Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: Daniel 8 and Psalm 149

Daniel received the vision recorded in chapter 8 while attending to some business of King Belshazzar in the citadel of Susa. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Susa is where the drama of the book of Esther plays out in a later generation.

The vision he received was so disturbing to Daniel that he “lay exhausted for several days” and was “apalled” by it (v.27). Looking back through history, the prophetic content of the vision is astoundingly accurate. The detail is too much for the purpose of this devotional, but Daniel’s vision foresaw the Medo-Persian Empire (the kingdom that would overthrow Babylon), as well as the Greek Empire and the four kingdoms that grew out of it when Alexander the Great died. This Greek Empire and its four “off-shoots” became very great – spreading the Greek influence through culture, philosophy and language to such an extent that even after the fall of the Empire, it remained the common language of the known world, and even provided the linguisic means for the communication of the Gospel and the writing of the New Testament.

The truly horrifying part of the vision for Daniel was that he foresaw the Greek Emperor of the Selucid Kingdom (one of the 4 Greek kingdoms), Antiochus Epiphanes, who descrated the Temple in 168BC by setting up an idol of Zeus there, sacrificing pigs on the altar and sprinkling the pig’s blood in the sanctuary. Sacrifices were stopped for years because the temple was desecrated. By some estimates he was responsible for the murder of more than 100,000 Jews. Daniel foresaw these horrors (not in detail but in general) and was left exhausted and appalled by what he foresaw.

Daniel did not understand what he had seen. Even when it was explained to him by the angel, he was confused, appalled and exhausted by it. None of it made sense to him. How could any of this vision possibly fit into the fulfilment of God’s plan for the Eternal Kingdom he had envisioned in Daniel 7? YET … Daniel knew it had been from God, so he faithfully recorded the vision and sealed it up for future generations to read. He did not understand … he must have felt like a fool writing it down, but he still obeyed. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, it all makes sense to us. But it never did to Daniel. As disciples we need to consider: Am I willing to be a fool for Christ? Am I willing to obey and to speak a word from God which seems uncomfortable, difficult, or even apalling?

Lord Jesus, I want to obey You with all my heart, even when I don’t understand or feel that Your instructions are counterintuitive. Please give me the gift of faith, to trust You in the dark mists of uncertainty, and to step out in determined obedience, even when it makes no sense to me. Amen.