Sunday 11th May
Read Psalm 108
If you don’t have a bible at home you can find the readings on a website such as www.biblegateway.com or an app such as YouVersion
This Psalm is actually a compilation of sections of two other Psalms. Verses 1-5 are very similar to Psalm 57:7-11 and verses 9-13 are almost identical to Psalm 60:5-12. The first section is one of praise to God, almost a reminder for himself of the greatness of God. The second is a prayer for help against regular enemies – Moab, Edom and Philistia. It is as though he is reminding himself of who God is in the midst of difficult and trying times. It is a good Psalm for times of stress and difficulty. Always remind yourself that He who is with you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4)
READINGS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD
As you read the Bible Stop; Read; Ponder; and Pray.
Monday Daniel 6:16-28
The King was not in favour of the legal penalty that he was told must be applied. Daniel had to go into the Lion’s den. The anguish of his soul is seen in the restless night he had (v18). When morning came he was anxious to see how things had gone with Daniel asking, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions” (v20)
God’s victory was seen as Daniel was lifted out of the pit unharmed and his accusers were thrown in with their families as replacements for the one they accused. The writer gives Darius the same ending as Nebuchadnezzar namely a declaration of the God of Daniel as the greatest in the Earth (v26,27). Miraculous things may sometimes need to be done to demonstrate the power of God but we ought not to always expect them.
Tuesday Daniel 7:1-8
We move back now to the time of Belshazzar, the last Babylon King whose defeat under the Persians was recounted in chapter 5. From Kingly dreams we move on to hear of a dream and visions that Daniel had, the substance of which he starts to write down. Let me say now that the rest of the book you will find like the book of Revelation weird and difficult to understand. These bits of scripture are what I have called the psychedelic parts – no less important but whose understanding is not to be got by prosaic reading. If I suggest interpretations bear in mind that they are just that and different ways of understanding are available.
It starts with an image of the sea. (The image of the sea is often viewed as the pre-creation mass of chaos, the winds of heaven may be a picture of the start of somethings arising out of the chaotic mass). Four great beasts came out of the sea, the first, a lion with wings which became like a man after the wings were torn off (is it like the creation of man whose ability to fly up to eternal life was lost after the fall??), the next, a beast like a bear eating flesh (could it be the vegetarian start of man which was left behind aften the fall??), The next, like a leopard but with wings and four heads and given authority ( are we seeing the start of empires with authority ruling over others??), the final beast was terrifying in its killing and destructive power and it had ten horns ( horns are always seen indicative of powerful kingdoms), however a final little horn grew up, supplanting the first three, and it had the elements of a human being which spoke boastfully ( are these horns, and the little one at the end, kingdoms, empires or powers on the earth ??)
Wednesday Daniel 7:9-14
As Daniel was looking at this great sea and the four beasts that came up out of it he then tells of thrones being set in place and the Ancient of Days taking his seat, probably as the convenor. The figure ‘the Ancient of Days’ is only found in Daniel but is generally taken to refer to God with some seeing the Father, others the Son in the figure. The court is seated and then the books were opened (the records of everything?)
The muttering final little horn is destroyed and flung into a blazing fire (that kind of thing seems to be the end of a matter) the other beasts are stripped of their authority but live on in a kind of parole.
Next in his vision he sees one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven (the son of man figure is the one in the New Testament used by Jesus) He is coming with the clouds of heaven into the presence of the Ancient of Days (the Father) and is given authority over all nations and peoples with an everlasting dominion. (it certainly seems like the final rule of Christ. Coming ‘with’ the clouds instead of coming ‘from’ the clouds seems to see Daniel as viewing everything from a heavenly not earthly perspective.)
Even in the midst of things which seem ‘curiouser and curiouser’ we are encouraged to realise that it is not the powers of this earth who shall rule the day but our Lord Jesus, the King of Kings, whose authority over everything is eternal.
Thursday Daniel 7:15–24
If the visions are strange to us we see Daniel troubled in spirit and he approaches one (angelic being?) standing there to ask about the meaning.
He now tells of the interpretation he his given and verses 17 &18 is a compressed precise; the four beasts are four kings that will arise but the holy people of the Most High will receive the kingdom and possess it for ever (sounds like the future conclusion of God’s people, the Church).
The commentator hasn’t said anything about the fourth beast who was different from all the others and particularly fearsome and so Daniel asks him. He wants to know the meaning of the ten horns and the other one that overcame three and spoke boastfully.
While he was watching, this horn (whom we presume to be the little boastful one which grew up) he sees the holy people being defeated until the Ancient of Days pronounced judgement on it and the holy people eventually possessed the kingdom.
He gives further explanation from v23 telling that the fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth, different from all the other kingdoms, and devouring the whole earth. From this king, this beast, will come ten other kings, and from them another king will arise different from the earlier ones and it will subdue three kings.
We may stop for a moment as we try to ponder what these visions are all about. Many have dipped into history trying to place all of these kings and their successors and what was going on (e.g. at the time of the establishment of the Council of Europe after the second world war there were ten countries under the Treaty of Rome, some thought they were seeing Daniel’s prophecy coming to light). But whatever things are attempted there are always contrary views.
This final horn/king/empire or whatever will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people (which seems understandable as God and his people) he will try to change the set times and the laws (what might this be?). The holy people will be delivered into his hands – as v21 said – but a time is added, or rather a mystery time which is “a time, times and half a time” (some have interpreted this as three and a half years which is a half of seven, a number of completeness). However the court will sit and his power taken away, presumably after the expiry of the time, times, and half a time.
The sovereignty over all the kingdoms of the earth will then be handed to the holy people of the Most High (this has been looked on as a time of final peace under God with his people ruling as stewards under him – a picture of the Genesis Eden resolved).
This is said to be the end of the matter although Daniel is troubled by the whole thing. We can understand that.
Saturday Daniel 8:1-8
Two years later, still in the time of Belshazzar and the decline of the Babylonian empire before its collapse under Cyris the Great of Persia, we come to another vision given to Daniel. Daniel finds himself in the citadel of Susa which was one of the major cities of the Near East and the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus. The Ulai canal ran through the centre of the city and standing beside it he saw a ram with two horns. It had two horns though one grew up longer and it charged West, North and South and became great. But then a goat with a prominent horn came charging from the West knocking the ram to the ground and defeating it. The vision is not finished yet because the large horn broke off and four smaller ones grew up in its place.
Two years later, still in the time of Belshazzar and the decline of the Babylonian empire before its collapse under Cyris the Great of Persia, we come to another vision given to Daniel. Daniel finds himself in the citadel of Susa which was one of the major cities of the Near East and the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus. The Ulai canal ran through the centre of the city and standing beside it he saw a ram with two horns. It had two horns though one grew up longer and it charged West, North and South and became great. But then a goat with a prominent horn came charging from the West knocking the ram to the ground and defeating it. The vision is not finished yet because the large horn broke off and four smaller ones grew up in its place.
We should stop there and consider what the vision is hinting at. Susa will be the capital of Cyrus and the Persian empire which would become the leading power in the ancient world at this time (after Belshazzar’s defeat and Babylon’s power). The two horned ram would be the Persian or Medo-Persian Empire (different peoples called the Persians the Medes).
The goat, with its large horn, would be the power that came from the West and defeated the ram. It was the Greeks under Alexander the Great who did this and on his death after a 40 year struggle the empire split into four stable power blocks: the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, the Seleucid Empire in the east, the Kingdom of Pergamon in Asia Minor, and Macedon. These interpretations are held generally about this vision and its explanation.
