The Book of Daniel....more Apocalyptic literature

Dear Bible Challenge participants,

Well! We navigated Ezekiel! Well done. It is such a complex scroll-- I wonder, what parts did you enjoy, and what parts were the most difficult?

In addition to the "MORTAL! (EARTHLING!) address to Ezekiel, the Valley of the Dry Bones, and New Heart imagery, one of my favorite aspects is the way Ezekiel uses the coming and going of the Kavod YHWH (the Glory of the Lord) to frame his narrative... the Glory of the Lord departs early on, then after the Temple is restored (with the Zadokite (to be Sadducee) priests installed as the purest of the Levites) the Glory of the Lord returns, and the last words of the scroll are "And the name of that city from that time on will be, "The Lord is There." Amen.

It's been a rich and complex diet for us as we've read Ezekiel and Revelation both-- and now we come to Daniel. Daniel is, in many ways, the literary ancestor of Revelation, and provided some of  the imagery for the "mini-apocalypses" Jesus proclaims in the Gospels. 

Daniel is a fascinating collection of writings. It is the "latest" or "youngest" book of the Old Testament, different parts of the scroll likely dating between the 4th and 2nd centuries (we base this in part on language: much of the book is in Aramaic.)  Virginia Theological Seminary and Forward Movement offer a little pamphlet on Daniel here. 

The first part of Daniel contains some of the beloved stories that read very much like oral tradition...In tomorrow's reading of Chapter 3, the story of Shadrach Meshach and Abendnigo, we can hear echoes of the voices of the listeners chiming in with with the storyteller:

"As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up..." 

The later chapters of Daniel contain the apocalyptic visions many scholars believe refer to the terror of the reign of Antiochus IV. Much of this imagery will be familiar to us from our readings of the Gospels and Revelation.

We're heading into the final stretch. Some of you have shared that you are "behind." Never fear!  There are a number of ways you can catch up if you would like to finish in 2012, including reading three chapters of the Old Testament (right now the schedule suggests only 2). In addition, after we finish Revelation, we'll be returning to the Gospels-- so another possibility for gaining ground is simply to focus on the Old Testament, since you've already read the Gospels through once.

Or you can simply keep your own pace. No worries!

Would you like to engage this Bible Challenge again in 2013?  I plan to, and would welcome your companionship.  I'd like to invite others to join us, and was thinking that a Spirit and Times article written by one or more of you might be a compelling way to make such an invitation. Or perhaps I could write the article, and include your thoughts.  Please feel free to share them, and we'll see what emerges.

Know that I am grateful for all of you! 

As ever, thank you for being on this journey!

Peace,

Paige+