God's Forecast (Daniel 12:8-13)

The wall in Wall Street is crumbling. Overnight, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, among the biggest names in Wall Street, have disappeared on the horizon. Last Thursday, Washington Mutual, Inc., the sixth largest bank in the U.S.A, collapsed.

Many are drawing comparisons with the Great Depression, the national trauma in the US in the 1930s, that has been the benchmark for everything since. Financing legend Donald Trump told CNN, "I think it as the chance to be the worst period of time since 1929.”[1] And the Wall Street Journal seconds that opinion, giving one story the title: "Worst Crisis Since '30s, With No End Yet in Sight."[2]

The collapse and bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers shook Wall Street’s corridors of power and reminded us that everyone is vulnerable. No one is invincible.

How do analysts see how the current global financial crisis could affect our country’s already wobbling economy?

A research group of IBON Foundation made the following forecast:

The global financial crisis…will result in the contraction of local businesses and job losses.

The local banking system, dominated by foreign banks, will likely be prudent in lending to small local businesses and would instead opt to protect large businesses with foreign capital. Unavailable access to lending would result in business slowdown and possibly lead to more establishment closures…
Business slowdown will worsen the country’s unemployment, which is already at its record high, as business owners will be forced to cut down on their labor force or close shop.

And if the forecasts do not materialize we still have to deal with high cost of commodities which, according to the International Monetary Fund, is a cause for bigger worry for developing countries like the Philippines, than the present global financial crisis. [3]

The horizon is dim.

In the midst of this gloom, what is God’s word for us and most especially for young adults who are just starting to build their careers?

The events in the book of Daniel has as a backdrop one of the darkest times in the history of the Jewish people.

Their country was attacked by the Babylonians. Their city and their temple were burned and destroyed. The nobility, the wealthiest, and the intelligent among the Israelites were exiled to Babylon. Among them was Daniel.

Only the poor were left in Judah. For years the Jews had no land, no leader, no temple, no honor, and no nation to call their own.

The Babylonians were eventually overthrown by the Medes and Persians but Jews remained as exiles for a while in a foreign land.

After almost 70 years in exile Daniel read Jeremiah’s prophecy saying that the Jewish captivity will last only for 70 years. Thus, Daniel pleaded with God for the return of his people to their homeland.

God responded by giving Daniel visions or divine forecasts of things to come.

We find one of these visions in our scripture text for today.

At least three truths of timeless relevance stand out from Daniel 12.

One of these is…

ROUGH AND TOUGH TIMES ARE SURE TO COME

We read in Daniel 12:1 and 7:

Then there will be a time of troubles, the worst since nations first came into existence... The angel raised both hands toward the sky and made a solemn promise in the name of the Eternal God. I heard him say, "It will be three and a half years. When the persecution of God's people ends, all these things will have happened."

Isn’t that ironic? Daniel was expecting relief from their despairing situation but what he received instead was a promise that things will get worse.

Some of you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. But even the rich are not immune from pain. Sometimes the most difficult problems we face are not financial in nature. To some of us it is the serious illness or death of a loved one. To others it is the betrayal or emotional hurt inflicted by someone they trust, or the feeling of being unappreciated or neglected.

We are not exempted from rough and tough times. But what makes the experience of pain and suffering different for us… is God’s eternal presence.

In Hebrews 13:5 the Lord assures us, I will never leave you. I will never abandon you

He has been with us, and will always be. Even during the times when He seems to be absent.

The Holocaust is one of the terribly traumatic episodes of modern history, yet it has also yielded some astounding stories of bravery and faith. In France, a Jewish family was hidden by some concerned French nationals in the basement of their house. The Jewish family waited and waited for their deliverance. At the end of the war these words were found scribbled on the wall of that basement:

"I believe in the sun even when it does not shine.
I believe in love even when it is not given.
I believe in God even when he is silent." [4]

Yes, we may go through rough and tough times, but God will be with us, as he has always been.

Another truth we find in Daniel 12 is…

ROUGH AND TOUGH TIMES ARE DESIGNED FOR OUR OWN GOOD

Daniel 12:10 in the New Living Translation reads,

Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined by these trials.

What the angel seems to be saying to Daniel is, “You and your people will benefit from the trials you will go through.”

Difficulties in life can make us either better or bitter. It depends on our perspective and attitude.

If we face difficulties and pains with a complaining heart we will definitely not benefit from them. But if we believe that God designed them for our own good, and see them as God’s tool and instrument for our purification, cleansing and refinement, we will grow and mature through them.

If we look at nature, we see illustrations after another that tell us that pain and difficulties produce something positive.

For instance, how are pearls formed? The pearl begins as a pain in an oyster’s stomach. If a grain of sand or a parasite is lodged in an oyster’s tender flesh, the oyster will secrete a substance to form a glistening pearl around the source of discomfort.

How are diamonds formed? Natural diamonds are formed deep within the earth (between 140-190 kms. below the earth’s surface) through exposure of carbon to high pressure and extremely high temperature (900-1300⁰ C).[5]

And haven’t you notice that you see the beauty of the stars only at night? And the darker the night the brighter the stars shine?

In the same way, God allows us to experience pain for our own good.

Let us bear in mind the words of the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans in 8:28: In everything God works for the good of those who love him, those who are called according to his purpose.

Thus though life’s difficulties are never pleasant and their positive benefits are not always plain we will trust our all-loving and all-wise God, regardless.

One quotation says,

God is too kind to do anything cruel…

Too wise to make a mistake…

Too deep to explain himself.

And as Max Lucado said in “In the Eye of the Storm”, “When you can’t trace God’s hand, trust His heart.”

The third lesson we find in Daniel 12 is…

ROUGH AND TOUGH TIMES DO NOT LAST FOREVER

The angel said to Daniel in verses 11 and 12,

From the time the daily sacrifices are stopped, that is, from the time of The Awful Horror, 1,290 days will pass. Happy are those who remain faithful until 1,335 days are over!

According to history, after 70 years of exile, the Persian kings allowed the Jews to return to Judah to rebuild their temple and rebuild their city.

Then the Jews experienced peace -but only for a while.

Fast forward – Alexander the Great rose to power after the Persians and established the Greek Empire. Antiochus IV Epiphanes, wanting to make the Jews adopt the Greek culture ordered the Jews to worship Zeus, not Yahweh, as the supreme god. When the Jews refused to worship Zeus Antiochus sent an army to enforce his decree.

According to the records…

upon seizing Jerusalem his soldiers entered the Jewish Temple and slaughtered a pig, then tried to force Jewish men to eat the pig meat (which is impure by Jewish law). The men refused and the soldiers cut off the men's hands, feet, and tongues, then scalped the men and burned them alive on the altar of the Lord.

Thus, started another round of Jewish suffering. But note, according to the angel’s prophecy their suffering will last for only 1290 days, and may even extend to 45 days more. But the days are exactly numbered by God.

The suffering of God’s people will not go on and on. It will definitely come to an end.

Few years back, I was having a terrible attack of allergic rhinitis. Almost every month I had an attack. And when I had it, I could not work well, I could not concentrate, not to mention sleep well at night because of its accompanying dry and incessant cough. I was already being given steroid by my pulmonologist.

My children knew whenever I was around even if they do not see me because of my signature cough. My illness had become irritating and at times debilitating. Kaya nga nung minsan, sa inis ko, kinakausap ko ang ubo ko, at sinasabi ko, “Balang araw mawawala ka rin. Pagnamatay ako, patay ka rin!”

There is always an end, a solution to a problem. This should give us hope.

Dr. Ed Cole of Promise Keepers, in a rally of Christian men, said it beautifully,

Winners look at where they are going to.

Losers look at what they are going through.

Winners see the solution

Losers, on the other hand, see only the confusion.

No problem or difficulty is without a solution. The solution may come sooner or later.

But it will definitely come - in God's perfect time.

Sir Winston Churchill, who effectively led England as Prime Minister during the war when it was in the brink of being invaded by the Germans, will be remembered as one of the best leaders in our time.

Churchill, however, took three years getting through the eighth grade because he had trouble learning the English grammar.[6]

Years later, however, OxfordUniversity asked him to speak in its commencement exercises! He arrived for the event with his usual props - a cigar, a cane, and a top hat.

As he approached the podium, the crowd rose in appreciative applause. With great dignity, Churchill motioned to the crowd to settle down as he stood confidently before his admirers.

He then removed the cigar and carefully placed his top hat on the lectern. Looking directly at the eager audience and with authority ringing in his voice, he cried, "Never give up!" Several seconds passed. He rose to his toes and shouted again, "Never give up!"

His words thundered across the audience. There was profound silence as Churchill then reached for his hat and cigar, steadied himself with his cane, and left the platform.

His address was finished.

Churchill's six-word commencement address was no doubt the shortest and most eloquent address ever given at Oxford. But his message was also one every person present remembered all the days of their lives.

You may be going through a trying situation or a problem right now. Never give up.

For no problem is without a solution.

No pain without an end. God’s admonition to us is the same he gave to Daniel, “Be faithful to the end.”

Read more of Rev. Deslate's Sermons at the Ellinwood Malate Church's site.

[1]CNN.com, Larry King Live, aired on Sept. 17, 2008

[2] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122169431617549947.htmlions

[3] PDI, Sept. 12, 2008, Business, B1

[4] Reported in Hans, God on the Witness Stand (Baker, 1987)

[5] Wikipedia, “Diamond”

[6] God's Little Devotional Book for Men, Honor Books, p.137