An Enduring Legacy: “Who’s on First?” – Nehemiah 9:38-10:39

abbott-and-costelloBack in the 1930’s and 40’s the comedic team of Abbott and Costello were “all the rage”. They moved vaudeville and burlesque humor from the “live stage” over to the climbing number of radio audiences listeners as they brought laughter coast to coast in the US. Pre-WWII radio was quickly becoming filled with drama and news, and Abbott and Costello were perfect for “lightening the mood” of growing worry that characterized the times. The country was still quite rural, and the advent of radio was “tying the country together” in ways it had never experienced. Entertainment left the city and entered the home through radio waves and hot, glowing tubes.

One of the more famous ”routine skits” played out by the duo was a little bit called, “Who’s on first?” The premise of the sketch was Abbott explaining a baseball game staffed by mythical players with names and nicknames that were interpreted as non-responsive answers to Costello’s questions. For example, because the first baseman was named “Who”; the question “Who’s on first?” simply got a reply of “Yes”! The names of the players at each position were: First Base: Who, Second Base: What, Third Base: I Don’t Know, Left field: Why, Center field: Because, Pitcher: Tomorrow, Catcher: Today, Shortstop: I Don’t Care. If you ever heard the skit, you remember it, because it was a classic exercise in miscommunication.

I mention that skit because the poignant question is more than a simple comic title. It is a serious question about the priorities and director(s) of your life? Obviously for a believer and follower of Jesus, I WOULD LIKE to say that Jesus is “on first” in my life. I would like to say He has pre-eminence over my choices and decisions. Some days that is true. Others, sadly, that is not true at all. The question I want to address today, as a direct result of the study of our text, is this:

“If my Lord is first in my life, how will I be able to tell?”

In other words, what are the priorities of the believer that, if firmly grasped, will show up in the daily choices of my life? Nehemiah 10 has some excellent words for us that will lead us to a firm set of expressible priorities. This isn’t a lofty message with deep theoretical principles – quite the opposite. It is a painfully practical set of priorities expressed clearly in the ancient journal of a wine steward made “construction project manager” that will guide us. From the beginning, we will see an important underlying truth…

Key Principle: My faith is best expressed in my priorities. If you cannot see what I believe from how I live, I may not be living honestly.

We open our story not at the beginning of a chapter, but at the end of chapter nine, to remind us that we are dropping in on a drama already in progress. We have returned after an intermission – the story is well underway. Look at the words of Nehemiah 9:38 and you get the sense that all we are about to see is completely connected with what has been going on before it:

Nehemiah 9:38 “Now because of all this, we are making an agreement in writing; And on the sealed document [are the names of] our leaders, our Levites [and] our priests.”

At the outset, Nehemiah made the connection in a simple phrase “because of all this”… forcing us to look back and ask WHAT preceded our reading that caused the scene that is unfolding. The people were about to outline written priorities to PUBLICLY PROCLAIM THE LORD because of what they had been through since the wall was erected. They were changed:

Because they had the Word of God read carefully and explained to them – they were confronted with their sinfulness (Nehemiah 8:1-9). The pure Word of the Lord lit up the darkness of their hearts, and they responded with weeping over their sin.

Because they experienced the message of God’s grace – they heard from the Levites that they should NOT weep over the past, but begin to celebrate God’s renewal (Nehemiah 8:10-12). The Levites sent them to FEAST because this was the right time to celebrate!

Because the heads of families and leaders among the people sought God more deeply than ever before – the men were instructed in the way of keeping Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) and they did as they were instructed (Nehemiah 8:13-18).

Because the people separated all foreigners from them, and gathered for an extensive time of confession and repentance to God (Nehemiah 9:1-4).

Because the leaders called for the people to join together in praise and rejoicing, along with prayerful confession to God (Nehemiah 9:5-38). The Levites led in a solemn prayer of confession and history that made clear that God was just, but the people were prone to wander.

Because the men gathered to draw up a covenant to follow God that could be sworn, signed and checked. They placed themselves in the position of objective accountability: That was the point of the record in the first twenty-nine verses of Nehemiah 10. The opening of the chapter is a series of names of those present for the record:

Nehemiah 10:1 Now on the sealed document [were the names of]: Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, and Zedekiah, 2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, 3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, 4Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, 5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, 6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, 7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, 8Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah. These [were] the priests. 9 And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel; 10 also their brothers Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 11Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, 13 Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. 14 The leaders of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, 16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, 18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, 20Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, 22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, 24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27 Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

The rest of the passage in Nehemiah 10:28-29 makes clear what they were doing. These men were accountable to the covenant they were about to publicly declare. The passage says:

Nehemiah 10:28 Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons and their daughters, all those who had knowledge and understanding, 29 are joining with their kinsmen, their nobles, and are taking on themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God’s law, which was given through Moses, God’s servant, and to keep and to observe all the commandments of GOD our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes;

Let’s not be unduly complicated. What preceded the message of clear priorities? What changed the people?

The passage clearly states that seven things preceded the revealing of a clear path of priorities for the people:

• Surrender to the clear message of the Word of God.
• Serious recognition of sin, both past and present.
• Careful notice of God’s incredible grace to accept them.
• Separation in worship “for the family only” as they sought God.
• A time of worship and praise.
• A season of confessional prayer and thanksgiving for God.
• Public agreement to be accountable to follow God.

Now a group of surrendered, challenged, repentant men stood to take an oath before God and men that their lives would show the world they belonged to, and voluntarily served Yahweh. Here was their declaration of new priorities:

The Seven Top Priorities:

The rest of the passage is dedicated to the priorities the people grasped in their walk with God. These were the priorities of renewal. These were the path forward to a people who agreed they were sinful and needed to be placed back on track by God. These were not simply theories – they were a public, specific and measurable commitment before God. The verses contain powerful transformational values:

Nehemiah 10:30 and that we will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. 31 As for the peoples of the land who bring wares or any grain on the sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the sabbath or a holy day; and we will forego [the crops] the seventh year and the exaction of every debt. 32 We also placed ourselves under obligation to contribute yearly one third of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: 33 for the showbread, for the continual grain offering, for the continual burnt offering, the sabbaths, the new moon, for the appointed times, for the holy things and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of the house of our God. 34 Likewise we cast lots for the supply of wood [among] the priests, the Levites and the people so that they might bring it to the house of our God, according to our fathers’ households, at fixed times annually, to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the law; 35 and that they might bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all the fruit of every tree to the house of the LORD annually, 36 and bring to the house of our God the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, and the firstborn of our herds and our flocks as it is written in the law, for the priests who are ministering in the house of our God. 37 We will also bring the first of our dough, our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the new wine and the oil to the priests at the chambers of the house of our God, and the tithe of our ground to the Levites, for the Levites are they who receive the tithes in all the rural towns. 38 The priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive tithes, and the Levites shall bring up the tenth of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of the storehouse. 39 For the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of the grain, the new wine and the oil to the chambers; there are the utensils of the sanctuary, the priests who are ministering, the gatekeepers and the singers. Thus we will not neglect the house of our God.

1. Relationships: No intermarriage (10:30)

The beginning place for a change in the people’s walk with God was a change in the surrender of their so-called “rights” when it came to relationships…

Nehemiah 10:30 and that we will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons.

This was not simply a kind statement that each family would not allow social contracts, it was a costly step, because it would cause the neighbors to look on the Israelites with deep suspicion. Add to that the fact that some of the people sent home unlawfully married wives and children, and there is NO QUESTION that such a decision would have impact on both their personal safety and their economic livelihood.

Imagine you lived out west 100 years ago. Certain areas of the frontier were still controlled by local tribes of Native Americans. Some journeys were not safe without military escort. Some homesteads were in danger and needed to always be on guard for a flying arrow. Now imagine that you had the opportunity to forge a bond between your clan and the tribe of Native Americans near you. Wouldn’t you want to do it? It would make you safer and increase your trade in the local community. Whatever you made, if it was universally useful, would have many more clients to whom you could offer your wares. The same was true with ancient Israel. Snubbing the locals is no way to stay safe or get popular – but snub they did – because God COMMANDED them to do so.

By the time of the Christian Scriptures, the message of the Gospel was growing in the streets of Roman cities, and Gentiles were coming to Jesus in significant numbers. The early Jewish community that followed Christ had to come together to face the fact that Gentiles were coming into the faith but were not separated from the relational practices of paganism. When the first council of the church met (as recorded in Acts 15) the elders of the church passed to the Gentile congregations and followers only a few simple requirements. Look at Acts 15 and you will see the result of the council’s decision:

Acts 15:22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas– Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren, 23 and they sent this letter by them,

“The apostles and the brethren who are elders, to the brethren in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles, greetings. 24 “Since we have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you with [their] words, unsettling your souls, 25 it seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 “Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will also report the same things by word [of mouth]. 28 “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: 29 that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.”

Look closely at the end of the letter. Four specific commands were passed to the Gentiles from the council:

• First, the people needed to abstain from idolatry and its practices.

• Second, the people must not ingest blood.

• Third, the people must withdraw from ceremonies and their resultant meats that were killed by ceremonial strangulation.

• Finally, the people must abstain from the use of the brothels and not be sexually impure.

The point of recalling that letter is that Gentiles could not be a part of the people of God if they didn’t surrender to God in the specific area of relationships as well. Like the people of ancient Jerusalem under Nehemiah, the withdrawal from pagans and their festivals would hurt the follower of God economically, as well as socially. Indeed, had such restrictions not been given, it is possible the persecutions of the early church would have been quite a bit less prolonged and dramatic.

The point is simple. God is in charge of my relationships and my personal economy. I am to choose to follow Him no matter the cost. He is my safety against the enemy’s arrows, and my security against the loss of trading partners. He defines the circle of my relationships, and the use of my body. I AM NOT MY OWN, and the first place that should be easy to observe is in the purity of my relationships both sexually and contractually (see 1 Corinthians 6:19).

2. Time: Honor Sabbath (10:31a)

In addition to my relationships, God is in charge of my time, and how I use it to further my own ends…

Nehemiah 10:31 As for the peoples of the land who bring wares or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or a holy day…

It was always a temptation to try to take advantage of any time possible to make a little extra money, but a believer needs to make a priority out of obedience, and surrender the desire for greater success. It was no easier to follow God in antiquity than it is today.

Let me ask you something: Is worship REALLY a priority to you, or is it more a habit? Do you WANT to take time with God, learn about Him, and seek His face with other believers? If you said in your heart “NO!” then I would only say this: Thanks for coming today. Thanks for doing this, whether you did it to make your parents, your boyfriend or girlfriend, or someone else in your life happy – thanks. I am glad you came. We don’t want you to feel condemned for your feelings. We know we aren’t as exciting as watching your favorite sports team, and we might do you less good than sleeping in – if you choose to block out what God wants to say to you. At the same time, if you will give the Scriptures a listen, I think you will find what you have been searching for. God IS interested in your life, and you CAN know Him.

For every believer, we must remember that it is impossible for the world to see our love for Jesus if we don’t want to be with other believers, and we don’t want to know His Word. Just imagine if you went to work tomorrow and told the people there that you LOVE a certain young man or woman – and they see you turning down every opportunity to be with the so-called “object of your affection.” No one will believe you love them, because you don’t show it. Gathering to worship and study, as they did on Sabbaths beginning about the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, were a certain sign of a man or woman’s faith. Jews kept Sabbath, because God told them to do so. They did it because they needed the together time in worship and instruction. Though we may not be under a DAY COMMAND – we still need those same things! A believer knows that alone time with God is essential, and corporate worship is also absolutely necessary. That is why the early Messianic believers were warned about “forsaking the assembling together” times (see Hebrews 10:25). God is in charge of my relationships, and He is Lord over my time. I will never be what He wants me to be without intentionally and consciously choosing to consistently give these over to Him.

3. Advancement: Observe sabbatical year (10:31b)

Another demonstration of surrender to God in the area of time was allowing the ground to go fallow every seventh year in keeping with God’s commands (Lev. 25). This law had been summarily neglected during kingdom period prior to the exile, and God charged the length of the captivity to punish the people for that specific neglect (2 Chronicles 36:21). Shockingly, it appears by this time that Sabbath was already being disobeyed yet again! The people pledged:

Nehemiah 10:31b “…and we will forego [the crops] the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.

The temptation to “get ahead” was always one of the sacred cows that needed a temple sacrifice. God wanted then, and wants now, His people to depend upon Him. Though we may not need to let the land fallow, for the agreement of the Torah was not made with us – yet God does call men and women of God to forego many an opportunity to follow Him. Some believers are giving up double overtime to be in a church service on Sunday.

As a Christian leader, I am increasingly uncomfortable by the ease with which people dismiss God from their choices when it comes to something as simple as what JOB one should take. If God could command our older brother Israel to forego every seventh year’s crops, what can God ask YOU OR I to forego in our economic life? Can He command you to drop your pursuit of money and make your way to a mission field? Would you be willing to go?

I was thinking this past week in my class about William Borden. His story always touched me. Perhaps you heard it? “In 1904 William Borden, heir to the Borden Dairy Estate, graduated from a Chicago high school a millionaire. His parents gave him a trip around the world. Traveling through Asia, the Middle East and Europe gave Borden a burden for the world’s hurting people. Writing home, he said, ‘I’m going to give my life to prepare for the mission field.’ When he made this decision, he wrote in the back of his Bible two words: No Reserves. Turning down high paying job offers after graduation from Yale University, he entered two more words in his Bible: No Retreats. Completing studies at Princeton Seminary, Borden sailed for China to work with Muslims, stopping first at Egypt for some preparation. While there he was stricken with cerebral meningitis and died within a month. A waste, you say! Not in God’s plan. In his Bible underneath the words No Reserves and No Retreats, he had written the words No Regrets. (Daily Bread, December 31, 1988.)

4. Money: (Before God) Temple tax (10:32-33)

The issue of giving to God was also addressed:

Nehemiah 10:32 We also placed ourselves under obligation to contribute yearly one third of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: Nehemiah 10:33 for the showbread, for the continual grain offering, for the continual burnt offering, the Sabbaths, the new moon, for the appointed times, for the holy things and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of the house of our God.

This wasn’t the tithe assessed based on your increase, it was a “FLAT TAX” for the operation of the Temple and its sacrificial system. This was an assessed giving plan based on the needed budget. The people did not likely find themselves emotionally attached to this. They were not moved by the sunset at the end of a missionary slide presentation – they were ASSESSED A TAX. How did covenanting together to do that help them? The simple answer is that it showed where their hearts were.

In the Summer Games of 2012, Kim Rhode again won the gold medal in “skeet shooting” as she became the first American to win five Olympic medals in five consecutive Olympics – spanning the period from 1996 to 2012. If you are impressed with that, you should recall that her score was also incredible. She hit ninety-nine of one hundred and set the new and current Olympic record for the event. In an interview with a reporter from the New York Times, Rhode explained how she got so good at her sport. She told the reporter that she shoots an average of between 500 and 1,000 rounds every day of the week, 365 days a year – more than 3,000,000 shots annually. If you divide that out, it comes to about 600,000 rounds per medal received. Think of that amount of investment to gain a gold metal! Let me ask a question: Do you think ANYONE would dare ask what she was passionate about?Where our treasure is, there is our heart also.” (Mt. 6:21).

What kind of testimony do you think it was to the Persian governors to see the people collect sacrificially to offer sacrifice to their God? Giving is more than meeting the needs of a ministry – it is a specific form of declaration of passion and care, and it is a testimony before others. If we claim we love God but give only what is left to Him, are we being genuine?

5. Work Life: Sacrifice (10:34)

The people got together for more than learning. They came to the Temple to deal with sin in a sacrifice that was costly for them, both in time and treasure. Nehemiah reminds:

Nehemiah 10:34 Likewise we cast lots for the supply of wood [among] the priests, the Levites and the people so that they might bring it to the house of our God, according to our fathers’ households, at fixed times annually, to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the law;

If you lived in the cold and damp winters in Jerusalem, you would understand the value of a good wood pile. There are not many trees in Jerusalem – NOTHING like an average North American town could supply. To get a large wood pile, one harvested everything from bushes to old grape vines and olive trees that no longer produced well. Olive wood burns hot because of its oils, but leaves a residue on the chimney that must be regularly cleaned. Over the years of living in Judea, I found my only relief was a hot bath and evenings beside the wood stove.

Can you imagine working SO HARD to build up a wood pile and then having the LOT fall on you? You would have to give what was required to the house of the Lord, and you would LOSE all that hard work? Why would God drop on your shoulders such a heavy burden?

Think about a little story you know from the apocraphal surroundings of modern Christmas, and the opportunity becomes clearer… “The Little Drummer Boy” (originally “Carol of the Drum”) is a song written by composer Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. It was recorded in 1955 by the Trapp Family Singers and further popularized by a 1958 recording by the Harry Simeone Chorale. In the lyrics the singer relates how, as a poor young boy, he was summoned by the Magi to the nativity where, without a gift for the infant Jesus, he played his drum with the Virgin Mary’s approval, remembering “I played my best for Him” and “He smiled at me.”

The use of your wood represented the work of your hands, and the hours of your life. God wasn’t TAKING something from them – He was GIVING AN OPPORTUNITY to them – because He offered the privilege of serving the King of the Ages with the small pile of wood. Love is easiest shown by sacrifice of things that are hardest to gain. David’s cup of water from the well of Bethlehem wasn’t for drinking – it was for worshiping! Love without sacrifice is a cheap plastic version of the real deal.

Let me ask you: Can people tell that you love Jesus by what you are willing to give in time, talent and treasure to Him?

6. In all things giving the first fruits! Tithing our lives (10:35-39a)

The idea of first fruits was that of the “best of the best”. It was the “extra virgin” olive oil – the highest quality from the first press, etc. Nehemiah shared the covenant about giving the best:

Nehemiah 10:35 and that they might bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all the fruit of every tree to the house of the LORD annually, 36 and bring to the house of our God the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, and the firstborn of our herds and our flocks as it is written in the law, for the priests who are ministering in the house of our God. 37 We will also bring the first of our dough, our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the new wine and the oil to the priests at the chambers of the house of our God, and the tithe of our ground to the Levites, for the Levites are they who receive the tithes in all the rural towns…

Malachi the prophet made clear a bit after this time that God considered left-overs a rip-off. He considered “seconds” not worthy of the Most High. It seems that even AFTER this commitment, the Israelites were tempted to slack off giving God the from first and the best of what He gave them.

Is it really different with us? How many a Sunday School teacher slid by last weekend with poor preparation for teaching? How many pulpits were subject to “wing it” affairs? In days like these, do we not need GREATER PREPARATION, GREATER PRAYER and GREATER STUDY? I SIMPLY ASK, How many followers of Jesus got big paychecks but wrote no offering checks back to God for what He provided? The church need not answer to the Pastor for such things, and the questions were merely rhetorical. At the same time, we need to be assured that God pays attention to such things. The people of Israel saw the result of cheating God, and when they were sensitive, they covenanted to stop the practice.

7. Commitment to the public testimony: Not forsaking God’s house (10:39b)

There is little more to say, but what is summarized in the end of the verses:

Nehemiah 10:39b: “…Thus we will not neglect the house of our God.

Remember, they were talking about the Temple of God at Jerusalem in the text. We know that in our time, God’s house is within the believer. YOU are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Do not neglect keeping your heart clean and inviting to that Spirit. At the same time, the Temple was the place of gathering for believers in a corporate body. Don’t neglect that either.

Beloved, the day may come, not too many years from now, when a gathering like this will no longer be free. Our African brothers are already facing that day, as are many of our Arab brothers. Don’t neglect the opportunity while it is freely available to you. You will wish you made more of the time if the door is closed.

History knows them as the forty martyrs of Sebaste (now Sivas, northern Turkey). They were soldiers in the famed Twelfth Legion of Rome’s imperial army (Fulminata), around 320 CE. One day the captain informed his troops that Emperor Licinius had sent down an edict commanding all soldiers to offer a sacrifice to his pagan god. Forty of the soldiers were followers of Christ, and they refused. ‘You can have our armor and even our bodies, but our hearts’ allegiance belongs to Jesus Christ,’ they said. “The emperor decided to make an example of the soldiers, so in the middle of winter he marched them onto a frozen lake and stripped them of their clothes. ‘Renounce your God and you will be spared from death,’ he told them. Not one man came forward. So he left them there, huddled together to contemplate his offer. Throughout the night the man stayed together, singing their song of victory: Forty Martyrs for Christ. When morning came, thirty-nine of the men had frozen to death. The one survivor finally relented and crawled to safety, recanting his confession of faith in order to live. The officer in charge that night had been so moved by the scene that during his watch he’d come to Jesus, so he broke rank and walked out onto the ice. Stripping his clothes he openly confessed his faith in Christ. The furious emperor demanded that he renounce Jesus, but he refused. When the ordeal was over, the Roman soldiers carried forty frozen men off of the ice.” (Ref: Lahaye, Tim, Jerry B. Jenkins and Frank M. Martin ed., Embracing Eternity, Living Each Day With a Heart Toward Heaven: The Persecuted, Matthew 5:10- February 15. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 2004.)

Do you really think your LIFE and your CHOICES aren’t a testimony?

My faith is best expressed in my priorities. If you cannot see what I believe from how I live, I may not be living honestly.

Shine the Light: “Off the Bench” – Daniel 9 (Part One)

glass blowerI have to admit that one of my favorite things to do is watch someone who is excellent in their craft do their work. I am that guy who ends up standing there for an hour to watch a lady make art out of blown glass in a mall. I have come to realize that someone is truly great at their work when they make something that is very difficult look simple. That’s why I love to watch Yo Yo Ma play a cello, because the instrument seems like an extension of his personality! Have you ever stopped to watch two world class ice skaters on television move around a skating arena and perform their fluid motions that would leave you in traction if you tried them? Unless you are very unusual, you never thought to yourself, “You know, I could do that if I had a good pair of skates!” You looked with awe and real respect at what these fine athletes were able to complete after literally thousands of hours of practice. To do something well, it often takes enormous effort. If you get really good at it, it won’t look like it took much effort at all.

The truth is that no one got to the level of success in their craft without regularly practicing some disciplines of mind and body. They spent hours learning techniques, all in anticipation of finding reward in doing what they do well. I think we all accept that most successful musicians practice long hours and even that athletes that compete spend vast periods of time in practice. Yet, there is a group that has captured my attention that also has had to study, practice and hone their craft that you may never have thought of – servants. If you have ever boon in a fine dining establishment, or on a five-star cruise ship, you have seen them at work. It takes much more than a stiff costume and a white pair of gloves to be a fine servant or steward. It’s funny how we KNOW things take work, but we somehow think servants just KNOW what we need and how to get it in front of us. The fact is that even good table service requires excellent training.

While it is true that few of us harbor within the hopes of becoming world class athletes, excellent and highly paid cellists, or even “food server to the stars” – we DO have a goal to become great servants of God. We have been given, as instructors, some excellent examples… and the prophet Daniel from ancient Babylon was certainly among the best for both LIVING with and for God as well as LEAVING BEHIND an example to follow. His life revealed two secrets to becoming a strong and loving follower of God: the secret discipline of daily connection and the secret to joyful living in God’s promises. By reading his journal, it will become clear…

Key Principle: At the heart of our walk with God, there are DISCIPLINES of our walk to be practiced and PROMISES from our God to be trusted. Living in BOTH will help us to walk boldly and with strength through times of trouble.

Admittedly, Daniel can be quite confusing.

First, it is not organized in chronological order. For those of us who like linear organization, we wish the book followed IN ORDER the four kings in the book and their chapters. Technically the first and the last of the list are kings, and the two middle rulers were regents or governors appointed by an absent king. If you place all four in their order, the book would look more like this:

• Nebuchadnezzar – King of Babylon (605–562 BCE)

Nebuchadnezzar was the king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire that defeated the rival armies to his west in the Spring and Summer of the year 605 at the battle of Carchemish. He was the king in whose name Daniel and his three friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were brought to Babylon later that year. Under his reign, the first four chapters of Daniel reveal stories like the flourishing of the kosher kids in Daniel 1, the vision of the big statue in Daniel 2, the “fiery furnace” set up against Daniel’s three companions in Daniel 3 and the vision of the tree in Daniel 4. That last vision set Nebuchadnezzar in a field for a period of time, prophesying that he would lose his mind and then have it restored when he humbled himself before God. You get the impression in the first four chapters that the theme of the time under Nebuchadnezzar was “God wants you to know Him, O king!”

After Nebuchadnezzar, the record of Daniel skips a number of rulers. Several men in the family competed for throne after the great king’s death, including his son Evil-Merodach who ruled for two years (562-560 BCE) and was murdered by Nebuchadnezzar’s son-in-law Neriglissar (Nergal Sharezar). He, in turn, only lasted four years from 560-556 BCE and died. His son Labasi-Marduk replaced him for two short months in 556 BCE and was assassinated by Nabonidus, father of Belshazzar, who became a longer reigning king. After three years, he installed his son in office and left for a spiritual pilgrimage. The story in Daniel picks up after Belshazzar has been seated in the throne as a regent for his dad.

• Belshazzar –Co-Regent of Babylon with his father Nabonidus (553-539 BCE)

Belshazzar was a grandson of Nebuchadnezzar by one of the great king’s daughters. He wasn’t near the top of the list of rulers, but the others all got “bumped off” by relatives, and he and his dad rose in the line each time. Nabonidus was king, but Daniel didn’t hardly see him, because Daniel stayed in Babylon with his son to advise him during the dad’s pilgrimage years. It was during that time that three important prophetic stories unfolded:

Chapter 7 – Four Beasts, Little Horn, Ancient of Days, 553 BCE – 1st year of Belshazzar. Like the four kingdoms shared with Nebuchadnezzar years before, God wanted the Gentile regent of the world’s largest empire to know about the progression of kings yet to come.

Chapter 8 – Ram and the Buck Goat, 551 BCE – 3rd year of Belshazzar. God was intent that Daniel would have even more insight into the political and prophetic coming of Medo-Persian kings, because he would live to see them rule. Further, he would see all the way through to their end and the rise of Greece under Alexander and the four generals (Diadoche) that would eventually replace him.

Chapter 5 – Writing on the Wall, 539 BCE – the night Belshazzar died. Nabonidus was outside Babylon defeated by Cyrus the Mede, as the kingdom that would replace Babylon was about to take the city. Inside the city, Belshazzar was hosting a great feast when God interrupted and let him know that his days of rule were over by writing on a wall with His own hand.

• Darius – King of Babylon (~559 – 530 BCE)

Cyrus took over the city of Babylon (in the name of his uncle Cyaxeres, who was apparently also called by the title Darius) on the death of Belshazzar and conquered the city, replacing the Great Babylonian Empire with that of the Empire of the Medes and Persians. Cuneiform inscriptions at Persepolis, cite “Darheush” or  simpy “Lord-King,” as a title applied to a number of the Medo-Persian kings, such as: Darius Hystaspes, 521 BCE (Ezr 4:5; Hag 1:1); Darius Codomanus, 336 BCE, whom Alexander the Great dethroned, called “the Persian” (Ne 12:22).  It is during his “reign” that God spoke dramatically about the coming days of kings and kingdoms in three stories:

Chapter 9 – Seventy Weeks, 539 BCE – 1st year of Darius. Daniel saw the time drawing near the captivity of the Jewish people should have been ending, and he became anxious, as he saw little movement to end their plight. He sought God, and Gabriel was dispatched to tell him what was going to happen all the way to the Kingdom of Righteousness – at the time of the very end.

Chapter 11-12 – Coming Conflicts North and South, 539 BCE – 1st year of Darius. With even greater detail concerning the Jewish people and their subjection under Hellenistic powers from Greece, God detailed to Daniel the plight of the Jews under western domination until the end times.

Chapter 6 – Lion’s Den, c.538-534 BCE under Darius, not dated. At some point in Daniel’s tenure as an older counselor he got other counselors upset. It was likely early in Darius’ “reign”, because the advisors were able to trick him into signing a decree that eventually backfired, but the “Lion’s Den” story of Daniel is set under Darius as well.

• Cyrus – King of Persia (559 – 530 BCE)

Though Cyrus took Babylon, he did so in the name and by the authority of Cyaxares or Darius; the actual sovereign. He was a governor or general. Cyrus had been on the scene of Daniel since he took Babylon from Belshazzar, but in Chapter 10 – The “Vision of Delayed Angelic Help” – 536 BCE – 3rd year of Cyrus – all the visions of the period were ascribed to the time of the King Darius. In chapter 10, it doesn’t mention Darius, but dates the message between God and Daniel to the third year of Cyrus, or 536 BCE. This is the last of the visions of the book that is given, and can rightly be placed under Darius as well because he was governor – yet he is not mentioned.

The book dances around the timeline to organize the materials under THEMES instead of keeping a strict timeline. Add to that the fact that the writer uses the term “king” loosely, since that is the way he referred to the men on the throne in person, and the whole of the twelve chapters can seem jumbled.

There is a second reason the book can be confusing. The book is laced with wild scenes that were prophecies of coming kingdoms. The major components of those scenes were difficult and are often interpreted inside the narrative with words like: “The beasts that you saw were kingdoms.” That isn’t the tough part. The difficulty comes when you are trying to understand the specifics of what we are to learn about these kingdoms, based solely on these descriptions. Commentators don’t have problems with the general frame, but seem to find the details difficult to nail down with certainty. Some people have a terrible time when EVERYTHING doesn’t line up clearly for them, and they “shut down” because they “don’t get it.”

Yet a third and final reason Daniel’s writing can be confusing is this: The prophesies are accompanied by highlights of how Daniel and his friends were able to be a reliable witness for all four using disciplines of walk – and these can be easily obscured by all the fantastic details of each prophecy. It is easy to think there are SERIOUS SECTIONS of the book – like prophetic utterances of future days – that belong to the ADULT BIBLE FELLOWSHIP, while the other parts of the book are just cute little stories for the CHILDREN’S DEPARTMENT. Sometimes we miss the connection between the PROPHECIES and the VESSELS God used to speak His Word. This is what I want to focus on in this lesson. We want to drop into the scene of Daniel’s personal Bible study and prayer life that became the setting of the exciting promises God made known to him.

Let me be clear: the disciplines of Daniel gave rise to the blessings and insights of Daniel – and they will to you as well. God will speak into your life with clarity when you learn to surrender that life to Him.

Don’t be afraid that applying the word “discipline” to your walk with God will make you a Pharisee. In the loose living Christianity of our day, some of us have wrongly come to see GRACE as a “get out of Hell free card”, and any words that sound like we must work at our relationship with God sound like a “work’s based salvation”. That isn’t what I am talking about at all.

I am simply saying that godliness is never accidental.

A relationship with God comes by God’s favor through seeing His Word as truth – as God reaches into our lives and energizes a new life within. Yet, following God is marked by surrender to His Word resulting in becoming more like the character of our Savior. That comes by adopting specific disciplines of heart, mind and body. Jesus didn’t preach against disciplines – He spoke against being a “show off” in your walk with God. It wasn’t PRAYER that Jesus was speaking against, but loud trumpets blasting the prayer of the Pharisee in the streets. It wasn’t RIGHTEOUSNESS Jesus was against, it was the display “to be seen of men” that He abhorred.

Let me drive the truth of Daniel 9 home once more, and then we will walk through five key character traits that showed through in Daniel’s life…

Key Principle: At the heart of our walk with God, there are DISCIPLINES of our walk and PROMISES of our God. Living in BOTH will help us to walk boldly and with strength through times of trouble.

Daniel 9 offers five character traits that God honored and highlighted in Daniel:

The first “discipline” or “character trait” was what I will simply call “Perception”:

The whole revelation of the truth of the end times came to Daniel when the man took God’s Word seriously, studied it thoroughly, and believed it literally. When a believer forms their life and perceives truth based on God’s Word – that is the life of FAITH. Look at the first two verses of Daniel 9, because they reveal both the TIMING of the revelation, and the TENSION that brought the revelation about:

Daniel 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans—2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was [revealed as] the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, [namely], seventy years.

This is a great passage. A man of God is reading the Word of God and takes it seriously, but cannot relate the apparent promise of the passage to what he sees around him. He was reding places like Jeremiah 29:10 “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.” The problem is that that was said at the BEGINNING of the binding of the Gentiles which was about sixty-seven years before. Did Daniel misunderstand what Jeremiah said? After all, the FINAL AND COMPLETE CAPTIVITY didn’t occur until Zedekiah’s children were slaughtered and his eyes were put out, and that was twenty years later. Was THAT date the beginning of the clock? Daniel didn’t know. He THOUGHT the return was coming soon, and he was getting nervous when the authorities around him didn’t seem to be signaling that return.

Don’t skip over the fact that Daniel answered what appeared to be POLITICAL issues with prayer and the study of the Word of God. The simple fact is that Daniel was more concerned with the words of Jeremiah the Prophet that the words of the Babylonian Daily Chronicle. Is that true of us? Do we spend more energy in extracting truth from Scripture that in trying to figure out truth from the editorially laden news shows of our day?

I think one of the blessings of the record of Daniel nine was that the prophet was simply concerned with a promise of seventy years of captivity, when Gabriel made it clear the real issue would not be resolved for seventy blocks of seven years!

It occurs to me that we tend to see things in much smaller ways than God wants to show to us. We don’t think in eons, but in election cycles. God is working the whole plan – and we would be unwise to think that we can truly gain much understanding of our times up close. It may take one thousand years to see how what is happening in our world today will be resolved by the Prince of Peace.

Let me dig further… We need to handle even our own life history with humility. You may have met the most important person in God’s plan for you in a waiting room on a Tuesday afternoon. You may share Jesus with someone at a bus stop that will lead to a national change and an international revival. We think too small and see to little to really grasp what God is doing in and through us.

Daniel had the PERCEPTION that truth came from God’s Word, and that is where he invested his energy. It paid off – it always does.

The second “discipline” or “character trait” that we see in Daniel was a focused purpose:

Look very closely at the passage and you can pick out where Daniel sought peace and clarity. It wasn’t simply from the Word – though that set the stage as we said already…The clarity came, not simply by study of the Word- but by deeply emotional, extensive times of seeking God. Daniel didn’t just seek ANSWERS, he SOUGHT GOD.

Daniel 9:3 So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek [Him by] prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed and said…

One who seeks answers from the past is an historian. One who seeks answers from humanity and culture is an anthropologist. One who seeks answers from a Bible is a theologian. One who seeks answers from God is a believer… Don’t think I am suggesting the other disciplines are unnecessary or optional for a complete understanding of truth – that is NOT what I am saying. I am repeating the words of Jesus. He said: “”You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.” (John 5:39). The answer isn’t found simply by UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT. The answers are found by SEEKING THE LORD. Daniel knew this, and sought God with prayer and humble confession.

I think it is a bit humorous and also encouraging that God’s answering messenger came almost as a startling interruption – because He was seeking to settle in God’s arms, not get an answer to every question! Gabriel showed up, and it was the record of one of those moments like when Peter came to the door of a prayer meeting praying for his release from prison and was left standing outside in Acts 12. It seems that often God’s answer takes us completely off guard, even though we have been deliberately ASKING HIM A QUESTION. Why am I still surprised after all these years of following God that He still answers us? He doesn’t always do it right away, but when He does, I must remember to take time to celebrate His answers – and not simply move on in my list of needs and questions…

John Owen, a Puritan writer, reminded: “What an individual is in secret on his knees before God, that’s who he really is, and no more.”

Daniel’s FOCUS wasn’t simply on the problem of the seventy years coming to an end, but on KNOWING GOD better – and that became his life purpose.

When he sought to know God – the Lord answered him by meeting the other needs of his life. As Jesus said (recorded in Mt. 6:33): “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Just remember, that FOCUS on God is most hindered by FOCUS ON SELF. Pride kills godliness.

The story is told of two ducks and a frog who lived happily together in a farm pond. They were great friends and enjoyed playing together. When the hot days of summer came, however, the pond began to dry up. They soon realized that they had to move. This was no problem for the ducks because they could just fly to another pond. But the frog was stuck. So they decided to put a stick in the bill of each duck that the frog could hang onto with his mouth as they flew to another pond. The plan worked well ¬ so well, in fact, that as they were flying along a farmer looked up in admiration and said, “Well, isn’t that a clever idea! I wonder who thought of that?” To which the frog said, “I did…” Be careful of pride ¬ it can cause you to fall!

The third “discipline” or “character trait” that Daniel exhibited was Personalization:

Daniel’s prayers didn’t DISTANCE him from the responsibility of his situation, but drew him INTO the situation as one who personally felt the pain. God won’t reveal Himself to the armchair theologian and theoretical philosopher – He isn’t content with someone who is curious about truth. He comes to the HUNGRY and NEEDY of heart.

Look carefully at the prayer of Daniel to uncover his heart:

Daniel 9:4b “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and loving kindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. 6 “Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all the people of the land. 7 “Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day– to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You. 8 “Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 “To the Lord our God [belong] compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him; 10 nor have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets. 11 “Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him. 12 “Thus He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been done [anything] like what was done to Jerusalem. 13 “As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth. 14 “Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the LORD our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice. 15 “And now, O Lord our God, who have brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made a name for Yourself, as it is this day– we have sinned, we have been wicked. 16 “O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people [have become] a reproach to all those around us. 17 “So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary. 18 “O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion. 19 “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

Notice first the simplicity of the prayer:

• It began with a focus on the person and power of God – together with His faithful character (9:4).
• It clearly acknowledged responsibility of sin on him and his people and n ot on God’ poor oversight (9:5-10).
• It showed that he understood the captivity to be according to God’s Words (9:11-14).
• It recognized God’s past goodness and rescue (9:15-16).
• It made clear Daniel’s request to see the seventy years finished soon (9:17-19).

You cannot help but be struck with a sense that Daniel felt attached to his people and responsible for their sin. There is no hint of distance and individualism that would separate him from the fallen and broken people of the Jews.

Someone has written: “We are much better at making excuses than confessing sin. We live in a “no-fault” culture where you can get “no-fault” insurance, and a “no-fault” divorce. The mantra of our modern culture is, “Hey, it’s not my fault.” And we’ve come up with some pretty names to excuse our sin. We say, “I goofed” or “I blew it” or we talk about “mistakes” or “weaknesses.” What we call an “affair,” God calls “adultery.” What we call “a little weakness,” God calls “wickedness.” What we call “a mistake,” God calls “madness.” Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

In our day, we’re quick to point out other peoples’ mistakes, but we have a hard time admitting when we’ve blown it. Here are some actual excerpts from insurance companies where individuals who had accidents explained what went wrong:

Coming home, I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree that I don’t own.
• The other guy was all over the road and I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.
• I had been driving my car for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident.
• The telephone pole approached my car at a rapid speed, as I swerved to get out of its way, it hit me.
• I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law, and drove over the embankment.

Daniel PERSONALIZED the troubles and repented. He placed himself with the sinners, and not with the righteous “APART”. He knew that God would give grace to the humble and he was convinced he had no reason to think he was better than others.

The fourth “discipline” or “character trait” was what I will call “attentiveness”:

God poured out far more than Daniel asked – and that was totally unexpected by Daniel. God did the unexpected – because He can. Yet the end of verse 23 may offer the key as to why God offered such a broad and complete word to Daniel:

Daniel 9:22 He gave [me] instruction and talked with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. 23 “At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell [you], for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.

Jesus said that only the disciple who “takes heed” to His words will truly benefit by them. Near the close of the “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew 7, Jesus made the point: “24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and [yet] it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell– and great was its fall.”

It is not BEING IN THE VICINITY of the teaching of God’s Word that will help you, but heeding what you hear from God’s Word. Don’t be too proud to listen to truth when God delivers it. D.L. Moody put it this way: “Be humble or you’ll stumble.” The issue isn’t whether you MEMORIZED the Word, but do you FOLLOW the Word. It isn’t: Do you attend church often, but rather: Do you listen and change because of what God’s Word says. Jesus made it clear – storms come in life to both those who heed His Word and those who don’t – but only those who HEED have the foundation to stand.

Daniel practiced ATTENTIVENESS to God’s Word, and that made him a trustworthy target for God to open his eyes to the deepest of truths.

The final “discipline” or “character trait” exhibited by Daniel was patience:

Though God offered an answer right away, but wasn’t going to bring those truths about for generations. He is a PROCESS God. In the meantime, a believer was called to continue to live in the joy of the promises, trusting in His Word.

Daniel 9:20 Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21 while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in [my] extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. 24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy [place]…

Some are waiting for me to unravel the “seventy weeks” prophecy, and our next lesson will seek to do that –but first there is a timely question we must answer… ARE YOU READY? Are you ready for God to open up to you what He is doing now and in the future? Can He trust US with a message of PROMISES because they will carefully be handled by followers who walk in the DISCIPLINES of a believer?

Daniel knew that God understood what he could not, and he was content with God running the world. Are YOU?

Be very careful never to get to the place in your walk where you believe God OWES you an explanation for doing things in a different way than you think they ought to be done! Follow Jesus. Love Him sincerely. Put on the disciplines of a believer. Why? Because…

At the heart of our walk with God, there are DISCIPLINES of our walk to be practiced and PROMISES from our God to be trusted. Living in BOTH will help us to walk boldly and with strength through times of trouble.

An Enduring Legacy: “A Change is Gonna Come” – Nehemiah 9

mud bowl 2Did you ever get SO DIRTY, so incredibly cruddy, that you couldn’t wait to get into a hot shower? I remember just a few years ago, our family gathering that happens each Thanksgiving up north, included a family football game. I don’t play anymore – but I used to look forward to it for months. It was a perfect MUD BOWL, played on the thick, dark mud of northern New York state – and it took more than one shower to get it all off of your body – if you played the game well! Just like PEOPLE get dirty, nations get a layer of filth on them by practicing and tolerating terrible injustice and sinful behavior. In my lifetime, the prejudice of color is one example I have watched passing through successive showers. I remember this from my earliest years, and because I come from a family that adopted interracially, I probably became a bit more sensitive to it in my youth.

When I was only two years old, back in 1963, Musical artist Sam Cooke was again at the top of the charts. The African-American recording singer-songwriter was commonly known as the “King of Soul” in those days, writing and collaborating with soul greats like Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Billy Preston, Otis Redding and James Brown. In fact, between 1957 and 1964 Cooke racked up no less than 30 “top 40 hits” in the USA. By 1964, at the age of 33, he lay in a pool of his own blood, fatally shot by Bertha Franklin, the manager of the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles. The courts ruled Cooke was drunk and distressed, and his death was ruled a “justifiable homicide” (something that since that time has been widely questioned). One of the moving tunes written and recorded by Cooke was the song “A Change Is Gonna Come”, a ballad of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. The words and music will stir you even this many years later… Here’s the truth: Sam was right… change has been coming in race relations in America, albeit slowly and with great difficulty. Sometimes dirt takes great effort to remove – and the stain of civil injustice certainly has taken that…

At the same time, and perhaps even CLOSER TO US, sometime the removal of stains and dirt isn’t a SPORTS issue, nor a NATIONAL issue – but a PERSONAL ONE. Sometimes the change that is needed ISN’T about DIRT – but about SIN. The personal habits of my life may be a reflection of the SIN of my times… and that must be dealt with. Isn’t it possible that many of us have adjusted our eyes to the spiritual darkness of our generation, and now see what once was very DARK as NORMAL?

HAS THAT HAPPENED TO YOU? Have you begun to adjust the standards of your life away from a vibrant walk with the Lord and desire to please Him, and adopted the lesser standard of what others around you accept as NORMAL? It DOES happen…and when it does – CHANGE IS NEEDED. Cleansing is necessary. We need a good scrub…

Think back to the story we have been following from the fifth century BCE. Nehemiah the wine steward recorded in his journal an account of the aftermath of a stirring holiday service of worship and learning, where the people of Israel were challenged by the Word of God. In the face of conviction… change came. In fact, chapter nine lays out two phases of the change that follows acknowledgment of sin in our lives– the active repentance that brought about a careful cleaning up, and the celebration that followed a cleaned up community.

Key Principle: Great worship follows thorough cleansing. Celebration flows without hindrance from a cleaned heart.

Today we want to look at what happens when hearts are cleansed, and guilt is released. We want to feel the release of cleansing, and sing the song of the man or woman free from remorse. It is an exciting opportunity to look back at a great moment…

Part One: “Community Clean-Up!” (Nehemiah 9:1-3)

Before the celebration, there is the cleansing. Before the cleansing is the conviction. Nehemiah 9 is a careful record of what happened at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).

• Remember to seventh month festivals include: Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets – 1st day) and Yom Kippor (Day of Atonement – 10th day) followed by the week long Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles – 15th-22nd).

• Following Sukkot, they held a special worship day (8:18). Two days after Sukkot ended, the people weren’t done! They wanted to hold a special meeting to mourn before the Lord concerning the sins of their fathers, and their own sin.

• The scene was one of sorrow and mourning, times of confession testimony and seeking the Lord in his Word and worship (9:1-3)! The scene is so important for our instruction, that God amplified the scene in 9:4-38.

Nehemiah 9:1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them. 2 The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 While they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day; and for [another] fourth they confessed and worshiped the LORD their God.

I am not asking you to tear off your clothing and begin mourning in dirty clothes – that isn’t the point. The record of what the people DID offers us a pattern for action WHEN GOD CONVICTS YOU OR I OF SIN. Look at the eight responses to conviction:

(1) Changed pattern (“assembled with fasting” –9:1) When God spoke, they took Him seriously. They didn’t “blow off” His conviction. They showed outwardly they WEREN’T READY TO GO ON WITH LIFE until something changed. When something really matters to us, it takes precedence over our normal patterns of life. If a loved one is rushed to the hospital, dinner plans are shelved. It doesn’t matter if we eat or sleep – only that we are at their bedside or waiting in the hallway outside for the words of the doctor about their condition. You KNOW that is true! The people were so convicted about sin, that fasting was a natural thing. It was but one way to break away from the normal structure of their days to seek the face of God. Am I the only person who organizes his waking hours around MEALS and FOOD? I don’t think so! Fasting was a symbol of focused priority! The denial of food is not specifically helpful… It is only helpful if the time is filled with seeking God!

Here is the one thing that so strikes me about this record: Look how the conviction wounded them! When was the last time God spoke to you about things in your life, and it rocked you so deeply you couldn’t go on with regular life until you stopped and sought Him? Those words are as much self-convicting as shared.

(2) Changed dress (sackcloth). The text tells us people put on the alternative garment of sackcloth. In a time of intense seeking of God, every vain pursuit slips away as we pull all our energy to come before Him (9:1). People in the hospital bed that are struggling to breathe aren’t worried about their hairdo! In fact, people who are sitting vigil by a bedside aren’t dressed to impress. When conviction over sin is heavy – the need to look good slips away. The need for outer comfort is dwarfed by the need for resolution with God. The outer garments symbolized for others around them not to engage them in trivialities – but to identify the intensity of their focus on their walk with God!
Let me ask you honestly: Does your walk with God EVER mean more to you than how people view you? We are on the planet for a short time, and then have eternity. Isn’t it worth considering how much weight we place on the eternal versus this life?

(3) Put on dirt. The people knew they were guilty, and in a time of intense repentance they symbolized (visualized) their sin with the dirt upon them. Was that really helpful? I think it was! One of the temptations we have in our modern life is to minimize a sense of sinfulness and rebellion and rationalize our responses to situations. We don’t learn in our society to take sin seriously at all. In fact, we learn to be victims with titles that excuse us from our own chosen behaviors. We learn from lost men and women that “we are basically good!” in spite of the fact that God’s Word clearly teaches the opposite.

It is worth remembering that God loves pictures. When we come up close to Him – His kindness leads us to repentance. Yet, our sin continues to be a weight. Recognizing our guilt is essential to having a real relationship with God (9:1b). God only cleans the one who recognizes he is dirty! He only fills the one who recognizes he is empty! He only draws near to those who decide to stop running and turn toward Him! When the people put on dirt, it wasn’t for God’s benefit – it was for THEIR BENEFIT. Just as the waters of baptism cleanse NO ONE, but symbolize the cleansing God already provided, so the dirt didn’t MAKE them sinful, but symbolized the stains already within.

(4) Got alone with their “believing family”. Look again at 9:2 “The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.” The world was not the appropriate place to “air the dirty laundry” of the family. There is a time for testimony, and there is a time for corporate repentance and confession – but this is a “family affair” (9:2). Believers must learn as they mature the appropriate forum for confession and restoration to God. Public sin must be publicly dealt with, while private sin can be shared with God and perhaps those closest to us. Yet, none of the restoration process was to be performed before the lost world.

Even today, in the church, we ask that people who do not know Jesus not attend our time of Communion. It ISN’T because we don’t love visitors – it is because the invitation was to God’s people to do business with God concerning the body of Christ – the other believers. One of the reasons we come together is to celebrate God’s work through Jesus – but we are commanded to DO IT TOGETHER and be a part of one another’s lives. We offer testimony to one another, but not for public consumption – it is for the believers we are linked to in fellowship. Failure to consider the others in the flock in the performance of the communion and in particular the Love Feast sent some to glory early in Corinth. We need to take seriously that even in repentance there are rules – and in this case it was a FAMILY THING.

(5) Don’t neglect that in the record of 9:2, they made public confession of sin. Public recognition and confession of sin – even of our NATION helps a beleiver recall that we are all together in Him – and we are all in need of His care. We all sin, and we all need cleansing from the throne of God. Doing it together helps us to stand together in accountability, and to be humble before one another (9:2).

(6) Look at the way they confessed “the iniquities of their fathers” in 9:2. They identified with “history of sin” (both sinful nature and acts). Their confession was not just THEM, but included viewing themselves as a part of the society from which they came. God wants us to recognize the impact we have on others BUT ALSO the impact they have on us. (9:2).

Because our eyes easily adjust to spiritual darkness around us, we need to stop and confess the sins of a nation in which we live – so that we may be again sensitized in the exercise to what God sees in our world. We cannot simply distance ourselves from the sin – because the national penalties will be shared by our families as well.

• There is a price every American believer is paying for the wholesale slaughter of the unborn in the nation.

• There is a price all of us are paying for the rising natural humanism that is emerging as our state sponsored religion and making efforts to purge all other faith forms.

• There is a corporate price we will all pay as part of a nation that teaches rights but mutes responsibilities.

• There is a national and personal price we will all face, and are facing, for the entitlement of excess and waste publicly that we have grown accustomed to in our day.

By engaging in prayers of confession, we make distant sin OUR SIN, because the penalties will also be OUR PENALTIES. Why is that important? That practice helps us to be balanced and prepared when judgment comes. When the value of our currency suddenly drops – and if we stay on this course it most certainly WILL drop – we will not feel as though God has PERSONALLY ABANDONED US as we face tight belts and renewed struggles unlike those of the past few generations. We will understand it ISN’T God PICKING ON US, but rather that we are part of a larger national system – and we all face what we have allowed and accepted. I don’t say that to frustrate you – but to teach the truth of the Word. We ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER. Even if America rejects Christian teaching and principle – American Christians will STILL be subject to the EFFECTS of a pagan government. When those effects become evident, we should not feel forgotten by God. We aren’t.

Before we go on, drop your eyes lower in the passage where Nehemiah offers some specifics on the content of the confession (Nehemiah 9:16-30). This adds texture to the simple words “iniquities of their fathers” and makes what they said more plain– It is all OUR fault! Confession is a frank look at motivations, not just allocution of a list of actions! Look closely at 9:16ff:

Nehemiah 9:16 “But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly; They became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments. 17 “They refused to listen, And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not forsake them. …30 “However, You bore with them for many years, And admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, Yet they would not give ear. Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. 31 “Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or forsake them, For You are a gracious and compassionate God.

Nehemiah outlined their confession from arrogance, stubborn rejection, blindness and repeated refusal to listen to God, but he DIDN’T STOP THERE. He revealed the people pressed on to make the point that God’s character did not let Him walk away. God judged to get their attention – and cleansed to get them back!

(7) Investigation into God’s truth (from His Word). Nehemiah 9:3 said: ”While they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day; and for [another] fourth they confessed and worshiped the LORD their God. It was the Word that lit the path for them to know God’s will. Believers must recognize that truth…We will never be equipped to serve and live for God by simply “feeling bad about sin”. We will never have a word adequate to transform a generation by deeply drinking in the principles of counseling. The power of the church comes from the Spirit of God at work through the Word of God.

Dear ones, I get concerned in our day that even pulpits don’t reflect that truth! I have sat in some messages and felt I was in a self-help seminar, learning good things that were placed before me as the answers to life. Yet, the Word of God was only vaguely mentioned. As foolish as it is to put our trust in horses and chariots – it is also a fool’s errand to place our trust in the insights and observations of men apart from the Word of the Creator. Faith is seeing it the way God says it is – not the way my fallen eyes see it in a mutinous world! Faith comes by hearing what God said and seeing it as the answer. God’s Word is not ONE of the options, and Jesus is not ONE of the ways to God. He is THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE – or He and His message is simply a lie. Every other source of insight must be filtered through His Word to be valid –even if it APPEARS to be true.

(8) Verse three ended with the fact that the people proclaimed the rightful place of God! The true response to seeing God as He is includes feeling our guilt, crying out for His cleansing, and receiving His love! (9:3). It doesn’t END in tears, but in CELEBRATION. The rest of the passage celebrated God and His grace in the face of their sin!

Part Two: “The Content of Praise” (Nehemiah 9:4-38)

God’s Word moved in to show us up close a portrait of what happened when God’s people took SIN SERIOUSLY and cried out to God for cleansing and love.

The cry of the people (9:4,5). The worship leaders (Levites) cried out to God in prayer (4)! They called to the people to stand up and bless the Lord and lift up His name (5)!

Nehemiah 9:4 Now on the Levites’ platform stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani [and] Chenani, and they cried with a loud voice to the LORD their God. 5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah [and] Pethahiah, said, “Arise, bless the LORD your God forever and ever! O may Your glorious name be blessed And exalted above all blessing and praise!

Don’t be offended when I tell you this wasn’t a quiet prayer circle – it was a loud and simultaneous praise of God by many at one time. I LOVE to be a part of that kind of celebration when I get the chance. Whenever I go to speak at a specific church up north, the elders of that church gather around and place their hands on me as each is praying out loud – all at the same time! It sounds like a riot is about to break out, but it is enriching, and it is praise filled. It is lifting! The people in our text were praising, they were LOUD, and they exalted God. This wasn’t the ONLY WAY to pray – but neither is the QUITE WAY!

The content of the praise (9:6-15). Look more closely as what praise looked like as a people washed by God’s love came together!

They cried out: Nehemiah 9:6 “You alone are the LORD. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before You.

They began with His MASTERY – You are LORD!. They moved to His OWNERSHIP of all things – You are Creator! They acknowledged His RANK – all the host of Heaven bows to the Commander in Chief.

They continued: 7 “You are the LORD God, Who chose Abram And brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees, And gave him the name Abraham. 8 “You found his heart faithful before You, And made a covenant with him To give [him] the land of the Canaanite, Of the Hittite and the Amorite, Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite– To give [it] to his descendants. And You have fulfilled Your promise, For You are righteous. 9 “You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And heard their cry by the Red Sea. 10 “Then You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants and all the people of his land; For You knew that they acted arrogantly toward them, And made a name for Yourself as [it is] this day. 11 “You divided the sea before them, So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry ground; And their pursuers You hurled into the depths, Like a stone into raging waters. 12 “And with a pillar of cloud You led them by day, And with a pillar of fire by night To light for them the way In which they were to go. 13 “Then You came down on Mount Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven; You gave them just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments. 14 “So You made known to them Your holy sabbath, And laid down for them commandments, statutes and law, Through Your servant Moses. 15 “You provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger, You brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst, And You told them to enter in order to possess The land which You swore to give them.

You are the One who CHOSE Your people (9:7), the One Who KNOWS THE HEARTS OF MEN (9:8), and the One who GAVE US A PLACE among the nations (9:8b). You drew us from BONDAGE (9:9-11) and led us to our home (9:12). You GAVE US THE TRUTH of Your Word (9:13-14) and provided for our needs (9:15).

Skip down to the covenant of change before God the people committed to initiating (9:32-38). The people proclaimed: “We will change!” The promise to change was only valid when they identified and agreed with God concerning the specific cause of their affliction! This was not a general amnesty, but acceptance after specific confession and commitment to repent!

Nehemiah 9:32 “Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness, Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You, Which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people, From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day. 33 “However, You are just in all that has come upon us; For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly. 34 “For our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers have not kept Your law Or paid attention to Your commandments and Your admonitions with which You have admonished them. 35 “But they, in their own kingdom, With Your great goodness which You gave them, With the broad and rich land which You set before them, Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds. 36 “Behold, we are slaves today, And as to the land which You gave to our fathers to eat of its fruit and its bounty, Behold, we are slaves in it. 37 “Its abundant produce is for the kings Whom You have set over us because of our sins; They also rule over our bodies And over our cattle as they please, So we are in great distress. 38 “Now because of all this We are making an agreement in writing; And on the sealed document [are the names of] our leaders, our Levites [and] our priests.

Look at the progression from:

(1) Appeal: Don’t discount the affliction we feel, though we deserve it. Lord, we truly are sorry. We trust your justice – YOU are the standard (32,33).

(2) Admission: We admit it – we have sinned! We have denied you and consistently done evil in spite of your goodness (34,35).

(3) Anticipation: We are not free because of our sin – and yet we are blessed by your goodness! (36) We long to be free again! (37).

(4) Agreement: We will agree to change, knowing by faith that You are a just God! (38).

Great worship follows thorough cleansing. Celebration flows without hindrance from a cleaned heart.

When we recognize our sin, cry out to God, admit our wrong and connect the wrong with our state of affairs – God waits on our agreement to walk away from the sin. It isn’t enough to FEEL BADLY if we are only going to do it again tomorrow.

Is the whole experience – sin, pain, judgment, repentance – all BAD? No, not at all. We learn much in the process of being healed and restored… In 2001, Tim Goeglein started running the White House Office of Public Liaison, providing him almost daily access to then President George Bush for seven years. Then it all ended abruptly on February 29, 2008. A well-known blogger revealed the startling fact that 27 out of 39 of Goeglein’s published articles had been plagiarized. By mid-afternoon the next day, Goeglein’s career in the White House was over. Goeglein, who admitted his guilt, said that this began “a personal crisis unequaled in my life, bringing great humiliation on my wife and children, my family, and my closest friends, including the President of the United States.” Goeglein was summoned to the White House to face the President. Once inside the Oval Office, Goeglein shut the door, turned to the President and said, “I owe you an…” President Bush simply said: “Tim, you are forgiven.” Tim was speechless. He tried again: “But sir…” The President interrupted him again, with a firm “Stop.” Then President Bush added, “I have known grace and mercy in my life, and you are forgiven.” After a long talk, a healing process was launched for Goeglein, which included repentance, reflection, and spiritual growth. “Political power can lead to pride,” Goeglein later reflected. “That was my sin. One hundred percent pride. But offering and receiving forgiveness is a different kind of strength. That’s the kind of strength I want to develop now.” (Warren Cole Smith, “Wins & Losses,” World magazine, 10-23-10, p. 11. From a sermon by C. Philip Green, Love and Longing, 5/13/2011).

When repentance leads to a flood of tears, it is grace that wipes those tears away. A simple cloth becomes the act of favor that renews the fallen countenance of one who has both failed and re-risen by God’s irresistible restoration call. They hear His gentle voice as He stretches forth His powerful hand. You are forgiven! Let the celebration begin! All Heaven bursts with applause – one which was lost is found! God removes darkness, and re-opens the heart to celebration. Don’t you want that? The gift is waiting for you.

Shine the Light: “Seeing with New Eyes” – Daniel 8

brown eyesI don’t often do this, but I want to begin on a very frank, but very negative note. Don’t get worried, I have a purpose in mind…Let’s be honest. It doesn’t take much observation of evil on the news to make a believer feel sick. We can so easily become indignant when we watch the movement of evil in our time – and we have had to face it many, many times. Most of us feel a sense of moral collapse in the society around us – and it makes us at least mad, and at worse physically ill. Did you ever look at the sickness of our world and really question Heaven? Have you ever thought: “God, why don’t you stop this? Why do You let these terrible things go on?”

No, I am not depressed, and I am not grumpy. The fact is that I am certain most of us have asked the question, and often we find ourselves not really grasping the answer – but that ISN’T BECAUSE GOD HASN’T GIVEN ONE. Here is the truth: God is often at work in ways we don’t recognize when evil seems to be collapsing the bulkheads of our society. He seems like He is “letting evil get away with things” when that isn’t really what is going on at all. That is what it APPEARS, but that is not WHAT IT IS. Heaven is more subtle than earth, and God more restrained in His work than most learn to see.

Let me show you an example of that truth from God’s Word. Go back in time to ancient Babylon, and join the Jews in captivity. God was on the move, and showed His selected Prime Ministerial prophet the future of evil domination and pagan revelry against God – but even the veteran believer named Daniel couldn’t really grasp it, and didn’t like what God was doing. Before you read the passage, look at the end of the chapter. It simply says:

Daniel 8:26 “The vision of the evenings and mornings which has been told is true; But keep the vision secret, For [it] pertains to many days [in the future].” 27 Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for days. Then I got up [again] and carried on the king’s business; but I was astounded at the vision, and there was none to explain [it].

Did you see the reactive words… “exhausted”… “sick for days”…”astounded” – is that the reaction you would THINK a prophet would get from God exposing the future of things to him? The vision we are about to see is from two years AFTER the one we looked in in the chapter before it (Daniel 7). I want to remind you of the end of that last vision to set the theme of our lesson today. Look at how that one ended:

Daniel 7:28 “At this point the revelation ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts were greatly alarming me and my face grew pale, but I kept the matter to myself.

Unless he was deliberately trying to get his heart rate up or lose some color in his cheeks – these prophecies don’t seem to be drawing Daniel into warm and fuzzy feelings about God and His work among men! Sometimes we think that if we UNDERSTOOD more of what was going to happen – if we could clearly see the prophetic truth of what lay ahead – we would be MORE CONTENT. That doesn’t seem to be true. Daniel saw ahead. God uncovered future truth to him – and it made him SICK. Why? It made him sick for the same reason that injustice viewed in today’s new MAKES US SICK!

Like us, Daniel was tempted to fight the wrong battle – the one that captures the culture of his day with moral behavior, rather than a work that excitedly shares the truth of the existence of the spiritual world and God at work. Daniel learned that not only did he not WANT to see God’s tolerance of evil in the world, but that God’s patience made him physically ill. Yet, Daniel couldn’t see what God saw…

Key Principle: The mature believer’s view of the world should not be fixated on the temporary dominance of darkness, but rather on God at work – moving history toward His purposes.

Before we jump into a complicated prophetic scheme – let me say it plainly. Even the most mature believers are too easily focused on the wrong things. We are distracted by the site of the march of pagans and immorality – and we don’t recognize what God is doing through the darkness of men to bring His eventual and certain victory. I don’t want to spoil the message by tipping my hand too soon, but consider that what Daniel saw was not what God was trying to say – and that is why he got sick.

Daniel’s visions of chapter two and chapter seven were about four pagan and powerful political systems – Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. Each had all the requisite characteristics of a government: inequity, inefficiency, graft and corruption, etc. In the first vision the four were revealed in a big statue that was made of different metals from head to toes. In the second vision, four beasts represented the four kingdoms. Stepping away from both, Daniel learned that GOD WAS GOING TO TOLERATE MUCH in the kingdoms of this world, and He even intended that damage be allowed against His own people in the process. That sickened Daniel, because he couldn’t see the REASONS BEHIND WHAT GOD WAS DOING. Let me crack that door open on just a few of the things God would do…

Daniel saw a Persian kingdom overthrowing the Babylonian Empire… but God was going to use a Persian king to finally rid the Hebrews of an ancient Amalekite enemy from the family of Agag by unfolding a plot by Haman as recorded in the book of Esther. God was going to fulfill a prophecy given to Moses, through a girl named Hadassah (Esther) under a Persian King named Xerxes.

• Daniel saw the despotism of Persian kings over the Jewish people… but God was going to elevate and educate the Jewish people through the terror and threat of a Persian edict. The threat against their lives became the landscape of learning to take God seriously.

Daniel saw the rise of a swift pagan ruler of Macedonia (Greece) infecting the west with pagan philosophy and immorality… but God was going to use the life of Alexander the Great to unify the Mediterranean world– giving a common bond of Greek to allow the Gospel to flow across the Mediterranean in due time.

Daniel saw a Greek dictator who exercised power relentlessly – even inserting himself into ancient cultures and building pagan cities… but God was going to use the academy of Alexandria, a city founded by Alexander the Great, to produce the LXX translation of the Hebrew Bible – allowing the truth of God to move out to the world. God was seeding the ground for the message of Jesus – but that was hard to see. God is often at work in ways we don’t recognize when evil seems to be collapsing the bulkheads of our society.

Step back in time with me, and let’s see if we can identify what Daniel learned from this, his third vision…

First, the text offers the timing of the vision from Daniel (8:1).

Daniel 8:1 In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king a vision appeared to me, Daniel, subsequent to the one which appeared to me previously.

Daniel is careful to point out that this vision is an expansion of a previous one (chapter 7) given two years before. Belshazzar was the son of Nabonidus the King of Babylon, who ruled three years from that city before he left his throne to his son while as he devoted himself to the worship of the moon god Sin in a desert oasis – a spiritual pilgrimage of sorts. Belshazzar became co-regent in 553 BCE, and was supposed to attend to Babylon’s defense during his dad’s journey. The year of the vision of chapter eight of Daniel either corresponds to the leaving of Nabonidus for his spiritual journey, and the ascension to sole ruler of Babylon by Belshazzar in about 550 BCE, or three years later (meaning the third year he was alone on the throne). By 540 BCE, Nabonidus returned when he heard the Persians planned to take the city of Babylon from his son by force. Nabonidus marched to face Cyrus the Mede, but was defeated and on October 10, 539 BCE, when he surrendered to Cyrus. Two days later the Persian armies overthrew the haughty city of Babylon that was engaged in a drunken party as Daniel recorded in our earlier lesson on Daniel 5. In any case, it is likely that Belshazzar was “flying solo” by the time of this vision.

Next, we are given the description of the vision by Daniel (8:2-14) along with the interpretation (which I have dropped in for simplicity sake from 8:15-24 after each part of the vision).

The record opens…Daniel 8:2 “I looked in the vision, and while I was looking I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam; and I looked in the vision and I myself was beside the Ulai Canal.” Apparently, Daniel was on a trip away from his normal dwelling, perhaps on some administrative duty. In any case, he was just living life, and God interrupted again – to help him see what the Most High was doing among men.

The vision he described had three main elements: A two-horned ram, a horned buck goat and a specific horn that caught Daniel’s attention. Right after explaining the three parts of the vision, Daniel shared HOW HE GOT THE INTERPRETATION, and then what each symbol meant. He wrote:

Daniel 8:15 When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one who looked like a man. 16 And I heard the voice of a man between [the banks of] Ulai, and he called out and said, “Gabriel, give this [man] an understanding of the vision.” 17 So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was frightened and fell on my face; but he said to me, “Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end.” 18 Now while he was talking with me, I sank into a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me and made me stand upright. 19 He said, “Behold, I am going to let you know what will occur at the final period of the indignation, for [it] pertains to the appointed time of the end.

This passage contained the first of the five passages in God’s Word where the angel Gabriel was named. The next is found in Daniel 9, with all the remaining found in the first part of Luke’s Gospel. Gabe explained that the vision wasn’t about something happening right away – but rather it extended into the time of TRIBULATION, and the time of the END. That detail helps us recognize the prophecy had implications for a time yet in our future – so this won’t simply be a “history lesson” for us.

In this lesson, we will add the interpretation to each part of the vision to make it clear and simple.

First, there was a ram with two horns (8:3-4).

Daniel 8:3 Then I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a ram which had two horns was standing in front of the canal. Now the two horns [were] long, but one [was] longer than the other, with the longer one coming up last. 4 I saw the ram butting westward, northward, and southward, and no [other] beasts could stand before him nor was there anyone to rescue from his power, but he did as he pleased and magnified [himself].

• Two horns
• One higher than another
• Pushing in three directions
• Unstoppable greatness for a time.

In the section on the interpretation, Daniel was told simply in Daniel 8:20 “The ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.

This means the vision was NOT going to contain any focus on the Babylonian kingdom as the previous visions in Daniel 2:19-45 and Daniel 7 had done. This vision began with the Medo-Persian Kingdom – matching the breast and arms of silver in Daniel 2, and the lop-sided bear of Daniel 7. Every time Daniel saw a vision with Medo-Persia, the heavenly view saw two uneven powers joined together. Here, it was one ram, but two uneven horns. The beginning of this kingdom was dominated by Media, but fifty years later the same kingdom was dominated by the Persians. The Medo-Persian Empire was vast and powerful, as the descriptions of Esther chapter one attest under Ahaseuras (or Xerxes). Yet, for all its power, as it drew nearer to its end, it kept facing a much smaller force of hoplite Greek armies, and losing:

• It started when the Athenians, with their democratic ideas, helped the Ionian cities of western Turkey revolt Persian king Darius I (550-486 BCE) and the Persian king swore to have revenge on Athens when he found them. He crushed the Ionians (494 BCE), putting down the revolt near Miletus, but needed to withdraw his army and not move on at that time against Athens to conquer a new people.

• Four years later, the Battle of Marathon was set in the end of August and beginning of September of 490 BCE, as Darius sent a naval task force across the Aegean, to take the Cycladic Islands and then attack Athens. Taking many islands, the Persians sailed for Athens, landing in nearby Marathon. Athenians marched to Marathon to meet the Persian advance and blocked the two exits from the plain of Marathon. After a five day stalemate the Athenian hoplites attacked the Persians, devastating the Persian infantry. The Persian force retreated to Asia, showing the Greeks that the Persians could be beaten. Although dubious, the legend of a Greek messenger Pheidippi’des running from Marathon to Athens with news of victory – a distance of just over 26 miles – and collapsing following the announcement, which became the inspiration for the so named athletic event introduced at the 1896 Athens Olympics.

• Darius began raising a huge new army with which to return to Greece; but faced an Egyptian uprising in 486 BCE. He died the same year in October of 486 BCE.

His successor and son, Xerxes I (Ahaseurus of Esther) prepared a face saving second invasion of Greece. The preparations for that army were set at the party of Esther 1. By 483 BCE, more than one half of that year was spent on the massive and impressive party that staged the backdrop of the military planning sessions for the second invasion of Greece.

In the summer heat of 480 BCE, the Greek city states found themselves under attack again. Xerxes amassed a huge army and navy, and set out to conquer Greece and redeem his father’s defeat. The Athenian general Themistocles proposed that the Greeks block the advance of the Persian army at the pass of Thermopylae, while blocking the Persian navy at the Straits of Artemisium.

• The Greek force of approximately 7,000 men thus marched north to block the pass in the summer of 480 BCE against a Persian army, alleged to have numbered over one million.

• Though vastly outnumbered, the Greeks knew the terrain and held off the Persians for three assaults over a week long period. King Leonidas I of Sparta blocked the only road by which the massive Persian army could pass. After the second day of battle, a local resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by revealing a small path that led behind the Greek lines. Aware that his force was being outflanked, Leonidas dismissed the bulk of the Greek army, and remained to guard the rear with 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians, 400 Thebans and perhaps a few hundred others, the vast majority of whom were killed.

• After the defeat on land, the Greek navy at Artemisium evacuated Athens and withdrew to west of the island of Salamis, in the Saronic Gulf southwest of Athens. The Persians found an evacuated Athens, and followed the Greek ships – seeking decisive victory over them. The smaller and more maneuverable Greek fleet attacked the Persian warships, and decimated them at the Battle of Salamis in late 480 BCE. Xerxes was forced to withdraw with much of his army to Asia Minor. The following year (August, 479 BCE) the Persians were decisively defeated the Persians at the Battle of Plataea and Xerxes army returned home humbled.

• Since Esther was taken to Xerxes in December of 479 or January of 478 BCE according to Esther 2:16, the setting of Esther 2:1 and the “After these things” included the Greek wars and the news of the defeat of Xerxes army – along with the accompanying humiliation. The fought the inferior Greeks, and were defeated in the field. It was only a matter of time before the Greeks decided to fire back… and under a great leader they eventually did about 150 years later in 333-323 BCE.

Second, there was a buck goat (8:5-8) that was to follow Medo-Persia – the Hellenic Kingdom of the Greeks.

Daniel 8:5 “While I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat [had] a conspicuous horn between his eyes. 6 He came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath. 7 I saw him come beside the ram, and he was enraged at him; and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns, and the ram had no strength to withstand him. So he hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to rescue the ram from his power. 8 Then the male goat magnified [himself] exceedingly. But as soon as he was mighty, the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous [horns] toward the four winds of heaven.

• From the West
• Notable single horn
• Victory of the Buck Goat (8:7)
• Breaking of Great horn- rise of four horns (N,S,E,W)

In the section on the interpretation, Daniel was told simply in Daniel 8:21 “The shaggy goat [represents] the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 22 “The broken [horn] and the four [horns that] arose in its place [represent] four kingdoms [which] will arise from [his] nation, although not with his power.

God’s revealed word here was no mystery – Greece would decisively destroy the Persian armies and take over when the time was right. Tracing the swift movement of Alexander the Great between 333-323 BCE is not difficult. Suffice it to say that at the end of one decade on the road, Al had subdued Egypt, the Holy Land, Turkey, Iraq and Iran, and was standing on the edge of the Indus River having conquered more land in faster time than any army in the history of the world. Yet, the focus of the last part of the vision appeared to be dedicated to a specific vision of four rulers from within the kingdom that broke up the power base, and finally one specific ruler who rose with certain designs on God’s people. That ruler became the third part of the vision…

Third, there was a little horn (8:9-15-4) that deserved specific attention.

Daniel 8:9 Out of one of them came forth a rather small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful [Land]. 10 It grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down. 11 It even magnified [itself] to be equal with the Commander of the host; and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down. 12 And on account of transgression the host will be given over [to the horn] along with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the ground and perform [its will] and prosper. 13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, “How long will the vision [about] the regular sacrifice apply, while the transgression causes horror, so as to allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled?” 14 He said to me, “For 2,300 evenings [and] mornings; then the holy place will be properly restored.”

I suspect that what we are looking at is actually a dual description – first of the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV (cp. Daniel 11:21), and a future ruler in the world that has not yet been revealed – but who will show himself during the time of the Great Tribulation, as indicated in a literal reading of Daniel 8:19. If I am correct, we are reading about TWO MEN, each a type of the other.

• One came out of the four Diadoche Generals (Antiochus IV).
• He swept south and east and became great.
• He involved himself in the Holy Land’s affairs.

Those traits applied to Antiochus – but there were more traits listed – and those appear to be something greater than the violations of the second century BCE ruler… they appear to be of another FUTURE ruler. That one:

• Caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall (8:10). This could be a reference to some type of air war in which Daniel saw firepower that was unfamiliar to him – but I suspect it was a foray into explaining the DEMONIC POWER behind his rise.
• He stopped sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem and interrupted the lives of the observant Jewish people (8:11).
• Some of the host (army) of heaven was given to him (8:12) – probably a reference to his command of forces in the unseen world as well as his political power.
• His term of office was determined by God (8:13-14). Measuring the time based on a 360 day calendar of ancient Jewry – this one was in office for between six and seven years – but well short of the seven. The idea may have been to communicate that he would not make it to the end of the seven years of Tribulation.

If the entire description we just read was meant to poetically describe Antiochus – that is fine. Some of it looks like more to me, but I cannot be sure. What is clear is that by 8:23 Daniel’s record appears to be pointing to a time much later than the ancient Greek ruler. He wrote:

Daniel 8:23 “In the latter period of their rule, When the transgressors have run [their course], A king will arise, Insolent and skilled in intrigue. 24 “His power will be mighty, but not by his [own] power, And he will destroy to an extraordinary degree And prosper and perform [his will]; He will destroy mighty men and the holy people. 25 “And through his shrewdness He will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; And he will magnify [himself] in his heart, And he will destroy many while [they are] at ease. He will even oppose the Prince of princes, But he will be broken without human agency.

It is clear that the ruler is at a later period of time. It is clear that he attains the office with some trickery and underhanded tactic. It is also clear that his remarkable power will be backed by more than meets the eye. He will do fierce damage –even to some who were well known to be powerful. He will harm the Jewish people. He will be self-aggrandizing and self-reliant. He will also be on a leash of life that God will pull back when the Father decides he is finished his damaging work.

Finally, we see the troubles of Daniel (26-27). Daniel found himself overwhelmed with the vision and near exhaustion, needing inspiration and help.

Daniel 8:26 “The vision of the evenings and mornings which has been told is true; But keep the vision secret, For [it] pertains to many days [in the future].” 27 Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for days. Then I got up [again] and carried on the king’s business; but I was astounded at the vision, and there was none to explain [it].

Daniel became distracted by the site of the march of pagans and immorality – and lost the ability to recognize what God was about to do through the darkness of men to bring His eventual and certain victory. God answered a question Daniel held in his heart: “What is God going to do with His people if there are yet this many terrible pagan rulers and programs ahead?” Remember, the vision’s record is in the Hebrew language, which may mean that it was not for “public consumption” of the pagans, but focused on God’s dealings with His own people.

• We must remember that a spiritual battle rages behind what we are seeing in the headlines, and God hasn’t left the scene… He is weaving the tapestry of history to present His story to the cosmos. Even when politicians stab at God’s moral standards and defame God’s people – God is working out the story. He hasn’t lost control – He is DOING SOMETHING.

• We must also remember that the story has a SINGLE WINNER. In the end, God will settle all accounts. There is no power to match His. If you are standing with Him, you are already siding with the winner.

Enza was born into poverty, the product of an unknown father paying for minutes with her crack using mother. She was born in a flop house on an old mattress, and that would be some of the best of what she could expect from her early life. Unloved and unkempt, she struggled to gain basic nutrition and hygiene in her first years of life. Her mother was attentive one day, absent the next, guilty and weepy the third and on and on it went… Another young woman saw the struggling child and began to take a daily interest in seeing to it she was fed, clothed and clean. Life was hard, but Enza grew, watched and learned. By the time she was eight, she learned to hide from her mother when men came to visit, because her mother would have sold away her body for another hit of a drug. Even before puberty, this young girl learned about life, exchanges, and controlling men. By the time she was an adult, she was jaded with a darkness that draws a curtain over hope and lived the life of a struggler and hustler – believing that life was all about negotiating away what you have to get what you want. Enza met Jesus the first time in the eyes and heart of Carl, a young man that offered her his sandwich because he said she looked hungry, but didn’t ask for anything in return. This was a new experience in her adult life with men – kindness. Carl saw her a number of times, and always he smiled, helped, and was kind. He asked for nothing, and she concluded that he must not have wanted women – and left it at that. After a time, she asked him, “Why are you always nice to me?” He replied: “Well, two reasons. The first is because I like you. I think you are really wonderful person!” Feeling a bit stupid about receiving a compliment, she interrupted, “What’s the second reason?” He turned and looker her in the eye and said these simple words: “Because I have been where you are. I have lived through the hard life, and met a friend Who rescued me.” Carl shared Jesus with Enza, and she listened in half disbelief that One would come and die for her. Her disbelief wasn’t so much about His loving character, but more about His Sovereignty. “If there is a God like you say, where has He been in MY LIFE?” Carl smiled and said. “Bringing you to this bench, walking you to this minute, hurting for the abuses but knowing that today you would meet Him, and that would all change.” Enza began to tear up. Could it be true? She found out that it was – because Carl showed it first, and spoke it second. (RS: names changed).

Stop for a moment. What would have happened if Carl had decided that God was simply unfair in HIS LIFE? What would have happened if HE focused on the injustices rather than on God’s deliverance from his own rebellion? Carl would have become exactly what we become when we get angry and sickened by injustice of this world – he would have become ineffective as a witness. He would have missed out on a new life, and Enza would have missed out on his effective witness. Carl knew what Daniel was learning…

The mature believer’s view of the world should not be fixated on the temporary dominance of darkness, but rather on God at work – moving history toward His purposes.

An Enduring Legacy: “Back to Life” – Nehemiah 8:1-18

Lifeguard_jumpingThe whistles were blowing as the lifeguard charged from his perch with a swift, flowing and practiced movement. In one swoop his right arm took hold of the small life preserver that hung beside him on his station, as his feet plunged into the sand. Bouncing forward, he barely touched down on each stride as he charged ahead with his eyes fixed on the horizon. He lunged with four pronouncedly large paces into a few feet of depth in the water, and then dove headlong into the sea, as he began a fast-paced swim to the little body that was bobbing face down in the water. He approached the child, pulled their limp body upward, and slung what appeared to be a lifeless pale blue body on his side – swiftly pulling the child back to the beach. It was an unmistakably nightmare for a parent that was nearby and missed the clues that their child was in life-threatening trouble. When the lifeguard put the child down on the beach, other emergency personnel moved in and began forcing the crowd back, trying to give the guard room to work on the child. The site of a blue-skinned little boy shocked people. He was clearly not breathing, and it looked hopeless – to everyone EXCEPT the trained personnel that worked on his skinny little body. They breathed air into his lungs; they pressed upon his chest. In what seemed like an hour, but was more like a minute or two, the child choked, and then turned him aside to expel the contents of his stomach and his lungs. In short order, the boy was breathing and his color returned. A little one who was walking a path to eternity was invited back to the land of the breathing – right before our eyes. Some onlookers cried, some clapped for the rescuers, and two very fearful parents learned a lesson that day they will never forget: Sometimes life has been so squeezed from us that we need someone else to pump new life into our fading heart. Today, some of us need to hear this lesson, not because we are drowning in water… but because we are drowning in LIFE.

This passage, taken from Nehemiah 8, is all about spiritual revival. It is about new breath in old lungs. It is a story of those long ago, but it is also a story about you and I. Here is the principle…

Key Principle: God has given us the means to revive a cold heart and a breathless spiritual life and restore our passion for Him.

Before we move ahead, take a step back and look at the book from which we are taking our lessons. This is an ancient diary of a wine steward who trusted God, and was sent on a mission to restore a city and lay a foundation for the rebuilding of its people. Nehemiah was a man God brought from obscurity to prominence. He never would have thought that would happen… but God uses those who desire to be used of Him.

The lessons are broken in the book between three distinct stages:

Accepting the call of God through a burden (chapter one). Here we saw that God’s call to a man or woman who is ready will be both painful and uncertain at times – but it will lead a believer to a more intimate experience – trusting God to provide where He guides.

Completing the work of God in the face of opposition (chapters 2-6). We walked through this section of the journal, and recalled that any time we attempt to do what God has laid on our heart, we face the testing of fire by God’s enemy, as he stirs opposition. Because we have a spiritual foe that is set to stir up trouble, we learned of his familiar methods, so that we would be able to recognize them. In the journal, the enemy began with criticism of the work by men who were positioned to offer discouragement – but that didn’t stop the work. The criticism morphed into planted stories of gossip in the ranks of Nehemiah’s followers – but that test was overcome by a direct answer of the leader. Nehemiah was then challenged by the draining of his energy through the complaints of mishandled people involved in the work, and even faced personal temptation in the lure of gain as his spiritual enemy dangled benefits in his face. By the time we reached the story in chapter six, Nehemiah faced a trio of very personal troubles – slander, private intimidation and public threats – all meant to produce FEAR in the leader and get him to make mistakes from which he could not recover. In the end – the wall got completed in fifty-two days. The leader and the people he oversaw could celebrate the completion, and God’s protection.

Organizing the people of God to become a blessing for God (7-13). Chapter seven began the process of getting the people right before God, and pressing on their journey to become a testimony of God’s goodness. Nehemiah installed long term leaders, organized the city’s gates and guards, and then went for a search of records to repopulate the city with those who belonged a part of what God wanted to do in the revived city of Jerusalem. That got the people of God into the walls – but not the passion for God into their hearts… that is our story for today!

The people saw God through their leader – and that is important – but not enough. Nehemiah was an example to them – but he was not always going to be with them. He could not help them in the days ahead… so they needed to be attached to God and capable to make decisions. They needed to know God’s Word, and follow God’s leading. How could they learn to do that after so long depending on others to lead them? They needed to hear directly from God. At the time – just the right time – God brought into the story the older priestly leader who again visited the people – Ezra. He was a master expositor of Scripture, and he could lead the people to carefully study of God’s Holy Word. It would become the pattern of learning that would hold the Jewish people together long after the newly rebuilt Temple and the re-erected walls of their capital lay in ruins. It became the pattern we are following this very day as we open the Word together. God had BIG PLANS for this small group of people – but ONLY if they would follow Him.

First, the story opens with the request of the people (7:73-8:1).

Drop your eyes on the last words of Nehemiah 7:73: “…When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns…that appears to be the beginning of the sentence and should precede the beginning of chapter eight…keep reading…Nehemiah 8:1 And all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the Law of Moses which the LORD had given to Israel.

The people needed more than walls and leaders, administration and posted gate closing hours – they needed God’s direction for their spiritual transformation. Can you see that they SENSED the need for God’s Word in their request?

Maybe they sensed their need because they had just been through a tremendous time of testing… Dr. David Osborn at Denver Seminary said: “Too often we try to use God to change our circumstances, while He is using our circumstances to change us.” (Compass, April 2003)

The fact is that one of the benefits of sustained testing and trouble in our lives is that it refines us to see what is truly important, and moves us to hunger for God. One writer noted:

You see, God is right now in the process of making us like Christ. Think of the process of refining maple syrup. Maple trees are tapped with buckets hung under the taps, and out drips a sap which is thin and clear, like water. On a good day, 50 trees will yield 30-40 gallons of sap, but it is essentially useless at this point with only a hint of sweetness. Then as the buckets fill, they are emptied into large bins that sit over an open fire. The sap comes to a slow boil; and as it boils, its water content is reduced and its sugars are concentrated. Hours later, it has developed a rich flavor and golden-brown color, but it must be strained several times to remove impurities before being reheated, bottled, and graded for quality. In the end, those 30-40 gallons of sap are reduced to one gallon of pure, delicious maple syrup, which is far better than the cheap, imitation, colored sugar-water that passes for maple syrup in the grocery store. So it is when we come to faith in Christ. We start like raw, unfinished sap, which could have been tossed aside as worthless. But God knew what he could make of us. He sought and found us, and his skillful hands are transforming us into something precious, sweet and useful. The long and often painful refining process brings forth a pure, genuine disciple easily distinguished from cheap imitations.” (Michele Straubel, Red Lake, Minnesota. From a sermon by C. Philip Green, Our Living Hope, 4/26/2011). Perhaps their troubles refined their taste buds for God. In any case…

In the simple request to have Ezra bring the Word, we see two important truths:

First, they GATHERED and they ASKED for the Law to be opened to them. They didn’t have a copy at home – this was the only way they could get the truth! Revival starts with the HUNGER by believers to hear God. They draw together people in the name and of the Lord and the pursuit of His will – not because they were afraid of the world, nor because they wanted to preserve some cultural “Bible belt” practices of yesteryear out of some nostalgia – but because they HUNGERED FOR GOD.

Second, the people asked someone with both knowledge of the text and a passion for God to explain revival to them. Ezra brought more than an old dusty scroll – he brought a warm and vibrant passion we will encounter between each line of the story. He knew that respect for Scripture is valueless unless it springs from awe of the God of Scripture and leads to obedience of its words. The walls built, the people recognized what their leaders already knew – the walls were a MEANS to the END of WORSHIP and TESTIMONY in Jerusalem!

How did they know to call on Ezra? It is worth noting this is the first mention of Ezra in this book – even though we know he was a leader from about a dozen years before of a group of returnees. Some scholars surmise that after Ezra 10 and the reforms he made in the people, he left them to return to Artaxerxes the King, and was now revisiting years later. His exposition of the Word was known from the decade before, and people wanted to hear it again.

A renewed passion for God comes, then, from a HUNGER to hear God and be changed by God. It can be found in His Word, but should be communicated by those with a passion to follow God and believe what He said. This is the beginning of a revival of our heart.

Second, we can observe the reading of the Word (8:2-4).

Nehemiah 8:2 Then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women and all who [could] listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. 3 He read from it before the square which was in front of the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the book of the law. 4 Ezra the scribe stood at a wooden podium which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah [and] Meshullam on his left hand.

Watch closely as you observe the scene where hearts were changed by God:

• The Word was brought in to the people of God as the holy seventh month commenced.

• The people were assembled – but not all were an equal part of the proceedings. Note the phrase in verse repeated in both verse two and three “those who could understand”. The reading of the Word was in Hebrew – but many of the people were no longer capable of recognizing the ancient words, because they spoke Aramaic. Some families carried on teaching the old language of God’s Word to their children, and those families could grasp what God’s Word taught more readily. Note they didn’t DUMB DOWN the teaching for effect – but rather pressed ahead with a reading only understood by some – and then took time to explain it to the rest in verse eight. My point: In a world where many were not versed in the things of God from their home, the meeting didn’t ignore those who DID know the Word and understand its teaching. Far too many meetings today, in an effort to win the new ones, ignore the ones who need more. People are spiritually starving in many a church that has its whole design to reach the new believer.

• Also note that careful attention to the Word of God preceded great revival. It was not merely the stirring and impassioned pleas of a crafted preacher, or the pulsing tones of the skilled band members – it was the timeless truth of the Word that changed lives! Leaders PLANNED the event and erected a platform and stood in attendance. Great moves of the Spirit are often preceded by a planned time in the Word!

• Look carefully at the list of names. Most of them are not terribly familiar sounding to you, but that isn’t the point. The text reveals one reader, but fourteen leaders. All were part of the pulpit team – even though only ONE was speaking. This wasn’t an opportunity to venerate Ezra – but rather the reflection of TEAM MINISTRY right from the start. The leaders were public, present and picked from the people. Good leadership was part of the scene of revival – it usually is.

Third, we begin to notice the reaction of the people (8:5-6).

Nehemiah 8:5 Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 Then Ezra blessed the LORD the great God. And all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the LORD with [their] faces to the ground.

Don’t be misled by reading of the respect the people had for the Word. They stood, not simply because of the words written on the vellum, but because of the Author of those words. This was God’s Holy Word – from the Creator’s own magnificent hand! The focus of their response in worship was clear in the text – not on the Word or the service, but on the Lord! Their first reaction was to stand out of respect for the Word; then in focus on the Lord of this Word! As the book was opened, the people showed: hunger for the Word (i.e. Amen); the opening of the palms to call on God to meet with them and sincere humility before God.

We have seen that revival comes from hunger and should be communicated by one who is passionate to follow God. We have seen the move of God was planned by leaders – not to become a celebrity show, but a team effort. We have seen respect for the Word and humility of heart – accompanied the pattern of renewal.

God’s Word is a powerful source of transformation. That is why we gather to study it together! The Word of God is a controlled release of truth and power. Ten gallons of gasoline can be lit with a match and release great power and show a dramatic and immediate impact. Yet, that is not the best use of such a fuel. On the other hand, if you fill the fuel tank of an automobile, the well-designed engine will use ten gallons of gasoline to take a person 300 miles or more. Explosions are spectacular, but controlled and consistent application of fuel has staying power. You don’t want to be a flash in the pan, but a sustainable and moving host to God’s hand and work. Regular application of God’s Word is not dramatic, but it moves you to where God wants to put you!

Fourth, we observe the careful rendering of the Word (8:7-8).

Nehemiah 8:7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, explained the law to the people while the people [remained] in their place. 8 They read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.

We cannot stress enough the simple point of these two verses…It isn’t just hearing the Word of God that changes people; understanding the Word is required for change! Careful, systematic instruction of the Word of God sown into the hearts of the people of God will bring about transformation. Careless handling of the Word will bring disaster! Who hasn’t seen the Bible used on the internet or television in a way that communicated the very OPPOSITE of the intended truths of God? People need more than just a hearing of the words – they require explanation and application of the principles of the Word.

Not to get distracted here, but we need to make a distinction between the systematic teaching of the Word and the bullet point teaching of systematic theology. Many a believer engages a theological presentation, but seldom encounters the story of the Bible in its setting. Remember this, theology is philosophy erected over the Word of God to help you see it cohesively. If your theology is wrong, it will affect the way you read the text. Let the text speak BEFORE you decide what it MUST MEAN to fit your theological and philosophical bend.

Pastor Bobby Scobey from Memphis insightfully wrote: “For 2,000 years the Bible, often unaided by any human intervention, has transformed the lives of those who read it, many times dramatically so. St. Augustine is a good example. For most of his life he was a famed academic in the Roman Empire. He was very successful in rhetoric, a noble profession. But he lived a thoroughly dissolute, self-indulgent, immoral life. The time came when he began to consider the claims of Christianity. He was alone in a garden one day when he heard a child singing out a line from a game: “Pick it up and read, pick it up and read.” He turned to his copy of the Scriptures, which was opened to Roman. 13. His eyes were drawn to the following words: “Not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” (Rom. 13:13-14). Deeply convicted, he surrendered to Christ, and the Roman rhetorician went on to become the Christian bishop of Hippo, the greatest theologian after Paul, and one of the most formidable intellects of Western civilization.” (sermoncentral.com)

Fifth, we encounter the response of the leaders (8:9-11).

Nehemiah 8:9 Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest [and] scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.”

When the people heard what God told them they were to do and to be, they were stunned by their own sin. The power of conviction overcame them – and the tears flowed like rain. Yet, that wasn’t what God wanted. God wanted them to change and feel released from the grip of the troubles. God wanted a time of sweet restoration!

How different our times! We stand before a hardened generation – often unwilling to even acknowledge sin in their lives when the results are devastating! What can we do! We can lovingly, passionately but clearly articulate the words of the Creator.

The other things we notice is that people need to be directed even in conviction. The people responded to the Word with tears, but the teachers offered more instruction. Who instructed? The teachers were Nehemiah (the Tirshata); Ezra (the scribe/reader) and Levites (explainers). They called to the people to cease mourning and proclaim the HOLY DAY! (9), to feast and rejoice and take care of the needy. Why? Because in addition to the conviction of the Word, God provided mature teachers that could direct the response to be in accordance with God’s greater purposes. Also, don’t neglect to note: God takes care of needy through those sensitive to HIS leading.

Sixth, we enjoy watching the right responses of the people (8:12-18).

It included celebration! (8:12)

Nehemiah 8:12 All the people went away to eat, to drink, to send portions and to celebrate a great festival, because they understood the words which had been made known to them.

The strange mix of pain and trust are hard to understand, but it is part of the transformation process – and it is played out differently in each life. In 1993 Gerald Sittser, a professor at Whitworth College was driving home from a family outing. In the car was his mother, wife of 20 years and four children. A drunk driver swerved across the center line and hit them head on. In an instant he lost his wife, his two year old daughter and his mother. In his book, A Grace Disguised, Sittser shares some insights from his painful journey: “The accident itself bewilders me today as much as it did three years ago. Much good has come out of it, but all the good in the world will never make the accident itself good. It remains a horrible, tragic and evil event to me. Yet the grief I feet is sweet as well as bitter. I still have a sorrowful soul; yet I wake up each morning joyful, eager for what the new day will bring. Never have I felt as much pain as I have in the last three years; yet never have I experienced as much pleasure in simply being alive … never have I felt so broken; yet never have I felt so whole . . . Never have I been so aware of my weaknesses and vulnerability; yet never have I been so content and felt so strong … Above all, I have become aware of the power of God’s grace and my need for it. My soul has grown because it has been awakened to the goodness and love of God. God has been present in my life these past three years. God will continue to be present to the end of my life and through all eternity. God is growing my soul, making it bigger and filling it with himself. My life is being transformed.”

The truth is that when we HEAR the Word of God, and we UNDERSTAND the Word, we must be willing to conform our ACTIONS to His Will! Emotions must be made subject to God’s direction. He doesn’t convict us to CRUSH us – but to CLEANSE US. God called the people to CELEBRATE their walk, not wallow in their conviction.

It included even greater hunger for truth (13).

Good food makes me hungry for good food. Pallets are trained… and so are congregations. Look at what the people did in response to hearing the MEAT of God’s Word…

Nehemiah 8:13 Then on the second day the heads of fathers’ [households] of all the people, the priests and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe that they might gain insight into the words of the law.

Truth fires the mind and heart to gain a better understanding. Lies dull the mind, and leave us in befuddled complexity. Billy Graham said years ago: “We’re suffering from only one disease in the world. Our basic problem is not a race problem. Our basic problem is not a poverty problem. Our basic problem is not a war problem. Our basic problem is a heart problem. We need to get the heart changed, the heart transformed.”

I love that in this example God began His renewal work in the heads of families – the leaders in the family! Their hearing brought them greater hunger, and their hunger pulled them to engage in learning.

It included the ready obedience of the families (8:14-18).

God’s Word is incredibly practical. They listened intently:

Nehemiah 8:14 They found written in the law how the LORD had commanded through Moses that the sons of Israel should live in booths during the feast of the seventh month. 15 So they proclaimed and circulated a proclamation in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the hills, and bring olive branches and wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches and branches of [other] leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.” 16 So the people went out and brought [them] and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim. 17 The entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them. The sons of Israel had indeed not done so from the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And there was great rejoicing. 18 He read from the book of the law of God daily, from the first day to the last day. And they celebrated the feast seven days, and on the eighth day [there was] a solemn assembly according to the ordinance.

The Feast of Tabernacles has always been a feast of thanksgiving for the deliverance of God from bondage and a celebration of the fruits of the harvest by His good hand! Here the harvest abounded in the fruits of gladness (17b) – not in the good THINGS God gave, but JOY in the OPPORTUNITY to obey him and “delight in the Lord”.

God has given us the means to revive a cold heart and a breathless spiritual life and restore our passion for Him.

Respect for Scripture is valueless unless it springs from awe of the God of Scripture and leads to obedience of the Scripture. It is not what we HEAR that helps us, it is what CHANGES US that helps us. Francis Chan said it well: “The truth is that the Spirit of the living God is guaranteed to ask you to go somewhere or do something you wouldn’t normally want or choose to do. The Spirit will lead you to the way of the cross, as He led Jesus to the cross, and that is definitely not a safe or pretty or comfortable place to be. The Holy Spirit of God will mold you into the person you were made to be. This often incredibly painful process strips you of selfishness, pride, and fear. For a powerful example of this, read in C. S. Lewis’s book The Voyage of the Dawn Treader about the boy, Eustace, who becomes a dragon. In order to become a little boy again, he must undergo a tremendous amount of pain as the dragon skin is peeled away and torn from him. Only after he endures this painful process is he truly transformed from a dragon back into a boy. Sometimes the sin we take on becomes such a part of us that it requires this same kind of ripping and tearing to free us. The Holy Spirit does not seek to hurt us, but He does seek to make us Christlike, and this can be painful.” (Francis Chan. Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit (pp. 50-51). Kindle Edition.)

Shine the Light: “Facing a Nightmare” – Daniel 7

nightmare1Did you ever feel like the COWARDLY LION? I had a nightmare the other morning, and it startled me. I was asked to speak at a new building that our church just somehow took over, but I lost my notes, my ironed shirt, my car keys, and the iPad I use for my Bible. I was running around the building and the people were not you – they were all different people, and NONE of them seemed to want to help me find my way to my things, and then to the pulpit of this labyrinth style church building. The rooms wound one into another, and I felt frustrated and hopelessly lost. .. I was unnerved, unsure, unprepared and about to become unglued. For me, that was a nightmare. I awoke and prayed the I would have not only my messages ready, but my heart as well, so that I might speak for the Lord with both His heart, and the tenor of His voice.

Did you ever have a terrible nightmare that came back to you even after you awoke? A nightmare can be so thoroughly engaging that you can be CONVINCED you are truly living it, or you may even be able to discern that it is not real, but rather a dream state (even while it is ongoing).

Web MD explains: Nightmares are vividly realistic; disturbing dreams that rattle you awake from a deep sleep. … Because periods of REM sleep become progressively longer as the night progresses, you may find you experience nightmares most often in the early morning hours.

Doctors aren’t completely sure what triggers them, but they offered these thoughts in the same source:

Nightmares in adults are often spontaneous. But they can also be caused by a variety of factors and underlying disorders. Some people have nightmares after having a late-night snack, which can increase metabolism and signal the brain to be more active. …

Hmm…. Now I am trying to recall what I ate before I went to bed the other night… Now as riveting as the story of my personal sleep disorders may be, I didn’t come to share my story today, but rather my Master’s story. Strangely enough, our lesson will be taken from an inspired nightmare. God delivered a message to the prophet Daniel through a nightmare – and it left him troubled and pale. Then God let him do something that was incredibly helpful… He wrote it down for us. He shared it for the generations that followed his ministry, and we have it today. God spoke to Daniel in a way that Daniel would understand – dreams. He had already established, years before under the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II that God worked through him in that way – so God used it in his later life personally.

Remember, when God wants to reveal something, He has many options, and all of them will seem invasive if we don’t know, love and trust him. Daniel DID know God – but even in that state, this was a powerfully difficult message to receive from God… a message about long centuries of godless rulers and powerful pagans that would follow their PASSION FOR POWER rather than an opportunity to PROMOTE THEIR CREATOR. The message scarred Daniel, but it wasn’t given to hurt him. Truth can hurt, but that isn’t its original intention much of the time. This painful truth became clear to Daniel…

Key Principle: The struggle for a righteous kingdom will continue until God establishes His kingdom on earth in place of the works of men.

God has a purpose for telling the story of Who He is in human history, but when injustice is allowed to run rampant in the streets, no believer in immune from feeling the swell of the question inside: “God, why don’t You DO something about this?” Habakkuk cried out his question to God in the face of injustice… it was unbearable. Daniel’s vision was simple: wicked king after wicked king would rule and do wrong – all as part of God’s unfolding drama of human history. It upset Daniel, and it upsets us. I HATE that evil men seem to prevail in so many world conflicts. It is hard not to be beat down by it all! If you have ever felt that, you understand the heart behind the record in chapter seven of Daniel.

It is worth noting that this vision (the second after the one recorded in chapter 2:19-45) was maintained in the ancient manuscript in Aramaic, not Hebrew – so it seems this lesson was for the world of Daniel’s day (and the rulers) to easily comprehend. God wasn’t embarrassed the evil would appear to prevail with such power and unchecked determination.

Sometimes people who are critical of God’s people and God’s Word like to use their seemingly enduring power as evidence of their supremacy, a sort of “might makes right” idea. God included in the text the truth that men who HATE God and His people will have their centuries to rule, but they would not ultimately last… God will end all things in righteousness, firmly held in His control. This is His plan and it was disturbing before he settled into God’s message. Take a look…

First, consider the situation (7:1).

7:1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying in bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream.

Belshazzar was the son of Nabonidus, who ruled three years and then left his throne to his son while he devoted himself to the worship of the moon god Sin in a desert oasis – a spiritual pilgrimage of sorts. Belshazzar became co-regent in 553 BCE, and was supposed to attend to Babylon’s defense during his dad’s journey. A few years later, in about 540 BCE, Nabonidus returned when he heard the Persians planned to take the city of Babylon from his son. Nabonidus marched to face Cyrus the Mede, but was defeated and on October 10, 539 BCE, he surrendered to Cyrus. Two days later the Persian armies overthrew the haughty city of Babylon that was engaged in a drunken party as Daniel recorded in our earlier lesson on Daniel 5.

The point of this statement was to share that Belshazzar was a new prince. The young man was new at the job, and as we have seen in a previous lesson, his passions led him. He wasn’t a strong moral ruler, nor did he appear in historical record as a deeply spiritual or reflective man. I cannot prove it, but I have an idea that the prince’s actions in the throne room and banquet hall may have been part of what fed Daniel a nightmare. Daniel evidently wrote the dream to explain the matters within it. The “kept in my heart” reference of 7:28 may refer to his reactions only- It is unclear. What is clear is that the nightmare was painful to behold and scary to contemplate, and then he awoke to Prince “party animal the selfish”. These were days when Daniel really may have questioned what in the world he was doing on this divine assignment. Did you ever do that?

Second, beyond the “situation” that was playing out, by his record Daniel allows us to consider the elements of the vision (7:2-8):

7:2 Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. 3 Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. 4 “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it. 5 “And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’ 6 “After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule. 7 “After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns. 8 “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully.

Essentially, he saw four beasts (7:4-8). Each beast, according to verse 17 represent kings and their kingdoms:

bald-eaglePerhaps the dream sounds strange to you, picturing different kingdoms by specific animals. Yet, think about it… around the world we use symbols of our country relating to a bald eagle. Let’s see if there are any of the nations on the list of four above that make sense to us:

First, there was a kingdom that is pictured by a lion with wings.

Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian rulers all loved lions. Years before this prophecy King Ashurbanipal II (850’s BCE) had two 15 ton lions of war carved and placed at the entrance of the Temple adjacent to his palace in the Assyrian capital of his day. Each lion was 2.25 meters wide and 2.6 meters high! One was recovered, discovered by Henry Layard in 1849 and now located in the British Museum collection. Persians made royal lion hunts a part of their national pride symbolism. The king of the jungle is a natural for such symbolism. At the same time, none of us have seen lions with wings…unless we traveled to ancient Persia. Such representations are found in Babylon, and all of the Persian Gulf. A lion with wings could easily befit Babylon because she was so swift in conquest of other kingdoms (cp. Jer 49:22; Lam 4:19; Ezek 17:3; Hab 1:6, 8). Like in Daniel 2:19ff, the first kingdom is that of Babylon. It was formerly represented in the Daniel 2 vision as the head of gold.

Second, there was a kingdom pictured as a tilted bear with three ribs hanging from its mouth.

Like the arms and breast of silver from Daniel 2:32, the second kingdom seemed always to be a confederation of TWO THINGS. In the earlier vision it was two arms crossed on the chest, and in this one it is the lopsided bear. The Medes and Persians were such an Empire, unequal partners in confederation – and their king, Cyrus, gobbled up several important cities on their way to taking Babylon as their prize. It is worth noting that early on, it appears that Median influence dominated during the reigns of Cyrus and Cambyses…but in time there appears to have been a drift more toward Persian dominance by the time of Xerxes fifty years later (some suggest that in the phrase from Esther 1:19, “the laws of the Persians and the Medes”).

Third, there was a kingdom pictured as leopard with four heads and four wings.

Greece followed Persia, and the detailed history of the exploits of Alexander the Great’s chasing of Darius III are well known to historians. The leopard corresponds to the “belly and…thighs of bronze” from Daniel 2:32 and 39 – this time the emphasis being placed on the swiftness of the conquests. The four heads, no doubt, refer to the four Diadoche – the generals that took over after the untimely death of Alexander. Donald Campbell adds that… “The expression “dominion was given to it” is most interesting and significant. Did Alexander imagine that it was his military genius alone that enabled him and his small army of 35,000 men to defeat the massive hordes of the Persians numbering, some believe, in the millions? It is true that Alexander was a great leader, but his victories and subsequent dominion over a great empire were his because God, in the execution of His plans, allowed it to happen. Will world rulers ever understand this important fact?” Daniel: God’s Man in a Secular Society by Donald K Campbell.

Fourth, there was a kingdom pictured as terrible monster with ten horns protruding from its head.

Before Daniel saw the last beast, the phrase “after that” may refer only to the sequence of the vision, but appears to suggest the order of the kingdoms themselves. Daniel had no way to make sense of this part of the vision from animal world. It was a beast beyond his experience. Like the hard to describe “iron kingdom” we encountered earlier in Daniel 2:40 – this “terrible beast” was a different kind of kingdom. It appeared to be a conglomerate of things – not one cohesive thing. Finding Rome in this place is not at all difficult, for the might of that Empire stretch from Scotland to Saudi Arabia and changed the face of the world for centuries. Their warfare and killing machinery was without parallel, and the vision made that clear.

Like the end of the Daniel 2 vision had ten toes, so the end of this vision had ten horns. They came out of the system of the fourth kingdom, but seemed to be an interesting separate detail from that system. Look back at the way Daniel was distracted by the horns:

7:7b “…It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns. 8 “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully.

The “ten horns” as a specific designation can be seen nine times in Scripture – three in Daniel 7 and six in Revelation 13 and 17. In this passage, it is interesting to note the ten horns refers to a singular kingdom grammatically in Aramaic, which implies that it is a divided single confederation composed of ten rulers, or that there are ten rulers in sequence. The real distraction was the BIG MOUTH on the LITTLE HORN at the end of verse eight.

Now step back for a second, and look at what Daniel recorded. He saw four kingdoms, and the last one had a complicated ending to it – with a variety of rulers and one really boastful individual that couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

Babylon would give way to Persia, and Persia would succumb to Greece. The four Diadoche Kingdoms of Greece would be crushed by the iron treads of Rome. Rome would set a pattern that would build a coalition of ten kings, and a boastful and arrogant politician would arise on the world stage.

Prophecy students LOVE to get tied in the details, but that wasn’t the point of the story – not really.

The third section of the story drew in the movement in Heaven (7:9-14).

One of only a few glimpses the Scriptures give us into the throne room of heaven is found here. There are some striking similarities (as well as a few differences) from this description and the one found in Revelation 4 and 5! Hold on tight, because we are about to pull the curtain back to the very place where God dwells. The physical description represents an unfathomable spiritual world…

7:9 “As I looked, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. 10 A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. 11 “Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. 12 (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.) 13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

Daniel’s eyes were moved from the boasting horn by a much more impressive vision… that of God’s throne room in Heaven. Think of what he saw! Many thrones were staged as the court of Heaven began to form before him. The Most High God sat down on the highest throne. His visage was beyond compare and his throne was like a moving chariot – with wheels beheld also by the prophet Ezekiel. Look at the God that you serve:

• He is seated on the throne as Judge of all things. Many have opinions, but none are His equal. He is uniquely qualified to discern all things.

• He is clothed in pure white, untainted, unstained, utterly distinct above all. None can compare to the shine of His purity. He is without spot, without blemish, without shadow of turning.

• The hair of His head is white as one with the vast wisdom of all the ages.

• The throne on which he sat was ablaze with a smelter’s fire – for no dross or impurity would ever touch His holy personage.

• His throne was not stationary, but moving and flexible – engaged and ever nimble.

• A flow of fire came from that throne – the heat of holiness combined with the light of truth.

• Thousands of thousands attended Him – all Heaven attentive to His moves and commands.

Don’t forget in all the familiarity of our day that God is not like us. He is not simply our Heavenly buddy or spiritual chum… He is King above all, Majestic and Holy, to be revered, worshiped and adored. There is none like Him!

Ah, this is the special blessing of this passage, but it is ALSO THE PROBLEM OF THE PASSAGE. Look at Daniel’s response in 7:15 “I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me.

Why was Daniel troubled? Why didn’t the sight of Heaven COMFORT him? Because he could see the truth about what God was going to do…and the truth wasn’t pleasant to behold! Keep reading…

To understand, first look at the interpretation of the vision as it was explained first TO him, and then BY him for us:

7:16 I approached one of those standing there and asked him the meaning of all this. “So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things: 17 ‘The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth. 18 But the holy people of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’ 19 “Then I wanted to know the meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others and most terrifying, with its iron teeth and bronze claws—the beast that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. 20 I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully. 21 As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom. 23 “He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. 24 The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. 25 He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time. 26 “ ‘But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. 27 Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’

This isn’t difficult to grasp. Look at the sequence:

• There will be four kings and respective kingdoms.
• The last one will have a renewed confederation with ten kings.
• There will arise an especially boastful big mouth – what a shock that politicians could be described that way!
• The big mouth took on God’s people and really whipped them badly until God stepped in.
• Tuning in to the fourth kingdom – it would take over the planet and make a confederation of the world’s rulers for a time.

Look even closer into verses 24-26, because it described in detail a specific period toward the end of all human history:

• Ten kings confederate, and AFTER THEM one arises that knocks out three other leaders.
• His boasting includes defiant blasphemy against God.
• His acts are against God’s people, and he changes the order – redraws the calendar and changes the laws to conform with his own standards.
• He gets cut off. His power is taken away. Heaven acts.
• The Kingdom God replaces the boastful one’s rule with is the EVERLASTING KINGDOM.

Now, here is the statement of Daniel’s feeling, yet again…Daniel 7:28 “This is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was deeply troubled by my thoughts, and my face turned pale, but I kept the matter to myself.”

The point of the story…

We have walked through details of kingdoms, but I cannot shake that Daniel is upset. Kings and kingdoms will rise and fall. Armies will march one against another in succession. Bad men will sit atop the pinnacle of power, only to be unseated by other bad men. Evil will reign for generations. God’s people will suffer. Right will be trampled. Fair judgments will be overturned. Votes will be upended by a few who will force the rest of us into their twisted views of what they want. We will watch injustice, and we will feel powerless. We will want to give up. We will want to withdraw. We will feel like there is NO POINT…and we will be WRONG when we think that way. It won’t end in injustice. God isn’t abandoning mankind. It is true…

The struggle for a righteous kingdom will continue until God establishes His kingdom on earth in place of the works of men.

Should I flee to a monastery? Should I grouse at the Heavens? Should I look for hope in the next politician to save us? Should I weep and cry, and feel that God has left the scene? Not at all. I should follow him. I should follow Him where He leads and boldly proclaim WHAT He says. I don’t need to MAKE A DIFFERENCE. I need to be OBEDIENT. Let me close with a story that may help illustrate what I am saying…

Theodorot was a fourth century bishop from Syria, and he wrote a number of commentaries and stories. One of them was the incredible story of a monk named Telemachus…President Ronald Reagan told the story at a Prayer Breakfast in 1984, and since he was a better story teller than I will ever be, I will just quote his version:

[There was a] monk living in a little remote village, spending most of his time in prayer or tending the garden from which he obtained his sustenance – [his name was] Telemachus, [he lived] back in the fourth century. And then one day, he thought he heard the voice of God telling him to go to Rome. And believing that he had heard, he set out. And weeks and weeks later, he arrived there, having traveled most of the way on foot. And it was at a time of a festival in Rome. They were celebrating a triumph over the Goths. And he followed a crowd into the Colosseum, and then there in the midst of this great crowd, he saw the gladiators come forth, stand before the Emperor, and say, “We who are about to die salute you.” And he realized they were going to fight to the death for the entertainment of the crowds. And he cried out, “In the name of Christ, stop!” And his voice was lost in the tumult there in the great Colosseum. And as the games began, he made his way down through the crowd and climbed over the wall and dropped to the floor of the arena. Suddenly the crowds saw this scrawny little figure making his way out to the gladiators and saying, over and over again, “In the name of Christ, stop.” And they thought it was part of the entertainment, and at first they were amused. But then, when they realized it wasn’t, they grew belligerent and angry. And as he was pleading with the gladiators, “In the name of Christ, stop,” one of them plunged his sword into his body. And as he fell to the sand of the arena in death, his last words were, “In the name of Christ, stop.” And suddenly, a strange thing happened. The gladiators stood looking at this tiny form lying in the sand. A silence fell over the Colosseum. And then, someplace up in the upper tiers, an individual made his way to an exit and left, and others began to follow. And in the dead silence, everyone left the Colosseum. That was the last battle to the death between gladiators in the Roman Colosseum. Never again did anyone kill or did men kill each other for the entertainment of the crowd. One tiny voice that could hardly be heard above the tumult. “In the name of Christ, stop.”

You don’t know what your voice will do. You follow God. You don’t follow Him only when it is fair and things are going well. You follow Him and do His bidding in your office, in your shop, in your carpool, in your home. You follow, and He will bring the end in His time. Injustice may prevail for a time. Sin may rage in our streets, but Heaven isn’t slack concerning God’s promises. God isn’t impotent, He is patient. When it hurts, keep your eyes fixed on the eastern sky – your redemption draws near!

The struggle for a righteous kingdom will continue until God establishes His kingdom on earth in place of the works of men.