Wright - Hearing the message of daniel: sustaining faith in todays world

Many people are afraid of where the world is going, and Christians often seem as fearful as anyone. Daniels visions showed his hearers why they didnt need to be afraid, and the stories about him and his friends modeled what it meant to be brave, forthright, and faithful. Chris Wright has often preached on Daniel, and hes therefore just the person to help us hear the books message for the pressing context of our lives today.

JOHN GOLDINGAY, Professor, Fuller Theological Seminary

Chris Wrights Old Testament scholarship, his superb expository gift, and ability to apply it in a relevant, practical way combine to produce this excellent book on Daniel. Any one committed to live faithfully in a culture which increasingly seems alien to followers of Christ will find invaluable help here.

PETER MAIDEN, International Director Emeritus, Operation Mobilisation; Minister at Large, Keswick Ministries

Like his great mentor and friend, John Stott, before him, Chris Wright has an all-too-rare ability to expound Gods Word and Gods world in the same breath. Pastors, small group leaders, and Christians in general will find in this gem both a clear explanation of the text of Danielno easy thingand a wealth of insights into how believers can confidently live as a pressured minority in a secularising world. This book made me want to reread Daniel and preach its treasures in my own setting. And the international flavour of Chriss writing means that others are sure to feel the same wherever they live.

THE REVD DR JOHN DICKSON, author and speaker; Founding Director of the Centre for Public Christianity; Senior Minister of St Andrews Roseville; Honorary Fellow of the Department of Ancient History, Macquarie University, Australia

This eminently accessible volume shows how Daniel, far from being a childrens book or a biblical oddity, speaks directly to the most difficult ethical questions for contemporary Christians. Wrights careful attention to words and literary details, as well as his pastorally informed imagination, enable him to draw a genuine connection between Scripture and the lived experience of people in both Majority-world and Minority-world cultures, so that we may know the story we are in.

ELLEN F. DAVIS, Amos Ragan Kearns Professor of Bible and Practical Theology, The Divinity School, Duke University

This is the kind of book I like to recommend to preachers. It is firmly rooted in sound biblical scholarship yet it is in the service of listening to Gods address through Daniel to his own contemporaries so we can hear that address today. The message of Daniel comes alive as we hear what the Spirit is saying to us in our own missionary setting. Chris Wright does not just tell us what the text says but shows us what the text is trying to do shape a distinctive people in the midst of a hostile culture then and now. This delightful book helps us read and preach Daniel in a way that is both faithful to the original context and relevant to the present.

MICHAEL W. GOHEEN, Theological Director, Missional Training Center; Scholar in Residence, Surge Network, Phoenix, AZ

ZONDERVAN

Hearing the Message of Daniel

Copyright 2017 by Langham Partnership International

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

ePub Edition January 2017: ISBN 978-0-310-53509-6

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Anglicized, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design: Studio Gearbox

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Interior design: Kait Lamphere

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To
David and Rosemary Harley
... but even if not...

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Farewell Danielfor Now (12:513)

All the royalties from this book have been irrevocably assigned to Langham Literature (formerly the Evangelical Literature Trust).

Langham Literature is a programme of the Langham Partnership International, founded by John Stott. Chris Wright is the International Ministries Director.

Langham Literature distributes evangelical books to pastors, theological students and seminary libraries in the Majority World and fosters the writing and publishing of Christian literature in many regional languages.

For further information on Langham Literature, and the other programmes of LPI, visit the website at

www.langham.org