Daniel

Introduction: As a piece of Biblical writing it falls into the genre of Apocalyptic Literature. It is the only apocalypse that is in the Old Testament. There are only two in the entire Bible. The other is the New Testament Book of Revelation. There are several other Apocalypses around. Though they are not readily accepted today, they were around, read, and accepted in their day. The people who created the canon of the scriptures did not include them. They are 1 Enoch, and Syriac Baruch.

There are several characteristics to apocalyptic literature:

They are highly visual in nature. The authors record dreams, and visions. The language is extremely visual, often depicting beasts and creatures with unusual characteristics. Their language is meant to draw images in the readers’ minds. Their images are just that and should not be taken as literal.
They depict the “end time” – the final battle between good and evil – between God and the enemy. The end is depicted with a great deal of anxiety and suffering, while at the same time God always wins out in the end and the Kingdom of God is established.
Apocalyptic literature has its origins during times in history of great turbulence and persecution. The Book of Revelation was writing at a high point of Roman persecution. Daniel is written in the period of Hellenization when Antiochus IV “Epiphanies” brought the hammer of the Greek rule down on Palestine. This period is the time of the Maccabees. Judas Maccabeus brought a temporary victory of the Greeks to restore the temple.
As the writing always depicts the strength of God winning, the apocalyptic writers were bringing a word of hope to those who were under persecution

Daniel is written in about 167 – 164 BCE. It is about a faithful Jew, Daniel who receives worthy mention twice in the Book of Ezekiel (Ezek. 14.14; 28.3). Daniel is gifted by God and is promoted by to the position of governor. Though written in the first century BCE, the stories take place during the great Exile in Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

Chapter 1

Daniel begins with the exile of Israel to Nebuchadnezzar. V.2 presents the notion that “the Lord let King Jehoiakim of Judah fall into his power as well as some of the vessel of the house of God.” The author of this book wants its readers to know that God had not abandoned Jehoiakim of Judah – but neither had God lost control of the situation for Israel. Jehoiakim and the vessel of the temple were being taken to Babylon “because God allowed it” and for no other reason. This raises the same question in our modern thinking whenever things happen that don’t seem possible to that God would like. Either we come to believe that God has done this thing on purpose because we’re being punish, or God has lost control of the situation and we’re doomed. This author wants us to know for certain that God has not lost control. God is perfectly in charge.

We’re also told that the Babylonian king is looking for “a few good men” to be of service in dealing with the Israelites. Some of the qualifications are to be:

No physical faults
Handsome
Versed in every branch of wisdom
Endowed with knowledge and insight
Competent to serve in the king’s palace

They were to be taught the literature and language of the Chaldeans. They were to be given certain “perks” including food from the King’s own table. Four were selected, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. There were to be given different names in the Chaldean language.

Daniel was to be called Belteshazzar
Hananiah was to be called Shadrach
Mishael was called Meshach
Azariah was called Abednego

Daniel steps up from the beginning with the strength of his convictions and faith. He will not eat the food offered from the King’s table because it would make him unclean. The other three go along with the request. The four request, instead a vegetarian diet. This is a weighty matter. They are captives who have already found favor and are being elevated to positions of recognition. They are being fed by the king, and they are refusing it based on the fact that king’s food will make them unclean. God’s providence becomes immediately apparent as the king’s personal aid assigned to make this happen becomes willing to work with Daniel. His fear is that his neck will be on the block when these four favored ones become sickly because they aren’t eating. First, the steward is willing to try this; second, it works out in that the four are actually found to be healthier than those who ate the king’s food. By the power of God, Daniel won this battle. The royal rations were withdrawn by the steward and no one suffered anything for it.

In the presence of King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel was found to be exceptional, even over his partners and ten times greater than all of wise men of the kingdom.

The story is about Daniel’s gifts from God and God’s ability to lift his people to heights that exceed even their own imaginations. Daniel and his friends were captive in the Land of Babylon; nonetheless, God was with them and blessed. There are great similarities to the Joseph stories of Genesis. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. Though God did not stop his captors, God nonetheless blessed Joseph and gave him a place of honor in Egypt so high that the only one he answered to was the Pharaoh. The net result was that his family was saved from the draught. They were brought to Egypt and cared for by Joseph.

The Rev. Dr. Kipp W. Zimmermann

Thursday, April 29, 2004

Chapter 2

In this chapter Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that disturbs him and he is not able to discover its meaning. None of his wise men or magicians can solve it. The King sets up a challenge. He won’t tell the dream. The diviner needs to tell him the dream and its meaning. No one of Babylon could do it. Daniel was called upon and the Lord revealed the entire dream and its meaning to him.

The dream is of a great statue. The head is fine gold; the chest and arms are silver; the middle and thighs are bronze; the legs are iron; the feet partly of iron and partly of clay. A stone was cut out “not by human hands” and the piece broke the feet. Then the stone became a great mountain.

Nebuchadnezzar is the head of gold
Following him a kingdom of bronze will rule over the whole earth
After that there will arise of iron – it shall be strong and chatter all of these
The feet are a divided kingdom – some iron and some clay denotes that some will be strong and others weak
The stone cut not by human hands is a kingdom that will be step up by God and it will crush the others

Background: The Kingdoms are Babylonian, Median, Persian, and Greek. The kingdoms of iron and clay are the kingdoms of the Seleucids and Ptolemies. During the periods of Hellenization (the Greek influence due to the invasion of Alexander the Great) the Seleucids were Palestinian Hellenized by Alexander. The Ptolemies were Hellenized Egyptians. Actually, Cleopatra was a Ptolemy. They turned out to be a vanquished people. The period in which Daniel is being written is the time under the Seleucid rule of Antiochus Epiphanies. This is time frame of the Maccabean rebellion.

Once again, the point is God’s power to conquer in the worst of conditions. That is the main import of any apocalyptic literature as was stated above.

The Rev. Dr. Kipp W. Zimmermann

Wednesday, May 05, 2004