Readings:
Daniel 6
Judith 2-4
1 Thessalonians 1

Daniel 6

Now Daniel, who was already a trusted adviser in the Babylonian court, is elevated to a high position in the Persian court and is on track to be made what is essentially the prime minister of the kingdom. This is very similar to the path of Joseph in Genesis; a Jew that is exiled from his homeland, interprets the dreams of officials, and is promoted and thrives in his position.

The local officials seem to have taken having a foreign man as their boss not too well, and they start looking for ways to undermine him, but the only avenue they found was through his devotion to his God. They convince the king to make a law, that according to their laws was irrevocable once established, that for a 30 day period there was to be no petition of anyone but the king. Anyone who violates this law was to be cast into the lion’s den. The Babylonians are known in history to be fond of executions by fire, but because fire is sacred in the native religion of Persia (Zoroastrianism which is still practiced today) they wouldn’t profane the sacred fires with the task of execution. This change in methods of execution between chapters 3 and 6 are cited by biblical scholars as evidence of the historicity of the book of Daniel.

So Daniel goes into the lion’s den but is saved by angels that prevent him being harmed at all by the lions, and the people who plotted against him are instead thrown in with their whole families. The collective punishment of perpetrators with their families was also common in ancient Persia.

Judith 2-4

The king sends his general named Holofernes to the western provinces, his orders are to destroy towns, take prisoners, and kill all who opposed him. He goes on quite the terror campaign and does lots of damage all through the levant. He comes to the edge of Judean territory and the people are in a panic. They set soldiers out in the hills to guard the passes from the north and they begin to please with God for deliverance. The situation is looking pretty grim.

1 Thessalonians 1

This book is widely believed to be the earliest written part of the New Testament. This isn’t obvious to most people because they assume the New Testament runs chronologically, especially since the gospels come first, then acts, then the age of the church and finishes with revelation. So it makes sense to think it’s in chronological order, but that’s not how it’s ordered at all. Most New Testaments have the gospels and acts at the beginning, then it goes into the letters written by Saint Paul, followed by all the other letters, and finishes with Revelation, with each group of letters ordered according to length.

So, because of its length, we find 1 & 2 Thessalonians in the middle of Paul’s letters, even though he wrote this one first. The dating generally agreed to being the early 50s, so about 10 years earlier than his letters from jail in the early 60s.Paul writes this letter as a pastoral address because he’s not present with them and wants to strengthen this infant church.

The first chapter is mostly greeting and salutations to the church. Paul does mention that they’re such an example of followers of Christ that he’s heard good reports about them from several other communities. He also mentions the fact that we’re all awaiting the return of Christ. This is something he really expands on in his second letter to Thessaloniki where the believers in rapture theory get most of their doctrinal points from.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
Daniel 7
Judith 5-7
1 Thessalonians 2