Daniel 8:1-27
The Hardest Part of Suffering | One of the main ways we get through hard times in life is by looking ahead to the future. By looking ahead, we are alleviated of our current suffering. What makes suffering the hardest is the uncertainty of the future. For us, present concerns with the pandemic and the divisions of our country certainly occupy our daily attention. What makes this even worse is not knowing when it will end. The same was true for the exiles. They longed for the day that God would restore them to some sense of normalcy. Deep down, they believed that God’s redemption would end their suffering.
The main idea we have observed in Daniel is that God is in control, even when it doesn’t seem like it. Daniel, his friends, and their fellow Israelites had witnessed God act in exile. Whether it was a fiery furnace, a lion’s den, or a confusing vision, God demonstrates to His people that it is possible to live with hope even when the future is most uncertain. This powerful truth applies to us today. The apocalyptic visions we encounter in Daniel give us a new way of seeing our present and looking toward the future in view of God’s sovereignty. The answers we find may not be what we like, but they are what we need. The vision in Daniel 9 confronts three of the most powerful idols in American culture and American Christianity: planning, pace, and power.
1. What will Happen? - Planning
Daniel’s vision includes a ram, a multi-horned uni-goat, and a little horn that was most arrogant and directly opposed to God. He describes a violent battle between the ram and the goat, and the horns that represent kingdoms that would overtake each other in due time. Though symbolic and cryptic, the vision addresses the question, “What wiill happen in the future? Will the bad really go away?” The answer given is that it is not for us to know. Daniel receives visions from God that are detailed, but also mysterious and not fully understandable. Daniel, a faithful prophet, is left in despair for several days following this vision (9:27). This is a feeling that we often share with Daniel when the future is uncertain. What’s most clear in this vision is that things go from bad to worse! We rightly ask, “How does this help!?” The answer is that the Bible does not give us naive view of the future, similar to a placebo.
Scripture challenges us to take a realistic view of the future. The purpose of the vision in Daniel 9 is not to show him what is there, but who is there. God doesn’t reveal what will happen so that we can merely know the details of the future; God’s revelation shows us that He knows the future. We have been living in a what-will-happen state for most of 2020. We continually question what will happen in the coming months and years. But the message for us is this: Are we trusting God to make His plans happen, or are we trusting God to make our plans happen? Let us take hold of the realistic view and trust in God’s plan rather than our own. As Jesus reminds us, “what I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand (Jn 13:7).
2. How Long? - Pace
As the vision of the battle is described, a pertinent question is asked by a heavenly observer. “How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled?” (9:13). We are likely asking the same question: how long? The answer God provides here (8:14) is: not forever. Sin, evil and suffering will not last forever. But we would do well to remember that God’s pace is different than our own. This answer does not invalidate our feelings. Observe how this question is repeated throughout the Scriptures.
My whole being is shaken - how long, O Lord? (Ps 6:3)
How long Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will I store up anxious concerns within me? (Ps 13:1-2)
How long Lord? Will you hide forever? (Ps 89:46)
How long, Lord, must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you do not save? (Hab 1:2)
Even though Daniel receives a direct answer, “2,300 evenings and mornings” (9:14), it is not automatically comforting. Difficult times still feel long. We ought to take comfort in the fact that it will not last forever and that during this time, we can mature in faith, hope, and love. Our cries of “How long?” are echoed in heaven and draw us into God’s promise that He has set a limit on sin and evil. Instead of looking for the exact timing on the “timer”, we should look to the God who sets it
3. How will God Prevail? - Power
God gave Daniel a vision of a terrible future. Think about the implications of it. Daniel and the Israelites were already in a bad situation; they were exiled to Babylon. This vision concerns other nations and kings that would arise and bring more chaos and destruction. It looked as if things would go from bad to worse. So what is the point of the vision? God wants to prepare us for even the worst that the future can bring. One small verse in this terrible news for Daniel gives us hope –“Yet he will be broken - Not by human hands (9:25)”. All human attempts to become God or stand against him will not only be stopped; they will be broken. These efforts are no match for God’s power.
That brings us to two very important questions: when the future is uncertain, how will God prevail, and how will we persevere? Not by human hands. This is the toughest answer of all, but the most hopeful of all. Daniel understood this answer, which contributed to his breakdown and despair (9:27). To live with hope for an uncertain future, we must be broken too. The answer targets the very things we cling to so often - self-reliance, individual strength, and our own fortitude. The reality is that if this answer doesn’t break us, then we don’t really understand grace.
The answer shows us how to apply the doctrine of grace to our uncertain futures. The Scriptures are replete with examples of how our salvation and everything we have in Jesus Christ is a result of grace, not by works. Here’s how this applies to our futures = We do not work for and earn the future we want from God; rather, we are given the future God wants for us as a gift. There is nothing we can do with human hands to change the love He has for us in Jesus Christ. If this is true our future is filled with his grace, love and favor for us – no matter what! When we let go of trying to earn the future we want from God, we are broken by grace and unbreakable in life.
The grace of God leads us not to passivity, but it frees us to trust in God with the future and to do what he calls us to do. After Daniel was worn out and exhausted for several days after this vision, what did he do? He got up and went about the king’s business (9:27). It is ok to feel despair and even to be immobile at times. We must process this in our own time and seek to renew our trust in God that we might be lifted up and resume our work. Let us not be defined by despair and brokenness, but let us rise up and attend to the king’s business.
REFLECT OR DISCUSS
What about the message is most relevant to you today? What questions did it raise for you? What is most challenging for you about the uncertainty of the future in our current time of difficulty? What are you looking to for hope for your future?
What is the difference between a naive view of the future (ie “look for silver lining”, “it will be ok!”) and a realistic view of the future according to Scripture? Why is this important to keep in mind?
It was asked in the sermon, “Are we trusting God to make His plans happen in our lives, or are we trusting God to make our plans happen for our lives?” What’s the difference? How have you experienced this dynamic at work in your life.
Observe some of the “how long?” verses listed above. What do these declarations teach us about how we can and should pray in hard times? Do you pray or have you prayed like this? If so, what impact has it had on you? If not, why not?
Daniel 9:27 is good news tucked into this vision of a hard future. This statement teaches us to apply to doctrine of grace to our futures. We could summarize it like this - We do not work for and earn the future we want from God; rather, we are given the future God wants for us as a gift. How do you find yourself trying to build or earn the future you want from God (with your human hands)? What might it look like to trust God for the future He wants to give you as a gift of grace?
Read 2 Corinthians 4:7-9. What does this passage teach us about how to be “unbreakable” in life? How is God calling you to go about the King’s business as you trust him for your future?