Daniel 7 – 12
Most of today’s readings are “end times” prophecies. The first has 4 beasts with one being very “mechanical”. Then we get one with rams and goats all losing horns and have way more than they should. All point to the “end times” with chapter 12 devoted to this idea.
Although one could parse through much of the verses and make clear comparisons of the past and how these match. We could easily map them into present day and believe these prophecies come 2700 years after their writing. We have just lived through the most cataclysmic even in history, the Mayan Apocalypse.
Yep 12/21/12 was the “end of time” which was pointed to by the Mayans and could tie into tons of other cultures claiming the “end” being in 2012. There are even people who study numerology in the Bible and said it pointed to 2012. Time ended on 12/21/12 on the Mayan calendar, but continued on. It’s just like the 2012 calendar I threw out and replaced with my 2013 one, time will never stop marching on. There is NO END TIME! Now there may be an apocalypse, where the veil is torn and we will see something new. It may be the “end time” for our body, but time will keep marching on.
Looking at specific verses, verse 9:14 give us a warning towards man’s actions away from God:
Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice.
Often times we complain that we cannot hear his voice and therefore how can we “obey” it. We have a difficult position where we have all the tools available to us, but cannot figure out the “how” many times. First and foremost we have the Bible, that becomes the cornerstone of any decisions or problem we may face. Second is prayer, where we “talk” with God and petition him with our needs and grievances.
Next is the “dangerous” part and needs to be checked constantly to the Bible, but that’s the inner voice. I can say for a fact that my “inner voice” has directed me to go down the wrong path more than once. After ending up in a ditch, I will refer back to the Bible and see the error in my ways. Now was that “inner voice” Satan or just my personal wants and desires? Most of the time that “voice” was my own selfish desires, where I was justifying actions that do not match God’s plan or will.
Verse 9:21 is something I often pray would happen:
while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.
Notice in the reading, Daniel will pray or have a vision and some angel will explain what it meant. How I would love to pray and have Gabriel come and explain God’s position and the ultimate outcome. I think we expect this to happen every time we pray, so God’s will and plan is spelled out before us. In the 50 years on this earth with 36 of them as a Christian, I have never had a clear vision outside the Bible.
Maybe someday we will have a more open dialog with God? I would ask that the visions be clearer, so we do not need them explained. At the same time, if someone who had never seen a tank or an FA-18 fighter jet and had no way to describe them other than with animals, which may be why the visions are so “strange”. One of the 10 horn creatures it described could be a battleship with 10 large guns. So maybe if we have visions some 2000 years into the future we may need someone to explain them too us.