10/22/2014
Book of Daniel
I was never familiar with the Book of Daniel and reading the excerpts and explanation was very interesting. At first when I was reading the excerpts I couldn't follow along to well but when I read the explanation and became cognizant of the time period and succession of events, it all became clear. I also didn't expect to the Book of Daniel to be an apocalyptic book of the Hebrew Bible and when I read this it made sense because it did have many of the characterizations of an apocalypse. One of these characterizations could be Antiochus Epiphanes the evil tyrant who symbolizes apocalypse and the onset of it due to his cruel treatment of the Jews. It was also very interesting to hear of Daniel's interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar dream, which symbolized the successive kingdoms to come. All in all a very though provoking and interesting read.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think it is important to view the Book of Daniel/Revelation as purely symbolic events, rather than take them literally. If taken literally, these can be very ominous omens that do not bode well for the human race, but if taken symbolically they can be less formidable. I like how you address the characterizations of apocalypses--for example, Antiochus Epiphanes--because this shows you are reading further into the text than what is explicitly stated. I agree that it was interesting to hear the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream because there was much significance behind the colossus of different metals. I enjoyed reading your post and I look forward to reading more of your work in the future!
ReplyDelete