Saturday
We begin our reading today, with Daniel, (who we know is a very a godly prophet and a man of unshakable faith), who has been given a dream or vision that greatly disturbs him.
Twice in chapter 7 Daniel speaks of his distress, “I, Daniel, was troubled by all I had seen and my visions terrified me.” (7:15) “That was the end of the vision. I, Daniel, was terrified by my thoughts and my face was pale with fear, but I kept these things to myself.” (7:28). You can imagine that for Daniel to speak these words he was truly upset by these visions. What troubled Daniel so much about these visions and should we be troubled too?
Have you ever wondered why God gives us these prophecies? I think God gives them to us to help us see events through God’s perspective, through His eyes. Prophecies give us the opportunity to respond and think in ways that please God. After all it is God who determines the future and it is God who reveals these future events to us.
These visions foretell of kingdoms that God has established on earth. Kings and kingdoms will become worse and worse. We will witness the wicked prospering and getting away with their persecution of the Church. The righteous will suffer, but in the end God will judge them and will then establish His Kingdom for all His children.
As Christians we should expect to all of this to happen, the wicked prospering, and the Christians being persecuted (sound familiar… turn on the news). But what we should know is that we should expect suffering and hardships but we should not grow weary or tired of continuing to do what is right, because we also know that in the end, it is God and His Kingdom that will reign.
So these prophecies as disheartening and scary as they may be, should also give us great hope, and the encouragement to continue to fight the fight and to share the gospel message with as many people as we can, wherever we can. I just know that I want to be on God’s side when the final trumpet sounds.
Sharing the Message
Pastor Kathy