Daniel 1 v 1

I'm sitting by the fire with my bible on a very cold December's evening.  I'm daunted by the idea of trying to make sense of the ancient literature in my hand. I'm at a point in my faith where I really do need the bible to reassure me that it is a coherent and compelling story that makes sense of my life.  I don't want to dip into it, knowing I'm hanging my life on its message, to be defeated by feelings that its obscure, disjointed and inaccessible.  For the scripture to persuade me of its integrity I feel that the story that Jesus emerges from needs to fit him like a glove.   Surely, so late in history, Jesus can't be the first time that God has related with the world in a way that makes convincing reading.  Was he really just an obscure, one off genius that left the world taking their hats off?  Or is it possible that he can be seen to be the continuity of something deeper that God had started doing in history long before the miracle baby arrived?  

I'm looking for a faith that has more integrity and substance than the novelty of an mysterious miracle maker.  I'm far too cynical to be persuaded by personality or a one off super hero and therefore I'm thirsty to genuinely understand the context and prevailing message of the books that paved the way for Jesus.  Do they unfold to provide a coherent story that Jesus finds himself to be part of or perhaps even the climax too? Is it possible the bible might actually be  one seamless narrative that allows me to confidently interpret the world around me.  

I'm on a quest to avoid a spirituality that loosely uses an ancient text to provide proverbial wisdom that could be as easily found in the latest leadership books or uttered from the lips of an eastern guru.  As sure as I am that this type of wisdom can be found in scripture I have a hunch that bible can offer something much more compelling if we are prepared to look intently enough.  Beneath its words I'm hoping to find a structure to the story that makes sense of why I'm angry at injustice, captivated by beauty and hungry to be loved.   Is there something there that explains why life seems to matter so much and why I care so much about a world that is reportedly a meaningless accident?  I need to know what explanations are on offer as my understanding of the world drives my choices about this life.  I'm quite sure that my heart is controlled and directed by the stories that I have been persuaded by during my journey through life.   They have become my lens as I look at the world around me.

Daniel 1v1 gives me the perfect inroad into getting to grips with the bible.  It really reassures me that the quest I'm on is not just a whim but one that bible was designed to answer.  "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it".   

I'm sure we've can all empathise with those occasions in life when we have to say something meaningful.  Perhaps it is just penning a note to a friend or something far more daunting like writing a wedding day speech.  What ever the situation we all have had that hanging feeling of "how on earth do I start".  Our first words say so much and set the tone. How much more must the authors of scripture have felt that weight as they pondered their opening words with pens poised to record God's story for generations to come.  

Well the author of this prophetic book, as many of the prophetic authors did, saw it fit to start by grounding the story in its historical timeline and giving us an immediate spring board back into the history books of Kings and Chronicles.  I find this extremely encouraging because it immediately reinforces my hunch that I'm in good company when I sense that God places a significant emphasis on the historical narrative. In fact the opening verse suggest that this is exactly how God intended for us to engage with scripture. Our starting place is to find where our reading finds its natural position within the wider context of what God has been doing in history.  

I love the nudge verse one gives me to get out the book itself and investigate.  What can I find out about Jehoiakim in the history books of the bible? Where were Israel on their journey?  What were the big themes that were emerging out of their story at that time? What can all of this tell me about how the words of Daniel would have been received by the intended recipients of his day?  

In my next post I'll give some further thought to those questions and begin exploring how this information can help us to engage with the book of Daniel.     

What can Daniel offer our generation?

For quite a while I've been drawn to the book of Daniel. When something is held up as a book for our generation I start to salivate a little!!! There is a little leap in my heart that in this story there might be something that can help me make sense of the tensions of living in this unusual passage of history. I'm teased by the idea that as I thumb these pages I might discover a way that overcomes the challenges of growing up in a culture that appears so secure, materially prosperous, progressive in philosophy and the arts, and powerful on the world stage. Babylon certainly represents so many of the promises that western life holds out to us and this small groups of exiles had to figure out how to live as part of the elite class of citizens.

Sometimes when I'm reading of the poverty of Jesus and the somewhat ascetic undertones of the new testament I'm left wondering whether I'm disqualified from the Kingdom of God because I find myself among the well educated, materially prosperous and seemingly powerful class of our society. Out of guilt I've often thought to myself..."should I withdraw and distance myself from this secular culture, hide away and wait for God's return". Then at times I've swayed to the other extreme and been provoked by the aggressive fundamentalists that shout and yell and decry a depraved generation as doomed for hell. Is this the kind of faith that God is looking for? These zealots leave me wondering if perhaps I've somehow sold out.

Despite these unnerving feelings there are whispers around me that seem to provide a third way. A way that affirms the goodness of creation; a way that genuinely has faith in the redemptive work of God; a way that that is neither coldly detached nor violently zealous, and yet a way that is still deeply subversive. Can I really build a house here, plant a garden and seek the good of this city? Is it really ok to be fully engaged with the life and times of the world around me? Where are my boundaries in the finely balanced call to be engaged but not corrupted? Can Daniel give me any clues?