This fall, I will turn 50 years old. God saved me at the age of 19, at the age of 21 I married my best friend, at the age of 22 I became a pastor, and at the age of 25 I became a Senior Pastor. For about half my life, I have spent nearly every Sunday in the pulpit preaching through nearly half the books of the Bible so far.
Most every Sunday, no matter how hard I have studied and prepared, while I am preaching, I learn something new that I had never known. This very thing happened to me recently preaching Daniel 2.
In Daniel 1, the godless Babylonian nation conquered Israel, and looted God’s temple. In Daniel 2, as a slave in exile, the Spirit-filled young man supernaturally interpreted a troubling dream that God gave the king. As a result, Daniel was promoted to oversee the magicians of Babylon as the first Bible teacher in the nation, now educating the worldly and ungodly to the word and God. In particular, he taught them about the prophecies from himself and others, like Isaiah, along with Ezekiel and Jeremiah who were ministering at the same time as Daniel that focused on the coming of Jesus Christ.
Some 600 years later, the prophecies became realities and Jesus was born. In Luke 1:32-33 the angel Gabriel, who also appears in Daniel (8:16, 9:20-21), declares, “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
When Jesus was a baby at home, some magi showed up looking for Him. They came from the East, likely magicians (or magi for short) from Babylon bearing gifts. Frankincense was for Jesus their priest as this element was used in worship at the temple. Myrrh was an odd gift as it was used to prepare the dead for burial but anticipated the death of Jesus as sacrifice for sin. Lastly, the gold they brought was for Jesus as King.
It seems possible, if not likely, that these magi were descendants of the magi whose family carried the Bible teaching of Daniel forward for 600 years trusting that the God of Daniel, Jesus Christ, was coming as prophesied. It just goes to show the difference one Bible teacher can make in a nation for generations. And, the gold they brought may have been the gold stolen from the Temple in Daniel 1 with the descendants of those who stole it returning it to its’ rightful owner as they bowed down to worship Jesus as the first converts in the New Testament.
What about this devotional most surprises you?
In addition to this introduction to and overview of Daniel, you can find the corresponding sermons, daily devotions, men’s ministry resources, and hundreds of additional sermons and Bible teaching resources for free at markdriscoll.org or on the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.
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