We pray, Lord,
that you will open the door of our hearts
to receive you within our hearts.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
At first glance Ezekiel seems to end with a geography lesson. It is not. This is a picture of a restored, single nation. Think of all of the brokenness and division and exile the people have seen. This map at the end of the book is a map of wholeness and peace. The final words of the book are the name of the city: “The LORD is there.” For a comparable picture for us, see Revelation 21:10-27.
Daniel was one of the early exiles from Judah to Babylon. After the fall of the Babylonian empire, Daniel served the Medo-Persian empire that followed.
Daniel 2:11 is prophetic. Indeed God does reveal everything to Daniel, and God has chosen to dwell among people.
One of my favorite lines in Daniel is 3:18. The three know that God can (and will) save them, but that is not the basis of their devotion. “But even if he does not, we want you to know O king…” That is faith and devotion!
Does Nebuchadnezzar seem a little fickle to anyone else? He goes back and forth between his own grandeur and God’s power.
In chapter 5 Belshazzar was a descendant of Nebuchadnezzar, and his father was Nabonidus. Nabonidus brought Belshazzar up to the position of co-ruler because of his own travels. Since Belshazzar was the second ruler, the highest position he could offer was third ruler, as in 5:7.
The visions of Daniel have received many interpretations. Some of it referred to the Babylonian, then Medo-Persian, then Greek, then Roman empires, but to what extent they are end time revelations and what exactly they mean is still disputed.
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