Dave Wyrtzen's Blog - Truth Encounter - Challenging you to intimacy with Christ

Do you ever get bored in history class? Have you ever gotten bogged down in all the history God chose to include in the Old Testament?
I remember little boys who sat in our church years ago here in Texas, went to our Sunday school, and learned all the verses in Awana. All those weird names like Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus the Great, Alexander the Great, and Antiochus Epiphanes who believed he was great came up in the old bible stores. As boys it was easy for them to care less. Who cares about all those ancient kings, about their plots and assassinations, and about their campaigns to decide who would be king of the mountain for a few years?
Then some of these little boys grew up and found themselves at Paris Island. Before they knew it they were standing on the border between Syria and Iraq with a M-16 in their arms trying to keep insurgents from penetrating the border. It was disillusioning to find out that even some of the political leaders who made the decision to send them into the Middle East didn’t know much about history or about Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds.
Some of the boys and girls who grew up in our church have now returned from seeing their buddies killed in family and tribal feuds that they still don’t understand and what was supposed to be an easy planting of an American style democracy in the heart of ancient Babylon has turned into a police operation trying to keep tribal lords, modern politicians, Islamic sects, and a tiny minority of Christians from murdering and being murdered.
After seeing the horror, the ceaseless fighting, the victories, and the defeats, it’s easy to come back to the U.S. and forget what you learned about Jesus, the Promised Messiah, and instead try to find a little comfort on the weekend watching the Super Bowl with frequent shots of Jack Daniels to dull your memory.
Before you resort to this false remedy, take a look at just one Old Testament passage--Daniel 11. It reminds us that God wants us to learn about the world and its history. It also tells us that the God and Father of Jesus Christ knows all about the blood on battle fields, the promises of diplomatic peace, the breaking of promises and the renewed warfare. God also tells us that He has the last word. Alexander, Antiochus the Great, and Antiochus Epiphanes strut their stuff briefly on stage, but then they die and are forgotten. So will the world leaders of today.
You've got to decide whether you will be among the wise (Daniel 11:33) –among those who listen carefully to Daniel’s predictions and who believe his promises of a future resurrection (Daniel 12:2).
The wise live for God’s promises, obey His instructions, and submit to His Lordship. They are willing to be teased by their friends, lose jobs because they will not cheat, and even die because of their commitment to Daniel’s God. The book of Revelation, like the Book of Daniel, promises that there will be those who come out of tribulation. There will be those who wash their clothes in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14), those who allow the forgiveness of Christ’s death and the power of His resurrection to transform their character.
In the midst of our disappointments, crises, and struggles against human pride, duplicity, murder, and death, let’s join Daniel and trust the Messiah. I guarantee that the Spirit of Jesus will sustain, comfort, and guide us through all the battles and land us safe in God’s kingdom of peace in the end.