Peruse Be Resolute (Daniel): Determining To Go Gods Direction Originated By Warren W. Wiersbe Format Physical Edition
all heard the phrase: When the going gets tough, the tough get going, What about faith Will your faith thrive in tough times Do you desire a more resolute faith
The book of Daniel relates the familiar Sunday School stories of the lions' den, the fiery furnace, and some remarkable prophecies, but take some time to investigate these stories more closely.
How did Daniel, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego possess such a fearless faith Perhaps no one in the Bible possessed a more resolute faith in God than these individuals.
Daniel and his peers never took the easy way out, but stood their ground, even in face of death,
There's a lot to be learned from Daniel about unshakable faith, Study this extraordinary Old Testament book, Even more importantly, apply what you learn as respected Bible teacher Warren Wiersbe unfolds both the explicit and implicit teachings to lead you to a more resolute faith.
Great introduction to the book and man, So important to think about how we determine to obey and follow God for the long haul, This is a hard book to write commentary on, It wasnt as readable as many of Wiersbes but the last chapter summarized Daniels life and was very good, Bible prophecy can be intimidating, but when I finished this book I felt light and at peace, Great series. A good study of Daniel and he manages to bring out the main ideas and prophecys in a clear and easy to understand way, I was not so sure about his connections with antichrist in the end of the book otherwise i liked it and got alot from reading it togehter with the Bible.
I just finished studying Daniel in my Charles Stanley Principles of Life Bible and using this commentary as a study guide, I've read Daniel numerous times and used other commentaries also, I found this one to be excellent, I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the Bible and go a bit deeper into their study, I've read many of Wiersbe's "Be" books when studying a particular book of the Bible or even a particular topic, Though he and I differ widely on a small number of points, for the most part he seems to me a very solid Bible teacher and expositor, Currently, I'm studyingyou guessed itthe book of Daniel, and Wiersbe's book Be Resolute has proved very helpful, Excellent explanation of the book of Daniel and Bible study by Warren Wiersbe, It's really good to get a general idea of the book of Daniel,
A very helpful resource to understand Daniel's historical background and the babylonian culture,
I didn't see very deep details in this commentary, though, The last chapters in the book of Daniel are a bit difficult to grasp and I felt this book didn't take the time to dive in a bit more for better understanding.
However, I did learn a lot and this book definitely encouraged me to keep digging into Daniel's visions, I'm going for it! I spent aboutmonths studying Daniel and have gleaned so much, I always love the truth Dr, Wiersbe brings out in his commentaries, They are readable but very helpful in understanding difficult passages, Highly recommend every book in this series, Daniel is the book full of prophecies about nations, Many already fulfilled, and the author of this commentary listed down one by one by which means the prophecies fulfilled, But there are also Yet to coming prophecies and here we need to be ready because it's a sure things for what we already saw in other prophecies of the book.
If you work for somebody else, whichof us do, you and your workplace would benefit greatly from understanding Daniel's story of being faithful in the midst tremendous pressure.
His tremendous pressures were life and death, the worst for us may be getting fired, . . big
deal. I read this a kind of devotion and this has definitely opened my eyes to the book of Daniel, This commentary serves as a basic overview of the biblical themes of Daniel whilst providing historical context to the prophetic events that happen, This book is very applicable to your own life due to the study questions that are given at the end of each chapter, As you may have noticed I've not given any insight into the actual content of the book, because this definitely something you should study yourself but I will leave a summary point which I think captures the essence of 'Be Resolute'
Biblical excellency may lead to world success, or prestige amongst peers, you may be sought after for your wise counsel BUT biblical excellency is about pleasing the Father above all else.
God may decide to bless you with a reputation on a local, national or global scale but even that will pass away, Only what is done for Christ will last, I can always count on Warren Wiersbe for clear, inspiring exposition, The important book of Daniel is more timely now than ever, God has a plan and a purpose, Daniel, thru faith and obedience was able to play his role in Gods plan, We are so distracted and obedient to this world that we can fail in being who God created us to be, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I read the book of Daniel with this book, A good learning experience. Warren Wiersbes “Be Series” commentary on Daniel is Be Resolute: Determining to Go Gods Direction,
Its easy to see why the author chose that title, If youre not familiar with the book of Daniel except for the lions den, Daniel and his three friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were teenagers when Babylon conquered Israel.
Most of the population was exiled to Babylon in three waves, Daniel and other young men were selected for a training period to be assimilated in the Babylonian government, But Daniel and his friends stood firm in their faith while still being gracious and kind to their captors,
God had multiple reasons for Israels captivity, the main one being their longstanding stubborn rebellion and disobedience to God, But one of the good things He brought out of it was the testimony of these four young men and hopefully others as well of the one true God.
The first few chapters contain some of the most familiar stories in the Bible: Daniel and his friends kindly asking for a diet in keeping with their convictions, and ending up in better health Daniels interpreting Nebuchadnezzars dreams when no one else could the three others in the fiery furnace, Nebuchadnezzars humbling transformation, the “handwriting on the wall” at Belshazzars feast, and Daniel in the lions den.
In every case, the men gave glory to God and trusted Him for the outcome, The three who faced the furnace for not bowing to the kings idol said something that rings down through the ages: “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up, ”:. God doesnt always answer prayer as wed like, Loved ones arent always cured, Crises arent always averted. But God is faithful and has His reasons for what He allows, And God used he testimony of these four young men not only in their own timeline, but in all the years since,
I say young menthough the book opens with them as teens, Daniel is in hiss by the time he was thrown in the lions den.
He spent his whole adult life in captivity, But he never complained.
Prayer is another big theme in the book, as Daniel seeks God throughout, His prayer of confession for the nation in chapteris a model for us, In Daniel, He is told about spiritual warfare going on behind the scenes, Wiersbe says:
The prophet Daniel realized the great significance of Gods plans for Israel, and once again he fainted and was unable to speak, Here he had been involved in a cosmic spiritual conflict and didnt even know it, and the Lord was using some of His highest angels to answer his prayers! This certainly lifts prayer out of the level of a humdrum religious exercise and shows it to be one of our strongest and most important spiritual weapons.
The neglect of prayer is the reason why many churches and individual believers are so weak and defeated, The late Peter Deyneka, missionary to the Slavic peoples, often reminded us, “Much prayer, much power no prayer, no power!” Jesus taught His disciples that the demonic forces could not be defeated except by prayer and fasting, the very activities that Daniel had been involved in for three weeks Matt.
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The last few chapters of Daniel are markedly different, Instead of interpreting dreams and vision for other people, Daniel receives a few himself that throw him for a loop, The angel Gabriel is sent to help him understand,
Honestly, without the ESV Study Bible notes and this book of Wiersbes I would have been pretty lost in these sections, I have read Daniel several times over the years, but I dont remember what I did when I came to this part, Complicating matters is the fact that there are several schools on interpretation about some of it,
The part that covers the history of the next four dynasties is so accurate that people have attacked Daniel, saying it had to have been written after the fact.
As Wiersbe says, “Prophecy is history written beforehand, ”
The ESV Study Bibles notes go into great detail about the various prophecies and schools of interpretation, Most of it refers to the history immediately after Daniels time, but there are differences of opinion as to what might be figurative and what might refer to end times.
I appreciated this reminder:
There are many difficulties in deciding between these interpretations, which all involve questions of the proper approach to interpreting biblical prophecy, In all of this it is crucial not to miss Daniels message for his audience, namely, that God has allotted the amount of time for these events, and therefore his people should trust and endure p.
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I dont think these different views are anything to fight or disfellowship over, But they can make for some interesting conversations,
The book ends with Daniel himself not understanding everything hes been told: “I heard, but I did not understand, Then I said, O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things He said, Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.
'” Why tell him these things, then Many reasons, For future readers and students of the Word of God through the ages, But for all of us, what the Bible tells us about future events reminds us He is in control a major theme in Daniel, Also, as Wiersbe says, “Knowing Gods future plan and obeying Gods present will should go together, And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure,John:NKJV. ”
A few other quotes from Wiersbe:
A heart that loves the Lord, trusts the Lord, and therefore obeys the Lord has no difficulty making the right choices and trusting God to take care of the consequences.
It has well been said that faith is not believing in spite of evidencethats superstitionbut obeying in spite of consequences,
Faith means obeying God regardless of the feelings within us, the circumstances around us, or the consequences before us,
Daniel was respectful to the king but he was not afraid to tell him the truth, Even if we dont respect the officer and the way he or she lives, we must respect the office, for “the powers that be are ordained of God” Rom.
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All of these people and events may not be interesting to you, but the prophecies Daniel recorded tally with the record of history, thus proving that Gods Word can be trusted.
May the Lord help us to leave something behind in the journey of life so that those who come after us will be encouraged and helped!
Wiersbe ends his commentary with an extra chapter of summary of the themes in the book and Daniels character.
He hasnt done this in any of the other “Be” series that Ive read, But it was helpful here, after our brains were stretched and heads were spinning over the last few chapters of prophecy, to go back over the book as a whole.
Once again I appreciated Wiersbes thoughts and insights, Be Resolute
What wonderful insight into the life of Daniel, He was resolute to live his life faithful to God no matter what the consequences, Each of us needs to learn to be more like Daniel and stand firm in our faith, Remember that faith comes from hearing and hearing from Gods Word, .