Year 0, Day 8: Daniel 8

Questions about the Passage

This is the chapter that causes a tremendous amount of debate about the book of Daniel.  Here we have such a spot-on description about the fall of the Persian Empire, the rise of Alexander the Great, the breaking up of the Greek Empire into its distinct four sections, and then the rise of Antiochus Epiphanes IV into power. 

Because the description is so correct, historians have often asserted that it could not have been written prior to the history that it contains, it must be written after it happened but written as though it were written before.  Personally, I cannot say they are wrong.  But I would rather say that with God all things are possible.  And of course I would also rather say that the date of the writing is so minimal that I shall not give it another thought.  What is most important to me is what these verses reveal about God and what they reveal about the human condition.

The Dark Side

Well, these verses certainly reveal humanity’s dark side, don’t they?  The passage starts with a ram enforcing its will over the land.  Then we get a one-horned goat {anyone besides me always think of a unicorn when you read this} that violently destroys the ram and enforces its will upon the land.  Then we get fracture, splintering, and the dissolution into a much depraved state.  Finally we get a leader arising who uses deceptive messages to grow into power.  His success in deceptive measures will inspire him to even consider himself capable of fighting against God and the heavenly host.  At the very least, one could say that this ruler is completely full of himself.  This last ruler will be destroyed by God’s own hand.

It does seem to strike a slight resemblance to the humanity I have grown to know.  How much of life is about power?  How much of this life is about control?  I can remember as a teenager – and I know my experience is not unique to me – that much of my last year in high school and my first few years in college were about being in control of creating my own identity.  It was about separating from my parents, although thankfully not too far from the good my parents embodied in Christ.  I can remember my days as a teacher and realizing that so much of what went on in the classroom was defined by how well the hierarchy of the classroom was defined.  Not that I think teachers should be absolute dictators, but when the authority of the teacher is in question very little education actually happens. 

Power, control, authority … yep.  Those are pretty much all issues that are universal to the human experience.  It is universal to the individual, to an individual community made up of a bunch of individuals, to the society made up of a bunch of communities, and to a world made up of a bunch of societies.  So, indeed we can learn about humanity from these figures of the ram and goat.

God

What about God?  What can we learn here about God?  Well, first and foremost God is indeed a jealous God.  When humans think so highly of themselves as to be rivals of God, God will take it personally.  I think of the story from Genesis about the Tower of Babel as another example. 

God is a God of grace, and He’ll willingly walk through life with us as we make many mistakes.  But ultimately He is God, we are not God.  When we forget that fundamental aspect of our relationship God will remind us.  He will come in and set the record straight when we get too far from Him.  The Babylonian captivity of the Hebrew people reminds us of that.

We can also see that God is a God of wisdom.  Only the wise one knows enough to allow people the freedom to make mistakes and when true discipline is needed.  Our God is jealous, but He is gracious and wise, too.

Ultimately, though, as I have spoken for a few days in a row now – we can know that God is Omega.  God will get the last word.  When we feel violated, when we feel the world is warring against God’s saints, when we feel that the world makes an abomination of our faith then we can know that God will sort it out and He will have the last word.  God is in control, He is … well … God.  Rams and goats come and go.  They display powerful horns and produce ferocious displays of power and control.  But they are fleeting.  They are temporary.  God is God, God is eternal.  Rest in peace tonight knowing that whether your life is dominated by ram or goat or any other source of control – God is with you.  And one day God will bring you home.