GOD'S NEW WORLD, DAY 19 (rule of man, reign of God)

 

“As I watched in the night visions,

I saw one like a human being
    coming with the clouds of heaven.
And he came to the Ancient One
    and was presented before him.
To him was given dominion
    and glory and kingship,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
    should serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
    that shall not pass away,
and his kingship is one
    that shall never be destroyed.” (Daniel 7.13-14)

     The Scriptures are clear – the Creator is King (e.g. Pss. 93—99).  Another thing is clear – Israel is the people of Yahweh, the one God (Ex. 19.1-6).  If these two statements are true, the historical circumstances of the people of God from (at least) the 6^th century to the 2^nd century B.C. place a giant question mark (and exclamation mark?) beside the double affirmation that there is one God, and Israel is his people.  Ever since the Babylonians put an end to the line of Davidic kings, destroyed Yahweh’s Temple along with the city of David (Zion, Jerusalem) and exiled the Judeans to Babylonia, there has been no evidence “on the ground” of the “fact” that Yahweh, the God of Israel, is king.  Where is the kingdom of God?  When will Yahweh vindicate his suffering people?  How long will it be before the “exile” finally comes to an end?  Where is the fulfillment of the promises of the prophets?  How long will pagan empires continue to mock the Creator with their arrogance and their violence?  How long will people like Antiochus IV bully and persecute Israel and blaspheme her God?  When will justice be done…and what should the people of God do in the meantime?  These are the questions that drive the book of Daniel.

     We should not be surprised when, in chapter 7, Daniel has a dream of the four[1] winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, followed by four monsters emerging from the sea to attack “the holy ones of the Most High” (Dn. 7.1-8, 21-22).  One of the horns of the fourth “great beast” has human eyes and a mouth that speaks arrogantly.  Once all four beasts have emerged, Daniel is ushered into heaven and is granted a vision of the divine throne room (7.9).  Many thrones are set in place and a session of the celestial court begins – while uncountable multitudes surround and serve the Ancient One enthroned on his throne-chariot of fire – indeed his chariot[2] consists of “burning fire” and “fiery flames” swirl around him.  Finally, the books are opened (7.10).  The “little horn” (7.8; i.e., a king; cf. 7.24-26) continues to speak arrogantly[3] as the fourth beast is condemned and executed…by fire[4]; the other beasts are judged by the Ancient One, but their lives are prolonged “for a season and a time” (7.11-12).  Following the sentencing of the four beasts (i.e., empires: Dn. 7.17; cf. chapter 2), Daniel sees “one like a son of man (human being)” coming with the clouds of heaven to be presented before the Ancient One.  This Son of Man is endowed with an eternal dominion and glory and kingship which will extend over all peoples, nations, and languages and which shall never be destroyed (7.13-14).  The kingdom of God (the Ancient One) has been entrusted to a human being, which, we are told later, represents “the people of the holy ones of the Most High” (Dn. 7.18, 22).  The people of God will rule over all the nations of the earth (cf. Ps. 2.7-9)!  No more oppression, no more subjugation, no more “being trampled” (7.7, 19, 23) underfoot by the empires of the earth!  There will be one God, one people of God and one world!  Divine justice will be served and the people of God vindicated over the “beastly” empires.  This is the dream of the coming of the kingdom of God.[5]

     But what did Daniel’s dream actually refer to?  The interpretation offered in Dn. 7.15-27 basically amounts to “the symbols of the dream are symbolic”.  However, apocalyptic texts, like Daniel 7, use this language of beasts and humans, heaven, earth and sea, thrones and judgment, fire and wrath, the city of God defeating all the cities of mankind – to refer to actual events “on the ground”.  I can imagine the author of Daniel 7 having the defeat of the forces of Antiochus (the “little horn”) and the cleansing of the Temple in mind as he composed this text (cf. 1 Maccabees 1—6).  The victory of the holy ones of the Most High is the victory of God.  The rule of the Son of Man is the reign of God.

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[1] In the book of Daniel, things often happen in series of fours.  Daniel is exiled to Babylon along with three friends (Dn. 1.1-7).  In chapter 2, King Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a four-part statue, made of gold, silver, bronze and iron (In Greek mythology, history was often described in terms of 4 recurring ages – the golden, the silver, the bronze and the iron; each age was supposed to be characterized by people of decreasing quality, represented by each of the four metals.  Naturally, empires often heralded the dawn of a golden age when they consolidated their power).  Daniel interprets the dream as symbolizing four empires, with that of Nebuchadnezzar represented by the golden head of the statue (naturally).  Eventually, a stone “cut out without hands” smashes into the feet of the statue, destroying it before itself becoming a mountain that fills the whole earth.  This stone/mountain is the kingdom of God that displaces all human empires and replaces them with Yahweh’s eternal reign of true justice and true peace. 

In chapter 3, Daniel’s three friends refuse to commit an act of idolatry – worship a giant statue of Nebuchadnezzar - and are thus thrown into a “burning fiery furnace”, where they are joined by a mysterious fourth figure who resembles “a god”; the three friends emerge from the fire unscathed.

(Dn. 3.24-25: in Bibles that do not include the “additional material” from the Greek version of Daniel found in the LXX.  In Bibles that include them, the reference is 3.91-92.  Part of the additional material in chapter 3 is a hymn offering the praise of every aspect of the created order to the Creator, sung by the “three young men” as they are in the furnace: 3.51-90).

[2] Cf. Ez. 1.

[3] This “little horn” (7.8) that “seemed greater than the others” (7.20) was understood to refer to Antiochus IV; cf. Dn. 7.21-27; 11.29-39.

[4] While the holy ones of the Most High are impervious to earthly flames (cf. chapter 3), pagan empires are destined to be destroyed by divine fire.

[5] Did the author of the book of Daniel believe the with the success of the Maccabean revolt and the establishment of the Hasmonean dynasty, the kingdom of Yahweh had finally arrived?  If so, this kingdom would turn out to be anything but eternal… of course, once Rome annexed Judaea, readers of Daniel began to identify both the fourth metal of the statue of chapter 2 (legs/feet of iron) and the fourth beast of chapter 7 with the Roman empire.  Note that just as the legs/feet of iron has 10 toes (2.41-43), so the fourth beast has 10 horns (7.19-20, 24).  Note also that Daniel, who has so far in the narrative been the one to interpret dreams, is now in need of “one of the attendants” (cf. 7.10) to interpret his dream for him (7.15-27).