Daniel 8

(March 19, 2015)

                One recurring trend is that, no matter how powerful the mortal threat to the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth (and, as demonstrated in this vision, the threats can be powerful), they will ultimately be pulled down and the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth will be victorious.

                Of course, there is no indication that this will happen in our lifetimes.  There are those who were born, lived, and died during a time when Babylon was ascendant.  There were those who were born, lived, and died without ever having seen Jerusalem or sacrificing in the temple there.  Presumably some of those were righteous.  That leaves us with the clear understanding that while ultimately the Lord will win and ultimately we can choose to be on His side and partake of His rest, we are given no guarantees that we will experience this rest in mortality.

                Forgetting this truth causes us to commit two sins.  The first in anger towards the Lord when things don’t go the way we think they should.  The second is ingratitude, when things go the way that we think they should and we don’t appreciate what a blessing that is from the Lord.