“And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king’s business, but I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it.”
Daniel 8:27 ESV
Through the Bible: Daniel 7-9
Even though Daniel was “overcome,” “sick,” and “appalled” by the visions he had seen, he still “rose and went about the king’s business.”
This is a great lesson for those of us who get obsessed with end times prophecy, or with this week’s headlines.
We know that feeling. The headlines scroll by faster than we can process them—wars breaking out, assassinations, leaders falling, storms and fires and scandals piling up. It can leave us sick at heart, overcome by anxiety, appalled at the darkness the 24 hour news cycle brings to light.
And the more we scroll, the less we move.
When the world feels like it’s spinning out of control, we sigh, “Come, Lord Jesus! Let it be today!” We look for some answer to the Psalmist’s question: “How long O Lord?”
That’s when we are often drawn to end-times prophecies. We open Daniel 7–12 and encounter mystifying images and confounding visions:
- Beasts and horns.
- Kings of the north and south.
- Seventy weeks
- Time, times, and half a time.
And we can easily move from despair to obsession. When that happens, Daniel 8:27 gives us a much needed kick in the seat:
Get on with the King’s business.
You Have a Job to Do
Daniel had a job to do. He was one of Darius’s high officials (Daniel 6:2). So even when the visions consumed him, he still had the king’s business to attend to.
A similar temptation shows up in Acts 1. For forty days the risen Christ filled His disciples with signs and proofs and teaching about the kingdom (Acts 1:3). They finally blurted, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Note Jesus’ reply:
He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.””
Acts 1:6-8 ESV
Then, Jesus ascends to heaven, and when He does, they stand slack-jawed, staring into the sky—until two angels interrupt:
“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?” (Acts 1:11).
Only then did they snap out of it and return to Jerusalem.
Two Traps to Avoid
Current events can be endlessly discouraging. End-times prophecy can be endlessly fascinating. And both can distract us from our call to share the gospel. I suspect the Enemy doesn’t care which way we lean—whether we’re depressed by the world as it is or obsessed with the world that is to come, he’s content to keep us preoccupied.
But there is still the King’s business to attend to. All of our charts and interpretive graphs and Left Behind books and four blood moons may be the equivalent of staring at the sky and waiting for Jesus to return. And perhaps we need to be reminded that, like the disciples, it is not for us to know the times and the seasons.
Because at the bottom of the hill lies Jerusalem. And beyond its borders are Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. We’ve been given a commission to be His witnesses. And we have the Holy Spirit’s power to accomplish the Heavenly father’s purpose, all the while assured of the risen Son’s presence.
Don’t stand staring at the sky. Rise up— and go about the King’s business.
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