Readings:
Daniel 4-5
Judith 1

Daniel 4-5

Nebuchadnezzar has another dream, and just like the first dream, his court magicians and wise men are unable to interpret it for him, so he calls for Daniel because of his success in interpretation last time. Daniel is charged with interpreting a dream that consists of a gigantic tree being cut down and a man that is changed from man to animal and eats grass in the field.

Daniel interprets the dream as the tree representing the kingdom and it’s reached such heights that it will be cut down and humbled, and the king will be humbled because his hubris and pride is unchecked. Daniel prescribes works of charity and righteousness as a way that he might forestall this judgment from God, but Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t heed his warnings. One day he is stricken with the judgments that were foretold, and becomes like a wild beast.

God is satisfied by works of justice, and sins are washed away by the merits of mercy. Daniel prescribed such a remedy for avoiding evils. But when King Nebuchadnezzar refused to comply, he was beset with misfortunes that he could have averted had he redeemed his sins by almsgiving.

Saint Cyprian

This story is written as a testimonial from Nebuchadnezzar himself, so it could be the prophet writing it as a type of parable, or since he was a court officer, it’s possible that Daniel wrote this story as dictated to him by Nebuchadnezzar. The entire moral of the story is summed up in the last sentence, that God gives and takes away, that pride and hubris is folly because God can raise up and cast down whom he chooses.

Chapter 5 skips ahead a bit to a king called Belshazzar. The Babylonian kings list does not have this person as the final king before the Persian conquest and overthrow of Babylon, but it does name his father Nabonidus as king during this time. Since Nabonidus left the city to live in western provinces of the empire during the later half of his reign, his son reigned as a crown prince regent in his place. So a king in all ways that matter.

Of note is the fact that the text refers to Nebuchadnezzar as Belshazzar’s father. But Nabonidus was the father of Belshazzar, so we know it’s not strictly speaking his literal biological father. One possible explanation is that Belshazzar’s mother was the daughter or granddaughter of Nebuchadnezzar and so his his grandfather or great grandfather. Also a possibility is that in Semitic cultures you often referred to your predecessor as your father, whether or not you were actually related to him.

Belshazzar has the liturgical vessels that were taken from Jerusalem in the first siege by the Babylonians and uses them at this feast. These party’s were often very debauched events with all many of immorality on display, then to add insult to injury, he uses these vessels to worship his idols of metal and stone.

God immediately responds to this blasphemous usage of items dedicated to his worship and a finger writes something on the wall that nobody in the kingdom is able to read. He offers to raise whoever can read it to a royal position and give him the third position in the kingdom, and this tracks with his father being kings, Belshazzar being regent, and then whoever reads this being the next rung in the ladder.

Daniel basically tells him to keep his offers of honor and positions because he’s going to do this interpretation for free. He recounts to him all the glory laid upon Nebuchadnezzar, and how because of his pride it was all stripped from him to teach a lesson in humility. And then he turns it around and says that Belshazzar should’ve learned from this too because he already knew this humbling lesson that his predecessor was taught, and yet he goes on to commit these sacrilegious acts anyway.

Now the writing is on the wall for Belshazzar, and his time is us. This is the moment when the great statue in the first chapter shifts from the head of gold (Babylonian empire) to the chest of silver (the Persian empire).

Judith 1

This book is one of the books rejected by Protestants and modern Jews, despite its inclusion in Old Testament cannons at the time of Christ. It is set around the time of the destruction of the northern kingdom by the Assyrians and I originally meant to include it in our schedule between Isaiah and Jeremiah but it got left off my final draft somehow. So we’re reading it now, better late than never lol.

The book tells the story of Judith, who is upset with her fellow Israelites that they aren’t resisting the Assyrians enough for her liking, so she takes matters into her own hands. Quite literally too.

This first chapter just lays out the background information and sets the stage for the events to come.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
Daniel 6
Judith 2-4
1 Thessalonians 1