Sunday, March 29, 2009

Revisiting Daniel 7

So I've been working on a sermon for one of my preaching classes. Daniel 7 was my assigned preaching passage. This passage has been preached so many times by Adventists that I was not sure how to preach a sermon that hasn't already been preached by someone. As I was studying, I got stuck on verses 15-18. Daniel tells about this vision then shares that he is completely terrified. Then he goes out in search of answers.

Daniel finds an angel that is willing to answer his question and asks, "What is the meaning of all of this?" I found it interesting that the angel didn't answer everything in detail like we are often so anxious to do. Instead he basically aid, "there will be four kingdoms that reign over the earth. Then God's people will inherit a Kingdom from God Himself. Simple. Concise. Anyone could understand. Granted, Daniel wasn't satisfied so he asked more specific questions to which the angel answered, point by point. But in the angel's eyes, this vision wasn't about beasts, or horns, or time frames. It was about God bringing salvation to His people. What a powerful idea! I'm not saying that the other stuff is wrong or unimportant, it's just refreshing to me to be reminded that regardless of what history brings, the bottom line is that God is working on behalf of His people to bring salvation. In uncertain times like these, that's welcome news.

1 comment:

  1. I like your ideas. Where can I go to listen to the sermon??

    ReplyDelete