Daniel 11 Dare to Long for Messiah

Theological Proposition/Focus: Jesus is the best.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: The culmination of history is coming with the second coming of the Messiah. The problem we face is that we are often willing to settle for less than the best. No, we should long for Jesus.

Introduction:

Setting the Stage:

Daniel 11:1-35 is a prophetic telling of history that was all completed under Persia and Greece.

Throughout the sermon series on Daniel, we have talked a lot about Daniel's prophecies for the Persian and Greek periods of history. My plan today is not to go back through all of that. If you are interested you are welcome to listen to the sermons posted on youtube or I would be happy to show you the Bible Knowledge Commentary in our library which has some great concise descriptions of Daniel's prophecies. What I want you to know is that Daniel 11:1-35 is incredibly accurate. So much so, that some scholars argue Daniel 11 must have been written long after Daniel died otherwise there is no way, they argue, Daniel could have gotten all the details right. My argument, it wasn't Daniel who got the details right. It was God.

Nevertheless, what about verse 36 on?

Daniel 11:36-12:3 is prophecy that is still to come.

There are theologians that argue that 11:36-12:3 has already happened but that it just didn't work out exactly as Daniel predicted. I want to tell you, that is not prophecy, if it hasn't happened exactly as predicted then either, it hasn't happened, or we have a false prophet. Hence, we can argue that the events of Daniel 12 are still to come. Think about it, Daniel got the first 35 verses dead on the money and then misses the remaining verses, this doesn't make sense. No, instead the reality is that there is more to come in Daniel's prophecies.

So, what is still to come and what can we learn from it? Let's read verses 36-39

36 “The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place. 37 He will show no regard for the gods of his ancestors or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all. 38 Instead of them, he will honor a god of fortresses; a god unknown to his ancestors he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. 39 He will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over many people and will distribute the land at a price.

Body

A lot of theologians have spent a lot of pages trying to explain this passage. And a lot of theologians have expended a lot of energy defending their explanation. Something we need to understand is that a lot of smart people have different opinions on the text. We should approach the text with humility and today our focus is not going to be on who has the exact right interpretation of the text but rather, how does God expect us to live in light of the text. Let me start with a general summary statement

The enemies of God reject the ways of God (11:36-39).

Starting in Daniel 5 with the introduction of Belshazzar, we have seen a pattern Earthly rulers who reject God do so with increasing boldness and rebellion. Now, in Daniel 11, we come to the conclusion of the matter as an ultimate king, an enemy of God takes the ultimate step in rebellion against and rejection of God.

Ultimately the problem is that God's enemies have rejected God (36).

The descriptions in verse 36 are rich with pictures. This enemy of God we read

• does as he pleases - in other words, the enemy of God does not recognize any authority other than himself.
• exalt and magnify himself - the enemy of God, and really all enemies of God, are in it for themselves. Psychological egoism is a theory in psychology and philosophy that suggests that all human actions are ultimately motivated by self-interest. According to this view, even seemingly altruistic actions are ultimately driven by a desire to benefit oneself in some way, whether it be through obtaining pleasure, avoiding pain, fulfilling personal desires, or maintaining one's self-image. I do not subscribe to this theory but I understand it because without Christ in our fallen state we are truly egocentric.
• say unheard of thing against the God of gods - the enemy of God speaks blasphemy.
• enjoys a great deal of success

The description of verse 36 is a description of one particular enemy of God. However, the description is fitting as a general description of God's enemies in general. Ultimately, the biggest problem that people have is that they choose to reject God. This rejection of God naturally results in doing whatever you want, exalting yourself, and blasphemy against God.

In verse 37 Daniel focuses in on self-exaltation.

Rejection of God is rooted in self-exaltation (37).

The fall of Lucifer, described in Isaiah 14:12-15, highlights the biggest problem that all enemies of God face and that we often face. We exalt ourselves and place ourselves above God. Here in verse 37 we see exactly this. The enemy of God described here rejects the past, rejects God's redemption (the one desired by women is likely a reference to Messiah), and ultimately sets himself up as being above everything else

I want to take a second to talk about self-exaltation. We live in a world that is increasingly embracing self-exaltation. We seek to encourage people to feel good about themselves and that, in the right context, can be a good thing, but it is also dangerous. Let me read to you a few phrases that people are being encouraged to recite themselves.

• I think very highly of myself because it is deserved.”
• “The greatest gift I can receive is my own unconditional love.”
• All I need is within me right now
• I am independent and self-sufficient.
• I am constantly growing and evolving into a better person.

Listen, I want people to feel good and have a positive outlook on life but these types of phrases are incredibly dangerous. We are encouraging people to set themselves above God. To exalt themselves. More, if we convince people that everything they need is within themselves then what happens when they fail? I am going to go out on a limb for just a moment. We are in a suicide epidemic in this country, and I don't have all the answers but I want to suggest, when all we do is tell people that they are enough, tell people that everything they need is within themselves, and then they fail themselves we have left them with nothing!!! I think we are setting people up to fail themselves.

Self-exaltation results in self-reliance (38-39).

The enemy of God who exalts himself ultimately begins relying on himself. He turns to human ways of handling situations, might makes right! When we begin to rely fully on self we begin to descend into very human ways of dealing with things and those ways are anything but pleasant.

Image: Even the smartest most "enlightened" individuals when relying on human ways end up with "might makes right"

Back when I worked at the university I attended a lot of conferences with a lot of very smart people who, for the most part, rejected God. The first time Emily attended a conference with me she was appalled at how people talked to each other. They essentially bullied each other and it was accepted. I remember serving on a big research grant at one point the data that was collected did not really support the conclusions that one of the authors wanted to reach. So the data was analyzed differently. The rule among the "enlightened" was, "might makes right." And since everyone is taught to rely on themselves it becomes not about the greater good but about my own good. Psychological egoism holds some truth for many people because they are in it for themselves.

But we are not here to rail against our society we are here to grow to be more like Christ, so let's move away from talking about all the ways in which those who have clearly rejected God make it about themselves and let's instead look inward.

MTR: If you are here you have probably not entirely rejected God. Nevertheless, look for micro-rejections in your own life.

The term microaggression has been adopted to refer to a subtle, often unintentional, verbal or non-verbal behavior that communicates derogatory or negative messages to an individual. I don't want to disparage that term but I want us to adopt a new term. Micro-rejection.

What do I mean by that a micro-rejection is a subtle, often unintentional, verbal or non-verbal behavior that communicates one's lack of complete dependence on God or exaltation of self above God. Are there small things you are doing that betray areas of life where you need to depend more fully on God?