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Daniel 8:24-25    In the latter part of their reign, when rebels have become completely wicked, a fierce-looking king, a master of intrigue, will arise.  He will become very strong, but not by his own power.  He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does.  He will destroy those who are mighty, the holy people.  He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior.  When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes.  Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power.  The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given you is true, but seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.

The record we are given in Scripture of Daniel’s visions, and especially of this one concerning ‘the distant future’ is fascinating, and has been the subject of much widely divergent speculation.  Many predictions of the actual date of Christ’s Second Coming have come and gone over the last 2,000 years, but we are reminded of Jesus’ own warning against making such specific predictions (Acts 1:7), with the added injunction to always be ready (Luke 12:25-40).

But perhaps the most important thing for us to learn from this vision is that our God is sovereign over all the affairs of this world.  Even when fierce-looking wicked rebels come to power and cause ‘astounding devastation’ over God’s people, his Church, the ‘holy [separated] people’, actively ‘taking their stand’ against the ‘Prince of princes’ (ie Jesus), it will not be ‘by their own human power’ – they are only ever instruments in the hands of the Sovereign Lord.  Even Israel’s seventy years exile in Babylon, and the destruction of Jerusalem (the LORD’s holy Zion) and the sacred Temple, was part of the outworking of God’s Plan of Salvation.

Daniel himself, and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, had to persevere in trusting the sovereignty of God in the face of severe persecution which took the form of burning-fiery-furnaces and lions’ dens!  All of this drives me to my knees in prayer – I don’t believe in the power of prayer – but I do believe in the power of God, and therefore I pray.

As we face the increasing pressure and influence of militant Islam and Cultural Marxism and the effects they are having today throughout our world, we are called to prayer for ourselves and our brothers and sisters in Christ who are subject to such intense hostility.  The reason we pray is because our God IS sovereign, and he listens to the faithful prayers of his people.  As the Apostle Paul wrote to young Timothy: “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

– Bruce Christian