this reason, the book bearing his name is more accurately a historical- prophetical work. Daniel provides a mighty tonic to faith in the absolute sovereignty of God. Two significant phrases reveal this precious truth. In 2:28 we find, “there is a God in heaven.” In the second chapter alone, the Lord is re ferred to as the God of Heaven not less than five times (vs. 18, 19, 28, 37 and 44). He is called the great God in verse 45, and the God of gods in verse 47. Later He is referred to as King of heaven. The second phrase is that “the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men” (ch. 4:24, 32). The whole point in these two phrases is that the God of the Bible, who is the Christian’s God, is sov ereign over the affairs of men and nations. This book teaches us that God removes world leaders, setting them up and putting them down as He wishes. Behind the scenes is the hand of God. God is steadily moving toward the consummation of His own plans and purposes. Another interesting feature is the oft-repeated name, “The Most High” (3:26; 4:2, 17, 24, 25, 32, and 34; 5:18, 21; 7:18, 22, 25 and 27). This first appears in the Bible in connec tion with an incident in the life of Abraham. Lot had been taken cap tive by enemy tribes. When Abra ham received word of his nephew’s fate, he set out at once in pursuit of the invaders. The king of Sodom tried to make a deal with Abraham, offering material goods. In Genesis 14:22, Abraham testifies, “I have lifted up mine hand unto the Lord, the most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoe- latchet, and that I will not take any thing. . . This is the name God uses when He wants to declare His ownership of creation. We need to learn well that the sovereign God of heaven and earth, the Most High God, is ruling over the affairs of 3
STUDIES IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL
by Dr. Lehman Strauss, Conference Speaker and Bible Teacher
C hapter O ne A ny study of this type properly begins with the strong declara tion that the Bible is the Word of God. All the adjectives and superla tives of all the languages on earth fall short in even coming close to describing adequately this Book of all books. Outstanding among the books of the Old T estam en t is Daniel. While some biblical critics have sought to make merely a legend of this portion of Scripture, they have no real basis in truth. They deny the most important fact that the Bible is the only divinely re vealed and supernatural Book in all the world. How foolish to turn from such divine light which makes clear God’s future plans. . Daniel was primarily a statesman rather than an official prophet. For
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