Day 261

Dare to Be a Daniel

Read: Daniel 1-2

The purpose of the book of Daniel is to inspire God’s people to be courageous in the face of opposition. “Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone.” Whatever your age, do not yield to peer pressure, but rather be faithful to the Lord. Daniel and his friends were among the first exiles. Because they were well qualified, the Babylonians decided to educate them for places of government leadership. They refused to eat the food given to them, probably because it had been dedicated to idols, but God caused them to flourish on a simpler diet.

The king had a dream that his wise men could not interpret, especially since he could not remember the dream. Daniel was given ability by God to know the dream and its interpretation. In his dream the king had seen an image with a head of gold, chest of silver, abdomen of bronze, legs of iron, and feet made of a mixture of iron and clay. Then a stone, not cut by human hands, crashed into the image, destroying it.

The head represented the present Babylonian empire, the chest the Persians who would replace it, the abdomen the Greeks, the legs the Romans, and the feet the nations into which the Roman empire was divided. During this last period, Christ came and destroyed Rome as the center of civilization, replacing it with the influence of his church.

PRAYER
Father, you know all things. We praise you for revealing to us in the Bible what we need to know. In Jesus’ name. Amen.