Living with the Lions: Trusting God Despite the Dangers

By Jeremy Shaffer

Living with the lions sounds like a daunting task, especially when we realize that for most of us it becomes a lifelong journey. But dont let discouragement get the best of you! This is the very point at which the book of Daniel shines brightest. When we study Daniel chapters one through six, we uncover six essential truths, one in each chapter. From these six truths we form six principles that teach us the right way to respond when the lions challenge us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 8, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490877235

Jeremy Shaffer

Jeremy Shaffer holds a doctorate degree from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and serves as a family pastor at Lewis Memorial Baptist Church. He has a passion for helping others understand the relevant truths of the Old Testament and their value for godly living.

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Copyright © 2015 Jeremy Shaffer.

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-7724-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-7725-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-7723-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015906346

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/03/2015

CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1 Procrastinators, Beware!

Chapter 2 Open Mouth, Insert Foot

Chapter 3 POISE Balance Under Pressure

(Daniel 1)

Chapter 4 PRAYER First Response Not Last Resort

(Daniel 2)

Chapter 5 PERSEVERANCE Loyalty Through the Fire

(Daniel 3)

Chapter 6 PRAISE Experiencing God’s Mercy

(Daniel 4)

Chapter 7 PERSPECTIVE Remembering Who Is In Control

(Daniel 5)

Chapter 8 PEACE Rest In the Midst of Chaos

(Daniel 6)

Chapter 9 PRACTICE

Knowing How to Respond

Brief Chronology Of The Book Of Daniel

Frequently Asked Questions From The Daniel Narratives

Notes

Bibliography

PREFACE

The book of Daniel is not merely a collection of strange and intriguing prophesies, it has a story to tell us. But often the story is brushed aside for the sake of studying the prophecies and predictions. We deface the book of Daniel when we throw out the narratives and study the prophecies instead. Consequently, if we are to forsake one section of Daniel for the study of another, we should abandon the prophecy sections and explore the narratives instead. It’s the narratives that construct the truth that God is in control of all things, and this truth is the foundation upon which the prophecies lay. Just like the New Testament builds upon the foundation of the Old Testament.

Each narrative in Daniel 1-6 joins itself to the truth that God is in control of all things. Knowing that God is in control should cause us to trust Him despite the dangers that might come with that choice. Daniel chapter one demonstrates that poise is an essential choice; chapter two petitions us to choose prayer; chapter three resolves to show a choice of perseverance; chapter four exclaims the choice of praise; chapter five uncovers the choice of perspective; and a chaotic chapter six equals a choice of peace. When your living among the lions, trusting God isn’t the easiest choice to make, it’s the only choice to make.

1

Procrastinators, Beware!

Procrastination is a word that indicates putting something off to a later time. Many students are skilled in procrastination and writers are often considered creative procrastinators, but many of us are what I call resourceful procrastinators (a.k.a the multi-tasker). Ironically, though, procrastination was necessary for the writing of this book. Necessary? I know, I know, sounds like another form of procrastination, but keep reading.

Thursday, December 20, 2012, was just another day for Christians and believers across the globe. Many were making plans to be with friends and family as they celebrated the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ. However, many were singing a different tune. The following day, December 21, 2012, had been marked on the Mayan calendar as the day that the world would end. I remember seeing a website that had been posted with survival tips for the coming Apocalypse and media outlets were alive with descriptions of what people were planning to do with their last seconds on earth. Friday, December 21, came, and it went. And if you’re reading this, then the world still has not come to an end.

Predictions like this have come and gone throughout the course of world history. Man has always been intrigued by what the future holds and has often gone to great lengths to make these predictions. The end of the world has been cried wolf far too many times. In fact, when the world does come to an end, many won’t believe it then either. Even with the witness of the Scriptures (Mark 13:32 and Matthew 24:36) that tell us no man knows the hour, we are still enamored with studying prophecy to find out when. The book of Daniel does have many prophecies about the future that are comprehensive, fascinating, and amazing, but the main point of Daniel’s writings are not solely prophetic. If the book of Daniel told us the exact day and time of the end of the world, what do you think might happen? You guessed it! PROCRASTATION!

Contrary to popular opinion, the book of Daniel is not simply a collection of prophecies and predictions of future events. What it does offer to us is peace for the present. The one cohesive truth that holds the book of Daniel together is that God is in control. Since God has controlled the past and determines the future, He manages all the in-betweens as well.¹ But let’s not stop short of the entire truth. Yes, God is in control, this is the theological aspect, but there is also a practical aspect because theology should be relevant. Do you realize that most, if not every occurrence of prophecy in the Scripture, are surrounded with words of encouragement to live righteously until Christ comes again? (Even God knew we would procrastinate). There is a reason for this. Once we get hold of the truth that God is in control, we start living differently; we begin to trust God despite the dangers. Sadly, though, many believers say they believe in God but live like He doesn’t exist. These people are, as Craig Groeschel calls them, Christian Atheists.² Toward the end of his book, Groeschel recounts one very convicting story.

Charles Blondin was a world-renowned tightrope artist and acrobat. On June 30, 1859, before a stunned crowd of 100,000 excited onlookers, Blondin was the first person to cross Niagara Falls by tightrope. He crossed 1100 feet on a single three-inch hemp cord, strung from 160 feet above the falls on one side to a spot 270 feet above the falls on the other. The breathless assembly watched him accomplish, step by slow step, a feat most believed impossible. But Blondin was just getting started. In the years to come, the daring entertainer crossed again and again: on stilts, in a sack, even pushing a wheelbarrow! The story goes that an exuberant onlooker called out, You could cross with a man in that wheelbarrow! Blondin agreed and invited the man to climb in. The spectator nervously declined.³

We know that God is in control, and we believe Him wholeheartedly but are we willing to act on the truth that He is in control? When the lions challenged Daniel and his three friends, they trusted God despite the dangers. When the heat is turned up in your life, and the pressure is making you buckle, how do you respond? Believing that God is in control caused Daniel and his three friends to respond to life’s challenges differently, and the Babylonians noticed it. Stepping back and looking at the other side of the issue may help us gain perspective. It goes like this: If we don’t seek God’s help in a given circumstance means we believe God is not in control of the situation and He cannot help us. Let’s stop deceiving ourselves. What if I were to telling you that God is pushing the wheelbarrow? Shouldn’t that make it easier for us to jump in?

Living with the lions sounds like a daunting task, especially when we realize that for most of us it becomes a life long journey. But don’t let discouragement get the best of you! This is the very point at which the book of Daniel shines brightest. When we study Daniel chapters 1-6, we uncover six essentials truths, one in each chapter. From these six truths, we form six principles that teach us the right way to respond when the lions challenge us. In chapter one, Daniel and his friends respond with poise when their faith is challenged. In chapter two, Daniel, and his three friends respond with prayer as a first response and not a last resort. In chapter three, Daniel’s three friends respond with perseverance as the heat is turned up. In chapter four, Nebuchadnezzar becomes the epitome of man’s desire to rule his own destiny. But his dreams are quickly brought crashing down as he realized Who is in control. He responds with praise, but his predecessor isn’t so motivated. In chapter five Belshazzar, though aware of what happened to King Nebuchadnezzar, chose to respond with the wrong perspective; a choice that cost him everything. Lastly, in chapter six, we see an elderly saint of God, who responds with peace in a situation that is spiraling out of control. When we respond to our circumstances with poise, prayer, perseverance, praise, perspective, and peace, we begin to trust God despite the dangers.

We must not forget, however, that all six principles are married to one vital truth – God is in control. This means that until we start acting on the truth God is in control, implementing these principles into our lives will be ineffective. In addition, these principles are not to be implemented abruptly as some magic formula for success in the Christian life. It seems that many Christians are guilty of doing the Christian life backwards. Rebekah Shaffer writes about this revolutionary truth in her book, Second Best Christians.⁴ She cites the examples of Hannah and Mary as individuals who followed the right path for living the Christian life. They experienced God first through worship, and then trusted Him to help them through their difficulty, which led them to practice their faith. So many times we forget about the worship part, which is the first and most important thing! We can’t live our Christian lives without the fuel of worship. Hannah and Mary understood the formula, and we can add Daniel to the list as well. Daniel’s secret to his success was that he prayed three times a day. He spent time worshipping God and experiencing God’s presence first, then he trusted that God was in control of all that happened to him, and then he was able to live out his faith successfully.

Remember, as we explore these six principles in the chapters to follow the challenge is not so much how you navigate the distance between the head and the heart, it’s Who you enlist for help that makes all the difference! If we trust God despite the dangers, then He will give us the strength and courage to live among the lions.

2

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

At one time or another in my life, I chose to speak out on something when I did not have all the facts. My intentions were good, but the result was less than desirable. Whether you call it hoof-in-mouth disease or you have another creative name to describe the experience, speaking before having all the facts can be embarrassing, awkward and tends to flaunt our ignorance. In the biblical realm, getting all the facts right before speaking out on something is called context. You might be familiar with the phrase, taking a verse out of context. This refers to a person who speaks out on a verse or passage without having all the facts about it. This can be a dangerous pursuit. While context is vital to understanding the backstory of Daniel and it helps us rightly apply God’s Word to our lives, too much context can be unproductive. If all a person is concerned with are the information and facts surrounding a text, then the text will never come alive in his/her life. In other words, there will be an abundance of head knowledge but a shortage of heart knowledge. They will know what the Word says but have trouble doing it.

In a book like Daniel, the context can be tedious but rewarding at the same time. Context will illuminate a passage, it will color the meaning and it will make the passage come to life. But the problem is not the context itself; the problem is what we know about the context beforehand. You might call this baggage. For example, if a pastor announced from the pulpit that he was going to speak from John 3:16, most honest believers would direct their attention to someone or something else. Why? Because John 3:16 is a familiar passage, and most believers are convinced that they understand the meaning of the passage. But do they really? This assumption becomes a similar hurdle when studying Daniel. The first six chapters of Daniel have been taught, retaught, acted out, and quoted by millions after they first took place long ago in the sixth-century BC. However, the good news is that a familiar text allows the reader a chance to dig deeper into God’s Word. Understanding the backstory of Daniel will give us the incentive to unearth the gems and nuggets of God’s truth that are hidden beneath the surface – the ones that can often be life changing!

Who Wrote the Book & When Was It Written?

These two little questions, as simple as they may sound, have become two of the most controversial and debated issues in the book of Daniel. Why so much discussion over two questions? Think of it in these terms. If a person can