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In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god. (Daniel 1:1-2)
It is well known that the book of Daniel was written in two languages, Hebrew and Aramaic. In like manner, two major sections can be seen naturally based on the book’s content. Chapters 1 through 6 deal with historical events of the past. Chapters 7 through 12 talk about the future, especially concerning the final stages of the End Time.
As far as language is concerned, Hebrew was used to write the first chapter. The following five chapters were written in Aramaic. Similarly but in reverse, chapter 7 was written in Aramaic. The five chapters that follow were penned in Hebrew.
Now we see a sharp sword, coming from the book’s own text, has already dissected the book of Daniel twice: the first cut is according to a major time line, then for each of the two major sections, a second cut is made based on the book’s two languages.
This clearly demonstrates an undeniable and unchanging principle throughout, which Daniel warns us about in the first place: (1) Do not mix the historical past with future events; (2) Do not mingle God’s people, who spoke Hebrew, with the so-called “Gentiles,” who spoke Aramaic in Daniel’s time.
Right in the beginning, Daniel shows us a chaotic scene: in Shinar, the land of Babylon, king Nebuchadnezzar brought the vessels he robbed from the Temple of Jerusalem into the temple of his Babylonian god. There begins the truth mixed with falsehood, genuine pearls hidden among fish eyes.
However, even after being carried away into Babylon, God still wanted to set apart His own people from amongst the Gentiles. This is the first and foremost principle that helps us understand the book of Daniel: sanctification.
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#1 by Riley on 2011/12/05 - 22:11:03
Test comment area in English
#2 by Riley on 2011/12/05 - 22:11:58
用中文試驗留言區。