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Daniel 7 (part 2)
Have you ever heard someone say, “I wish I could just hear God speak to me directly”? I have...heck, I have thought that myself. After a while though, in reading through scripture, it becomes evident that this may not be all it is cracked up to be...most of the time, when people interact with God, they end up scared out of their minds.
Likewise, there seems to be a ‘cost’ to receiving revelations when we look at the Old Testament. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Daniel here in chapter 7 all report some kind of anxiety and/psychological distress when receiving an understanding of the future course of events in human history. This would be another area in which we should be careful what we ask for...I am not sure we truly WANT to know what’s coming! Haha
One thing that I will point out in reading chapter 7 is the similarity it bears to chapter 2. In chapter 2 we see Daniel interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream; here in chapter 7, it is Daniel’s dream.
For me, when I cut through all of the imagery and the allusions, and when we set aside the attempts to connect ideas from various sources as to what all of these complex images are trying to convey in a subtle manner...I tend to come back to this 2-pronged idea that God has a plan, and that, try as I may, I am not likely to fully understand it. That’s not a cop out on some of the rich content in this chapter, because there certainly is a lot of that, but it is an attempt not to miss the forest for the trees. If we believe God is the Creator, then He also created communication and language, and I have to think that any desired meaning that we are suppose to derive from this text (or any other from scripture) should be reasonably ‘approachable’. So, I think that’s my takeaway for today - that I would better appreciate the playing field on which God is performing, and that I would grasp the idea that really understanding everything that is going on isn’t an option for me in this life, because I am not equipped for that. And, as such, I pray that I would be thankful for any revelation I DO receive from God, and that this humility about my place in the world would compel me to follow God’s command and live as He directs me...because I can’t really know what hangs in the balance of my faithful living.
Deep stuff today...the second half of Daniel takes us there!
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By Steve AndersonHave you ever heard someone say, “I wish I could just hear God speak to me directly”? I have...heck, I have thought that myself. After a while though, in reading through scripture, it becomes evident that this may not be all it is cracked up to be...most of the time, when people interact with God, they end up scared out of their minds.
Likewise, there seems to be a ‘cost’ to receiving revelations when we look at the Old Testament. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Daniel here in chapter 7 all report some kind of anxiety and/psychological distress when receiving an understanding of the future course of events in human history. This would be another area in which we should be careful what we ask for...I am not sure we truly WANT to know what’s coming! Haha
One thing that I will point out in reading chapter 7 is the similarity it bears to chapter 2. In chapter 2 we see Daniel interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream; here in chapter 7, it is Daniel’s dream.
For me, when I cut through all of the imagery and the allusions, and when we set aside the attempts to connect ideas from various sources as to what all of these complex images are trying to convey in a subtle manner...I tend to come back to this 2-pronged idea that God has a plan, and that, try as I may, I am not likely to fully understand it. That’s not a cop out on some of the rich content in this chapter, because there certainly is a lot of that, but it is an attempt not to miss the forest for the trees. If we believe God is the Creator, then He also created communication and language, and I have to think that any desired meaning that we are suppose to derive from this text (or any other from scripture) should be reasonably ‘approachable’. So, I think that’s my takeaway for today - that I would better appreciate the playing field on which God is performing, and that I would grasp the idea that really understanding everything that is going on isn’t an option for me in this life, because I am not equipped for that. And, as such, I pray that I would be thankful for any revelation I DO receive from God, and that this humility about my place in the world would compel me to follow God’s command and live as He directs me...because I can’t really know what hangs in the balance of my faithful living.
Deep stuff today...the second half of Daniel takes us there!