The last article: Who was the Daniel of the Bible? by Guest Author Deb Freeland, raises a lot of questions, especially for those who are born and bread as Bible thumpers. Daniel in the lions’ den, in many of our minds, is one of the big stories of faithfulness and Divine deliverance. Why would anyone want to discredit it?
In my recent approach to the Bible, I have begun to question anything that has no real historical basis. This was not always so for me. In the past, I often argued against history if it somehow didn’t line up with the Bible. Many believe that Scripture is God-breathed. And yet when we begin to dig, many of the bible stories are just that, stories!
When, recently, I examined the fact that Daniel, according to the book by his name, existed for several centuries, actually being passed from king to king as advisor throughout the Babylonian Persian and Median monarchies. How did Daniel avoid being slain in the take-over of these kingdoms? And how did he live so long? Do the math! From Nebuchadnezzar, until Darius with all the kingdoms in between, we come up to more than 200, perhaps 300 years. According to typical longevity at the time, people were not living that long. King David is recorded as 70 years old when he died and David lived a long time before Babylon took over.
So the years do not add up, nor does his presence in at least 5 of the kingdoms, make any sense. Ok, some will say that he was able to continue because of Divine miracles. But where else do we see anything like this in history? The prophets often fell in the same overwhelming take-over of kingdoms.
Another point, if Daniel was so dedicated to the return of the captives to Jerusalem under Cyrus, why didn’t he accompany them? And if he did, why is he not listed? Also why is he not mentioned in other biblical books other than a couple of obscure references in the book of Ezekiel? There are basically a lot of things to factor in, and since history is mute about Daniel–as far as I know, he is not mentioned in the records kept during the lives of the different kings, we have to question the entire book and perhaps, ask ourselves what is it’s purpose? Does it somehow show that a Jew can be faithful even in the exile? Does it show that kings will deliver the Jews and that they can rise to power at times as second to the king?
When we look at the different prophecies in Daniel 2 and 7, we see that the outline of the takeover of kingdoms is fairly accurate. But since we know that Daniel did not live to see these kingdoms, we can well ask, was something written in later to make the story accurate? And when Daniel 9 is factored in, we find a very deep mathematical puzzle which Christians have used to prove the event of Jesus and his death centuries later. Yet the matter of weeks adding up to days and then becoming years which count down to the event of Jesus, makes for a confusing story at the best.
It seems also that the absence of a date for the death of Daniel, is significant? Was he a real person? I don’t believe he was, at least not the same person that figured throughout the book. I guess where history is silent, maybe we should be as well.
So, I want to thank Deb for her brief article on this subject.
I want to state that I do believe there is still much to be valued in Torah and Tenakh that we should not be discouraged, and begin to doubt everything that is written.
The exiled people of Israel that actually stood up and returned to Jerusalem [2 per cent of the whole] in those early years under Cyrus the Great of Persia had all the hope and future promised by God. Each step they made out of Babylon and into Judah and Jerusalem was filled with the Words of God from the prophets that they would be successful in their efforts to build the Temple of God on Mount Zion.
Their building efforts were suspended for a time due to conflicts with their neighbors and even some discouragement in their own ranks. Their hope and joy returned when another brave but small group of returnees showed up in Jerusalem in the reign of Darius the Great. In those days of return and building, these brave men and women heard words of encouragement for success from Haggai and Zechariah, the prophets of God. They renewed their commitment to finish the Temple and in the year 515 BCE they dedicated the Temple and the Levitical priesthood and the temple service was reinstated.
God’s Words prophesied to Israel during the years before, during and after the destruction of Solomon’s Temple, had been fulfilled. People of Israel had returned at the end of the foretold 70 years of exile and the Temple now stood restored and serving the One and Only God. What remained to be fulfilled were the prophecies of redemption for all of Mankind.
History records that that redemption did not take place. History also records that there are no records for what happened to the people of Israel that returned in the years 539 BCE through around 410 BCE. What we do have in our hands are the books contained in the Writings of the Hebrew Tanakh and the three books of the last prophets of God to Israel.
The storyline from the prophets Haggai and Zechariah is one of hope for a redemptive future and the end of the exile. There would be a new era of Temple service in Jerusalem with the Levitical priesthood and the signet ring of the Davidic line on the hand of Zerubavel the Governor of Judah. Malachi records certain admonitions for the priesthood to handle the Torah of Moshe in purity and holiness and to teach the people to distinguish between the sacred and the profane. All signs are pointing to redemption in those days as the books of the Prophets close with the dedication of the Temple.
Then silence. No history, no records, not even a whisper of what is happening in the Land until the end of the Persian governance over the Middle East with the rise of the Greek empire in the late 4th c. BCE. We are awakened from our slumber, like Rumpelstiltskin from a 200-year nap. When we gaze upon the world of Judah and Jerusalem during the rise of the Greek era, there is a new and different landscape for the Jewish people.
We find that we are holding some books in our hands that cover the history of the Jewish people in the early years of the Second Temple period. Although this historical period was 200+ years, these books, written in the 4th c. BCE, only cover approximately 40 years. The sages of the 1st c. CE reconciled the missing years of history with a formulaic equation that shortened the Persian period from 209 years to 40 years and the invention of The Epoch of the Creation of the World beginning in the year 3761 BCE.
In 520 BCE, Haggai’s message stirred the people and the leaders to return to the work of building the Temple. God was with them to a successful end and, with Yehoshua the High Priest alongside Zerubavel the signet ring of “H, the kingdom would be restored and Torah would go forth from Zion. Zechariah the prophet came to say that there were two destinies that Israel could choose in this powerful moment of history.
His emphasis was on the whole hearted and meaningful return to God who would be there to build them up and give them their righteous future. The 70 years of exile and judgment were over and God wanted a full reconciliation with his people Israel.
“Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these seventy years?” Zech 1:12
Therefore, thus saith the LORD, “I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: My House shall be built in it,” says the LORD of Hosts, “and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.” Zechariah 1:16-17
Haggai spoke further promises from “H of success if the return of Israel to the Land and the Temple was complete.
“Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns. And I said to the angel that talked with me, what are these? And he answered me, these are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. And the LORD showed me four carpenters. Then said I, what come these to do? And he spoke, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.” Zechariah 1:18-21
The people of the return were hearing that God would lift them up with a strength to scatter and cast out the power of the Gentiles or nations. Their redemption and joy would be soon realized.
“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD. And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee. And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again. Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation. Zechariah 2:10-13
The prophet’s words continue with the process of the cleansing and restoring of the Levitical priesthood with Yehoshua ben Yehozadak as Cohen Hagadol. If you, Yehoshua, walk in my ways, it will go well for you. The servant of “H, the Branch, would come and there would be peace and prosperity in the Land. Zechariah 3
Zerubavel would finish the work he had begun and new oil would be poured on Israel, the anointing oil of a people chosen to be the light to the world. Zechariah 4
And then suddenly, the prophet offers another scenario of events, based on communal choices, of how the destiny of Israel could go. The following visions of God pronounced the destiny of Israel should she collectively choose to remain in the exile.
Zechariah lifted his eyes “and looked, and behold a flying roll. And he said unto me, What do you see? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. Then said he unto me, this is the curse that goes forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that steals shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that swears shall be cut off as on that side according to it. I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that swears falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof. Zechariah 5
And then another vision came.
“Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goes forth. And I said, what is it? And he said, this is an ephah that goes forth. He said moreover, this is their resemblance through all the earth. And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sits in the midst of the ephah. And he said, this is Wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof. Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven. Then said I to the angel that talked with me, where do these bear the ephah? And he said unto me, to build it a house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.” Zechariah 5
These visions collided with the strong will of the people who chose to remain in the exile. Joy and redemption were coming. But there was another possibility failing the complete return: the false swearers in the Name of “H and thieves would build a temple for Wickedness in Babylon. What does this mean? Suddenly, Israel was poised between two choices with two very different destinies. Was there more to the story than the 45,000 or 2 per cent of the Jews who returned with the last prophets to build the temple in Jerusalem? What about the remaining 98 per cent of the Jews who stayed in Babylon? Who were they and why did they choose to remain in exile? What future was in store for them? What happened to them and those who would become their leadership in Babylon? From whence came the Judaism that would suffice the Jews in the exile?
As we flash forward to the documented history that appears after the prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, we are in the 4th c. BCE; sitting with a “Men of the Great Assembly” who have become the heirs apparent to the leadership of Israel. They reside and legislate from Babylon; they are judges over the Levitical priesthood and the people in Jerusalem and the greater exile in Babylon.
As retold by the men of the Mishna and Talmudic eras, these “men of the great assembly” have canonized the books that are the final version of the Hebrew scripture. There are now new books, post prophecy, that will fill out the section of the Writings: Esther, Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles, and Daniel. We learn from these new books that the temple built by Zerubavel is of a lesser quality and the Levitical priesthood was in disarray and without genealogical proofs at some point after its dedication.
Further, the Aharonic Levitical, heirs of the priests who served in Solomon’s temple, seem to have forgotten the temple service protocols. They, and the citizens of Jerusalem of the past 150+ years, submit to the leadership of this assembly which sits in Babylon. Ezra, a “scribe and priest,” member and possible leader of this exilic assembly, comes to Jerusalem to set the priests and the people straight according to the Torah. This Ezra, who has chosen to remain in the exile and serve the foreign kings in Persia, instructs the people from the Torah as if they had no clue of its contents. How was it that those holy Levites and people who came out of Babylon according to the Word of God and, with the last of the prophets to guide them, degenerate into such a profane condition while the exiled Jews serving the foreign kings did not?
The histories of the Persian kings in Esther and Ezra-Nehemiah are difficult and obtuse to follow. In fact, the entire Persian empire with its known 15 kings that ruled from 539-332 BCE is conflated into only 4 kings that ruled from 370-330 BCE. These dates for the traditional Jewish history timeline are derived from the Seder Olam Rabba authored by R. Yosef Halafta, adopted by the Talmud through R. Akiva, and codified into the modern Jewish counting of years by Rambam.
These Writings also contain the story of survival in exilic Iran. Mordechai, serving the foreign king in Shushan, Persia, prepares his niece Esther to concubine herself to the king in order to save the Jews from certain death in their host nations. From this derives the festival of Purim which allows Jews to participate in masking themselves in foreign apparel in recognition of the hiddenness of God as they revel in the exile.
The next event on the historical map for the Jewish people comes in the 2nd c. BCE when the Hasmonean family rises up and defends the Jewish faith and temple against the crusading Greeks in Jerusalem and Judea. With the induction of Purim and Hanukkah on the Jewish calendar in the Mishnaic/Talmudic era, the choices to remain in the exile throughout the previous generations were finalized and Israel walked into her future of an extended exile.
These disjointed histories seem more like scattered pieces of a larger jigsaw puzzle. Holes in the bigger picture are on the board but we grasp the few pieces we have to make our timeline work and bring us to the era of the scholars and finally rabbis who bring us forward to survive in an exile that was presaged at least 300 years before the fall of Herod’s temple in Jerusalem.
We stop here and take a deeper look into the discrepancies, the irregularities, and the missing personalities and documents of the dark ages of Jewish history from 597 BCE to 332 BCE. It was during these years that choices were made that set Israel on a path of extended exile and banishment from her God.
What were the choices of Israel in those years? Come home and be a nation under God with the Temple and Levitical Priesthood and Davidic King or stay in the exile and follow those who would rise in authority to make the exile a feasible solution. Temple service with Levites in Jerusalem or exile with rabbis in the host nations.
The past 2000 years of Jewish history answers the questions of which choice became the national mandate for Israel. Today, in the 71st year of sovereign Israel with her people in the Land, we can and we must examine ourselves. We must look into the mirror and ask: what must we do to choose redemption consciousness over the exile mentality to bring our final chapter as Covenant Israel.
Which of the two destinies won the day? Have you ever asked why? Why did the “Second Temple Period” fail? Was the exile religion the foundation of the temple rather than the foundation of the Covenant? Did we desire to remain in the nations over what God Himself ordained for us? Were we so determined to have our way because of our innate desire for free will, much like Adam and Eve, to express our own path?
Was our Covenant with our Holy One such a burden to us?
Many friends in my community do not allow themselves to learn the Prophets without a rabbinic teacher because they fear that they will not understand them properly. In the end, the prophets’ message is one singular line: Remember the Covenant of your God, O Israel, do and keep the Torah of Moshe the Servant of God, and do not go after the ways and gods of other nations.
While simply stated, this path of the “If-Then” covenant with our God has not only eluded us, we simply cannot “get it right.” Why is it so hard for the Jewish people to know, understand and follow the actual mandates of the Torah and do the Divine Will for Israel, one nation under God?
Today we remain yoked under the rabbinic tutelage of Talmudic Judaism and thus most Jews today believe that they are doing the Divine Will of God while living in exile, even in Israel.
Will we find the will and the courage to remove our burdensome yokes of exile, rote tradition and religion, and receive our redemption of freedom from the reproach of the nations? Will we make straight the paths of our Maker, the Rock of Israel, and allow the return of His Divine Presence to His Holy Mountain under the leadership of His Levitical priesthood in His Holy House?
