May 12, 2016: Bel and the Dragon/Serpent

II. The Story of Bel and the Dragon: At the end of the Traditional Book of Daniel

            Takes place after the old king dies – Daniel is an older man now to a younger more gullible ruler.

1. 1-22: The Temple Bel

 2. 22- 27: The Great Serpent

 3. 28 – 42: Daniel in the Lions Den – 2^nd time.

1. 1-22: The Temple Bel:  This could also be a sly comment on the pagan spectacles in Greek and Roman Temples.  There were often sound effects produced by hollow tubes in the statues.  Or fires lit behind the eyes to make them glow.  Also the offering of grain or food was very common.  Egyptian God’s often had food left in the temples that was “eaten” by the God’s.

            Bel was one of many God’s in the Parthenon of the Babylonians – it could be that the priests were trying to make a bid on the new king to support this God over another – therefore giving them more political influence.

            1. Daniel is not confronting the ruling king about the king’s religion.  It is the king who confronts him.   Daniel tells him that the idol is handmade by men – maybe a representation but it cannot produce the miracles that it claims to.  The miracles are man made.  Daniel had been around a long time and probably had figured out how the system worked.  He was not going to confront it – but the new king brought it up.  Daniel probably felt that it was his job to show him that just because someone says something is real it isn’t.

            2. The contrast between the Living God and a God/Political System that pretends to be alive.

            3.  The priests are the ones who initiate the challenge.  (Seventy priest + Wives + Children = 280 people as a minimum.

            4.  The sealing of the room is done with a lot of witnesses, but the King and Daniel are the ones who know the secret of the ashes.

            5.  The next day when the doors are unsealed the king sees the food is gone and immediately assumes that the God ate it.  This is a case of looking only at the evidence that supports your theory – he is still young and hasn’t learned how to use observation.

            6. Daniel shows him the footprints – This is an invitation to gather evidence.

            King puts the priests & families to death – But Daniel destroys the false temple – which is the more important thing.

2. 22- 27: The Great Serpent:  This is most likely a comment on living animal worship in the ancient world.  If an animal became exceptionally large it was often considered to be the manifestation of a God.  There have been very large crocodile mummies found in Egypt. 

            1. Daniel proves that the serpent isn’t super-natural, just natural by feeding it a combination of fat, pitch, and hair.  I haven’t found any chemical composition or explanation of what this would do to a stomach.  But perhaps it caused a reaction that produced massive quantities of stomach gasses so that the serpent swelled up and exploded.

            2. this is another lesson for the king to not take anything at face value.

           

3. 28 – 42: Daniel in the Lions Den – 2^nd time:  The result of confronting the dominant religions of the time.

            Daniel has put the king in a difficult position by winning the sympathy of the ruler.  Also the religious symbolism has been threatened.

            This could also be in reference to the Greek converts who were interested in the Jewish religion and who were attending synagogue and learning about the religious writings.  The idea of family strife from someone’s decision to convert or to passively not follow the religion of their parent’s religion was imaginable.

            1. Daniel is thrown in the Lion’s Den AGAIN.  The first time it happens is in 6:1-28 – For praying to God and not to the dominate religion.  This time Daniel destroys two aspects of the dominate religion: idol worship and animal worship.

            2. The use of Habakkuk is the most fantastical part of the story.  And might have been included to emphasis that this is a fairy-tale, or to lessen the threat of the Greek culture who read it.  Habakkuk takes a strong line against idolatry and the eventual conquest of the conquerors of Israel.  So this might have been a coded script for the Jews who read the work, but wouldn’t have been a threat for the Greeks.

            3.  Daniel is kept safe – he is not harmed by the lions and fed by a prophet (the word of God)  The result is that the King believes in the validity of Daniel’s God. 

            4. It is interesting to note that throughout the entire book of Daniel it is the validity of God that is sustained.  God is going to conquer in the end not by sword by but the constant proof of His presence in the lives of the Faithful.