January 31 - Daniel

January 31 - Daniel

I feel a little schizophrenic about Daniel and I don’t think I’m alone.  There are two Daniel’s that stand out in my mind – the young man who was taken into exile and stood up for His God against an imposing king and the older man who had visions of the end of the world.

The stories of the young Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego, were told to me over and over again when I was a child in Sunday school.  He and his friends refused to eat unclean food and grew stronger because of it.  He faced down a lion in its den (Daniel 6) and his friends came out of a fiery furnace unscathed.  In fact, those who could look into the fire saw them in there with one other being – an angel of the Lord.

While these stories were meant to encourage the Israelites who were in exile to hold on to their faith, the same thing worked for me.  If God would stand with these young people, he would surely stand with me no matter the furnace or horrific beast I might face.

The second portion of Daniel follows his interpretations of dreams and visions regarding changing world empires (Daniel 7) and we see in his apocalyptic imagery a foretaste of that seen by John in his visions found in the Revelation, “one like a son of man” coming on the clouds (7:13).  We see the four beasts in that vision and a ram and goat in Daniel 8.  Daniel 10-11 finish the book and at the conclusion, Daniel receives instruction from an angel which gives straightforward information on resurrection and life after death, followed by instruction to seal up the words until the proper time.

With Daniel’s visions, we find a strong link between Old Testament apocalyptic thought and New Testament thought of John’s recounting of the Revelation given to him by Jesus Christ.  There will be an end to this world and God is in control of it all.  It is to Him we give glory.  It is to Him we are obedient. It is to Him we surrender our will so that we can be in relationship with the Creator of the Universe and our Savior.