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Skip's Teachings > 27 Daniel - I Dare You - 2013 > I Dare You: Be Balanced!

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I Dare You: Be Balanced!
Daniel 1-12
Skip Heitzig

Daniel 1 (NKJV™)
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.
3 Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king's descendants and some of the nobles,
4 young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans.
5 And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king.
6 Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
7 To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.
8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
9 Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs.
10 And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, "I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king."
11 So Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
12 "Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.
13 "Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king's delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants."
14 So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days.
15 And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies.
16 Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.
17 As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
18 Now at the end of the days, when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.
19 Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they served before the king.
20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm.
21 Thus Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus.
Daniel 2 (NKJV™)
1 Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him.
2 Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
3 And the king said to them, "I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream."
4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, "O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation."
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, "My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap.
6 "However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation."
7 They answered again and said, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will give its interpretation."
8 The king answered and said, "I know for certain that you would gain time, because you see that my decision is firm:
9 "if you do not make known the dream to me, there is only one decree for you! For you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation."
10 The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, "There is not a man on earth who can tell the king's matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean.
11 "It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh."
12 For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave a command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
13 So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.
14 Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon;
15 he answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, "Why is the decree from the king so urgent?" Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel.
16 So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation.
17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,
18 that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
20 Daniel answered and said: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His.
21 And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding.
22 He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him.
23 "I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, And have now made known to me what we asked of You, For You have made known to us the king's demand."
24 Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; take me before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation."
25 Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king, and said thus to him, "I have found a man of the captives of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation."
26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?"
27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, "The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king.
28 "But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these:
29 "As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be.
30 "But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.
31 "You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome.
32 "This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,
33 "its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
34 "You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
35 "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 "This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king.
37 "You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory;
38 "and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all--you are this head of gold.
39 "But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
40 "And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.
41 "Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay.
42 "And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.
43 "As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.
44 "And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
45 "Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold--the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure."
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him.
47 The king answered Daniel, and said, "Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret."
48 Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.
49 Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.
Daniel 3 (NKJV™)
1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
2 And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
3 So the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered together for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
4 Then a herald cried aloud: "To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages,
5 "that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up;
6 "and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace."
7 So at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, and lyre, in symphony with all kinds of music, all the people, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the gold image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and accused the Jews.
9 They spoke and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, "O king, live forever!
10 "You, O king, have made a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the gold image;
11 "and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
12 "There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; these men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up."
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. So they brought these men before the king.
14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up?
15 "Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?"
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
17 "If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.
18 "But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up."
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.
20 And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
22 Therefore, because the king's command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.
23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, "Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?" They answered and said to the king, "True, O king."
25 "Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here." Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire.
27 And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king's counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.
28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!
29 "Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this."
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon.
Daniel 4 (NKJV™)
1 Nebuchadnezzar the king, To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you.
2 I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me.
3 How great are His signs, And how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And His dominion is from generation to generation.
4 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace.
5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts on my bed and the visions of my head troubled me.
6 Therefore I issued a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.
7 Then the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers came in, and I told them the dream; but they did not make known to me its interpretation.
8 But at last Daniel came before me (his name is Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god; in him is the Spirit of the Holy God), and I told the dream before him, saying:
9 "Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the Spirit of the Holy God is in you, and no secret troubles you, explain to me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation.
10 "These were the visions of my head while on my bed: "I was looking, and behold, A tree in the midst of the earth, And its height was great.
11 The tree grew and became strong; Its height reached to the heavens, And it could be seen to the ends of all the earth.
12 Its leaves were lovely, Its fruit abundant, And in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, The birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches, And all flesh was fed from it.
13 "I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven.
14 He cried aloud and said thus: 'Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, Strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts get out from under it, And the birds from its branches.
15 Nevertheless leave the stump and roots in the earth, Bound with a band of iron and bronze, In the tender grass of the field. Let it be wet with the dew of heaven, And let him graze with the beasts On the grass of the earth.
16 Let his heart be changed from that of a man, Let him be given the heart of a beast, And let seven times pass over him.
17 'This decision is by the decree of the watchers, And the sentence by the word of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men.'
18 "This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare its interpretation, since all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for the Spirit of the Holy God is in you."
19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for a time, and his thoughts troubled him. So the king spoke, and said, "Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation trouble you." Belteshazzar answered and said, "My lord, may the dream concern those who hate you, and its interpretation concern your enemies!
20 The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong, whose height reached to the heavens and which could be seen by all the earth,
21 whose leaves were lovely and its fruit abundant, in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heaven had their home--
22 it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth.
23 And inasmuch as the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, 'Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze in the tender grass of the field; let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let him graze with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him';
24 this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king:
25 They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.
26 And inasmuch as they gave the command to leave the stump and roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be assured to you, after you come to know that Heaven rules.
27 Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity."
28 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar.
29 At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon.
30 The king spoke, saying, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?"
31 While the word was still in the king's mouth, a voice fell from heaven: "King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!
32 And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses."
33 That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws.
34 And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom is from generation to generation.
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, "What have You done?"
36 At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me.
37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.
Daniel 5 (NKJV™)
1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand.
2 While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.
3 Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them.
4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.
5 In the same hour the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
6 Then the king's countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other.
7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spoke, saying to the wise men of Babylon, "Whoever reads this writing, and tells me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck; and he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom."
8 Now all the king's wise men came, but they could not read the writing, or make known to the king its interpretation.
9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled, his countenance was changed, and his lords were astonished.
10 The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came to the banquet hall. The queen spoke, saying, "O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance change.
11 "There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. And in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and King Nebuchadnezzar your father--your father the king--made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers.
12 "Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation."
13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke, and said to Daniel, "Are you that Daniel who is one of the captives from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah?
14 "I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.
15 "Now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not give the interpretation of the thing.
16 "And I have heard of you, that you can give interpretations and explain enigmas. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom."
17 Then Daniel answered, and said before the king, "Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another; yet I will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation.
18 "O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor.
19 "And because of the majesty that He gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he executed; whomever he wished, he kept alive; whomever he wished, he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down.
20 "But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him.
21 "Then he was driven from the sons of men, his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses.
22 "But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this.
23 "And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.
24 "Then the fingers of the hand were sent from Him, and this writing was written.
25 "And this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
26 "This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it;
27 "TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting;
28 "PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."
29 Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
30 That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain.
31 And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.
Daniel 6 (NKJV™)
1 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, to be over the whole kingdom;
2 and over these, three governors, of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them, so that the king would suffer no loss.
3 Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.
4 So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him.
5 Then these men said, "We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God."
6 So these governors and satraps thronged before the king, and said thus to him: "King Darius, live forever!
7 "All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.
8 "Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter."
9 Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.
10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.
11 Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.
12 And they went before the king, and spoke concerning the king's decree: "Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any god or man within thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?" The king answered and said, "The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter."
13 So they answered and said before the king, "That Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day."
14 And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him.
15 Then these men approached the king, and said to the king, "Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed."
16 So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, "Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you."
17 Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed.
18 Now the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; and no musicians were brought before him. Also his sleep went from him.
19 Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions.
20 And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?"
21 Then Daniel said to the king, "O king, live forever!
22 "My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you."
23 Then the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God.
24 And the king gave the command, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions--them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den.
25 Then King Darius wrote: To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you.
26 I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, And steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, And His dominion shall endure to the end.
27 He delivers and rescues, And He works signs and wonders In heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.
28 So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
Daniel 7 (NKJV™)
1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts.
2 Daniel spoke, saying, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea.
3 "And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.
4 "The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
5 "And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: 'Arise, devour much flesh!'
6 "After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it.
7 "After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.
8 "I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.
9 "I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire;
10 A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened.
11 "I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame.
12 "As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.
13 "I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him.
14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.
15 "I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.
16 "I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things:
17 'Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth.
18 'But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.'
19 "Then I wished to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet;
20 "and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows.
21 "I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them,
22 "until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.
23 "Thus he said: 'The fourth beast shall be A fourth kingdom on earth, Which shall be different from all other kingdoms, And shall devour the whole earth, Trample it and break it in pieces.
24 The ten horns are ten kings Who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, And shall subdue three kings.
25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time.
26 'But the court shall be seated, And they shall take away his dominion, To consume and destroy it forever.
27 Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.'
28 "This is the end of the account. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly troubled me, and my countenance changed; but I kept the matter in my heart."
Daniel 8 (NKJV™)
1 In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me--to me, Daniel--after the one that appeared to me the first time.
2 I saw in the vision, and it so happened while I was looking, that I was in Shushan, the citadel, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision that I was by the River Ulai.
3 Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and there, standing beside the river, was a ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last.
4 I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward, so that no animal could withstand him; nor was there any that could deliver from his hand, but he did according to his will and became great.
5 And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
6 Then he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing beside the river, and ran at him with furious power.
7 And I saw him confronting the ram; he was moved with rage against him, attacked the ram, and broke his two horns. There was no power in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled him; and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand.
8 Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven.
9 And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land.
10 And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them.
11 He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down.
12 Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered.
13 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, "How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled under foot?"
14 And he said to me, "For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed."
15 Then it happened, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision and was seeking the meaning, that suddenly there stood before me one having the appearance of a man.
16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of the Ulai, who called, and said, "Gabriel, make this man understand the vision."
17 So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face; but he said to me, "Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end."
18 Now, as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me, and stood me upright.
19 And he said, "Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation; for at the appointed time the end shall be.
20 "The ram which you saw, having the two horns--they are the kings of Media and Persia.
21 "And the male goat is the kingdom of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king.
22 "As for the broken horn and the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation, but not with its power.
23 "And in the latter time of their kingdom, When the transgressors have reached their fullness, A king shall arise, Having fierce features, Who understands sinister schemes.
24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; He shall destroy fearfully, And shall prosper and thrive; He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people.
25 "Through his cunning He shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; And he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the Prince of princes; But he shall be broken without human means.
26 "And the vision of the evenings and mornings Which was told is true; Therefore seal up the vision, For it refers to many days in the future."
27 And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward I arose and went about the king's business. I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it.
Daniel 9 (NKJV™)
1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans--
2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
4 And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, "O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments,
5 "we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments.
6 "Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land.
7 "O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day--to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.
8 "O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.
9 "To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him.
10 "We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.
11 "Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him.
12 "And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.
13 "As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth.
14 "Therefore the LORD has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice.
15 "And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day--we have sinned, we have done wickedly!
16 "O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us.
17 "Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord's sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate.
18 "O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies.
19 "O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name."
20 Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God,
21 yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering.
22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand.
23 "At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:
24 "Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.
25 "Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times.
26 "And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate."
Daniel 10 (NKJV™)
1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar. The message was true, but the appointed time was long; and he understood the message, and had understanding of the vision.
2 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks.
3 I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
4 Now on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, that is, the Tigris,
5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz!
6 His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude.
7 And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision; but a great terror fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.
8 Therefore I was left alone when I saw this great vision, and no strength remained in me; for my vigor was turned to frailty in me, and I retained no strength.
9 Yet I heard the sound of his words; and while I heard the sound of his words I was in a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.
10 Suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands.
11 And he said to me, "O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you." While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling.
12 Then he said to me, "Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.
13 "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.
14 "Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come."
15 When he had spoken such words to me, I turned my face toward the ground and became speechless.
16 And suddenly, one having the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips; then I opened my mouth and spoke, saying to him who stood before me, "My lord, because of the vision my sorrows have overwhelmed me, and I have retained no strength.
17 "For how can this servant of my lord talk with you, my lord? As for me, no strength remains in me now, nor is any breath left in me."
18 Then again, the one having the likeness of a man touched me and strengthened me.
19 And he said, "O man greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!" So when he spoke to me I was strengthened, and said, "Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me."
20 Then he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come.
21 "But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these, except Michael your prince.
Daniel 11 (NKJV™)
1 "Also in the first year of Darius the Mede, I, even I, stood up to confirm and strengthen him.)
2 "And now I will tell you the truth: Behold, three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than them all; by his strength, through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece.
3 "Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.
4 "And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not among his posterity nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted, even for others besides these.
5 "Also the king of the South shall become strong, as well as one of his princes; and he shall gain power over him and have dominion. His dominion shall be a great dominion.
6 "And at the end of some years they shall join forces, for the daughter of the king of the South shall go to the king of the North to make an agreement; but she shall not retain the power of her authority, and neither he nor his authority shall stand; but she shall be given up, with those who brought her, and with him who begot her, and with him who strengthened her in those times.
7 "But from a branch of her roots one shall arise in his place, who shall come with an army, enter the fortress of the king of the North, and deal with them and prevail.
8 "And he shall also carry their gods captive to Egypt, with their princes and their precious articles of silver and gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the North.
9 "Also the king of the North shall come to the kingdom of the king of the South, but shall return to his own land.
10 "However his sons shall stir up strife, and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one shall certainly come and overwhelm and pass through; then he shall return to his fortress and stir up strife.
11 "And the king of the South shall be moved with rage, and go out and fight with him, with the king of the North, who shall muster a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into the hand of his enemy.
12 "When he has taken away the multitude, his heart will be lifted up; and he will cast down tens of thousands, but he will not prevail.
13 "For the king of the North will return and muster a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come at the end of some years with a great army and much equipment.
14 "Now in those times many shall rise up against the king of the South. Also, violent men of your people shall exalt themselves in fulfillment of the vision, but they shall fall.
15 "So the king of the North shall come and build a siege mound, and take a fortified city; and the forces of the South shall not withstand him. Even his choice troops shall have no strength to resist.
16 "But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and no one shall stand against him. He shall stand in the Glorious Land with destruction in his power.
17 "He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do. And he shall give him the daughter of women to destroy it; but she shall not stand with him, or be for him.
18 "After this he shall turn his face to the coastlands, and shall take many. But a ruler shall bring the reproach against them to an end; and with the reproach removed, he shall turn back on him.
19 "Then he shall turn his face toward the fortress of his own land; but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.
20 "There shall arise in his place one who imposes taxes on the glorious kingdom; but within a few days he shall be destroyed, but not in anger or in battle.
21 "And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue.
22 "With the force of a flood they shall be swept away from before him and be broken, and also the prince of the covenant.
23 "And after the league is made with him he shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people.
24 "He shall enter peaceably, even into the richest places of the province; and he shall do what his fathers have not done, nor his forefathers: he shall disperse among them the plunder, spoil, and riches; and he shall devise his plans against the strongholds, but only for a time.
25 "He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South with a great army. And the king of the South shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand, for they shall devise plans against him.
26 "Yes, those who eat of the portion of his delicacies shall destroy him; his army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain.
27 "Both these kings' hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time.
28 "While returning to his land with great riches, his heart shall be moved against the holy covenant; so he shall do damage and return to his own land.
29 "At the appointed time he shall return and go toward the south; but it shall not be like the former or the latter.
30 "For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage. So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant.
31 "And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.
32 "Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.
33 "And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering.
34 "Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help; but many shall join with them by intrigue.
35 "And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time.
36 "Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done.
37 "He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all.
38 "But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things.
39 "Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain.
40 "At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through.
41 "He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon.
42 "He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 "He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels.
44 "But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many.
45 "And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him.
Daniel 12 (NKJV™)
1 "At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book.
2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
3 Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.
4 "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."
5 Then I, Daniel, looked; and there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank.
6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, "How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?"
7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.
8 Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, "My lord, what shall be the end of these things?"
9 And he said, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
10 "Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.
11 "And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.
12 "Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.
13 "But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days."

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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27 Daniel - I Dare You - 2013

One dictionary defines balance this way: "A condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions." That's a fitting word to describe the whole of Daniel's life. In today's final study of the book of Daniel, we consider the man himself and how his life was so outwardly powerful and yet so inwardly stable. Daniel was supremely balanced in at least four areas.

Skip Heitzig unfolds the book of Daniel verse by verse in the series I Dare You. We'll learn how Daniel lived differently and made a huge impact on his society, and we'll be challenged to do the same.

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Outline

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  1. He Worshiped God Supremely but Was Involved Socially

  2. He Stood Alone but Walked with Others

  3. He Saw the Future but Lived in the Present

  4. He Aged Gracefully but Influenced Mightily

CONNECT QUESTIONS

  1. How did Daniel worship God supremely and stay involved socially?

  2. How did Daniel stand alone but walk with others?

  3. How did Daniel live in the present, in the midst of seeing the future?

  4. How did Daniel age gracefully and continue to influence mightily?

  5. Which of these areas could you most work on?

  6. How can you apply Daniel’s example to your own life?

Detailed Notes

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  1. Introduction
    1. Inga Bruner visited her friend in the hospital; she lost her balance and fell out a window
    2. Losing your balance can be a great motivation for change
    3. We try to balance so much
      1. Time
      2. Exercise
      3. Family
      4. Volunteering
      5. Diets
      6. Checkbooks
      7. Tires
      8. We feel exhausted and guilty
      9. It's rare to find anyone who feels perfectly balanced in their life
  2. Overview of Daniel---he was balanced in four areas
    1. Daniel Worshiped God Supremely but Was Involved Socially
      1. Daniel 1:8 is a key verse; "Daniel purposed in his heart"
        1. This is the key to true worship
        2. At an early age, he made a purpose statement; he purposed in his heart not to defile himself
        3. He lived that way through his entire life
        4. He was intimidate or changed by difficult circumstances
      2. His relationship with God spilled out on people around him
        1. He was given a key political position
        2. He was involved in his culture
        3. Like Jesus, Daniel was balanced in his worship and work
          1. Jesus came to seek and save the lost (see Luke 19:10)
          2. Peter noted that Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit and healing---helping people around Him (see Acts 10:38)
        4. There are other notable people who lived their life this way
          1. John Wesley, an evangelist who took up social causes
          2. William Wilberforce, an English politician
        5. We, evangelicals, have a tendency to be escapists---to use the church to escape the world
          1. This can be a danger to those who work on a church staff
          2. Mission is the human responsibility to the divine commission
        6. Daniel was both salt and light---leading people out of spiritual darkness
        7. Don't be like that country preacher who patted a woman in need and said, "I'll pray for you"
    2. Daniel Stood Alone but He Walked with Others
      1. Impressed that Daniel was never afraid to stand alone---to stand up for his convictions
        1. Protested the king's diet
        2. Approached Arioch and the king to interpret the dream
        3. Stood against Belshazzar
        4. Stood alone against the ban on prayer and faced the lion's den
      2. He wasn't an island, he stood with his friends
        1. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah
        2. His companions---those he was in constant fellowship with
        3. They prayed together
        4. He was able to stand alone because he walked with others
        5. We get our strength to stand alone when we walk with others
        6. We need fellowship, koinónia
          1. Fellowship is not just hanging out in Jesus' name
          2. It is much more than a social activity
          3. Fellowship is stimulating spiritual growth in one another
          4. Old Jewish proverb, "A friendless man is like a left hand bereft of the right hand"
          5. "A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment" (Proverbs 18:1)
        7. Albert Speer was Adolph Hitler's closest associate, he said that Hitler had no friends
    3. Daniel Saw into the Future But Lived in the Present
      1. To Daniel everything is in the future---yet to come
      2. He was similar to John in the New Testament, they both had apocalyptic visions
      3. King Nebuchadnezzar saw the vision first, then Daniel saw the vision; but as four beast
        1. King Nebuchadnezzar saw the vision from man's viewpoint
        2. Daniel saw it from God's viewpoint
        3. Man looks at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart (see 1 Samuel 16)
      4. Daniel lived responsibly in the present
        1. Some believe that it's unhealthy to teach prophecy---it's too distracting
        2. It's not distracting, it's motivating
          1. It will make you confident in God---He knows the future
          2. He knows all about you, the very hairs on your head are numbered (see Matthew 10:30)
          3. It will help clean up your life---change the way you live; "What manner of persons aught you to be?" (see 2 Peter 3:11)
          4. It will comfort you in your sorrow
          5. It will motivate you to serve the Lord (see Matthew 25:23)
          6. Studying the future gives you a solid foundation to live in the present
    4. Daniel Aged Gracefully, but He Influenced Mightily
      1. Daniel was about 15 or 16 when he first came to Babylon
      2. As he aged, he influenced
      3. Everyone who came into contact with him was influenced by his integrity
      4. He influenced Cyrus, the Medo-Persian king to let the Jews go home and rebuild
      5. Daniel's influence reached all the way into the New Testament---wise men from the East who saw the king of the Jews' star and came to worship Jesus (see Matthew 2:2)
  3. Closing
    1. As Christians, we should know who we are, what we are about, and our lives should be lived in balance
    2. Calvary has a purpose statement
      1. Skip would love if everyone memorized it
      2. "We pursue the God who is passionately pursuing a lost world"
      3. Upreach---dynamic worship and un-compromised obedience
      4. Inreach---"We explain the relevance of Scriptures to our daily lives"; we get involved personally
      5. Outreach---"We extend the love of God to a hurting world"
    3. Daniel was all about upreach, inreach, and outreach
    4. Take the challenge to lead a balanced life

Greek Terms: κοινωνία; koinónia, participation, communion, fellowship

Figures Referenced: Inga Bruner, John Wesley, William Wilberforce, Albert Speer, Adolph Hitler

Cross references: 1 Samuel 16, Proverbs 18:1, Matthew 2:2, Matthew 10:30, Matthew 25:23, Luke 19:10, Acts 10:38, 2 Peter 3:11


Transcript

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Welcome to I Dare You a series through the book of Daniel with Skip Heitzig.

Father, we celebrate your good hand upon us. As we are here on the first day of the week, a day that we have typically ascribed as the Lord's day to give you honor and praise, to give you our due. We realize, Lord, that your gifts to us have been abundant, some of them subtle, and some of them overt. One of the gifts we're so grateful for is the gift of fellowship and friendship, people and associates that we know in this church in this body that encourage us; that in and of itself is a great gift. I personally am thankful for your people who have inspired me to keep going and to move on and to trust you.

Father, with every new study that we have received, every week a challenge, a dare, we believe comes the strength, as Paul tells us, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength." Father, give us grace as we look upon Daniel one final time together, and consider not just what he has predicted, but who he was himself, the man; in Jesus' name, amen.

Losing your balance can motivate a person to change. True story about a twenty-five-year-old German woman named Inge Brunner from Tuebingen, Germany, was visiting her friend in the hospital. This twenty-five-year-old German lady went up to her friend's room and she had the audacity to ask a doctor, "Hey, is it okay if I smoke in here?" What do you think the doctor told her? He said, "Absolutely not! This is a hospital; besides that, it's highly unhealthy for you to smoke. You are forbidden to smoke."

Doctor left the room. She lit up a cigarette, opened the patient's window, and got really, really close, leaned really, really far into the window outside to get the smoke outside. She leaned a little too far. She lost her balance. She fell out of the window sixty-five feet to the ground. Now, her fall was broken by a tree, and wait to you listen to the kind of tree that broke her fall---it was an ash tree. [laughter]

Come on, how perfect is that? She's smoking a cigarette; she falls into an ash tree. It breaks her fall. She hits the ground. She's treated for minor injuries. But she said after that, "I learned my lesson. I quit smoking," all because she lost her balance. That's why I say losing your balance can be a great motivation for change.

I want to speak to you a little bit about balance today. Whenever you hear the word---it's a common word---we often feel guilty about it. Because here we are in this world we live in trying to balance so much in our lives. We're trying to balance our time: the time we spend working, the time we spend exercising, the time we spend sleeping. We try to balance our responsibilities in our marriage, our career, relationships with kids, volunteering at church activities.

We try to balance our diets, make sure we have enough fruits and vegetables as well as protein, ice cream, you know, all the basic necessities. Gotta keep in balance. Then we have to go home and balance our checkbook. We go out to the garage and take the car in because we gotta balance the tires. And at the end of our balancing act we feel exhausted and we feel guilty that we're not quite balanced enough.

It's rare to find a man or a woman that believes his or her life is in perfect balance. I've had seasons of imbalance where I've worked too much and rested too little, or rested too much and worked too little. I want suggest to you, by looking at the book of Daniel, four areas in which the man Daniel lived a balanced life. And we're going to look at just a few passages, but mostly an overview today looking backward on Daniel, having considered it now for twenty-four weeks.

Number one, here's where Daniel lived a balanced life: He worshiped God supremely, but he was involved socially. That's quite a balancing act. He worshiped God supremely and at the same time he was involved socially. Now, I want you to look once again at chapter 1, verse 8. It's the key verse to the book. It's where it says, "Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself with a portion of the king's delicacies, nor the wine which he gave." That is the key to Daniel's life. That's the key to Daniel's effectiveness.

In fact, that might even be a definition of true worship, where you have this teenaged kid displaced in Babylon and at an early age he makes a value statement, a purpose statement. He says, "I'm all in for God. He's number one in my life, and I'm not going to let anything mess with that. I purposed in my heart that I'm not going to defile myself."

Not only that, but he lived that commitment throughout his life, so that by the time we get to chapter 6, and the guy's, like, in his eighties, and he's persecuted because of that worship of God, and he's told not to worship God---remember when he does? Opens his windows so everybody can see him, three times a day, facing Jerusalem, gets on his knees, prays to God. Daniel was an amazing man, not intimidated by powerful people, not afraid of difficult circumstances.

The Babylonians could change his address, change his name, change his education; but they could not change his heart, they could not change his belief system, they could not change his theology---he purposed in his heart. At the same time, though he worshiped God supremely, here was a man who was involved on a horizontal level, on a level with people socially, and so that his commitment with God spilled out to make an impact on people around him.

For example, in chapter 1 it says that "in matters of wisdom and understanding" Daniel and his buddies were "ten times better" than any of the rest who were in the court. In chapter 2, "The king promoted Daniel . . . and made him ruler over the province of Babylon." So now he has a key political position in his culture. Chapter 6, "Daniel prospered in the reign of King Darius and King Cyrus." This guy is involved. Now, I'm using that because I'm impressed by that in Daniel---a man who worshiped God supremely, yet was involved in his culture.

And I believe that we could use a few more dedicated believers in places of social responsibility, political responsibility, while maintaining spiritual integrity. Daniel struck a balance between worship and work, or what we might want to say is upreach and outreach, like Jesus Christ himself who came to this earth principally for salvation. He came, he said, "to seek and to save those who are lost." Nobody will dispute that. He didn't come to just be a nice guy and give a good example; he came to save people from their sin.

But, at the same time, Peter one of his apostles in Acts, chapter 10, noted when he said, "He was anointed by the Holy Spirit and he went about doing good and healing those who were oppressed of the devil." Yeah, he was saving souls, but he was helping people around him, and thus, attracting them to the salvation of their souls. I think that there have been other notable people throughout church history that have done exactly like Daniel.

One that comes to mind is John Wesley. Now, if you know church history, you know John Wesley. Immediately what comes to mind is, "Yeah, he was an evangelist. He was an itinerant evangelist." He rode on horseback, get this, 250,000 miles on a horse in his lifetime as a street preacher, as an evangelist. But did you know that John Wesley also took up certain social causes during his time? The abolition of slavery was one of them, human trafficking, also the mistreatment of animals, public drunkenness; but most notably, the elimination of the African slave trade.

And he interfaced with another man who was a political man named William Wilberforce, also a committed believer. And three days before Wesley died in 1791, he wrote a letter to William Wilberforce who was then in the Parliament. And he said, "I believe God has raised you up for this glorious enterprise," to end the slave trade, and urged him not to become weary in well-doing. Worshiped God supremely, also involved socially.

I believe that we evangelicals have a tendency, and the tendency is to be escapists, to sort of use the church to hide from the world. Oh, we have our occasional raids into enemy territory where the drawbridge goes down, we cross over the moat, we have our Christian event, and then quickly run back into the castle and foom! Drawbridge goes right back up. This may not be a tendency for most of us here, because we live and work in a secular world, but I will tell you one thing: this is a danger for those who work on a church staff, who are around church people, and talking about all the events that go on in the castle all week long. This can become a danger to us.

Mission is the human responsibly to the divine commission. And Daniel, I believe, was both salt and light. He was salt, and salt in those days was used as a preservative to stop the decay that would happen. It was rubbed into meat. And I believe that believers, like Daniel, can be in their society and stop, retard the corruption that has a tendency to go on. At the same time Daniel was also light, shining the light of the glory of God in Babylon and the court where he was with Nebuchadnezzar, and leading people out of spiritual darkness, letting them see the true God.

One thing we must never become like is that country preacher, when a homeless lady came to him for help and he sort of patted her on the head, and said, "Well, I'll say a little prayer for you," and sent her away. And she wrote this letter from her shelter where she was staying: "I was hungry and you formed a humanities group to discuss my hunger. I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel and prayed for my release. I was naked and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance."

"I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health. I was homeless and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God. I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me. You seem so holy, so close to God, but I am still very hungry and lonely and cold." Daniel struck a balance---worshiping God supremely, but involved socially.

Second area of balance: Daniel stood alone, but he walked with others. Now, let me flesh that out for you, because this, to me, is impressive. I am continually impressed as I go through the book of Daniel that this guy was never afraid to stand alone if he felt like God wanted him to, to act alone, to stand up for his convictions.

For example, in chapter 1 Daniel acted alone in protesting the king's diet that he was trying to impose upon everybody. He said, "I don't want to do that. We don't want to do that," and he was the spokesmen. "We don't want to eat that. We don't want to drink that. We'll go on this special fast." That was Daniel. He did it single-handedly. In chapter 2 it was Daniel alone who approached Arioch the captain of the guard, and eventually the king, and said, "I'll give you my guarantee; I will interpret that dream for you."

In chapter 5 Daniel alone stood against Belshazzar. In chapter 6 he also stood alone against the ban not to pray, and he alone faced the lions' den. So here's a guy who over and over and over and over again made a stand, sometimes all alone, but---but he was never an island. He was never an isolationist. He shared companionship and fellowship with his brothers while he had them, other Jews in the kingdom.

Example: chapter 1, Daniel is noted as one among four other Jewish young men: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah. They're all four named as a group. In chapter 2 when the edict came to kill all the wise men of Babylon, including Daniel, we are told, "Daniel went to his house, made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, his companions," the word means those he was in constant fellowship with, "that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven." So as soon as he finds out the problem, he goes, "Boys, we need to pray, and we need to pray together."

He was able to stand alone because he walked with others. You and I will be able to stand alone for God in the workplace only when we walk with others in fellowship. That's where we get the strength, the platform to do that, which is why we need fellowship. Koinónia is the Greek, New Testament word. Most of us have heard that term before. Most everyone here has heard the word koinónia. In fact, you've been a Christian, like, a month, you go, "I know that. I know Greek." Koinónia: fellowship, partnership, communion. It actually means to share something with someone else.

But let me tell you, if I may, what fellowship is not. Fellowship is not just hanging out in Jesus' name. We have an interesting habit, we church people, we are able to sanctify just about any activity we do, or hobby. All we have to do is add "fellowship" on the end of it. We have our weight lifters' fellowship. We have left-handed basket weaving fellowship. Just add fellowship to it and it's cool. But it means much more than just a social activity---we're getting together, we're with each other, and we're hanging out, so we're "fellowshipping."

Fellowship always has a spiritual component. Fellowship means that I'm adding something your life, you're adding something to my life, that we're mutually encouraging one another in spiritual matters, stimulating spiritual growth. One author wrote this: "Our churches are filled with people who outwardly look contented and at peace, but inwardly they are crying out for someone to love them just as they are." They're crying out for fellowship. If they had true, authentic fellowship, they wouldn't be crying out.

There's an old Jewish proverb that says, "A friendless man is like a left hand bereft of the right hand." I would add to that and say "an isolated Christian." First of all, it's an oxymoron. You can't have an isolated Christian; a Christian is part of the body of Christ. But an isolated Christian is like the right hand bereft of the left hand. In Proverbs 18 we are told, "A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire. He rages against all wise judgment." We have a need to interact. We have a need for a family.

Years ago I was impressed by a little known fact; at least I didn't know it till that time, a little book that described Adolf Hitler and kind of what made him tick. I guess his closest associate was a guy named Albert Speer. And Albert Speer, "Though," he said, "I'm his closest associate, I was never his friend, because Adolf Hitler," he said, "had no friends at all."

He said, "One of the things I noticed about Hitler is that he repelled, he always repelled friendship." He wouldn't let anybody get too close to him. He always had his guard up. "And I can say with authority," said Speer, "that Adolf Hitler died without any friends." Daniel was able to stand alone, but walk with others, be connected with others. His life was in balance.

There's a third area of his life that brought balance, and that is: He saw into the future, but he lived in the present. One of the big features of the book of Daniel we notice from chapter 6, actually, 7, all the way to chapter 12, the second half of the book, is it's mostly all future; it's all prophetic. From Daniel's standpoint it's all yet to come.

Daniel is sort of like the equivalent in the Old Testament of the apostle John in the New Testament. Both were given apocalyptic visions. Both were able see the coming kingdom, the coming Messiah, the tribulation, the Antichrist, etcetera. Daniel, from his vantage point, saw what was going on around him and what would come after him in terms of the Babylonian Kingdom, Medo-Persian Empire, the Grecian Empire, the Roman Empire.

What's really fascinating to me is that he wasn't the first one to see it, but King Nebuchadnezzar was; Daniel merely interpreted what the king saw. And if you remember back to chapter 2, King Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream a large image, a polymetallic image: gold, silver, bronze, iron, iron and clay. A few chapters later, Daniel gets the same information, same revelation about four successive kingdoms, but he doesn't see a statue. Do you remember what he saw? He saw four beasts, four rapacious beasts destroying each other, eating one another.

And I submit to you that what Nebuchadnezzar saw is history from the human viewpoint; what Daniel saw is history from God's viewpoint. Human viewpoint is always impressive, shiny, awesome: "Look at the gold, silver, woo!" That's how we write our history. God sees the same thing, but he gives you the heart of it. They're a bunch of animals trying to destroy each other.

Remember the Scripture when Samuel was looking for the next king of Israel after Saul? And he went to the house of Jesse and he looked at Eliab the oldest guy. He was so handsome and so---well, he looked like a king. And God said, "I have rejected him. For man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart." Nebuchadnezzar saw the outward appearance; God was showing Daniel the heart of the matter into the future.

And so here is Daniel able to see from his shoreline, his vantage point, all of history, all the way to the coming of the Messiah and the setting up of that kingdom. But though he saw into the future, he lived responsibly in his present world. That's a balancing act.

Now, let me share with you something that I believe is very important. I have taught the book of Revelation. I've taught you the book of Daniel most recently. Some believe that it's unhealthy to teach prophecy. "It's a bad thing," they would say. They say, "If you teach prophecy it's distracting, it's unprofitable, you're getting people's minds off of what is real and important now."

There was a pastor that actually boasted, saying, "I never teach my people prophecy. I believe it's too distracting." A friend of his heard that and said, "Well, then you gotta admit, God has put a lot of distractions in the Bible." Right? Because, like, a fourth of the Bible is prophetic. So, it's like God wrote it for you to be distracted a little bit about what's coming in the future. And here's why: It's not distracting; it's motivating.

When you study prophecy, it will do something for you. Number one, it'll make you confident in God. Because you realize as you read what God writes is coming in the future, God takes nothing---or nothing takes God by surprise. He sees it all. He knows the future.

He knew all about Alexander the Great, all about Seleucus, all about Antiochus Epiphanes, because he wrote in detail about it and gave it to Daniel; which must mean he knows all about you. And Jesus said, "The very hairs of your head are numbered," which is a daily task for God, I would imagine. Because for some people it's growing on more, and some are losing it.

A second thing studying prophecy will do, it'll clean up your life. There's always a close relationship between prophecy and godliness. Do you know that? When Peter predicts the end of the world and the coming of the end of the age in Second Peter, this is what he said, "Since all of these things around you will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?" When you see what is coming and that this world is going to be burnt up, it changes the way you live. It makes you less a materialistic person and more a spiritual person. It'll clean up your life.

Number three, it'll comfort you in your sorrow. All of us have had loved ones, relatives, friends who have died. They're no longer with us. We study prophecy and we're told about not only the coming tribulation, but the coming King, the coming kingdom, coming rewards, and a coming reunion with those who have died in Christ before us. That gives us comfort.

Number four, it'll call you to service. It'll motivate you to serve the Lord. Because you read as the Bible speaks about the future that in future you're going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. And he's going to say to you who are faithful, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you've been faithful in a little, I'll bless you with much. Enter into the joy of your Lord." And you go, "Hot diggity dog!" I want to serve the Lord with that motivation in mind. There's nothing wrong with that.

In other words, studying the future gives you a solid foundation in an unstable world. That's why Daniel was so balanced. He was able to see into the future, but with that information, use it to live responsibly in the present.

There's a fourth area of balance I want to consider as we close our time together in Daniel: Daniel aged gracefully, but he influenced mightily. And do you remember---I'm going to have to jog your memory a little bit, like a long time---when he first opened up the book of Daniel, how old Daniel was when he first came to Babylon? He was about fifteen or sixteen years of age. He was a young teenager.

So, he essentially grew up in Babylon, grew old in Babylon, died in Babylon, was buried in Babylon. And as he aged, he aged so gracefully. His commitment that he started with was maintained faithfully throughout his whole life. But as he aged he influenced. Every person who came in contact with Daniel was influenced by his integrity and his stand for God and his work ethic; whether it was Arioch, the chief of the eunuchs in chapter 1; or Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 2 and chapter 4; or Belshazzar the next king in chapter 5.

His mom came to him in chapter 5, if you remember, during that party, and said, "There's a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the holy God," and she was referring to Daniel. Daniel influenced. I also believe that he influenced Cyrus the next king, the Medo-Persian king to let the Jews go back home after the seventy-year captivity. He knew what the prophecy said. He read it. But I believe he used his governmental influence to persuade Cyrus, "Sign that edict. Let the Jews go back home and rebuild."

Now, let me throw something else at you. I want to sort of leave it with you. I alluded to it during our study in Daniel. But I suggest that Daniel's influence reached far into the future beyond even his lifetime, all the way into the New Testament, all the way to an incident that happens in Matthew, chapter 2. Do you remember what happened in Matthew, chapter 2?

It says a group of wise men from the East came to Bethlehem, but first Jerusalem. And they said, "Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star and we have come to worship him." These are the magi. What on earth are they doing in Bethlehem? They come from the Medo-Persian coalition. They go all the way back to Babylon. The magi were the magicians in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. Magi, magicians---from the same root. These were the wise men of Babylon. Daniel was placed in chapter 2 above all of the magi in Babylon.

So, what are they doing so many years later following a star, ending up in Bethlehem? It's my belief that since Daniel saw so far into the future, he saw the coming Jewish Ruler, the Messiah, wrote about him, and he left all of that deposited work there in Babylon along with the Scripture scrolls that he had brought with him from Jerusalem. We know he brought the book of Jeremiah, for instance.

That through what he saw he also influenced those around him, so that years later they had been following the prophecies and looking for a certain astronomical wonder that would lead them to see a Jewish Messiah who would one day rule the world. That's essentially what they asked Herod the Great for. Now that, folks, is influence and that's balance. Daniel's life was in superb balance.

I want to tie in something else because it involves us. I believe that as a church, as individual Christians, but as a Christian community, we like Daniel, should live in balance. We should know who we are and what we're about, and our lives should be lived in balance. So, when I was going through Daniel and looking at all these areas of balance, something struck out to me, and that was our own vision statement as a church. I just want to refresh your minds with it.

We also, like Daniel, in chapter 1, verse 8; we have a purpose statement as a group of believers called Calvary. And I would love it if everybody who attends this fellowship would be able to just when somebody asks them, "Well, what's Calvary about?" You'd be able to say, "I'll tell you exactly what it's about: 'We pursue the God who is passionately pursuing a lost world.' "That's our statement. We pursue the God who is passionately pursuing the lost world, and we do it through three ways: upreach, inreach, and outreach.

It's been on our literature for years. We've told you about it before. Maybe it'll lock in today, because I believe that these same areas were the areas of balance in Daniel's life. Upreach---we express our adoration to God---that's worship. We express our adoration to God through dynamic worship and uncompromised obedience. When we gather, we love to worship. We think our worship should be reverential, but we also think it should be happy, joyful.

You know, one of the things I've always noticed about bars is they have this crazy thing and they call it "happy hour." Have you ever been outside of a bar after happy hour? How many people look happy? [laughter] Not too many, and if they do, they're really loopy. But then I was thinking---how many people genuinely look happy after they leave church? [laughter] Why can't this be happy hour? Why can't we get happy about our God and express in songs of reverential but dynamic worship that we love God? Upreach.

Second is inreach. Inreach---we explain the relevance of Scriptures to our daily lives, and we seek to build people up and fit them for service in God's kingdom---that's inreach. That's why whenever we gather together; it's the study of the Bible, the study of the Scriptures. We make that paramount.

Every now and then somebody might say, "Well, can't you guys, like, break from the pattern of Bible study? Couldn't you have, like, a raffle one day, [laughter] or a puppet show, or I don't know, interpretive dance?" Short answer---no, we can't. We believe the word of God does the work of God in the lives of the people of God. Inreach also means we get involved personally. Inreach means that you discover a place of your volunteer activity in some area of church life---that's inreach.

The third is outreach---we extended the love of God to a hurting world through evangelism as well as social concern. And we believe that is like Daniel's life. He was all about upreach---he worshiped God supremely. He was all about inreach---he was tethered to a group of people that he prayed with, his brothers in Babylon. He was all about outreach---influencing people, influencing people who didn't know who God was.

So, "Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone! Dare to make his purpose firm, and dare to make it known!" So, we end like we began, taking a challenge to live a balanced life through the grace provided to us by God himself. Let's pray.

Father, I have been so impressed with this young man who became an old man who died in Babylon, Daniel the prophet. I've been impressed when I've seen how he was so bold, so purposeful, so intentional about his life, that he made a stand as a young man, an early age to follow you, to not defile himself. At the same time, he wasn't cloistered away. He was very busy in a governmental position, superintending the provinces of Babylon, involved socially.

He was able to stand alone in certain cases, but never apart from others, walking with others in fellowship. What a beautiful balance. Able to see into the future, but that meant something to him as he walked day in and day out in his present world. And then to see him age from chapter to chapter, and as he aged so gracefully, he was able to make an impact and an influence so mightily.

He's really a wonderful example, Lord, a man in whom there really is no guile. One of the few people in the Bible that nothing bad is ever mentioned about, and so he provides us a good example. Help us, Lord, as we seek to live out these principles and to be balanced a little more so. I pray you'd rescue us from the guilt that says, well, we're not balanced enough; that in and of itself is an imbalanced position. That, Lord, we would just day by day take your grace as it comes, and seek by your Spirit to implement what we can for your glory, in Jesus' name, amen.

For more teachings from Calvary Albuquerque and Skip Heitzig visit calvaryabq.org.

Additional Messages in this Series

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1/6/2013
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I Dare You: Be Distinct!
Daniel 1
Skip Heitzig
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Men and women of character will rise to meet a challenge. Our challenge over the next few months will be modeled in the life of Daniel, a man of God who stood out above the rest, honored God, and influenced his world. Each week, our service will be formed around a new challenge—a dare—to rise up, be counted, be different, and above all, be pleasing to God.
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1/13/2013
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I Dare You: Step Up!
Daniel 2:1-23
Skip Heitzig
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Any crisis we face is a test. How will we respond? What actions will we take? What will our faith in God mean to us and to others in that moment of crisis? Daniel and his friends faced their moment of crisis when the King of Babylon’s insomnia became their worst nightmare. As they faced the possibility of their own death, they used the situation to display their life-giving faith. Let’s consider how we can step up to life’s difficulties and use them as spiritual opportunities.
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1/20/2013
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I Dare You: Speak Out!
Daniel 2:24-49
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Words can become jumbled when we feel intimidated by the one we’re speaking to, especially if the one we’re speaking to intends to kill us! That’s why this story is so inspiring: Daniel speaks out clearly, boldly, accurately, and yet humbly to Babylon’s monarch and thereby gives us a model of speaking God’s truth to our world.
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1/27/2013
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I Dare You: Stand Up!
Daniel 3
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Fitting in, blending in, and conforming to the values of the world around you is what is expected. If you dare go against the flow of popular worldly ideologies, you will be a marked person, regarded as a fanatic and relegated to the category of "dangerous individuals." Three of Daniel's friends decided it was better to stand up for God than to bow down to the wishes of the crowd. Their conviction of heart was to refuse to be "conformed to this world" (Romans 12:2).
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2/3/2013
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I Dare You: Submit!
Daniel 4:1-18
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Before us is a remarkable section of Scripture with a remarkable story about a king who makes a remarkable statement. It is the personal journal of an earthly political monarch who recognizes God’s authoritative rule in the human realm. As amazing as the story is, it carries with it implications for us to submit to God by submitting to man’s government.
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2/10/2013
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I Dare You: Be Humble!
Daniel 4:19-37
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A pundit once quipped, "Humility is like underwear—essential, but indecent if it shows!" The opposite of humility is pride, and Daniel 4 reveals it in spades. Nebuchadnezzar will learn (and then tell) about the greatest lesson God showed him in his long career—that He is able to humble those who walk in pride. So why not learn it the easy way? Listen carefully and apply these truths diligently. I dare you!
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2/17/2013
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I Dare You: Wake Up!
Daniel 5
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As a teacher was lecturing his class, he noticed a student sleeping in the back row, so he said to the sleeping student’s neighbor, "Hey, wake that guy up!" The neighbor answered back, "You put him to sleep, you wake him up!" Falling asleep on the job may be harmless in some situations, but not as the ruler of a nation, and certainly not when God’s judgment is impending. This week’s dare is directed to anyone who is not heeding divine warning signals and needs to wake up.
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2/24/2013
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I Dare You: Be Faithful!
Daniel 6:1-15
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Daniel was consistently faithful, both publicly and privately. His diligence and attitude set him apart from his peers and his reputation withstood harsh scrutiny. When his life was on the line, Daniel refused to compromise—he dared to be faithful!
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3/3/2013
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I Dare You: Be Steadfast!
Daniel 6:10-28
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Calvin Miller once wrote, “Security is never the friend of faith. It is peril that produces steadfastness.” Daniel knew this to be true and was willing to sacrifice the security of life and limb because his heart was steadfast and immovable toward his God. Even though he had been faithful to king and country, this aged prophet faced the trial of a lifetime.
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3/10/2013
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I Dare You: Defend!
Daniel 7:1-8
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Daniel did fine when he was thrown into the lions’ den, but how does he fare when thrust into the critics’ den? Daniel is an amazing book of prophecy as well as history, yet it has not escaped the bright white light of antagonistic critics through the ages. Today I dare you to move beyond a shallow faith that depends on personal feelings and subjective experiences and learn to “contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints” (Jude 3).
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3/24/2013
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I Dare You: Decide! - Part 1
Daniel 7:8-28
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The world as we know it won’t last forever. Time will not march on without interruption. Daniel saw a vision of four future kingdoms which can be documented historically. But one final worldwide antagonistic thrust against God is coming. It will be waged by a ruler typically referred to as the Antichrist (but actually there are many more names for him). A fourfold description of this coming dictator’s reign is highlighted before us. Even more basic is the choice we must all make about which kingdom we will be part of.
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4/14/2013
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I Dare You: Decide! - Part 2
Daniel 7
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The time is coming when the world will have to decide between a false messiah and the true Christ. Sadly, some already have. Today, we'll consider the world's fastest growing religion and how it might possibly interact with the Bible's predictions of the end times.
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4/21/2013
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I Dare You: Look Ahead!
Daniel 7:9-14;7:26-27
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Economists, meteorologists, visionaries, and psychics all share one thing in common: They all try to predict the future to announce what's coming. God's prophets never had to; God revealed it to them and they simply wrote it down or spoke it out. The central highlight of Daniel's vision in chapter 7 isn't the coming kingdoms of earthly men nor of the coming Antichrist but rather the coming of Jesus Christ. Let's look ahead and see what's coming.
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4/28/2013
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I Dare You: Be Great!
Daniel 8:1-8;8:20-22
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The New York Life Review posted this: "Great men have but a few hours to be 'great.' Like the rest of us, they must dress, bathe, and eat. And, being human, they must make visits to the dentist, doctor, and barber and have conferences with their wives about domestic matters. What makes men great is their ability to decide what is important, and then focus their attention on that." (I think that goes for great women too!) Let's compare three men who some consider to be great, and then see how we measure up.
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5/19/2013
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I Dare You: Be Shocked!
Daniel 8:8-27
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When was the last time you heard someone respond to an incident or piece of information by saying, “That’s shocking!”? Shock (emotional disgust, offense, and aversion) has been diminished due to a widespread exposure to facts and images. Things get too easily relegated to a file in our brains marked, “I’ve already heard this before.” It’s a sad day (and dangerous) when we become spiritually desensitized to God’s truth and the world’s pain.
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5/26/2013
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I Dare You: Pray!
Daniel 9:1-5
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I have never met a person who's regretted praying too much. I've met plenty who've regretted praying too little. Prayer is the one activity that everybody knows they need, but few actually do. It's preached often, but practiced seldom. Forgive me if I'm dispensing guilt—that's not my intention. I'd rather take a peek into the busy life of an ancient executive (Daniel), and see the role prayer played for him and, in so doing, get fired up about this most powerful of activities!
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6/2/2013
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I Dare You: Pray! - Part 2
Daniel 9:4-19
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Just as a square has four sides and is incomplete without all four sides, so too does effective prayer. Daniel leaves us with a great example (and a simple one at that). Though we can pray anywhere and anytime, these four elements form a great baseline for us to emulate. When you talk to God, make certain the signal is clear, your heart is pure, and your confidence is sure.
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6/9/2013
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I Dare You: Understand!
Daniel 9:20-27
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God wants us to understand! He wants us to understand the truth about life. He wants us to understand the way of salvation. He wants us to understand His plans for the future. Today we come to the scriptural key that unlocks the door to the prophetic future of God’s plan. If you have never known it before, choose to understand it now. I dare you!
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6/30/2013
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I Dare You: Fight!
Daniel 10
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Fighting is never fun, but it's sometimes necessary. Certainly that's the case with the Christian life: It's not a playground but a battleground. Spiritual warfare (the cosmic battle between forces of good and evil) is a reality that none can escape but few really understand. For Daniel, the curtain is pulled back and he is allowed to see past the natural world into the supernatural world. Let's get a firsthand briefing on a heavenly battle that has earthly repercussions.
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7/7/2013
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I Dare You: Remember!
Daniel 11:1-35
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Daniel 11 is packed with prophecies about the history of Israel and the world. In just the first 35 verses of the chapter, we find that 135 of those prophecies have already been fulfilled. As we look at the historical details Daniel received in his visions, God's sovereignty comes to the forefront and prompts us to remember that He will carry out the prophecies yet to be fulfilled.
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7/14/2013
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I Dare You: Rest!
Daniel 11:36-45
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It's hard to be at rest when everything around you is chaos and conflict. But today that is our dare. Peace isn't the absence of a storm but being at rest in the midst of the storm. Daniel is informed about a stormy future in store for his own people and for the whole world. As we look ahead to consider a leader who will come during the most tumultuous time in human history, I dare you to rest in four distinct ways:
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8/4/2013
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I Dare You: Hope!
Daniel 12:1-3
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There is nothing needed more in the world today than hope. Every generation faces the tendency toward despair and hopelessness. Daniel especially did since he was learning of his own people's future suffering that would last for multiplied generations. But at last, God gives him a precious ray of hope: The worst of times will usher in the best of times. Four words describe that future time and become four rungs on the ladder of hope.
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8/11/2013
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I Dare You: Respond!
Daniel 12:4-13
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The Christian life is essentially a response to God: God is the Master and we are His servants; He's the Good Shepherd and we are the sheep; He is the Head and we are members of His body. Even our love for God is a response: "We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). In this final section of the book of Daniel, let's consider three things that God does and what our response should be in each case.
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There are 23 additional messages in this series.
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