Daniel’s Story, So Far

WED., SEPT. 28, 1994, 12:19 PM
OFFICE, PULLIAM HALL

Your morning group is focusing on the story of My servant Daniel, even as the focus is not very precise. You are seeming to let this piece of Scripture be a stimulus for many thoughts quite beyond the text. This can be troublesome, but I see it, this time and in this circumstance, as an appropriate use of Scripture.

I don’t want you to feel “overchosen”, but I’ll say that I did guide your reaction and your affirmation this morning… that, thus far at least, Daniel is a beautiful example of My sense of fun and humor. It makes no difference whether Daniel was a real servant/person or whether this is just a story. If it is a story then I should get credit for having generations remember and retell it till it became part of Holy Scripture. I also want credit for making it a story of such exaggeration that it is one to smile and laugh at.

If Daniel were a real person and this all truly happened, as recorded from generations of rememberers, then it also is a vivid example of My sense of fun. Daniel is the quintessential “chosen one,” who represents Me perfectly by expressing My gifts to him… of interpreting dreams as prophesies. In three years he learned everything there was to know. Wow! Did he forget any (as you do) when he learned new facts and ideas. Never! He was My Man, and he knew it… but was properly humble. He reminds you of the picturization of Sir Lancelot, with the sparkling, all-good smile.

As the story unfolds thus far the kings are alternately praising and showing obeisance to Me, as the God of Daniel and his three lower level good guys and then agreeing to some dumb decree that evidences no remembrance of me. This is not wholly abnormal behavior, but it is extreme for a king…even I say so. You’re right. The prophesy and fulfillment for Mebuchanezzer was a great example of humor. The great king roams a pasture for 7 years, eating grass (which he apparently digested) and being “dewed upon,” without breaking a fingernail. After this time he “comes to his sense” (for My “curse” must be over) and thanks Me for enlightenment… and then… the story doesn’t finish. Someone else is king.

And yet, in the midst of this comedy there is the message that is not yet believed today in your “advanced” culture. I have all Power. I cause, and I allow. I am “in charge”. This certainly isn’t a new or surprising revelation to you, but, personally, you still too often act as if it were not the final truth. You sometimes have concerns for incomes and bills that don’t reflect the fact that I give you just what you need… and even guide your distribution of any excess you have. You sometimes have concerns for possible health and functional problems, and I don’t discern the underlying faith that you shall live just as long as I want you to live, and I shall guide you in what you should do to prolong this life, if that seems necessary. Daniel had faith that he would not be chewed up by lions, and his faith brought him through. Yet for everyone there is a time to be born and a time to die. You were spared many possible deaths as a younger man, as Daniel was. Blessings are not eternally renewed.