Sunday: Christ – The Center of Daniel
Read Luke 24:25-27; John 5:39; and 2 Corinthians 1:19-20. In what ways is Christ the center of the Scriptures?
There is no question that Jesus is central to the Scriptures, and this includes Daniel as well. For example: Chapter 1 shows, although in a limited and imperfect way, that Daniel’s experience is analogous to that of Christ, who left heaven to live in this sinful world and confront the powers of darkness. Moreover, Daniel and his companions are endowed from above with Christ-like wisdom to face the challenges of the Babylonian culture.
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Chapter 2 describes the figure of the end-time (eschatological) stone to indicate that the kingdom of Christ will eventually replace all the kingdoms of the world. Chapter 3 reveals Christ walking with His faithful servants within a furnace of fire. Chapter 4 shows God removing Nebuchadnezzar from his kingdom from for a period of time so that the king could understand that “Heaven rules” (Dan. 4:26, NKJV). The expression “Heaven rules” reminds us that Christ, as “the Son of Man” (Dan. 7:13, NKJV), receives the dominion and the kingdom, as depicted in Daniel 7. Chapter 5 shows the demise of King Belshazzar and the fall of Babylon to the Persians during a night of revelry and debauchery. This foreshadows the defeat of Satan and the obliteration of end-time Babylon by Christ and His angels. Chapter 6 shows the plot against Daniel in ways that resemble the false accusations voiced against Jesus by the chief priests. Moreover, as King Darius unsuccessfully tries to spare Daniel, Pilate unsuccessfully tries to spare Jesus (Matt. 27:17-24). Chapter 7 depicts Christ as the Son of man receiving the kingdom and reigning over His people. Chapter 8 shows Christ as a priest of the heavenly sanctuary. Chapter 9 portrays Christ as the sacrificial victim whose death reconfirms the covenant between God and His people. And chapters 10-12 present Christ as Michael, the commander-in-chief, who fights the forces of evil and victoriously rescues God’s people, even from the power of death.
So let us bear in mind that Christ is central to Daniel. At every chapter of the book there is some experience or idea that points to Christ.
| Amid struggles, trials, or even times of great happiness and prosperity, how can we learn to keep Christ at the center of our lives? Why is it so important that we do so? |
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One question that we need to consider is how much of the idea that Christ in central to Daniel is in the original language, and how much comes from a retrospective interpretation. I don't have a problem with retrospective interpretation. Jesus took many Old Testament passages and applied them to himself, and without the lens he provided we probably would not have seen them as applying to Jesus. What is important for us to consider is where we are using retrospective interpretation and why.
For example: In Dan 3:25:
We associate the expression, "The Son of God" with Jesus, but was that Nebuchadnezzar's intention or was he using an expression to indicate that the fourth person in the furnace was supernatural? To the best of my knowledge, there are two other cases that refer to "son(s) of God" In Genesis the sons of Seth are referred to as the sons of God and in Job 1 God calls a meeting of the sons of God and Satan decided that he should attend as well. (linguistic experts will probably note that while these expressions look very similar in English, they are not quite the same in the original language.)
So, we need to ask ourselves the question; What is the basis of our retrospective interpretation? I imagine this is a question we will ask a lot during our study of Daniel. Please note that I am not trying to cast doubt on the process but we do need to recognise when we are doing it and why.
You made some very interesting points here.Here is the text Daniel 3: 25
“Look!” he told them, “I see four men walking untied and unharmed in the middle of the fire, and the appearance of the fourth resembles a divine being.”
Daniel and his friends had told Nebuchadnezzar about Jesus, how majestic and lovely and beautiful and powerful He was. So when he saw the Being he knew that He wasn't an ordinary man.
Nevertheless, we are not basing out belief and doctrine on what an unbeliever like Nebuchadnezzar said but on what the word says.
The word 'sons' in 'sons of God' in both Genesis and Job should never be in caps; not sure why you chose to do so.
The SOP and many commentaries maintain that the Being was indeed the Son of God.
This was not the first time that Christ appeared in the old testament.
Ok, I fixed the capitalisation (that was probably an early morning aberration), although I would also add that capitalisation is a modern issue and not an issue in ancient languages, where we have to rely more on context.
Can I ask what and how Daniel and his friends knew about Jesus?
I think we read into the text our bias or perhaps a less pejorative term is that we view Daniel through our 21st century lenses or glasses with all we have been taught definitely influencing our view.
Jesus called Daniel a prophet and used some of his terminology thus expanding our understanding of meaning.
I also would encourage trying to read Daniel anew versus just reciting what we have been taught. If all we get out of SS lessons is an affirmation of our belief do we even have a chance to expand our knowledge?
"Can I ask what and how Daniel and his friends knew about Jesus?"
Worth considering is that Daniel had learned from the prophets before him who spoke of Christ (e.g., Isaiah, Jeremiah). Moreover, Daniel spent a great deal of time praying and communing with God and we know that God spoke to him (e.g., interpreting the king's dream). Finally, even among the learned and educated Chaldeans, Daniel was found to be much wiser (Daniel 1:20).
I totally agree with this. I believe it was none other than Christ and that Nebuchadnezzar recognized him because of what he had seen and heard from Daniel and the Hebrew boys during the years of their captivity. This is what turned his heart for him to make such a declaration. As I have come to know God more and more I am convinced God allowed him and the others to see Who they had heard about all those years, I have no doubt, this was done for His Glory! That's the kind of God we serve. I'm sorry, but why is it so hard for us to take God as almighty and not question everything? I feel this castes doubt in some minds and they feed off such things as this. Not being judgmental, but just speaking what I know some people look for. A reason to doubt.
There is such a thing as destructive questioning and such a thing as constructive questioning. Constructive questioning promotes an environment of growth and learning. Ever noticed what young children do during their early periods of growth and development?
And unfortunately when those children become adolescents and young adults, church contexts all too frequently discourage healthy questioning. What have we seen happen generation after generation as the consequences of failing to create a climate of constructive questioning?
The point of my question stems from trying to read Daniel afresh. There is little evidence Isaiah or Daniel or even the king knew this was Jesus. It took Jesus coming to bring that understanding or more Jews would have recognized Him.
I was cautioning against trying to bring your eventual understanding to the text. It will be like when we discuss time prophecies later in book that we know Daniel knew what those dates eventually came to mean.
Truth unfolds as Jesus clearly demonstrated on the road to Emmaus. If His resurrection was so clear to his followers they would not have been fleeing or hiding.
I was just pleading to read as Daniel wrote, not as 21st century readers.
If you bring your preconceptions to a text you must of necessity learn nothing new, but just confirm what you always believed. Isn’t this what happened to the Jews in Christ’s day. They already knew the meaning and missed Jesus.
The points you raise, Douglas, are each and all spot-on.
A literal translation of the Aramaic "בר אלהין" is "son of the gods" or a divine being. When Nebuchadnezzar saw the being, he said it "looked like". So this manifestation had a form that fit Nebuchadnezzar's concept of a divine son. Babylonian gods were chimeras,that is, composites of human, animal and mythological creature parts.
Humans have a propensity of fitting many things, including God, into their preconceptions. As Maurice points out, this is something of which to be wary. It is a form of idolatry.
Maurice
The 'sons of God' always refer to humans, but in the singular form it can only be applied to Jesus.
I believe Jesus' actions are the basis for our retrospective interpretation.
...'and beginning at Moses (Genesis) and the prophets(to Malachi) He expounded to them in ALL the scriptures the things concerning himself'...some of those things are definitely found in Daniel.
Jesus told us where to find Him in scripture.
The original Aramaic is not as simple as that Norma. They did not have capital and lowercase letters like we do. And the construct used in Aramaic can have several meanings (as shown by Richard above), the simplest being "supernatural being". The "Son of God" is a KJV (and probably a Tyndale) construct.
Now I don't have a problem accepting that Jesus was with the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace, but that is a retrospective interpretation.
In the road to Emmaus He began at Moses which means he began from the book of Genesis to Deuteronomy and in all the prophets (minor and major prophets). He expounded unto them (explained from) all scriptures concerning Himself.
In all of Old Testament Christ gave a testimony of Himself being revealed from the Old Testament scriptures.
What a lesson study that would have been for the disciples who were disheartened loosing the savior.
The Jewish rabbis had memorized large portions of scriptures into memory without understanding the meaning or the principle of the scripture.
When Nicodemus comes to Jesus, the question by Jesus was, you claim to be leader in Israel, Do you not understand these things? Proclamation of John 3:16 takes place in the conversation with Nicodemus. He still does not get it until the resurrection of Christ.
When studying the bible put away the preconceived ideas. Let the scripture give interpretation to scripture. Do not hypothesis on the mystery of God.
Many thanks to all of you. Very informative posts. I learned something! Jason I especially like the idea you put forward that the king had heard a description of Jesus from Daniel and the Three.
As Jesus did for the disciples I see an understanding that the Triune God was sending one of the Partners to save and interact with the human race, in the fiery furnace, coming on the clouds and as the Commander in Chief of the anglic host in Daniel.
Practically for me , remembering Christ in the hard/bad times is not hard. It's acknowledging him and praising him in the good I often neglect. It is important to form a relationship with Jesus. At present i am struggling with my prayer life but other than attending church weekly i was not getting spiritual food.So.my first step is to do this lesson daily.Then pray.Other things seemed to have more priority in my life than Jesus ,which I need to remedy.
Sharon it's the same reason I'm here ... And God was letting me know that to get back to where I have to,I have got to put aside everything else and spend my time in prayer. Indeed in the good times I find it hard myself to thank God for His goodness and mercy... But we got to find time for Him ... I can tell you and some many can say with me ... That God dearly loves us ❤️🙏🙏
Oh Sharon, you took the words right out of my mouth. Remembering God in times of prosperity, when I have need of nothing is the hardest. I've found it beneficial as well to document every good gift that I receive daily from God. When I write what I'm grateful for each day, I'm humbled and reminded to praise the Giver.
Praise the LORD Sharon He is guiding you, spending time daily in the Word with parts that engage your mind is also a way that has helped me as well. I believe that is one of the reasons not everything is straightforward, we need the challenge to search for the treasures in the Word.