Title: Providence of God (Daniel 11:25-27)
Contents
Lesson 113 God's Providence (Daniel 11:25-27)
11:25-27
He will show his strength and valor, and he will fight against the king of the south with a great army, and the king of the south will fight against him with a very large and strong army, but he will not be able to resist him, because they plot against him and spit on him. The armies will be scattered, and many will fall to death. These two kings will lie at the same table, seeking to harm each other.
Antiochus Epiphanes ascended to the throne of the north. One day he heard that the king of the south was preparing to raise up an army to attack him. How good was Antiochus, who is the shadow of the Antichrist? When he heard the news, he immediately raised a large army and launched a preemptive attack.
Look at verse 25. “He will show off his strength and show his valor, and he will bring a great army against the king of the south.” Antiochus, king of the north, went down to attack Egypt with all his might. As a result, the king of the south also had an army to fight against the king of the north. "The king of the south will also fight with a very large and strong army, but he will not be able to withstand it." Who won the war? The king of the north has won. What was the secret of the King of the North's victory? What was the cause of the defeat of the king of the south? "Because they plotted and spit on him." Antiochus Epiphanes, king of the north, was a scheming man. He conspired to defeat the king of the south.
Please look at verse 26 to see what kind of plot it is. "He who eats his delicacies will destroy him." The king of the north bribed those who ate the delicacies of the king of the south. In other words, he bribed the entourage of the king of the south to make him betray his king. Just as Judas Iscariot, a disciple of Jesus who was having the Passover supper with Jesus, betrayed Jesus, the king of the north made his servants who ate the delicacies of the king of the south betray his own king. As a result, he said, "The army will be scattered." As the general of Choi's entourage takes the side of the enemy, the king's army has no choice but to disperse. "Many will fall and die." The army of the king of the south was defeated in this battle, and many were killed by the sword.
Today, we can learn an important lesson for living today from the words of this text. Antiochus was a man of scheming, a man of deceit, dishonest and deceitful. Jaerock Lee of Manmin Central Church deceived many people through conspiracy. But do the results continue to prosper? Because there is a deadline set by God, all of these things come to light. As children of God, we must always live honestly. So isn't it said that honesty is the best policy? You have to empty your heart and live your life truthfully before God. If it is false, the very moment may be able to overcome the crisis. But in order to stop that lie, you have to do a bigger lie. So how painful are you? As children of God, we must not imitate the image of the devil, the father of lies. We must live truthfully and honestly with an upright heart before God. I hope that you will be able to live your life in the true form today.
At the same time, we must not forget that everything in this world is moving under the providence of God. No matter how much we plan our path with our heart, it is God who guides our steps. Our Jesus said "Not a sparrow will ever fall to the ground without God's permission." There are no coincidences in this world. It all happens in the providence of God.
One day, a man was sitting under a large walnut tree, looking straight ahead and contemplating something. Looking ahead, there was a pumpkin vine. The stem of the pumpkin looked thin and weak. Still, there was a large pumpkin hanging there. On the other hand, the walnut tree he was leaning on was very large, but the fruit was very small. Seeing it, he thought strangely. "Why did God make it so unreasonable? If I were God, I would make it more rationally better." As I was thinking about this, suddenly he shouted, "Ouch!" A walnut fell from a walnut tree and hit him in the head. At that moment, he had a great realization. What would have happened if the walnut tree had a walnut as big as a pumpkin on it as he thought it would? Perhaps his head was broken. He asked God for forgiveness. "God! I was wrong. I was foolish. I will no longer complain about what God is doing. Everything God does is good." And he said he thanked God.