Wednesday, June 25, 2008
"Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, and mistreated – the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground" (Hebrews 11:36-38, NIV).
IDEA: Christian scholars who know the Bible and know the history of the intertestamental period serve the church well in defending what the Bible says as true.
PURPOSE: To help listeners see that a knowledge of the period between the testaments is essential to a knowledge of the prophecy of the Bible.
Do you think that there are many sincere Christians who are suspicious, even antagonistic, of Christian scholars? Why?
Why do you think that some Christian scholars make an essential contribution to those who take the Bible seriously?
I. One question that scholars have debated is the date of the writing of the Old Testament book of Daniel.
Many evangelical scholars argue for an early date of the book of Daniel. What do we mean by that?
They believe that the prophet Daniel lived 606-532 BC and it was in this period that he wrote his prophecy.
Other scholars argue for a late date of the book of Daniel, from the intertestamental period up to 200 years after the death of Jesus.
Porphyry, in opposition to the Christians, suggested that the book of Daniel had to be written about 164 BC.
What difference does that make? It's an important debate because an early date of Daniel would establish the reality of predictive prophecy. A late date for Daniel would say that the book is basically a fraud.
For example, if I read a book written in 1905 that talks about a great coming battle between America and Great Britain on one side and a country under the sign of the swastika. Then World War II takes place. I'm astonished that the first writer was able to predict the battle. But if you tell me that the book was really written in 1948, then I dismiss it as a clever forgery.
II. Throughout the book of Daniel there are predictions about four empires and events between the time of Daniel and the coming of Christ.
For example, take Daniel 11:2-3: If you know ancient history, you know that the Persian empire went against the Greeks but Alexander the Great destroyed the Persian power and literally conquered the world.
Daniel 11:4 – we know that when Alexander the Great, the noted Greek, died, his empire was divided among his four generals. We know that from the history of the intertestamental period. It's established not by religious authorities but by secular historians. No one who knows ancient history doubts that. In the 400 years between the OT and NT, much history was taking place.
III. What difference does it make if Christian scholars can establish that there is no reason to doubt that Daniel wrote his prophecy during his lifetime in Persia?
It's because we know what happened between the time of Daniel and the coming of Jesus that we can look at the book of Daniel and see that God enabled the prophet to see history before it happened.