God flexes His sovereignty for your hope today.

God sometimes flexes His sovereign muscles with very clear specifics to what is next in our lives. He did this in Daniel 8, when He gave Daniel the dream about the rise and fall of future kingdoms and kings. Why does He give such clear prophecy to Daniel? God wanted to encourage His people! His people had been in captivity for almost 70 years. They were being kept from worshipping together as God’s people. God wanted His people to know that He had not forgotten them. He wanted them to know that He was working everything out for their good and His glory. He wanted His people to stand in boldness with great hope. 

So, what does our merciful and gracious God do? God tells Daniel to tell His people what is about to happen so that when it happens they will know that it is God who is doing it. In other words, God flexes some sovereignty for His children.

God says, before kings are born and kingdoms are even little kingdoms, I will tell you Daniel what is going to happen. You ready Daniel? Here is how the next 400 years is about to go down:
1- Babylon will be conquered by the Medes and Persians.
2- The Persians will rule over the Medes.
3- Greece will destroy the Medes and Persians and everybody else through one leader Alexander the Great.
4- When Alexander the Great is killed his kingdom will be broken into four kingdoms.
5- The one kingdom (Ptolemaic) that has control over Jerusalem will be taken over by a leader, Antiochus IV, aka Antiochus Epiphanes.
6- Antiochus Epiphanes will do very horrible things against God and His people. He will with great evil determination try to destroy God’s people and the One True God. He will destroy and defame the Temple of God. He will reign over Jerusalem and defame the Temple for 2300 evening and morning burnt offerings (@3years).
7- Antiochus Epiphanes will be killed and the Temple will be cleansed and brought back into Holy worship by the leadership of Judas Maccabees and his army.

How should this incredibly specific dream from 2574 years ago create within you a wonderful, hopeful, and bold day today?

Because this shows us once again that God the great Creator of all things does uphold, direct, arrange, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and unchallengeable counsel of His own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy. 

There are no surprises to God. He has your day today and next week and next year and next decade and the next millennium all worked out. Have a powerfully hope filled day! Trust in God!

Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

I look forward to worshipping you The God of all History and Future, Steve