Daniel - Lesson 12

Dr. Tremper Longman III
Daniel ot666-12
Apocalyptic Literature vs. Prophecy
Lesson Transcript

Tremper Longman III [00:00:00] So now that we've taken a look at the first apocalyptic vision, they thought it might be good to now reflect a little bit more with that concrete example in mind what apocalyptic literature is precisely, and do so by comparing it with what we might call classical prophecy. And specifically I'll use Jeremiah as an example. First of all, I want to say that, you know, as I said at the beginning, genre triggers reading, strategy, authors write and certain literary forms in order to send signals to their readers as to how to take their words. I mean, a non-biblical example of that is once upon a time. You know, that's a that's a really explicit, obvious generic symbol that communicates to readers that you're about to encounter something like a fairy tale. So, so but on the other hand, we're at some historical remove from biblical text. And so what we're really doing is we're reading these texts and seeing which texts are like each other, not only within the Bible, but, you know, basically every biblical genre has extra biblical examples. I don't think that God needed to or needed to create whole distinctive genres that are unique to the Bible to communicate his message any more than he needed to create a whole distinct new never before used language, but rather used Hebrew, which is a language like other languages. I mean, some people in history of interpretation have argued that Hebrews, the language that was spoken in the Garden of Eden and will be spoken in heaven, But I don't think that is true. God. Condescend to meet people where they are, speaks the language, uses the imagery and the literary types that they're already familiar with. So what is apocalyptic literature? Well, let me begin by saying, where does this name come from? It comes from the very first Greek word in the Book of Revelation, which begins apocalypse this Yasa Christou. And we translated the revelation of Jesus Christ. And so books like Revelation are books that are commonly described as apocalyptic. And Daniel seven through 12 is the most obvious example of literature that similar to the Book of Revelation, it doesn't tell us, you know, doesn't go on to describe an apocalyptic is like this. We have to then study the text, look at its characteristics and see how it functions. And that helps us describe what apocalyptic literature is. Now, of course, just the English translation, apocalypse uncovering or revelation know, you know, doesn't really help us to describe the distinctive nature of the Book of Revelation, because, you know, in many ways we believe that all of Scripture is revelation of what one sort or another, but what type of revelation, what type of apocalypses are Daniel and Revelation? Well, the first thing that I would point out by way of difference, say, with prophecy is the dynamics of communication. All right. Think of Jeremiah the Prophet. God speaks to Jeremiah. Jeremiah. This is an oracle. You go and tell the people what I am telling you. Profits are like ambassadors or spokespeople for God. They often use what might be called a messenger formula. Thus says the Lord or decree of the Lord before they relate the words of God and the reader should hear the words of the Prophet. And. Receive them as they're intended, which is as the very words of God. Now, that's not the way Daniel works. That's not the way Revelation works. We just saw in Daniel seven how God does not speak to Daniel, and I don't think God ever speaks to Daniel directly. Rather, Daniel has visions. He has dreams that disturb him. And it's not God who comes to interpret it for him, but rather it's. It's an interpreting angel. Interpreting angel who comes. And of course, the angel comes from heaven. Comes from God. So it's God's agent. But. But again, it's interesting that God does not speak directly to Daniel like he speaks to Jeremiah. And the other difference in terms of what I'm calling dynamic communication is there is no commission for Daniel to go out and tell all the people. Tell all the people. Exactly. We'll see a little bit of the opposite in Daniel Chapter 12, where the angels say, SEAL up your prophecy. Prophecy, seal up these words. Now, of course, they're not really sealed up because we're reading the tax, and so did the original audience. But it's kind of like overhearing a conversation rather than having the words explicitly directed to them. Now there's a reason for the difference that's connected to the purpose of prophetic literature compared to the purpose for apocalyptic literature. We talked a little bit about this before when we talked about prophets being like covenant lawyers who are called to speak when the people violate the covenant and God tells them to go out and confront the people with their sin, call on them to repent. And so prophets function when the people of God are wandering away. And that's not. The background for apocalyptic texts like Daniel and Revelation. It is addressed to the faithful people of God, and its purpose is not to call them to repentance. It's actually rather to call them to staying firm and persistent in their faith during times of trouble, where they're going to be tempted to give up hope, to lose confidence, maybe even turn their back on God, because it just seems like the situation is hopeless since evil's apparently in control. And so I would characterize the apocalyptic fear. Purpose. As to bring hope and confidence to the people of God? No. I've read descriptions of apocalyptic literature as being pessimistic literature. Pessimistic literature. And I think it's. Called that by some because of all the warfare and so forth that we are reading in Daniel 7 to 12 or in the Book of Revelation but. To be honest, it kind of depends on which side of the divide you're on. Whether it's pessimistic or optimistic. If you are an evil person oppressing the people of God to whom neither Daniel or Revelation are addressed. But if you would happen to be the person oppressing the people of God, it's pessimistic. It's bad news for you. But if you are an oppressed person of God, it's really, really good news to you. It's there to bring you comfort. Matter of fact, it makes me reflect on how I became a Christian when I was a senior in high school. And it begins with a girlfriend giving me a copy of how Lindsay's well-known book, The Late Great Planet Earth. Okay, So I was going to a youth group and going to church, but was a very liberal church that really made no religious demands on any of us. Matter of fact, I remember when I was became a communicant member of the church when I was 13 or 14, so half a century plus ago, going in for my final interview with the minister and the minister asked me if I had any questions before I'd be confirmed as a member of the church. And I said, Well, you know, I'm to be honest, I'm having a hard time believing the stories that I'm reading in the Gospels that's actually happening. And he looked at me, goes, Yeah, we do, too. That's not an obstacle to you becoming a member of the church. I'm going, okay. But so, you know, back in like 1969, 1970, when this girl gave me a copy of the late great Planet Earth. And by the way, it was during the beginning of the Jesus revolution. I read it. And to be honest, I completely disowned the interpretive method employed by Hal Lindsey in that book. But he got one thing right while focusing in on Daniel Revelation Mark 13 and other passages, and that is Jesus is coming back again and he's going to come to judge evil people and he's going to save his people. And that was something very pivotal that God used to bring me to himself. So my point is that when I read it, I was on the wrong side of the divide where it was pessimistic message. But when I went to the other side, it became a message of hope and comfort, which again differentiates it from classical prophecy. Another thing that's interesting that serves the purpose, I believe, of apocalyptic, being comforting and making things clear is that apocalyptic is pretty binary in its description of people space and time. You know, it's basically there's evil and there's good. There's there are righteous people and they're wicked people, and there's heaven and there's earth and there's now and the future. And so there is this kind of binary description in apocalyptic literature, which clarifies things for us and helps us understand which side we're on. And let's see, finally. And we've seen it in Daniel seven Apocalyptic literature utilizes highly figurative language, highly figurative language. Now, that doesn't mean the prophets don't use metaphors and similes, but there's an intensification and heightening of the use of figurative language. And actually what has struck me recently is that. In my understanding of Genesis 1 to 11 and my understanding of books that anticipate the final intrusion of Christ or a final intrusion of God, let's keep it general. In terms of the Book of Daniel, that'll be made more specific in the Book of Revelation. When I compare Revelation, which is describing the future, we don't know how future or Daniel which is describing the future, this apocalyptic literature, which is another thing that differentiates it from classical prophecy, which typically talks about near term future. It puts the emphasis there because it's trying to call people to repentance or else the near future is going to be dire for them. Not that the prophets message doesn't have second meanings that resonate later in in history or anticipate Christ as it talks about the future. It uses figurative language. It's talking about real things that are going to happen. Now, let me use Daniel, I mean Revelation as an example, and that is as he's talking about the return of Christ, it talks about it in terms of this image of riding a cloud. It talks about it in terms of Jesus writing a white horse with a sword coming out of his mouth. Revelation 1911 and following or, you know, Daniel, Chapter seven, the one like the son of man riding a cloud into a battle with the beasts and destroying them. And that to me is an interesting parallel to Genesis 1 to 11, which is talking about the deep, deep past. And as I think I explained before, my understanding of the way Genesis 1 to 11 talks about actual historical events is also by using figurative language, which is often informed by ancient near Eastern depictions of creation. Well, that's kind of a controversial point on Genesis 1 to 11, but the point is that that there's a highly figurative language being used. I think it's because it's talking about far distant events ultimately that are described well, using figurative language. But again, the basic difference is the mode of communication. God speaks to Jeremiah, who speaks to the people of God, who then respond and then God reacts to them as opposed to Daniel or John receiving a vision or a dream that disturbs them. In the case of Daniel. And then Alec interpreter comes and helps them understand the significance of that dream or vision. And then not going out and going into the streets like Jeremiah does to, you know, preach to the public, but rather but rather having a message that is really communicating to God's faithful people to bring them comfort and confidence in a difficult present.