A History Lesson

You can find many ways to explain what history is and if it has a great lesson to teach us. Winston Churchill wrote: "To test the present you must appeal to history." One of the Christian historians wrote: "What history does is to uncover man's universal sin." (H. Butterfield). You can certainly see that plainly when you read the book of Daniel in the Old Testament.

In its later chapters the Book of Daniel tells of kings and queens, generals and war-lords, each of them appearing for a time seeming to be all-powerful until an even more powerful leader appeared and toppled them. One of the most ruthless and ungodly of these leaders appears in the second part of Daniel 11. It seemed he could do anything he liked. But look at the words at the top of this page. That happened in 164 BC. Today he is forgotten.

In the middle of all that is described in Daniel God was working out his purposes. In the overthrow of all these ancient rulers and especially the king of whom we read in Daniel chapter 11, we have a picture of what is yet to happen when Satan the great anti-Christ and all who follow him will be overthrown under the terrible judgement of God - "Yet he shall come to his end with none to help him." Only God is the all-powerful one whose kingdom has no end. Then all will see that history is truly his story and the end will be glorious.