Bible Ballistics: BBs #186   Safe In The Storm!!!

As I sit here watching the storms roll in—

I see the lightning—

I hear the thunder—

I see the rain!

And while those are almost always welcome sights and sounds here in Oklahoma, there are storms that aren’t welcome. Those that bring damage, harm and fear can send us into a panic, unless we’re prepared. But there are other non-weather storms that come into our lives:

The kind with pain–

The kind with grief—

The kind with sorrow—

The kind that we feel in our hearts—

The kind we fear!

So what do we do in those times? While we generally run for cover when we are caught outside in a heavy storm, or even a spring shower, what do we do when those personal, emotional storms of fear, grief or pain come? Where can we run for safety in the storms?

“And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. 25 And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. 26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. 27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” Matthew 8:24-27

Where can we run? We can run to our Lord Jesus Christ—the master of the storm. Yet we can run to Him before the fears take hold of us—run to Him immediately!!! Don’t wait till the fears, panic and stress have taken their disabling grip on our hearts and minds. Jesus questioned his disciples, “Why are ye fearful”? And then answered His own question! “O ye of little faith”—we are to live by faith NOT by sight. We may see, feel and fear the ‘storms’ that come into our lives, but we have a Savior and Lord who knows where we are all the time, and we are to live knowing that the same ‘faith’ that saves us and makes us HIS, is the very faith that we are to live by. Living with our eyes fixed on Jesus—is the solution. Always simple, seldom easy!!!

“I am crucified with Christ:

nevertheless I live;      yet not I,

but Christ liveth in me:

and the life which I now live in the flesh

I live by the faith of the Son of God,

who loved me, and gave himself for me.”  Galatians 2:20

Where do we find courage over fear, and victory in the ‘storms’? Only and always in Jesus!!! But it requires death to self and a life of faith that only Jesus can enable and empower, by His life in us—His Holy Spirit within us!!! We can live victorious in the midst of the storms!!!

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” Hebrews 13:5-6

We have an eternal ally, a fear eliminator, always and ever interceding for us—we not only have prayer-warriors (for whom I am so grateful) supporting and lifting us up, we have a “Prayer-Savior” ever speaking for us, as well as to us.

“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25

And how is He able to do this? Because He humbled Himself and took on flesh to pay for sins that He didn’t commit, that we might have life that we don’t and could never deserve or work to earn!

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.”  Hebrew 2:14-18

So?? Are ‘storms’ overwhelming you? Remember that God rules the storms and difficulties and HE IS HERE FOR YOU! NOW! He knows where you are! Call on HIM, He’s listening!!! Do you know Him? Do you ‘have’ Him?

“He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” 1 John 5:12

Bible Ballistics: Attitude of Gratitude and Faith??? Vol. 6#14

Daniel was faithful to God in the crises, and also went on to be a faithful instrument of God’s grace and one of the most profound eschatological (a big word that just means end time events) prophets in all of scripture. He was given some of the most important prophecies in the Bible, yet it all began in his youth—the youth of a faithful servant. This faithful young man continued on to be a man of faith and devotion to God during his whole life. As we saw in our last study, he knew where to go when the crises was dropped right in his lap, he went to his God. But one of the things we often miss in this amazing story is Daniel’s response to God when the prayers of he and his friends were answered so powerfully.

“Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: 18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.” Daniel 2:17-18

We often hear about Daniel and his friends praying in their time of crisis, but we seldom hear about Daniel’s prayer of gratitude in reply to God’s answer to their prayers, and that’s where we’ll springboard from today. Daniel’s prayer of thanksgiving is one of the most revealing prayers in all the Bible, and I love to read it over and over again to remind myself of the awesome character of the God we serve!!!

“Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

20 Daniel answered and said,

       Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever:

       for wisdom and might are his:

       21 And he changeth the times and the seasons:

       he removeth kings, and setteth up kings:

       he giveth wisdom unto the wise,

       and knowledge to them that know understanding:       

22 He revealeth the deep and secret things:

       he knoweth what is in the darkness,

       and the light dwelleth with him.

23 I thank thee,

       and praise thee,

              O thou God of my fathers,

       who hast given me wisdom and might,

       and hast made known unto me

              now

              what we desired of thee:

       for thou hast now made known unto us

              the king’s matter.” Daniel 2:19-23

Wow! What a prayer! Do you see it? This prayer was focused on the God who answered—not simply the answer. Daniel and his friends had power with God, because they knew that their only power was FROM God!!! “Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven”! Daniel never forgot who his God was, nor did he forget his dependence on the God he loved, or did he ever forget how devoted he was to his God. What about us?

How often do we ask and receive, and never even think to say ‘thank you’ to the God we claim to believe in, trust and follow. We can learn so much from this young man (probably a late teen) and I think we need to!

And just what did Daniel do after he received the answer to his prayer? Once again we see a young man filled with integrity and wisdom, give us a wonderful example. He goes through channels, if you would, to reveal the hidden dream and it’s meaning to the king. He goes in to the commander of the guard commissioned to destroy the wise men, and seeks an audience with the king.

“Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation. 25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the    captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.” Daniel 2:24-25

Daniel wasn’t concerned about ‘credit’; he was concerned about being God’s servant. And that should our concern be—not recognition, or credit or getting that proverbial ‘pat on the back’, but following Jesus and leaving the results to HIM!!! While Arioch was working his way up the ladder of success, Daniel was simply trying to meet the needs of others, and be where God wanted him to be. Doing what God had placed him in Babylon to do—bear witness in all his ways.

Daniel had received the answer to the prayers of him and his friends—the dream and it’s interpretation to relieve the anxiety of a wicked, pagan king to whom they were in captive service! Captives and servants in a foreign land, to a pagan foreign king, and yet Daniel had compassion on this erratic king who wanted to kill all the “wise men”, a group which Daniel and friends belonged to. Now what? A praying man with a grateful heart, and a faithful life; what does God have in store? A servant brought before a king?

“The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? 27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said,

       The secret which the king hath demanded

              cannot the wise men,

              the astrologers,

              the magicians,

              the soothsayers,

       shew unto the king;

28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar

       what shall be in the latter days.

       Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;

29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter:

       and he that revealeth secrets

       maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.

30 But as for me,

       this secret is not revealed to me

              for any wisdom that I have more than any living,        

but for their sakes

              that shall make known the interpretation

              to the king,

              and that thou mightest know

                      the thoughts of thy heart.” Daniel 2:26-30

Daniel stood before this pagan king and openly proclaimed that there is a God in heaven who knows all, and HE has chosen to reveal His will for the future to this Babylonian king! Why would God choose a pagan king to reveal these things to? Because He is God, and He can speak to whomever He pleases, whenever He pleases, for whatever purposes HE pleases. And God chose to reveal the future of human history to Nebuchadnezzar, through Daniel! And Daniel was available to God, for HIS purposes: and his testimony exalted the God of all creation, not self. Most of us today would be thinking about the credit, the fame, the fortune, or the power; Daniel was thinking about being a true reflection of God Almighty and bringing HIM glory! And he did.

While we recognize the gifts that God gave Daniel, I think we often miss the character of the precious young man that chose to serve his God and do His bidding even in his tender youth. He didn’t wait for a better day, for a convenient time, for a better job, for more education, or anything else! Why? Because:

“….. Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he     requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” Daniel 1:8

Daniel had already made up his mind, before any of this had come to pass, that he would be faithful to God, NO MATTER WHAT! And now God is honoring his faithfulness and setting up a great and extensive ministry that is still affecting lives today. Are we willing to choose God, follow Jesus, do whatever He asks us to do, and leave the results to Him? Oh, if only we could remember to live this way. But back to Daniel, what was the result of this answered prayer? Great and mighty things came on this powerful young man, and he served God faithfully for some 70-plus years.

Without spending a great deal of time on the intricacies of the prophetic revelation, we will look at Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

“Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. 32 This        image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 His legs   of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and        filled the whole earth. 36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.”   Daniel 2:31-36

The dream was of a great statue—

Head of gold—

Arms and breast of silver—

Belly and thighs of brass/bronze—

Legs of iron–

Feet and toes of iron and clay.

And a stone—

Cut out without hands–

Which smote the statue upon its feet—

Broke all the elements to pieces.

Became a great mountain—

And filled the whole earth.

Then Daniel goes on to give the interpretation to the king:

“Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. 39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. 41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. 43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.” Daniel 2:37-45

To summarize, let’s work backwards and look at the end of the dream first. It sets the parameters of the rest.

“the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter”

God chose to reveal his plan for the ages to this mighty king and his servant Daniel.

“the dream is certain…. the interpretation thereof sure”!

The dream is from God, it is as sure and as certain as the God who revealed it. Remember the prayer we looked at in the beginning:

“Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever:

       for wisdom and might are his:

       21 And he changeth the times and the seasons:

       he removeth kings, and setteth up kings:

       he giveth wisdom unto the wise,

       and knowledge to them that know understanding:       

22 He revealeth the deep and secret things:

       he knoweth what is in the darkness,

       and the light dwelleth with him.” Daniel 2:20-22

The dream revealed that there would be four major world kingdoms, beginning with Babylon—Nebuchadnezzar being the head of gold, and that there would follow 3 subsequent kingdoms:

Arms/breast of silver–Medo-Persia

Belly and thighs-Greece

Legs of iron-Rome

Feet and toes of iron & clay-a latter day Rome.

The dream and the interpretation, while focused on the four kingdoms, zeros in on the “stone” that would be cut out of a great mountain without hands (by God’s design not man’s) and would destroy the 4 kingdoms in the days of the 10 kings (feet and 10 toes), and set up an everlasting kingdom that will never be destroyed or overcome–God’s kingdom, and Jesus the stone, which will destroy the kingdoms of this world.

And Daniel’s faithfulness was greatly rewarded and exalted by Nebuchadnezzar because of his faithful integrity and wisdom.

“The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. 48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.” Daniel 2:47-49

So, what do we take away from all of this? Well, it’s not to argue and debate over obscure interpretations, or timelines, but rather to take confidence as Daniel did in the God who rules and gave the dream and its interpretation. Will we choose to be faithful to the God of the eternal kingdom, or will the kingdoms of this world distract us? The choice is yours. Will you learn from Daniel and make up your mind to follow God? Or will you miss the lesson and loose it all.

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36

       “…..choose you this day whom ye will serve….” Joshua 24:15

And remember, not to “choose” is “choosing”!

Bible Ballistics: BBs #185   ‘In Thee O Lord Do I Hope’!!!

“For in thee, O Lord, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.” Psalm 38:15

We talk about our feelings, and find that we can’t depend on our feelings, but, friends, we can depend upon God!!! As the Psalmist declares here, true hope is in the Lord God Almighty, His precious Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, which He gives to those who are born again by “the blood of the Lamb” of God, slain “before the foundation of the world”. Our hope is in the Lord who loves. He provides all we need:

2 Peter 1:3-4   “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

The Lord Jesus Christ IS my hope! He is all I need! How about you? Have you realized the futility of the un-fulfilled promises of the world? Have you tried it all and found it empty? Well, there is one who loves you! He always has, He always will.

“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold   my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” John 17:24

       “According as he hath chosen us

              in him

              before the foundation of the world,

              that we should be holy       

              and without blame

              before him in love:” Ephesians 1:4

Jesus–the one who came to die, that we might live. And HE did it for YOU and ME, that we might be with HIM!

 

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your        fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the    foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him        glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.  22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the   truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the    brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

              23 Being born again,

              not of corruptible seed,

              but of incorruptible,

              by the word of God,

                      which liveth and abideth for ever.”

                                                  1 Peter 1:18-23

He knew YOU before the ‘foundation of the world’—

He loved YOU then,

He loves YOU now,

He loves YOU so much that He died for YOU!!!

He lives to give us life—now and in eternity!!!

He gave His life for YOU!!! But it didn’t stop there; He will give ‘abundant life’ now, to those who bow before Him as Lord and Savior–redeemer. It’s what he does; it’s who He is—“In him was life”!!! Father, Son and Holy Spirit– I praise His name, for my hope is secure IN HIM!!! And I can be secure “in Him”, because HE is IN ME!!! Won’t you trust HIM today—HE knows exactly where YOU are—and HE cares!

He’ll come in, if you but invite HIM in.

“Behold, I stand at the door,

              and knock:

                      if any man hear my voice,

                      and open the door,

       I will come in to him,

       and will sup with him,

       and he with me.” Revelation 3:20

Where’s your hope? Mine is in Jesus—because He’s in me! Won’t you answer the door and let HIM in? Today?

“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”                                                                        Colossians 1:27

 

 

Bible Ballistics: BBs #184     But I Don’t Feel Like It!!!

We all have those times when our feelings run amuck. Times when we have disappointments, discouragements, hurts and struggles beyond our comprehension. We all have times, even me—especially me—when we just want to throw something, or scream or sometimes just run away!!! Ever been there, done that? I think we have all probably had those seasons in our lives, so what do we do. We walk on in what we know, not what we ‘feel’. Our feelings come and go with the circumstances around us, but what I know—WHO I know never changes!!!

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Hebrews 13:8

 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”     Hebrews 13:5-6 (conversation being our lifestyle, not just our words)

When my feelings seem to be making me ‘crazy’, I must stand in what I know!!! I personally have had times when I’ve just had to say out loud over, and over again, “I know that I know, that I know, that I know…..”! Why ? Because I do know that God is faithful, that He is the same every day, no matter how I ‘feel’!!! Our Lord Jesus has promised to be with us always:

“….I am with you always, even unto the end of the  world. Amen.”

Matthew 28:20b

       “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed:

for I know

whom I have believed,

and am persuaded

that he is able

to keep that which

I have committed unto him against that day.”  2 Timothy 1:12

So??? Here’s our shot for today! Short and simple, get in the Word, find out about the faithful God of the universe, His faithful Son, my Savior and Lord, and then stand fast in what you know. God will meet you in HIS Word. But you’ve got to open it up and read and study it. You aren’t alone—God is there if you’ll but look up!!! Get your eyes off of the circumstances, and focus on the only one who can and will deliver.

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith….” Hebrews 12:2a

“If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”     Daniel 2:17-18

And my dear friends, HE is still in the fire!!! Your fire!!! So no matter how you ‘feel’ today, look up:

 “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21:28

Bible Ballistics: Are You Confident In The Crisis? Vol. 6#13

We talked last week about Daniel and his faithful determination to honor his God with his whole life regardless of the circumstances. We found that while he suffered with his people for national disobedience, Daniel had made up his mind to continue to be personally faithful to his God, wherever he might be.

“But Daniel purposed in his heart

that he would not defile himself

with the portion of the king’s meat,

nor with the wine which he drank:

therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs

that he might not defile himself.” Daniel 1:8

While Daniel determined to be faithful to his God, he also expressed and lived out respect and honor toward those over and around him. Daniel never acted with presumption or arrogance because of his relationship with his God. We can to learn so much from Daniel’s behavior, not only before his God, but also before the pagan world where he lived in captivity for most of his life. Let’s continue our look at Daniel’s life and see what else we can learn—a lot I believe.

As we progress into chapter 2, we find Daniel and his friends after their three-year time of indoctrination serving in Babylon, a pagan king, kingdom and culture. While we are inundated with a culture that wants to indoctrinate us in much the same way, although we aren’t in ‘captivity’ yet, what is our response? What can we learn from Daniel and how he dealt with the crisis that comes to him and his friends? Let’s dig in to see.

“…..Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.” Daniel 2:1a

To sum up the crises, the king has had a dream that disturbed him. It disturbed him so much that he called in his magicians, astrologers and sorcerers to relieve his anxiety. But there was a small problem besides the anxiety over the dream itself; King Nebuchadnezzar couldn’t remember what the dream was, only his anxiety. So, he not only asked these men to interpret his dream, but to tell him what the original dream was!!! Wow, talk about an uproar in the ranks! The king’s counselors all went into ‘panic’ mode—in fact they made a most revealing statement that is often overlooked when studying this passage; a statement that is most apropos of our culture today.

“The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. 11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.  

12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious,

and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.” Daniel 2:10-12

Talk about a crisis—this is one. The wise men are telling the king, “no one can do this”!!! Hello, telling the KING it ‘can’t be done’, isn’t the greatest way to work your way up the corporate ladder. While the king was furious, I don’t want us to miss what these men said.

“not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter”—

“no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things”—

“it is a rare thing that the king requireth”—

And most importantly they proclaimed before the king:

“there is none other that can shew it

before the king,

except the gods,

whose dwelling is not with flesh”—

Did you get it? They not only understood that ‘we can’t do this’, but they presumed that ‘none other can show this to the king’!! They had only one answer, but it wasn’t the answer the king wanted to hear! What didn’t they understand?

They said, “only the ‘gods’ could do this thing” but they also made a most revealing statement that we need to examine. They declared that the ‘gods’ don’t dwell with men—and their ‘gods’ don’t’! They understood that they had no control over those that they claimed as ‘their’ ‘gods’! They knew that they had no real way to communicate with ‘their’ ‘gods’; no way to ask them questions, or get real answers. What a telling truth! The ‘gods’ that men have ‘created’ of their own devices, and for their own purposes, can’t solve the issues of life; they can’t deliver in the real dilemmas and crises of life, because they aren’t real. The result for these men? A death sentence from an angry and troubled king!!! And not only the ‘wise men’ who were actually present with the king in this encounter, but ALL THE WISE MEN were sentenced to death.

Now, how does this dilemma affect our man Daniel and his three friends? Remember in chapter one, they had so impressed the king, that they were placed in his service in the ‘wise men corps’ (if you would allow me to call them that). So, when the death sentence was passed on ‘ALL’ the ‘wise men’—Daniel and his friends were included.

“And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.” Daniel 2:13

And Daniel? He stood firm in the face of the compromise of his commitment and conscience before God, but what will he do now in the face of seemingly certain death? Let’s see?

“Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom

to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard,

which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:

15 He answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain,

Why is the decree so hasty from the king?

Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.

16 Then Daniel went in,

and desired of the king

that he would give him time,

and that he would shew the king

the interpretation.

17 Then Daniel went to his house,

and made the thing known

to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

his companions:

18 That they would desire mercies

of the God of heaven

concerning this secret;

that Daniel and his fellows should not perish

with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.”   Daniel 2:14-18

Wow! What an amazing young man.

Faced with captivity for sins he didn’t commit—

and he chose faithfulness.

Faced with imminent death for a problem he didn’t create–

and he chooses calm, confidence and reason.

I can’t help but think that perhaps he remembered a verse from the Proverbs:

“The king’s heart

is in the hand of the Lord,

as the rivers of water:

he turneth it

whithersoever he will.” Proverbs 21:1

But what did Daniel do with his faithful confidence in his God? Did he lie down and wait for God to deliver him? NO WAY! Daniel took action, but again, not arrogant or presumptuous action, but he acted quickly, yet with “counsel and wisdom”, and in respect of the authorities over him. I can’t get past the fact that this mighty, high-ranking officer had enough respect and admiration for Daniel’s integrity and demeanor that he recounted to him the situation that had precipitated the ‘death decree’. Then what? Daniel was granted an audience with the king and ‘ASKED’ for time and assured the king that he could reveal the desired information to the king, and the king granted his request! Really??? Again it appears that the king had a measure of respect toward Daniel that he didn’t have toward his other advisors! Go back and see the king’s responses to the others at the beginning of this dilemma:

Verse 5, “The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.” Deliver or die!

Verses 8-9, “The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. 9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.” NO TRUST!!! Lying and corrupt words???? Really???

Here we have a king who had such confidence in this young man, in contrast to the distrust of his ‘senior’ staff, that he was willing to trust Daniel with the time to find the answer to his dilemma.

And what was Daniel’s action after seeking permission for time? Daniel calls for a prayer meeting! With all the Hebrew children who were there in Babylon? NO! He called the three other faithful servants who were as devoted to his God as himself! He called on faithful prayer warriors who walked what they talked, not only before the ‘religious’ world, but those who were living it in these difficult circumstances as captives in Babylon. Daniel called his friends to pray with him for God’s deliverance, so they wouldn’t die with the condemned ‘wise men’ of Babylon.   But Daniel didn’t ask for his own deliverance only, but for all those whose lives were in jeopardy. Those who would not appreciate his intervention, and who would later plot the destruction of his three friends, and even later his own life! Yet he sought to meet the king’s need and alleviate the danger to those ‘wise men’ that caused the problem.

Yet what do we do? We often pout, complain, stomp and take our own vengeance on those who cause what we perceive to be ‘problems’ in our lives. Oh to be like Daniel—

A man of integrity—

A man of confidence in God at all times—

A man of calm and reason under the gun—

A man of action—based on dependence on his God—

A man of prayer—and a man with friends who pray—

A man of honor and respect –toward all people–

        (Respect for authority, not compromise)

A man whose life caused others to trust him—

      and in his integrity!!!

And what was the outcome for this faithful man?

“Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel

in a night vision.

Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.”  Daniel 2:19

What can we learn? God hears and answers prayer:

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16b

“Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.” Psalm 54:2

“But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.” Psalm 69:13

So whatever your crisis is or when it comes, remember our faithful God is always able to hear, answer and deliver. And we’ll pick up with Daniel next week, so read up on chapter 2!