Daniel: An Exemplar of Faith

The Book of Daniel. Some of the all-time favorite Bible stories are in this book: Daniel in the lions' den; and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the Fiery Furnace. I also like the part in chapter 1 where Daniel and his (above-named) cohorts choose to eat vegetarian food rather than the defiled Babylonian meats, and they end up healthier than other kids in their class. Oh, yes: the Writing on the Wall story in chapter 5 is great, too. And I can't forget about Nebuchadnezzar going crazy and eating grass.

A huge portion of Daniel is apocryphal literature, "symbolic, visionary, prophetic literature, usually composed during oppressive conditions and being chiefly eschatological in theological content." Frankly, apocryphal literature always makes me nervous. At least Daniel isn't as challenging as Revelation!

I think my Sunday School class would like to do a study of Revelation. The problem is that because apocryphal literature is so intentionally obscure, it's open to all kinds of interpretation. To teach it well, one should review as many interpretations as possible. In the case of Revelation, there are only about a bazillion views--broken down into about half a bazillion "schools" of thought. My heart sinks at the thought of how much time it would take to really research, digest, and then try to teach all that in a coherent fashion.

With regard to the apocryphal portions of Daniel, some of it is interpreted right in the text. The angels Gabriel and Michael actually appeared to Daniel and helped him understand what some of the symbols in his prophetic visions would mean.

I love the fact that those angels have names! Gabriel shows up again in Luke 1:19, announcing the birth of John (the Baptizer) to Zechariah; and again in 1:26, announcing the birth of Jesus to Mary.

Some of the prophecies are so specific, skeptical scholars have opined that Daniel must have been written--as a fictional account--in about the second century before Christ, as opposed to the traditional view that it was written in the sixth century, and likely by Daniel himself. The prophecies about the ruling dynasties that would follow the Babylonians are so clear -- everything but actual names and dates.

I found myself wondering, however, how Jewish scholars would interpret the passages, here and in other OT prophetic books, that Christians see as pointing directly to Jesus Christ. Daniel 2:44, 7:27, and 9:25 ff seem to point to a Messiah who would rise during the time of the Roman Empire.

I have to say that I prefer the narrative parts of Daniel to the prophetic/apocryphal parts. The book covers his life from when he was a teen-ager, freshly deported from Israel in about 605 B.C., to when he was an old man, still serving in the court of Darius in about 539. Every time he is described, sometimes in his own words, he seems to be such a wise, serene figure--loved and respected by the Babylonians as much as by his own people.

Whether he's eating vegetables, perceiving and interpreting the king's dreams, praying despite a law forbidding prayers to gods other than Babylonia's, explaining the words written on the wall, or trembling before the angels Michael and Gabriel, Daniel is an exemplar of faith and the strength that comes from total devotion to God.