Tuesday, October 27, 2015

The Exile, part 4: "One Like a Son of Man"

Daniel had a dream.  There was a great raging sea, and four terrible, threatening beasts rose out of the water.  Daniel and his people seemed to be at the mercy of these terrible beasts.  Then a glorious figure appeared above the raging sea.  This "son of man" was the hope of the world.

Hundreds of years later, the twelve disciples also found themselves caught in a storm on the sea.  They thought they were at the mercy of the raging waters.  A glorious figure appeared, walking above the storm.  This Son of Man was their hope.

This week, we looked at Daniel's vision of Jesus as He is today, glorified at the right hand of the Father in heaven.


Monday, October 19, 2015

The Exile, part 3: Daniel and Influence

The Babylonian exile of God's people can serve as a picture of our place in this world that is not our ultimate home.  We have hope in a "better country" to which God is calling us.  Often in this world, we are outsiders.  But God does create opportunities for us to have influence in this world. 

When we think of God's people who had influence during this time, the most prominent example is Daniel.  What did Daniel do with the influence given to him?  What can we learn from him in regard to our own influence in this world?


Monday, October 12, 2015

The Exile, part 2: How to Stand

Daniel and his friends (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) were taken from their homes as teenagers and put into a training and re-education program with the rest of the elite youth taken as spoils of war by the Babylonians in their first attack on Jerusalem.  Most of the youths went along with what their captors demanded and taught, but these three young men took a stand.

Our culture is trying to educate us on being a godless 21st-Century American.  With the stakes as high as ever, how do we take a stand? 


Monday, October 5, 2015

The Exile, part 1: Not Your Home

After centuries of idolatry and sin and warnings, God declared through His prophets that the covenant made at Mount Sinai had been broken.  The end came in three stages over 20 years for Jerusalem, and during that time, God revealed through Jeremiah His will for the exiled Jews.

Jeremiah's letter to the early exiles, found in Jeremiah 29, is famous for verse 11 ("For I know the plans I have for you..."), which is merchandized everywhere these days.  But the letter's great value to us is not a promise made and fulfilled 2,400 years ago; its value is in how it reveals to us God's will for us as we live in a world that is only temporary and is not our home.  How are we to live?