From the men's bible study, Nov.3

Daniel 7: 1-3, 15-18; Ephesians 1: 11-23; Luke 6: 20-31

Who was Daniel? Not the fellow in the Lion’s den, but a Jewish writer who was exiled in Babylon. He was present in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar and experienced the invasion Babylon by Cyrus the great Persian conqueror. Following the Persian invasion, many of the Jewish captives returned to Israel. Some scholars date the writing from, 176 to 164 BC, after the return from exile.

Daniel had a dream (Nightmare) in this passage. It included wild monsters that are beyond the realm of reality [note the reading skips from verse 3 to verse 15, the gory details are left out]. Much to say about the geopolitics: The beasts are symbols for the kings and kingdoms of the time: Babylonia, Median, Persia, Rome, and Greece. The biggest villain in the story is a Greek (Antiochus Epiphanes) who is very nasty to the Jews- Abominations and desolation.

Our discussions raised the question: So what has this scripture to do with celebrating all of the Saints we love and cherish? In some sense, it can be useful to think that kingdoms and leaders come and go. In their time, they are powerful and often ruthless. But the Kingdom of God is far more lasting and a source of good that endures for all time. The Saints are people that help to show and keep us on the right path. The central truth in Daniel’s writings is in the divine kingdom which surpasses all human empires.

Luke has some great pointers on how to be a good Christian- moving ever more closely to the Saints. The Beatitudes are by William Barkley’s commentary revolutionary and powerful statements about relationships. From the bearing of hardships and treating your neighbors as you would like to be treated, great Christian Fundamentals that we often fail to live up to. We found some challenges in the statement that we “should give to everyone who begs from you”. What should we give? Perhaps that is more important- You may think of it in context of giving what is best for the situation. Perhaps advice or counsel is a better gift than money. An example is that if you give a person a fish it might feed them for a day; however, if you train a person how to fish, that may feed them for a lifetime.
Submitted by Walt Jaap