In Daniel 9:2, we gain some insight into this great man of God. This verse tells us that while reading the Bible (in this instance the book of Jeremiah) Daniel is able to understand the plan of God in regard to the future of Israel. Because of this study, Daniel learns more, is drawn closer to God and is further blessed by God. Not just here but in the entire Bible we see the same story. Studying God’s word is always a great benefit to his people. It is a lesson we know, but don’t put into practice. Take any given Sunday and look at our Bible class numbers compared to worship attendance. Some want to draw near to God by worship, but fail to realize that the Bible study that goes on before that is what will lead to that goal. The church needs people that are looking to what God says in order to be closer to him. We can’t be that kind of people if we miss the study of his word!
Let’s say you travel back in time six hundred years or so. Luckily, you happen across a fellow that speaks English. Upon hearing your tale, he describes you as nice, smart, and handsome. Wouldn’t you feel good? You shouldn’t. As Sol Steinmetz in his book, Semantics Antics , explains; Nice originally meant someone who was foolish, ignorant, senseless, or absurd (middle English 1300). Smart for the first 300 years of its use meant causing pain, sharp, cutting, or severe, a sense that survives in the idiom "smart as a whip.” Handsome wasn’t complimentary. When coined around 1425, it just meant easily handled; it didn’t have its current positive connotation until 1590. You might think he said you were a kind, intelligent, good looking bloke, when in reality he said you were a foolish pain easily dealt with. Words have an annoying habit of changing meaning over time in the same language and it becomes even more compli...
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