Choosing to be Different When We Receive Devastating News

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This fall we are studying the book of Daniel and looking at it through the lens of Choosing To Be Different. As we turn to the next chapter in our study, chapter 8, it is not a warm and fuzzy chapter. Verses from Daniel 8 do not make the list of verses to memorize in Children’s programs. Books are not written about Daniel 8. If you are keeping up with your Bible reading you know why. Daniel receives devastating news.

Have you ever received really bad news? I mean devastating news? News that rocks you to your core?

• Maybe you learn about your company’s downsizing and you are part of the downsizing. You literally want to throw up when you hear it.
• Maybe your routine visit to the doctor becomes a call to further investigation and the more visits you attend the worse the news gets.
  • We have had many in our church family who have experienced this.
    • A family member of mine, years ago, noticed that their only child has strange symptoms. Every time they went for a test they received more bad news. Twenty months into that child’s life, he died.
    • Not only was it getting worse, the news never got better.
    • Maybe you have been right there.
• Maybe you get a call or know someone who has that informs them that their home was destroyed while they were on vacation.
  • You/they hang up and your/their stomach is in a knot over it.
• Maybe you learn something about your children that you did not know before and you literally get sick to your stomach.
  • You thought everything was okay and it really wasn’t.

What if the bad news, the devastating news came that believers in Christ were no longer welcome employees at the business, what if we were no longer welcome in the schools, what if there were certain neighborhoods that we could not buy homes in because the new brand of nondiscrimination policies means that the government will discriminate against believers?

• Now your children will not have the same educational opportunities?
• Now your children will not have access to the same jobs or the same promotions.

To say it another way, what if we learned that rather than make America great (whatever that means), we learned from heaven (not a political candidate) that America is going to suffer? You, your children, and your grandchildren will live in a world opposed to God and everyone who loves the Lord.

Our world is characterized by the kingdom of man … for now. It is fallen. Jesus’ servants have not come to fight just yet. While our culture has been fairly open to Biblical truth, we still live in a world that is broken, twisted, and evil. So it is possible at a national level, a local level, and a personal level that we can receive bad, I mean devastating, news.

So what do we do? How do we respond when our world crumbles and the news just keeps getting worse?

With that in mind, please turn in your Bible to Daniel 8. This morning our message is Choosing to be Different When We Receive Devastating News. That is on page ____ of the front section in the Bible under the chair in front of you.

As you are getting there, we need to set the context for chapter 8.

The book of Daniel begins when Nebuchadnezzar conquerors Israel … roughly 605 BC.

• Chapter 1-4 occur between 605 and 562 when Nebuchadnezzar dies.
• Daniel serves several other rulers for the next 10 years or so until Belshazzar gains control. Chapters 5, 7 and 8 occur between 553 and 539 when Belshazzar is in power.
• Chapters 6, 9-12 occur around the time of the return from exile in 536. Thus, the book of Daniel is narrating 70+ years of his life.
• But the events described by Daniel cover human history.

Chapters 2, 7, and 8 fit together to fill in the tapestry of human history. There are several kingdoms mentioned and the chart looks like this:

If we use this same model to include important events during the timeline then we have something as follows:

I asked you have this insert so you could refer to it during this message or even slip it in your Bible in the book of Daniel to help you study.

Let’s read Daniel 8. This chapter breaks down into three sections

Vv. 1-14 the dream and the vision … Daniel receives a dream about 551 BC … this is the final Babylonian king.

• (1-4) Daniel sees a Ram with 2 horns where one horn was larger than the other. This Ram was one bad dude. He is bucking in each direction and he was very powerful and prideful.
• (5-8) Then Daniel sees a flying goat with one horn who smashed both horns of the ram and stomps all over him. Then the goat magnified himself. But no sooner than he had taken his place of power and influence … 4 horns replace the one horn (same goat).
• (9-14) As the dream progressed another horn grows out of one of the 4 horns and that horn becomes prominent. He cancels sacrifices and for 7 years he is destructive against God’s people and the temple. In fact, they are counting down the days until this suffering ends.

This is a pretty wild dream. After all you have flying goats, horns replacing and growing out of other horns.

Vv. 15-19 the promise of interpretation

• Previously in Daniel someone else had a dream and God gave Daniel the interpretation of that dream. This time Daniel has the dream and no interpretation. A clear reason why we believe that God is the revealer of dreams. It is not a function of Daniel being smart.
• Gabriel appears to explain to Daniel the meaning of the vision and dream.

Vv. 20-27 the interpretation

• (20) The Ram with two horns is the kingdom of Medo-Persia. At the time of the vision Babylon is still in power. In about 12 years Belshazzar will die and the Medo-Persians will take their place. Each horn representing one part of the partnership. So Daniel learns first about a new world power.
• (21-22) the flying goat is Greece. The first king (horn) is Alexander the great … very powerful and also very young. Alexander’s conquest of the known world is rapid, but within 10 years he is dead and the Greek kingdom is divided into 4 groups each ruled by a Greek general. These events will happen long after Daniel died.
• (23-26) One of the four groups will have a king that is brutal, ruthless, and totally against the Lord. He will put an end to the sacrifices (like he will prevent the national anthem and remove all flags!!!). Hang on to this thought because I will explain it a bit more in a few minutes.
• (27) Daniel responds to this interpretation two ways. First he is sick and second he carries on the king’s business.

Is it fair to say that this is not the most warm and fuzzy passage in the Bible? These events have already occurred … we are looking back on them. We, meaning you and me, are not in Daniel 8. There is no direct message in Daniel 8 for us living in 2017 in the United States. But All Scripture is Profitable for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. I want to suggest that this historical account gives us an incredible teaching in the midst of receiving bad, even devastating, news.

I would like us to consider two proper responses to devastating news.

I. Move forward in Suffering with confidence that God is at work

There is a lot of helpful information in this passage, but v. 27 is crucial. Did you notice it?

• Daniel was exhausted and sick for days. The news about what was going to happen to God’s people, his people, literally made him sick to his stomach.
• That speaks to the level of suffering described in this text.

Daniel immediately understands that his people will be ruled by others.

• The Babylonians are just one small slice of the suffering puzzle for the nation of Israel.
• The words of vv. 23-26 are even worse. Not only will there be political suffering, but also religious suffering.

At the same time, he gets up and goes about the king’s business. He does not go lay in bed for 4 months. He gets up and goes about the business of the king.

Is there legitimate suffering? Absolutely. That suffering can be acknowledged for what it is. Does that result in Daniel shutting down his life? Absolutely not. He moves forward.

What did Daniel do in face of bad news? … notice v. 27 … he went about the King’s business.

You and I must go about the king’s business even in the face of suffering. There is a call to move forward. Unlike Daniel who had to go about the Babylonian king’s business … we have the joy of going about our KING’s business.

As a church our mission statement … the marching orders from our king … is to glorify God by winning people to Jesus Christ and equipping them to be more faithful disciples.

Personally, there is no better statement than what we find in 1 Peter 2:9-10

1 Peter 2:9-10 - But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

This is our mission in good days and in days when the news keeps getting worse. As we work our way through this chapter I think it is helpful to understand that this moving forward … this fulfilling our mission … this going about the king’s business is done in the context of suffering and oppression.

We are to move forward with confidence. The confidence comes from the reality that this vision is not from Daniel’s own doing or from any man. God is actively at work showing Daniel the future.

• The confidence is not in ourselves, the confidence comes from a God who is working in this broken world.

We are to move forward with confidence that God is working …

A.Even when the suffering has lasted for a long time (50 years into the 70 year captivity)

As I mentioned Daniel 8 occurs before Daniel 5 and 6 … but it is still about 50 years into their captivity. Daniel is in his mid-sixties in Daniel 8. He was taken as a young man and served Nebuchadnezzar for decades and now he is serving Belshazzar.

While some in the nation had created new lives in Babylon and some had carved out a solid existence, there was still the reality that they were living far from the Promised Land. The news Daniel receives after 50 years of captivity is not positive.

• If you were 50 years into a captivity and God was going to give you a dream you would be looking for that time when you were back in Israel with your family vacation at the Sea of Galilee sipping a nice cold glass of lemonade laying by the water.
• After 50 years of forced slavery the message he gets is more bad news. It is going to get worse.

I think in our suffering there is a desire to know the end point. If we just know the end point then we can endure.

That is why we hear people say things like “I just can’t take it anymore,” “I cannot endure any longer,” “I have to have relief,” and “are we there yet?”

As Daniel gets this message of continued rule by the kingdom of men, by continued suffering by the people of God the temptation is to slip into despair. It is possible that you are right there. Your suffering has led to despair.

Friends, the God who gave Daniel strength to still “go about the king’s business” is active today. He is still in control. We can still have confidence in him.

When you reach that point where is seems you cannot take it anymore … remember that God’s grace was enough for Daniel. It is enough for you as well.

Not only can we move forward … not only can we go about the king’s business when our suffering has lasted a long time … but also

B.Even when the suffering will last much longer than you expect

Not only has the suffering lasted a long time, but we discover that the suffering is going to continue.

• Daniel 8 is not a picture of the light at the end of the tunnel.
• It is a picture of the tunnel being three times longer than you thought.

Daniel has been living in exile under the control of the Babylonians. That he already knew.

• He also knew from the other visions in chapter 2 and 7 that other kingdoms of men would rise.
• But up until chapter 8, we knew very little about the kingdom of Medo-Persia and we knew next to nothing about the Greek kingdom.

But what we learn is not particularly hopeful or encouraging.

These kingdoms are world powers crushing everything in their path. In chapter 7 Medo-Persia is like a bear and the Greeks are like leopards. Bears and leopards are not pets. They are predators.

• The more Daniel learns about them the worse it gets.
• Now he realizes that his people will not only be oppressed by the Babylonians but this Ram (symbolizing Persia) and this flying goat (symbolizing Greece) is going to conquer Israel as well.
  • They are not going to be rulers in far off lands. They are going to conquer the nation of Israel.

In other words, the message that Daniel receives is the news that the suffering is not over any time soon. Who wants that news?

• In fact did you see the end of v. 27? “There was none to explain it.” The angel just explained it but there remained unanswered questions.
  • How long? Why? What good can possibly be accomplished?
  • And no one was there to give him an answer!

Have you been there? Have you been going through a period of suffering and doing your best to go about the king’s business only to discover that your period of suffering is going to last three times longer than you thought?

• Have you ever thought O God I can’t endure anymore!
• Have you ever cried at the news that things are about to last longer?

This happens at many levels.

• Sometimes it is just personal. God allows suffering in our lives or our family and the suffering just will not go away … in fact, every time you learn more about your suffering you learn it is going to last longer.
• Sometimes it is national. We look at our nation and the trajectory of our nation. We look at our leaders and potential leaders and we ask Lord …
  • Will you give us a leader to take our nation back to you? We have so much strife, so much conflict, so much sin, would you bring revival?
    • Habakkuk asked the Lord about Israel many years before the events of Daniel 8. God said, I am sending the Babylonians to crush you.
    • What if that were God’s plan for us? Yes, I know the US is a mess, that is why I am going to send ____ to discipline you.
• Sometimes the suffering is the direction of the world. Jesus builds his church, but he builds it in hostile territory.

Our suffering can come from any or all of those locations. Friends, God may want you … he may want us … in the crucible of suffering longer than you anticipated.

• The message to Daniel was not just about his lifetime, it was about the lifetime of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
• Daniel 8 was a message saying it is not getting better any time soon.

That is one reason he is so sick.

• It is one reason he is upset that no one can explain the vision.
• It is one reason that he was exhausted.

Yet, God’s grace was sufficient to sustain Daniel. Because in light of this news he still moves forward and goes about the king’s business.

Are you willing to move forward in the face of that kind of news?

• To fulfill your mission … to declare the praises of Jesus who brought you out of the kingdom of darkness?
• To go about the King’s business … in your home, in your marriage, in your workplace, here at the church house?

Friends, the Lord can help you.

• Pursue the Lord in prayer and in the study of the Word.
• Pursue the Lord in your ABF and in faithful participation in Sunday morning.
• Pursue the Lord asking for his grace and help in your time of need and that is exactly what the Lord will provide.

Moving forward is not only required when we have been suffering and when we learn that our suffering is going to continue but we are also to move forward with confidence in the Lord …

C.Even when the suffering becomes incredibly intense

Knowing about the empires of Medo-Persia and Greece was tough news for sure. But the final part of the vision and its interpretation was the hardest part of what Daniel saw.

Verses 23-26 describe one particular person … the little horn of vv. 9-14. We know now that this was speaking of a man named Antiochus Epiphanies. The language is really strong:

• Skilled in intrigue
• Mighty in power
• Able to destroy the mighty
• Bring about success through deceit
• Kill those who thought they were safe
• Only God can stop him

What is the Lord saying? He is saying that you have suffered for a long time already, you should plan on a lot more suffering, and you should now expect that the worst is still to come.

• Wicked men with no power are a little scary. Wicked men with a lot of power are incredibly scary.
• This horn which grew out of the other horns grew strong to the south, east and toward the Beautiful land (Israel) (v. 9) … it grew up to the host of heaven (v. 10).

Historically, here is what happened. After Alexander the great died (the one horn on the flying goat), he left no heir. The kingdom was divided among his top 4 generals (the 4 little horns).

• Two of those generals become very important for the nation of Israel. Look at your insert again.

One group was led by Ptolemy in Egypt. The other is the Seleucids in the area of modern day Syria and Iraq.

• Without the capacity to fly the only way you get from Syria to Egypt is to go through Israel.
• So Israel suffered as the Ptolemys and the Seleucids fought for superiority.

But around 190 BC a man named Antiochus Epiphanies (the little horn) becomes king of the Seleucids. He travels to Egypt to take over the Ptolemys and loses the battle.

• However, the gossip columns in Jerusalem (the ancient version of the National Enquirer) reported that Antiochus died in the battle. Just like today, people bought the column whether it had anything to do with reality or not and this kicked off a celebration.
• However, the gossip column was wrong and Antiochus did not appreciate Israel’s response. So on his way home he set new rules in order.
  • No more sacrifices
  • No more circumcision
  • No more religious freedom
  • Incredible oppression

The days of Antiochus would have been like the days of the Kamir Rouge in Cambodia, Stalin and Lenin in Russia, Hitler against the Jews. It was awful. It was devastating news.

Daniel learns that his people are going to suffer in intense ways in the days ahead. They will be killed and tortured. They will lose their religious identity.

• It is so disturbing that he is exhausted and sick for days.

Friends, the kingdoms of men are fundamentally opposed to who God is and what God wants in this world. The kingdoms of man want the glory that is only due the Lord.

God’s people are often in the crossfire of the clash between the kingdom of men and the kingdom of God.

• There is a sense when after reading Daniel 8 we should be a little sick to our stomach. We should see the bankruptcy of all human kingdoms.
• We should recognize and even prepare mentally for prolonged and more intense suffering should the Lord call us to that.

At first glance Daniel 8 is not a very exciting passage in the Bible. Yet, when you remember that the Lord gave us the whole Bible because it is profitable for us we can be thankful.

• We can see that it is possible to move forward in the midst of suffering because we have confidence in a God who is over all creation.

If you are in these moments of suffering right now, then I want you to know that moving forward is possible.

• You can be confident in the sovereign Lord of the universe.
• These human kingdoms, while opposed to God, are nevertheless in submission to God.
• They cannot do anything he will not allow.

It is helpful to remember that Daniel 8 is not a book by itself. It occurs in a context. There are three visions all of them are related.

• In Daniel 2 there was a statue crushed by the mountain. Thus, all human kingdoms will one day be crushed by the Lord’s.
• Daniel 7 the kingdoms of men were represented by various animals but again all of those kingdoms are delivered to the Son of Man.
• In other words, Daniel 8 comes in the overall context of good news. Thus, not only can we move forward, we can …

II. Take Courage that these plans result in a wonderful end

Why could Daniel get up and carry on the king’s business?

• Because he knew that the Babylonians were not the end of the story.
• He knew the Medo-Persians (bear … silver) were not the end of the story.
• He knew the third beast (leopard … bronze … we know as Greece) was not the end of the story.
• He knew the fourth beast (whatever animal it was … iron … we know as Rome) was not the end of the story.

God’s plan involved a messiah, a son of man. God’s plan involved a coming kingdom that will crush all the kingdoms of men in one fell swoop (go back to the chart … visions in chs 2 and 7 end with the eternal kingdom of God).

But there were hints in chapter 8 of the ways that God would work out his plan.

A.Language and Culture for the writing of the New Testament

The language of the NT is Koine Greek. The word Koine means common.

• What happened is that Alexander the Great conquered vast territories … including Israel. With him went the Greek language. It became the language of the world.
• Nations retained their national dialects, but Greek became the language of trade, business, and politics.
• God used the leopard, the third beast, to move across the known world at a rapid pace in order to set the foundation for the writing of the NT.

Everyone would need to know about a messiah and so one common language became a vehicle for it.

• The Greek found in the Bible is the same Greek found in documents discussing trade, business practices, bills of sale, and invoices.

So God’s people reading the book of Daniel could take courage that God’s plans would result in blessing.

• God’s people would be able to look at and see that on the surface Daniel 8 is exclusively bad news (the kingdoms of men are going to last a long time and be opposed to the work of God), nevertheless God is going to use those same events to create a foundation for the coming of Messiah.

Antiochus lives between 190 and 160 BC. During this intense period of suffering there would be a language that would ensure the gospel message would reach the ends of the earth.

• So many people would be able to listen and read the message of Jesus Christ that the church would move from Jerusalem to the uttermost parts of the earth in two decades.

A second hint coming from Daniel 8 about the future…

B.Longing for the coming Messiah

We also see that God was so gracious that throughout Daniel there is a coming Messiah.

The brokenness of our world points us to the savior.

Daniel 7:13-14 “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. 14 “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion

Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.

Give the gospel … especially in light of all the doubters.

This allows us to:

C.Hope in the coming glorious Kingdom

Daniel 2:44-45 In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. 45 “Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

Daniel 7:18 ‘But the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come.’

Revelation 21:4 - He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

I realize that bad news, especially if it is devastating, can seem life dominating. It can exercise influence on our minds and our bodies.

• Like Daniel, we can be sick to our stomach and even long for more answers.
• Yet we can also move forward and go about the king’s business even in our hurts because the pain is set in the larger context of good news.
• The good news of the kingdom of God in all its glory is coming and that allows us to take courage.

In my daughter’s 4^th grade Bible class last week there was a question on her paper …

What would you do if you were afraid?

• Mackenzie wrote … “Pray to God and be tough.”

Mackenzie summarized the text of Daniel 8 in one sentence. Maybe Pastor Viars should have had her preach.