Daniel 7 presents a number of intertwined variations of an evening imaginative and prescient of 4 beasts rising from the chaotic sea: a lion with eagle’s wings, a bear with three ribs in its mouth, a leopard with 4 wings and 4 heads, and a fourth beast, horrible past description, with iron enamel and ten horns (vv. 1–7, 17, 19, 23). From these horns emerges a bit of horn talking arrogantly, making battle towards “the holy ones” (vv. 8, 20–22, 24–25). These beasts signify a sequence of world empires that, every in flip, dominated the world recognized to historic Israelites. The ultimate picture of the little horn is a coded reference to the persecution of Antiochus IV (167–164 BCE), which many residents of Jerusalem and its environs perceived to be an try and eradicate the Jewish religion. Not solely did the residents of Jerusalem not perceive what was occurring––they may not fathom why their God would permit such a factor to occur.
The destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar was, in a method, interpretable to them––the folks had sinned, and have been banished from the land––however the tried eradication of religion in YHWH didn’t yield to any conceivable clarification. Why would God permit this? If not YHWH, who was accountable? From the angle of biblical scribes, historic Israelite faith downplayed the existence and potential energy of evil spirits: as nascent monotheists in a polytheistic world, they shied away from speculating about any darkish powers, lest they dilute the message that reward and loyalty have been on account of one and just one lord: YHWH. Good and unhealthy alike got here from the hand of YHWH, the one God who dominated unchallenged over all of creation (cf. Job 1:21; 2:10).
But the persecution of Antiochus IV disrupted this reductive theological custom. What occurs when it looks like every little thing on the planet proves that God isn’t in management? The creator of Daniel 7 begins to suppose: maybe sure occasions aren’t attributable to the one God––maybe there are evil forces at work on the planet which can be much more highly effective than human greed and hatred. What eventuates is Daniel 7, which articulates the beginnings of a theology of religious warfare: the little horn fights towards the divine beings that serve God––and can even appear victorious for a time (7:21, 25).
But for the time being when all hope appears misplaced––salvation arrives.
Out of the blue, the scene shifts to a heavenly courtroom (7:9–11, 13, 22, 26–27). Thrones are swiftly positioned by divine attendants––admitting that, even when only for a short while, God had abdicated the function of divine judgment over the world, permitting the evil powers to run rampant. However divine judgment lastly arrives when God, depicted because the “Historical of Days,” takes to the throne together with many hundreds of highly effective divine attendants surrounded by fireplace (vv. 9–10). Books are opened, judgment pronounced, and the beasts lose their dominion (vv. 11, 22, 26–27).
The putting reversal then happens: “one like a son of man,” which means principally “someone who appears like a no person,” comes flying down using the clouds of heaven (vv. 13–14). The Aramaic phrase intentionally emphasizes mortality and weak spot. Why would this be putting? The “cloud rider” is an epithet for massively highly effective gods within the historic world equivalent to Baal, and was generally utilized to YHWH (Ps 104:3). This no person isn’t a divine warrior, although––it’s a weak, fragile determine. So: why would this No one be flying round on the cloud-chariot? It could be like a random child flying a B-2 bomber! And this No one has the gall to method the Historical of Days! However to the shock of everybody, the Historical of Days grants the No one eternal dominion. An angel explains to Daniel that this determine represents “the holy ones of the Most Excessive” who obtain the everlasting kingdom after enduring persecution (7:27, cf. vv. 14, 18).
This gorgeous reversal presents us with the central scandal of biblical religion: specifically, that the sovereign God of the universe chooses to work not by way of the mechanisms of worldly energy however by way of a weak human group who maintains religion below crushing stress. This matches the constant biblical sample: God chooses the enslaved over Pharaoh, the youthful son over the elder, the crucified one over Caesar. Divine sovereignty doesn’t movement by way of typical channels of energy, however by way of what Paul calls “the foolishness of God” that’s “wiser than human knowledge” (1 Cor 1:25). Primarily, the textual content insists that final authority belongs to not those that wield violence however to those that endure it faithfully. It affords a radically subversive understanding of how divine sovereignty operates in historical past, and one which up to date Christianity desperately must get better.
A few years later, Jesus will consult with himself because the “son of man,” or “mortal one,” considerably satirically: he’s only a no person, he’s saying. However everybody is aware of that he’s a former no person who now attracts large crowds and is rumored to carry out miracles. So when Jesus was being tried earlier than the excessive priest Caiaphas within the final hours of his life, and he referred to himself one final time because the “son of man,” onlookers might need thought that he was attempting to shrug off the fees of blasphemy and revolt by calling himself the “no person” (Mark 14:62; Matt 26:64). However then he swerved: Jesus, the “no person,” stated he would seem once more popping out of the clouds, similar to Daniel 7:14 (Mark 14:62; Matt 26:64). Salvation once more coming from the least anticipated place: the execution of an harmless no person.
However Christians miss one thing once they solely consider Jesus because the referent of Daniel 7:13–14. Jesus cited this scripture not as a result of it solely ever referred to him, however as a result of it had lengthy been an vital textual content that everyone understood to consult with the Jewish folks as a complete (and certainly the angel interprets it that method even within the textual content of Daniel 7:27). Jesus disclosed an additional useful resource of which means throughout the textual content, not its solely which means. And Christians may nicely study extra from this textual content which clearly had captivated Jesus’ creativeness.
When the angel within the imaginative and prescient identifies the “folks of the holy ones of the Most Excessive” because the recipients of the everlasting kingdom (7:27; cf. vv. 18, 22), we witness one thing revolutionary: a democratization of divine authority. Divine authority isn’t given to a king, or to a different solitary determine like a messiah. It’s bestowed to a group: particularly, a group of these “overcome” by imperial energy (7:21) who nonetheless obtain divine vindication.
This company understanding is essential: God’s sovereignty doesn’t create one other hierarchical, beastly empire with a brand new emperor. As a substitute, it disperses authority amongst a group of the weak trustworthy.
All through historical past, highly effective Christians have understood Daniel 7 to indicate them that God has chosen them to be divinely appointed world rulers––however then behave extra just like the beasts than the “nobodies” that God truly chooses to rule. From Constantine’s theologians claiming to ascertain the dominion of the saints, to Charlemagne’s biographer describing his kingdom because the renewed fourth empire, to American notions of manifest future that drew on the language of Daniel 7: empire after empire has claimed what they suppose is Daniel’s promise of everlasting international domination. These claiming to be the holy ones grew to become the beast, talking boastful phrases and making battle on the weak communities who are suffering below programs of domination.
However historical past additionally reveals us that Daniel 7 has again and again supplied outstanding, even miraculous, consolation and braveness to the oppressed; it comprises an irreducible core that resists full co-option by energy. Medieval Jews below Christian and Muslim persecution (as seen within the poetry of Pinhas the Priest and the chronicles of Joseph ben Isaac Sambari); medieval European peasants buckling below the load of their money owed (see the preaching of Thomas Müntzer); African American girls’s emancipation and social liberation (see the writings of Anna Julia Cooper); Latin American communities resisting U.S. army intervention (see the work of Pablo Richard); and plenty of extra have discovered on this textual content hope for surviving below the extractive rule of evil powers.
Written for Jews experiencing persecution, pressured to decide on between faithfulness and survival, Daniel 7 doesn’t promise fast political victory. It guarantees that their struggling has which means; that God sees and remembers; that imperial energy, nevertheless overwhelming it seems, is short-term and below God’s judgment; and that the obvious triumph of evil is not the ultimate phrase. As Walter Brueggemann taught us, that is the prophetic creativeness: the capability to check God’s various future even whereas struggling below empire’s current brutality. God’s sovereignty signifies that no empire, irrespective of how brutal, has the ultimate phrase.
In case you are a kind of who’s preserving religion amidst the terrors of the world: you might be one of many Nobodies whom God chooses to bear divine authority. You’re one of many saints of the Most Excessive. The powers that oppress you need you to consider their dominion is everlasting, that resistance is futile, and that God has deserted you. However Daniel 7 insists in any other case: their energy is restricted to “a season and a time.” The Historical of Days has seen each injustice, each act of violence, each boastful phrase spoken. The books are open. Judgment has been rendered, even when not but totally executed.
