Reading: Daniel 4-6, Psalm 5

So. Yesterday we learned about Daniel and how God used him to interpret a dream about a statue, an image, that gets destroyed by a huge stone. Immediately afterward we got a story about how the king of Babylon, the one who had the dream, sets up a huge image of himself. Some faithful Jews who have been reading the books of Moses refuse to bow to this statue. They are saved from an absurdly hot furnace and king Nebuchadnezzar is forced to admit that the God of Israel is supreme.

Next scene, Nebuchadnezzar is having another dream, this time about a huge tree. A tree that is the center of the world and provides food and shade for all the animals and people. If you haven’t already made the connection, you might think about other stories in the Bible in which trees play a major role and concern all the animals and people? One that takes place in a garden? Ok, we got that, now let’s get on with the dream. A watcher from the heavens comes down and chops down the tree, leaving the stump bound with iron in the field. The tree’s mind is to be turned to that of a beast and it is to eat and live as they do. I guess even in the dream this was a pretty obvious metaphor.

But Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t see it that way. He once again calls all the wise men together, but they got nothing. Finally Daniel shows up and hears the dream, but it upsets him. He doesn’t want to tell the king what it means, because it’s pretty bad. Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful king of antiquity, is going to be reduced to an animal. The king insists, so Daniel tells him the interpretation. Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t do anything to Daniel, but he also does nothing to correct his course. The story tells us that some time later he is walking around Babylon telling himself how he is super great and has built all this himself, when he is struck and becomes like a beast of the field. Nebuchadnezzar, the great king, becomes an animal when he claims the position that rightfully belongs only to God. We aren’t done with this theme.

Eventually God restores him and he sings another song about how supreme the God of Israel is. But that is the last we hear of Nebuchadnezzar, as the next scene concerns king Belshazzar. In this story, we have a king more like the one in Esther- he likes to party. He likes to party so much that he brings out the plunder of the Temple in Jerusalem and uses the Temple cups and bowls for his big bash. Then a hand appears on the wall and writes some words. Super creepy. Belshazzar is properly freaked out, and we once again get a scene where all the king’s wise men can’t answer his questions. Finally Daniel is brought in and tells Belshazzar the bad news: he’s done for and the kingdom will be leaving him. While he has refused the kings honors, they are bestowed on him anyway. Not that it matters much, since the Persians show up and take over the country that same night. Belshazzar dishonored the God of Israel, and his throne was taken from him. We still aren’t done with this theme

The third story is about Darius, the king of Media-Persia who reigned during the rest of Daniel’s life. Darius’ advisers are jealous of Daniel, so they set up a plot that plays on Darius’ pride. Let no one pray or worship anyone except… you, O king! What an obvious ploy. But, Darius falls for it, as I suppose is to be expected by this point in the story. Daniel of course ignores the regulation and continues to pray to and worship the God of Israel. The king is very sad about this, and tries to undo his mistake, but due to Persian traditions about the permanence of royal decrees, he cannot. In a very famous story, he is thrown into a den of hungry lions. In what should now be predictable if no less miraculous, Daniel is unharmed by the lions, and when Darius pulls him out of the pit he makes two statements: the God of Israel is the supreme God, and all those bad advisers shall be fed to the lions along with their families. Well, one out of two isn’t bad I guess.

These stories have two messages. First is the supremacy of the God of Israel over the foreign rulers under which the exiled people of Israel now live. When kings dishonor the creator God, they become like the animals. Not only does God raise and lower kings, he also has brought his chosen people to places of authority. Like Mordecai in Esther, Daniel is promoted to the head of the kingdom. For him it happens not once, but twice. This bring us to the second point, which is that Daniel is a trustworthy prophet. He is faithful to the God of Israel. He is honest, wise, uses authority well, and is trusted even by those outside his own people. This is important set up for the rest of the book, as Daniel is about to have some crazy visions, which coming from anyone else would be easy to doubt. But we know now that Daniel is trustworthy.