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God’s Provision And Christmas (Dan 2:1-11, 48)
Note of information for the reader: This is what I call an oral manuscript. It is what I have written, and take into the pulpit, to keep me moving in the direction God has given me for this service so as to not “chase rabbits.” Because this manuscript is not intended for publication, there are a number of devices I use to aid in delivery (Personal contractions, bold, italics, underlining, etc). What is written here is not read nor does it include everything I say. Therefore I request the reader’s understanding. May God bless you as you seek Him.
I am continually amazed how God provides… protects… & blesses His children. He does this in ways we can’t comprehend. He’s never late, always on time. I believe this is seen clearly in the Christmas narrative FROM DANIEL. (Pause) First I need to tie some things in together…
Daniel. Babylon conquered Judea & deported the best & brightest of their youth. They moved them from their home & family to indoctrinate them in Babylonian culture & philosophy. But 4 teenage boys didn’t give in… Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego. (Aside: Never too young!!)
(Dan 2) The King had a dream that troubled him to the point he couldn’t sleep. He called for all the astronomers, astrologers, & enchanters to do something unheard of… tell the king what he dreamed AND then give the interpretation of the dream.
They were used to hearing about a dream THEN giving an interpretation. But not this time… & they couldn’t do it! The magi & sorcerers said only God could do what the king asked (2:10-11). This so angered the king that he decided to kill ALL the magi… including Daniel & his friends (2:12, 18).
Daniel’s response was to ask people to pray (Hmm) for God to reveal the dream & it’s meaning to him (2:17-18). God answered their prayer & Dan answered the King (Statue as kingdoms).
The dream isn’t the point today. But rather what the king did as a result of Daniel interpreting the dream. 2:48… “Then the king gave Daniel high honors & many great gifts, & made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon & chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.”
Who was Daniel put in charge of? The wise men… Magi! Heard of them before?
If you’ve read Daniel, you know he was devoted to God. He would not defile himself (1:8) even though he lived in Babylon… today’s Iraq. When you read the Daniel, you find that He honored Jehovah God throughout his entire life. And here’s why that is important…
It is reasonable to say that Daniel, being over all the wise men (Magi) of Babylon, made sure to teach them HIS doctrine & theology about Jehovah God & the coming Messiah. Numbers 24:17…
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel…
Daniel’s teachings were passed down through generations of magi until what Daniel taught came true in a star that Magi followed from Babylon to a house in Bethlehem! The arrival of Wise Men from the east was not an cosmic coincidence… it was the fruit of God working through Daniel!
Daniel didn’t know what He taught would play in the birth of The Messiah. Those who passed on what they’d been taught didn’t u’stand. The magi that came to Jerusalem didn’t grasp it all either. But God was at work the whole the time in ways none of them weren’t aware of!
Aside. God is always in control! He has a plan & is always work! Just because we don’t see it… don’t understand it… & don’t grasp what is going on does not mean He’s not working or not using us!
God used what we’d call adversity in Daniel’s life (Exile) to take the message of salvation to people that otherwise never would have heard it (Babylonians). Through Daniel’s ministry in Babylon the king became a believer AND worshipped Jehovah God (Dan 4:34-37).
POINT. There are times we are plucked up from a place of security, comfort, & ease by God to be in a place of hardship, problems, & difficulty. DO NOT say Satan is attacking or working against us… certainly that wasn’t what was happening with Daniel (1:1-2)! In reality God used the deportation to add to the events surrounding Jesus’ birth… and ultimately our salvation!!
Aside: Ro 8:28. God works on so many levels at one time we can’t comprehend it. In an event we discern less than 1/100,000,000,000,000th of what He is actually doing.
Now fast forward several hundred years to Jerusalem. Turn to Mt 2:1-15…
The reason the “wise men” (Magi) came to Jerusalem at this time was a result of Dan’s teaching about the Messiah. They didn’t know where to go, but Herod called the Jewish leaders & found out the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem (Mt 2:5-6).
They followed the star until it rested over the house where Jesus was (Mt 2:9). At this point remember what the gifts were that the Magi gave Jesus. Gold… frankincense… & myrrh. All three of these were expensive… AND providentially important. Let me explain…
Herod was an evil man who murdered anyone who was a threat to his throne. He didn’t want to worship the Messiah (Mt 2:8), he intended to kill him… as we read he attempted to do in 2:16.
Now… what was the financial condition of Mary & Joseph? They were poor. In Lk 2:24 they presented the offering to God reserved for the poorest of Jews. When the angel told Joseph in Mt 2:13 to flee to Egypt, they didn’t have the money to make the trip or sustain themselves while in Egypt.
Well… they didn’t UNTIL the wise men came! God provided financially for Mary, Joseph, & Jesus to travel to Egypt… live there… & return through the gifts given by the wise men! And it all began when a teenager named Daniel was exiled from his home to Babylon! THAT is Ro 8:28… “God causes ALL THINGS to work together for the good…”
Point. God is in control! Where God leads, He provides! When God calls a person or people or family to a place… whether to Babylon from Israel OR Egypt from Bethlehem OR in your life some way… HE WILL PROVIDE! Turn to Mt 6:25…
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, & the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, & yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive & tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, & your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, & all these things will be added to you.
Two thoughts… First… what does this say about God’s ability to provide… for His own? It reminds us “God IS able!”
Second… God is in charge! God guiding & directing boys from Israel to Babylon… the wise men to Bethlehem w/ gifts… Mary & Joseph to Egypt & back to Nazareth are examples!
Some of the best words is Scripture are… “God Is Able.” Whatever you face… God IS Able!
God has given THE greatest gift there is… His Son. There is NOTHING greater He can give. If He never gives another thing, we already have one more thing than we deserve. YET He continues to provide each and every day of our life. Look at Mt 7:11 again!
There is not one thing we need that we don’t or won’t have when it is needed as one of God’s children. If we need it… we’ll get it. If we don’t get it… we don’t need it. And GOD determines the difference btwn the two! TRUST HIM! PUT HIM FIRST REGARDLESS!
Remember… GOD IS IN CHARGE! Quote from New American Commentary… page 105… (SBC)…
If God does not control our lives… from the actions of kings & others in positions of power to the most minute circumstances… then everything in life is uncertain. We are victims of circumstances, & whatever happens will happen. Que sera, sera! But if God is sovereign, as the Bible declares Him to be, & if He is our God… if the promises He makes & the actions He takes are certain (to be fulfilled)… then we can be confident of the future & know that we will be able to live our lives in a way that will please God…[i]
We don’t know what God is doing! We don’t know how He’ll work things out! We don’t know what the end result will be of the events transpiring in our life generations from now! So let’s trust God! No matter what happens or takes place… TRUST GOD!
[i] Boice, J.M., Daniel: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989), pg 29.
