Daniel 4

An amazing story; God caused Nebuchadnezzar to instantly regress to the mentality of an ox, hobbling on all fours and eating grass like an animal. Also amazing is that his kingdom was restored to him.

God places people in authority and removes them at will. Even in their prominent places of power, they must learn the lessons of His sovereignty or be removed.

Anyone in authority is given that position by Him. He rules over all. This is comforting to know.

Daniel 3

This is a pivotal passage in the Bible. Idolatry is prominent. A Godly resistance to false worship bravely takes a stand. The per-incarnate Christ , the fourth man in the fire, makes an appearance. We are shown God’s keeping power over the fiercest of trials.

The three Hebrew eunuchs (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) boldly refused to bow down to the huge, golden image Nebuchadnezzar had erected. This identifies worship as bowing down. False worship is clarified as bowing down to the wrong thing. We are reassured that God will have our back when we refuse to bow down to anything or anyone apart from Him.

Be careful what you bow down to.

Daniel 2

To Daniel was revealed both the dream and the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s troubling night visitation from God. It contained insight into the future, a future that outlined God’s plan all the way through Christ’s arrival.

In the Bible we are given insights into the future God has planned for us and the inhabitants of the earth. “This is that” is a principle we discover when we see His plan unfolding … once His plan is made clear, we can look back in scripture and see that He had given the essence of His plan to the men who wrote the Bible. [Acts 2:16]

Not only does God have a plan for the unfolding of His Kingdom here on earth, He actually has a custom plan for YOUR LIFE!

The Lord will work out his plans for my life…. [Ps. 138:8 TLB]

 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: [Phil. 1:6 KJV]

Daniel 1

I am impressed with Daniel’s self-control. He did not succumb to temptation to eat the King’s lavish food supplied to him. Rather, he arbitrated a deal with the King’s appointed life-coach who was preparing the cream of the crop young Jewish men for service to Babylon. He was permitted to eat his healthy vegetables. As per his proposed test, his countenance and performance eating HIS food excelled over his peers.

Isn’t that the way it is? Those with self-control usually outperform those who give in to carnal temptation.

Wise parents cultivate self-control within their children early on. To those who lack self-control, it can be supplied by God’s Holy Spirit.

The Spirit however, produces in human life fruits such as these: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, fidelity, tolerance and self-control—and no law exists against any of them. Those who belong to Christ have crucified their old nature with all that it loved and lusted for. If our lives are centred in the Spirit, let us be guided by the Spirit. [Galatians 5:22-25 JBPhillips]

Ezekiel 47, 48

After describing the River which flowed out of the Temple, Ezekiel was given the parameters of the land to be inherited by the 12 tribes of Israel. Careful lines carved out the allotted areas to be inhabited during the millennium.

The inheritance is a vital element in God’s economy. Those who have gone before leave behind substance and provision to help those who follow.

At the end of life, Godly parents endeavor to leave something for their descendants. Through Christ, we are co-inheritors with Him of all we will ever need.

Ezekiel 45, 46

From chapter 40 on, Ezekiel describes activity that can only be explained as happening in the 1000 year reign of Christ, the Millennium. Scripture has much to say about this time period, although it is recognized by deduction … “this can only happen in the Millennium.”

We will be judged by our faithfulness to Christ during our lifetime. We will rewarded for that faithfulness during the Millennium after we will have returned with the Lord upon His Second Coming. (I’ll never forget a church friend who, when gazing at Carmel by the Pacific, declared, “This is where I hope to rule and reign with Christ!”)

Trust and Obey! Living a life of faithfulness to Christ is your best course. Fulfill your destiny. Go ALL OUT for Jesus. You won’t regret it.

Ezekiel 44

Long one of my favorite chapters, Ezekiel 44 highlights the priesthood ministry of the Sons of Zadok. When the other priests were offering with selfish, mixed motives, the Sons of Zadok had pure hearts and motives and sought to please the Lord alone.

Ezekiel points out that they were to wear only linen garments that would not make them perspire like wool would. There’s a message here; ministry to God should not be a product of carnal energy. It should be the fruit of a clean heart that pays attention to God’s desires rather than attempting to entertain and carnally stir up the emotions of the worshipers.

If a worship leader is aiming at simply working up the emotions of the congregation, he is missing the mark. Please God rather than pleasing men.

Gal. 1:10

Ezekiel 43

Ezekiel, in his vision, was standing on the east of the temple he saw. He turned to the East and saw the Lord coming. Jesus came from the east in the Triumphal Entry (Palm Sunday). He will touch the Mount of Olives and come from the east in His millennial reign.

One of the most thrilling moments of my trip to the Holy Land was standing on the Mount of Olives and beholding the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem. Christ will walk down the hillside and enter Jerusalem through that gate. This marriage of scriptural prophecies and actually standing on the ground where they will come to pass is one of life’s greatest highlights. It was for me. I shall never forget it.

Maranatha! The Lord is COMING!

Ezekiel 41, 42

As Ezekiel perused the temple God was showing him, he noted that the priests ate only “holy food.” Holiness is being set apart to and for God. God is holy. Whatever He does is holy. We are holy ONLY when we are set apart to God and touched by His holiness. It is imparted, not achieved.

I am moving toward a more committed food consumption lifestyle. I have eaten WAY TOO MUCH rich and fattening food. I need God to help me function in a Godlier way of eating. Grace is my solution. Wow, if it was said of me, “His eating habits reflect God’s holiness,” I would reap benefits in many ways.

I should eat for Him, not me.

Ezekiel 40

The prophet saw a man who proceeded to measure every aspect of a magnificent temple in Jerusalem. The temple is where God communes with His people.

God obviously places importance upon measurements and details. He wants our lives to give Him something to dwell in, our worship and our obedience. We always come short in these disciplines. Christ NEVER came up short in anything. When we believe in Christ and yield our lives to His control, the “measuring up” becomes His gift to us through grace and our faith in Him. We thereby measure up because He did, not because of our works or strivings.

The Lord is my Shepherd, and I lack nothing. Ps. 23:1