Saturday, June 25, 2016

Creation Moment 6/26/2016 - Creation in Daniel

"Daniel. 
 According to Wilson, in contrast to Genesis 1, the waters described in Daniel 7 are presented as
returning to chaos, and the animals that surface from the waters are composite creatures that do not correspond to the order of creation in Genesis 1. “The world has reverted to its pre-creation state and is clearly in need of re-creation.”
 This re-creation is achieved in the vision of the Ancient One that constitutes the second part of the vision (Dan. 7:9-14) with the word dominion being the key word and appearing eight times in this chapter. The failure of human dominion over the earth in history as ordained in creation is replaced by God’s dominion over the universe through an everlasting kingdom.

         But aside from Daniel 7, there is more on creation in the prophetic book, as Doukhan has shown. Some of the most outstanding allusions:

        ● In Daniel 1:12, the four young men opt for a menu that echoes the pre-Fall diet of Genesis 1:29, and the description of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:38 invokes creation terminology applying the same attribute of dominion over the earth and all his creatures to the Babylonian king as Adam received in Genesis 1:28.
        ● Clay, which is part of the feet of the statue, is used throughout the Bible within contexts alluding to creation, indicating the religious aspect of the spiritual Rome (Isa. 29:16; Jer. 18:2; Lam. 4:2).
        ● The word-pair darkness/light in Daniel’s benediction (Dan. 2:22) is resounding the creation account of Genesis 1:4, 5.
        ● Another creation word-pair (heaven/earth) is found in Nebuchadnezzar’s prayer after he returns to his senses in Daniel 4:35.
        ● The usage of the cosmic tree motif in Daniel 4 points to the creation account (Gen. 2:9).
        ● The association of “evening-morning” in Daniel 8:14 is found in this sequence and meaning only in the creation story (Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31).
        
 In the concluding chapter of the book, Daniel evokes creation terminology by describing re-creation, which is taking place after the de-creation scenario of the previous chapter (Dan. 11). For the righteous ones there is a passage from sleeping in the dust (12:2) to shining like the stars (vs. 3) and for Daniel in particular from resting to standing up in the final day to receive his inheritance (12:13).

         The apocalyptic themes of transformation of history and final return to an Edenic state that are so recurrent in the Book of Daniel are theologically grouped along a process from creation to de-creation and finally re-creation, a topic encountered repeatedly in the prophetic literature of the Old Testament; whereas the timelines in Daniel are broader and informed by his apocalyptic perspective. Eschatology, which moves toward an end imperatively necessitates a beginning, and the theme of creation provides the theological rationale against which eschatology can take place."
        
PerspectiveDigest/Martin G. Klingbeil
Children in whom was no blemish, Daniel 1:4 --just like at the beginning of the Creation...