FIRST QUARTER 2020

SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #7

FEBRUARY 15, 2020

“FROM THE LION’S DEN TO THE ANGEL’S DEN”

 

Our study this week is from a well-known chapter, Daniel chapter 6. The memory text, Daniel 6:4 records, “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.”

This chapter as well as those that preceded it and chapter 8 which follows it, were written in Aramaic and are arranged in a specific literary structure. They form a chiasm consisting of paired chapters based on similarity of themes and content. Chapters 2 and 7 form one pair and are at the base of the chiastic structure. Chapters 3 and 6 are the middle pair while chapters 4 and 5 are at the top. This literary structure is carefully constructed to highlight the similarities between the matching chapters. The theme of the top two chapters, 4 and 5 we see two fallen kings. In chapters 2 and 7 we observe the fall of kingdoms and the ultimate triumph of God. The middle two chapters, 3 and 6, tell stories of courage, faithfulness and trustworthiness that led to praise of the Most High God. They tell of trials meant to destroy the Hebrews and Daniel and their miraculous deliverance.

Daniel was present and actively involved in the final scenes of the Babylonian empire, and we see him actively involved in the new Medo-Persian government. “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.” Notably, Daniel was a captive from Judah, and is serving in a foreign land as advisor, governor, prophet and confidant to kings and rulers. Nebuchadnezzar knew that he had the prophetic gift and that he served the true God. He said of Daniel, “in him is the Spirit of the Holy God”, and “I know that the Spirit of the Holy God is in you, and no secret troubles you.” The king of the empire that has conquered Babylon takes note of Daniel. Likely, Daniel’s reputation preceded him because the text says, “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.” This is the first lesson of this insight. We have all heard the saying, if you were dragged before a tribunal and charged as a follower of Jesus Christ, will there be enough evidence to convict you and me? Hear this quote:

“In Daniel's life, the desire to glorify God was the most powerful of all motives. He realized that when standing in the presence of men of influence, a failure to acknowledge God as the source of his wisdom would have made him an unfaithful steward. And his constant recognition of the God of heaven before kings, princes, and statesmen, detracted not one iota from his influence.” EGW RH Jan 11,1906, paragraph 10. This motivation informed everything he did. May this be our experience.

Let us note what happens in the next verses. “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. 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.” Of note the KJV says in Daniel 6:3, “this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes” and the Youngs Literal Translation says, “this Daniel hath been overseer over the presidents and satraps…”.

The sin of these other governors was the sin of covetousness which was also the fruit of Lucifer’s sin of pride. Considering the ten commandments, we generally think of the big obvious ones like murder and stealing and adultery, while conceptualizing covetousness is more difficult. The apostle Paul however used this very commandment to showcase the problem of sin. Romans 7:7-12, “7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. 9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.” Notice that the sin of covetousness produced in him “all manner of evil desire.” Lucifer is the ultimate demonstration of pride resulting in covetousness, and we are seeing those results for the last 6000 years.

Pride is the root, and all sin it’s fruit. In fact, at the heart of the message to the last church, Laodicea, lies pride. In Jesus’ Inaugural address that fine day on the mount, He shares words of blessing. His first words addressed the issue of pride. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3.

Ellen White commenting on this sermon and verse 3 in particular says, “Christ's first words to the people on the mount were words of blessing. Happy are they, He said, who recognize their spiritual poverty, and feel their need of redemption. The gospel is to be preached to the poor. Not to the spiritually proud, those who claim to be rich and in need of nothing, is it revealed, but to those who are humble and contrite. One fountain only has been opened for sin, a fountain for the poor in spirit.

The proud heart strives to earn salvation; but both our title to heaven and our fitness for it are found in the righteousness of Christ. The Lord can do nothing toward the recovery of man until, convinced of his own weakness, and stripped of all self-sufficiency, he yields himself to the control of God. Then he can receive the gift that God is waiting to bestow. From the soul that feels his need, nothing is withheld. He has unrestricted access to Him in Whom all fullness dwells. “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isaiah 57:15. DA 299.4-300.1. Only one fountain has been opened for sin and that is a fountain for the poor in spirit. Additionally, for those who feel this need, we have unrestricted access to Him in whom all fullness dwells. Praise God. Lesson number 2, look out for pride and its fruit in our lives.

Moving on in the story, the decree that was sought, was signed and we have the remarkable story of Daniel’s trial at the age of 85 or so. Let us review verses 10, 16, and 20, noting specific phrases and drawing some lessons. “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.” “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.” “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?”

Daniel’s fellow officials knew his habits well. They knew how regular and faithful he was in his prayer life and his devotional life. They also knew that he was a man of integrity and faithfulness to God and would not modify his practice because of a government decree. How do we know this? “For an entire day the princes watched Daniel. Three times they saw him go to his chamber, and three times they heard his voice lifted in earnest intercession to God. The next morning, they laid their complaint before the king.” PK 542.2

Think about this. Daniel’s colleagues had faith in him! They knew what he would do, and he did not disappoint. But Daniel had faith in his God. Their confidence in Daniel’s faithfulness should be an example to us of what God desires of His people. How was Daniel able to be steady in time of crisis? He had continual, habitual, “since the early days”, developed a robust devotional life that took precedence over everything else in his life. It was the one thing his colleagues could count on for sure. Daniel did not start praying when the going got tough. He did not start praying when there was an emergency or a trial. The text says, “as was his custom since early days.” Daniel’s relationship with God was long established since the early days of his life. He found delight in being in God’s presence, seeking him and praying, communing with Him. This was no drudgery, no routine obligatory meeting with God. It was the vital ingredient of all aspects of his life especially with the responsibilities entrusted to him by two kingdoms and several kings. Prayer and devotions were at the core of his life. The royal decree only brought to the forefront the lifelong habits of this man of God. Interestingly the quarterly points out that he was in the minority, a minority of one! “Through his open prayer life, though, he demonstrates that the allegiance he owes to God comes before his allegiance to the king and his irrevocable decree.” Quarterly pg. 55. We will be faced with similar choices as the final scenes of earth’s history wraps up. Revelation 14:12 says, “12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Lesson number 3 - This happens only as we develop a vibrant, active fellowship with Jesus now, recognizing “We love Him because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19.

We have one more lesson in this week’s insight, and it comes from the lion’s den. The king had labored to deliver Daniel all day “till the going down of the sun” to no avail. But the king had faith in Daniel and Daniel’s God. “But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.” Daniel 6:16. Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den and as Darius said, the God Whom Daniel served continually, delivered him. “God did not prevent Daniel's enemies from casting him into the lions’ den; He permitted evil angels and wicked men thus far to accomplish their purpose; but it was that He might make the deliverance of His servant more marked, and the defeat of the enemies of truth and righteousness more complete.” PK 534. But it is the question at the end of Wednesday’s lesson that we need to address, and it says this: “Though this story has a happy ending (at least for Daniel), what about those accounts, even those in the Bible that don’t end in deliverance here? How are we to understand them?” We all have had this concern. We recently lost a soldier of Jesus Christ who ministered with us tirelessly on the 1888 MSC, who was faithful to Christ. Many prayed earnestly asking God to bring miraculous healing for a disease known to take the life of those it possesses. But yet he died. The issue of God’s sovereignty is raised almost every week this quarter. What does it mean, God is in control? Many Christians comfort one another with the thought when utter calamity of the worst kind happens, God is in control! The lesson points us to Hebrews 11:35-38 as we grapple with this question. Ellen White also has some powerful perspectives. Remember also the literary structure we spoke of at the beginning of this insight. Chapters 3 and 6 are at the middle position of the chiastic structure because they are linked by content and common themes, so we will also call on Daniel 3 as we grapple with “God in control”. First, we will look at some quotes by the pen of inspiration. Though she does not use the term sovereignty of God, she gives a wonderful perspective on “the true philosophy of history” as she calls it. We will let the Word speak. I urge each one to plumb the depths of these statements as we attempt to piece together a right understanding of this easily misunderstood idea.

“In the annals of human history, the growth of nations, the rise and fall of empires, appear as dependent on the will and prowess of man. The shaping of events seems, to a great degree, to be determined by his power, ambition, or caprice. But in the word of God the curtain is drawn aside, and we behold, behind, above, and through all the play and counterplay of human interests and power and passions, the agencies of the all-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will.” ED 173.2.

“Every nation that has come upon the stage of action has been permitted to occupy its place on the earth, that the fact might be determined whether it would fulfill the purposes of the Watcher and the Holy One. Prophecy has traced the rise and progress of the world's great empires—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. With each of these, as with the nations of less power, history has repeated itself. Each has had its period of test; each has failed, its glory faded, its power departed.

While nations have rejected God's principles, and in this rejection have wrought their own ruin, yet a divine, overruling purpose has manifestly been at work throughout the ages. It was this that the prophet Ezekiel saw in the wonderful representation given him during his exile in the land of the Chaldeans, when before his astonished gaze were portrayed the symbols that revealed an overruling Power that has to do with the affairs of earthly rulers.” PK 535.1,2

Note Ezekiel’s grief and distress and the symbol shown him to bring him comfort.

“This lesson is taught in a wonderful symbolic representation given to the prophet Ezekiel during his exile in the land of the Chaldeans. The vision was given at a time when Ezekiel was weighed down with sorrowful memories and troubled forebodings. The land of his fathers was desolate. Jerusalem was depopulated. The prophet himself was a stranger in a land where ambition and cruelty reigned supreme. As on every hand he beheld tyranny and wrong, his soul was distressed, and he mourned day and night. But the symbols presented to him revealed a power above that of earthly rulers.

Upon the banks of the river Chebar, Ezekiel beheld a whirlwind seeming to come from the north, “a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber.” A number of wheels, intersecting one another, were moved by four living beings. High above all these “was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.” “And there appeared in the cherubims the form of a man's hand under their wings.” Ed 177. Praise God!

“As the wheellike complications were under the guidance of the hand beneath the wings of the cherubim, so the complicated play of human events is under divine control. Amidst the strife and tumult of nations He that sitteth above the cherubim still guides the affairs of this earth.” PK 536.1

Can you see it? Can you see Him? A God in control. Here is lesson number 4. Amidst the strife and tumult of our lives, He sits above it all watching, guiding, but underneath us are the everlasting arms.

Not everyone is delivered. “35 Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented — 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise. Hebrews 11:35-39.

There were 4 in the fiery furnace, but when Nebuchadnezzar opened the door to the furnace only 3 walked out, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. The One Whose appearance was like the Son of God does not come out of the furnace of suffering. This is why the author of Hebrews points us to Jesus. Hebrews gives us a roll call of heroes of faith, who conquered kingdoms, shut the mouth of lions, escaped the edge of the sword, quenched the violence of fire. But as in the passage above, it also tells the story of those imprisoned, tortured and killed for being true to God - the only God Who has the power to deliver, even when they did not receive the promise. The author continues in chapter 12, giving us a powerful conclusion and words of comfort. “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Heb 12:1,2. At the end of the story Jesus stands as the author and finisher of faith. Jesus did not escape the flames but rather He endured the cross, despising the shame. He endured the cross that we might have the strength to endure our trials, and He did it for the joy that was set before Him. He had faith in the future results of His suffering. See Isaiah 53:11. And He has sat down at the right hand of the Father. He sustains us in time of trial. The Everlasting arms are beneath us.

I pray that this chapter gives us encouragement as followers of Jesus Christ in these last days to stand for the right though the heavens fall, to be His witnesses, to make Christ the core of our beings, to have a devotional life that is vibrant, to trust God and be faithful to Him even when the outcome is not what we had hoped for. “Amidst the strife and tumult of nations He that sitteth above the cherubim still guides the affairs of this earth.” PK 536.1

 

God Bless,

Lyndi Schwartz