Tag: desecration

The Bible in a Year – 1 September

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

1 September. Daniel chapters 9-10

The prayer of Daniel in chapter 9, following the revelation that the Jewish exile would last seventy years, resembles those of King David or one of the other prophets.  It is a prayer of penitence not so much on his own behalf as on behalf of the nation. It is dated in the reign of Ahasuereus (who according to the commentaries is probably not the ruler of the same name in the story of Esther).

It is interesting that this intense prayer of penitence is followed by the appearance of the archangel Gabriel, while in chapter 10 three weeks of fasting is followed by an even greater epiphany.  Whether it is the laying aside of self-centredness in such religious practices, or the physical changes in the body due to emotion or hunger, that make someone open to such spiritual experiences, is difficult to say. But the association is a strong one.

The second appearance is of a shining figure who inspires both worship and fear. Christians might identify him as the Christ, or (since it seems this figure was not all-powerful against the ‘prince’ or guardian spirit of Persia without the aid of the archangel Michael) it might be another archangel.  But since the classification of spiritual beings is at best a subjective matter, let us just call him an angel (messenger) of God.

I will not attempt to analyse or explain the “prophecy of seventy weeks” in Chapter 9 as much greater Biblical scholars have failed in the attempt (just google it!)  I will just pick on one phrase, the “abomination that desolates” (9:27).  This too has had numerous explanations, most of which relate to the “desecration” of the Temple in Jerusalem.  This does not necessarily mean physical destruction – desecration is an extreme form of disrespect.

I refer you to an essay by the late Isaac Asimov titled “Pompey and Circumstance”.  There is a copy of it online. Read it and see what you think.

The Bible in a Year – 30 August

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

30 August. Daniel chapters 5-6

We see in these two chapters several patterns repeated elsewhere in the Bible, from both before and after the time of Daniel.

Firstly, in the relations between Daniel and the various kings he serves during his time in Babylon, we see a pattern like that of the judges and kings of earlier centuries, and the way that various prophets engaged with them.  ‘Good’ kings or judges (those who honour God and his laws) tended to alternate with ‘bad’ ones who went their own way and committed idolatry. So it is with these kings.  Yesterday we read of Nebuchadnezzar, a despot who paid God no attention until he was rewarded with madness for seven years until he came to his senses and worshipped the true God.  But his son Belshazzar takes no heed of this, and desecrates the holy vessels from the Jerusalem temple by using them in a debauched banquet to toast false gods.  So the writing appears on the wall, God’s own hand apparently writing his own judgement and condemnation.  Although Daniel interprets it for him, it is too late, and he is killed that night, Daniel having been give once again a high office in the land.

Belshazzar’s successor Darius (probably not of the same family) starts off as a good king who  includes Daniel the Jew in his government, until Daniel’s rivals plot against him in exactly the same way as they did in the days of Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel is literally thrown to the lions.  Once again, he miraculously survives, giving credit to God, the king repents, converts (apparently), pardons Daniel (conveniently setting aside the doctrine of his own infallibility) and it is the plotters and their innocent wives and children who become lion fodder.

These stories – of the writing on the wall, and the lions’ den – are among the best known in the Bible, and not only by regular worshippers. Add the many similar stories in the Bible and it should be abundantly clear that taunting God by desecrating places where he is worshipped, banning worship of him, or persecuting his followers, will always lead to trouble. But it seems that rulers of nations never learn this lesson. The quiet-living, law-abiding, God-fearing citizen (be they Jew, Muslim, Christian or any other religion) is always an easy target when political expediency demands a scapegoat.

Another pattern, perhaps not so obvious, is seen in the story of the lions’ den.  Note this: Daniel is charged falsely by his enemies; the ruler tries to get out of what the law demands , knowing that he is actually innocent of any crime; the crowd prevails and he is reluctantly condemned to death; he is cast into a pit and a sealed stone put over it; at dawn the king comes fearing the worst, but hears Daniel alive, and is persuaded of the truth of the Jewish faith.  This story was written probably at least a couple of hundred years before Jesus, yet we see much the same pattern at the end of his earthly life.  His enemies persuade a reluctant Pilate to condemn Jesus on what he knows are trumped-up charges, Jesus (after his death in this case) is laid in a tomb with a sealed stone, at dawn his disciples come and some see him alive, and all (eventually) come to believe in the resurrection.

Again this is a basic principle of the way God works with people – the more those who believe are falsely persecuted, the more will their persecutors be confounded. For the law of God, as Nebuchadnezzar and Darius eventually came to acknowledge, is greater than the laws of man.