2005 Bible Reading

This page is not a commentary, nor an outline. It is something to bear in mind in this kind of reading. These materials I learnt from two books by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart (How To Read The Bible For All Its Worth; How To Read The Bible Book By Book). You could consult these books if you are interested.

(Pastor Raymond)

Daniel

There are two points that we are not told that often. First is that this book does not belong to the “Prophets” in the Jewish Bible, but rather to the “Writings.” Daniel never took the title of a prophet either. This is because the Book of Daniel is unlike the prophetic books which fairly consistently warned and appealed the Israelites to return to a faithful relationship with their covenant God. Rather, this book through its stories and visions, tells the readers of God’s superior sovereignty, in order to encourage the people of God to live faithfully in a foreign land.

The second fact to note is that chapters 1 and 8-12 were written in the Jewish language of Hebrew whilst chapters 2-7 in the then popular language of Aramaic. It appears that the author wanted to put the introduction and the interpretations in a language his own people could understand. He also made it a point to arrange the Aramaic portion, chapters 2-7, in a chiastic format. That is, chapters 2 and 7 are visions of future kingdoms both ending with God’s everlasting kingdom. Chapters 3 and 6 record miraculous deliverance under oppression by enemies. Chapters 4 and 5 both talk about the demise of two Babylonian kings with both acknowledging the greatness of the God of Israel. These stories highlight that God superintends history.

Chapters 1-6 are all royal court stories but with a consistent ring. That is, those who were faithful to Yahweh (Daniel and his three friends) would be miraculously delivered from the persecutions of the enemies in foreign land. This illustrates the fact that God’s sovereignty ruled over those countries like Babylon and Persia which ruled over Israel in history.

The visions (not dreams) of Daniel began in chapter 7, talk about what would take place when Persia took over from Babylon. It predicted Alexander the Great to come after Persia, and after him the struggles amongst his four generals. Two of the four, the Seleucids in the north and the Ptolemies in Egypt to the south, would fight over the control of Palestine. These are mentioned in Daniel 11. The book then pointed out in 11:21-32 the eventual abomination caused to the Temple by Antiochus IV of the Seleucids. But God’s kingdom was the eventual victor.

The Book of Daniel had some unique contributions to the Jewish worldview developed in the times between the Old and New Testament, which in turn influenced the New Testament. One of the more noticeable thought is the idea of personal resurrection in the last days (Daniel 12). This was very clearly depicted in Daniel although there was relative silence in the whole of the Old Testament. This rather refreshing view constituted one of the key foundations of the New Testament teachings about the resurrection of the saints. The other is about the person who is like the Son of Man inheriting an everlasting kingdom. The New Testament Gospels will connect this to the Messianic Kingdom, pointing unequivocally to Jesus being the Son of Man who will come “with clouds.” This has obviously provided the basis for the “Kingdom of Heaven” or the “Kingdom of God.” In addition, we may also notice the last book of our Bible, Revelation, contains many silhouettes of Daniel.