Lectionary Calendar
Sunday, November 10th, 2024
the Week of Proper 27 / Ordinary 32
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Bible Commentaries
Daniel 2

Bell's Commentary on the BibleBell's Commentary

Verses 24-49

  1. FUTURE PROMISES! (ch.14)
    1. REPENTANCE & RESTORATION! (1-8)
    2. Return (1)
      1. Praise God we can always heed God’s loving call to repentance.
      2. It’s never too late to come home!
  2. Repent (2a)
    1. Take words w/you. – These are obviously not “words only” but we see the action of confession “take away all iniquity.”
    2. This is quoted later in Heb.13:15 “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”
  3. Receive (2b-4)
    1. Receive His Grace(2b)
      1. And remember, He is more concerned w/the “sacrifice of our lips”, vs. our “material sacrifices”. {ie. words from our lips that are honest, sincere, genuine, truthful.}
    2. Receive Mercy! (3)
    3. “For in You the Fatherless find mercy” – You know what came to mind on this passage to me. 2 weeks ago we prayed for the Broadman’s going to Russia to adopt young Kasanya.
      1. In a very small insignificant village there was a little girl in an orphanage that was basically abandoned by society. When it came time for simply one family member to sign off on the document, no one in the whole town knew her. But, in God the Fatherless find mercy! And mercy was shown!
      2. They retuned home yesterday w/her!
    4. Receive Healing! (4a)
      1. Backsliders may return to the Lord. – “Seek your injured Father’s face!”
      2. Own this verse!
    5. Receive Love! (4b)
      1. Loving them “freely” = ?
      2. It means: no prayers, no tears, no good works, no alms, are an enticement to Him…to love men!
      3. It means: Not even the blood of Christ was the cause of His love toward man. It was the fruit of His love, but NOT the cause of it!
      4. The Father does not love because Christ died, but Christ died because the Father so loved. (Spurgeon)
      5. This fountain of love has its spring in itself! - Not in you, nor in me, but only in the Father’s own gracious, infinite heart of goodness!
      6. Spurgeon said, “This sentence is a body of divinity in miniature. He who understands its meaning is a theologian.”
    6. Refresh (5)
      1. Dew of refreshing!
      2. Lily - Pliny(Roman scholar and naturalist) spoke of the white lily which grows wild in Israel & is “unsurpassed in its fecundity(fertility), often producing 50 bulbs from a single root.” (Pliny Natural History XXI. 5) from Wycliffe Commentary.
      3. Roots – The desert will become a fruitful garden where the roots go deep!
        1. What was important was “the Root of the matter”. Now, only “Fruit” is the chatter. The need is to look well to the Root, And not just expect instant Fruit!
      4. Prov.12:12 “…the root of the righteous yields fruit.”
      5. Mark 11:20 “as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.”
      6. Is.37:31 “…take root downward, And bear fruit upward.”
    7. Results (6)
      1. Instead of being stunted, there will be growth. (6a)
      2. Instead of ugliness, there will be beauty. (6b)
      3. Instead of stench, there will be fragrance. (6c)
      4. What a difference it is when we obey Him! J
    8. Revive (7)
      1. Fruitful again.
  4. Restored (8)
    1. Not my fruit, but Your fruit is found in me!
    2. Again, the fruit is 1st found in the root!
      1. So also is every good work 1st found in Jesus, & then brought forth in us.
      2. So, if we were not joined to Christ, we would have a barren-bough(bow).
      3. Our fruit comes by the gardeners sharp-edged knife, as he thins & prunes our clusters.
      4. “My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
    3. Righteous (9)
      1. Wise - John Wesley said, “When I was young I was sure of everything; in a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before; at present, I am hardly sure of anything but what God has revealed to me.” (John Wesley, quoted in New Beginnings, by Evelyn Bence. Christianity Today, Vol. 32, no. 1
      2. Q: Will you be a stumbling sinner, or a forgiven sinner?
      3. Oswald Chambers said, “Never try to explain God until you have obeyed Him. The only bit of God we understand is the bit we have obeyed.” (walk in them!)

Verses 24-49

  1. FUTURE PROMISES! (ch.14)
    1. REPENTANCE & RESTORATION! (1-8)
    2. Return (1)
      1. Praise God we can always heed God’s loving call to repentance.
      2. It’s never too late to come home!
  2. Repent (2a)
    1. Take words w/you. – These are obviously not “words only” but we see the action of confession “take away all iniquity.”
    2. This is quoted later in Heb.13:15 “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”
  3. Receive (2b-4)
    1. Receive His Grace(2b)
      1. And remember, He is more concerned w/the “sacrifice of our lips”, vs. our “material sacrifices”. {ie. words from our lips that are honest, sincere, genuine, truthful.}
    2. Receive Mercy! (3)
    3. “For in You the Fatherless find mercy” – You know what came to mind on this passage to me. 2 weeks ago we prayed for the Broadman’s going to Russia to adopt young Kasanya.
      1. In a very small insignificant village there was a little girl in an orphanage that was basically abandoned by society. When it came time for simply one family member to sign off on the document, no one in the whole town knew her. But, in God the Fatherless find mercy! And mercy was shown!
      2. They retuned home yesterday w/her!
    4. Receive Healing! (4a)
      1. Backsliders may return to the Lord. – “Seek your injured Father’s face!”
      2. Own this verse!
    5. Receive Love! (4b)
      1. Loving them “freely” = ?
      2. It means: no prayers, no tears, no good works, no alms, are an enticement to Him…to love men!
      3. It means: Not even the blood of Christ was the cause of His love toward man. It was the fruit of His love, but NOT the cause of it!
      4. The Father does not love because Christ died, but Christ died because the Father so loved. (Spurgeon)
      5. This fountain of love has its spring in itself! - Not in you, nor in me, but only in the Father’s own gracious, infinite heart of goodness!
      6. Spurgeon said, “This sentence is a body of divinity in miniature. He who understands its meaning is a theologian.”
    6. Refresh (5)
      1. Dew of refreshing!
      2. Lily - Pliny(Roman scholar and naturalist) spoke of the white lily which grows wild in Israel & is “unsurpassed in its fecundity(fertility), often producing 50 bulbs from a single root.” (Pliny Natural History XXI. 5) from Wycliffe Commentary.
      3. Roots – The desert will become a fruitful garden where the roots go deep!
        1. What was important was “the Root of the matter”. Now, only “Fruit” is the chatter. The need is to look well to the Root, And not just expect instant Fruit!
      4. Prov.12:12 “…the root of the righteous yields fruit.”
      5. Mark 11:20 “as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.”
      6. Is.37:31 “…take root downward, And bear fruit upward.”
    7. Results (6)
      1. Instead of being stunted, there will be growth. (6a)
      2. Instead of ugliness, there will be beauty. (6b)
      3. Instead of stench, there will be fragrance. (6c)
      4. What a difference it is when we obey Him! J
    8. Revive (7)
      1. Fruitful again.
  4. Restored (8)
    1. Not my fruit, but Your fruit is found in me!
    2. Again, the fruit is 1st found in the root!
      1. So also is every good work 1st found in Jesus, & then brought forth in us.
      2. So, if we were not joined to Christ, we would have a barren-bough(bow).
      3. Our fruit comes by the gardeners sharp-edged knife, as he thins & prunes our clusters.
      4. “My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
    3. Righteous (9)
      1. Wise - John Wesley said, “When I was young I was sure of everything; in a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before; at present, I am hardly sure of anything but what God has revealed to me.” (John Wesley, quoted in New Beginnings, by Evelyn Bence. Christianity Today, Vol. 32, no. 1
      2. Q: Will you be a stumbling sinner, or a forgiven sinner?
      3. Oswald Chambers said, “Never try to explain God until you have obeyed Him. The only bit of God we understand is the bit we have obeyed.” (walk in them!)
Bibliographical Information
Bell, Brian. "Commentary on Daniel 2". "Bell's Commentary". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/cbb/daniel-2.html. 2017.
 
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