This week pastor Don gives a bit of an overview of the rest of the book of Daniel, but also focuses on verses 8-21 of chapter 1. While there are those who doubt that Daniel could have written what he did about future events with such pinpoint accuracy, we are reminded of God's supremacy and sovereignty in the affairs of men in this book. In fact, about 10 other OT books were written around the same historical period in which Daniel lived, giving us great confidence that what we read in Daniel is God's infallible Word and can be trusted completely.
Some other things we learn from the book of Daniel are that it was written in 2 languages, Hebrew and Aramaic (the language of Babylon). Daniel also takes time to pray for those who would live hundreds of years in the future and this reminds us of the importance of not getting too caught up in the here and now, while also realizing the influence of how we live our lives and pray now on future generations.
While we might wonder why Daniel and his 3 friends, who were captives in Babylon, chose when they did to take a stand, we can be certain that they did indeed take a stand for the Lord, and the stand they took could have cost them their very lives.
In our generation too, we must be sure to 'draw a line', to take our own stand wherever or whenever the Lord would want us to do so. We do not want to be included in those of whom it is said, 'they stood for nothing, and fell for anything'.
While it is never easy to take a stand for the Lord, we know from Daniel, that not only do we grow stronger in our walk with the Lord because of it, but others in future generations might be blessed and inspired as they hear of such a stand.
