Two year Bible reading program.

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 27:19 Understanding to grow in Chapter 11 ends with a ruler encamped in readiness to attack the holy mountain (representative of God's people), only to suddenly come to his end (11v45). 12v1 implies his defeat will be because the angel Michael arose to protect God’s people. And so, although this will be a time of unsurpassable distress, all whose names are written in God’s book (recording those who are his) will be delivered. Whether this refers to the end of Antiochus Epiphanes or the end of history, 12v2 certainly speaks of the final resurrection. So how God’s people responded will matter. Some will be raised to everlasting shame and contempt (no doubt because of their compromises), and others ...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 27:18 Understanding to grow in As the book ends it becomes even more mysterious. Daniel sees a rather God-like figure that terrifies him, but then speaks words about the future of God's people (10v14). This figure reveals that behind key kingdoms are supernatural "princes" that influence them. So the angel "Michael" who is for the Jews, assists this figure in fighting against the demonic beings behind Persia and Greece - presumably in keeping them fulfilling God's purposes and protecting the Jews (10v13, 20-21, 12v1). What follows is a rather detailed prediction of what would lead to the rise of one who seems to fit Antiochus Epiphanes - a “contemptible person” who will se...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 27:17 Understanding to grow in 9v1 gives us the date 539BC and may imply Darius is another name for Cyrus (see Ezr 1v1). We learn that the book of Jeremiah was already considered scripture, and that Daniel regarded it as God’s word, gleaning that Jerusalem’s would remain in a state of destruction for 70 years. Counting from his exile in 605BC Daniel recognises the time is almost over and so fasts and prays that God would do as he promised – a model for us praying home God’s will. And God did. That year, the persian emporer decreed the exiles could return. The prayer appeals to God’s covenant love for those who love him. It also expresses solidarity with the people more generally, confessing their...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 27:15-16 Understanding to grow in This vision came after the previous one (8v1). In it, Daniel is in Susa, the center of the coming Persian kingdom. It confirms what we've seen so far. The ram with two long horns is Medo-Persia (8v20), the goat with a prominent horn that was then broken is Greece under Alexander who died suddenly (8v22). The description of the horn that comes from this and grows in power is astonishingly accurate with respect to Antiochus Epiphanes, who we mentioned yesterday. This horn is said to throw down and trample on some of the starry host, and set itself up against their prince (8v9-11). The later interpretation suggests the host are probably mighty kings or the people of ...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 27:14 Understanding to grow in 7v1 returns us to the reign of Belshazzar. Daniel's description of the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea from which four great beasts came, probably implies God’s intent behind their rise (7v2-3). As with Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the choice of ferocious beasts shows they represent the inhumane and vicious cruel rule of four kingdoms (7v17), contrasting righteous rule which is to image God. Each is a specific ruler or kingdom: The first three represent Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece. A good case can be made that the fourth is Rome. But to my mind, the apparent chronology of the accounts works best if it is the Seleucid Empire, founded by one of Alexa...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 27:13 Understanding to grow in Those with more knowledge are more accountable. And so Belshazzar is not given the lesson Nebuchadnezzar had, to bring him to acknowledge the LORD. He was aware of what happened to his father, yet still ignored Israel's God. The kingdom is therefore taken from him as Babylon is defeated by Medo-Persia in 539BC. And once again, Daniel acts with integrity, not allowing himself to be drawn into acting for the sake of wealth and prestige, but only for the Lord. However, the officials of the new king Darius are jealous of Daniel, and so they trick Darius to decree that any who do not pray to him are to be thrown to the lions. Daniel's sets an example to all in refusi...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 27:12 Understanding to grow in It's a dream to humble anyone, but especially those who rule. Their power and authority has been given them by God who alone is the sovereign ruler "over all kingdoms on earth" (4v25). And so when Nebuchadnezzar glories in himself as if the achievements of Babylon were not by divine gift, he is humbled. Becoming insane and animalistic is hugely significant, as ruling over creation is a key thing that sets humanity apart as made in the image of God (Gen 1v26-28). Arrogant and abusive rule is to be beast-like, whereas humble and righteous rule is to be God-like and so truly human. One cannot therefore think of Christ as the perfect man and king, who never gl...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 27:11 Understanding to grow in How far are you prepared to go for Jesus' sake? What are you prepared to lose? The example of Daniel's friends must have been a great challenge to others exiled in Babylon. They refused to worship the Babylonian gods, nor Nebuchadnezzar as if a god. And when given a second chance on threat of death by fire, they stuck to their guns - honouring God by testifying that they trusted and served him whether he chose to rescue them or not. The equivalent today might be the Christian who respectfully explains why their faith in Christ means they can't be involved in interfaith worship, in bowing down with assent to the state's view of sexuality and gender, or an...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 27:9-10 Understanding to grow in The Lord is the true only true and living God. That's the point here. Babylon's wise men are unable to tell the king his dream remarking that only gods could, and they don't live amongst men. But Daniel steps up and after seeking prayer, praises God for his wise knowledge and sovereign power and then gives the interpretation. As we'll see through the book, the dream speaks of successive empires: most likely Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece and then either the Seleucid or Roman Empire. The point is that the passing of each will be a step towards the setting up of the long awaited Messiah's kingdom, that will endure forever. This would have given great...

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 27:8 Understanding to grow in So how should we live as we work out our faith in an ungodly and sometimes hostile culture? The book of Daniel is about more than this, affirming God's supremacy and predicting something of Israel's future history to encourage the people to endure. But, along the way, it scatters instances of Daniel's faithfulness to model how to live for the Lord in a Babylonian society. 1v1-2 dates Daniel's exile to 605BC. And in Babylon, there was a danger he and his friends would assimilate, losing their identity as Jews and as worshippers of the true God. They are taught the language and literature and even given new names. This makes Daniel's refusal to eat from...