I thought a brief summary of the first 6 chapters we covered last week, connecting them to the summaries for the last 6 chapters this week, will help bring the “big picture” of the book of Daniel into focus.
Daniel chapter 1 begins right after Babylon’s has defeated the Kingdom of Judah (for the historical narrative, see 2 Kings 24) and, after plundering the city and the Temple, Babylon had started deporting the people of Jerusalem into exile. Included in this first wave of exiles were 4 youths of the royal families of Judah: Daniel (renamed by the Babylonians as Belteshazzar) and his three friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who became Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. As I am writing this (on Sunday, January 26, 2025), I am still basking in the glow of Pastor Kamstra’s amazing teaching about hope. One of the book of Daniel’s central themes is how, despite all their struggles, these four men maintain hope while enslaved in the land of their oppressors.
The book is laid out in two parts. Chapters 1-6 are historical narratives about Daniel and his friends while in exile; Chapters 7-12 discuss the visions Daniel has about the future. Overlayed on top of this structure is the unique feature of the original languages. As I explained last week, Chapter 1 is written in the Israelite native language of Hebrew. But Chapters 2-7 are written in Aramaic, the native language of Babylon (which is related to Hebrew in the same way that modern day languages like German and Dutch share similar qualities), as well being the established international language of commerce and diplomacy. Chapters 8-12 switch back to Hebrew. Last week I explained how this was meant to emphasize how the chapters written in Hebrew relate more to Israel and the people of God, while chapters 2-7 are matters affecting the entire world. But it also helps frame the book from an organizational perspective. This sudden language change does more than set chapters 2-7 apart as a separate section of the book; it helps emphasize how understanding the sections that transition into and out of the Aramaic section – chapters 2 and 7 – are important for understanding the complexities of the Hebrew chapters that follow, which are written about future prophecy and apocalyptic catastrophes.
Chapter 1 is the introduction to the historic section of the book, Chapters 1-6. Daniel and his friends are presented as talented and tactful men, full of wisdom, who are chosen from amongst the “best of the best” of Israel’s youth to serve in the king’s palace in Babylon. Last week, we discussed the point of tension – Daniel’s oppressors are forcing him and his friends to give up their Jewish identity, and they refuse to violate the dietary restrictions of the law of Moses. It’s a tricky matter to maneuver around, but God protects them, and they find favor with and are promoted by the King.
Next, Chapter 2 begins the Aramaic section.
We discussed Chapter 2 at length last week. The King had a disturbing dream, and it turns out only Daniel can interpret the dream. The dream features an enormous statute made of four distinctively different metals, with each of the metals representing an historical sequence of empires. The head represented Babylon. (Last week, we discussed the details of the nations each metal represented, as well as the reason for each subsequent empire being stronger than its predecessors yet were represented by metals that were progressively less valuable). Then, a rock carved by human hands comes rolling in, shattering the statute and reducing it to rubble. This dream is the first of many prophetic visions in the book. This first vision sets the stage for all the rest. Daniel explains how the statue’s different metals represent the passing of history from one great kingdom to another after Babylon, each nation taking their place as the ruling power in the world before passing the torch to the next. But the destructive rock represents God’s kingdom, which humbles all the other kingdoms of history, and brings the healing, power, and justice of the kingdom of God.
Chapter 3 gives us the story of Daniel’s three friends, who refuse to bow and worship the King’s golden statute. The concept of the statue relates back to the vision in Chapter 2, as the statue in Chapter 3 represents the king himself, and his autocratic power. The three friends are thrown into a fiery furnace, but God delivers them (appearing in the flames in physical form himself), and the king exalts the friends, and is moved to acknowledge the Hebrew God as the true God.
Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 presents a pair of parallel stories, the first involving King Nebuchadnezzar, the second involves Belshazzar, a descendant of the Nebuchadnezzar (identified in Chapter 5 as Nebuchadnezzar’s son, though he is actually removed from Nebuchadnezzar by some four generations). Both kings are arrogant and prideful, each flushed with the vastness of their personal power as king. Like the narrative in Chapter 2, God warns them with dreams and visions. And just like Chapter 2, Daniel is the only one who can interpret what the visions mean. Daniel tells each King that they must humble themselves before God, and both kings refuse to listen. Nebuchadnezzar is stricken with madness, living like a wild animal in the wilderness for 7 years. But Nebuchadnezzar eventually humbles himself before God and is restored to his throne. In contrast, Belshazzar refuses to be humble and is assassinated that very night.
There is a connection with the narratives of Chapters 4 and 5 with the imagery of Genesis chapters 1-2 and Psalm 8, where human beings are depicted as having the image of God, and being honored by God in creation as being like God in the sense that God is “king.” In Psalm 8:4-6, it says, “what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet.” God has given mankind authority to rule over the world on God’s behalf, who is the true king. But when humanity, like the kings here in Daniel 4 and 5, become full of themselves so that they rebel against God’s principles and make themselves the equal of God, they lower themselves to the level of wild animals, and face the judgment of God.
Chapter 6, like chapters 4 and 5, can be paired up with a similar chapter from earlier in the book, that is, Chapter 3. We discussed this last week at length. Daniel is the focal point of the story, refusing to obey a law requiring him to worship the king. Like his three friends, he is sentenced to death and is thrown into a lion’s den. Daniel is also delivered from death, and like his friends, the King exalts Daniel and recognizes the Hebrew God.
