Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
It's astonishing when you stop and just look: no less than 23 times we find the word "understand" or "understanding" in the book of Daniel! And then as if the Lord Jesus wanted to re-impress that thought on us, He uses the same word in His plea for us to read and study that particular book: "'When you see the "abomination of desolation," spoken of by Daniel the prophet,' ... (whoever reads, let him understand)" (Matt. 24:15). It appears that the Savior is capitalizing on that key word that permeates the prophetic book.
The translators of the New King James Version do some interpreting here instead of translating: by printing those five words in black instead of red they tell us that Jesus didn't say them, didn't say "read" and "understand," that someone through the ages (maybe Matthew) slipped them in to His discourse without the authority of Jesus. This has been the view of "higher critics" for many years; but since "understand" is the most prominent word in Daniel, it makes sense to take it as a personal reminder from Jesus Himself that it is our Christian duty to acquire an "understanding" of what the Holy Spirit explains to us in Daniel.
Please don't throw up your hands in despair, saying, "It's over my head!" The Holy Spirit would rather teach you to "understand" Daniel than give you a billion dollars, and you would be far more enriched. It would be wealth that no one can ever rob from you!
But don't play games with the Lord. No half-hearted dilettantish curiosity for a brief sermonette or two; the Holy Spirit is quite serious. For those who are not in dead earnest, the news isn't very good, but for those who seriously ask to be taught truth, it is very good: "Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but ... none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand" (Dan. 12:10, emphasis added).
A sincere prayer for understanding and a reasonable effort to acquire it will be rewarded--to your everlasting delight. Grab the Lord's promise and run with it!
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 23, 2004.
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