The books are getting shorter again, so I’m blogging more often!

Welcome to Daniel, of The Lion’s Den fame.

Daniel: book of crazy names, crazy courage and crazy faith.

I do love the crazy names. Try and get your tongue around this lot! Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. I think this is a good handfull of snazzy names for such a short book.

Anyway, more on the crazy faith and crazy courage. After the exile to Babylon, Daniel and his friends (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) were found to be wise and clever men, and so they were recruited to work in the palace in Babylon. It was okay to start off with, but eventually they experienced pressure to behave like the Babylonians and to ignore their Jewish roots and the laws of their faith. They stood firm (crazy courage) and although they were persecuted for this decision, God kept them safe (crazy faith).

It was Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who are delivered from a firey inferno, and it was Daniel who was delivered from the den of the hungry lions.

As well as these stories of faith, this book contains some of Daniel’s dreams, which are, like a lot of the prophecies, a bit surreal and confusing. But Daniel points to a hope and a redemption that could refer to Jesus, to the very end times and also to all those who have, do and will experience oppression at any point in history. It’s pretty impressive, really!

In chapter 4, Daniel describes a tree so big that birds can rest in it and humans can be fed from it.This reminded me of the trees in the garden of Eden and also when Jesus described the mustard tree, which grows to be huge from just a tiny seed. I think Daniel is a text with layers, and with arrows pointing forwards and backwards through the Bible and history.

My favourite verse is: Daniel 10.19: “Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong.” When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.”

Aidan fell asleep 3 times while I was reading Daniel. I fell asleep once!

Thanks to RandyRMM on Pixabay for the photo at the top.