Tag: Sermon

Jeff Garrison
Bluemont and Mayberry Churches
February 27, 2021
Daniel 12:5-12

At the beginning of worship

This week, we have watched in horror what’s happening in the Ukraine. We need to trust that God is in control in the chaos. That’s the message of Daniel. But we also need to strive to do what is right to help those who cannot help themselves. That’s a message found throughout scripture. Let’s open with a prayer for peace: 

Lord Jesus, we long for your kingdom. Isaiah promises it’ll be a place of peace, where the wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together.”^[1]

But Jesus, our world is filled with bullies and dictators, those who do what they want and ignore the rights and the needs of others. It’s a world where families hide in subways hoping to avoid the explosion of artillery shells. It’s a world where people flee for their lives and where the weak are eaten up by those who are strong. It’s a world where people are used and abused. We know this is not the good world you intended at Creation. We have messed things up.

We long for peace, for the end of this world of violence and the fulfillment of your kingdom. But until then, give us strength to endure. Help us to know right from wrong, good from evil. Help us stand fast with those who suffer in the Ukraine. This we pray in your name, recalling your wiliness to die that we might life, and who lives and promises such to those who believe in you and who follow in your footsteps. Amen. 

Before the reading of Scripture

I was thinking after last week’s text and sermon how the evil one depicted in Daniel’s vision dies alone at the end. It seems to me that when we burn all our bridges and abuse all our friends, loneliness becomes our destiny. It’s a dangerous place. And we don’t have to be as evil as the evil one depicted in Daniel to experience this. 

Relationships are important. There are two dimensions to our faith, just as there are two dimensions to the cross. One is vertical, the other horizonal. One reaches up toward God, the other reaches out toward others. Both are necessary if we’re to have a balanced life as God intends. However, if we behave as the one cited in Daniel 11, our actions will lead to judgment.  

The end of the book of Daniel

Now, we’ve come to the end of Daniel… As I pointed out two Sunday’s ago, the last three chapters of Daniel consist of a single unit with one long vision. Daniel’s vision is now over. He finds himself back on the banks of the river. But there appear to be some heavenly beings still floating around after the vision. Although we are not sure, they could be angels, maybe even Michael and Gabriel,^[2] who have been mentioned earlier. Their purpose appears to have a conversation of which Daniel overhears but does not understand. This sets up a nice epilogue for this vision and the entire book of Daniel. 

Remember, as I have often said in these sermons on Daniel, the overall message of this book is that despite the present circumstances (which are quite trying in Daniel’s day as in ours), “God is in charge and will win the day.”^[3] Once again, we’re reminded that things will work out and that Daniel needs not to worry.

Read Daniel 12:5-12

After the reading of Scripture

In his novel The Whisper of the River, Ferroll Sam’s protagonist, a college student, has a delightful conversation with a professor about Christian progress. The question is asked by the professor, “How long does it take a man to grow from the whining question of ‘Why me, Lord?’ to the mature dedication of ‘Why not me, Lord?’” The professor went on to explain how each has an accent on “me,” but throw in that “one-syllable negative” and you have “two entirely different philosophies.” One is shallow, the other has spiritual depth.^[4]

Daniel, it seems, accepts the second question from the beginning. Spiritually mature, he maintains his relationship with God in a troubling time. He does so even when God appears distant. It would also have been a lot easier to accept the ways of the Babylonians or the Persians. But Daniel stands fast. As believers, we don’t take the easy way out.

The final scene in Daniel

We’ve come to the end of this book. In this final scene, Daniel is back by a stream. We can assume this is the river where the vision began. Daniel sees two beings standing opposite banks of the Tigris River, having a conversation. One asks how long before everything happens. The other provides an enigmatic answer: “A time, two times, and a half a time.” Just what does that mean? 

So, Daniel speaks up and acknowledges he doesn’t understand. “What shall be the outcome of these things?” Daniel asks. Daniel is like us; he wants to know.^[5]

The response Daniel receives is rather curt. “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are to remain a secret until the time of the end.” 

Daniel is not about predicting the future

There you have it. If you think you can use Daniel to predict the end of time or the events leading up to it, this epilogue rains on your parade. There are things we are not to know. Nonetheless, there are things we do know. By telling Daniel to “go on your way,” I think he’s being told to not worry about the future and to continue to do what he knows is right. That’s also good advice for us. How we live our lives in the face of evil is the purpose of Daniel, not predicting the future.

We’ll continue to have good and evil people 

The next verse reminds us of the way of things. There are people like Daniel, who strive to live godly lives even within an evil, pagan, or corrupt society. Just because someone else acts bad is no excuse for us to do likewise. Just because we live in an evil world, we’re not to resort to evil. We always take the high ground. To the best of our abilities and, depending on God’s help, we should act nobly. 

And while there will be those who strive to do what is right, the book of Daniel is realistic. There are those continue to act wickedly. Again, throughout Daniel we have seen examples of wicked behavior. The silly laws of kings fly in the face of the Almighty and force believers into disobedience to God if they obey the king.^[6] Or other kings who do as they please, as if they’re accountable to no one,^[7] and who bring great evil upon the world.^[8] Such leaders will be judged. They will be held in eternal contempt.^[9]  

Of course, the wicked don’t understanding what’s happening or what’s in store for them, because they have no regard for others, including God.^[10] They think they are exempt, or their theology is so bad, that they think they’re a god on earth. Those who are wise understand this differently. 

How long will the abomination last?

Our passage then returns to the abomination in the temple, which occurred under the reign of Antiochus IV, whom we met last week.^[11] There are questions here about how the long the sacrifices will be missing from the temple. Is it 1290 days or 1325 days, as listed here? Or as we heard in chapter eight, 2300 evenings and mornings which could be interpreted as 1150 days.^[12] And what kind of relationship exist between these days and the time, times, and a half time. By the way, it’s not the first time we’ve seen that formula, either. It appeared in chapter 7?^[13]

If this sounds confusing to you, you’re not alone. Even Daniel is confused. Some think the days and the times go together. Time, times and a half time could be 3 and a half years, roughly the same number as the days. But since there are several different sets of “days,” what can we make of this?^[14]

We don’t know. Some things are purposely vague.

I think the message at the end of Daniel is this.  When it comes to the future, we don’t know. Only God knows. This is the same thing that Jesus teaches in Mark 13, only the Father in heaven knows when such things happen.^[15]

Our text says that those who persevere this period of great evil will be happy or blessed. Then Daniel is sent on his way. He’s told to rest. There’s nothing he can do about the future, and it’s going to happen long after he’s gone. So, Daniel, who is now an old man, having been in exile for nearly 70 years, can rest assured that when the resurrection happens, he’ll rise for his reward. 

Conclusion: promised rest

After a long life of faithfulness, Daniel can rest. That’s good news. For those of us on this side of the resurrection, we have Jesus’ words: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Daniel reminds us that things won’t always be easy, and Jesus follows up his comment about promised rest with talk about taking up his yoke. A yoke is a tool for work. The rest Jesus provides, at least in the short term, is for our soul.^[16] There’s always work to do. 

As verse 10 reminds us, there is purification, cleansing and refining to be done. So, we roll up our sleeves and trudge on, but our souls do not need to be troubled. We can take solace that God controls the world, that they’ll be times rest, and when it’s over, the faithful will be rewarded. 

While life at times can be overwhelming, we place our hope in the goodness of God, whose love is from everlasting to everlasting.^[17] Amen. 

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^[1] Isaiah 11:6.

^[2] Daniel 9:21 and 10:13.

^[3] Tremper Longman III, Daniel: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999), 288. 

^[4] Ferrol Sams, The Whisper of the River (1984, New York: Penguin Books, 1986), 498-499. 

^[5] W. Sibley Towner, Daniel: Interpretation, a Biblical Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1984), 169.

^[6] An example would be Daniel 6, where the king decrees no one can pray to anything but himself for 30 days. See https://fromarockyhillside.com/2021/09/daniel-in-the-lions-den/

^[7] An example: Belshazzar defaming the holy items from the temple. See https://fromarockyhillside.com/2021/09/the-writing-on-the-wall/

^[8] The horrific king in Chapter 11 is an example. See https://fromarockyhillside.com/2022/02/5529/

^[9] Daniel 12:2

^[10] Proverbs 14:16, Psalm 14:4. 

^[11] Daniel 11:31.

^[12] Daniel 8:14.

^[13] Daniel 7:25, 12:7.

^[14] Longman !!!, 287, and Robert A. Anderson, Daniel: Signs and Wonders (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984), 152-153 provide details on these dates and the issues they raise. 

^[15] Mark 13:32.  From my sermon on this passage just before we started exploring the second half of Daniel, see https://fromarockyhillside.com/2022/01/remain-at-your-post-stay-awake/

^[16] Matthew 11:28-30.  See also Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Suffers (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 21-23.  

^[17] Psalm 103:17.

Jeff Garrison
Bluemont and Mayberry Churches
February 20, 2022
Daniel 11-12:4

At the beginning of worship:

I’ve been reading a modern translation of the Norse poems, myths, and legends. It’s a weird world which probably comes from huddling around the fire on those long winter nights in Scandinavia.^[1] These stories are often violent and set in a tough world. They could be seen as depressing for everyone and everything dies on their fated day. Neither gods, giants, nor humans are spared. Yet, the stories encourage the reader to be to be brave even if it’s their fated day. Those who are honored have done their duty. 

Now, our faith doesn’t condone such violence as in these stories and shuns vengeance. In our tradition, vengeance is saved for God.^[2] As we’ve seen in Daniel, (and will see again today), we too live in a world that is often against us. Yet, we are called to do be faithful, to our duty, and to be brave even when things don’t look up. We can do so for we know that God is in control. 

Before the Reading of Scripture:

The bulk of the vision Daniel receives by the Tigris River is found between the beginning of Chapter 11 through the fourth verse of chapter 12. I’m not going to read this entire piece, but I encourage you to go home and read it on your own. However, let me say a bit about what’s in it. Daniel, as we’ve seen already in chapter 7^[3] and chapter 8,^[4] has had multiple visions that cover what happens in the world between the end of Babylonian dominance and the rise of Rome. This is repeated in chapter 11; however, more details are provided. Daniel speaks of all these kings rising from the various points of the compass, but especially to the north and south. 

Ancient Israel is a little like Ukraine. If you look at a map of Europe, you’ll see Ukraine pinched between Russia and its allies to the west, north and south. To the east is Europe. Sadly, the people there have seen horrors from each side—the Soviets who starved four million of them in the 1930s. That caused many of them to welcome Germany when it invaded in World War II. However, the Germans were no better. When you find yourself in a position recalled in the old proverbial saying, “between a rock and hard place,” you become a pawn. 

Ancient Israel was also in such a place. Geographically, the country sits between the powers of Egypt and those in the fertile crescent. By the 2^nd Century, BC, Israel is pinched between Egypt and Syria. 

Daniel doesn’t use names in Chapter 11. However, if you read this entire chapter and have a historical timeline from the 5^th to the 2^nd century BC, it’s easy to plug in to whom Daniel refers.^[5]Daniel’s vision continues to Antiochus Epiphanes IV. He’s not just a bad guy, he’s a really bad guy. He’s evil. He did the unspeakable inside the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.  

Read Daniel 11:36-12:4

After reading the scripture:

Tonight, if we have clear skies, Orion the Hunter will be visible high in the eastern sky as the light fades. It’s a brilliant constellation and I’m sure most of you can point out the three stars of Orion’s belt. They form a distinct line in the sky. From our perspective here on earth, the stars appear side by side. But they’re not. 

Let me tell you a bit about these three stars. I’m probably going to butcher the pronunciation, something I often do with English so you can imagine what I’ll do with the Arabic names of these stars. 

The star to the west is Mintalca, which in Arabic means “the belt.” It’s 916 light years away and slightly fainter than the other two stars. 

The middle star, Alnilam, means “string of pearls” in Arabic. It’s by far the furthest of these stars from earth, at 1342 light years away. Tonight, you’ll be seeing the star tonight as it was during the Dark Ages of Europe. The star is huge. It’s also the only solo star in the belt, with the one to its west made up of many stars and the one to the east a binary star. But it’s so big, which is why to our eyes it appears as the brightest. 

And then the eastern-most star is Alnitalz, which means the girdle. Don’t ask me how it got its name. This is the closest star, only 800 lights years away, which means that tonight we’d be seeing what happened on the star about the time of the crusades.   

Now, you might be wondering what this has to do with the price of tea in China, or at least what it has to do with Daniel. Let me continue. 

This part of Daniel is set after Babylon’s fall from world power, at a time when Persia ascends in power. Now, there is a disagreement about when it was written, whether in the 5^thCentury or 2^nd Century, BC, but for understanding the meaning, it doesn’t matter.^[6] Daniel wants us to understand the book as being from the 5^th Century, and the prophet’s vision looks forward. 

It’s as if Daniel has a telescope. From his point of view, Daniel has a good understanding of what happens in the world over the next three centuries. But his view continues afterwards to the final judgment. He doesn’t have as clear of an understanding except to know that in the end, righteousness will be reward and evil punished. And as he looks forward, it all appears closer together, as do the stars in Orion’s belt.

In this manner, Daniel’s vision of the future is a little like us looking at Orion in the sky this evening. The stars all appear to be equal distance from us, but we know that some are closer, and others are further away. Likewise, much of the events Daniel writes about was fulfilled in the centuries between Babylon and Rome, but then there’s the resurrection at the end of time, which hasn’t yet happened.

Antiochus IV

Daniel vision reaches a pinnacle with a king who becomes an abomination, one who is well known in Jewish history. Antiochus IV, or Antiochus Epiphanes, was a Syrian king who attempted to take over Egypt and parts of Greece. The Romans helped push him back which brought them into this part of the world. But the king is infamous for his disregard of the Jewish temple, as he co-opted it for pagan gods. 

While there is no clear transition, it appears that Daniel doesn’t just speak of Antiochus, but at some point, he sees an even larger, more horrific individual, whose evil surpasses Antiochus.^[7] The person in Daniel’s vision goes beyond the terror and evil of the Syrian king. Christians have often seen this people as the Antichrist, but as Christ has not yet come, Daniel has no frame of reference for such a being. 

Daniel and evil tendencies

What Daniel sees in this vision is a tendency for evil to grow. This happens when we are left on our own and follow only our own desires. You see it in Genesis. Adam and Eve sin, their son Cain kills his brother Abel, and soon there are wars and God decides to do a reset with the flood. Governments and collective groups of people can raise the level of evil to greater heights. Daniel understands this.

Editorial by David Brooks 

David Brooks, in a New York Times editorial this week, writes of the change in the world since the 1990s. He suggests that what we’re seeing around the world, with autocratic strong leaders, is business as usual.^[8] I think Daniel would agree. The natural way of the world is for the strong to become stronger, evil to become eviler.  This doesn’t mean we should give up. Again, the book of Daniel shows us how to remain faithful to our beliefs while living under tyranny. 

Hopefully we won’t end up like Daniel. However, for us to avoid such tyranny, according to Brooks, will require hard work as society pulls together for the good of all. It’s a nearly impossible task that the founders of our nation got, at least partly, right. 

Daniel’s hope

But as Daniel looks off to the future, he sees hope. The one who amasses so much territory and becomes so powerful is also alone and friendless. He’s defeated. Evil brings death. Those in the orbit of the evil one dies. With no one left to help him, eventually even the evil one dies. 

As we move into the 12^th Chapter, we see the appearance of Michael, the archangel. Michael, labelled a prince and the protector of Israel, comes on the scene in this final battle. Then there is deliverance. But this true deliverance is not for this life, but for the world to come. 

Verse two is the only clear understanding of a double resurrection in the Old Testament.^[9] Those who have been wise, but wronged in this life, rise from their graves. The same is true for those who have been abusers and evil in this life. Those shamed in this life find glory in the life to come, while those who found glory at the expense of others in this life rises to eternal contempt. 

Conclusion 

Daniel vision is for the Jewish people who live in that period between the end of the exile and the coming of the Messiah. Many may have left Babylon for Jerusalem with the hope that Israel’s former glory will return. Daniel dashes such hope. Israel at the end of the exile were hopefully just as we, as David Brooks pointed out, were hopeful in the 1990s at the end of the Cold War. But things change.

We live in a world in which despots use people for their own benefit. We must make the best of the situation, while remaining faithful to God. However, there is always good news, it’s just off in the distance. In the end, goodness prevails. God looks out for his people. 

David, in the Psalms, gets it right. “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”^[10] Amen.

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^[1] The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes, Jackson Crawford, translator (Hackett Publishing, 2015). 

^[2] Deuteronomy 32:35, Romans 12:19.

^[3] https://fromarockyhillside.com/2022/01/daniel-dreams-of-the-future/

^[4] https://fromarockyhillside.com/2022/01/butting-heads-and-history/

^[5] For modern commentaries following Daniel with those who rose to power after Babylon, See W. Sibley Towner, Daniel: Interpretation, A Biblical Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1984), 154-157; Robert A. Anderson, Daniel: Signs and Wonders (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984), 129-142; and Temper Longman III, Daniel: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999), 271-283.  Ancient scholars also understood to whom Daniel speaks. See Jerome’s Commentary on Daniel. 

^[6] Longman III, 282.

^[7] Longman III, 280-281; Towner, 164-165.

^[8] David Brooks, “The Dark Century,” New York Times, February 17, 2022. 

^[9] See Towner, 166; and Longman III, 284. Longman III suggests they may be other references to the “double resurrection” in the Old Testament, but this is the clearest. An example of another possible reference is Isaiah 26:18

^[10] Psalm 124:8. 

Daniel takes a long look into the future

Jeff Garrison
Bluemont and Mayberry Churches
February 13, 2022
Daniel 10

At the beginning of worship:

I think it was C. S. Lewis who once said we’ll spend half of eternity thanking God for prayers not answered. Think about this for a minute. One of the reasons for prayers not being answered is that we don’t know all that is going on in our lives and in the world. Much is hidden. We don’t know God’s plans. 

As a follower of Jesus, we are called to live by faith. We don’t have all the answers, but we trust God does. It can be exhausting, as we’re going to see with Daniel in our reading this morning. Yet, we’re also shown, God cares of those who humble themselves and trust in what he is doing in the world. 

 Before the Reading of Scripture:

I decided to skip over the ending of Daniel 9 and move on to Daniel 10.^[1] Daniel 9, which speaks of 70 weeks and years, has been used in all kinds of ways to do that which we should not do, namely, to predict the future. So far, the predictions haven’t come true. And while this seems to be more of a modern problem, especially in the past two centuries, the root to this issue goes way back. We want to know that which we can’t know. Remember, this got Eve in trouble with the tree of knowledge.^[2]

Writing about the end of Daniel 9, referring to the meaning behind the 70 weeks, Jerome, the great Biblical scholar and translator of the 4^th century quipped: 

“I realize that this question has been argued over in various ways by people of greatest learning, and each of them has expressed his views according to the capacity of his own genius. And so… I shall leave it to the reader’s judgement as to whose explanation ought to be followed.^[3]

Even Jerome didn’t want to go there. I would say that we’re entering territory that angels refuse to tread, except as we’ll see in chapter ten that the angels are treading here. And that’s good news for us. Someone needs to watch our back.

The tenth chapter begins Daniel’s last vision. It’s a long one, with chapter 10 setting the stage for what happens in chapters 11 and 12. 

Read Daniel 10

After the Reading of Scripture

If the knowledge given to Daniel would be presented to us, we too would be overwhelmed and exhausted. Remember, he’s an old man and this is almost more than his heart can bear. 

Opening timestamp

This section begins like many others in Daniel, as we saw even in the ninth chapter, with a time stamp.^[4] King Cyrus of Persia is in his third year of his reign. However, there is confusion as to what this means, especially since in the first chapter, we’re told the prophet served through the first year of Cyrus.^[5]

Most scholars think the three years refers to the time since Cyrus’ empire seized controlled Babylon. If this is the case, some of the Jews in Babylon have probably begun packing up and moving back to Jerusalem. Otherwise, if the three years refers to the time when Cyrus began his rule over Persia, without Babylon, it would take us back in time.^[6]

Role of Cyrus

Also, the title, King Cyrus, isn’t known in other literature.^[7] While this might matter in our full understanding of the text, especially as it reflects a Greek understanding (they used such terms), it doesn’t change fact that Daniel receives a major vision of the future, one that causes him to collapse in exhaustion. In his exhaustion, God’s messenger reassures Daniel and cares for him.^[8]

Daniel’s weakness

Furthermore, we’re told Daniel has been mourning for the past three weeks and hasn’t eaten anything of substance (as defined as meat and wine). So, he’s been on a light fast. It leaves him weak when he finds himself standing on the banks of Tigris River this a vision.

The appearance of “A Man”

Interestingly, Daniel is the only one who sees this man with a belt of gold. It must have been like a professional wrestler’s belt since it catches his attention first. He goes on to describe the man with a body of beryl, face of lightning, eyes like torches, and arms and legs like burnished bronze. His sight causes Daniel to fall flat. While those with him and cannot see the man, they know something is happening. They flee. So much for his friends. 

But this “man,” a heavenly visitor, ministers to Daniel. He helps Daniel to rise on his hands and knees, and then on his feet. He encourages the prophet, telling him not to fear even though Daniel naturally shakes in his boots. The man offers “celestial first aid” to a troubled prophet.^[9]

The Cosmic Battle

As this man begins to speak, we learn of something important. He had been sent to Daniel, but essentially apologizes for his delay. It appears he was ambushed by the Prince of Persia. Obviously, he’s not speaking of a member of Cyrus’ court, but with dark spiritual princes who attempt to control the land. There is a cosmic battle raging. He struggled with this dark prince for 21 days. (It’s intriguing that 21 is divisible by 7, another of Daniel’s favorite numbers.) He is only able to reach Daniel after Michael takes over the battle, which indicates the battle continues. 

The being promises Daniel a vision of the future that includes the fall of Persia, the rise of Greece, and a glimpse on the end of time. 

A message of hope to the Jews

Interestingly, as I pointed out, this vision would have taken place after many of the Jews in Babylon were packing up and preparing to head by to Jerusalem. Isaiah speaks of Cyrus as a deliverer and Israel’s history recalls how God worked through Cyrus to bring the exile to an end.^[10] But is there something less than savory about Persia that God’s messengers must engage their spirits in a cosmic battle? But then, one thing is clear in Daniel, human institutions are far from perfect. Yes, God uses Persia to bring about His purposes, but we also have this peak behind the veil to see how cosmic forces of evil at work. 

Evil and the spiritual realm

The struggle is not just between various groups of humanity. What we learn here is that a spiritual battle is ongoing. The Apostle Paul touches on this theme in his writings, warning us in his letter to the Ephesians: 

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.^[11]

Does this not mean that Christ has not won the battle?  No, Christ defeated sin and death on the cross and with the resurrection, but the battle persists. One commentator likens this ongoing battle to the time between D-Day and the surrender of Germany. Once we established a beach head in France, there was little Germany could do to stop us. However, the battle continued until Germany surrendered.^[12] Yes, Christ has won the battle, but that doesn’t mean Satan or evil is harmless. 

What this ongoing battle means to us

Evil, in this world, still has power. Evil can still destroy and create havoc. Evil can still corrupt, and one of the themes of the last half of Daniel is that human institutions are tainted and corrupt.^[13]While we can never create, on our own, a perfect system, void of evil, yet we still must try and do our part. Our hope is that at the end, God will intervene and do away with evil. However, as we’re all sinners, there is a danger here. 

Remember the parable of the weeds in the wheat?^[14] One of the truths of Christianity is that we’re all part of the problem. As Paul said, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”^[15]For us, it’s not as easy to divide us into the good and the bad as it is in the spiritual realm. And even for those of us who are less evil than others, there will still be a need of cleansing. 

Hope in this passage

The part of this chapter that provides us hope which comes from how these heavenly beings minister to Daniel. In verse 12, we’re told that Daniel, a man who’d lived his adult life in a pagan kingdom, that his words have been heard all along. God doesn’t abandon us! God has been listening to Daniel. Going back to when Daniel first set out to discover God, God was there. We can also take delight in that kind of promise. 

The other part is how this heavenly being administers aid to Daniel. In verse 19, he says, “Do not fear, greatly beloved, you are safe. Be strong and courageous.” God always provided for Daniel’s need, just as God will provide for our need. Daniel, as well as those who have packed up to head back to Jerusalem, will continue to have challenges. But as David reminds us in the 23^rd Psalm, the Lord will lead us through the valley of the shadow of death.^[16]

Conclusion 

Daniel reminds us over and over that there are problems in our world. Nevertheless, we can take heart and trust God, even when things appear challenging. God watches over the faithful.  Amen. 

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^[1] Last week, I covered the first 20 verses (Daniel’s prayer of confession) from the 9^th chapter. See https://fromarockyhillside.com/2022/02/5471/

^[2] Genesis 4:4. For more about what we can know of the future, see the sermon I preached on Mark 13 before I began this section of Daniel. Click here: https://fromarockyhillside.com/2022/01/remain-at-your-post-stay-awake/

^[3] Jerome, “Commentary on Daniel 9:24-27, in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture; Old Testament XIII, Ezekiel, Daniel (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2008), 266. 

^[4] For other timestamps, see Daniel 1:1, 2:1, 7:1, 8:1, 9:1. 

^[5] Daniel 1:21. This discrepancy could be due to Daniel is no longer serving in the Babylonian court as he is now at the banks of the Tigris River and Babylon is on the Euphrates River. 

^[6] Tremper Longman III, Daniel: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999), 246. For other points of view, see W. Sibley Towner, Daniel: Interpretation, A Bible-Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1984), 148; and Robert A. Anderson, Daniel: Signs and Wonders (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1984), 120.

^[7] Towner, 148-9, Anderson, 120.

^[8] Longman III, 245.

^[9] Towner, 152. Towner borrows this term (Celestial First Aid) from Louis F. Hartman and Alexander A. DiLella, The Book of Daniel. The Anchor Bible 23 (Grand City: Doubleday, 1978). 

^[10] Isaiah 44:28, 45:1, 13; Ezra 1:1, 2 Chronicles 36:27. 

^[11] Ephesians 6:12, KJV. See also Romans 8:38 and Colossians 1:6. 

^[12] Longman, III, 258. 

^[13] Longman, III, 178-179 lists six major themes in the second half of Daniel (chapters 7-12): 1. Horror of human evil, particularly as it is concentrated in the state; 2. The announcement of a specific time of deliverance; 3. Repentance leads to deliverance; 4. A cosmic war stands behind human conflict; 5. judgement for those who resist God and oppress God’s people; 6. God’s people who are downtrodden in the present will experience new life. 

^[14] Matthew 13:24-30. 

^[15] Romans 3:23.

^[16] Psalm 23:4.

Jeff Garrison
Bluemont and Mayberry Churches
Daniel 9:1-19
February 6, 2022

At the beginning of worship:

It’s good to be back with you. Last weekend, I was on Skidaway Island. Saturday afternoon I officiated at the funeral of my friend, Andy Lohn. I had agreed to help the new pastor of the church with the funeral, but he came down with COVID, so I was left alone. But it was good to be present for Andy’s family. With his leukemia, Andy hadn’t been able to have guests for months. The new pastor hadn’t even meet him in person. Then, as you have probably heard, as I was preparing my homily for Andy, I learned the death of another friend, Todd Williams, from colon cancer. It became a bittersweet trip. 

Today, we’re discussing confession. They say confession is good for the soul. But what should we confess? And how should we confess? That’s the topic we’ll explore today. In the 9^th chapter of Daniel, the prophet embarks on a prayer of confess that is enlightening for us. We confess not only for the sins we personally committed. We confess to those things we should have done but

didn’t. Those are sins of omission. And we confess corporately, not just for sins that we have personally committed, but those of our nation and even those of our ancestors. Daniel lays it all out for us today. 

Before reading Scripture:

My reading will be the first 2/3 of the ninth chapter. Next week we’ll look at the conclusion, the discussion of 70 weeks and years. 

We’ve already seen several styles of writings in Daniel. Much of the first six chapters consist of kingdom or court tales, stories of how the young Hebrew men remained faithful in the service of a pagan king. We have also seen a second type of writing, apocalyptic. Such writings use coded language to provide a glimpse as to what is happening in the present and future. Today, we’re looking at a third style—that of a prayer, or as one commentator describes, a mediation.^[1] Daniel comes before God confessing sin. 

Read Daniel 9:1-19

After the Reading of Scripture:

Confession is good for the soul, but there may be exceptions… 

Confessing to my grandmother

One of the most embarrassing memories I have with my grandparent’s involved confession. I was staying with them for a couple of weeks, as I often did during the summer. I was probably 13 or 14 years old. One afternoon, after my grandfather came home from work, we didn’t go fishing, like we normally did. Instead, grandma had other plans. 

The three of us headed over to J. B. Coles peach orchard, a pick your own kind of place in West End. Grandma wanted peaches to can in quart jars for winter. In addition, I knew we’d enjoy peaches on cereal with breakfast. I also knew that some peaches would, during the weekend, end up in homemade ice cream. These peaches were so juicy they’d drip down your chin. Such delicious peaches meant we didn’t sacrifice too much as we gave up fishing for an evening.

My grandparents were picking from one tree. I was on the other side of the tree, with my own bushel basket. Suddenly, my grandmother asked if I had cut one. I acted like I didn’t understand. This time she was more forceful, “Jeff, did you cut one?”

My stomach had been squirrelly that evening. I had passed some gas, and at the time, in Jr. High boys’ jargon, that’s what “cutting one” referred to. I couldn’t believe my grandma was using such vulgar language and asking me about something so private. How did she even know or hear from her side of the tree? Humbled, I confessed my transgression. What happened next was shocking.

“You put away that knife,” my grandmother shouted. “These are not our peaches until we pay for them.”  

I’d confessed to a sin I had not committed! But I was also so embarrassed I didn’t tell my grandma about my mistake for decades. Thankfully, didn’t remember and laughed. 

Confession by Daniel

Confession is good for the soul if you’re guilty. But what about when we’re not guilty. Our text is a prayer of confession or penitence. Daniel confesses his sins, but more importantly, he also confesses the sins of his people. 

Time Stamp at the Beginning of the Chapter

Our chapter begins like many in Daniel, with a time stamp.^[2] The Chaldeans or Babylonians are not in charge. The Persian empire now rules. Darius, a Mede, oversees Babylon. Daniel knows of Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning the Hebrew exile to Babylon, that the exile would last 70 years. He’s been in Babylon for 66 years.^[3] With the change of leadership in Babylon, perhaps he reflects on the time being close at hand for the exile population to be freed to return to their homelands. 

So, Daniel, trying to figure it all out, goes to God in prayer. In verse three, we learn of his preparations. He fasts. That’s still a good practice when you’re struggling with something. He also wears sackcloth and sits on a heap of ash, a symbol at the time of deep humility. When we, as mortals, turn to God, humility is appropriate. We don’t have to play in an ash heap, most people would think you’re weird. But we should acknowledge our limitations compared to God’s greatness and goodness.

Interestingly, Daniel doesn’t ask for insight as to when the exile will be over. Throughout this prayer, Daniel constantly acknowledges God’s faithfulness and what God has done in the past. This he compares to Israel’s and her sins. He acknowledges they should know better for God sent prophets to tell them of another way. But they failed to listen or to respond.

For Sins Committed by Others before Daniel’s birth

While Daniel includes himself in this prayer of confession, he also includes his ancestors and those who have gone before him. From what we know of Daniel, he was not personally guilty of a lot of what he confesses. After all, he was exiled as a young man to Babylon, probably when he was in his late teens or at oldest, his early 20s.^[4] This means he didn’t have much personally to do with the sins which led to Jerusalem’s punishment in Babylon. Yet, he finds it necessary to confess. 

The Role of the Covenant

The basis of Daniel’s prayer is God’s covenant.^[5] A covenant is an agreement in which both parties have responsibilities. There are, as Daniel acknowledges in verse 11, consequences for the failure to live up to your responsibilities. The covenant is not just between us, as individuals, and God. So, Daniel, thinking of the sinfulness of his people, confesses. Yet he also acknowledges that while Israel is experiencing the consequences of her action, God is still faithful. God watches over the calamity known as the Babylonian exile. 

How Do We Confess?

What about us? How do we confess our sins? Do you feel, as some, that we only need to confess the sins we’re responsibility for? If that’s the case, how do you reconcile with Daniel’s confession, which is more about the sins of his people and his ancestors? Some people these days make a big deal about not being responsible for what others have done in the past. Nor do they want to hear about anything that would make them feel bad or guilty. Would Daniel agree?  What does God think? After all, this is God’s word and world 

Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, died three weeks ago.^[6] He was a major influence on Martin Luther King, who came out against the Vietnam War after meeting him. He also had a great influence on Thomas Merton, a well-known Catholic monk. Thay, as he was known, mostly lived in France, for his ideas on the Vietnam War wasn’t appreciated by any of the sides during war: the North or the South or the Vietcong. 

I had never read any of his books. After hearing of his death, I decided to learn more about his writings, so while I drove back from Savannah on Monday, I listened to a book of his from the early 1990s titled, Peace Is Every Step.^[7] The book is primarily about mindfulness and how to be present in every moment. And while I don’t fully agree with his Buddhist ethos of us all being and becoming one, I found he had a lot of good ideas about seeing ourselves as a part of the problems the world faces. Such insight, I think, allows us to pray more faithfully. 

One of his stories involved pirates off the coast of Africa. He encouraged his readers to consider what would have happened had they been born in such a setting. He suggested that if he was born in such a situation, he might have become a pirate. The same is true for the Germans who were stationed at the concentration camps. Would we really be so brave to resist? 

While he didn’t go here, I will. What if we were born a slave owner? Would we have done the right thing? Because we don’t know for sure what we would have done, and because who we are today has to do with what’s happened in the past, we should be gentle and compassionate toward others. As Christians, we should acknowledge such sins and offer them up to God in confession. Daniel, in our passage today, shows us how.

Concluding Charge

Next time you pray the prayer of confession, search your hearts. Yes, even Daniel confessed his own sin. But go deeper. Open yourself up to confess corporate sin. We’re all in this together and in a way often participate unintentionally in that which doesn’t honor God. When we confess such sins, we place ourselves in the hands of a merciful and gracious God. There’s no better place to be. Amen. 

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^[1] W. Sibley Towner, Daniel: Interpretation, A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1984), 127.  

^[2] See Daniel 1:1, 2:1, 7:1, 8:1,  9:1, 10:1, 11:1.

^[3] Daniel was taken into exile in 605 BC and it’s now the year 539 BC. See Temper Longman III, Daniel: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999), 218.

^[4] I covered his age in my first sermon on Daniel. See https://fromarockyhillside.com/2021/08/5155/

^[5] Robert A. Anderson’s Daniel: Signs and Wonders (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984),

^[6] https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/21/asia/thich-nhat-hanh-death-intl/index.html

^[7] Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life, Edoardo Balerini, narrator. (1991: Audible 2015).

Todd’s boat, “Grand Cru” beats my boat, “Bonnie Blue” to the mark. Hook Race (Hilton Head to Landings Harbor, September 2020)

Jeff Garrison
Bluemont and Mayberry Churches
January 23, 2022
Daniel 8

At the beginning of worship

It’s good to be with you this weekend. Last Sunday, we were facing a storm. Early in the morning I was worried if we’d done the right thing in cancelling the service. It hadn’t started to snow at sunrise. But by 9 AM, things changed. The snow was heavy and the wind blowing. I knew we had done the right thing. When such weather happens, remember that you can catch the message online! 

Similarity between Daniel 7 and 8

I hope many of you either read the sermon in my blog or watched it on YouTube last week. If you haven’t, I encourage you to go back and watch or read it, as our text last week from Daniel 7^[1]is related to our text today. As a prophecy of the future, the two messages both involve kingdoms in the region between the fall of Babylon and the rise of Rome. But there’s also a difference, as the pervious chapter was a dream of weird beasts. In today’s reading the weirdness has to do with goats. 

Gentle and Lowly

But before getting to that reading, let me tell you about a book I’m reading by Dane Ortlund titled, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers.^[2] By the way, we’re all either or both a sinner and a sufferer. Drawing on Puritan writers and their insight into Scripture, Ortlund has us consider not what Christ has done for us (which is important) but what the heart of Christ is like. 

Too often we think of God being distant and away and all powerful, more like Zeus on Olympus, ready to crash lightning bolts in the direction of sinners. We’ll even get a sense of this in our text today, as the fierce horn takes on God and is, after a period of time, broken. And while God is holy and won’t be mocked, God as we see in Jesus, has a heart that reaches out to us in love. God reaches out to the sinner, the one suffering, the one troubled. We can’t forget this aspect of God even while we are considering the power of God to control history. 

Let’s now God to Scripture and read this long chapter. Listen for God’s word as I read from Daniel 8. 

Read Daniel 8

After the reading of Scripture

A frightful encounter with a butting goat

I spent my first three years of elementary school in Petersburg, Virginia. During this time, my father was a member of a hunting club on the Nottaway River. As a part of this club, he took his turn feeding the deer dogs. The dogs were penned way out in the woods, a mile or two off the payment, down across a two-track dirt road. Often, when tending the dogs, dad would take me along. 

On this day that I am recalling, the pump where they drew water for the dogs wasn’t working. I’m not sure what was wrong with it, but there were some five-gallon army-surplus containers there. We loaded them into the car and drove further back into the woods to where a family lived. 

The family’s homestead was eye-opening. I had never seen such poverty. It was an African American family and the shack in which they lived had gaps between the boards. Nothing about the shack was level. There were chickens running around and a few dogs and several kids. 

My dad, who had either been here before or had been told what to do, took the containers to the man of the house and they began to draw water from a hand pump. When done, my dad paid with a couple of dollar bills. While he was doing this, I walked around looking at things. 

Suddenly, I turned as a goat charged, his head down, appearing to have the power of a locomotive. I froze, knowing that in an instant I was going to be butted over the car and maybe into the next county. I couldn’t yell. I was speechless. Frozen in fear, I stood as things moved in slow motion. The goat moved closer. My time on earth was up. 

Then it happened. Just before the goat’s horns impaled my stomach, he came to the end of his chain. The goat did a summersault, falling over on his back. I had been saved. 

I was probably 7 or 8 years old when this happened. Since then, not only have understood that there are people incredibly poor in our world, I also have had no problem with the parable of the sheep and the goats.^[3] Goats can be evil. I didn’t have to read the book of Daniel to understand this. 

Another goat story

A few years later, when I was in Jr. High, I was with my father and my brother in a small jon boat. Between these two events, we’d left Virginia and returned to North Carolina. We lived near the coast. The three of us poled the boat into the shallow marshy creeks on the backside of Masonboro Island on a pitch-black night. In the shallow water, we sought flounder. One of us stood in the front, like Queequeg, the harpooner in Moby Dick. Two lights were mounted underneath the bow, shinned onto the sandy bottom. This allowed you to spot a flounder laying in the sand so you could gig it. 

We had a cooler nearly full this evening, when we heard a weird sound coming from the bank, just 20 or 30 feet away. My dad shinned a flashlight over and there were two male goats butting heads. They would back away from each other, then crash at such speed that both had to be suffering from a headache. They paid us no attention. Obviously, their sexual drive was enough for them to keep at it and to ignore everything else. What other beasts, other than a stubborn goat, would be like that?  

Goats are interesting animals. The ancestors of these goats on Masonboro Island may have been there for centuries, as sailors of old released goats and hogs on such islands. This made sure there’d be some meat in their stew the next time they travelled that way.^[4] Goat in the wild were especially adaptable. As you know they’ll eat anything. 

Another goat story

In our reading today, we met two of the beasts. Daniel, we’re told, has a vision. Two years have gone by since his dream of chapter seven. In this vision, he’s in Susa. While we’re not told why he was there or how he got there, it appears he may have remained in Babylon, but saw a vision set in the other city. It’s almost as if he’s watching himself. He stands by a river, reminding us of the the beginning of Ezekiel’s first vision, which was also by a river.^[5]

The vision begins with a ram with two horns running around, kind of like the ones I experienced as a kid, looking for something to butt. But it was so powerful, other beasts fled in terror. Then came a male-goat (I’m not sure why it was not called a ram), which challenges and defeats the first ram. It had four horns and grew more and more powerful. From the four horns, grew another horn that was arrogant and powerful, and who does terrible things in the sanctuary where sacrifices to God were to be made.

Daniel’s inability to interpret the vision

Daniel, the one who had interpreted dreams and signs in Babylon, fails to understand the meaning of this vision. So, one of the Archangels, Gabriel, is summoned to help. 

Comparisons and contrasts between chapter 7 and 8

The vision in chapter 8 is often overlooked by the dream in chapter 7. It’s been pointed out that the whole structure of this vision lacks the poetry of the previous dream, possibility because in the original language, we’re back into Hebrew.^[6] The previous chapter was written in Aramaic. One thought is that even this chapter was originally composed in Aramaic, then translated into Hebrew, but that doesn’t really matter to us. 

Both chapters involve the same storyline, at least to a point. They both point to the rise of the Medes and Persians (represented by the two horns) who ruled that part of the world after the fall of Babylon. The Persians were powerful, until an upstart Greek king known as Alexander, comes upon the scene. 

Alexander the Great

I recently listened to Anthony Everitt’s biography of Alexander the Great. He was an impressive man. Like many who become great, he also had many flaws. After the death of his father, Philip, Alexander began to unify the Greek states so that he could fulfill his father’s dream of taking revenge over the heathers. Greeks considered the Persians heathens. The revenge was for a Persian invasion of Greece, more than a century earlier. 

Alexander combined the powers of the Greek city states. He proved to be a brilliant military commander. In his thirty-two years, he conquered not only the Persian empire but well into India, a part of the world unknown at the time. He eventually had to stop conquering, not because of defeat, but because his men had had enough. They wanted to return home. 

While in Babylon, after the India campaigns, he became mysteriously ill and died. Some think he was murdered. Even Aristotle, his old tutor who was horrified at Alexander’s growing ego, has been suggested as a possible plotter. But Everitt suggests that Alexander’s death came probably from a mosquito. God can work in mysterious ways. His death sounds like a deadly type of malaria.^[7]

Alexander, as he continued to win and to conquer, he sought to distance himself from his father’s memory. He promoted a story that his real father was Zeus, the Greek God of Mount Olympus thunderbolts. Of course, not everyone bought into this mythology, but it shows his arrogant attitude to the world. After his death, his empire fractured, as represented by the four horns for his generals that took over various parts of the empire. 

The little horn represents Antiochus, the ruler of Syria who desecrated the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem in 167 BC. 

Conclusion 

There is a minor point at the end of this vision that I want us to ponder for a moment. I think it has a lot to do with the message of Daniel. In verse 25, we’re told that he shall be broken but not by human hands. God is still God and will not be mocked.^[8] The desecration of the temple, the holy place in Jerusalem, sets forth his downfall. God has the future under control. As we saw in the seventh chapter, kingdoms will rise and fall. This will continue to happen, even now. Only when God’s time is reached, will we enjoy the peaceful kingdom that will exist without end. But we can take comfort in that those who bring evil upon the world have a limited time for God controls the future, not them. 

While we might not, by ourselves, be capable of defeating one like Antiochus IV, or the many other evil rulers of the world, the book of Daniel reminds us that what is important is to remain true to God. As we’ve seen, it’s a theme reiterated repeatedly in Daniel.

If you set out to butt heads, you’ll eventually butt heads with God and it won’t end well. It may not sound like good news to the one butting, but it is to everyone everyone who has to endure the bullying. Amen. 

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^[1] https://fromarockyhillside.com/2022/01/daniel-dreams-of-the-future/

^[2] Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers (Wheaton, IL: Crossways, 2020).

^[3] Matthew 25:32ff.

^[4] I learned this from Amy Leach in “Goats and Bygone Goats,” Things That Are: Essays (Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions, 2012), 13-19. 

^[5] Ezekiel 1:1. Like Daniel, Ezekiel also provides a date for his vision. Daniel is in the third year of Belshazza; Ezekiel is in the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin. 

^[6] Robert Anderson, Signs and Wonders: Daniel (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1984), 91. 

^[7] Anthony Everitt, Alexander the Great: His Life and His Mysterious Death (Audible books, 2019), Narrated by John Lee. 

^[8] W. Sibley Towner, Daniel: Interpretation, A Biblical Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1984), 126.