He is Able to Humble the Proud

Nebuchadnezzar's conclusion in regards to God's character after seven years living in the fields like a wild beast (Dan 4.37). God had humbled him. God IS able to humble the proud, but if we finish this story and all we take out of it is that Nebuchadnezzar needed to be humbled and consequently was humbled then we miss the point altogether.

We are the proud. I am the proud. I am Nebuchadnezzar. Sobering thought, no?

The End of Days

I really like the very last verse of the book of Daniel (Daniel 12.13) because it holds so much promise, for Daniel—and for every believer. Daniel will not see his own prophecies fulfilled. He will pass away. He will rest—a euphemism for death. What exactly the Scriptures mean by rest is not clear. I think it means the body will rest in the grave until the resurrection. The NRSV translates the second half of the verse as: You will rise for your reward at the end of days. This is not as literal as the ESV: you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days. However, I think the NRSV gets the point of the passage. There will come an end of days, and end of time, when God will finish up what he started. There will also come an allotted place, or a reward (NRSV) for Christ-followers. This is our hope. This is the promise. This is the end...and the beginning.

Calling for God to Act

In Daniel 9.19, this morning where Daniel closes his marvelous prayer of confession and supplication for God's people. It is a good example of how we can pray (but often do not). O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God! It is good and right to confess our sins. It is good and right to call for the Lord to act. It is good and right to call for the Lord to act without delay. All of this expresses dependence, and it is fundamentally dependence for which God instituted the practice of prayer. It's not that God doesn't know our thoughts or situation; it's that we express and acknowledge our dependence upon him when we pray, as David does so well here.

God Gave

In Daniel 1.17, this morning where the theological keywords of the passage are: God gave them...

We often make the mistake of assuming that the talents we have are due to our own efforts when as the writer of Daniel understood, God gave them. What do you have that you did not receive? Paul asks in 1 Cor 4.7. If then you did receive it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

Boasting for our talents and abilities should go towards God and give him the glory for them because God gave them.