Be not discouraged

The events outlined in the book of Daniel took place six hundred years before Jesus of Nazareth appeared. (Fragments of the book were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls which may indicate that the book was written at that period.) It was during a period when the Israelite nation was in disarray and its citizens forcibly removed from their homeland and transported to Babylon. A discouraging outlook indeed.

Captivity in, or removal to a "foreign" land seems to be a recurring theme in the Bible. For example, the baby Moses was removed from his family and grew up in the court of the Pharoah. Joseph came into a position of great influence under similar circumstances. Daniel's experience shows us that despite unpromising circumstances, he could shine a light on the sustaining power of God through his uprightness, obedience and consecration.

The Gospel of Luke alludes to such difficult conditions. Jesus never shied away from adverse situations, but rather was able to raise thought upwards to see the higher purpose. [Mary Baker Eddy speaks of adverse conditions in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures - "Meet every adverse circumstance as its master" (p. 419).] In Luke chapter 21 Jesus is speaking with the chief priests, the scribes and the elders, who pepper him with questions. In response to their queries about the church (in this case, the temple), he foretells the ruin of Jerusalem. The King James Version has it (verse 24): "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (my italics).

But read on, and lo, redemption: "...the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory" (Luke 21: 27)! Here is the joyous instruction to "...look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh" (verse 28).

This reminds me of Daniel's experience in chapter 11 when he seems at an all-time low, his strength failing him. But God had never abandoned him. Help is at hand. Behold the angels are right there to assure him: "Michael...came to help me..." (verse 13) and a messenger, "one like the appearance of a man" (verse 18)  gives him strength. I am grateful to have learned in Christian Science that the terms "man" and "son" do not indicate male or female but rather the tender relationship between God and His offspring.

Julie Swannell

More opposition for Daniel

Daniel Chapter 6

Here's an interesting thing. My New King James Version uses “satraps” in the first verse where the KJV has “princes”. The New Revised Standard Version also has “satraps”. I had to look up satrap, didn't I! The dictionary has “A subordinate ruler; especially a despotic one.” Another telling one is, “henchman.”

[Ed. Dictionary.com offers the following in their Thesaurus: governor, nabob, representative]

As I read the chapter with those definitions in mind, I thought of to-day's political scene. Perhaps nothing has changed much. I don't know a lot about lobbying of parliamentary members, but that is the practice that came to mind; and all the to-do there is about gaining power and using it.

Jealousy is illustrated in a big way in this story of Daniel and the Lions’ Den. Also illustrated is an example of using a law to bring dishonour to a “tall poppy.” But the highest authority in the land, King Darius, was able to recognise an even higher authority in God's keeping Daniel safe from the lions. The accusers had a grim fate – they were cast into the den of lions, which in their case did what lions are renowned for doing.

King Darius acknowledges the God of Daniel and makes “a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel” (Dan 6: 26). We are told that Daniel continued to prosper in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

Daniel Chapter 7

Boy! This is a deep one! I wondered if Mrs. Eddy gives any interpretation of Daniel's dream/vision. It is so interesting to find this: “It is authentically said that one expositor of Daniel's dates fixed the year 1866 or 1867 for the return of Christ – the return of the spiritual idea to the material earth or antipode of heaven. It is a marked coincidence that those dates were the first two years of my discovery of Christian Science” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist and Miscellany, p. 181:27).

This helps me somewhat in considering the message in this chapter.

We find that God is defined as “The Ancient of Days” (Dan 7: 9) and Christ as “one like the Son of man” (Dan 7: 13), although the NRSV gives a disappointing “one like a human being.” A footnote states that the Aramaic has “One like the Son of man.” Ah! A note in NRSV seems to indicate the human and the divine of Jesus Christ's demonstration: it says, “One like a human being symbolizes a new, everlasting kingdom” (my underlining). Well. I am satisfied that the visions predict the coming of the Messiah and of Christian Science.

William McKenzie must have had a clear idea of “The Ancient of Days” because he has given us a poem containing the idea in hymn 150 of the Christian Science Hymnal:

In mercy, in goodness, how great is our King;

Our tribute, thanksgiving, with glad hearts we bring.

Thou art the Renewer, the Ancient of Days,

Who givest, for mourning, the garment of praise.

We thank Thee for work in the wide harvest field,

For gladness that ripens when sorrow is healed;

Made strong with Thy goodness that meets every need,

We gather the fruit of the Sower's good seed.

Joyce Voysey

The writing on the wall

Daniel, Chapter 5 introduces us to another king – Belshazzar. The chapter heading in my Bible reads “Belshazzar's Feast.”

BELSHAZZAR IN ART AND MUSIC

Those interested in the Arts will know that the famous artist, Rembrandt, found this a topic to be painted – in 1635. And in 1931 William Walton's cantata, Belshazzar's Feast, was first played in Leeds. The fourth movement quotes at length from this chapter of Daniel. (A cantata is a "medium-length narrative piece of music for voices with instrumental accompaniment, typically with solos, chorus, and orchestra" Oxford Dictionary.) 

LOOT FROM THE JEWISH TEMPLE

Now, when Belshazzar's father, Nebuchadnezzar, sacked Jerusalem, he brought back silver and gold vessels from the temple so that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. It seems Belshazzar decided that his “great feast for a thousand of his lords” (Dan 5:1) where much wine was being drunk, would be an appropriate occasion to use these vessels. All this was blasphemy to the Jews, but to this was added the sacrilege of using the act of drinking from the vessels as a tribute to the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone; in a word – matter. A Biblical note says that both of these acts mock the power and sovereignty of God.

WRITING ON THE WALL

Rather than seeing images in a dream.Belshazzar sees writing on the wall. He needs someone to interpret this writing,  Again all the wise men – astrologers, Chaldeans* and soothsayers – could not figure this one. This time it is Belshazzar's wife who has the intuition to tell the king to call the “man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God” (Dan 5:11) namely, Daniel. One in tune with God and listening to His voice must have superior power to those working in the occult, prophecy, numerology, and fortune-telling which the king's men were trying to apply to the puzzle.

Belshazzar's wife reminds the king of the experience of Nebuchadnezzar, relating the full story of Daniel's successful involvement. She indicates that Nebuchadnezzar suffered for his pride and warns her husband that he too must be humble. She reminds him of the wrong he has done in using the Jewish sacred vessels in a profane manner. He hasn't been getting his gods right! She is a spiritually minded woman; she speaks of the one God, who “holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways” and who he has "not glorified" (Dan 5:23).

This Babylonian court seems to have been very mixed up about God and the gods.

Although the interpretation is negative for the king, still he appreciates Daniel's work and promotes him.

However, verse 30 is succinct and rather brutal in telling us the outcome: “That very night Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, was slain.” And we are presented with a new king to think about – Darius the Mede, a sixty-two year old. 

Joyce Voysey

[Ed. Note the pronunciation is "Kal-dee'uhn" not "Ch". The Reading Room sells a marvellous, slim volume called Bible Pronunciation Guide (HarperCollins) which is very useful for all who read the Bible.]

The government is upon his shoulder

In considering the events recorded in Daniel 2 and 3, it is comforting and enlightening to recall the prophecy of Isaiah 9: "the government shall be upon his shoulder". Impossibly dogmatic and cruel consequences seem to threaten the whole field, but Daniel and his friends do not entangle themselves in such consequences. Rather they turn confidently and wholeheartedly to acknowledge God's absolute omnipotence - 

   Praise the name of God forever and ever,
    for he has all wisdom and power.
   He controls the course of world events;
    he removes kings and sets up other kings.
   He gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to the scholars.
   He reveals deep and mysterious things
    and knows what lies hidden in darkness,
    though he is surrounded by light.
   I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors,
    for you have given me wisdom and strength.
   You have told me what we asked of you
     and revealed to us what the king demanded.
                       (New Living Translation)

What a beautiful prayer. 

Faced with the death penalty, Daniel now confidently strides in to speak directly to the king, whose confusion and perplexity he is able to calm and relieve. 

But the struggle is not over. An impossibly dogmatic new law is promulgated. Factions spread propaganda and are persuasive in their loud and demanding insistence. All the world seems to be pressuring Daniel's three friends to conform...or else. The king seems to have turned violent. 

Until. 

Until he sees something startling: alongside Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace is a fourth man who he can only describe as "like a son of the gods" (English Standard Version). Another crisis has passed. A bad law is repealed. Wisdom reigns.

Julie Swannell

Nebuchadnezzar survives the dream

Daniel - Chapter 4. 

Nebuchadnezzar's God/god affiliation is a puzzle to me. He talks about the Most High God and the wonders He has wrought. His praise is fulsome and yet he also talks about “my god.” This is where he tells of Daniel coming to interpret his dream “(his name is Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god...).” I find this hard to reconcile with the king's acknowledgement of the Most High God.

Oh! I think I get it! Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged many gods! The Most High God, to him, is the highest of many gods!

He saw that Most High God  do marvellous things for Daniel and his friends. As the chapter unfolds with the second dream and its consequences, we find the king acknowledging that the Most High God had delivered him from the dis-ease which had him “driven from men" and eating "grass like oxen". Further, "his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws" (Dan 4:33).

Anyway, Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar survive another dream experience. And it seems that Nebuchadnezzar finally gets the right idea of God as evidenced by his beautiful Poem in verses 34 and 35.

Joyce Voysey

Bow down or else

I am mostly reading from my New King James Version – leather bound – for this exercise. It is so lovely to hold!

Chapter 3: An image of gold about 90 feet tall! My goodness! That was a lot of gold. Surely not solid gold.

The NKJV  uses the phrase “in symphony with all kinds of music” in verses 5, 7, 10 and 15, while the NRSV uses “musical ensemble.” A nice touch for musicians, I feel, having just yesterday been trying to recall the young musicians who made up the Queensland Secondary Schools Orchestra which formed in 1966 and which developed into the Queensland Youth Orchestra. This organisation has a record of 50 years of making youthful music under the one Musical Director. That 1966 orchestra certainly had French horns and flutes, and many stringed instruments, but no harps, lyres, or psalteries. I suppose the general term “horns” could include trumpets.

I think of the communication in those days (it reminds me of the language of Esther) - not quite the instant communication of our day. I would like to have a mental picture of how the king's messages were dispersed on Nebuchadnezzar's day – and how long it took. And, how was the king's order to be carried out? It feels like a case of neighbour informing on neighbour. In Daniel's case, it was “certain Chaldeans” who “dobbed him in” when he disobeyed the order to fall down and worship the golden image when the music played. What a lot of work this created, all those musicians throughout the country, for one.

The four boys would not even yield to the king's demand that they worship the golden image. They were willing to be “cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.” They knew God would deliver them. 

The king's anger seems to be reflected in the fiery furnace. However, he later came to acknowledge God's power in saving the boys from destruction in the fire. He said “there is no God who can deliver like this.”

The chapter ends on a similar note to chapter 2 in that we again see promotion, this time for the boys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. 

Joyce Voysey

Dearly beloved

I find that Daniel is quite replete on “dearly beloved” references, i.e. Dan. 9:23; 10:11, 19. Well, perhaps 'replete' is rather an exaggeration. But I am glad to have this phrase brought to my notice. For, doesn't our dear Father-Mother say that of each of us. He-She is well-pleased with us all. I look forward to coming to the context of those references.

Chapter 2: Daniel's prayer came to him in verse – Dan. 2:20-23. This was the prayer in which God would reveal to him the king's dream – the dream, not just the interpretation. Not unreasonably, the wise men had said that this was not possible. The king had commanded that all the wise men, including Daniel and his friends, were to be killed.

Daniel's prayer was answered. He proved that “with God all things are possible” and as the prayer states, “He (God) reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwelleth with him” (Verse 22).

The dream and the interpretation tell of the coming history of this region (with its toppling of kings), and it might well be related to the present time when we consider verse 44: And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever". Not just in Babylon but in all the world.

Daniel and his friends were greatly promoted, e.g. Daniel became “chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.”

Joyce Voysey

There's always something new to ponder.

In verse 2 of Chapter 1, we find “the land of Shinar.” This is said to Babylon. But one web site (http://www.icr.org/books/defenders/5367) says: 

Zechariah 5:11

5:11 land of Shinar. “Shinar” is Babel, where Nimrod first built his great anti-God empire based upon pantheistic evolutionism and idolatrous covetousness

Research takes us to the book of Revelation to hear more about Babylon and John's predictions of its fall - see Rev. chapter 18. And, of course, to Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health's Glossary for this inspired definition:

Babel. Self-destroying error; a kingdom divided against itself, which cannot stand; material knowledge.

The higher false knowledge builds on the basis of evidence obtained from the five corporeal senses, the more confusion ensues, and the more certain is the downfall of its structure.

Regarding “Nimrod” in the definition above: we ask, this name is not in the Bible, surely? But it is; in 4 references, the main one being Gen. 10:8. Ham, Noah's son had a son Cush, and “Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth.” He was the first powerful king on earth, and Babylon was one of the first cities of his kingdom.

[An interlude here: It shows perhaps how I need to study the book of Daniel when I was hugely surprised that the last citation in the Bible for this week's Bible Lesson is from Daniel: “...thou are greatly beloved” (Dan. 9:23 (in part)). What a beautiful thought to take with us on our way to-day!]

I find myself inclined to ponder the “how to” of things. How would the master of the eunuchs go about finding those “...young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans” (Chap.1, verse 4)?

How would we go about it to-day? If we were in America we might start at Principia College for Christian Scientists. We would certainly need to use our God-given qualities such as intuition and perception. We would need to seek God's help, perhaps with attention to Mary Baker Eddy's poem

Shepherd.

Shepherd show me how to go

O'er the hillside steep,

How to gather, how to sow, –

How to feed Thy sheep;

I am sure it could not be counted how many times that sentiment has brought direction and guidance and government to those who call on this sublime poem set to music in the Christian Science Hymnal.

Anyway, Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were classified under those qualities. Perhaps by refusing the king's food and drink Daniel was re-classifying the qualities as being of God; which qualities could not be improved upon by royal food and drink. He would not defile himself by claiming the good to be personal to him. He knew that God must get the credit.

Daniel was given something extra - “understanding in all visions and dreams” (Dan. 1:17).

Joyce Voysey

Ed. Readers may like to listen to Edward Elgar's achingly beautiful NIMROD from his "Enigma Variations". There are a number of recordings on YouTube. 

Babylonian captivity

I like New King James Version's introduction to Daniel:

“Daniel's life and ministry bridge the entire seventy-year period of Babylonian captivity. Deported to Babylon at the age of sixteen [JV: how do we know this?] and handpicked for government service, Daniel becomes God's prophetic mouthpiece to the gentile and Jewish world declaring God's present and eternal purpose. Nine of the twelve chapters in his book revolve around dreams, including God-given visions involving trees, animals, beasts, and images. In both his personal adventures and prophetic visions, Daniel shows God's guidance....The name Naniye'l or Dani'el means “God Is My Judge.”"

The book is written in two languages: Hebrew in Chapters 1 and 8-12; Aramaic Chapters 2-7. It is also of interest that the book is found in different locations in different canons, i.e. In the Greek canon it is amongst the prophetic books (as it is in the King James Version); the Hebrew canon places it in the Writings, between Esther and Ezra. This is significant as the interpretations are either prophetic or apocalyptic.

The literary setting is 6^th Century BCE, while the book was written in the time of Artiochus' persecution of the Jews (167 BCE), to encourage Jews facing persecution. I will quote from New Revised Standard Version: “As a whole the book of Daniel encourages and consoles Jews facing persecution in the reign of Antiochus. In Chs. 1-6, it provides them with heroic role models of Jews who thrive because they remain faithful to Jewish law while serving a foreign king. In Chs. 7-12, it holds out promise of deliverance in the new kingdom of God for those who remain faithful in the face of persecution. Together these messages enunciate the book's major theme of God's sovereign control of history.”

Oh Boy! There is so much scholarly stuff written!

Joyce Voysey

Daniel and modern dilemmas

We enter the ancient world as we open the book of Daniel. Jehoiakim is king of Judah and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon (on the banks of the Euphrates - modern day Iraq). 

Jerusalem was besieged (dictionary.com: attack, blockade, encircle, come at from all sides) and taken by the Babylonians. People and treasures were hauled by to Babylon. Australians in 2016 can only imagine what this might have been like. We see images of Syrian and Iraqi towns being taken today...this might give us some idea of the devastation and despair that would undoubtedly have occurred in Jerusalem in those days. 

Readers might spare a thought for the plight of modern Christians in the Middle East. A gripping story from Kristen Chick appeared in this week's Christian Science Monitor. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2016/1128/Their-town-now-liberated-Iraqi-Christians-talk-of-life-under-ISIS?cmpid=gigya-fb *

But back in ancient Babylon, King Neb. wanted perfect specimens in his court, and the head of the palace staff (Ashpenaz) chose four of the "foreign" (i.e. Jewish) young men who were "healthy and handsome, intelligent and well-educated, good prospects for leadership positions in the government" (The Message). They were given Babylonian names - Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, just as modern-day newcomers might adopt local names so they blend in easily, and were ordered to adopt the specialized food regimen of the palace. Would these young men (their Jewish names were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah) convert to the ways of the Babylonians? Would they be caught in the net of a certain diet that was assumed would give them strength and health? 

Are we today influenced in our choice of food, clothing, exercise?

Julie Swannell

*Thank you to the ever-alert Bible digger and friend Madelon Maupin for sharing this Monitor article on her Facebook page!