1.1.15 Book Review Daniel, Prophet to the Nations by Dr. John Oakes. I first had my curiosity piqued when I found the following video on the Boston Church of Christs Vimeo page: vimeo/88561475 . I was pretty floored, and was stoked when the Spokane church brought him in for a weekend of teaching. During that weekend he taught about archaeology that relates to the Bible, science and faith, ways in which the Old Testament points to the New Testament, and a great lesson on the Holy Spirit. He also gave a very convicting message that Sunday. The sermon and lessons can be found at spokanechristianchurch.org/lessons-archive under the dates 2014.09.26-28. I would recommend all of these, but especially Freedom in Christ and Jesus in the OT: From Shadow to Reality. During that weekend I bought this book. I wasnt quite sure what to expect, especially after having watched his four hour presentation on it, but making the extra effort paid off tremendously. Reading this book actually struck me in a very personal way. I had never done any significant reading about the book of Daniel, and I certainly found it perplexing. Many people derive very strange ideas about the future from vague interpretations of passages that actually have very simple and clear meanings. I attended a Christian high school, in which I was taught various premillenial and Catholic teachings that are not Biblical; things ranging from what angels look like to the size of Heaven to apocryphal stories about Jesus. It took me years, after learning how to study the Bible more critically, for me to be able to clearly discern what of my education was Biblical and what was otherwise. One of the reasons this book had a great impact on me is because a great deal of Daniel, that had always seemed cryptic to me, has in fact very simple and logical interpretations. The book of Daniel is an atypical combination of stories and visions. The visions are what I previously found to be uncomfortably challenging, until this book made it clear to me that almost everything prophesied in the book came about over the course of the next six hundred years. To illustrate: Chapter 2 - A brief outline of the current and three coming empires is given (Babylon, Media/Persia, Greece, and Rome). Chapter 7 - Again a brief outline of the four empires, along with a more detailed explanation regarding Rome. Chapter 8 - A more detailed explanation regarding the Media/Persian empire (which is actually explained to be Media and Persia in v. 20), as well as details regarding the Greek empire (v. 21) and especially details of the Jewish persecutions during the second century BC under Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Chapter 9 - The date given for the crucifixion of Jesus (490 years after 458 BC, the date when Artaxerxes ordered that Jerusalem be rebuilt, which comes to approximately 32 AD), as well as the coming of Jesus to Jerusalem (after 483 years, or between 483 and 490, when Jesus came to Jerusalem during the first year of his ministry) and the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the end of sacrifice (at the hand of the general Titus under the rule of Vespasian in 70 AD, in the middle of seven decades after Jesus crucifixion). Chapter 11 - Some orienting data about Persia, a ridiculous amount of detail regarding the Greek empire and its dynastic conflicts, and a handful of information regarding Octavian, his battle at Actium, and the Roman empire in general. I never knew that all these strange visions were actually simple corollaries to the coming history that would be fulfilled during the next six centuries. Changing my mindset took a concerted effort, and I decided to memorize the relevant history so that I can be able to open up the Bible to any vision in Daniel and tell someone exactly what events, empires, and rulers are being referred to. Please feel free to hold me accountable to this. The reason Ive been investing that extra effort is actually very practical. The message of Daniel is basically the following: God rules the nations, do not fear. It was written to comfort those that would suffer under the persecutions of Antiochus IV Epiphanes and Domitian. It also serves as an incredible reminder of the power of God! I was especially amazed at how specifically some of the prophesies written during the sixth century BC describe the actions and personality of Domitian, the Roman emperor that ruled 81-96 AD. The latest that liberal scholars will date the book of Daniel to is the second century BC. Even if it was written this late it would still be an incredible text. To learn that God clearly knew what would happen hundreds of years in advance was shocking to me and challenging to my view of God. I always found the idea that God knows the future to be challenging philosophically (can of worms...), but to see history written in such detail in advance has helped me to internalize that God really is in control. It is much easier for me to face my relatively insignificant challenges when I know that God knows exactly what will happen. Also, studying the exiles and persecutions of Jews and Disciples helps me to maintain perspective and value things that actually are important. Thus, reading this book helped me to trust in Gods provision as well as helping me to understand previously difficult passages upon which I had been taught interpretations that do not naturally follow sound reasoning. The book itself is well written. The vocabulary is accessible and does not read like a scholarly text. Some details in the narrative portions seem to be minor interpolations, but the theology is sound and explication is clear. The foci of the book are threefold: moral teaching regarding the stories in Daniel, historical corollaries to the visions, and explanation of the relevant arguments regarding the date of authorship. This book also includes outstanding appendices on premillenialism and apocryphal texts. Im not confident in my ability to comment on the appendix on angels so Ill refrain. Reading this book and challenging myself to grow in my knowledge has made previous study, such as reading the Apocrypha, much more useful and relevant. Now that I know much more about the relevant history, I am beginning to tap into the writings of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, and will post commentaries on that as well. b
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 03:11:10 +0000
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