Trusting God in the Waiting

Because God is sovereign we can live as exiles in the world awaiting Christ’s return.

Intro

We’re continuing our series in Daniel where we’ve gone slightly back in time, as last week we saw the first of two visions that Daniel had while Belshazzar was still king in Babylon Today we’ll be looking at the second vision which took place two years later. This second half of the book of Daniel is apocalyptic literature. And the purpose of this type of writing in scripture is to comfort Christians in the face of present circumstances, to encourage us that the battle is won and the end is sure.

It can be easy to trust God when things are going well for us. But what about in suffering, in persecution, or when we see all the evil around us in the world?

In the last five years over 800 thousand people have been killed as a result of wars around the world. 5 million children under the age of 5 die every year. There are over 750 thousand suicides every year, and in Ireland depression has increased 40% and anxiety 20% over the last 30 years. 1 in 400 people in Ireland are homeless. There are around 50 million people in modern day slavery in 2025 around the world. There are 73 million abortions every year. Some statistics indicate that there are more than 380 million Christians suffering persecution at the moment. Nearly 5 thousand Christians were killed for their faith last year, and another 5 thousand are imprisoned – that we know of.

So in the midst of all this evil in the world, how are we to live as we await the end? When it seems like there’s no end in sight how do we face suffering and persecution?

Let’s see what Daniel Chapter 8 has to say to help us to endure and persevere as exiles in a fallen world.

1 - The Vision (8:1-14)

So as we jump in to our passage, we first need to look at the vision that Daniel receives. Look with me from verse 1:

Daniel 8:1–4 · ESV

¹In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first. ²And I saw in the vision; and when I saw, I was in Susa the capital, which is in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision, and I was at the Ulai canal. ³I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram standing on the bank of the canal. It had two horns, and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. ⁴I saw the ram charging westwards and northwards and southwards. No beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.

Daniel is still in Babylon, but in his vision he is taken away to Susa, the capital of Elam, which would become the centre of the Persian Empire. Even as he is serving in Belshazzar’s court, Daniel is going to see the rise of the Persian Empire from where it takes place, before the writing would appear on the wall that we saw in Daniel chapter 5. And as Daniel is taken away in his vision he first sees verse 3: a ram standing on the bank of the canal. It had two horns. And verse 4: No beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.

We’re told later on in the interpretation of the vision what this ram refers to. Verse 20: As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia. This is Darius the Mede sweeping west, north, and south with the joined Median and Persian kingdoms towards Babylon. No kingdom, not even Babylon, could stand before him and as Daniel’s vision prophesied, he became great.

But no sooner do we hear about the ram and it’s power and unrivalled greatness than another animal arrives on the scene. Look with me from verse 6: As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. The goat attacks the ram and the ram had no power to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled on him. And there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power. Then the goat became exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four conspicuous horns towards the four winds of heaven.

The goat we see again in verse 21: is the king of Greece. This is Alexander the Great who led the Greeks against the Persians and defeated them easily. Alexander the Great’s conquest was so swift that to Daniel it appeared as if he travelled so fast his feet didn’t touch the ground. But as history fans will know, Alexander died at the height of his power while he was still young, the vision describing it as the great horn of the goat being broken. Alexander’s kingdom was split between four generals who fought and ruled over different areas of the empire. They may have ruled over his kingdom, but as we read in the explanation of the vision verse 22: they did not have his power.

Then finally we have verse 9: a little horn, which grew exceedingly great towards the south, towards the east, and towards the glorious land – that is, Israel. This king is described in verse 23 as being a king of bold countenance. A description which is used in Proverbs of the adulterous woman who is the opposite of wisdom. The king is Antiochus IV. And Daniel is told how he will grow great, even to the host of heaven. It is Antiochus about which most of our passage this morning focuses on.

If you can cast your minds all the way back to when we were in Mark’s gospel you may remember him being mentioned when Jesus told his disciples about the coming destruction of the temple, and how it would be like when the abomination of desolation was there before. This is that same Antiochus.

We read about what Antiochus did in Israel in the apocryphal 1 Maccabees.

⁴¹Then the king [that is Antiochus] wrote to his whole kingdom that all should be one people, ⁴²and that each should give up his customs. All the Gentiles accepted the command of the king. ⁴³ Many even from Israel gladly adopted his religion; they sacrificed to idols and profaned the sabbath. ⁴⁴ And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah; he directed them to follow customs strange to the land, ⁴⁵ to forbid burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings in the sanctuary, to profane sabbaths and feasts, ⁴⁶ to defile the sanctuary and the priests, ⁴⁷ to build altars and sacred precincts and shrines for idols, to sacrifice swine and unclean animals, ⁴⁸ and to leave their sons uncircumcised. They were to make themselves abominable by everything unclean and profane, ⁴⁹ so that they should forget the law and change all the ordinances. ⁵⁰ “And whoever does not obey the command of the king shall die.”

1 Maccabees · 1:41-50

Antiochus killed over 40 thousand Jews, he defiled the temple with sacrifices of pigs, he set up a statue of Zeus in the temple, he forbid Sabbath observance and circumcision. But as the vision is explained to Daniel, we see verse 25 that Antiochus will die, but by no human hand. Antiochus did not die in battle, but rather again in 1 Maccabees we read how Antiochus died in his bed sick from grief. 1 and 2 Maccabees go on to detail the Maccabean revolt, how Judas Maccabeus led a revolution against Antiochus and his successors, restored the temple and the sacrifices. This is what is celebrated in the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

2 - The Understanding (8:1-26)

We have the benefit of understanding all this with hindsight as we look at history, but we must remember that Daniel did not understand it. But even though Daniel didn’t fully understand the vision, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t useful or there weren’t things he, and we, couldn’t learn from what he could understand.

Daniel sees how God is fully sovereign over all things. The earthly realm, the spiritual realm, his people, and his enemies. Look with me from verse 12: And a host will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression. And verse 24: His power shall be great – but not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction and succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints.

Daniel’s vision shows the persecution and judgement of God’s people by Antiochus. This isn’t of Antiochus’ own power, it is of God’s will. When we read that Antiochus became great, even to the host of heaven, this isn’t that Antiochus was somehow beating God, or greater than him, or even a worthy rival or something. Antiochus believed this to be the case. He gave himself the title Epiphanes – meaning “God Manifest”.

But no, rather God used Antiochus to judge the Jews for their sins, just as he judged them by bringing them into exile in Babylon where Daniel is. We’re told that Israel is given over because of transgression. This doesn’t make Antiochus’ actions right – but shows how God is at work in all circumstances. All the kings and kingdoms we see in this passage culminate with Antiochus’ judging of Israel, his death for opposing God, and the restoration of the temple.

God is working all things together for good.

This is a reminder to us to remain vigilant as we await Christ’s return. There are many today who may say that they follow Christ, and may believe that he is sovereign, but do not have true faith and repentance. Jesus said that when he returned many would cry out saying “Lord, Lord” – but he will reply that he never knew them.

And while on the one hand we can fall into complacency and living in sin, we can on the other hand fall into doubting God’s sovereignty and power to save and sanctify as we ourselves struggle with our own sin. We wonder how could God purify us when we keep falling into those same sins and rebellion against the God we love.

Daniel’s vision gives us hope as we see that if God will purify the temple, raising up mighty kingdoms against each other, even prevailing against those who seem so great and mighty like Antiochus, that our own small lives are safe in the palm of his hand. This vision that Daniel has is so accurate that scholars today think that it must have been written years after these events took place, because they reject that there is a God who is both in control of all things, and who reveals his will and plans to his people.

Charles Spurgeon once said concerning God’s sovereignty:

Do not imagine that God has simply out of his own arbitrary will, determined this and that. He does as he wills, but he always wills to do that which is in conformity with his high and glorious nature. He never wills an unjust thing; he never wills a really unkind thing. All the appointments of his Providence, especially towards his people, are ruled in mercy, in tenderness, in love, and in wisdom, and all are conducive to their highest interest and their greatest happiness.

If we believe that God is fully sovereign then we must entrust him with all things, the small as well as the big. How often do you think, or maybe not think as the case may be, that you won’t bother bringing those tiny things which hurt you, annoy you, upset you, worry you before God, because they’re so small and insignificant.

When I broke my arm a few months ago it was obvious. It was sudden and painful and I could tell my arm had previously been fine, but now was not. But, my arm is also at risk from things like carpal tunnel syndrome. I’m a software engineer so I spend my working hours in front of a computer moving a mouse or typing. I love to play guitar doing repetitive picking or strumming motions. This isn’t sudden or immediate, but can end up just as bad as a broken arm through lots of small incidents.

When someone has health issues, or dies, or we lose a job or a car breaks down these are big and immediate and it’s easy for us to turn to God, and we should! But the little things are just as important before the God who is sovereign over all things. A friend forgetting your birthday might not be that important as an isolated incident, but all our troubles matter to God, and those small cares and hurts will build up to greater pain if we do not entrust them to him.

Bring all your small worries, inconveniences, hurts, sufferings, concerns before him. He loves to hear them, and loves to answer prayer. Because the reality is that we live in a broken, evil, sinful world full of suffering and persecution.

The first day that Okiki and I met each other we sang the musical Hamilton together. One of the lines in the musical that George Washington says to Hamilton is “Dying is easy young man, living is harder.” And this is how the Christian life is. We say with the apostle Paul to live is Christ, to die is gain. And when we say it we’re really focusing on the death being gain part. Because if we trust in God, then dying is easy. It’s freedom from the sin and suffering in the world and entry into the presence of your Lord and Saviour.

Compared to that, yes living is a lot harder.

And so the question for us then becomes how do we live as we await our death, or Christ’s return? There are some Christians who talk of tribulation as a future reality. But that isn’t the case. Tribulation is a present reality. And the proper way of responding to evil, troubles, persecution – isn’t to ignore them or to distract ourselves.

No Daniel sees this vision. God sends it to him. And Daniel verse 15: sought to understand it. And God sent him the interpretation. The vision wasn’t even exactly encouraging to Daniel. He lay sick for some days. All the rulers and kingdoms and wars weren’t good for Israel, they were opposed to God.

And even though the vision shows that Israel will be back in the land, they will sin again and God will let the temple be defiled by Antiochus. But all this should drive us to see God’s plan, and to remember the end. For Daniel the temple is restored again after all this tribulation. He is told verse 19 that this refers to the appointed time of the end.

There is an appointed time for all things. It may not be the time we would like, but God is in control.

Whether you worry about housing, or your work, or health issues.

Whether you long for a husband or wife or children.

Whether you long for your struggle with a particular sin to end, or for the persecution and suffering to stop.

Whether you feel like you’re in the valley and God is far away, or you long for the depression to end.

There is an appointed time of the end.

Maybe it will be in this life, maybe it will be in the life to come. But God’s will will be done. So we should work as we wait. We should for example add to our savings if we want to buy a house, or grow in faith and godliness that we could better serve and love a spouse. We should fight daily against our sin even if we don’t see immediate victory.

But we should be patient. God is in control and there is an appointed time for all things. Because as we see that God plans things in his own time, he does not let evil run wild, but is restraining evil even in this time of tribulation. Notice how in the end of verse 4 we see the ram and how no beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue from his power.

This is how our troubles often seem to us. They’re so big and powerful and scary and we ask ourselves: “What can men do against such reckless hate?” But immediately as we are presented with the ram, we’re told verse 5 that it is as Daniel is considering it, we see the goat arrive and verse 7: the ram had no power to stand before him. This power that we saw as being unstoppable is now powerless.

Evil, the forces of darkness, the effects of sin, do not run rampant and untethered in the world, but are restrained by God. Even as Antiochus rages against God and his people, he does not do so in his own strength. Look with me at verse 24: His power shall be great – but not by his own power. Antiochus’ strength is given to him by God. It is not from himself. And God will only give it to him for the days he has numbered.

Look with me from verse 13:

Daniel 8:13–14 · ESV

¹³“For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?” ¹⁴And he said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.”

God restrains evil both in scope and in duration. This period of 2300 days is about 6 and a half years. 6 and a half years of Israel experiencing judgement by Antiochus for their sin. And this time reveals to us understanding about God, his plans and his character, as it is just short of 7 years, seven being the number of fullness, wholeness, and completeness in the bible.

It first reveals the extent of God’s judgement against sin. Antiochus removes the Sabbath observance in Israel during his persecution. Because of their sin Israel will not experience rest. They will not experience that seven day cycle of work and rest in worship of God. That is the consequence of sin.

But it is also not a complete and full judgement either. Israel is not completely destroyed. The temple will be restored at the end of the 2300 days. Israel is still at this point needed in God’s plan to bring about a Saviour, the descendant of Abraham, and Son of David.

Rather this defilement of the temple points forward to what Jesus teaches in the Olivet discourse of the final destruction of the temple and of Israel in 70AD. And similarly this restoration after 6 and a half years is not a full and complete and final restoration.

The earthly temple and regular sacrifices were not the end goal. They could not sanctify the offerors. Rather again, this restoration points forward to Jesus who was God become flesh living among his people, and who would offer the perfect sacrifice for all who believe in him – uniting to himself a new people, the church, who would be the new and final temple of God. And while we can be on the one hand tempted to think that we long to die because living is hard in this world of tribulation, for others the opposite temptation can be true.

Because of our comfortable lives, families, houses, children, and jobs, we don’t cry out to God in prayer. We don’t long for him to bring an end to the appointed time. We get so used to not turning to him in prayer that when the tribulation in the world begins to affect us, when the powers rise up against us, we are so used to trying to fight these battles on our own, and in our own strength that we don’t know how to trust God.

Daniel has these visions, is himself in a position of power and comfort in Babylon, and yet as we saw a few chapters ago continues to devote himself to prayer, even though he knows God’s plans and future. In order to live in this world we need to trust God in all circumstances, relying on him in the comfort and in the tribulations. This isn’t how the world we live in thinks.

I wonder as we read out this passage if you were thinking how some of it sounds so similar to the world we live in now. Antiochus, this king of bold countenance, this king of anti-wisdom, and anti-truth, we are told verse 12: will throw truth to the ground, and it will act and prosper. This is the world we live in today. Those in power disregard truth and the wisdom of God.

And while this is, in a sense, alarming and appalling to us – this shouldn’t be unexpected. It isn’t something God didn’t know would happen. And we see it in this vision, as Daniel does, so that we’re prepared. So that we’re not shocked. When the world we live in as exiles like Daniel, denies the truths which are evident to all about God and man, we shouldn’t be surprised or alarmed, but should trust that God knows and God is in control.

Apocalyptic literature like this gives us hope that although we are not in control, and we may be shocked by the evils of the world, that God is not shocked. Rather than living like the world with anxiety, fear, and foolish hearts, we’re instead encouraged to seek God’s truth.

We see the examples of the angel in verse 13, the holy one asking how long the time of the vision concerns. We see Daniel verse 15 sought to understand the vision. Our response is to seek God’s truth, his wisdom, and to see the end of the revelations that he has given us. That despite the evil in this world and it’s appearance of victory, that we know that God has won. That Jesus is on the throne reigning and ruling. That he has shamed those who think of themselves as wise in their own eyes.

3 - The Antichrist (8:9-12; 20-25)

But while we should read scripture in its context in order to understand it, we should also read scripture typologically. We can learn from its history and immediate application, but also how it points forward to that which is greater than it, particularly when we look at the Old Testament. Reading a passage like Daniel chapter 8 typologically means that we see the immediate understanding of Antiochus as a persecutor of God’s people while seeing how he is a type who points forward to the Antichrist.

We similarly see how God’s deliverance of Israel and restoration is a type of and points forward to God’s ultimate deliverance of his elect through Jesus, the church – which is the temple of God. And so it is important for us, as Christians who live in the time of the New Covenant to spend time considering these aspects of this passage, beginning first with examining how Antiochus reveals how we should understand the antichrists who will oppose the church.

Because we need to remember, as Daniel sees in this vision, and as Paul reminds us in Ephesians:

Ephesians 6:12 · ESV

¹²that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Antiochus’ persecution of Israel is not simply an earthly reality, but is a spiritual reality – a battle against the God of Israel too.

Look with me from verse 10: Antiochus grew great, even to the host of heaven and verse 11: became great, even as great as the Prince of the host.

Daniel himself gets a glimpse at this spiritual reality as he hears the voices of angels, holy ones, and verse 17: is frightened and falls on his face in front of Gabriel. The spiritual realm is real, and it is frightening. We must understand what antichrists are, what they look like, because as John warns us in his first letter:

1 John 2:18 · ESV

¹⁸Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.

Antiochus is one of these many antichrists who has come. Many others have come, and many more will come until the one final antichrist to whom they all point forward to comes.

That final antichrist is the man of sin that Paul tells us about in 2 Thessalonians:

2 Thessalonians 2:3–8 · ESV

³Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, ⁴who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. ⁵Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. ⁷For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. ⁸And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.

Just as Antiochus’ evil is restrained and he is killed by no human hand verse 25, so too is the man of lawlessness restrained, and shall be killed by the breath of Jesus. The same is true for the antichrists that appear throughout history and that we continue to see today. Today is celebrated by many in the church as Reformation Sunday, remembering the reformation of the church from over 500 years ago. And during the time of the reformation things seemed bleak.

The Roman Catholic Church exerted its political power against the protestant churches through governments and armies. The protestants rightly recognised the Pope as an antichrist with a false gospel. And yet God restrained the extent of papacy’s influence and evil from destroying the church via the preaching of the gospel. We need to be vigilant and aware of antichrists and the spirit of the antichrist in people today as well.

When political leaders set up statues of themselves,

when religious leaders demand allegiance to themselves,

when the world tells you to bow down to the LGBT cult and its god of self,

when rulers persecute Christians and declare worship of God to be illegal,

or when leaders deny truth and deny it being said and taught,

These are antichrists who seek their own power and glory against the truth and worship of the one true God.

We learn from Antiochus the nature of these antichrists and of the man of lawlessness. Verse 24: His power shall be great—but not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints.

Though they exalt themselves, the power that antichrists have is not their own, but is given and allowed by our sovereign God. When we see wars and warmongers, deceivers and abusers it is only because God permits and purposes to use what they plan for evil for good. Continuing in verse 25:

Daniel 8:25 · ESV

²⁵By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great. Without warning he shall destroy many. And he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but by no human hand.

Those who disregard truth will become great in their own mind and wise in their own eyes. Antichrists are the opposite of Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life. They deceive, throw down the truth, and cause destruction and death. But as we see – they are not broken by human hands, but by God.

What a great assurance this is.

Not only that they only have strength and agency by the permission of God, but that he is the one who deals with them. We don’t have to worry about how to deal with persecution and antichrists ourselves, rather we can trust in our God who has told us the end of his plans, and who is the one who removes and sets up kings. God is patient, but will always enact justice.

Just as God raised up the Maccabees against Antiochus, he will put an end to each antichrist once they have served their purposes in his plans. God used Antiochus as a means to the end of purifying the temple in Israel, and we shouldn’t be surprised when he does the same to his church, who are the temple of God now. He has done it many times in the history of the church, such as during the reformation as we mentioned, but also in recent times.

During covid governments around the world prohibited churches from gathering, and yet for many churches this ended up as a pruning from God whereby those nominal Christians did not return to local visible churches, and other wandering Christians realised their need for Christ and his church. This is why it is so important for us to both pray for God to give us wise, godly, courageous leaders to protect and serve the church, but also to ourselves recognise the responsibility we have towards preserving the health and unity of the church. We see again and again in the New Testament how it is the responsibility of the entire congregation to practice church discipline, to preserve and teach right doctrine, to ensure unity of mind and spirit, to love and bear one another’s burdens.

Antiochus was raised up against the Jews because of their sins against God, in order that God would preserve Israel and the temple for the sake of the righteous remnant within Israel, and for the sake of his promise to Abraham that Israel would produce a Redeemer. We must work to ensure that we do not live in such a way to cause God to do the same to the church now, even as we trust him, his plans and his wisdom in all things.

4 - The Christ (8:13-19; 25-26)

And while we’ve seen how Antiochus typologically points forward to the many antichrists and final antichrist that we see in scripture, we must also consider how the entire bible is about Jesus. And Daniel’s vision also points forward to the hope and deliverance that we have in Christ.

In a world in which truth is optional, and the lies of the deceiver lead many astray, Jesus is the one who gives true understanding. Look with me at verse 16: And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, and it called, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.”

Jesus, the one who can command the angels, commands that the vision he has given to Daniel be made manifest. But we’re no longer in the time of the Old Testament, the time of mystery, types, and shadows. No, we know the fullness of God’s plan, we know the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we know all God has done, is doing, and will do in his redemption plan.

The letter to the Hebrews tells us that:

Hebrews 1:1–2 · ESV

¹Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ²but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.

We no longer rely on dreams and visions, but on the life of Jesus to whom all the types and shadows of the Old Testament pointed towards. We have the understanding that Daniel did not have. We have the full canon of scripture completed and finished. And this gives us hope to live in the present. Just as these words were verse 26: to be sealed up for their preservation and hope for future generations – the word of God is all sufficient for our hope and life in this world as we live as exiles like Daniel.

This passage in Daniel would give hope to the Israelites in exile – but as we’ve already considered, it was not a full and final end-hope. Their return from exile, deliverance from Babylon, and return to Israel and a rebuilt temple was not the end. There would be more persecution, more consequences for their continued sin, and more temporal deliverance until the hope, that is Christ, arrived.

And when Christ came he predicted the final destruction of the temple with the termination of the Old Covenant because he was the end hope. Christ was presented as the sacrifice in the greater and more perfect tabernacle. Christ’s deliverance is not a temporary deliverance from human kings or kingdoms, but a final and complete deliverance from the powers of sin and death, a restraining of the man of sin, and a hope for a future deliverance as we await his return to rule and reign. Where Gabriel tells Daniel the meaning of the little horn Antiochus, he will hundreds of years later tell Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, and uncle of Jesus, of John the Baptist’s birth as the forerunner of Christ.

Zechariah would then respond later in praise saying:

Luke 1:68–71 · ESV

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,for he has visited and redeemed his peopleand has raised up a horn of salvation for usin the house of his servant David,as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,that we should be saved from our enemiesand from the hand of all who hate us;

Where Daniel’s visions portray these beasts who are vicious and frightening, and these horns which are great or many and rise up against each other, God, and his people – Jesus is portrayed as a horn of salvation, the one who will destroy all other horns. And unlike the violent, dreadful beasts, Jesus is called the Lamb of God. A lamb who’s victory is not through the ways of the world, of oppression, violence, and earthly power – but he triumphs through being slain.

Christ has won.

Daniel sees the temple, defiled by Antiochus, restored to its rightful state in purity. God’s people, the new temple, defiled by sin, are restored to purity by the blood of the Lamb.

Jesus told the Jews, speaking about the temple of his body: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” As Antiochus verse 10: threw down some of the stars to the ground and trampled on them – so as Jesus hangs on the cross darkness covers the land for three hours.

Antiochus had no idea that his persecution and rebellion against God was used by God as part of his plan to purify and restore the temple in Israel. And in the same way Satan had no idea that the rebellion of those who crucified Jesus was always God’s plan to redeem sinners.

Jesus descended to the dead, retrieving the keys of Death and Hades and winning for his people the final victory.

Romans 8:31–32 · ESV

³¹What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

As we have died with Christ and have been raised with him, as his brothers, co-heirs and sons of the living God,

Romans 8:35 · ESV

³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

Romans 8:37–39 · ESV

³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And as Daniel’s vision prophesied of the judgement that would come upon Antiochus for his rebellion – we know that the Lord is returning again to judge the living and the dead. He will bring justice to all. Judgement to his enemies, and mercy to those who have died with him. He will return to rule and to reign, no longer will there be any antichrists, rebels against God, or earthly kings, but God himself will live and reign among his people.

5 - The Response (8:27)

Look with me at the final verse of our passage, verse 27:

Daniel 8:27 · ESV

²⁷And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king’s business, but I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it.

When Daniel has this vision he is overcome and appalled and is in bed sick for days. As humans we’re not designed to see and hears news from all over the world, at all times, about every war, ever evil, every worry. And for many this can be overwhelming and cause anxiety and fear.

For others, they may not be fearful of distant wars, or the plans and devices of kingdoms and rulers, but of smaller cares and worries. Of your families illness, of your job security, or your friendships.

So what should we do when this information comes upon us? These cares and worries, big or small.

We should remember that Christ is on the throne.

We should remember that God is a just God.

We should remember that God is sovereign and in control of all things, from the largest conflicts amongst nations, to the smallest spats between friends.

Rather than despairing we need to raise our eyes and our prayers up to the one who is both powerful, and who cares. And we should remember that God gives his people strength. Though Daniel is appalled to the point of being sick for days, God gives him the strength to rise and return to the king’s business.

Which is also how we should respond as we live in a world of tribulation awaiting Christ’s return. We should go about our day to day business, trusting God in all things. The vision doesn’t make Daniel give up. He’s seen the ram of the Medes and the Persians coming to destroy Babylon, yet he continues to work for Babylon’s good.

We know this world will end. We know this world is fallen and sin-stained. We know that there is a spiritual battle raging around us. And yet we are still called to do good works prepared for us, to work in this world – not out of a nihilistic futility, but trusting in God who is sovereign. We can, and should, cry out “How Long, O Lord”, desiring for Jesus to return.

But as we don’t know the time or the hour we must continue to work as servants who await their master’s return. Look again with me at the end of verse 27: I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it.

After all that and Daniel didn’t understand? Daniel didn’t need to fully understand the vision. He didn’t need to know who Antiochus was, of the nature of the Maccabean revolt, of Alexander the Great’s name. He needed to trust God in all things. He verse 15 sought to understand it, and God provided an interpretation.

But the vision was not just for Daniel, but was to be sealed up for future generations – to give them hope and for them to trust in their sovereign God. And this is for us as well. We must trust God even when we don’t understand his plans and the future and how it connects to our present and our suffering.

I don’t know all your trials – what you’re going through now, what you’ve been through or will go through, or what the world will look like in the future.

But I do know this.

I know the truth.

I know the gospel.

I know that the God I serve is a sovereign God.

I know that he is trustworthy.

I know that Christ is mighty to save.

I know that he died for my sins and that nothing can separate me from his love.

I know that the end is sure.

I know that Christ has won and that he will return.

I know that the gospel will go to the ends of the earth, that the word of God will not return void.

I know that though the church may be beaten down, afflicted, and persecuted that it will not be crushed, forsaken, or destroyed.

I know that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church of God.

And I know that even when you don’t understand God’s ways – that the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Conclusion

The Lord is returning. All of history has been planned out from the beginning. All that has happened and all that will. So as we await his return as exiles living in a fallen world, we must hold fast to Christ, trusting our sovereign God even in the face of trials and suffering.

Let me finish with these words from Psalm 27:

Psalm 27:1–5; 13–14 · ESV

¹The Lord is my light and my salvation;whom shall I fear?The Lord is the stronghold of my life;of whom shall I be afraid?²When evildoers assail meto eat up my flesh,my adversaries and foes,it is they who stumble and fall.³Though an army encamp against me,my heart shall not fear;though war arise against me,yet I will be confident.⁴One thing have I asked of the Lord,that will I seek after:that I may dwell in the house of the Lordall the days of my life,to gaze upon the beauty of the Lordand to enquire in his temple.⁵For he will hide me in his shelterin the day of trouble;he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;he will lift me high upon a rock.…¹³I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lordin the land of the living!¹⁴Wait for the Lord;be strong, and let your heart take courage;wait for the Lord!