Post by Admin on Aug 31, 2017 6:35:47 GMT
Tonight we concluded the study on Daniel with the final verses of Chapter 11 and the very short Chapter 12. As background, note that previous visions of Daniel that relate mysterious prophecies about kings and animals and horns and so forth can be matched up to real historic events in the several hundred years after Daniel. In other words, the prophecies in Daniel up to this point in Chapter 11 match what really happened many years later. The final vision at the end of Chapter 11 does not match any known historic periods. After discussion, our general feeling was that this final vision represents the future, a time still to come.
If we concur that this part of Daniel is discussing events still ahead of us, we can see that it parallels prophecy in the Revelation of John. The basic steps are rise of the evil king (the anti-Christ), a terrible period of tribulation, the decision of each person to side with God or side with wickedness, and at the very end, the ultimate triumph of God. He always wins! Some people go through the purifying effect of troubles and stick with God, while others seem hopelessly caught up in the immediate benefits of supporting the evil king. The final reward is spelled out plainly – everlasting life – and so is the eternal punishment.
Since this was the last discussion on Daniel we also talked about the characteristics we most admire in him from our learning: consistency, loyalty, trust, integrity. This was especially notable since Daniel showed these qualities from a young age and with absolute conviction. We talked a bit about how he learned those traits – his Mother? We shared thoughts on which of those traits we possess and how deeply, and which traits we would like to nurture more.
If we concur that this part of Daniel is discussing events still ahead of us, we can see that it parallels prophecy in the Revelation of John. The basic steps are rise of the evil king (the anti-Christ), a terrible period of tribulation, the decision of each person to side with God or side with wickedness, and at the very end, the ultimate triumph of God. He always wins! Some people go through the purifying effect of troubles and stick with God, while others seem hopelessly caught up in the immediate benefits of supporting the evil king. The final reward is spelled out plainly – everlasting life – and so is the eternal punishment.
Since this was the last discussion on Daniel we also talked about the characteristics we most admire in him from our learning: consistency, loyalty, trust, integrity. This was especially notable since Daniel showed these qualities from a young age and with absolute conviction. We talked a bit about how he learned those traits – his Mother? We shared thoughts on which of those traits we possess and how deeply, and which traits we would like to nurture more.