Daniel The Man who Feared God 2016

Steadfast Saints (32b-35)

1. 
   Who are the people who stood firm? (32b)
   
   1. 
      Those who knew their God.
      
      1. 
         A small remnant of the Jews who were true believers in the coming Messiah.
         
      2. 
         Even in the darkest periods of persecution of the Church there are true believers who will remain firm to the principles of truth.
         
      3. 
         In particular, they refused to participate in the abominable practices of false worship, including refusing to eat meat sacrificed to idols, even to the point of death (1 Macc 1.62–63).
         
         1. 
            This is an interesting development in light of Daniel’s own experience when he was a young person taken captive from Jerusalem (1.8-16).
            
   2. 
      What does it mean to know God?
      
      1. 
         They are true believers in God and his Son, the Messiah.
         
      2. 
         They know what God has revealed about himself, but they also know God in a personal way—having God as their friend and faith-anchor.
         
      3. 
         They know what God wants from his people and they desire to please him in the way of obedience—they refuse to engage in unlawful practices of worship.
         

2. 
   What did they do in response to Antiochus’ persecution? (32b)
   
   1. 
      They took action (ESV) or firmly resisted him (NIV).
      
   2. 
      How did they resist?
      
      1. 
         Passive: by refusing to participate in the pagan sacrifices.
         
      2. 
         Active: The Jews, led by the Maccabees, successfully overthrew their Syrian masters through a series of decisive military victories against Antiochus’s forces [more, below, on the Maccabees and on the question of active resistance].
         

3. 
   What did the wise do? (33)
   
   1. 
      Instructed the people to encourage them to stand firm.
      
   2. 
      Who were the wise?
      
      1. 
         They were those who “cause to be wise,” that is, teachers.
         
      2. 
         They may have been the Hasidaeans or ‘godly ones’ who were devoted to the law (1 Macc 2.42). They were distinguished from the Hellenizing faction who compromised with Syria and accepted the cultural mores of their overlords. Hasidic Judaism from the 18^th century AD derived its name from this group, but has no real connection with the godly Jews during the 2^nd century BC.
         
      3. 
         They may have been part of the priestly or scribal class, and were probably the precursors of the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. However, many of the Hasidaeans were true believers whereas the Pharisees were moralistic legalists. The Hasidaeans were to the Pharisees what the New England Puritans were to the later Unitarians.
         
   3. 
      In what did the wise instruct the people?
      
      1. 
         True Biblical wisdom—the knowledge of, and ways of, God.
         
      2. 
         Those who are truly wise, in the Biblical sense, are those who fear God and obey his commandments (Prov 1.7; 9.10).
         
   4. 
      How successful were they in their instruction?
      
      1. 
         They helped many to understand:
         
         1. 
            What was happening, in God’s greater plan, to reveal the Messianic Kingdom.
            
         2. 
            Why God was permitting these persecutions.
            
      2. 
         We can expect that one of the particular books of the Bible that they used was the Book of Daniel. By studying this chapter they would see God’s controlling hand over world events occurring around them and would know that the persecutions would end soon, in God’s appointed time (35). They may have also used the book of Job to help them deal with the theodicy of suffering.
         

4. 
   How did Antiochus persecute the faithful Jews? (33)
   
   1. 
      He murdered some, executing them with sword or burning.
      
      1. 
         Thousands of Jews were slaughtered in these persecutions.
         
      2. 
         Hebrews 11.34, 35 probably refer to the murders under Antiochus. Hebrews 11.35 probably refers to the martyrdom of a mother and her seven sons. They were tortured and then burned (as reported in 2 Macc 7.1–41).
         
   2. 
      He also imprisoned some and plundered their possessions.
      
      1. 
         Many of the ones who were imprisoned were sent into slavery.
         
   3. 
      In general the Jews who were faithful to the holy covenant (30, 32)—i.e., to God—suffered severely.
      
   4. 
      Why did he use these methods against the faithful Jews?
      
      1. 
         We considered the possible motives previously (28; 30b-32a).
         
      2. 
         As we have noted unbelievers can only challenge Christianity with either force or farce. They cannot challenge Christianity with rational argument, because sin and pagan religious and philosophical systems are irrational.
         
      3. 
         It is inevitable that Christ-haters will resort to physical persecutions against any who resist the imposition of their wills or evokes a challenge against their schemes. Cain’s murder of Abel is the first instance of the rebels’ reaction against the righteous.
         
   5. 
      What periods of persecutions in later history appeared to be similar to the persecutions wrought by Antiochus?
      
      1. 
         Roman martyrs
         
      2. 
         Protestants under the Inquisition
         
      3. 
         Covenanters during the Killing Times in Scotland (1660-1688).
         
   6. 
      How long did the persecutions last?
      
      1. 
         For some days (ESV), or a time (NIV)—about four years, 167-163 BC. Antiochus died during a campaign in Persia in 163 BC.
         
      2. 
         Though intense, the duration of the persecutions was relatively short.
         
         1. 
            God seems often to bring to an end the tyranny of individuals when they persecute the Church.
            
         2. 
            For example:
            
            1. 
               The persecutions under Nero lasted for less than four years and then he took his own life.
               
            2. 
               Hitler lasted only a few years from the time he began to persecute Christians until the time of his suicide in his Führerbunker in Berlin, in 1945.
               

5. 
   What help did the faithful receive? (34)
   
   1. 
      The text does not say specifically what the help was.
      
   2. 
      From whom did they receive the help?
      
      1. 
         Most interpreters believe that the help that was provided to the Jews, who were standing firm and suffering, was that provided by the Maccabees.
         
      2. 
         A priest named Mattathias the Hasmonean, from a town (Modin) near Jerusalem, killed a Hellenistic Jew who tried to offer a sacrifice to an idol. Mattathias and his five sons fled to the wilderness of Judea. Three of these sons (Judas, Jonathan, and Simon) became known as the Maccabees (suggested meaning: ‘hammer’ or an acronym from מִֽי־כָמֹ֤כָה בָּֽאֵלִם֙ יְהוָ֔ה in Ex 15.11, “who like/as you among gods, LORD”), (1 Macc 2.1–14).
         
      3. 
         After Mattathias' death, his son Judas Maccabeus raised a resistance army which fought (from 166-160 BC) using mostly guerrilla warfare against the Syrians who were led by various military commanders, Apollonius, Seron, Gorgias, and Lysias (1 Macc 3.10–4.35).
         
      4. 
         Judas became famous for restoring and rededicating the temple on the 25^th of Chislev (December 14) 164 BC (1 Macc 4.52-58).
         
      5. 
         During this period of revolt, many Jews died fighting for their liberty from Syria. An elephant (1 Macc 6.43–46) crushed one person named Eleazar, a son of Mattathias. Judas Maccabeus died in the battle of Mount Azotus in 160 BC (1 Macc 9.3, 15–18).
         
   3. 
      What was the result of the faithful Jews receiving assistance?
      
      1. 
         Some other Jews (who had previously apostatized and gone over to Antiochus) insincerely aligned themselves with the believers who had stood firm.
         
      2. 
         They appear to have sensed or believed that the ‘winds of fortune’ were changing and that Antiochus would be defeated and wanted to be on the winning side.
         
      3. 
         The fickleness of the masses is illustrated by this report. Most people follow trends and go with the latest popular star or idea and rarely stand on principle—much like the fickle crowd that followed Jesus for a time and then deserted him at the time of his crucifixion.
         
   4. 
      Why was it only a ‘little help’?
      
      1. 
         The resistance force raised by Judas was small compared with the forces which Syria could muster.
         
      2. 
         The revolt lasted only for a few years. After the death of Judas the momentum for independence waned. His brother, Jonathan, who was High Priest, made treaties with various foreign states and Judea reverted to being a subject province of the Seleucids and then of Rome when Pompey captured Jerusalem and subjected the territory to Roman rule. The Hasmonean dynasty ended in 37 BC when the Idumean, Herod the Great, became king of Israel.
         
      3. 
         Depending on one’s view about the morality of raising a resistance force and fighting against a ruler, the help could also be considered ‘little’, because it was not from God but of men.⁵¹²
         

6. 
   Is it right for a group of people to raise a rebellion against their king?
   
   1. 
      Calvin says, with respect to the actions taken by the Maccabees: “This passage may lead us to inquire whether the angel approved of all the exploits of the Maccabees. We may reply to the question in two opposite ways. First of all, if any one persists in contending from the angel’s words for God’s approval of every action of the Maccabees, this view is by no means correct. God might use the Maccabees in succoring the wretched Israelites, and yet it does not follow that they conducted the good cause properly and lawfully. It very often occurs, when the faithful offer their services to God, and have one object set before them, that they fail either through inconsiderate zeal, or through partial ignorance. Whether we take this view or not, our object is often good when our manner of proceeding is objectionable. And thus it was with the Maccabees; God, doubtless, stirred up Mattathias to collect the dispersed remnant of the people, to restore his worship, and to purge his temple from the abominations which Antiochus had set up. Yet in the troublous times which occurred, his sons, doubtless, failed in many points of duty. The cause which they undertook was just, while particular actions of theirs cannot be approved by us.” ⁵¹³
      
   2. 
      We could approach this question from different directions.⁵¹⁴ For example, a consistent pacifist might argue that it is never right to take up arms. A proponent of the just war theory might present an argument that the Jews had sufficient reason to defend themselves against the aggressor, Antiochus.
      
   3. 
      How do we balance self-defence with suffering for righteousness (e.g., 1 Pet 2.13-21; 3.8-17)?
      
      1. 
         There may be a difference between defending one’s self against a belligerent aggressor when the aggressor’s motives are not a direct attack against Christ and Christianity and resisting those who are attacking Christians precisely because they have taken a stand for Christ based on a specific principle.
         
      2. 
         We must be willing to defend truth, even to death (our own death). God gave his son for truth (to fulfill all righteousness) which demonstrates that truth is more important than physical life.
         
      3. 
         Yet we are not to throw our lives away meaninglessly (e.g., Mt 24.15-21; Acts 25.10-12).
         
   4. 
      The question of whether it is right to take up arms against the king, was one that the Scottish Covenanters struggled with during the Killing Times (1660-1688). They did not develop a definitive position that all agreed with. However, most of them remained non-combative and tried to avoid conflict by hiding or fleeing.
      
   5. 
      It is probably the case that the Maccabees, as Calvin states, acted improperly when they rose up against their overlord, even though he was extremely wicked and his actions excessively brutal.
      

7. 
   What happened to some of the wise? (35)
   
   1. 
      They stumbled (ESV, NIV) or fell (NASB, NKJV).
      
      1. 
         One version of the Greek Septuagint (Theodotion) translates this as ‘became ill’.
         
      2. 
         It may be that some of the wise became cowardly and temporarily capitulated. But then they recanted and reconfirmed their commitment to the holy covenant.
         
      3. 
         However, what Daniel was told was probably that even though they were to be put to death by Antiochus, from God’s eternal perspective, they were to face only a temporary affliction.
         
      4. 
         This may be similar to what Jesus meant when he said that Lazarus was sleeping and then had to tell the disciples that he meant that he was dead (Jn 11.11-14).
         
   2. 
      Why did they ‘stumble’?
      
      1. 
         If we understand this as the purification of some believers who had sinned by complicity with Hellenism or pagan idolatry, then it may be that their stumbling and later recanting (purification) resulted in the strengthening of their convictions.
         
      2. 
         However, it seems more likely that the reference is to the fact that some of the wise underwent martyrdom and were then eternally purified.
         
         1. 
            The three-fold emphasis on purification—refined, purified, and made white—appears to mean that they were completely purified, i.e., they were made entirely holy.
            
         2. 
            As we have noted previously, a three-fold repetition of a word or its synonyms is a Hebraic/Aramaic idiom (comparable to our use of adjectives such as ‘very’) for expressing totality.
            
         3. 
            Total holiness is available to the saints only once they reach Heaven.
            
         4. 
            The connection here with persecution and purification seems to be a forward look to the saints in Glory (Rev 7.14) who have come through a (the) great tribulation and have washed their robes in the blood of the lamb and made them white (holy).
            
      3. 
         God used the persecutions to purge from Israel the insincere and hypocrites—true believers could be more easily identified—and the martyrdom of some of the most faithful to strengthen the faith of those who remained.
         
   3. 
      What will end, at the ‘time of the end’?
      
      1. 
         It appears that the best way to read this is that the stumbling (persecution) of the wise would end at an appointed time. God would mercifully end the reign of destruction and spare his people.
         
      2. 
         The reference is not to the end of time but rather to the time of the end of the persecutions.
         
      3. 
         God had appointed a time for the persecutions to end. As we noted (33) these persecutions would last for ‘some days’ (‘a time’) and then would end. Antiochus died at the age of 51 or 52 (of a severe illness⁵¹⁵ or insanity⁵¹⁶), in 163 BC during a campaign in Persia—ending both his wicked life and his persecution of God’s people.
         

8. 
   What are some lessons that we can derive from this section?
   
   1. 
      Providence – This passage teaches that God providentially rules over the affairs of men.
      
      1. 
         Whether events appear to be ‘good’ or ‘bad’ from our perspective, they are in accord with the plan of God and in his appointed time.
         
   2. 
      Persecution – God permits and wills the persecution of his people.
      
      1. 
         Why does God send persecution on his people?
         
      2. 
         Many Christians (and unbelievers) have questioned why bad things happen to ‘good’ people. The question is as old as the Book of Job. People have struggled to reconcile the goodness of God with the presence of evil in the world.
         
         1. 
            When considering God’s providential control over all events, someone might ask why God would plan, decree, and permit (i.e., not restrain; Gen 20.6) evil such as a person being born blind or a terrorist attack.
            
         2. 
            David Hume, quoting Epicurus, in his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779) says: “Is [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? whence then is evil?” This analysis has been re-stated by many atheists since Hume.
            
         3. 
            However, there is no ‘problem of evil’ unless evil really exists. Without God’s moral standard, there is no evil. All other definitions of ‘evil’ are purely subjective. One man’s evil can be another man’s good.
            
         4. 
            The ‘problem of evil’ turns out to be a problem for Hume, all atheists, and all unbelievers. In order to argue that something is evil they must first show that something can be evil (i.e., that the existence of evil is meaningful) and not merely inconvenient, unpleasant, or against their own wills. Moral indignation against atrocities is inconsistent within their materialistic and naturalistic philosophy. The unbeliever has to work from a Christian presupposition to declare something as evil. The real problem of evil is a logical problem for the unbeliever.
            
         5. 
            How then, as Christians, can we answer Hume’s challenge? We can set out the following presuppositions:
            
            1. 
               God is completely and only good.(Ps 25.8; 119.68)
               
            2. 
               God can do anything except what is against his nature (e.g., deny truth)
               
            3. 
               Evil exists by definition (against God’s law) and actually (evil happens).
               
            4. 
               God plans, decrees, and permits evil (such as a man being born blind; Jn 9.3) for reasons which are morally commendable and good.
               

1. 
   What good does God accomplish by allowing his people to suffer persecution?
   
   1. 
      Paul assures us (Rom 8.28) that all things (this includes persecution!) work together for good for those who are God’s people.
      
   2. 
      The good that God brings about through persecution includes:
      
      1. 
         God accomplishes spiritual growth in faith, and sanctification for his people, through suffering (1 Pet 1.7). God knows if we need to face afflictions, and sends only what we need. His purpose is to build character in us, not to provide us with comforts in this life. His goal is to draw us closer to himself with the bonds of faith and love.
         
      2. 
         He uses persecution as a means of sifting out of the Church on earth those who are unfaithful hypocrites. The purification of the Church—the sifting of the wheat from the weeds—will continue until the end of time (Mt 13.24-30).
         
      3. 
         As the faithful undergo persecution they bear witness to the world that faith in the true God overcomes all adversity. God uses the persecution of his people to draw others to the church. Tertullian (2^nd c) wrote that “the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church,” teaching that the death of believers leads to the conversion of others.
         
      4. 
         God stores up judgement on the persecutors of Christians. He will vindicate his people over their enemies. The eternal punishment that the evil receive will demonstrate that God did not permit one cruel thing that went unnoticed.
         
      5. 
         Ultimately, God uses persecution for his glory. We cannot see now how he is fitting together all the events of history. The persecution of a poor, illiterate, believer in Southern Sudan or rural Pakistan seems to us to be merely gratuitous. But from God’s eternal and infinitely wise perspective their suffering is of great value—after all he gave his Son, whose death was of infinite value, for the salvation of those saints as much as he did for a Luther, Calvin, Whitefield, Spurgeon, or Billy Graham.
         
   3. 
      Randy Alcorn has dealt with the subject of Christian suffering (whether or not it results from persecution) thoroughly in his book, If God is Good.⁵¹⁷ His book is highly recommended.
      
2. 
   The Book of Daniel was given to the Jews to provide comfort in the times leading to arrival of Christ, and to the Church as a whole in the times leading to his return.
   
1. 
   Pastoring – The spiritually wise—the leaders among the congregation—must instruct the people.
   
   1. 
      Leaders in the Church must be prepared to teach believers how to handle persecution.
      
      1. 
         Actual: We should consider examples of persecution of our spiritual brothers and sisters today. By so doing we can be encouraged by their strong faith to face even great persecution.
         
      2. 
         Anticipated – We should prepare to meet the coming challenge. The evidence of a professing Church is persecution. When the Church lives in a state grace, spiritual light shines into the darkness, and the powers of darkness—Satan, demons, the beast of human governments, the prophets of false religions, and debauched humankind not wanting to hear that their sordid lives are an abomination before God—will fight to the death to stop Christian ascendancy.
         
   2. 
      The spiritually wise must also be prepared to encourage those who are suffering so that they will persevere to the end.
      
      1. 
         Perseverance in patient suffering is a sacred duty (1 Thes 5.14; Heb 10.31-39).
         
      2. 
         What will enable Christians to struggle to the end? Knowing:
         
         1. 
            Possession: Being aware of what we already have and possess—eternal salvation that can never be taken from us.
            
         2. 
            Prospect: Even when facing the trials of persecution, we must realize that things are not hopelessness. Jesus is coming back! He will gather his people and take us to be with him forever.
            
         3. 
            Promise: The greater part of our happiness is not in the here-and-now but in the promise. Real life only begins when it ends here on earth. Life here is but a shadow or the eternal reality.
            
2. 
   Punishment – God cuts short persecution for the sake of the elect (Mt 24.22), and delivers our enemies over to their eternal punishment.
   
   1. 
      The persecutions under Antiochus were to last only for a time (33)—i.e., they were limited in duration and in extent. Similarly, Jesus is clear that the destruction of Jerusalem would be limited (Mt 24.22). The destruction of the province of Judea was limited to the recalcitrant cities of Jerusalem and Masada, and then it ended.
      
   2. 
      The persecutions under Antiochus, Nero, other Roman emperors, and Hitler were relatively short. The Inquisition and the persecutions of the Covenanters lasted longer, but even they were cut short by God’s mercy.
      
   3. 
      In every case of persecution of Christians, God judges the enemies of his Church and cuts them off. He says to them, “Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed.” (Job 38.8)