DANIEL 
WHO IS RUNNING THIS SHOW ANYHOW?

"Who is Running This Show Anyhow" is based on the book written by Daniel about 530 B.C. You'll find references in the N.I.V. Bible as you read on and our comments are in brackets.

About 605 BC the King of Babylon besieged Jerusalem and some temple artefacts and some of the royal family and Israelite nobility were deported to Babylon. They later were to be trained in the King's service. Among them were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.

Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine and asked permission accordingly. God had caused the official concerned to show favour to Daniel, but he said that granting this request could cost him his head.

Daniel asked that he and his three friends be given vegetables and water only for ten days and then compared with others on royal food. As they looked better after ten days they were allowed to stay on their undefiled food.

God gave these four knowledge and understanding and Daniel also understanding of visions and dreams.

After training, the king found these four ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.

(Chapter 1)

The king had a dream. He asked his magicians and astrologers to tell him both the dream and its meaning. They said "no one can reveal it to the king except the gods and they do not live among men". So the angry king ordered their execution along with Daniel and his friends. Daniel asked the king for time to interpret the dream. He returned to his house and explained to his three friends. He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of Heaven to save their lives. During the night the dream and its meaning was revealed to Daniel in a vision.

Daniel praised the God of Heaven and said:-

"Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are His. He changes times and seasons; He sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; and light dwells with Him. I thank and praise you O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king".

Daniel asked the executioner not to execute the wise men of Babylon as he had the answer to the dream. The king asked him if it were true. Daniel said "No wise man can... but there is a God in Heaven who can. As for me, this mystery has been revealed... not because I have greater wisdom than other living men, but so that you may know the interpretation".

This is the dream. You saw an enormous statue with head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron and feet partly of iron and partly of clay. A rock was cut out, not by human hands, which struck the feet, the statue collapsed like chaff and was blown completely away by the wind. But the rock became a huge mountain filling the earth.

The interpretation is that you, king, are the head of gold. Inferior kingdoms will follow yours. The fourth strong kingdom will crush the others. But being of clay and iron it will be divided. "In the time of those kings the God of Heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed". It will crush those kingdoms but itself endure forever. This is what the rock means. "The great God has shown the king the future", the dream being true and trustworthy.

The king fell prostrate before Daniel and said "surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings". So Daniel was given a high position and made ruler over the entire province of Babylon. At Daniel's request the king appointed his three friends administrators over the province of Babylon while Daniel remained at the royal court.

(Chapter 2)

The king made an image of gold ninety feet high and nine feet wide. At the sound of musical instruments everyone was to fall down and worship or be thrown into a blazing furnace. The king was told that Daniel's three friends would not worship the image.

In a rage, the king threatened them and asked "what god will be able to rescue you?" They replied "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us... but even if He does not... we will not serve your gods or worship the image".

The king ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than normal. His strongest soldiers tied them up, fully clothed, threw them in and themselves died of the heat.

The king leaped to his feet in amazement when he saw "four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods". So he called them and the three came out. Everyone saw them, saw their bodies unharmed, not a hair singed, clothes unscorched and no smell of the fire on them.

The king said "Praise be to your God who sent an angel and rescued His servants. They trusted Him and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God." He decreed that anyone speaking against them be killed for "no other god can save in this way". So they were promoted in the province of Babylon. (Chapter 3)

The King told everyone "in all the world" about the miraculous signs and wonders the most high God performed for him. "How great are His signs, how mighty His wonders. His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; His dominion endures from generation to generation".

The king told of a fearful dream he had when he was contented and prosperous at home in his palace. When no one else could interpret it he called Daniel. He said "I know the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no mystery is too difficult for you". The dream was of a great tree cut down at the command of a heavenly messenger. Its stump was to have the mind of an animal and live with them for some years. The lesson was "so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone He wishes".

Daniel told the king he was the tree. He would be driven away from the people and live with the wild animals until he acknowledged that the most high is sovereign. Then his kingdom would be restored. Daniel advised the king to "renounce your sins by doing what is right and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed".

Twelve months later the king was walking around his palace roof saying, "Is not this the great Babylon I have built... by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty", then a voice from heaven said "Your royal authority has been taken away from you... until you acknowledge that the most high is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone He wishes." Immediately this happened and he ate grass and lived alone like an animal.

When he had learned his lesson he said, "I raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the most high; I honoured and glorified Him who lives forever.

His dominion is an eternal dominion His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him; What have you done?"

"When my sanity was restored, my honour and splendour were returned to me... and I... became even greater than before. Now I... praise and exalt and glorify the King of Heaven, because everything He does is right and all His ways are just. And those who walk in pride He is able to humble". (Chapter 4)

His son the next king, gave a massive banquet and drank from the gold and silver goblets stolen from the temple in Jerusalem. They praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone.

"Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall". The king watched, his face turned pale, he was so frightened his knees knocked and his legs gave way.

The king's wise men couldn't read the writing. The queen told him "There is a man in your kingdom named Daniel who has the spirit of the holy gods in him... He will tell you what the writing means".

So the king called Daniel and promised gifts and honours if he could interpret the writing. He said "Keep your gifts, reward someone else and I'll interpret the writing."

Daniel said "The Most High God gave your father... sovereignty... greatness... glory and splendour... But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed... and stripped of his glory... until he acknowledged that the most high God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone He wishes.

But you... have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. Instead you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven... You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone who cannot see, or hear or understand.

But you did not honour the God who holds in His hand your life and all your ways. Therefore He sent the hand that wrote...

Mene, mene, tekel parsin."

This means:-

Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and will end it. Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Parsin: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.

The king clothed Daniel in purple, a gold chain was put round his neck and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

That night the king was slain and Darius the Mede took over his kingdom. (Chapter 5)

Darius planned to set Daniel "over the whole kingdom". So his rivals plotted to destroy Daniel. Being neither corrupt nor negligent they said, "We will never find any basis for charge against... Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God". So they got the king to decree that everyone had to pray to him for 30 days or be thrown into a lions' den.

"When Daniel knew the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened towards Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before". The plotters found him "praying and asking for help", and told the king.

The king was "greatly distressed; He was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him". The plotters pressured the king and Daniel was thrown into the lions' den.

The king said to Daniel, "May your God whom you serve continually, rescue you".

A stone was put over the mouth of the den and sealed with the king's signet ring "So that Daniel's situation might not be changed".

The king returned to his palace and neither ate, nor was entertained nor slept. At the first light of dawn he hurried to the den and called to Daniel in an anguished voice; "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?"

Daniel answered "My God sent His angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions... because I was found innocent in His sight. Nor have I ever done anything wrong before you, O king".

The king was overjoyed and had Daniel lifted out of the den and "no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God". His accusers and their families were thrown into the lions' den on the king's orders and "before they reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones".

The king proclaimed through all his kingdom "I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.

For He is the living God and He endures forever His kingdom will not be destroyed, His dominion will never end He rescues and He saves; He performs signs and wonders In the Heavens and on the earth He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions".

So Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian. (Chapter 6)

Daniel had a dream. He saw:-

-Four winds of Heaven churning up the sea. -Four beasts which came out of the sea. The first was like a Lion.(Babylonian Empire 626-579 BC) The second like a Bear.(Medo-Persian Empire 539-330 BC) The third like a Leopard.(Grecian Empire 330-63 BC) The fourth a terrifying and frightening beast. It had horns, one of which had a man's eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully. (Roman Empire 63 BC - AD 70 and the rest of history) -Thrones... set in place and the ancient of days took His seat. His clothing was white as snow and hair white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire and its wheels ablaze. A river of fire was flowing out from before Him. Thousands upon thousands attended Him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated and the books were opened. -The fourth beast was slain and thrown into the blazing fire. (The other beasts were stripped of authority but allowed to live for a time). -Then "Before me was one like a son of man (Jesus) coming from the clouds of Heaven. He approached the ancient of days and was led into His presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped Him. His dominion... will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed". -It was explained to Daniel that the beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth. "But the saints of the most High will receive the kingdom and possess it forever". The horn of the fourth beast with the man's eyes and boastful mouth "will speak against the Most High and oppress His saints and try to change the set times and laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time... but his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole of Heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom and all rulers will worship and obey him." (Chapter 7) Daniel had another vision. He saw:- -A ram and a goat corresponding to the bear and the leopard of his first vision. -God explained its meaning through Gabriel, a terrifying and exhausting experience for Daniel. (The horn that started small (V9) was the Greek, Antiochus Epiphanes who, between 168 and 164 BC tried to annihilate Jewish faith. He prefigures the antichrist of history's end (Ch7 V8) to be finally destroyed then by God.

Judas Maccabeus recaptured Jerusalem and rededicated the temple in Dec 165 BC: (V14). (Chapter 8)

"I, Daniel understood from the scriptures according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years (70 years of Jewish exile in Babylon). So I turned to the Lord and pleaded with Him in prayer and petition, in fasting, sackcloth and ashes:

I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:

O Lord the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with all who love Him and obey His commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked... rebelled (and)... turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to... the prophets who spoke in your name".

Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered in shame and scattered abroad because of our unfaithfulness and sins against you. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving even though we have rebelled against Him, we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws He gave us. All Israel has transgressed, turned away and refused to obey you.

Therefore the curses and sworn judgements written in the law of Moses have been poured out on us because we have sinned against you. You have kept your word by bringing disaster on us, yet we have not sought the favour of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything He does; yet we have not obeyed Him.

Now O Lord our God who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and made yourself an enduring name, we have sinned and done wrong. O Lord, in keeping with your righteous acts, turn away your anger and wrath from Jerusalem your holy hill. Our sins and iniquities have made Jerusalem an object of scorn to all those around us.

Now, our God hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look in favour on your desolate sanctuary. Listen and hear, look and see the desolation of your city. We don't ask this because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! Foregive O Lord hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because our city and people bear your name.

While I was speaking and praying confessing my sin and the sin of my people and making my requests to the Lord my God for His holy hill, Gabriel, whom I'd seen before, came and said "As soon as you began to pray an answer was given because you are highly esteemed."

This is it:- After a period of time Jesus Christ will be the answer to your prayer (V 26 refers to His crucifixion) but it will invoke conflict with and the final destruction of Satan. (Chapter 9)

Daniel mourned and ate no choice food for three weeks. By the Tigris river he looked up and saw a man dressed in linen, with a belt of finest gold, a body like chrysolite, face like lightning, eyes like flaming torches, arms and legs like burnished bronze and a voice like the sound of a multitude. His companions fled in terror (but did not see the man). Daniel had no strength, his face was deathly pale, helpless he fell into a deep sleep, his face to the ground.

A hand touched him and set him trembling on hands and knees and a voice told him to stand up and listen as "You are highly esteemed". So Daniel stood trembling. The man said, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard and I have come in response to them." I will explain the future.

Daniel bowed his face to the ground speechless. The man touched his lips so he said "I am overcome with anguish... and helpless - how can I your servant talk with you my Lord. My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe."

Again the one who looked like a man touched Daniel and gave him strength. "Do not be afraid, O man highly esteemed" he said. "Peace. Be strong now. Be strong."

Daniel was strengthened and said, "Speak my Lord, since you have given me strength." He replied "I will tell you what is written in the book of truth." (Chapter 10)

Daniel was told of coming events (showing the futility of human wars and alliances) culminating in the action of Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 BC. When he erected an idol to the pagan god Zeus Olympus in the temple in Jerusalem it was to be a time when "the wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by the sword... be burned... captured or plundered... Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end." Beyond this (Vs 36-45) Daniel was told of events concerning the end of the world and the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:13-16). (Chapter 11)

That is to be "A time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of the nations until then. But... your people... everyone whose name is found written in the book will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. The wise and those who have led many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever."

Daniel was told to close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end.

All this will take place "when the power of the holy people has been finally broken". Daniel asked for more information but he was told "Go your way Daniel because the words are closed and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, made spotless and refined but the wicked will continue to be wicked".

None of the wicked will understand but the wise will.

The final word to Daniel was "as for you, go your way until the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance." (Chapter 12)

 

HERE ARE SOME MAIN POINTS FROM THE BOOK OF DANIEL:

1. When the "impossible" is asked of you, pray to God and get others to do the same. God may answer in any number of different ways - for example, in a dream. When He does, praise Him and publicly give Him the credit.

2. If this brings public recognition and honour there is no guarantee it will continue. For example, a high official may acknowledge God and you and soon after do the opposite.

3. REAL faith says to God "Though you kill me it won't stop me trusting you." (Daniel was spared this. Jesus wasn't). The demonstration of such faith can bring glory to God by having a profound effect for good on people in powerful positions.

4. REAL faith involves: -Passing God's message on to stop sinning even if it puts your life at risk. -Giving service for free because God's rewards are sufficient. -Giving a consistent public acknowledgement to God at the risk of losing your life. 5. The outcome of such faith is a close relationship with God, in which: -God may reveal His plans, for example, in dreams and cause you to pray (as Daniel did -Chapter 9), confessing your sin and the sin of God's people and asking forgiveness. -God may speak more directly to you - a fearful experience, but one in which God gives encouragement and strength.

 

NOTE:

God is total purity, absolute sinlessness, pure light. We are "comfortable" living in the shadows where the unwashed dirt of our sins isn't too noticeable. But the closer we get to God the more obvious our sins become. Daniel, as God's man, was an absolute "world beater." Just look at his record! Yet, close to God, he was overcome with anguish, felt helpless, could hardly breathe and had no strength. This is why, to be with God in heaven, your sins must be removed by repentance and belief that Jesus Christ died to cleanse your sins. He alone is sinless, so He is the way to the perfect Father and the only one who can keep you with Him.