In reading the book of Daniel, there are some themes that thread the entire story together. Here are a few examples:
- God’s people should be faithful because our God is faithful. Throughout Daniel, God is faithful. In response to God’s faithfulness, Daniel is faithful to God.
- God is in control of who is in control. God sovereignly rules the past, present, future, and eternity. There is no one, no thing, no place, and no time that is beyond His ultimate rule and reign.
- God’s people can forget the importance of getting Jesus to the world. This was the case in Daniel’s day when God’s people stopped living for God, stopped telling the nations about God, and forgot that believers are to be missionaries.
- Sometimes innocent people suffer. For 490 years, God’s people did not obey His command to let the ground rest every seventh year. Then, God had them exiled for 70 years to repay every year they did not rest the land. When judgment came, Daniel was only a teenager, likely not a land owner, and not responsible for the sins of others. But, he and his godly friends were caught up in the judgment of their entire nation. Sometimes, innocent people suffer because they are part of a rebellious people, or simply living in a broken fallen world.
- Whatever kingdom you are under, there is a Kingdom over it that will crush that kingdom and last forever. Daniel speaks of four major world empires: Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Each has come to an end, but the Kingdom of God continues to march forward until it is fully established when Jesus Christ returns.
- Many of the spiritual testing of your faith will happen on the job. Over and over, it is on the job where Daniel’s faith is most pressured. The spirit of Babylon continually seeks to get him to deny or defy his God for the sake of winning at work.
- What feels like abandoning is really preparing. Over and over in the story of Daniel, what could have felt to him like God abandoning him was actually God preparing him for the next test, trial, and temptation. God is with Daniel throughout his entire life, and that good God uses every hardship, struggle, and crisis to prepare him for faithfulness.
Which of these themes from Daniel is most encouraging to you in this season of your life?
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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