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God and the Lion’s Den – The Book of Daniel

Feb 17th, 2009
by Anthony Delgado.
god-and-the-lione28099s-den-the-book-of-daniel

KevinMcG, www.sxc.hu/photo/1111045

There are epic and fantastic qualities to the book of Daniel that can easily overshadow the true meanings of the book. The story of “Daniel and the Lion’s Den” is often taught to children as a way to express God’s faithfulness to His people and the simplicity of that message is what the book is really about. The book of Daniel thematically points to God’s faithfulness to the nation of Israel, even when all appears as loss due to the exile. God’s faithfulness is established through His demonstration of kingship over all mankind, the pagan acknowledgement of the Most High God (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan. 6.26,27) and God’s control over the establishment of rulers on earth.

From the beginning, God is recognized as the king of Israel, but later it is established that He is also the king over all when he is referred to as the “Ancient of Days” (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan. 7.9,13,22). The meaning of “Ancient of Days” is more literally “one who forwards time and rules over it” (Brand, Draper and England 66). In context, the meaning is more of one who controls kingdoms; the beasts in the chapter represent the countries involved in the post exilic battles and it is explained how they are controlled by God and their actions are predetermined by Him as part of His plan for Israel and the Church  (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan. 7).

God causes pagan kings to acknowledge Him as the “Most High God” and other similar titles of recognition after miraculous signs are performed before them. Nebuchadnezzar called God the “God of gods” and the “Lord of kings” (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan. 2:47). After God delivered Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, Nebuchadnezzar praised God for their faithfulness to not worship anyone other than God (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan. 3:28-29). Belshazzar would not humble himself, but did recognize God’s hand over him when Daniel deciphered the writing on the wall (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan. 5:21-23). Darius recognized, after the deliverance of Daniel from the lion’s den, that God is eternal and that “His dominion will be forever” (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan. 6.26).

Not only is God recognized by the rulers of the earth, but He is recognized because He established their reign. “He removes Kings and establishes Kings” (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan. 2.21). This is consistent also with Romans 13 where it is written, “there is no authority except that which God has established” (Men’s Devotional Bible, Rom. 13.1). Every ruler and every man who holds authority over another was predetermined to be so according the perfect plan of God. This is difficult in light of the Israelites, because if they were to have been the holy people that God desired them to be then they would not have been led into exile, under the authority of the Babylonian kings which had been predetermined. The plan was predetermined based on the foreknowledge of the faithlessness of Israel and mankind.

It is this understanding of the plan that proves God’s endless faithfulness. He predetermined salvation for a people who He knew would repeatedly deny Him. Even in exile, God’s hand was on the nation of Israel, as a remnant was protected in order to reestablish the Israelite community. This was so that the ultimate form of God’s faithfulness could be established, the Messiah. Daniel is told about the plan of “everlasting life” for all who have their names written in the “book” (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan. 12.2). Daniel receives assurance of his own salvation and that he will “enter into rest and rise again…at the end of the age,” completely consistent with the prophesy of Revelation (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan 12.13).

The guarantee of salvation through God’s faithfulness presents a new light on man’s relationship with Him. God established authority on earth that His will would be done for the Israelites and for all mankind.  Not only has He established authority, but He is the authority over all, and recognized even by pagan kings. Finally, God’s perfect faithfulness is deliverance from the ‘lions den’ for all who will choose it, through Christ.

Works Cited
Brand, Chad Owen., Draper, Charles W., England, Archie W., ed.
Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 1998.
Men’s Devotional Bible: New International Version. Zondervan, 1993.
The MacArthur Study Bible: Updated New American Standard Translation. MacArthur:
Thomas Nelson Inc., 2006.

God is Light from Creation to the End

Aug 26th, 2008
by Anthony Delgado.

God is Light
The light of God is mentioned in many places throughout the Bible. “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5 NIV). The following text examines a handful of the many occurrences of God’s light within scripture.

On day one of creation, God said, “‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:3 NIV). Certainly we know that this is a literal light as it also says that, “God called the light day, and the darkness he called night” (Genesis 1:5 NIV). However, God did not create the sun, the moon or the stars until the fourth day. So where did the light come from? This seems simple to some, but is not easy for all to grasp.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. ”
(John 1:1-5 NIV)

This passage from John is talking about Jesus Christ. All things were made through Christ. He, exclusively, was the light that shined for the first three days of earth’s existence. Not only that! His light is also the light of men, which is life. The first verses of the Bible tell us that life is through Christ. It was this way for Adam and Eve, and for the Israelites and for mankind today. If we want life, we obtain that one way and that is through Jesus Christ.

Genesis 1:4 says that, “God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness” (NIV). Remember that the light is Jesus and it is good according to God the father. In contrast the darkness is everything else, everything which is not good. God made a specific point to separate the light from the darkness, the good from the evil. It was on this first day of creation that it was established that Christ was good and everything which is not of Christ is sin.

Now it’s time to apply this.

…if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
(1 John 7, 8 NIV)

We are called to walk in the light, which is Jesus, according to creation. Isaiah said, “let us walk in the light of the LORD” (Isaiah 2:5). To walk is to live your life according to something. If we claim to be without sin, then we are living a lie and we walk in darkness; Christ is not in us. Hold to the teachings of Christ and you walk in the light. This is the path to life.

On a side note, does this mean that if we sin, we do not walk in the light? Certainly not. We are affected by the darkness even from the perspective of light. That is why we receive purification from the blood sacrifice of Jesus. Walking in darkness requires a deliberate act of defiance against the nature of Christ or the nature of God according for those who have experienced Christ only through general revelation.

“Many are asking, ‘Who can show us any good?’ Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD” (Psalms 4:6 NIV). In this Psalm David pleas with God to shine his light, or his goodness down on the Israelites. This is the same light that comes from Christ. In context, he is asking for virtue to be cast onto them so that they will remember God and come to repentance of their sins.

“He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.”
(Daniel 2:22 NIV)

This is another reminder from Daniel. Do not claim to be holy. There is corruption in all of man. The man who claims to be humble is the least humble. God will judge the heart and reveal the darkness within. True light comes from heartfelt commitment to Jesus Christ and none other. The light must dwell in you. If it does not, then darkness does.

What to do with the light?

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
(Matthew 5:14-16 NIV)

If we have the light within us, then all are to see it. Christ is saying, “Hey, if you have my light in you, then go shine my goodness out on others.” The goodness of Christ should pour from us like the beacon in the lighthouse so that others can see Christ in us. This is not merely evangelism, although it is that too. This is treating others as Christ would and as he has treated you, with grace, compassion and mercy. Why? So that they will praise God and so they will know Christ because of your demonstration of Christ in you.

“There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.”
(Revelation 22:5 NIV)

In the end, when we go to be in heaven with the Father, there will be no need for the sun and the stars. We will live eternally, our lives lit by the glory of the Lord. Remember though that the light was separated from the darkness. Those who did not accept Christ will live eternally in darkness and eternal torment. They will be thrown “into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:50 NIV).

“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. ”
(Luke 8:16 NIV)

The Challenge.
If you have the light in you, do not hold it in. Be a beacon of Christ’s light to the world so that they can experience the same eternity as you.