Text: Daniel 11

Dear Young People,

THE NATURE OF GOD'S WORD

What are some of the things that should compel us to read the Word of God diligently? Surely, passages like these found in the Book of Daniel should challenge us to read the Scriptures with the greatest sense of awe!

Imagine having history foretold in prophetic language! And the most wondrous truth is that history confirms for us that these events took place as the prophecies foretold. The teaching angel foretold the demise of the Persian empire, even though it had just begun to wax strong.

"Behold, three more kings will arise in Persia,
and the fourth shall be far richer than them all."
Daniel 11:2

The Persian empire was indeed fabulously rich. The kings amassed so much wealth that they caused others to be envious of their wealth. Greece was one of those countries that would arise to challenge Persia.

If only people believed the Scriptures. The angel spoke of the word he had spoken as "truth" (Daniel 10:21; 11:2). But as may be expected, few had time to dig deeply into God's Word, and so the prophetic word that Daniel faithfully recorded did not affect many people! The same problem exists today! How we need to have a greater sense of appreciation of the wondrously divine nature of God's Word.

THE PROPHECY CONCERNING GREECE

The angel's prophetic word concerning Greece must have been laughed at - even by the Greeks, if they were to chance on this text. Greece was made up of many small independent nation states. All were fiercely independent. Each state resisted the idea of having anyone ruling over others. Their idea of independence and democracy caused them to resist the idea of having a king to rule all the Greek cities.

Nevertheless, the angel made this prophecy. He said that there would be such a king who would unite all the Greek cities and that he would topple the Persian empire.

"Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule
with great dominion, and do according to his will."
Daniel 11:3

That mighty king was to be known as Alexander the Great, the son of Philip of Macedonia. Nobody could have predicted that this young man would become so powerful that he would challenge and defeat the mighty Persian empire.

Imagine Daniel being given foreknowledge of all these events! Imagine that all these things were contained in what we call the Scriptures! Shouldn't our hearts be challenged to devote time to studying God's Word more diligently?

Prayerfully,                                                                             

Pastor Charlie

First released 25th August 2002, © Bethany Independent-Presbyterian Church, Singapore