LIFE LESSONS
THE PROPHETS: DANIEL
DR. JIM DIXON
DANIEL 7:1-14
FEBRUARY 15, 2004
Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins have written a series of books called the Left Behind series. Many of you have read some of those books and some of you have read all of them. Of course, the books are national bestsellers and extremely popular because we live in a world that is fascinated by eschatology. The Left Behind series has to do with the subject of eschatology.
The word eschatology comes from the biblical word “eschatos,” and that word means, “last.” And so, the Bible speaks of the last days, the last hour, the last times. This is the subject matter of eschatology. It has to do with the end times. It has to do with the end of the world. It has to do with the consummation of the age. Now, of all of the prophets of the Old Testament, Daniel was the prophet most focused on eschatology.
There are 12 chapters in Daniel. chapters 2 and 7 have to do with eschatology. chapters 8 and 11 have to do, in part, with eschatology. chapters 9, 10 and 12 have wholly to do with eschatology. So, this morning as we look at this prophet in exile, as we look at Daniel, we look at the eschaton. We look at the last days, the end of the world. We look at the consummation of the age. Daniel describes three individuals as primary at the end, three individuals as primary at the eschaton. These three individuals he calls “the Little Horn,” “the Son of Man” and “the Ancient of Days.” We will examine these three this morning and draw our life lessons from them.
First of all, we come to the Little Horn. In the year 626 BC, the Babylonian Empire conquered the Assyrian Empire. By the year 612 BC, the Babylonian Empire was the most powerful empire in the Middle East. In the year 605 BC, the armies of Babylon conquered the armies of Egypt. In that same year, 605, the armies of Babylon entered the kingdom of Judah in the city of Jerusalem. Now, they did not seize the city. They could have but they did not. They would seize the city in 597 BC. They did not destroy the Temple Mount or the Temple. They would do that in 587 BC. They simply entered the city and they viewed the kingdom of Judah as a vassal state subject to their authority.
They did something amazing. As they entered Jerusalem, they took some of the teenagers in the city. They took the brightest and the best. They took them back to the capital city of Babylon, the capital of the Babylonian Empire, that they might be trained as counselors and as advisors in the royal court of King Nebuchadnezzar. It was the desire of Nebuchadnezzar the Great to have counselors from all of his vassal states throughout his empire. Daniel was one of those teenagers taken from the city of Jerusalem and brought to the city of Babylon. He lived in Babylon all of his life. He lived in Babylon. He lived in exile but he was faithful to the God of his fathers and he was faithful to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, faithful to the One True God.
The year was 553 BC, the first year of King Belshazzar, King of Babylon, when Daniel had a dream. Daniel would have been approximately 68 years old. Daniel had a dream. He saw the eschaton. He saw the last things. In this dream he saw four beasts rising out of the sea. These represented future kingdoms of men that had relationship with Israel.
The first beast was like a lion with eagle’s wings. We know this represented the Babylonian Empire because archeologists have unearthed lots of relics that portray a lion with eagle’s wings and this was a common symbol of Babylon. So, the first beast was the Babylonian Empire. Of course, it conquered Israel in 605,597 and 587.
The second beast rising out of the sea was the Medo-Persian Empire described as a bear with ribs in its mouth and yet ready to devour more flesh. The bear was a common symbol of Persia and represents the Medo-Persian Empire which conquered the Babylonian Empire in 539 BC and of course also conquered Israel at that time.
The third beast was like a leopard. The leopard had four wings of a bird upon its back and the beast, the leopard, had four heads. This represents the Greek Empire. Daniel looked through the portals of time by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and saw the Greek Empire. Of course, with the death of Alexander the Great in the year 323 BC, the Greek Empire was split into four heads, split into four parts, and those parts were led by the four generals of Alexander the Great. Seleucus and Ptolemy were two of those generals and they established the Seleucid and Ptolemaic Empires which had so much to do with the life of Israel. Of course, Daniel in chapter 8 and in chapter 11 focuses on the Seleucid and Ptolemaic Empires, those Greek kingdoms, and how they would impact Israel. He looked through the portals of time and saw these things.
Now, the fourth beast. Daniel said, “I saw in the night visions and behold a fourth beast, terrible and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth and it devoured its victims and broke them in pieces and stamped the residue with its feet. It was not like any of the beasts that had come before it. Of course, this fourth beast was the Roman Empire. Daniel saw the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was the last empire with regards to Israel because during the time of the Roman Empire, Israel ceased to exist as a nation. But suddenly the vision of Daniel jumps to the eschaton. It jumps to the last things. It jumps to the end times. Daniel sees a 10-horn alliance rising, in some sense, out of the fourth beast. Perhaps rising out of the geographical land space of the ancient Roman Empire, perhaps rising out of the culture, the heritage, the peoples of the ancient Roman Empire, but a 10-horn alliance that would arise in the last days.
In Hebraic literature, horns represented power. A horn represents a king or a kingdom, so what Daniel saw was that in the last days there would arise in this world a 10-king or kingdom alliance. Out of this alliance of nations there would come another horn. Out of this alliance of nations there would come an 11th horn called “The Little Horn.” This was the greatest of all. In its ascendancy, in its rising, it would put down three of the kingdoms in the 10-kingdom alliance and it would have authority over all of the kingdoms in the alliance. This little horn would have eyes like the eyes of man and a mouth speaking great things.
As you go on in Daniel 7 you see that this little horn seeks power over the globe. It will seek power over the world and it will wage war against the people of God. The Little Horn will wage war against the saints and seek to wear them out, the Hebrew word means, “to make threadbare like a garment.” There is no doubt that The Little Horn represents the Antichrist. Even secular scholars acknowledge that this is Daniel’s concept of the Antichrist. So, the Little Horn is Antichrist and he will arise at the end of days.
The biblical concept of Antichrist is complex. Many names are given to the Antichrist including the name Antichristos which is used in 1 John and in 2 John. Antichristos simply means, “against Christ” or “one who takes the place of Christ.” Certainly, the Antichrist will do these things. The Antichrist will be against Christ and will seek to take His place.
The Apostle Paul calls the Antichrist the “Son of Perdition” which means, “child of hell.” It also means, “child of destruction.” The Apostle Paul refers to the Antichrist also as the “man of lawlessness.” The Greek word is “anomia” which means, “without law,” “without Torah,” “without divine instruction,” “one who will come against the morality of God.” In chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation the Antichrist is called “the beast.” In Daniel, chapter 7, the Antichrist is called “The Little Horn.” As I said, it’s a complex concept biblically. Sometimes biblically the concept of Antichrist is in the third person singular masculine gender. Sometimes third person singular neuter gender and sometimes third person plural, so we may think of the Antichrist and “he,” “it,” or “they.” This is because, biblically speaking, the Antichrist can refer to the alignment of nations at the end times. This international alignment may be called Antichrist and therefore “they,” and the individual who arises on the stage of history with a swollen ego to lead these nations may also be called Antichrist. And of course, the demonic spirit that empowers this individual and these nations may be called Antichrist, “it.” And so, we have this concept of Antichrist in the Bible.
Here’s the important thing for us. The Bible tells us that the spirit of Antichrist is already at work in the world. We’re told that in 1 John, chapter 4. We’re told that in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2. The spirit of lawlessness is already at work in the world. The spirit of Antichrist is already at work in the world. As we approach the consummation, we should expect the work of the spirit of Antichrist to be all the more intense. Certainly, in our nation and in our culture we see the spirit of Antichrist at work. I think we can identify within our culture certainly three citadels of power. One is the arena of education. The second is the arena of government. The third would have to do with the media and the whole arena of media. The fourth would be the whole world of entertainment. All of these citadels of power have great influence on our culture and we can see the spirit of Antichrist at work infusing these arenas with its presence.
There are a lot of good people in all of these arenas. When we look at the world of education, a lot of wonderful people serve as teachers in secular education and in religious education. There are a lot of wonderful educators but it is also true that in institutions of higher learning and in many colleges and universities, there are an increasing number of professors who are hostile to any and all religions that would claim moral or theological absolutes. Many professors seem to have a peculiar hostility towards Christianity. I’m constantly approached by college students who come to me and say, “Help me. My professors at college are destroying my faith.” The spirit of Antichrist is at work in that arena.
We look at government and particularly the judicial branch of government, state and federal judges. We see decisions rendered that undermine Judeo-Christian values. Even in opposition to the will of the people, we see decisions rendered that undermine Judeo-Christian values and move Christianity to the fringes.
We look in the world of media… We look at the news media, whether it’s print, audio, video… You look at the news media and there are growing numbers of liberals in the media and they tend—you cannot stereotype liberals or conservatives—to be anti-Judeo-Christian values. There tends to be, I think it’s fair to say, hostility to Christianity.
You look at the world of entertainment and the world of Hollywood and it’s like they’ve declared war on the values of Christ. It’s not just stuff like Brittany Spears and Madonna planting a kiss on each other. It’s not Janet Jackson and the half-time show at the Super Bowl. Those certainly are indications of a culture in decline but it’s what constitutes entertainment in our culture. The fact that there are 1,500,000 pornographic websites on the Internet. How can that be? But it’s the spirit of Antichrist at work.
Understand. Daniel lived as an exile. He lived as an exile in Babylon, and he was faithful. It got him into trouble. He wound up in the lion’s den. His friends, Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego lived. in exile but they were faithful to God and they wound up in the fiery furnace. It’s not easy being an exile in a fallen culture but, you see, we’re called to that task and we’ve been called to be faithful now. You have been called to be faithful now. Antichrist is coming, The Little Horn. The spirit of Antichrist is already at work in our world.
The second individual who is primary in the eschaton is the Son of Man. Daniel had a vision of the Son of Man. He said, “I saw in the night visions and behold, on the clouds of heaven came one like a Son of Man.” Daniel saw the coming of the Son of Man. This phrase, “son of man” could refer in general to humanity but the title, “The Son of Man,” was a messianic title. It was the favorite title that Jesus chose for Himself. He referred to Himself in many ways but His favorite title was, “The Son of Man.” Oftentimes He used it in the context of His second coming. In Matthew 25, Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes in power and great glory and all of His angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him shall be gathered all the nations and He will separate them one from the other as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” He is the Son of Man and He will come in judgement.
Of course, Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes again, will He find faith on the earth?” Daniel saw the coming of the Son of Man. He saw the second coming of Jesus Christ, the “Parousia.” This second coming of Christ is described in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4. Paul writes, “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the Archangel’s call, with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise. We who are alive who are left until His coming shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, so comfort one another with these words.” A description of the second coming of Christ.
I’m reminded of a missionary whose name is Gregory Fisher, a missionary in West Africa. He explains how one day he was going to teach at the West African Bible College where he was a professor. He had an afternoon class there. He was teaching on 1 Thessalonians 4 and on the second coming of Christ. He shared the passage, “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a cry of command.” One of his students raised his hand. He said, “What’s the cry of command? What will Jesus say when He comes on the clouds of heaven? What will He say when he descends? What’s the cry of command?”
The teacher was about to say, “I don’t know,” but then he thought about his day. He thought about how earlier that morning he and his wife had spent hours with a refuge family from the revolution in Liberia and how two of their children had died and how they had been tortured and they were crying. He and his wife were seeking to minister to the family. He thought about his drive over to the West African Bible College and how he saw beggars on the street who had lost their dignity and were in poverty. He just thought of the tragedy of poverty all over the world. He saw prostitutes in the streets as he was on his way across town. He thought of the immorality in the world. He thought of the immorality in America and how every time he comes back home on sabbatical, every three to five years, he sees changes here in the United States. It seemed to him as though the American people did not—even the Christian community in America did not notice these subtle changes but that our morals and our ethics were just gradually sliding. Every time he returned home to America he would see us as just more morally corrupt. Our entertainment is changing and everything in our culture is changing.
He said to his class, “You know, maybe the cry of command will be this. Maybe Jesus will simply say ‘Enough!’ Enough pain. enough hatred. Enough war. Enough poverty. Enough immorality. Enough sin. Enough! Enough!” Surely when Christ comes, He will say, “Enough!” But we really know from John, chapter 5 what His cry of command will be. Jesus said, “The Father judges no one but has given all judgement to the Son that all might honor the Son in the same way that they honor the Father.” Jesus said, “Do not marvel at this. The day is corning when all who are in the tombs· will hear My voice and come forth, some to everlasting life and some to everlasting death.” The cry of command. At His second coming, He will come to receive His people to Himself and to judge the nations.
Some of you are thinking, “Well, is this the time that He’s going to come? Are we in the season of the coming of the Son of Man?” Certainly, there are indications we could be in that season. In Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah and Amos it’s prophesied that at the eschaton, at the last days, Israel will be a nation again. Jews will be regathered. Israel will become a nation again and of course that happened in 1948 miraculously. In Zechariah 12-14 it is prophesied that the Jewish people at the last days will recapture the city of Jerusalem and that happened in 1967. To this day they have not yet controlled the Temple Mount or the Temple but of course that day may come in this age.
We look at the signs prophetically and we see the promise of apostasy. The Bible says that one of the great characteristics of the last days will be apostasy. People will no longer endure sound teaching. Having itching ears, they will accumulate teachers to suit their own liking. “People will depart from the faith,” it says, “giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.” It will be a time of the great falling away, 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2:1 Timothy 4:2 Timothy 4. Apostasy. Certainly, we’re seeing a falling away even in the nominal Christian community as mainline Protestant denominations depart from historic and biblical truths of the faith. We’re seeing apostasy.
There are reasons to believe we could be in the season of His coming, yet you don’t want to jump the gun. You don’t want to quit your job. You don’t want to set a date. Many generations throughout history have made that mistake. I think in the 12th century, in the year 1191 when there arose a prophet named Joaquim, Joaquim became a friend of Richard the Lionhearted, King of England. He convinced Richard the Lionhearted that Saladin, the Muslim sultan, was the Antichrist. He convinced Richard the Lionhearted if he would enter the Crusades and go to war in the Christian calls of the Crusades, that ultimately it would lead to Armageddon and the return of Jesus Christ. Of course, by any standard, the Crusades were misguided, contrary to the teachings of Christ, grieving the Holy Spirit of God.
Richard the Lionhearted believed that prophecy and of course Christ did not come, not in the 12th century. He may come in our century; He may not, but remember He’s coming. You might be a pre-tribulationist, a mid-tribulationist, a post-tribulationist, an au-millennialist, a post-millennialist, a pre-millennialist. It actually doesn’t matter. Jesus is coming and nobody can keep Him away. Satan can’t keep Him away. The Antichrist cannot keep Him away. He’s coming.
I read in the Smithsonian Magazine an article about the Mississippi River. Just incredible. The Mississippi River has awesome power and it draws water from 41 percent of the Continental United States. From Montana all the way to New York water flows into the Mississippi River. Of course, 1.5 trillion tons of water flow down the Mississippi every year with 63,000 tons of dirt and soil a day. It’s dangerous. The Mississippi River is very, very dangerous and it has the power to reconfigure the landscape of Middle America. So, they’ve built levies. These levies run along the. borders of the river and they’re walls that are designed to control the Mississippi and its power. In the Southern Mississippi, some of the levies are 25 feet high. The levies run 2,205 miles along both sides of the Mississippi when you count the main river and its tributaries—2.205 miles of levies.
People are living under the misconception that the lion has been caged and the Mississippi is controlled. Eight million people live in the Mississippi Delta. Millions more live along its banks. The title of the article in the Smithsonian was, “Some Day Soon.” Someday soon that river is going to overflow as it has in times past. The levies will not keep it at bay. Its power will be too great and it will overflow. I promise you, no one can keep at bay the return of Christ. His power is too great. He has all power in heaven and on earth and He will come in power and great glory someday soon, the Son of Man. Daniel saw Him.
There’s a third individual, briefly, as we look at the last days—a third individual and Daniel calls him the Ancient of Days. Daniel writes, “As I looked, thrones were placed and one who was Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was white as snow, the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames and its wheels were burning fire and streams of fire issued and came forth from before him. A thousand thousands served him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court sat in judgement and the books were opened.”
What’s that all about? Who is the Ancient of Days? God the Father. God the Father is the Ancient of Days and Daniel is describing the final judgement, similar to the great white throne judgement in Revelation, chapter 20. In the Ancient of Days, the court will sit in judgement. God wants you to know today, judgement is coming.
I saw where Charles Prothamer once wrote a column in 1995 about the baseball strike in 1994. He said the whole season was meaningless because there was no World Series and because so many games had been cancelled and all of the statistics were meaningless. There was no meaning because it didn’t have a proper ending. Some people kind of view life that way but God wants you to know it’s going to have a proper ending. Everything is meaningful. No day is meaningless. Not in your life; not in my life. Someday the books are going to be opened. It’s all meaningful. The final judgement gives meaning.
If you’re a Christian, you don’t need to fear the final judgement because if you’ve asked Jesus to be your Savior by His blood, and if you’ve asked Him to be your Lord and you’ve pledged to follow Him, you’ve already passed, the Bible says, “out of death into life, and there is no condemnation for those who ate in Christ Jesus.” You don’t need to fear the Great White Throne Judgement. You won’t even be there. You’ve already passed out of that judgement between heaven and hell. We, as Christians, do not judge the world. We do not judge the world. That is for the Ancient of Days. That is for the Son of Man. We don’t judge the nations. God will open the books. We don’t judge the world but we know this. All who believe in the name of the Son of God are saved and so we take the gospel to the nations. We take the gospel to every tribe, tongue, nation and people because the gospel has power to save. And yet as Christians we need to realize that we too will face a judgement. It’s called the Berna Seat and it’s a judgement of believers. We’re all going to have to stand before Christ and we’re all going to be evaluated in terms of our faithfulness. There are going to be eternal consequences. Even for us as Christians, God wants us to know He’s called us to faithfulness.
I read some time ago about JFK, John Kennedy, how two days before his installation as President in 1960—two days before, he called Billy Graham. JFK called Billy Graham and he said, “Senator Smathers and I are going to go down to Florida for the day, for the night. We’re going to play some golf. We’re going to go to the Kennedy compound afterwards and have a little dinner. Billy, I wondered if you would be willing to join us for the golf and for the dinner.’ Billy Graham said, “Sure.” Kennedy picked him up in his plane. They flew down to Florida. They played some golf. They went to the Kennedy compound. Of course, there are many Kennedy compounds. A compound is simply an enclosed residence. They had some dinner.
On their way from the golf course to the residence, Kennedy said to Billy Graham, “Do you believe Jesus Christ is going to return to this world?” Billy Graham said, “I sure do.” For 20 minutes he went over all the scriptures relating to the second coming of Jesus Christ. Billy Graham later wrote, that he didn’t know whether JFK was a true believer or not. Certainly, he was a man of great moral perplexity. Billy Graham did know that Kennedy had this interest in the eschaton and in the return of Christ.
There’s a story that Kennedy often told as he was campaigning for the presidency. He told it in states all over our country. It’s a story that took place in 1789 at the House of Representatives in the state of Connecticut. Apparently they were having a meeting of the House on a bright sunny afternoon. Suddenly the sky went dark. The sun did not give its light. It was like the darkest night and it was in the midst of the day. People were panicked in the House of Representatives in the state of Connecticut in 1789. They were panicked because suddenly the skies had gone dark. People were scrambling to leave. People were saying it was the day of judgement.
As Kennedy told the story, Colonel Davenport who was the Speaker of the House called them all to attention. He said, “Gentlemen, the day of judgement may be here or the day of judgement may not be here. If it is not here, there is no reason to adjourn. If the day of judgement is here, I’d rather the Good Lord found me working hard in the service of my country. I request that lamps be brought in and that they be lit.”
Kennedy told that story again and again and I do not know why. I’m sure he believed that the Lord wants a working people. I’m sure he believed that and God does want a working people. Certainly, you’re all engaged in a battle for bread and you’re seeking to provide for your families and that’s important to God. But understand … faithfulness requires a different kind of work. Faithfulness requires that you also be involved in serving the kingdom of heaven on earth and the church of Christ in this world. You need to offer your time and your talent and your treasure if you would be found faithful.
The Bible talks a lot about faithfulness. Jesus said, “Be faithful unto death and I’ll give you the crown of life.” The Bible also talks a lot about money. The Bible talks a lot about money and it bugs a lot of people. They can’t stand the fact that God is so concerned about our money. It’s been said that one out of every eight verses in the Bible relates to money. I don’t know whether that’s true. I’ve never checked it out statistically. I know this. If one out of every eight sermons I preached had to do with money I would have been fired a long time ago.
I rarely talk about money but why is God so concerned with it? Why does God say, “The love of money is the root of all evil?” Why is Jesus so concerned with money? Why does He focus so much on money? “You cannot serve God and money.” “No man can serve two masters.” He talked a lot about money. I know this; Money is a great test of faithfulness.
I want to share with you something very, very personal. I know some of you are visiting and this really isn’t for you although it has application for all believers. I want to share something very personal to me. We’re approaching a crisis as a church and I don’t know what to do. We’re doing well in terms of people and attendance. We have a lot of wonderful ministries, and I think they’re all faithful, but we’re just struggling to have the money to keep the work going. This congregation has given $663,000 less this year than we gave last year and yet our operating budget is $1 million more, so you can see the crisis that we’re entering.
I don’t know what to do. I really don’t know what to do. We can put the Atrium Project on hold. I’d hate to do it. We can start firing staff en masse. It would just shred me. It would shred us all. I don’t know what to do. I know what I would like to see happen. I would like to see us become more faithful. I know we can do it. It’s a challenge to handle the Atrium Project and an operating budget but we can do it! We may not have the WILL to do it but we have the ABILITY to do it.
Did you know that 25% of the people in this church give 80% of the money? I feel like the Lord would have me say thank you to that 20%. I feel like the Lord would have me encourage that 20% and to compliment them. I believe someday those who are faithful will see Jesus smile and He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servants.” There’s another 40% of people in our congregation who give the other 20%. They’re giving but they’re not giving up to biblical standards. They’re not coming close to tithing. It’s not that hard to tithe. You just do it. We taught our son and our daughter to tithe. Our daughter and her husband tithe and our son tithes. They take the first tenth of everything they get and they just give it to the Lord. It’s not hard. You just do it and you figure out how to live on the other 90%.
Sometimes God calls us to double tithe as He’s called Barb and me to do this year. When He blesses us, He calls us sometimes to do that, but He calls us to be faithful. To the second group, this 40% that’s giving 20% of the money, I feel like God would have me disciple—if I possibly can—disciple you to help you grow, to understand how important it is that you would be faithful and that you would come to biblical standards in your giving because I think when you see Christ, He won’t be smiling.
There’s a third group in our church, 40%, who don’t give anything at all. Don’t be stunned. That’s true of churches all over America. It doesn’t matter whether they’re Pentecostal, Baptist, Presbyterian or Anglican. It doesn’t matter. Typically, 40% of every church gives nothing and most of those people are going to hell. Why do I say that? I say that because God doesn’t have their soul. If God had their soul, He would have something of their pocketbook. If God had their soul…
We live in a nation where Christianity is so easy, a lot of lip service. Jesus said, “He who would after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me. He who would save his life shall lose it. He who would lose his life for My sake and the sake of the gospel will surely find it.”
A lot of churches preach a weak gospel to weak people who have a weak future. Understand the call of Jesus Christ. He wants your soul. If you’re not giving any money … It’s really not about money. It’s about your soul, whether you’ve offered Him your soul. If you give Him your soul, He’s going to have your time, He’s going to have your talent, He’s going to have your treasure. He’s going to have it all if He has your soul. A lot is at stake because there’s a battle going on for the souls of men and women the world over.
The Little Horn is coming. The Antichrist is coming. The spirit of Antichrist is already at work in this world. The Son of Man is coming in power and great glory. He will judge the nations and receive His people to Himself. The Ancient of Days brings judgement. So, consider how you live your life. We all must consider how we live our days, however many are given to us in this world.
How do you spend your life? Are you just looking forward to your next meal and thinking about restaurants? Do you just go to work every day, come home and watch TV and then do it all over the next day? Are you just kind of floating into oblivion? What’s life about? Do you really believe the Bible? Do you believe the claims of Christ? Do you believe He’s called His people to commitment? He calls His people to faithfulness. So, Daniel was faithful in his time. The cost was great. We’re called to be faithful in our time and all the more as we see the day drawing near. Let’s close with a word of prayer.