As Tishra rocked her young son, it was all she could do to hold back her tears. She thought back to her earliest memory of God. As a young girl she heard the rabbi read the story of creation from the holy scroll. She learned that, in the very beginning, God made all the world and the world that God made was good. As a child, Tishra experienced a world that had indeed seemed good to her. It was a secure world. She prayed daily with her family and each week they observed the Sabbath. The world into which her son had been born was different. It was not the same secure world of Tishra's youth.

Now, as an adult, Tishra was very conscious of another story -- the one that followed the story of the creation of a good world. It was the story of the first sin and the "fall" of the good world. Sin changed everything. The goodness of God's creation was invaded by evil. As a Jew, living in Jerusalem during the reign of Antiochus IV, Tishra had encountered a very vivid, first hand experience of evil.

Ten years earlier, Tishra's family, and all of Jerusalem, had come under the rule of one of the cruelest tyrant kings of all time. His name was Antiochus IV, but he gave himself the name "Epiphanes," which means "manifestation." The king believed that the Olympian god Zeus was manifest in him. However, this arch villain was anything but a god. In secret, his subjects called him not Epiphanes, but "Epimanes," which means "madman." He was mad with power. He used his power cruelly for his own purposes and gave no thought to the pain he caused.

For example, the ritual of sacrifice by the Jerusalem temple priests, especially by the high priest, was the sacred center of life for Tishra and her husband, Moshi. This was true for all of the faithful in Jerusalem. But Antiochus Epiphanes had no care for the people of Jerusalem and no reverence for the temple sacrifices. For him, the whole thing was nothing more than a financial opportunity. When the evil king came into power, he removed the current high priest and offered the job to the highest bidder. To the dismay of the faithful Jews, the man who won the appointment to be high priest proceeded to sell the gold furnishings from the temple to pay for his purchased position.

As Tishra continued to rock her child, she thought back on how she and Moshi had been appalled at the thought of what Antiochus had done and what he had allowed to be done. It was truly appalling, but it was only the beginning of what this evil king would do. Some years passed and then the evil reign of Antiochus reached a nightmare level for the Jerusalem Jews. Tishra remembered it all with agonizing clarity. She had been pregnant with her son at the time. Antiochus had been on his way to attack Egypt when he received an order from Rome calling off the attack. The command from Rome put the king in a bad mood. So, on his way home, as he passed near Jerusalem, Antiochus decided to wipe out the city and colonize it with Greeks. Tishra and Moshi watched in horror as 20,000 soldiers entered the city. They plundered what was left of the temple and attacked the men. The plan was to kill all the men so that no army could be assembled to resist them.

The most hideous part of it all was that Antiochus attacked the Jews on the sabbath. Sabbath observance prohibited the Jews from protecting themselves by fighting back against their attackers. Panic and terror seized Tishra and Moshi. In the street outside their home they heard screams as the Jewish men, their friends and neighbors, were killed in cold blood by the king's soldiers. In desperation Moshi hid in a trunk in their bedroom. The soldiers burst into the house, but they did not look in the trunk. Once it grew dark, Moshi escaped into the night. Shortly afterward he joined a resistance army led by Judas Maccabaeus.

Antiochus was brutal in his attack upon Jerusalem. His army did great damage to the city; they enslaved the women and children; and they killed every Jewish man who had not been able to escape.

Even with all this, still greater evil was to come. Antiochus had a garrison built and the city was occupied by the king's troops. Then, King Antiochus Epiphanes issued an edict. All the people in his realm, including the Jews, were to observe the same religion. They were to worship at the altar of Zeus. The king even placed an altar for sacrificing to Zeus in the Jewish temple. The edict proclaimed that anyone who refused to comply would do so on pain of death.

As Tishra rocked her son, she remembered how horrible the news of the edict had been. If ever she and the others longed for the comfort that came to them through worship, it was then, in their grief and loss. Even though the king's appointee remained as high priest, any opportunity for the people to worship the true God was nonexistent.

Rocking her son, Tishra recalled the pain of childbirth and the even greater agony that came with bringing a child into such a world. The king's fanaticism was without parallel. He had robbed the Jews of everything that had true importance to them: the Torah, their sacrifices, their food laws. Everything that bore the mark of traditional Judaism was uprooted -- gone.

As Tishra held her son, tears she had been trying to hold back finally began to run down her face. She was thinking now of the crowning blow of the king's evil edict. The "madman" had even prevented her from having her son circumcised! Her son was not permitted to receive the mark of the people's covenant with God. This evil king had indeed taken everything from them! The anguish welled up within Tishra. Her silent tears turned to sobbing. The child in her arms sensed that something was wrong and he began to cry with her.

It was in this moment of fearfully deep despair that Tishra remembered the dream. God's prophet, Daniel, had had a dream, a vision. Through a secret underground network of communication the prophet's dream had been whispered from Jew to Jew. Out of the depth of her despair Tishra remembered the words that had been whispered into her ear. The prophet's dream was a dream about the evil Antiochus, the king who had robbed them of so much. He had even robbed them of hope and a meaning for their lives. The dream openly acknowledged all the horrendous evil that the people had suffered and continued to suffer under this "madman." Then came this promise: "But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever -- forever and ever" (Daniel 7:18).

Tishra had learned from the Rabbi that she lived in a "fallen world." The experience of rampant evil in this fallen world was horrible for Tishra. It drove her to the depths of despair, and it was there, in the pain and agony of her despair, that she recalled the wonderful, whispered word from the prophet: "BUT." The message of the dream was clear. Yes, the evil of this king is great, "BUT" there is more that God would have you know. Evil rules now, "But the holy ones of the Most High (God's people) shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever -- forever and ever.

Tishra returned to the message of the dream again and again in her mind. She thought to herself, "The past had been terrible. The present is terrible. BUT, God has control of the future." As Tishra held her child to her, she rocked him with a new perspective on her situation. Tears still ran down her face, but there was hope in her eyes again. In the dream that God had given the prophet she saw enough of the future to hold firm. "Things are bad, BUT ..." "BUT ..." In that single word Tishra heard good news. In that word she found hope.

Miles away, Tishra's husband, Moshi, was also deep in despair. He desperately missed his wife and the son he had never seen. Things did not look good for the resistance fighters. The strength of the evil king's forces far outweighed their own. There was reasonable cause for despair. However, Moshi had also heard the hushed whispers of Daniel's dream. He knew that the evil Antiochus had great power and threatened Moshi's very life, "BUT ..." Yes, it looked as if they would probably lose the upcoming battle, "BUT," the dream brought the promise that they would win the war. The prophet's dream involved both the present and the future. Evil rules now, "But the holy ones of the Most High (God's people, God's saints) shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever -- forever and ever."

Like it had for his wife, the prophet's dream also gave Moshi a new perspective on his situation. He saw enough of the future to give meaning to his fight. They might lose the battle, "BUT," God had already announced who would win the war. "Things are bad, BUT ..." "BUT ..." In that single word Moshi heard good news. In that word he found meaning for his struggle. Even if he were to die, he knew that his death would have meaning.

Finally, on December 14, 164 B.C.E., an amazing thing happened. Judas Maccabaeus' band of resistance fighters successfully defeated the alien forces. The temple was cleansed and the lights in the temple were lit. The event is still remembered and celebrated by Jews today in the festival of Hanukkah. It was a happy ending to a long ordeal!

One might wonder if this victory of the Jews brought an end to the useful life of the message that is couched in Daniel's dream. Daniel's dream was a gift of promise to the Jews who lived during the evil reign of Antiochus. Was Daniel's prophecy intended as a Word of God only for the people of that time? I believe the answer is "No." The message through the prophet's dream most certainly was directed to people who were living under the evil oppression of Antiochus Epiphanes, but it is by no means limited only to God's "holy ones," who lived in the second century B.C.E. Daniel's dream is a message from God that continues to be whispered in the ears of God's saints, the ones God makes holy. This message continues to be a vitally important message for all the saints. Daniel is also speaking to us.

Like Tishra and Moshi, we too live in a "fallen world." We may not battle evil in the form of a ruler like Antiochus Epiphanes, but we certainly battle evil in a myriad of other forms. We struggle against injustice, cruelty, violence, apathy and abuse. We battle the evil of a fallen creation that manifests itself in broken health -- in injury, sickness and death.

Even in the 20th century, it is still quite easy for God's saints to get overwhelmed. Pastors' offices are frequented by saints who are depressed and filled with despair. Many others do not discuss their pain with their pastor or others. They choose to suffer silently, but they suffer nonetheless.

It is quite understandable that God's present day saints would, on occasion, experience despair -- in fact, deep despair. It has always been difficult for God's people to live in a fallen world. As much as any of God's saints ever needed the promise, we also have a need to hear the promise of Daniel's dream whispered in our ear. Yes, there are genuine reasons in this present age for us to despair. "But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever -- forever and ever." In the prophet's dream we hear the distant echoes of still other promises that scripture makes concerning the future of God's holy ones. In Matthew's gospel God promises that we "will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect" (Matthew 24:30-31). In the revelation given to John we hear of a future in which the saints will finally move beyond a "fallen world." The day is coming when there will be "a new heaven and a new earth." For God's saints there is the promise of a future in which God "will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more" (Revelation 21:1, 4). Yes, things are difficult now, "But ..."

In the thick of the struggle with evil in a fallen world, you, as one of God's saints, may not feel victorious. However, for God's saints, it is not a matter of how you feel; rather, it is a matter of what you know. The words of Daniel's dream also catch up the spirit of God's promises surrounding Christ's return. These words have been whispered again in your ear this day. Daniel's dream is intended to give you a new perspective on things. Your existence in a fallen world may well be filled with causes for genuine despair. Even so, you can know that what you experience now is only a chapter in a much larger story. The good news is that the ending of the story has already been whispered to you through a prophet's dream.

Be careful not to underestimate the power and importance of this dream. In our day and age the word "dreamer" is often used in a rather derogatory sense to describe someone whose head is lost in the clouds -- an idealist out of touch with reality. In the prophet Daniel God's saints experience quite a different kind of dreamer. This "dreamer," this one with "visions in his head," is a true visionary. He is the one who can see beyond appearance to reality. He sees beyond events to ultimate meaning. This dreamer moves God's saints of every age beyond the happenings of history to the realization of God's triumphant future. Yes, evil is rampant now. "But the holy ones of the Most High (God's saints) shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever -- forever and ever." Let all God's saints hear the message of this dream.

To whatever extent you may be experiencing depression and despair this day, listen to the whispers of this dream. Listen to this dream with an open heart and mind. God is whispering to all the saints. God is whispering to you.