My interests usually fall on any verse that has an OT reference, which I learned are key to providing more context and understanding into what is covered in the NT. I say this mostly because of a course I took on Biblical Interpretation, which taught us to be careful of thinking that the NT could be read and understood in isolation of the Old, or that the OT merely outlines an outdated, "old" covenant while the NT outlines the updated, "new" and more relevant covenant. In the final paper I wrote for this class, I gave four reasons why looking closely at what the Old has to say will help us see more clearly the bigger picture perspective of the New:
- There was cultural context and worldview steeped in OT notions of exile, nation, Temple, and the kingdom of God
- The lifestyle of the Jews were such that the OT flavored and informed every part of their lives (they ate, slept, and breathed the Scriptures)
- The Scriptures themselves strongly emphasize intertextuality, which "assumes that a principle of harmony permeates through Scripture, and examines the ways in which one part of Scripture interacts with another part of Scripture." In this way, the past and present, old and new, are continually drawing insights from one another.
- There is a wide use of narrative in Scripture, which speaks to its unity. A New Testament narrative without the Old Testament narrative is an incomplete narrative.
So all this is to say that, there is a passage in particular that makes a reference to Daniel 7. NT Wright says that "the story of Jesus' ascension would indicate that Daniel 7 had been fulfilled in a dramatic and unexpected way, with the human figure who suffered at the hands of the evil powers of the world now being exalted into the very presence of God himself, there to receive kingly power."*
This inevitably made me open up Daniel 7 again (I say again, because it was also referenced in Luke 17 & 18). I mentioned that I didn't know what it was talking about before, but I read it again more closely, and this is what I see: Daniel has this vision. There are these four beasts who in the OT were said to represent four great kingdoms (apparently Babylon - lion, Media - bear, Persia - leopard, and Greece - fourth beast). The fourth beast has arrogant words and is burned and destroyed, and the other three has their dominions taken away from them. Then there is "one like a human being" (Dan 7:13), which is also translated as "son of man" (who is according to the commentary+ is supposed to be the Angel Michael, representing the Jews). Daniel 7:13-14 say the following:
13 I saw one like a human being
coming with the clouds of heaven.
And he came to the Ancient One
and was presented before him.
14 To him was given dominion
and glory and kingship,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not pass away,
and his kingship is one
that shall never be destroyed.
The rest of Daniel talks about how Daniel wants to know more about this fourth beast with arrogant words, who is exceedingly terrifying, and will devour and trample other kingdoms. Basically, it says again that this kingdom will be destroyed and its dominion will be taken away, and will be given to "the people of the holy ones of the Most High" (Dan 7:27).
So what does it mean? Oh, I don't know... I think "son of man" here is certainly now interpreted as Jesus, who is given the glory and kingship. The beasts are now represented as "the forces of evil and chaos."* The commentary for Daniel in the beginning of this chapter notes that "Daniel's apocalyptic revelations focus less on the dreamer's fate and more on international events."+ This seems significant, as Jesus' project certainly has international aims.
What's particularly interesting to me here is a wonder of how long and how much thought & meditation it would have taken the early followers of Jesus to unpack and unlearn what they had always thought about the Scriptures. These notions of exile, nation, Temple, the kingdom of God, for example, always seemed to have something to do with the political state of Israel, and its message was centered around the Jewish people. But Jesus comes around and turns this around and offers a greater, worldwide vision of God's kingdom and purposes. There is seemingly so much re-interpretation and re-imagining of Scripture going on when we come to the New Testament; I can understand why a Jewish person (whose teachings are passed from the Rabbis, whose predecessors were the Pharisees) would find Jesus' teachings heretical. Of course, from the Christian perspective, this is the way Scripture has always been, and the signs are clear if you look closely. This is what Paul saw, and a reason why he spent so much time writing what he did. From a contemporary Jewish perspective, though, I can see how this would be hard to swallow and accept.
Overall this makes it hard for me as a reader. Because I am not steeped in the Old Testament, I don't understand the Law and the Prophets (and other OT Scriptures) like I should. I haven't spent my lifetime eating, sleeping, and breathing these Scriptures. I don't know them like I should - inside and out. Any reading of the NT I have is usually read in isolation, through the lens of my contemporary worldviews of self, individualism, consumerism, Enlightenment-influenced rationalism, etc. I wish I was taught to love the OT Scriptures more. I think that would help me understand and discern more clearly the messages that are written in such places as Daniel 7.
NT Wright has more interesting things to say in his writings about "heaven and earth." I wanted to spend some time thinking about that. Maybe I'll leave that for another time.
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* Wright, NT. Acts for Everyone: Part I. Westminster John Knox Press (2008): 14.
+ The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha. Michael Coogan, ed. Oxford (2007): 1267-8 Hebrew Bible.
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