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CONNIE: Dumped in a lion's den at age 85--dear old Daniel still remained faithful to the Lord. It wasn't the first time things had seemed to be going all wrong for him. But as usual, God came through . . .

LONNIE: Giving God’s trumpet a Certain Sound for more than 70 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery

LONNIE: I’m Lonnie Melashenko. Today we're looking at the exciting book of Daniel--a book that has some of the most fascinating stories and prophecies of any book of the Bible.

CONNIE: Daniel must have been a fascinating man to know--after all the harrowing experiences he had.

LONNIE: Probably he's most famous for the night he spent sleeping with the hungry lions, but actually that didn't happen until much later in his life. Still, he had his share of interesting experiences even as a young man.

CONNIE: For instance, being taken captive to a foreign land when he was just a teenager, and being enrolled in a Babylonian school in order to learn how to be an administrator in King Nebuchadnezzar's government.

LONNIE: And of course there was the time when King Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream and challenged all his wise men to tell him what the dream was--as well as its interpretation.

CONNIE: What a challenge, but through prayer and trusting in the Lord, Daniel was able to meet the challenge--and in so doing, he saved the lives of all the wise men of Babylon.

LONNIE: That's right, Connie, the king had threatened to kill all the wise men if they couldn't tell him his dream, but Daniel and his faithful friends prayed to the Lord and He revealed both the dream and the interpretation to Daniel.

CONNIE: And what a fascinating dream it was!

LONNIE: In fact, it's a dream that's still being fulfilled today, more than 2600 years later!

CONNIE: Well, Daniel is a fairly short book--just 12 chapters, but it's packed full of stories and prophecies. Dr. William Shea, who's been on our program before, has made Daniel one of his chief studies through the years, and Ken Wade spoke to him about the book and its message.

KEN: Dr. William Shea, I just want to thank you so much for joining us on your program today.

DR. SHEA: Happy to do so.

KEN: You’re a real scholar, particularly in the book of Daniel and I enjoyed reading the Abundant Life Bible Amplifier Books on Daniel as I was preparing this program. You know, Daniel has been a tremendous encouragement to Christians through the years, particularly the aspect of prophecies and seeing how God predicted things that would happen in the future.

DR. SHEA: Very much so, you know, they talk about the function of a prophet as a foreteller and a forth teller, speaks to God and speaks to the future.

KEN: Yes, now of course in recent years scholars have begun to say, “Well, but maybe parts of Daniel were written long ago but some of them were written after these events. There’s no such thing as prophecy.” How do you respond to that Dr. Shea?

DR. SHEA: Well, there are several things one could say but starting with the historical chapters it’s interesting how well they fit into the 6th century B.C. and then the historical chapters are woven together in a particular outline with the prophetic chapters and it’s really difficult to separate the two. So, if the historical chapters belong in the 6th century B.C. then so do the prophetic chapters.

KEN: The tapestry that is woven there is fascinating to me. Something I’d never noticed before. You pointed out that there’s a form of construction there that’s very common in the Hebrew bible but it’s not one that we use often today of what we call a chiastic structure.

DR. SHEA: It’s kind of like a stepladder that you have steps up both sides of the ladder and you go up one side and down the other.

KEN: What you pointed out there was that there is parallel between Daniel two and Daniel seven, a parallel between Daniel three and six and four and five. So you’re just kind of working in toward the center there I guess you’d say.

DR. SHEA: That’s right, yes. Daniel two and Daniel seven which are parallel in structure and written in Aramaic as opposed to Hebrew in the rest of the book.

KEN: Right.

DR. SHEA: These are prophecies about the nation. Then chapter three and chapter six, there are special episodes of persecution of the Jews in exile.

KEN: And these would be the historical, the narrative sections, right?

DR. SHEA: Correct, yes, Daniel three friends and the fiery furnace in chapter three. Daniel himself and the lion’s den in chapter six.

KEN: And these are the type of passages in Daniel that you’ve pointed out the historical data that is in those stories fits very well in the time of the 6th century that we’ve always believed the book was written in.

DR. SHEA: Very much so.

KEN: Are there particular examples of those that you might want to point out?

DR. SHEA: Well, if you get to the center of this structure, we have chapter four as the prophecy against Nebuchadnezzar, about his madness and chapter five is the prophecy against Belshazzar.

KEN: Right.

DR. SHEA: Belshazzar has been a great victory for biblical archeology.

KEN: Oh yes, okay.

DR. SHEA: He was unknown until about, from his own time he was unknown until about 1870 A.D. when they began to find tablets with his name.

KEN: And back in the 1800s weren’t there scholars who said, “See what a lark this is? It can’t be true.” And mentions this guy Belshazzar, who was unknown in history.

DR. SHEA: That’s right. They gave him all kinds of other names. They made him a Syrian King, whatever, but there was a procession of tablets found up until about 1930 that explains his role as crown prince and then was co-regent with his father, co-king.

KEN: So what you have there is that Daniel knew something that nobody else knew later on and so it’s clear evidence that the book was written back in the 6th century B.C.

DR. SHEA: Correct. So if you have that knowledge of the 6th century B.C. imbedded in this interesting literary structure with these relations, it also ties the prophetic chapters there too.

KEN: Right, so it’s a unit, not like you can just take one chapter out of the book, willy nilly and say, “Well, yeah okay, those historic sections were written earlier but these prophetic sections, hey, they were written by somebody later who already knew what had happened so it’s kind of backwards looking instead of forwards looking.

DR. SHEA: That’s right. It all hangs together like a crossword puzzle or building blocks. If you take a block out the whole structure collapses.

KEN: Well, that’s a great contribution I think to the scholarship and the understanding of the book of Daniel and Daniel of course, wow, what a tremendous message. There’s something else I noticed when I was studying through is how the stories and the prophecies all make basically the same point that no matter how bad things get, God is still in control.

DR. SHEA: That’s right. You see that God is sovereign. He’s sovereign over the fate of his exiled people in Babylonia. He’s sovereign even over the kings who ruled Babylonia and he’s sovereign over the nations that came after Babylonia, so his over arching will, his over arching providence, his over arching protection extends prophetically on down through the major four kingdom sequents that we have in the book.

KEN: Which is exactly the message that God and his people needed at the time when they had been taken captive. I mean, they thought that their history had ended, didn’t they?

DR. SHEA: Yes they did. They lived on their land for eight hundred years, they lived under the kings for four hundred years and now it’s all gone. So how can they get over this terrible chasm in their experience?

KEN: And God sends a prophet by the name of Daniel along with others.

DR. SHEA: Along with Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

KEN: To point out that there is a future for his people and I guess the thing that we can take away from the book is, however bad things may look in my life today, however challenging, God sees a future, doesn’t he?

DR. SHEA: That’s right. It looked pretty grim when you’re in the burning fiery furnace.

KEN: Yeah.

DR. SHEA: But their courage was expressed so well when they said, “We won’t bow down to your image. The God whom we serve and worship, he will deliver us but even if he doesn’t deliver us, we still won’t worship your images.”

KEN: We’ll stand up for God and there will be a future.

DR. SHEA: That’s right. The linear goal of the book is to that great final end.

KEN: Well, I thank you so much for helping us to see how this all fits together Dr. Shea and thanks for all your scholarship in this area.

DR. SHEA: Happy to do so.

CONNIE: Thanks, Ken, and Dr. Shea, for that reminder that the stories and the prophecies in Daniel aren't just fairy tails, but that the Lord did indeed deliver Daniel--a theme that comes up in this song from the Good News Singers.

MUSIC 1: “Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel”, Good News Singers

CONNIE: Thank you, Good News Singers for that song, "Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel.

LONNIE: You know, Connie, as I think about the book of Daniel, it's really hard to compress the whole message of the book down into one short program. There are five major prophecies of the future in the book, and five fascinating stories. So, we won't be able to cover it all, but we'll be looking at the major theme of the book.

We do have a great resource available though, for those who would like to dig in more deeply to understand the prophecies of Daniel.

CONNIE: You're no doubt referring to our new Prophecy Bible correspondence course that people can take for free.

LONNIE: Well, there is that--people can enroll in that anytime by calling our toll-free number and asking for it. But today I was especially thinking of the book we're offering. It's called Prophecy Made Easy. Now, the author explains that as a child he wasn't given a religious education, but then when he was 18, someone took him on a tour of the Bible prophecies that pointed to Jesus the Messiah, and he's been hooked on prophecy ever since.

CONNIE: The book covers almost all the prophecies in the Bible--starting with a look at the most important Old Testament prophecies about Jesus, and then delving deeply into the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. But don't feel like you need to be a Bible scholar to understand these prophecies.

LONNIE: That's right, the book is called Prophecy Made Easy! I suppose it's something like those books you see in the stores that cover any number of topics "for dummies." But this book doesn't "dumb down" the prophecies. It just takes you on a tour of them in a way that helps them make sense.

CONNIE: And most important, the book will help you see that God has a good plan for our planet's future--and for your future.

LONNIE: You can receive a copy of this book by calling our toll-free number at 1-800-872-0055. Now, we need to ask for a minimum donation of $12.00 when you're requesting this 256-page book, so if you're calling, please have a credit card ready.

CONNIE: That number again is 1-800-872-0055, and in about 10 minutes, after Lonnie's sermon, we'll share our mailing address as well, in case you prefer to write to us. But right now, let's listen to Lonnie's message, "Daniel, Vision for the Future."

LONNIE: Can you picture that old prophet, Daniel, on the day he was to be thrown into the lion's den? How do you see him? Is he walking confidently--striding right up to the mouth of the den with his captors, sure that his God will deliver him from this trouble?

Or does he walk with reluctance, fearing that this may be his last day on earth?

He's an old man by now, after all. Maybe he thinks that his time has come. Or it may be that he expects a miracle that will convince his enemies that the God of heaven is the real ruler of our destinies.

I'm beginning my message about Daniel almost at the end of his life, and right in the middle of the book, with the story found in chapter 6, because I think this story draws together the theme of the entire book in a very compelling way. If we remember the lessons of this story, we'll remember what the book of Daniel is all about, even if we can't give a detailed accounting of just what the king of the north or south did in which year, or even if we forget what nation is represented by the flying leopard in chapter 7.

Picture yourself as Daniel, facing the greatest trial of your life. You've been snatched away roughly from your prayer room at home--the one with the windows opening toward Jerusalem. You've been dragged before King Darius--the ruler of Babylon--and accused of a crime: Praying to your God. Now, at day's end, after the king has tried everything he can think of to save your life, you're being led to the mouth of the lion's den.

You've heard about this place. Men younger than you, when thrown to the lions, have died of heart failure even before they hit the ground. Others have been ripped limb from limb before their feet could touch the floor.

You hear the growls and deep, guttural roars coming from the pit as the stone that covers the opening is dragged away. You know the lions are hungry, snarling at each other, jockeying for the best position to catch whatever doomed creature is about to be thrown in for supper.

Are you fearful?

Your mind runs back over your long life, reviewing other times when you thought all was lost and that your doom was sealed. You see yourself as a young schoolboy in Jerusalem, just finishing up your studies, ready to go out and make a name for yourself as one of the nobility in Judah. But then the Babylonian army marches up to the gates and demands tribute and hostages that can be taken back to Babylon. And soon the day arrives when a Babylonian officer selects you from among the students at your school. "Come! You're going with me to Babylon!" he says, leading you unceremoniously out of the school room and away from your home and family forever.

You thought all was lost then--that God had abandoned you. But still you remained faithful to the Lord. When tempted with the fine foods of Babylon at your new school in that city, you and three friends demurred, asking to be allowed to eat the plain food of your homeland, and God honored your faithfulness by blessing the four of you with the highest scores in your class.

Then there was the time Arioch, the king's executioner came to call--summoning you to the courtyard where all the wise men of the realm were to be killed. But in answer to your prayers, the Lord miraculously revealed a secret to you, and you were able to go to King Nebuchadnezzar and reveal both his dream and its interpretation. Your life was spared, and so were the lives of all the other wise men. So this isn't the first time your life has been threatened. You know the Lord is able to save you in times of danger.

And speaking of the interpretation of the dream--you learned something important yourself from that dream, didn't you? At the end of the dream, a stone cut out without hands rolled down and smashed a statue. As you explained to the king: " 'in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. . . . The great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure. " (Daniel 2:44, 45, NKJV).

In other words, the point of the dream was to teach the king that although he was powerful, God is more powerful and is able to countermand every order given by the king.

So, Daniel, are you worried about what will happen to you when they throw you into the lion's den?

Remember what happened to your three friends on the day when everyone was supposed to bow down to the golden statue Nebuchadnezzar had set up? They refused to bow down to this god of the Babylonians, and as a result they were sentenced to death by burning in a brick kiln. When the king pleaded with them to bow rather than burn, they responded with these courageous words: " 'Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.' " (Daniel 3:17-18, NKJV).

Remembering that day gives you courage, doesn't it? Those young fellows didn't know for sure that God would work a miracle to save them. But they still wouldn't bow to anyone but the Lord. And you feel the same way. You don't know whether God has a miracle in store for you today, but you'll still continue to trust in Him. Because even if you die today, God has revealed to you that He has a good plan for your future. There was that dream you had in the days of King Belshazzar, in which you saw wild animals charging about devouring and destroying the earth. At the end of the dream, once again God and His people ruled the earth. You know that God has a good plan for your future, no matter what happens today--don't you Daniel?

So, how do you feel as they lead you to the mouth of the lion's den, as they bind you hand and foot, and toss you like a bag of barley into that dark hole? Fearful? Confident? Resigned to your fate?

Say, friend, how do you feel today as you face the challenges that life throws your way? Maybe you aren't being thrown into a lion's den, but is there some other challenge that makes you feel like you're about to be thrown to the lions?

How's your courage? Do you go at life with your head held high, trusting that no matter what comes your way today, God has a plan, and He'll work out that plan in your life? Do you face your lion's den today with the faith of Daniel? Or has life thrown you one too many hard knocks? Have you been knocked backwards one too many times to face life with a defiant grin?

If your courage is wavering a bit, go back and read that classic book in the Old Testament, the book of Daniel. Relish each of its stories, each of its visions, each of its prophecies once again. If you don't understand the prophecies and visions, get a good book like Prophecy Made Easy that explains them, or take our Bible Prophecy lessons by correspondence.

And notice this about the book of Daniel. In almost every chapter you see a situation go from bad to best instead of bad to worse. When Daniel is taken captive, he ends up teaching the Babylonian king about God's blessings. Though armies are allowed to tramp about the earth wreaking havoc for a time, in the end God will set up a righteous kingdom where peace and grace will rule eternally.

However bad things get, God has a better plan for the future for those who trust in Him.

The book of Daniel is no Polyanna story. It's a story about real people who lived in the past and saw God's hand working in their lives. It's also a book about the future, and how God wants to work things out for the best for you, and for me.

So, Daniel. How are you feeling as you face your lion's den today? Remember, Daniel's God had a plan for him, and delivered him from the mouth of the lions. He spent that long, dark night sleeping with the cats, and in the morning he was delivered from his enemies.

I thank God for that story--it gives me courage as I face each new challenge, each new den of lions that life sends my way. I hope it gives you courage too.

MUSIC 2: “Climbin' Up the Mountain”, King's Heralds