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The Prodigal Son

 The Parable of the Prodigal Son is easily the most famous story Jesus ever told. It has inspired paintings, novels, symphonies, and countless sermons. Yet for all its familiarity, we often miss its radical edge. We reduce it to a morality tale about a wayward child who says sorry and a softhearted dad who offers a second chance. But Luke 15:11–24 is far more disruptive than that. It is a story about the architecture of desire, the bankruptcy of self-exile, and a love that operates outside the economy of merit. **The Request That Kills** The parable opens not with departure, but with a demand: "Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me" (v. 12). In the first-century world, this was not merely impolite; it was violent. By asking for his inheritance while his father still lived, the younger son is effectively saying, "I wish you were dead." He wants the benefits of sonship without the relationship. He wants the assets, not the father. This is th...

How to tame lions? The book of Daniel, A summary :)

 The Book of Daniel is a unique work in the Old Testament, blending court tales (narratives) with apocalyptic visions (prophecy). It is set during the Babylonian exile (6th century BCE) and tells the story of Daniel and his three friends—Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (better known by their Babylonian names: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego)—who maintain their Jewish faith while serving in the royal courts of Babylon and Persia.

Structure and Content:

The book is clearly divided into two distinct halves:

  1. Court Tales (Chapters 1–6): These chapters are narrative stories about Daniel and his friends living in a foreign land.

    • The Food Test: Daniel and his friends refuse to eat the King’s royal food (which would defile them) and choose only vegetables and water. They end up healthier than the other trainees, proving their faithfulness (Chapter 1).

    • Nebuchadnezzar's Dream: The King dreams of a giant statue made of four metals (gold, silver, bronze, iron/clay) that is smashed by a stone "cut out not by human hands." Daniel interprets this as a succession of empires (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome) that will eventually be destroyed by God's eternal kingdom (Chapter 2).

    • The Fiery Furnace: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to bow to the King's golden idol. They are thrown into a blazing furnace but are miraculously saved by a fourth figure "like a son of the gods" (Chapter 3).

    • The Writing on the Wall: Decades later, King Belshazzar hosts a blasphemous feast using cups stolen from the Jerusalem Temple. A mysterious hand writes MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN on the wall. Daniel interprets it as judgment: Babylon will fall. That very night, the city is taken by the Medes and Persians (Chapter 5).

    • The Lions' Den: Under the new Persian rule, jealous officials trick King Darius into banning prayer to anyone but himself. Daniel refuses to stop praying to God three times a day. He is thrown into a den of lions but is found unharmed the next morning because "he trusted in his God" (Chapter 6).



  1. Apocalyptic Visions (Chapters 7–12): These chapters record Daniel's own dreams and visions about the future of Israel and world empires.

    • The Four Beasts: Daniel sees four terrifying beasts rising from the sea, representing the same succession of empires as the statue in Chapter 2. He sees a distinct figure, "one like a Son of Man," approaching the "Ancient of Days" (God) and receiving an everlasting kingdom (Chapter 7).

    • The Ram and the Goat: A vision predicting the clash between the Persian and Greek empires (Alexander the Great) and the rise of a wicked ruler (Antiochus IV Epiphanes) who will desecrate the temple (Chapter 8).

    • The Seventy "Sevens": After reading Jeremiah’s prophecy that the exile would last 70 years, Daniel prays. The angel Gabriel arrives to tell him that the "70 years" are actually "70 weeks of years" (490 years) until sin is atoned for and everlasting righteousness is brought in (Chapter 9).

    • The Kings of the North and South: A detailed prophecy describing future wars and the eventual resurrection of the dead—some to everlasting life, some to shame (Chapters 10–12).

Notable Quotes and Verses

  • God's Sovereignty:

    "He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises others up. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning." (Daniel 2:21)

  • The Fiery Furnace Confession:

    "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (Daniel 3:17-18)

  • The Writing on the Wall:

    "Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting." (Daniel 5:26-27)

  • The Son of Man:

    "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence." (Daniel 7:13)

  • Resurrection:

    "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt." (Daniel 12:2)

Historical Facts: How the Book Came to Be

  1. Two Languages: Uniquely, the Book of Daniel is written in two languages.

    • Hebrew: Chapters 1 and 8–12.

    • Aramaic: Chapters 2–7 (the court tales and the first vision). Aramaic was the diplomatic language of the ancient Near East.

  2. Dating Debate (6th vs. 2nd Century BCE):

    • Traditional View: The book was written by the historical prophet Daniel in Babylon during the 6th century BCE, accurately predicting the rise of future empires (Greece and Rome) through divine revelation.

    • Critical/Historical View: Most modern scholars date the final composition of the book to the 2nd century BCE (around 167–164 BCE), during the Maccabean Revolt. They argue the specific details about the Greek empire and the persecution by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (the "little horn") are so precise that they were written vaticinium ex eventu (prophecy after the fact) to encourage Jews suffering under his reign. The stories of Daniel in Babylon served as inspiring examples of how to remain faithful to God under foreign persecution.

  3. The "Son of Man": The term "Son of Man" (Daniel 7:13) became a crucial title in Judaism and Christianity. While in Daniel it likely represents the faithful people of Israel or an angelic figure, Jesus explicitly adopted this title for Himself in the Gospels to describe His role as the divine-human Messiah who would receive the Kingdom.

  4. Influence on Revelation: The Book of Daniel is the primary Old Testament source for the imagery found in the Book of Revelation (beasts, horns, time periods), making it essential for understanding biblical apocalyptic literature.

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