Weekly Bible Study Resources Bible Characters for Your Weekly Bible Study Compiled by Lt Gen C. Norman Wood, USAF (Ret), Burke, VA 22015 For week of June 11 - 17, 2007 Daniel Revived with a Vision by Gabriel and Michael (Dan 9: 21,22; 10: 10-19) TIME LINE: @535 BC "This [9:21: the evening oblation] was the second of two lambs offered daily…, this one at 3:00P.M., a common time for prayer (Ezra 9:5)." (MacArthur Bible Commentary) "The location and length of this final vision [10:1-11:1] in the book of Daniel, together with the lengthy preparations and ecstatic experiences that take up all of chap.10, suggest that it is intended to be the climactic experience of the book." (Ibid) Gabriel [Gay’bree-uhl] (“champion [or strong man] of God”) Gabriel is "one of the most prominent of [the seven] archangels in the post-exilic Jewish literature and in Christian texts, especially extra-canonical literature.” (HarperCollins Dictionary) He is “the messenger of divine comfort, Gabriel is accorded a place in Jewish theology second only to Michael.” (Who’s Who in the New Testament) “He “appears only in Dan 8:15-26 and 9:21-27, and in the NT, only in Luke 1:11-20,26-38.” (HarperCollins Dictionary) The “champion of God” was used as a proper name to designate the angel who was sent to Daniel to explain the vision of the ram and the he-goat. "He was commissioned again to visit the prophet to give him skill and understanding, and reveal to him the prophecy of the 70 weeks (ch. 9:21- 27)." (Westminster Dictionary) "In Luke's birth narrative Gabriel appears again in a revelatory role, announcing to Zachariah and Mary the fulfillment of eschatological hopes in the births of John, the Elijah-like forerunner of the Lord (Luke 1:11-20), and Jesus, the messianic king from the line of David (vv.26-38)." (Eerdmans Dictionary) He describes himself in the words, "I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God" (Luke 1: 19). Daniel [Dan’yuhl] (Heb. “God is my judge/Judge of God”) (Abbreviated) Daniel is the hero of the Book of Daniel, represented as a Jew in the Babylonian exile who is skilled in the interpretation of dreams and is miraculously preserved in the lions’ den. He was descended from one of the noble families of Judah, and was probably born in Jerusalem about 623 BC, during the reign of Josiah. "Although some stories about Daniel might date to earlier centuries, the book of Daniel was completed in the 2nd century BC." (Eerdmans Dictionary) CSDirectory.com weekly Bible Study resources http://www.csdirectory.com/biblestudy/nw-index.html 1 Bible Characters for your weekly Bible study — June 11 - 17, 2007 In the second half of the book (chapters 7-12), Daniel is an apocalyptic seer, granted detailed visions of the future. “Chapters 10-11 continue the veiled references to the history of the fourth to third centuries [BC] in chapter 8, emphasizing the aftermath of the breakup of Alexander’s kingdom and the struggle between his generals, especially that between the king of the south (the Egyptian Ptolemies) and the king of the north (the Syrian Seleucids).” (Cambridge Companion to the Bible) Many of the tales, set in the Babylon of the 6th century B.C., were obviously written down centuries later, and in many cases, the references to Babylonian rulers are incorrect. But the stories did bear out that God was stronger than alien rulers and would take care of the faithful. Michael [Mī’kay-uhl] (Heb. “who is like God?”) Michael is the title given to one of the chief archangels. “In apocalyptic literature he is Israel’s patron angel, the guardian angel of the Jews, who fights for Israel against the angels of other nations.” (Oxford Guide to People & Places) He is "first mentioned by name in Dan. 10:13,21; 12.1." (HarperCollins Dictionary) "He is 'one of the chief princes' (Dan 10:13; cf. v.21), 'the great prince who stands up' (12:1), and possibly the 'prince of the host (8:11). (Eerdmans Dictionary) "In the NT he is the 'archangel' who disputed with the devil over the body of Moses (Jude 9)." (Ibid) His role grows in the last centuries BC and he is named as the chief adversary of the devil in the War Scroll of the Qumran community and in the books of Jude and Revelation. He is also represented as warning against "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world." Leishman, Thomas L., “The Contribution of Jonah and Daniel to Prophetic Literature [Part I],” THE CONTINUITY OF THE BIBLE, Christian Science Journal (August 1970), p. 425. --Though, in the prophetic Scriptures, strict chronological sequence is well-nigh impossible, the rise in thought from primitive materialistic and frequently nationalistic attitudes to higher and more spiritual ideals can readily be traced. • While many events recorded in Scripture may be difficult to verify in detail, even legends are often considered as containing a nucleus of historical fact. --As for the book of Daniel, its purpose was to encourage the Jews by recounting events taking place in Babylon during the Exile and, through the visions of Daniel, events in Palestine after it was over. --Daniel [is] referred to as an actual [character] in the Biblical record, not only in the Old but in the New Testament. --Daniel, though certainly a prophetic book, is partly an apocalypse, being intentionally obscure in the wording of much of its latter half to protect its message. Barratt, Geoffrey J. (CSB, Associate Editor, Editor, and Contributing Editor; New York, NY), “Spiritual vision and the new century,” OUTLOOK, Christian Science Journal (January 2000), p. 7. --This is a period when some thoughtful people are casting an eye over their own and humanity's history, perhaps as they've never done before. CSDirectory.com weekly Bible Study resources http://www.csdirectory.com/biblestudy/nw-index.html 2 Bible Characters for your weekly Bible study — June 11 - 17, 2007 --The troubles we face are, fundamentally, inbuilt to an incorrect and unspiritual view of reality. --Christian Science reveals the elevating influence of Christ. --Man reflects the substance of Spirit, eternal good, without limit. --…animalistic notions of man must be revised. • The aim of Christian Science is not simply to fix up mortal man’s varied problems. ---It’s to help us put aside a mortal sense of man, to discover and live man’s immortal nature, which can’t be described by history or geography or demographics. Gilman, James F., “Angels,” Christian Science Journal (August 1893), p. 212. --Are angels realities? • SCIENCE AND HEALTH explains that "they are pure thoughts from God." ---Without question God's thoughts are real, and as such angels or "messages" have each an identity by which we may know one from another, as we know our friends in this mortal life. --Not long since an angelic group of rare beauty and symmetry, as outlined in a letter from the Founder of Christian Science to one of her students, came under the writer's notice, which he would in the interests of the general good see more widely introduced. • It was as follows: "Oh, may you feel the touch of the spiritual idea that is the light in your path! ---God gives you daily supplies. ---Never ask for to-morrow; it is enough that Love is an ever-present help, and if you trust, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment….." Andrews, Pearl G., "Michael and Gabriel," Christian Science Journal (October 1944), p. 550. O longing hearts that wait on God Through all the world so wide; He knows the angels that you need, And sends them to your side, To comfort, guard and guide. --How gently dawns the comfort of this message, found in the Christian Science Hymnal, upon all humble seekers who are earnestly endeavoring to work out of the darkness of materiality into the glorious light of Spirit. --In the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy writes (pp.566,567): "The Old Testament assigns to the angels, God's divine messages, different offices. Michael's characteristic is spiritual strength." • She adds: "He leads the hosts of heaven against the power of sin, Satan, and fights the holy wars. Gabriel has the more quiet task of imparting a sense of the ever-presence of ministering Love. These angels deliver us from the depths." --Mankind is prone to be too gentle with the so-called forces of evil, too complacent with the workings of the carnal mind. • Today there is unmistakable need for the might of Michael at our side. ---There are times when nothing but a persistent dynamic attitude of resistance will suppress and destroy the aggression and oppression of evil. CSDirectory.com weekly Bible Study resources http://www.csdirectory.com/biblestudy/nw-index.html 3 Bible Characters for your weekly Bible study — June 11 - 17, 2007 Henniker-Heaton, Peter J. (Associate Editor), "Gabriel," POEM, Christian Science Journal (December 1932), p. 502. Sometimes the watches of the night so slowly seem to run, Sometimes it seems that we must gain small victories, one by one. Then morning-bright, lest we despair, the blessing from above, The holy benediction falls, the voice of heavenly Love, That knows no struggling child of earth, but only man divine: Son, thou art ever with me, and all I have is thine. Sometimes our triumphs seem so swift, sometimes our path so fair; Sometimes we only speak the word and all we ask is there….