Sermon Tone Analysis

What Would You Do?

On Sunday night, March 22, 1992, a twin-engine jetliner, USAir flight 405, waited in line to take off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

On board was Bart Simon, a Cleveland businessman.

Outside, a snowstorm was blowing.

After the plane sat in line for nearly thirty minutes, the control tower gave clearance for takeoff.

The Dutch-made Fokker F28 raced its engines and headed southeast down runway 13–31.

The plane lifted into the air, but then the left wing dipped and scraped against the runway.

The landing gear struck a set of navigational lights, and the plane touched back down to the left of the runway, splattering along in the mud for one hundred feet.

The plane then nosed briefly back up into the air, but the left wing hit antennas on the side of the runway, and the fuselage began to break apart.

Finally the plane bounced into Flushing Bay.

Twenty-seven people were killed in the crash.

But Bart Simon survived unharmed.

Surviving a plane crash is a traumatic experience.

No one would blame Bart Simon if he chose never to fly again.

No one would think twice if he decided the next day to drive home to Cleveland or to take a bus or train.

But on Monday, the day after the crash, Bart Simon climbed aboard another airplane and flew—safely—home to Cleveland.

Bart Simon is an overcomer.

Fear grounds many people.

Fear paralyzes ministries, relationships, dreams, churches, careers.

The only way to overcome is to do what we fear.

How would you respond if you were an eyewitness to that event?…would it make you sick to your stomach to know that the person sitting next to you died an horrific death?

Would seeing the mass of dead bodies cause you to faint?

And then after the initial shock of that event wore off, would you fly again?

How would you respond if you saw that event first hand?

With those thoughts in mind please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 8…

Vision of the Ram and the Goat

Daniel receives a vision from God that makes him an eyewitness to some devastating events…what Daniel sees turns his stomach and exhausts him, and then after a few days of recovery, he resumes the work God called him to do…he was overwhelmed, but he was also an overcomer.

So what God is doing here is giving Daniel visions that describe His plan for Israel and the world in an effort to encourage the people of his time and the next generations as well, to stay faithful.

The vision of Daniel 7 represents four successive kingdoms as four distinct, yet differing beasts…each of them corresponds to a part of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar dreamt in Daniel 2.

Daniel paid special attention to the fourth beast, the Roman Empire, especially in its final form…Rome Phase 2.

In this next vision, Daniel sees a zoomed in view of the second and third kingdoms…a vision of a ram overtaken by a goat.

This vision zeroes in on the kingdoms of Persia and Greece because both kingdoms would have a significant impact on Israel.

Persia — Cyrus would allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and the city.

Greece — the conquests of Alexander brought the Greek language to the entire world paving the way for the writing of Scripture in a language everyone spoke.

Timeline of Daniel

605 BC - 562 BC..Chapter 1-4…Nebuchadnezzar conquers Israel...Neb dies in 562

Next 10 years or so Daniel serves several other rulers until Belshazzar gains control.

553 BC to 539 BC — Chapters 5, 7, 8 when Belshazzar is in power

Around 536 BC — Chapters 6, 9-12 — the Jews are allowed to return from exile

Daniel gives us a narrative of his life that covers 70+ years.

We can look back and see that Daniel gives an accurate accounting of human history…even though some of what Daniel prophesied is still to come, there were some events that have already transpired as human history.

You can look at Daniel 2, 7, 8 as pieces of the same prophetic puzzle that all fit together in human history…mention chart

Details of the Vision

Read Daniel 8:1-14

Belshazzar is the final Babylonian king…so when Daniel receives this dream its around 551 BC…but the city of Susa was the capital of Persia…so Daniel was transported in this vision to the capital of the Persian Empire.

Daniel 8:1-4, Daniel sees a Ram with 2 horns where one horn was larger than the other moving in every direction.

This ram is very powerful, none could stop him, and filled with pride…magnified himself.

Daniel 8:5-8, Daniel sees a flying goat with one large horn who smashed both horns of the ram and just demolishes him.

Now the goat magnifies himself , and in the zenith of his power and influence, that large horn is broken and 4 horns replace the one horn.

Daniel 8:9-14, the dream continues and Daniel sees another little horn growing out of one of the 4 horns, and eventually that horn becomes prominent.

He cancels the sacrifices and for 7 years he is destructive against God’s people and the temple…his actions are so brutal they count down the days until the suffering ends.

Interpretation of the Vision

Read Daniel 8:15-19

Although Daniel had the ability to solve problems and interpret dreams, he still needed God’s help to understand them…so God sends Gabriel to explain it to him.

Read Daniel 8:20-27

Daniel 8:20 — The Ram with two horns is identified as the kingdom of Medo-Persia…remember that Babylon is still the world power when Daniel receives this vision...about 12 years later, Belshazzar dies and the Medo-Persians become the next world power…each horn represents one part of the partnership between the Medes and the Persians…new world power is coming.

Daniel 8:21-22, the flying goat is identified as the kingdom of Greece.

The first king (horn) is Alexander the great … very powerful and also very young.

Alexander’s conquest of the known world is rapid, but within 10 years he is dead and the Greek kingdom is divided into 4 groups each ruled by a Greek general.

These events will happen long after Daniel died.

Daniel 8:23-26, Out of the four groups, there will be one king who is extremely brutal, ruthless and totally against God…he abolishes the sacrifices and will set himself up as a god…explain more in a minute.

Daniel 8:27, At first Daniel is exhausted and sick, sick for days, then once he recovered he went on doing the kings business.

Overwhelming isn’t it…what we need to know about Daniel 8 is that what was prophecy to Daniel is history to us…it has already occurred…but there are still some lessons to learn from this event…

Remember the overarching context of Daniel is that God is sovereign.

And because He is in control over the affairs of men, His people are to remain faithful and stay strong, especially when the affairs of men bring great suffering.

Main Point: Over Comers Stay Faithful Even In Overwhelming Situations.

Verse 27 is the crucial part of this chapter…Daniel saw what was going to happen, it exhausted him and made him sick, but it did not keep him from doing what the Lord had called him to do…to be a faithful example in a discouraging, depressing and desperate time.

As we examine the details of this vision, it reveals to us the resolve of character Daniel needed to be an overcomer.

Let’s examine 4 traits of Daniel’s character that made him and overcomer...

Trait #1

Overcomers Stay Faithful Recognizing Their Need to Be Doing the King’s Business.

Daniel was exhausted and sick for days.

The news about what was going to happen to God’s people, his people, literally made him sick to his stomach.

Daniel understands that his people will be ruled by others and he begins to see more and more that the present kingdom of the Babylonians are just one small part of the suffering the nation of Israel will experience.

From verses 23-26, we discover that Israel will experience great suffering…but even in knowing that, Daniel gets up and goes about doing what he is supposed to do...the business of the king…he doesn’t throw a pity party, or question God’s plan…he deals with it theologically…he knows what he is supposed to do and does it.

Is there legitimate suffering?

Yes, Absolutely…the suffering he witnessed made him sick...Does that result in Daniel shutting down his life?

No, he moved on from it.

What did Daniel do in the face of an overwhelming situation… he went about the King’s business.

What that means for us is that you and I must go, continue to go about the king’s business even in the face of suffering and opposition…our King’s business...As a church we receive our marching orders directly from God in through Jesus Christ...

How that translates to us for 2018 is that we are to continually be about doing the King’s business to glorify God by winning people to Jesus Christ and equipping them to think and act biblically…that is our mission statement as a church and ought to be our mission as individuals.

There must be an acknowledgement on our part that when we trusted Jesus Christ as our Savior we entered into a covenant with God that we would follow Him and do what he wants us to do…we are to be his ambassadors who preach the message of reconciliation.

So whether we are experiencing good days or days of suffering, our mission never changes, our message never changes, our mandate never changes…even in the context of suffering and great opposition, we are to always be about the work of our King.

Overcomers Stay Faithful Regardless of the Length of The Opposition and Suffering.

Daniel is about 50 or so years into the captivity that was going to last for 70 years…remember Daniel 8 occurs before Daniel 5 and 6 … but it is still about 50 years into their captivity.

Daniel is in his mid-sixties in Daniel 8.

He was taken as a young man and served Nebuchadnezzar for decades and now he is serving Belshazzar.

Even though some by now had created new lives in Babylon, there was still the reality that they were living far from the Promised Land.

Daniel is told that the nation of Israel will still experience suffering, even after 50 years of suffering had already passed.

After 50 years of being forced into slavery, Daniel gets word that it is only going to get worse.

Often for us, we want to know when our suffering will end and that seems to get us through it a little easier...As Daniel gets this message of continued rule by the kingdom of men, continued suffering for the people of God the temptation is to slip into despair.

Perhaps some of you are there right now…you are on the verge of despair and you long to know when is it going to end?

Don’t lose hope…the Ancient of Days, the King of Kings, still rules and still provides His people with strength…like He did for Daniel…you can still be about your kings business even when overwhelmed by the length of your suffering…when you reach that point where it seems you cannot take it anymore … remember that God’s grace was enough for Daniel.

It is enough for you as well.

Overcomers Stay Faithful Even When The Source of Their Opposition and Suffering Is Beyond Their Control.

Daniel has been living in exile under the control of the Babylonians.

He also knew from the other visions in chapter 2 and 7 that other kingdoms of men would rise.

But up until chapter 8, we knew very little about the kingdom of Medo-Persia and we knew next to nothing about the Greek kingdom.

These kingdoms are world powers crushing everything in their path.

In chapter 7 Medo-Persia is like a bear and the Greeks are like leopards.