DCLM Daily Manna 7 January 2023
KEY VERSE: And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai” (Daniel 8:2).
TEXT: Daniel 8:1-12
1 In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.
2 And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.
3 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.
4 I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.
5 And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
6 And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.
7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.
8 Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.
9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.
10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.
11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of the sanctuary was cast down.
12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.
Read yesterday’s Daily Manna here
In ancient times, in some cultures, if a man wanted to know what the future held in store, he would slay a beast, open up its bowels and after consulting some scrolls and parchments, gather so-called information and superstition about tomorrow. He would then begin to plan his future engagements like wars and businesses based only on the instructions from the slain animal and the books. This unnatural obsession to know tomorrow left God out of the picture.
With the prophets of God however, catching a glimpse of the future was not human-driven. All Daniel had to do, for instance, was to remain in the will of the Lord and wait for His time to unveil what was to come. Here, God presents the vision of the metaphorical ram and the goat along with the emergence of horns, to depict the rise and fall of kingdoms. It was a revelation whose fulfilment went beyond the days of Daniel to the coming of Christ the Messiah.
It was a refreshing vision of hope that God had all things under His control. Powerful empires may come and crash; some of their leaders may even threaten believers with their policies or introduce abominable practices into the church. But as God allows these to take place, He also uses them to prepare the ground for the great age of the millennial rule of His Son. And the message remains that the ardent, Spirit-guided student of the Bible should not fret about the future.
Believers are required to be more concerned with preaching to warn the world about the wrath of God waiting to come upon sinful men and women. We should tell them that judgment is imminent and counsel them not to waste their time with deceitful astrologers and false prophets who want to make merchandise of them. The secret of tomorrow lies with the All-knowing God; and if we trust Him, He will secure our future and make it glorious.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: If we trust God enough to hand Him our future, He will guide us to a glorious end.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 21–23
Thank you for studying today’s Daily Manna – A Peep into Tomorrow – by Pastor W.F Kumuyi
Don’t forget to Follow Elanhub on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Daily Manna 7 January 2023
