Monday, March 17, 2008

DANIEL: Week of 25 March 2008

Bible Handout, Week of 25 March 2008

The Book of Daniel
The book of Daniel includes famous and well-loved stories. Among Christians it is popular because of its Messianic promise of a "son of man" in Chapter 7, a title that probably influenced the title Jesus used of himself in the Gospels. It is also popular because of the first clear statement of resurrection in the Bible. For these reasons, Christians include Daniel among "Five Major Prophets" (including Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Lamentations), while Jews place Daniel among the Writings because of its late date and faulty history.
Chapter 1
1: In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and attacked it.
2: And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God.
The Book of Daniel is supposed to have been written in the sixth century; but most scholars date it to the second century (BCE) on the rule that if predictions are accurate they must be "after the fact," (in this case the facts go into the second century BCE, so the book could only have been written at that time). Besides, Jehoiachim was not king when Judah fell, but his son (Jehoiachin) was king-in-exile. If the writer had lived in the sixth century, he would have known that; but if he lived three hundred years later (as scholars now believe), it's easy to see how he got his history confused.
3: Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility,
4: youths without fault, handsome and skilful in wisdom, with knowledge, understanding learning, and able to serve in the king's palace, and to teach them the language of the Babylonians.
Like the Joseph and Esther stories, these texts teach survival in a foreign land, based on wisdom or practical knowledge. For this reason, Jews place this text among the Writings.
6: Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah.
Note the word "God" in the endings of these Hebrew names, in the form of "iah" (=Yah=Jehovah) and "el" (=God, as in "Elohim," plural of God).
7: The chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
8: Daniel decided he would not defile himself with the king's food or wine.
Perhaps the food included pork or was part of a pagan religious rite.
17: As for these four youths, God gave them wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in visions and dreams.
Daniel remains one of the great Bible heroes for refusing to keep the ways of the world in obedience to God's laws, even in a foreign country. It became  a model for later Christians who refused to keep the ways of the world.
Chapter 2
1: In the second year of his reign, dreams troubled Nebuchadnezzar.
26: The king said to Daniel, "Can you explain  my dream?"
27: Daniel answered the king, "No magicians can do this,
28: but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known what will happen in the future.
31: "You saw a great image.
32: The head was gold, its breast and arms silver, its belly and thighs bronze,
33: its legs iron, its feet iron and clay.
34: As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand and broke the feet in pieces;
35: then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like chaff; and the wind carried them away, so not a trace could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
36: "Now here's the interpretation.
37: You, O king, are the head of gold.
39: After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule the earth.
40: And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things; and it shall break and crush all these.
41: The feet and toes of clay and iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the clay.
42: And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and weak.
44: And God will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. It shall break in pieces these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever;
45: just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall come."
The gold is Babylon; the silver is perhaps the Medes; the bronze is perhaps the Persian empire, while the bronze mixed with clay is Alexander's empire, which divided after his death (333 BCE). The rock is read by Christians as Jesus. V. 47 makes clear the Jewish God is the only God:
47: The king said to Daniel, "Truly, your God is God of gods for you have explained this mystery."
48: Then the king made Daniel ruler over the province of Babylon.
3
1: King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold.
4: And the herald proclaimed, "You are ordered,
5: to worship the golden image;
6: whoever does not worship shall be cast into a burning furnace."
This is similar to Haman's plot against the Jews in Esther:
8: At that time certain Chaldeans [Babylonians] accused the Jews.
12: "Jews do not serve your gods."
16: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, "We need not answer.
17: God whom we serve can deliver us from the furnace.
19: Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than usual.
21: Then these men were cast into the burning fiery furnace.
22: Because the furnace was very hot, it slew the men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
24: But King Nebuchadnezzar was amazed. "Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?
25: "But I see four men walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods."
The fourth man is thought to be Jesus by Christians.
27: And the king's advisers saw the fire had not had any power over the bodies of the men; their hair was not singed, their clothes were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them.
A lesson to those who refuse to keep the ways of the world:
28: Nebuchadnezzar said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set at nothing the king's command, and risked their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own.
4
4: I, Nebuchadnezzar was at home in my palace. I had a dream that made me afraid.
9: "O Belteshazzar [Daniel],
10: I saw a tall tree.
12: Its leaves were fair and its fruit abundant; in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the air lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.
13: "I saw a holy one came down from heaven.
14: He said, `Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, strip its leaves and scatter its fruit; let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches.
15: But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven; let his lot be with the beasts in the grass of the earth;
16: let his mind be changed from a man's, and let a beast's mind be given to him; and let seven times pass over him.
17: So the living know the Most High rules the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom he will, and sets over it the lowliest of men.'
19: Then Daniel said,
20: The tree you saw,
22: is you, O king, who have grown and become strong.
23: And since the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven,
24: I'll explain this: It is an order  of the Most High,
25: that you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts; you shall eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom he will.
26: And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be sure for you from the time that you know that Heaven rules.
27: Therefore, O king, break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and showing mercy to the oppressed."
33: Then Nebuchadnezzar was driven from among men, and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers, and his nails were like birds' claws.
34: At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives for ever; for his kingdom is everlasting;
35: all the inhabitants of the earth count as nothing.
Chapter 5
1: King Belshazzar made a great feast.
2: He ordered vessels of gold and silver taken out of the temple in Jerusalem, so the king and his lords might drink from them.
5: Immediately the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace.
6: The king's color changed and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together.
13: Then Daniel was brought before the king.
17: Daniel answered,
23: You have offended the Lord of heaven.
25: And this is the writing: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN.
26: MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end;
27: TEKEL, you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting;
28: PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
30: That night the king was slain.
31: And Darius the Mede became king.
There was no such Darius the Mede.
6
Daniel in the lions' den is another of the famous stories from this book.
1: It pleased Darius to set up
2: three overseers, of whom Daniel was one.
4: But Daniel's enemies tried to find fault with him, though there was none.
5: Then they said, "We shall not find cause for complaint against Daniel except in the law of his God."
7: So they agreed the king should order that whoever prays to any god or man for thirty days, except to the king, shall be thrown to the lions.
10: When Daniel knew this, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper room open toward Jerusalem; he got down upon his knees three times a day and prayed and thanked God, as he had done before.
13: Then those men said to the king, "Daniel,  an exile from Judah, prays three times a day."
16: So Daniel was thrown to the lions. The king said to Daniel, "May your God deliver you!"
20: When he came near to the den where Daniel was, the king cried out in anguish and said to Daniel, "O Daniel, has your God, whom you serve, delivered you from the lions?"
21: Then Daniel said, "O king, live for ever!
22: God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, because I was blameless."
"Saved from the lion's mouth" became a common phrase, and Paul uses it in the New Testament.
23: The king was glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken out of the den.
This story may have influenced the Gospel story of Pontius Pilate, who is forced to condemn Jesus against his conscience.
7
Images of beasts (often "four") are commonly used in later Bible texts, usually allegories of different kingdoms. These (in this vision) may represent the Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and Roman kingdoms.
1: In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions.
3: And four beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.
The sea is always the source of evil in the Bible. In Revelation, there is no sea.
4: The first was like a lion and had eagles' wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand upon two feet like a man; and the mind of a man was given to it.
5: And another beast, a second one, like a bear was raised up on one side; and it was told, `Arise, devour much flesh.'
6: Another was like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back; the beast had four heads; and power was given to it.
7: A fourth beast was terrible and strong; it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces. It was different from all the beasts before it and had ten horns.
Next, the "ancient of days" is an image of God. Note the borrowed idea (from Ezekiel) of the "throne-chariot (on wheels)." This image of God as an ancient father has become part of Western culture.
9: As I looked, thrones were placed and one that was ancient of days took his seat; his clothes were white as snow, and the hair of his head like wool; his throne was flames, its wheels burning fire.
10: A thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.
Note the reference, above, to the "books"; the idea that names were written in these books go back at least to Moses ("blot me from the book of life").
11: As I looked, the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire.
12: As for the other beasts, their power was taken away, but their lives lasted for a time.
The following is a Messianic vision, making the book of Daniel especially loved among Christians. The phrase, "clouds of heaven," is used by Jesus himself.
13: And then with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.
14: And to him was given power and glory, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his kingdom is everlasting.
The phrase in 14 has become part of the Christian doxology (praise) at the end of some versions of the Lord's Prayer: "the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever, Amen."
16: I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning this. He told me.
17: `These four beasts are four kings who shall come.
18: But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever.'
21: As I looked, the fourth beast made war with the saints, and prevailed over them,
22: until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints received the kingdom.
23: "Thus he said: `As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and it shall devour the whole earth.
The above refers to the Roman Empire.
25: He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High.
26: But the court shall sit in judgment, and his rule taken away
27: and given to the saints of the Most High; their kingdom shall be everlasting, and all nations shall serve and obey them.'
The idea is that the suffering Jews are the "saints" (holy ones) and they will soon reclaim their land.
Chapter 9
Cyrus (not Darius) led the Persian conquest of Babylonia.
1: In the first year of Darius
2: I, Daniel, saw in the books the number of years which, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.
21: While I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel
22: said, "O Daniel, I have come to give you wisdom and understanding.
This is the first named angel in the Bible. Below, the "seventy years" of Jeremiah's prophecy is understood as 70 WEEKS of years ("70 X 7") (7=week); so the time period is 490 years! This is the first example of a revised vision in the Bible:
24: "Seventy weeks of years are decreed concerning your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.

12
1: "There shall be a time of trouble, such as never before; then your people shall be delivered, those whose name is written in the book.
2: And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting shame.
Apart from Isaiah (26:19), this is the first undisputed reference to ressurection in the Old Testament.
3: And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.
4: But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, until the time of the end.
10: "Many shall purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none shall understand; but the wise.
13: "But go your way till the end; and you shall rest, and shall stand in your given place at the end of the days."

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