Articles
Daniel and the Kingdoms
I committed to read the book of Daniel over the past week.
In his quality of character, Daniel is exemplary in his endurance and steadfastness. But the steadfastness of Daniel does not originate within himself. It begins with the steadfastness of the *king* whom Daniel serves.
The prophet Daniel lived through the rises and falls of empire. The Lord gave him insight into these empires, and many which would come later. Just observe how frequently ideas of kings and kingdoms are set in the foreground in the book of Daniel. Whether the broad strokes of Babylon and Persia and Egypt, or the more precise details of the political maneuvers of city-states and Herods and Caesars, Daniel is given clues to the unfolding of history. Through it all, he remains respectful and submissive; he genuinely prays and acts for the good of the empire. His interactions with kings consistently shape the very kingdoms for good. But they all ultimately fall; they are all, in the Biblical motif, Babylon.
Dan 2:44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever.
Dan 7:13-14 I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.
There remains the empire that is now here, and is continually coming. The stone that is cut without human hands. The mountain to which all nations gather. The kingdom which is never shaken. The king who is never dethroned.
It's *that* king to whom we are ultimately subject. It's our citizenship in *that* empire that will make us steadfast. Fellow citizens, don't fret about the other kingdoms and kings. Let's praise the king of heaven.
