificant as his diet. He was obedient in his daily prayers. These very intimate personal choices shone forth in a life of obedience in the public arena.
Daniel was faithful. Even with the threat of the lions’ den hanging over his head, he was faithful to his God. He was faithful no matter his external circumstances. He was faithful to God and God was always faithful to him.
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I always think of the account of the fiery furnace when the young men say “But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:18). The men stood up for their faith, and they believed that God had the power to save them, but they also knew that that may not be part of God’s plan, and they were willing to stand up for their faith, even if it meant dying.
I also find Daniel a source of inspiration when it comes to my prayer life. Whenever I read Daniel I am always struck by how faithful he was at praying 3 times a day, even after all those years. I am always challenged to be more faithful and consistent in prayer when I read this book.
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Trusting in God. Being faithful to Him no matter what.
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The Book of Daniel is full of object lessons which can be applied for everyday life. One of such lessons is the principle of timing. This relates to the timely acknowledgment of Yahweh by the four young Hebrew men, Daniel and his three colleagues Shadrach Meshach and Abednego. Although raised in a Godless environment, they sought God while they were young before the evil day came and they found him. It would have been another story if their parent had procrastinated about bringing them in the way of Yahweh when they have much more grown up. It is a foolishness for a believer to think that the children will grow to discover themselves as they grow up without the conscious effort by the parent to show them the way they should go. A flower that is left to itself without prune will become a bush.
In addition to this, we see how Yahweh acted on behalf of his people after the seventy years of exile is fulfilled. God is always fulfill his promise, he never fails. The man Daniel understand by book the set time the Lord has determined against Judah through the book of Jeremiah 25, and he sought the face of God in prayer. It is a lesson in object that we cannot force God by any means to do things which time has not come. He has his own timeline which will help us to be at peace with him and ourselves. He told Habakkuk to write the vision and make it plain on the tablet because the vision yet for an appointed time. It is a time sensitive vision, its fulfillment is tied to a set time.
In conclusion, I learn the ideal of always standing for God if it will mean standing alone. Believers are not called to follow popular opinion if it does not represent the truth of the word of God. We see the audacity of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in refusing to bow to the image even at the pain of imminent death. Moreover, Daniel refusal to yield to the temptation of directing prayer to the mortal man the king instead of directing it to Yahweh, the King immortal. Many will miss their destiny because of everybody does it mentality. Success is no success if God is not in it.
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You have really shared some nice thoughts, thank you for that. I agree that those four noble young men represented their nation and their God quite well and gave the world something to talk about.
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