As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle (Daniel 2.42)
What do we all know about Daniel?
Probably what we learned about him in Sunday School: the stories of the furnace (please note, this doesn’t happen to Daniel, just his friends), and the lions
These stories are good for Sunday School because they’re easy to imagine, they’re easy to draw and colour in
They also illustrate some important things about Daniel, like his fearless righteousness and refusal to bend to the demands of pagan rulers and their courtiers
But if that’s all we know about Daniel, we only know half of the book – Chapters 1 to 6
This is the second week of our series on Daniel: Last week we looked at Chapter 1
We sketched in some of the background, and related Daniel to the genre of apocalyptic writing we’ve been studying
We looked at the structure, and noted that Daniel is written in two languages:
– Aramaic. It’s a language of royal courts and international diplomacy in the time Daniel is set, but it becomes the language generally spoken by Jews after the Exile
– Hebrew, which by this time is on its way to becoming a religious and literary language, no longer spoken or understood by the mass of people
The stories of Daniel and his friends at the Babylonian court are told in Aramaic
Daniel’s dreams and visions are mostly described in Hebrew
Both of those languages are appropriate to the content
This week we move on to Chapters 2 and 7
Chapter 2 is a court story, Chapter 7 describes a dream Daniel has
Both chapters are written in Aramaic, so it looks as if Chapter 7 breaks the rule
Surely, if it describes a dream, it should be in Hebrew?
But Chapter 7 is a bridging chapter – it’s a point of transition
It takes us from the world of experience in the Babylonian court, to the supernatural world of vision, and the revelation of God’s ultimate plan to break the power of empires
We saw already, the Book of Daniel is made up of material not just in different languages, but from different dates
It was probably brought together in the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes (168-164 BCE)
The whole book has been edited to address the situation of persecution Jews faced in the reign of Epiphanes
The six chapters from 2 to 7 are actually three pairs that mirror each other
God’s judgement on the pride of Nebuchadnezzar in Chapter 4 mirrors God’s judgement on the pride of Belshazzar in Chapter 5
The fiery furnace in Chapter 3 mirrors the lion’s den in Chapter 6
And the King’s dream in Chapter 2 mirrors Daniel’s dream in Chapter 7
There are similarities and differences between Chapter 2 and Chapter 7
Both of them describe dreams – experienced at night, in sleep, rather than in a trance
They both lay out a fourfold scheme of empires and rulers
They both have a final vision of a kingdom that will never be destroyed
This fourfold scheme has been interpreted differently over the years
Probably, the four empires are the Babylonian, the Median, the Persian, and finally the Greek empire of Alexander the Great, which falls apart under the rule of his successors
But is has also been suggested that the last kingdom is the Roman empire
The little horn in Chapter 7 with the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts (Dan 7.8) is Antiochus Epiphanes, the tyrant we heard about last week, who persecuted faithful Jews and erected a statue of Zeus in the temple
The main differences between Chapters 2 and 7 are obvious
In Chapter 2, the dreamer is Nebuchadnezzar; in Chapter 7, it’s Daniel himself
In Chapter 7, the dream interpreter is an angel, which is typical of apocalypse
In Chapter 2, the dream interpreter is Daniel
It’s common in this type of court story for the interpreter to be someone unexpected, usually a humble outsider – Daniel as a Jewish hostage fits this mould
The unique twist in this story is, the king won’t even tell anyone what his dream is
In Chapter 7, the fourfold series of empires is represented by a series of beasts: a lion, a bear, a leopard, and finally an unnamed beast, dreadful and terrifying (Dan 7.7)
In Chapter 2, the empires are represented by different metals, starting with gold at the head, then silver, then bronze, and ending with iron mixed with clay at the feet
Everything in Chapter 2 happens in public, except Daniel’s prayer for revelation
Everything in Chapter 7, although it sounds so dramatic, happens inside Daniel’s head
It’s in keeping with the nature of apocalyptic, that the secrets revealed to Daniel remain sealed up: At this point the revelation ended. As for me, my thoughts were greatly alarming me and my face grew pale, but I kept the matter to myself (Dan 7.28)
Giant statues like the one in the king’s dream are common in ANE literature
It is also common to represent history in terms of a series of metals of declining value (Greek myth: ages of gold, silver, bronze; modern prehistory stone, bronze, iron)
But there are no parallels for Daniel’s combination of the two, for the representation of the succession of ages in the form of a giant statue made of different metals
The statue in Chapter 2 is broken to pieces by a great stone, that became a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Dan 2.35)
The smashing of the statue symbolises the end of gentile kingship and the end of the idolatry that goes with it
The arrogant horn in Chapter 7 that sprouts from the terrifying unnamed beast is finally judged and condemned, but in Daniel’s vision this judgement has still to come:
The court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him (Daniel 7:26–27)
Nebuchadnezzar rewards Daniel because his interpretation of his dream is flattering to him
The statue is large and of extraordinary splendour, and Nebuchadnezzar and his empire are the head, which is made of fine gold (Dan 2.32)
Daniel’s interpretation brings him respect and rewards, which he shares with his friends
It’s a comforting tale for people living under foreign rule
By contrast, Daniel’s dream speaks to people in a much more difficult situation
His dream describes the desperate situation of people suffering under a ruthless dictator:
He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time (Dan 7.25)
Daniel speaks to those saints who are being worn down
How long will their suffering last? It’s not clear
A time, times, and half a time could mean a year, plus two years, plus half a year: which makes three and half years (half of seven years, and therefore the least perfect number. The same formula appears in Revelation 12.14); or it could be much longer
Dan 9.24 prophesies that the exile won’t last 70 years, as Jeremiah prophesied it would, it would last 70 weeks of years, in other words 490 years
Some people around the time of Jesus were saying that time was now up – that the great Jubilee, the time of freedom and restoration, was now here
Creating expectations that helped spark the rebellion against the Romans that led to the final destruction of the temple, and the slaughter of perhaps a million Jews
That’s the danger of over-interpreting prophecy
God’s people are never just waiting for the fall of a single human dictator: they’re waiting for the restoration of all things, and the kingdom of God himself
Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him (Dan 7.27)
The message of books like Daniel isn’t how to bring that kingdom about; it’s how we’re meant to live while we’re waiting
Scriptures quoted from the New American Standard Bible. Image by Dan Diffendale at flickr.com
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