Readings:
Daniel 7
Judith 5-7
1 Thessalonians 2

Daniel 7

This chapter begins the second part of the book of Daniel, wherein he has four visions of things to come. This is very different from the first 6 chapters where it contains mostly stories of Daniel and the three friends either surviving something miraculously or Daniel interpreting dreams miraculously, so it stands apart as a very different theme here. As such, it takes a large leap back in the timeline to Belshazzar’s first year as ruler, probably in the mid 550s BC.

So Daniel sees these four beasts coming from the sea, and notably they are four unclean animals, so that gives us an indication that these are gentile nations being represented here. Jewish and Christian traditions associate these beasts as follows;

• The sphinx type creature represents Babylon. The placing of a man’s mind in the creature after it stands on two legs is a reference to Nebuchadnezzar regaining his sanity and the creature itself would be recognized by anyone in Mesopotamia as a Lamassu.
• The bear represents the Persian empire, with one side higher than the other alluding to Persian dominance over Media in their dual nationality kingdom. The three ribs are thought to represent the three major victories that the Persians had against the kingdom of Lydia in 547 BC, the Babylonian empire in 539 BC and the Egyptian Empire in 525 BC.
• The leopard is the Hellenistic Empire of Alexander the Great, that conquered all the territories of the aforementioned empires with rapid speed, thus its represented by a fast big cat. The four heads are the four generals that split the empire after Alexander’s early death.
• The fourth beast being unrecognizable and indescribable is the Roman Empire. It was unlike any empire before it as far as size and might were concerned. The teeth of iron are a call back to the iron legs of the statue featured in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The ten horns were its emperors and the little horn is often thought to be Nero, who is also featured greatly in Revelation.

Alternatively, some see the empires as Babylon, Media, Persia, and then Greece, with the little horn being Antiochus Epiphanes. I don’t see this one as much, but the little horn does fit well with Antiochus too, so that’s why some people favor this interpretation.

Daniel then sees a courtroom scene taking place where God is sitting on his throne and judging. The little horn continues to speak in brash and boastful ways, and the beast is killed and burned in the fire like the beast in Revelation (which also represents Rome).

Then the next part is a person who looks “like a son of man” coming on the clouds to God sitting on his throne. Just like the stone that destroys the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, this person will have a kingdom established by God that no one can destroy. From a Christian perspective we can see the Christological symbolism here, but even ancient Jewish scholars seen this part of the vision in messianic ways.

The words “like a son of man” show that Christ would become man and appear in this way, yet he would not be born of human seed. Daniel pronounced the same truth in a figurative way when he called him “a stone cut by no human hand”

Saint Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho

The one described in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream as a rock hewn without hands is now presented as the son of man, foreshadowing the Son of God, who takes to himself human flesh.

Saint Jerome

Daniel asks for an explanation and the angel gives him a little bit of insight to what’s been seen. He tells him the horn takes out three other horns and then will persecute Jerusalem for three and a half years. The little horn has often been identified as having its ultimate fulfillment in the antichrist at the end of the age.

I know lots of early Christians and Bible scholars see the little horn as Nero, but I personally think that Vespasian fits the bill better than Nero. He was the tenth emperor (if you count Julius Caesar as the first, which technically he wasn’t but at the same time he essentially was). He also came out on top in the year of the Year of the Four emperors, a tumultuous year kicked off by Nero’s suicide and seeing Vespasian come back from his campaign in Judea to beat out the other three claimants, he also forced an end to the sacrifices at the temple and laid siege to Jerusalem for 3 1/2 years. All of this fits the description on the little horn.

Judith 5-7

The general of the armies see the defense being put up by the inhabitants of Jerusalem and inquires who they are. He’s given a history lesson by a Moabite man in attendance of his war council in all that’s taken place from Abraham to the present. He warns them that God is on the side of the Israelites and they won’t be defeated if he doesn’t will it. For his speech and warning he makes no friends and is taken to the Israelites by the slaves of the general and left there.

Holofernes lays siege to the city and the people are dying of thirst. This all sets the scene for the titular character to make an appearance in the next chapter.

1 Thessalonians 2

Paul recounts the way they were treated in Philippi just before coming to Thessaloniki. He makes the point that they continued on with their mission after this because it’s not the approval of men they seek, it’s pleasing God that matters. This is what Saint Thomas More took very much to heart when facing death but refusing to do what he knew was wrong. In the end, doing the right thing is what matters most.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
Daniel 8
Judith 8-9
1 Thessalonians 3