Outside of the Sunday School circles of the lion’s den and fiery furnace, the Book of Daniel is largely regarded for its eschatological prophecies. Pastors and scholars alike have spent countless hours studying Daniel’s prophecies looking for clues concerning the end times. However, for the characters involved in the Book of Daniel such prophecies meant more than academic evidences. Rather, their eschatological understanding and view of their own lives in the light of eternity radically transformed the way they lived their lives. The first six books of Daniel demonstrate how Christians must live their lives in light of and anticipation in the things to come.
Chapter 1 demonstrates that God’s servants are to live by faith. When Daniel and his fellow Israelites are drafted into Nebuchadnezzar’s service they are required to break Hebrew dietary laws. Though a seemingly insignificant rule, God’s servants are unwilling to compromise their faith. In light of God’s kingdom they view each of God’s decrees equally and unequivocally commit themselves to faithful observation. God honors His servants with physical and mental blessing demonstrating the vast blessing and superiority of His kingdom over the present age.
Daniel and his fellow Israelites further view God’s Kingdom as everlasting, which profoundly shapes their temporal actions. Nebuchadnezzar’s vision, and Daniel’s interpretation of it, demonstrates to both its contemporary, as well as today’s audience, the eternal nature of God’s Kingdom. God is faithful to His servants and grants Daniel insight into both the temporal nature of the world he lived in as well as the everlasting bliss of Heaven and the age to come. In light of God’s supremacy Daniel first declares His sovereignty and authority to Nebuchadnezzar before interpreting the dream. Furthermore, in its interpretation Daniel proclaims that though this world will pass, the Kingdom of God is eternal and the source of hope for God’s people. Influenced by the Kingdom that is to come, Daniel worships God and declares His glory before the pagan king.
A particularly exemplary illustration of how the promise of eternity influenced the Israelites in Nebuchadnezzar’s court is recorded in chapter 3. The often-told account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego demonstrates the eternal eyes of the heart, which characterize the faithful servants of God. Though threatened with a tortuous and gruesome death, the three Hebrews maintained their focus on the eternal nature of God’s Kingdom. Motivated both by the promise of reward as well as the sovereign nature of God, the three men refused to worship the king’s statue. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s confidence in the Lord and His deliverance mirrors that same attitude recorded in Micah 4:4-5. Though they knew it was within God’s ability to save them from immediate harm, their response to Nebuchadnezzar in verses 17 and 18 demonstrate their eschatological vision that dictated their temporal actions.
Finally, the story of Daniel and the lion’s den reinforces the Hebrew’s devotion to God and His worship. Daniel’s is most likely in his early nineties at the time of this affair, yet he does not view his prayer time in light of his nearing death. Rather, Daniel views his prayer time as preparation for the age to come and would rather face death than compromise his witness of the sovereignty and goodness of God. His steadfast witness and commitment to God’s Kingdom serves as an example to Daniel’s contemporaries as well as today’s reader. Darius the king responds in verse 26, “He [God] is the living God and enduring forever, and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, and His dominion will be forever.”
Only the revelation of God’s Kingdom can produce this kind of faith. Daniel’s confidence in the everlasting nature of God provides him an enormous amount of hope and courage in the present age. To pass over the first six chapters of the Book of Daniel is to miss the crucial application that the Holy Spirit deemed necessary to record. Revelations of the eschaton are useless and inconsequential unless they motivate believers to live righteous lives. The Book of Daniel is a convincing argument that believers must live life today in light of the eternity to come.
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