A Strong Faith

January 28, 2018 Background Scripture: Daniel 10, 11 Lesson Passage: Daniel 10:10 – 19 The strength of Daniel’s faith can be measured by his willingness to remain steadfast in fasting and prayer for three weeks waiting to hear from God. When the answer came, it must have been mind boggling. Daniel was given a vision of all of the kingdoms of the world waging war against each other over the centuries long after his own death. He was told which kingdom would prevail over which and what would lead to their downfall. Daniel would be given the firm conviction that in spite of all that was being devised by men over the centuries, God remained firmly in control of everything. God set angels and archangels over nations to limit the damage that demonic forces would do if left unchecked. Daniel desire to know the outcome was satisfied by showing him much more than he could possibly have known to inquire about. Nations would continue to rise against nations and God knew which ones would, the time that they would, how long their reign would last, and which nation would overthrow them. God knew the activities that would be created by evil people and how long those things would last. In the midst of all of this, God would protect His people. Daniel’s desire to know was limited but God’s answer to him covered such a broad spectrum of time that thousands of years later many of the prophecies have been fulfilled and yet many remain to be fulfilled in the future. Daniel’s prophecies are important to all other prophecies in terms of the span of time involved and the details that are included. For many years, scholars and theologians have used the prophecies of Daniel to understand world events of our past and to anticipate future events that were foretold. Robert C. Hudson December 8, 2017