Just kidding... it's apocalyptic literature. Until this unit, I truly thought apocalyptic meant the end of the world. Just that and nothing else. This week, in our OOTLE class, we studied the book of Daniel and I learned that apocalyptic is not strictly about the end of the world. Apocalyptic literature is written about when God will intervene and a new heaven and new earth will be created. Throughout apocalyptic literature, several common elements can be identified. In this post, I will be connecting passages from the book of Daniel to the common elements of apocalyptic literature.
Before making connections, I'd like to share what Christopher Stanley (in his book The Hebrew Bible, Chapter 36) identifies as some of the common elements of apocalyptic literature:
Apocalyptic literature shows visionary experiences in which God's plans for humanity's future are shown to an individual, sometimes through dreams, other times through the individual being lifted to heaven to learn of the future or secrets. Through these visionary experiences the interpretations are sometimes given, while at times, the reader is left to do the interpreting. Apocalyptic literature uses a narrative framework for recounting the circumstances through which the visions were received. These narrative works were often attributed to famous and/or revered leaders in the recent past (this is known as pseudepigrapha). A third common element of apocalyptic literature is cosmic dualism, which describes the period in which people started questioning the "goodness" of God in comparison to the evil in the world.
Elements of eschatological orientation are found in apocalyptic literature as well. This element is not necessarily preoccupied with end times, but rather includes ideas of what will come when God intervenes. In God's intervention, it is believed that evil will be defeated and a new heaven and earth will be ushered in. Stanley identifies moral strictness as another element to apocalyptic literature. This moral strictness encourages readers to associate only with those within their groups and provides motivation for people to remain faithful, even in the face of temptation. Moral strictness in apocalyptic literature may lead to suffering and death, but Stanley wrote "those who suffer and die for their faith will be richly rewarded by Yahweh after death" (Stanley 484). The final element common to apocalyptic literature is the use of symbolic language. Through the use of imagery and symbols, literature with aspects of fantasy is recalled and/or created.
Let's connect! (Please note: the elements do not happen in any particular order!) The first passage from Daniel that I will connect to apocalyptic elements is Daniel 7:1-28.
In this passage, the very first verse reads "In the first year of Babylon's King Belshazzar, Daniel had a dream - a vision in his head as he lay on his bed. He wrote the dream down" (Daniel 7:1 CEB). This correlates with the element of visionary experiences. Daniel's dream fits nicely into the apocalyptic element of a person receiving visions through dreams and/or being taken to heaven to hear the future.
A reader may also notice early in this passage the use of symbolic language when Daniel 7:4-8 describes beasts of the sea. One is described as a "lion with eagle's wings" that is set "on two feet, like a human being, and given a human mind" (Daniel 7:4 CEB). Other beasts in these verses are described in details that are fantastic in nature, fitting quite nicely into this element of apocalyptic literature.
The second passage from Daniel to which I will make connections with elements of apocalyptic literature is Daniel 10:1-4.
In this passage, the element of symbolic language is seen very strongly. Daniel, in first-person, describes a vision he had while on the banks of the Tigris River. In this vision, Daniel suddenly sees a "man clothed in linen" who had "a gold belt around his waist" and a "body like a topaz" (Daniel 10:5-6 CEB). While this language presents different (and less scary!) imagery than the previous passage's, it still paints a very vivid picture of a fantastic event. Even though the people with Daniel did not see the vision that Daniel saw, he says they ran away and hid (Daniel 10:7 CEB).
The last thing the "man" presenting the vision shares is that he has "come to help you [Daniel] understand what will happen to your people in the future, because there is another vision concerning that time" (Daniel 10:14 CEB). While we don't actually learn what that vision is, readers are able to see hints of eschatological orientation through the speech of the man. This orientation is not necessarily about end times, but again is a telling of what will happen after God intervenes.
Finally, let's work with Daniel 11:1-12:13.
One of the first elements that I noticed in this passage was that of dualism. In the opening verses, Daniel describes a fourth king of Persia who will disturb everyone and a warrior-king who will step forward and do whatever he pleases (Daniel 11:2-4 CEB).
In this passage, this is where the eschatological orientation is most strongly viewed. This entire passage is apart from the first two discussed, as this set of verses is not describing visions or dreams that Daniel has had or is having, but is rather used to shows Daniel's prophecies for life that is to come.
Overall, the passages from Daniel are written in a narrative framework, which is another element common to apocalyptic literature. These passages read as though they are fantastically wild and, at times, dark children's stories, much like legends that have been passed down over time.
I have enjoyed studying Daniel this week, as I had only ever studied the "nicey nice" stories about "Daniel and the Lion's Den" and Daniel, the three youths, and the fiery furnace. Okay... not so nicey-nice as in threw-my-fave-into-the-lion's-den-to-see-if-he-can-swing-it or let's-throw-'em-in-the-furnace-Gang, but nicey-nice in that they have good messages about being faithful even in the face of obstacles.
T-OOTLE-oo!
Melissa
Great job on this assignment and analysis of apocalyptic writings. Even though I read the texts, I felt your summary was very helpful. You could publish your own version of Cliff Notes (do they still have those?!) Your description of Dualism was great as I wasn’t really clear on what that meant. I have had the same experience, or lack thereof, in reading Daniel and other apocalyptic books. Now that we know more about the elements that it contains and the purposes it served for individuals or groups in crisis, I feel much more comfortable with these passages. Rather than discount them as too risky to discuss or take them too literally which happens to give apocalyptic a bad name, I can see how this type of literature is part of humans’ interaction with God. I think the whole subject of dreams is fascinating, whether they are a visionary experience or not. Then as now, there is so much we don’t know, confirming that the vast difference between man and God described in the book of Daniel is still true today.
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Great job on this assignment and analysis of apocalyptic writings. Even though I read the texts, I felt your summary was very helpful. You could publish your own version of Cliff Notes (do they still have those?!) Your description of Dualism was great as I wasn’t really clear on what that meant. I have had the same experience, or lack thereof, in reading Daniel and other apocalyptic books. Now that we know more about the elements that it contains and the purposes it served for individuals or groups in crisis, I feel much more comfortable with these passages. Rather than discount them as too risky to discuss or take them too literally which happens to give apocalyptic a bad name, I can see how this type of literature is part of humans’ interaction with God. I think the whole subject of dreams is fascinating, whether they are a visionary experience or not. Then as now, there is so much we don’t know, confirming that the vast difference between man and God described in the book of Daniel is still true today.
ReplyDelete( I read in your profile that you are in BGTS Deacon Studies - me too!)
You creative cats and your song weaving capabilities! All though the post I was singing the song, so I had to re-read!
ReplyDeleteBut in all honesty - thank you for highlighting the definitions, I think I personally needed to read the definitions 3 times before I could do the analysis myself! I appreciate that you highlighted the eschatological orientation in the final passage. That one in particular was the HARDEST for me to look at because there was so much to unpack. What are some of the examples of dualism that you see in this particular passage?
I echo your prior experience with Daniel as well, that Daniel and the Lions den was about all the experience that I had - oh and the furnace!
Wow. I like how you are able to weave these all together with the terms we have learned. One thing that I have always observed in apocalyptic literature and in its presence in our world today is the concept of 'moral strictness.' In Revelation, this is a key factor as well. It is as if the overall story seems to tell us 'I know things look really bad right now - but wait and you will receive your reward by being faithful. In spheres where this language is taken literally signifies the 'end of the world,' the message is the same. Continue to live according to the way you have been taught, and you will see your reward here or on the 'other side.' Just some thoughts. Peace to you, David
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