At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. – Daniel 12:1

Today's Scripture Reading (August 14, 2020): Daniel 12

Filmmaker Michael Moore argues that "capitalism and democracy are the opposite of each other. Capitalism is a system that guarantees that a few are going to do very well, and everybody else is going to serve the few. Democracy means everybody has a seat at the table. Everybody." He is probably right. But then again, I am not sure that we really understand the idea of opposites. I think most of us would put capitalism and democracy on the same side, standing tall against communism. Yet, I see truth in Moore's revelation. And I also know that we struggle to identify what it is that is the opposite of something.

In Christianity, we often place Satan and Jesus as opposites to each other. But the analogy doesn't really work. For one thing, we believe Jesus to be God incarnate or God who has come down to us. Satan is not God, and neither is he the Son of God. Satan is an angel, and it makes sense that the opposite of Satan would also have to be an angel.

Enter Michael. Like Satan, Michael is often seen as the angel who is involved in our spiritual battles. Satan is the great accuser, pointing his metaphorical finger at our lives and asking the questions that make our heart sink. He knows the evil that lurks in the heart of the human race and seeks to establish that evil as our reality. Satan's argument is often, "you know that you can't do any better, so why not give in to the desires of the heart." End the struggle now. The fight just simply isn't worth it.

Daniel says that it is Michael who struggles on the other end of things. He is the protector, the one who sees the best of what we can do and encourages us toward that end. He knows that the battle is worth our involvement, that we can be better than we are if we can shake the voice of Satan from his perch inside of our heads.

Satan seeks to divide. Michael supports the work of Jesus in our lives, always trying to unite, support, and to save.

And so, Daniel invokes a vision of a time of great distress. There have been many times of great difficulty for Israel and the people of God. But this will be worse than any that has gone before. At that time, a battle will ensue. But all that we need to know is that deliverance will be assured for everyone whose name is written in "the book." It is not a promise that all will be saved. Satan will win the battle with some, convincing them that their lives are evil and that they are not worthy of salvation. Satan will divide the people until they cease to believe that Michael stands ready at their defense. But for those who trust in God and his Messiah, for those who permit for Michael to stand in the struggle on their behalf, he is ready to deliver even us.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezra 1 & 2

Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great power and do as he pleases. – Daniel 11:3

 

Today's Scripture Reading (August 13, 2020): Daniel 11

Aristotle argued that "We make war that we may live in peace." It was a teaching that one of his students appears to have taken to heart. The name of his student was Alexander the Great. The Macedonian prince took over his Father's Kingdom after Dad's surprise assassination by one of his bodyguards. The reason for Philip II's assassination is unclear. Still, the result of the King's untimely death was that the young Alexander emerged as the leader of a strong kingdom and possessed an experienced army. And Alexander seemed to innately know how to make use of both.

Alexander ruled over his Kingdom for about twelve years. Most of that time, he spent as a general on the battlefield with his army. By the time he was thirty, he had amassed one of the largest empires of the ancient world, which included defeating the Persians who had taken over their part of the world from the Babylonians. Alexander had established himself as a mighty king who ruled with great power, and incidentally, who was fascinated with Nebuchadnezzar and historical Babylon. Alexander could do whatever it was that he wanted to do. No one seemed to be able to stop him.

And there is no doubt that the mighty King, who would arise with great power, the King that Daniel saw in his vision, was Alexander the Great. Daniel prophesied about this great and powerful King just over two hundred years before the death of the Philip II and the rise of one of the most powerful military men that this world has ever known.

Unfortunately, Alexander died suddenly. We are not sure why, but it seems that poison might have been involved. The historian, Plutarch, says that on or about May 27, 323 B.C.E. Alexander spent the night drinking with his friend Medius of Larissa. Following his night with his friend, Alexander developed a fever, which weakened him until he was unable to speak. At one point, his soldiers, who loved their general, became so worried about Alexander that they were permitted to parade past him while Alexander silently waved to acknowledge their presence. Alexander never recovered, dying on June 10 or 11, 323 B.C.E.  At the time of his death, he was only thirty-two. And one of the many tragedies of Alexander's death is that if Aristotle was right, then he died at the beginning of the peace that had been won by his military victories. But then again, Alexander might have never been satisfied living in an era of peace.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Daniel 12

He said, "Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you." And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling. – Daniel 10:11

 

Today's Scripture Reading (August 12, 2020): Daniel 10

Every once in awhile, it happens. It is that moment that you find yourself at a party, and you are not sure that the one who invited you, probably a friend of a friend, ever bothered to tell the host you were coming. And so you look for ways to fade into the background, to hide from the presence of the others. Maybe enjoy the food and the ambiance, without ever being noticed.

Or maybe your first reaction is to find the door. You are sure it was a mistake for you to be here. The refrain of "Mama Told Me Not to Come" echoes in the back of your mind as you try to find the door. On the night that Jesus was betrayed, I think that was where Peter found himself. I don't think we understand his sudden betrayal that night. Suddenly, on an emotional night for which Peter had never prepared himself, he found himself in a strange place, a place where he felt that he didn't belong.

He had come with John. And John came from a family of wealth and power. John belonged, but Peter didn't. While he wanted desperately to be close to Jesus during the trial that had been set out for his friend, another part of him wanted to do what everyone but he and John had done; run and hide. And everything that follows, including the apostle's famous denials, is dependent on the reality that Peter had found his way to a place where he was sure that he didn't belong.

And it is where Daniel finds himself. Physically, Daniel might have been standing on the banks of the Tigris River, but in his spirit, he had been transported somewhere else. He was taken to a mystical place where neither he, nor any other human, belonged. And at that moment, Daniel was terrified. Every fiber of his being was searching for the door, a way back to the Tigris River, the place he had been before, a place where he belonged.

Then he felt a hand on his shoulder. And a voice broke the quietness of the moment. "Daniel, you belong here. I have been sent to you. Stand up and listen, because I have a message destined for your ears." And Daniel, still shaking, stands to listen to the message.

What I wish we could understand is that this is the way that every visitor who walks through the doors of our churches, feels. I wish we would become the ones who place a hand on their trembling shoulders and echo the words, "Welcome. You have found a place where you belong." Unfortunately, the words that more often emerge out of our mouths are, "You are sitting in my seat," or maybe "Doesn't your child know how to behave?" Our words reinforce the message that already exists inside of them, as well as in Daniel, and Peter, and us at that party of a friend of a friend. "You don't belong here. There is no way that you ever could."

And, at that moment, God is a million miles from us and our gatherings.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Daniel 11

After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. – Daniel 9:26

Today's Scripture Reading (August 11, 2020): Daniel 9

Ann Frank wrote, "Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness." Maybe no one's life demonstrated the truth of the statement more than Ann's herself. In the midst of one of the darkest moments in this planet's history, Ann's candle shone, and it is still shining today. We need her light, but we also need to follow her example and become lights in the marginally brighter world in which we live.

Much of what Daniel writes is obscured by mystery. Scholars and armchair Bible critics argue over what the words might mean, or even how the words might be coming true in our midst. And this passage is no exception. We really have no idea what the "seventy-sevens" are all about, regardless of the bluster that might emerge out of some prophecy attracted authors.

But there is a light in the passage that should shine so brightly that it jumps off of the page. Daniel makes it clear; the Anointed One (Messiah) will be put to death and will have nothing (or maybe better, but not for himself). The Messiah will be executed, but the reason for his execution with be for someone else.

Anyone who knows the Jesus saga should recognize the theme. Jesus was executed, but he did not die for the sins that he had committed, but rather for wrongs that the rest of us have committed. For all that argue that Jesus could not have been the Messiah because he died, maybe they need to reread the prophecy of Daniel because Daniel seemed to believe that that was precisely what was going to happen.

And Daniel says that after the death of the Anointed One, "the people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary." Daniel's words accurately describe what happened forty years after the execution of Jesus. The Romans marched against Jerusalem and destroyed both the city and the Temple. "The end will come like a flood." It wasn't just Jerusalem and the Temple that was destroyed, Israel ceased to exist for almost nineteen hundred years.

And yet, the light of the Messiah continued to shine in the darkness, and the darkness could not overcome it. In the face of death, destruction, and the annihilation of a nation, the Messiah continued to work among the people. As hard as they had tried to extinguish his light, the light continued to shine. And it still shines to us and through us today.

And it is time for us to keep the candle of the Messiah shining through us to a world that needs that light. Because Jesus light still defies and defines the darkness.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Daniel 10

He said to me, "It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated." – Daniel 8:14

Today's Scripture Reading (August 10, 2020): Daniel 8

December 25, 165 B.C.E. It was a significant day in history. It was over 150 years before the birth of Jesus (and no, Jesus was not born on December 25) and almost exactly 500 years before the first Christmas was celebrated by Christians of the Roman Empire (December 25, 336 C.E.). But on this day, the Temple in Jerusalem was reconsecrated.

By this time, Jerusalem's second Temple, Zerubbabel's Temple, had already been around for a few centuries. The first Temple, Solomon's Temple, had been physically destroyed by the Babylonians in the early years of the sixth-century B.C.E. It had been rebuilt as a mere shadow of itself as the people began to return from their time spent in Babylon. And, for a time, even conquering kings left the new Temple in Jerusalem alone. But that was before the rise of Antiochus Epiphanes.

Antiochus Epiphanes was a Greek ruler whose name means "God Manifest." And apparently, Antiochus Epiphanes believed in his name. He was God, and everything had been built to honor and worship him. That included Zerubbabel's Temple. The respect that previous Kings had given to the Temple was gone. During his reign, Antiochus persecuted the Jews and desecrated the Temple. The persecution and desecration became the primary cause for the Maccabean Revolt (167 to 160 B.C.E.). The desecration meant that while the Temple still stood, it had been spiritually destroyed and could no longer be used for its primary purpose.

So, on December 25, 165 B.C.E., during the revolt against the Antiochus Epiphanes's Seleucid Empire, the Temple was reconsecrated. The reconsecration of the Temple made this prophecy of Daniel, one where the endpoint was known. Daniel, speaking before Zerubbabel's Temple was even built, had already told us that the Temple would need to be reconsecrated at some future time.

But there is also mystery associated with prophecy. Daniel says 2,300 evening and mornings, which could mean that the Temple would be reconsecrated after 2,300 days, or after 1,150 mornings and 1,150 evenings. While we know the endpoint, the difference changes the original event from which Daniel began to count. But either date actually works. If it was 2,300 days, then that dates back to the beginning of Antiochus's persecution of the Jews. If it is 1,150 days, then it dates back to the desecration of the Temple itself. And, maybe, Daniel phrased it the way he did because both were in mind.

Several scholars have tried to force this verse into a prophecy of the return of the Messiah, but, so far, none of those efforts have proved correct. But we do know what happened in the second century B.C.E., and on December 25, 165 B.C.E. And, for this prophecy, maybe that is enough.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Daniel 9

The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it. – Daniel 7:4

Today's Scripture Reading (August 9, 2020): Daniel 7

George R. R. Martin, in "A Game of Thrones," argues that "A lion doesn't concern itself with the opinion of sheep." A lion rules over its environment, and it makes the rules. It is an apex predator, existing alone at the top of the food chain. And when the movies anthropomorphize the animals, all the members of the animal kingdom bow down to the will of the lion.

And maybe that is why the kings and queens of the human kingdoms have often envisioned themselves as the ruling lions. And sometimes they have taken that analogy a little too far, believing that they knew better than their advisors, or the other people of the kingdom. They were too important to concern themselves with the opinions of the "sheep."

Daniel sees a vision of four animals. This vision is likely an extension of the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had in the second chapter of Daniel. And the first animal that Daniel sees is a lion. Except, this lion had wings like an eagle. It is important to note that while the lion is an apex predator on the land, the eagle is an apex predator in the air. Both animals clearly reign over their separate domains. So, this majestic beast is one who would rule over all of the earth.

But the lion-eagle does not stay as a beast. As Daniel watches this majestic animal, it is transformed into something different. Its wings are plucked off, and its front paws lift off of the ground so that the animal now mimics another apex predator, maybe the apexiest (I know that is not a word) of them all – a human. To go with the beast's new stature, this king of the land and of the sky is given the mind and the cleverness of a human being.

If this vision is connected with the earlier dream of Nebuchadnezzar, then there can be no doubt who it is that is standing before Daniel in his personal revelation. The lion who was an eagle, which stands with the mind of a human represented Babylon, and maybe their greatest King, Nebuchadnezzar. It is not an image of the later Neo-Babylonian rulers who could barely rule over themselves; it was the version of Babylon that had conquered a significant portion of the known world and had struck fear into the citizens of the earth. It was an image of the Babylon, which was an apex predator in its own rite. The lion who did not chase after the opinion of the sheep.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Daniel 8

When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him. – Daniel 6:14

Today's Scripture Reading (August 8, 2020): Daniel 6

Promises are strange things. We rarely understand all that is involved in fulfilling a commitment in the moment that we make them. And then we suffer under the knowledge that the promise is hard, it is going to cost us much, and that we might not even be able to keep the commitment. I know this truth from experience. I am one who has made promises without understanding the totality of what it was to which I was committing.

Daniel had distinguished himself during the reigns of the Kings of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Some of the kings had honored Daniel; others disrespected the Jewish prophet to follow the desires of their hearts. But eventually, the Neo-Babylonian Empire fell, and a new King and a New Empire took over from the old. And in the transitional era between the old and the new, Daniel was able to distinguish himself once again.

A new king came to power, and his advisors suggested that the King solidify his image with people by prohibiting the worship of any god other than the king for thirty days. For one month, the focus of the people would be placed on the King. Then the people would learn to rely on the King, to trust his judgments, and that he had what was best for the people in his heart.

The proposition made sense to the King. But the advisors went a step further. They wanted the king to place the decree to worship only the King in writing. Putting the order in writing and sending it out to the various sections of the Empire, or even city, in an era where there was no social media and no easy way to communicate to the people, meant that the decree could not be rescinded.

And so, the King made a promise and a commitment that made sense to him. What he had not considered was how this decree would impact Daniel, a Jewish man who worshiped only the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and who believed that his God to have the final say in matters of worship and not the King. Daniel was also a key advisor on whom the King depended. It is easy to imagine the horror that went through the King when he realized the impact of his decree. For the rest of the day, until the moment when the sentence would be carried out against Daniel for breaking the King's order, the King worked at doing the impossible and freeing Daniel from the King's hasty promise. But in the end, all the King could do was hope that tomorrow would come, and that Daniel's God would somehow save his prophet.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Daniel 7