Fourth Quarter 2004 Adult Sabbath School Lessons:
"Daniel"

Insights to Lesson 7:
Daniel's History Lesson
November 6-12

(Produced by the Editorial Board of the 1888 Message Study Committee)

When we study Daniel we focus on the future, fascinated with the time prophecies that tell of a metal image, marvelous beasts, and a menacing “little horn.” Jeremiah made it clear that God’s plan was for Israel to be sent to Babylon to learn what they refused to learn in their own lands.

1. Jeremiah 7:23-28: Israel has been uncooperative ever since leaving Egypt.

2. Jeremiah 8:8, 9: Israel has thought itself wise, yet claims to follow God.

3. Jeremiah 24:5-10: God will send Israel to Babylon. His eyes will be upon them. He will bring them back and give them a new heart so they will truly know Him and serve Him.

The context of Daniel is to address Israel’s apostasy in seeking after the gods and lifestyle of the other nations. This turning away from God produced a myriad of bad consequences that neutralized the blessings of God. How will He go about winning back His people? The answer is to send the people to Babylon. The question that begs an answer is, “What would God do in Babylon that would effectively win Israel’s heart back to serve Him and be His witness to the world?”

A simple but amazing plan:

• Daniel 1: God finds four boys who will act as representatives of His kingdom and its principles to be contrasted with Babylon’s.

• Daniel 2: God gives the king a dream that challenges the norm for world powers. All human governments are temporary. Only God’s kingdom will last forever.

• Daniel 3: The king returns the challenge and attempts to establish his kingdom forever, but the three Hebrews’ faith in their Lord defeats his plan.

• Daniel 4: Again the king challenges God’s claim to sovereignty of the universe, but he confesses his sin and tells the world what should have been on the tongues of every Israelite!

• Daniel 5: Belshazzar challenges God with the defilement of the sacred things of the temple and learns that he has been found wanting. (Those Israelites who put their trust in the powers and lifestyles of other nations have been shown to be wanting as well!)

• Daniel 6: Throughout the story so far the contrast between Daniel and his friends and the best of Babylon has been decisive. The wise and powerful of the world’s best are no match for those who follow God’s ways. Those worldly wise men who claim superiority are shown to be consistently bent on destroying God’s people, but receive the treatment they wished for God’s faithful.

• Daniel 7: The vision here is only an expanded view of what is found in Daniel 2. The nations are the same but the emphasis is on the little horn power that rises out of the logical progression of the nations. Each nation leads to a more pronounced oppression. The little horn is the ultimate result of this progression.

God’s method of reaching Israel is to reveal the future, to show that the mighty powers that Israel wishes to be like are only temporary. These powers are a sham. Their worldview leads to self-destruction as in the stories of Daniel 3-5.

God places them in a position where they can experience the consequence of their choice to serve other gods. As they begin to feel the effects of their decisions, God provides a comparison in the form of His faithful. The people are then able to observe in an objective way the merits of both positions.

So what is the focus of the little horn power in Daniel 7? The revelation of the little horn is simply the logical conclusion of the power Israel wishes to emulate in other nations. This power is diametrically opposed to what God stands for. It is dedicated to wiping out anyone who would dare oppose it. It is Satan’s government. While they experience the oppression first hand they learn through the prophecies that it will only get worse. What better way to show His people their true condition?

This perspective takes a decided turn from the usual way we look at the condition of God’s people in the last days. The Laodicean condition is no different than Israel’s attempt to have the “best” of the world and God’s blessings at the same time. God’s call is to come out of Babylon! That goes for then AND now. Are we not struggling with the same terrible list of sins today as Israel participated in before they were sent to Babylon? (See Jer. 2:5-8; 5:1-17.) Could it be that God’s answer to the Laodicean problem is the gospel in Daniel?

We too need to see how God’s ways are superior to our desire to mix with the world as Israel did. But our typical approach to the prophecies of Daniel which focuses on how bad the little horn power is and how it infiltrates our world, tends to obscure our vision to see our true condition. (This is not to suggest that our present understanding of the little horn is wrong. I am only suggesting that we need to see the bigger picture.) Is our emphasis holding us back from the one thing that we truly need—the realization that our enemy is not so much the little horn as it is my sinful unbelieving heart?

In this context can we see the mercy of God when He sent that special message to this church in 1888? Note how each main subject of that message addresses both Israel’s problem and ours:

1. He justifies all in Christ (legal justification), which paves the way for us to respond to His saving grace (justification by faith).
2. He makes the promises I keep breaking reveal how I need faith to operate in my life to convert my heart (the two covenants).
3. Jesus is seen as near at hand, a Savior who has overcome my sins before me, leaving me a path to follow by faith (nature of Christ).
4. I am able to see that I am part of a much larger picture that encompasses God’s people throughout the ages. This allows me to see my sins as the same as those who have lived before me as well as those who are living now. When I realize this I am able to relate to my brothers and sisters with the same spirit as Daniel did in his prayer of Daniel 9 (corporate repentance).

To see the gospel in the prophecies of Daniel has been an amazing connection for me personally. It is my prayer that it is for you.

—Robert Van Ornam

Read the study notes for lesson 8