Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadQuiet Talks by Samuel Dickey: Gordon, Samuel Dickey - Quiet Talks About Our Lord's Return: 26. Open Door Into Prophecy
TOPIC: Gordon, Samuel Dickey - Quiet Talks About Our Lord's Return (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 26. Open Door Into Prophecy
Other Subjects in this Topic:
Open Door Into Prophecy
In the Olivet Talk Jesus makes a quotation from the book of Daniel. He does it in a simple way as though He expected it to be familiar to the little group of Jewish young men with whom He was talking. And then He adds, "Let him that readeth (the book of Daniel) understand." He evidently thought that any one reading the Daniel prophecies—such people as these plain, unlettered fishermen—could understand them, and therefore if they could, should.
The remark stands out in sharp contrast with the common thought among almost all Christian people today, that it is impossible to make head or tail of these prophetical parts of Daniel. There are the simpler parts of the book, like the biographical part in chapter one, that are used. But these parts referring to future events are almost always passed over as beyond understanding, or as not being of any practical use. They are very rarely read at all, except verses taken out of their setting which in themselves express some helpful truth. No doubt the strangely fanciful interpretations that have sometimes been taught have had influence in turning people away. Our Lord's words make one feel that the book should be read, and if read thoughtfully and prayerfully, looking for the light of the Holy Spirit upon the page, there may come a simple practical understanding, that will help us be true to our Lord's purpose, as well as to Himself.
The personal character of Daniel helps us here very much. He was a man of uncompromising devotion to right, in the midst of circumstances when compromise was the very moral atmosphere of his surroundings, and further when it would seem that if ever compromise in so-called details was excusable it surely was there. [Note: Dan_1:8-13.] But to him compromise was never excusable, and there were no details or small things when it came to a question of right and wrong, of simple obedience to what the Book teaches, or, of taking a wabbly course. He was a man of unfaltering trust in God, of sturdy, steady courage in the midst of most depressing circumstances, [Note: Dan_2:13.] with prayer and a thoughtful study of his Bible, as fixed habits and real things in his life.
God could count on this young Jew, who determined by His grace to be true, first of all, whatever it might mean or cost. He was "greatly beloved" just because of the simple heart-traits which he kept dominant in his life. It was to such a man that the wonderful yet simple revelation came, of the future of his people and of the world through them. Not to scholarliness, invaluable in itself when held true, but to a spirit of earnest, prayerful devotion to God, and of study of His Word, came the understanding of God's future purposes. And so it still is, and will be. The thing that makes the door open into the meaning of these pages and truths is the humble, prayerful spirit, with a life held true in purpose, in the midst of any and all circumstances.