Daniel: An Unrivaled Kingdom

fall ’24 Sermon Series

 
 

On vacation in Wisconsin recently, we stopped at a wooden chapel built in the style of Norwegian churches around 1100 AD. This was a beautiful and peaceful haven in the middle of the woods; quiet, a great place to pray.

We were encouraged to find a large book for prayer requests at the front of the church – what a great idea to allow visitors to write their requests that will then be prayed over! But as we flipped through the prayer request book, you might be able to guess what we found.

Over half of the hundreds of requests were about the 2024 U.S. presidential election. A visitor had written in a request for protection for their favored candidate; another visitor crossed out the name and wrote in the name of the opponent. Angry messages were scrawled in the margins, presumably to dissuade pray-ers from praying for some of the requests submitted.

Unfortunately, all I could think was, “Here is a snapshot of American religious priorities in 2024.”  May the eyes of our hearts be enlightened? No. May we grasp the multi-dimensional fullness of the love of God? No. May we be conformed to the image of Christ? No. “May Donald Trump’s ear heal so that he can get America back on track again.” “May Kamala Harris win so that we aren’t subjected to the scourge of another four years under Trump.”

Huge caveat here: we should absolutely pray for this election, for the candidates, and for our elected officials. It does matter to God what happens in the upper levels of our federal government; I’m not saying we should be indifferent by any means. We pray for our elected officials by name at North Sub and will continue to do so throughout this election season.

That said, there are influential voices all around us trying to convince us to believe:

  • Voting in this election may be the most important act you participate in this year.

  • If we win this election, the nation is going to get fixed.

  • If we lose this election, the church will have lost.

The more we listen to these voices, the more something *important* becomes something *all-important*. We can begin to lose sight of realities like:

  • The pervasiveness of sin.

  • The inadequacy of political solutions to fix our brokenness.

  • The temporary nature of the American nation and her rulers.

  • The subordinate place of politics in the Christian’s priorities.

  • The Christian call to be appropriately subversive even when “our party” is in power.

  • The Christian call to be appropriately submissive even when “our party” is not in power.

  • The (overtly political) rule of King Jesus.

When our this-worldly issues feel so tangible and significant, spiritual remedies can seem powerless and outdated. When the corrupt powers of this world feel so forceful and unstoppable, appealing to the lordship of Christ can seem naïve and quaint.

That’s the problem apocalyptic literature is best suited to address. When all seems hopeless because the powers of this age are destined to win, apocalyptic literature “pulls back the curtain” to reveal unseen dynamics that are every bit as real (scratch that, even more real) than the seen-and-felt adversaries we face. Using symbol and metaphor and typology and prediction, the biblical authors have comforted those in exile with reminders of Who is actually in charge… and of where His story is ultimately headed.

Daniel is one such book. Written to God’s people in exile, wondering how long before God would deliver them from their oppressive captors, Daniel combines historical narrative with apocalyptic imagery and prophecy to assure God’s people that a kingdom is coming that will broker no rivals.

Though wordy, James Hamilton’s summary of the message of Daniel is thorough: “Daniel encourages the faithful by showing them that though Israel was exiled from the land of promise, they will be restored to the realm of life at the resurrection of the dead, when the four kingdoms are followed by the kingdom of God, so the people of God can trust him and persevere through persecution until God humbles proud human kings, gives everlasting dominion to the son of man, and the saints reign with him.”

In our own moment of exile (1 Pet. 2:11), while we watch proud human kings prosper and experience increasing hostility towards God’s people, we need this reminder from Daniel about the undefeated and unrivaled nature of the kingdom of God and of its Lord, our King Jesus Christ.

Join us for this sermon series, bring a friend, and get into a Life Group where you can discuss the passages with others! May God bless the preaching of His Word through our twelve-week study of Daniel.

 

Theme Song

We’ll be emphasizing an existing song from our catalog that is borne out of Daniel and perfectly fits a study of Daniel: CityAlight’s “Ancient of Days.”

 

Further Reading

You’ll hear the influence of these resources through the course of this sermon series:

Tremper Longman III, The NIV Application Commentary
John J Collins, Daniel: A Commentary on the Book of Daniel
James Hamilton, With the Clouds of Heaven: The Book of Daniel in Biblical Theology
Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from Daniel
Eric Tully, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture
Patrick Schreiner, Political Gospel: Public Witness in a Politically Crazy World
Russell Moore, Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America
Iain M. Duguid, Daniel (Reformed Expository Commentary)
Wendy Widder, Daniel (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament)