The rise in evil today is unprecedented. Just turn on the news: mass shootings, terrorist attacks, violent protests, murder, sex trafficking, child pornography, abortion on demand, road rage, and more. Of course, anger fuels much of it. Anger that is off the chart in intensity and in the number of people who are violently so. What is at the root of it all?
Daniel saw the rise in evil in his time, too, as pagan kings and others tried to destroy the people of God and their faith in Him. God, even, gave him a vision of the calamities that were to come on future generations. But then … He gave Daniel a beautiful hope-filled promise. Could that same promise help us as we see the rise in evil all around us?
Today’s Readings:
Daniel 11 & 12
Psalm 138.1-3
Proverbs 29.16
1 John 2.1-29
Why Is There Such a Rise in Evil?
Proverbs 29.16:
The Rise in Evil When the Wicked Are Multiplied
Today’s verse from Proverbs is very fitting for the world in which we live:
When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases; but the righteous will see their fall.
Evil and evil people seem to be everywhere these days. If you have any doubt all you need to do is turn on the news.
The more people there are who are willing to forsake God and live any way they please, the bolder ungodly people get. Like misery, this passage tells us, evil loves company.
How are believers to respond? Like Daniel, as we’ll see in our Old Testament reading, we should continue to live our lives in ways that are pleasing to God with an eye toward eternity (Dan. 12.13). And while the wicked, are emboldened by other sinners, we must allow the Holy Spirit to embolden us to share the gospel and speak the truth in love to a lost world.
The Righteous Will See Their Fall
And remember the latter part of that verse says … “the righteous will see their fall.”
God comforted Daniel by revealing to him, not only the trials which would come on his people but also the end of the story—that God and His people would prevail. So, we too, need to take comfort in the fact that we know the end of the story and “not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Gal. 6.9).
Daniel 11 & 12:
Prophecy, Comfort & Eternity
In Daniel 11, the angel Gabriel showed Daniel an incredible prophetic view of future historical events. These prophecies are so detailed that people have tried to use their accuracy to discredit them, saying they had to be written after the fact. In reality, their accuracy attests to God’s total control of history.
The prophecy predicted the succession of kings to come in the Medo-Persian Empire and those that followed. God, also, revealed how some would be used by God in the process of the Jews’ return to their homeland. This should remind us that God can even use heathen kings and other unbelievers to accomplish His will for His people, including us.
Knowing and understanding that God is sovereignly in control of all the events of history—not just world or national history—but, also, our personal histories should give us great encouragement to trust Him no matter what the circumstances of our lives.
Persia’s Kings
The first three kings of Persia were Cyrus, Artaxerxes, and Ahasuerus, who married Esther. The fourth was Xerxes who pridefully took on Greece only to be shamefully defeated.
Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not among his posterity nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted, even for others besides these (11. 3-4).
This part of the prophecy refers to Alexander the Great whose kingdom was divided among four of his captains when He died at the age of 32. He had created one of the largest empires in ancient history but died once he had accomplished what God had used him to do.
Two of his generals became more powerful than the other two. They were called “the king of the South” and “the king of the North” in Daniel’s prophecy. Their territories became the kingdoms of Egypt and Syria. They were constantly at war with power, victory, and defeat going back and forth between the two (Dan. 11.5-19).
During all of this, Israel which lay between the two kingdoms was often caught in the crossfire as their armies marched back and forth, taking provisions from wherever and whomever they desired.
The “Little Horn”
This led to the rise of Antiochus Epiphanes, the “little horn” in Daniel 8.9, a hater and persecutor of the Jews.
And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue (11.21).
He decreed the halting of all the Jewish religious practices such as circumcision, temple worship, and the reading or even possession of the Torah, under penalty of death. He executed some Jews for refusing to eat swine’s flesh and others for refusing to bow to a pagan image. Eventually, he had a statue of Zeus erected in the Temple and sacrificed swine on God’s altar. This led to the Maccabean revolt and the eventual cleansing and rededication of the Temple celebrated by the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
Though many of these prophecies were at least partly fulfilled in Antiochus Epiphanes, they will have their complete fulfillment with the antichrist during the tribulation period.
The Great Prince
In Daniel 12, Gabriel reveals to Daniel the things that would befall his people in the last days. “The Great Prince” spoken of is the Lord Jesus Christ.
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt (12.2).
Those who accept Christ and His gospel will have everlasting life and those who reject Him everlasting contempt.
Finally, the book of Daniel ends with this:
But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days (12.13).
Daniel was to “go his way”—do what God had called him to do—and take comfort in eternity. And so should we.
There is so much in these two chapters. If the fulfillment of prophecy and all the events of the last days are interesting to you, you might want to check out studylight.org and go to Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible. He explains these passages in great detail.
Today’s Other Readings:
Psalm 138.1-3:
His Magnificent Word
…You have magnified Your word above all Your name (v. 2).
Though God has revealed Himself in many ways through the centuries (creation, angels, dreams, etc.), the greatest revelation of God is through His Word and the Living Word, Jesus Christ.
1 John 2.1-29:
He Who Does the Will of God
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Eternity seems to be the theme today. This world is “passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” The only way we can do the will of God is if we are first born-again by the Spirit of God.
Coming Up:
In the next few days, we’ll talk about false teachers, friendship, judgment, the Rapture, the Tribulation, spiritual adultery, and spiritual maturity, and discuss the question, “How can we turn the world upside down as the disciples did in the first century?”
Get Ready for the Coming Year with a Plan for Your Bible Reading
The holidays are just around the corner and the new year will be on us before we know it. What will you do to make Bible reading an ongoing habit in the coming year? I want to encourage you to set a goal to read through the Bible again or for the first time. If you join me here, I’ll take you through a plan that covers both the Old and New Testaments in about 15 minutes a day. Sign up here for my daily email. It can serve as a gentle reminder to stay on track and I believe you’ll benefit from the additional background and application comments that I share.
Start today so you can begin the habit and it will be a regular part of your day come January.
You can also follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest. Just click on the social media icons. But nothing replaces having the daily devotion pop up in your inbox each day. It, usually (once in a while life gets in the way), goes out at 6 a.m. MST.
Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥
Note about this post:
I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer.
A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”
I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)
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