Daniel

Turns out if you google "Daniel" you get Harry Potter meets James Bond. Wow. So then I went with "fiery furnace" instead, and what do I get?!? You too can sit with your kids and make the Sharach, Meshach and Abednego fiery furnace craft! Website here. Really, doesn't that seem a bit morbid? Here's an idea...coming soon...a set of Ezekiel crafts!!!

Again, I digress. I LOVED reading through Daniel. It might have just edged out Jeremiah for the top spot on the list. Some impressions:

1. Lots of variety in the text. I mean, you've got the Sunday school stories of the furnace, the writing on the wall and the lion's den, but then you've also got some recorded prayers, a decent portion of Babylonian history and then lots of pretty wild prophecy. There's something for everyone in Daniel!

2. Once again, you get God pulling the strings AND faithful people doing their thing. It's been a theme throughout the Old Testament, where God is working behind the scenes while at the same time His people (or, more to the point, certain people, such as Esther or Ruth) are acting with faith, boldness and obedience. The beginning of Daniel is one more example. In 1:9 God is making Babylonians predisposed to show favor to Daniel and his crew, and then in 1:12, Daniel is making the bold ask. To me it's a helpful reminder that we move forward in faith while simultaneously God is preparing the way for us.

3. It's interesting that we get to know Nebuchadnezzar in this text. OK, so ol' Neb has been the bad guy direct from central casting throughout the prophetic literature so far. He's the guy that is the tool in the Lord's hand. He'll be the one to bring the pain and punishment on the nation. Fine. But then Nebuchadnezzar will also be punished. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel are all clear on this: the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar will be the instruments of God's wrath, and then they will become subject to God's wrath. Honestly, it hasn't quite felt fair to me. I mean, they are being roused as a part of God's plan to inflict all of this misery and then they will be smitten for causing that misery? How is that fair? One thing that the book of Daniel does for us is to make Nebuchadnezzar a bit more three dimensional. And on one hand, he certainly seems to deserve the punishment he will receive. He's into idols (here), he's got some rage issues (here) and he's certainly rash. But then he also is repentant (here). I'm not sure that seeing Nebuchadnezzar in three dimensions totally solves my angst about how God is handling him, but it does help me to know that, as with the kings of Judah and Israel, he is a person who has his ups and downs (though more of the latter than the former!).

4. I'm flummoxed about what 9-12 is about. You like that word "flummoxed," don't you?!? Me too. What a weird text of Scripture, one that I'm sure countless interpreters have argued about for years. It's like the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar; we need Daniel himself to come exposit it for us! I did come across this little gem on the internet. Doesn't that just clear everything up?!?