OBS #1.4 - Daniel 2:17-49

Daniel 2:17-23

Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king's matter."

Upon hearing the king’s decree, Daniel and his friends immediately begin to pray for themselves and that someone would receive the revelation of this mysterious dream of Nebuchadnezzar. During that time of prayer, the dream was revealed to Daniel and we have recorded his prayer of thanksgiving.

Daniel 2:24

Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him, "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation."

Arioch, the general of Babylon’s army, was given the order to kill all the wise men in Babylon. Daniel went into his office and told him that he could interpret the king’s dream.

Daniel 2:25-30

Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him: "I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation." The king said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?" Daniel answered the king and said, "No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.

Arioch brought him in as soon as the words left Daniel’s mouth. He didn’t want to have to carry out Nebuchadnezzar’s orders, but it was his duty to follow the king’s commands. After all, it was considered a national security issue to Nebuchadnezzar. He was excited to be able to find a loophole so that he didn’t have to carry out the orders.

Daniel explains to Nebuchadnezzar that it isn’t anything in himself that allows him to interpret the dream. That there was a God in heaven who reveals dreams. Not only to wise men, enchanters, magicians or astrologers, but also to all people. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was a prophecy of the future. It showed what was going to happen in the near and distant future.

Daniel 2:31-35

"You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

The great and mighty image had multiple sections made of different materials. Then it is all destroyed by a single shot from “a stone cut out by no human hand”. As the eyes go down from the head to the toes, the quality and value of the material goes down. Gold to silver to bronze to iron to an iron-clay mixture.

Daniel 2:36-45

"This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all--you are the head of gold. Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these. And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure."

Nebuchadnezzar had the great dream of the world’s greatest empires. The four sections each stand for one of the four major empires of the ancient world. The revelation goes chronologically from head to toe:

• Head of gold – Babylonian Empire. This empire is primarily seen through the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar (Daniel 5).
  
• Shoulders of silver – Mede Empire. Darius took over the Babylonian Empire after it was taken away from Belshazzar by God.
  
• Middle & Thighs of Bronze – Persian Empire.
  
• Legs of Iron – Greek Empire. The great empire conquered by Alexander the Great that all of the known world.
  
• Feet of Clay & Iron – Roman Empire. A mixture of its own Latin heritage and the previous empires. The Romans prized the culture of their conquered peoples and blend it into their own.
  
• Stone cut by no human hand – Jesus Christ. He demolishes every preceding kingdom on earth as He establishes His heavenly kingdom.
  

Daniel 2:46-49

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him. The king answered and said to Daniel, "Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery." Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king's court.

God had given Nebuchadnezzar a vision of what would happen in the future. Just like when Joseph explained the dreams to Pharaoh, Daniel was appointed ruler over the entire kingdom, second only to Nebuchadnezzar himself. But Daniel would not be there alone. He had Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego appointed to be his associates and princes over the province of Babylon.

OBS #3.2 - Acts 1:12-26

Acts 1:12-14

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

The Ascension happened on the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem. They returned to Jerusalem, apparently to the same upper room where they had spent Maundy Thursday evening. This journey from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives was less than 2000 paces, the limit allowed by Jews to walk on the Sabbath.

Acts 1:15-26

In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry." (Now this man bought a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) "For it is written in the Book of Psalms, "'May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it'; and "'Let another take his office.' So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us--one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection." And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, "You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place." And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

It should be noted that Jesus didn't appoint anyone to take Judas' place. Nor did He command it to be done. This meeting to bring the number of the Apostles back to twelve involves the entire number of the disciples.

Peter leads the meeting more by common consent than special right. He quotes from Psalm 69:25 and 109:8 in order to show that Judas' betrayal and replacement had been prophecied centuries earlier.

The selection process given here by the early disciples isn't prescriptive of how we must choose in our day, but it does give a prescription and definition for who can hold the office of Apostle, namely, one who had been with Jesus since His Baptism by John until His Ascension.

How is St. Paul, then, able to call himself an Apostle? Peter misses one thing: Jesus chose the Apostles. Jesus didn't command Judas' place to be filled because He already had a replacement for Judas. He just wasn't quite ready yet.

When Matthias is chosen by lot to be numbered with the Apostles, the number is back to twelve. However, most of the Twelve we never hear from again in the New Testament. Peter and John write epistles to the general church. James gets beheaded by Herod in Acts 12. The rest just fade from view. Many traditions have popped up over the centuries about their ministries after Pentecost, but they aren't mentioned in any other New Testament book after the Gospels.

All of this happens in the ten days between Ascension and Pentecost, which we'll take up next month.

OBS #2.4 - Mark 1:29-45

Mark 1:29-34

And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Immediately following his teaching and exorcism in the synagogue, Jesus goes into the house of Simon and Andrew in Capernaum. Why are they in Capernaum? Jesus' homebase was the port city of Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. Bethsaida, the home of the first four fisherman disciples, was just a few miles north of Capernaum.

The fact that Simon Peter's mother-in-law is mentioned brings out another difference between Simon Peter and the rest of the disciples. Most church traditions hold that Peter was the only disciple who was married. This also breeds the tradition that Peter was older than the rest of the disciples since he was married and had apparently established himself in the trade of fishing.

The whole city of Capernaum is said to have assembled outside the door. Capernaum is estimated to have had about 4-5000 citizens in the first century. That is a great testimony to the verse that precedes this section: "And at once His fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee" (v28).

Mark 1:35-39

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, "Everyone is looking for you." And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out." And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Much before dark, Jesus got up and went to a private place to pray. Many of the early church fathers took this and other passages to show that Jesus was a praying Savior. They pointed to the continual references to Jesus going off by Himself to pray.

The disciples search and finally find Him, saying, "Everyone is looking for you." Jesus replies, "Let us go on to the next towns." Let's not stay here but go on because I came to preach and deliver the Gospel and the kingdom of heaven.

Mark 1:40-45

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, "I will; be clean." And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them." But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

While going through Galilee, Jesus is approached by this leper. There isn't any markers saying where or when this happened. It's some time while Jesus is going about the region of Galilee, going onto the "next towns".

The major theme of this miracle is the physical touching of the leper by Jesus. The Mosaic Law had said touching a leper was forbidden and made one unclean. There were different forms of leprosy and many were afraid that most forms were contagious and transferred by contact. But the touching is the major point.

Origen (Fragments on Matthew 2.2-3) writes:

He touched him in his untouchability, that He might instruct us in humility; that He might teach us that we should despise no one, or abhor them, or regard them as pitiable, because of some wound of their body or some blemish for which they might be called to give an account. ... The hand of the Lord is found to havfe touched not a leper, but a body made clean! Let us consider here, beloved, if there be anyone here that has the taint of leprosy in his soul, or the contamination of guilt in his heart? If he has, instantly adoring God, let him say: "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean."

John Chrysostom (Gospel of St. Matthew, Homily 25.2) preached:

If He cleansed him merely by willing it and by speaking it, why did He also add the touch of His hand? For no other reason, it seems to me, than that He might signify by this that He is not under the hand of the Law, but the Law is in His hands. ... He touched the leper to signify that He heals not as servant but as Lord. For the leprosy did not defile His hand, but His holy hand cleansed the leprous body.

Was Jesus abrogating the Law of Moses? Was He throwing it out the window? Not according to Ephrem the Syrian (Commentary of Tatian's Diatessaron), where he writes:

In this stretching out of His hand He seemed to be abrogating the Law. For [it is written] in the Law that whoever approaches a leper becomes impure. ... He showed that nature was good in that He repaired its defect. Because He sent him to the priests, He thereby upheld the priesthood. He also ordered him to make an offering for his cleansing.

After healing the leper, Jesus instructs him to tell no one. Venerable Bede writes about the leper's inability to follow this command (Exposition on the Gospel of Mark 1.1.45):

In the performance of this miracle Jesus requested silence. Yet it did not remain concealed in silence for long. So it is with the called people of God--while following His precepts and example, they may prefer their responsible actions to remain unspoken, yet for the benefit of others providence may allow them to become known contrary to their own wishes.

This is quite applicable to the Christian's life. Many Christians do many great works without a desire to receive attention for them. But many times those acts become quite public despite the original intentions. This is because those who benefit from these good works are so overjoyed that they can't help but tell others about it. So with this healed leper in Galilee.

OBS #2.3 - Mark 1:9-28

Mark 1:9-11

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opening and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

Jesus came to John to be baptized, to take His place among the line of sinners. It was His Baptism by John that sanctified all waters to be a wonderful washing away of sins.

The Latin church father Tertullian writes about the Holy Spirit's descent in the form of a dove, saying (On Baptism, 8):

The Holy Spirit came in the form of a dove in order that the nature of the Holy Spirit might be made plain by means of a creature of utter simplicity and innocence. For the dove's body has no gall in it. So after the deluge, by which the iniquity of the old world was purged away, after, so to speak, the baptism of the world, the dove as herald proclaimed to the earth the tempering of the wrath of heaven--sent forth from the ark and returning with an olive branch, which is a sign of peace among the nations.

Mark 1:12-13

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

St. Mark's use of the word "immediately" is extraordinary. Everything in the Gospel hinged on the urgency of Jesus' return. The urgency of Mark's writing of the Gospel at the urgent behest of the Roman Christians may have lent to the use of this word.

In Mark's Gospel, there is an ambiguity in the reading when compared to Matthew or Luke. Was the tempting of Jesus during the forty days (Mark) or after the forty days (Matthew, Luke)? Either way works because it is the doctrine of temptation in the Christian life.

Once again, the number "forty" comes around again with the length of Jesus' stay in the wilderness. It mirrors the forty days of the rain in the Flood, the forty years in the Wilderness. It is also the basis for the forty days of the season of Lent.

Mark 1:14-15

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

When did Jesus begin to preach? After John the Baptizer had been arrested. It was the greatest example of John's own prophecy: "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). John can do no more public ministry being in Herod's underground dungeon. Now, it was time for the increase of Jesus' ministry.

The great message of Jesus comes through loud and clear. He proclaims, "the kingdom of God is at hand." The kingdom of God is standing in front of them and speaking to them. The Gospel is that good news that the kingdom of God has come down and put on human flesh. The good news that God had come down and was bringing about the reconciliation of mankind to God. But His ministry was one that He would not do alone.

Mark 1:16-20

Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

The first four disciples Jesus called into the ministry were fishermen by trade. Jesus called them to become fishers of men, in fulfillment of Jeremiah 16:16: "Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the LORD, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks." The fulfillment of the restoration of Israel begins with the calling of the disciples.

Mark 1:21-28

And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God." But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him." And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

Jesus went back into his home base of Capernaum and taught in the synagogue. They were astonished, amazed, at Jesus' teaching because He taught "as one who had authority." They were not used to hearing the teachers speaking their own words instead of referencing previous rabbis' interpretations of passages.

The demon wished to derail Jesus' ministry by speaking the truth about Jesus' identity. This half-truth comes at the very beginning of Jesus' ministry to try and derail it off God's plan of salvation and ministry. But Jesus would not be undermined. He cast the demon out and silenced him.

OBS #2.2 - Mark 1:1-8

Mark 1:1-8
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'" John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

St. Mark begins with the word “beginning,” showing that his contribution to the Roman Christians is simply a beginning and foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Mark uses the first eleven verses of his Gospel to illustrate that Baptism is the bridge between the Old and New Testaments.

The wilderness metaphor in verse 3 pictures hindrances and obstacles which separate Israel from God. Impenitence raises the mountains of obstruction. Repentance opens the way of YHWH.

John brings forth the model of Biblical preaching as the call to announce clearly and distinctly exactly what God orders us to announce in His Word.

“The very appearance of John was thus a stern sermon. It was a call to all those who made food and drink, house and raiment their chief concern in life to turn from such vanity and to provide far more essential things. John was a living illustration of how little man really needs here below—something we are prone to forget” (Lenski 38). St. Cyril of Jerusalem, in his Catechetical Lectures, likens John’s living sermon of repentance to a snake shedding its skin:

He fed on locusts to make his soul grow wings. Sated with honey, the words he spoke were sweeter than honey and of more profit. Clothed in a garment of camel’s hair, he exemplified in his own person the holy life. … For every snake puts off its signs of age by pushing through some narrow place, and gets rid of its old apparel by squeezing it off. From then on it is young again in body. So “enter in at the straight and narrow gate,” squeeze yourself through by fasting, break yourself away from perishing, “put off the old nature with its deeds.”

John shows himself finally to be so unworthy of his calling that he likens himself to the humblest of slaves—the one who takes the shoes off his master’s feet upon entering the home—and says he is unable to do even that.

OBS #3.1 - Introduction to the Acts of the Apostles

Introduction to Acts of the Apostles

Author/Compiler: St. Luke is a companion of St. Paul on his missionary journeys. This comes explicitly clear in the "we" passages throughout the book of Acts.

Date of Composition: Acts' date of composition is under heavy dispute. Some believe it was written in 78 AD, being several years after St. Luke's Gospel. There is also some who believe that it was written in the late 90s to 100 AD (around the same time as St. John's Gospel). The majority of the opinion and the evidence points towards as being written in the mid-60s AD. This would be after St. Mark's Gospel (St. Peter's death) and before St. Paul's death. Since St. Peter was executed in 64 AD, St. Paul was executed in 67 AD and Acts ends with St. Paul still being imprisoned, Acts must have been written between 64 and 67.

Occasion/Purpose: Luke wrote this as a second volume to his Gospel. The major purpose of the book of Acts is as a continuation of Jesus' words in Luke 24:47: "repentance and forgiveness should be proclaimed in [Jesus'] name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem".

Major Theme: The major theme of the Acts of the Apostles is the progress of the proclamation of the Gospel by the early Church from Christ's Ascension until the end of St. Paul's ministry.

OBS #2.1 - Introduction to St. Mark's Gospel

Introduction to St. Mark's Gospel

Author/Compiler: St. John Mark is the son of Mary (Acts 12:12) and a Greek father. He lived in Jerusalem. It is believed by some that Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper in the Upper Room in Mary's house in Jerusalem. John Mark grew up to become a missionary helper of St. Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:1-13; 15:36-41). He was also St. Peter's helper in Rome (1 Peter 5:13) and continued helping St. Paul during his second Roman imprisonment (2 Timothy 4:11).

Date of Composition: The Gospel was written around the year 64 AD. There is some debate even among the ancient church fathers as to whether it was before or after Peter's death. Some say that Peter accepted and encouraged the Gospel being written down by Mark. Others say that it was written after his crucifixion as a memorial. Mark was either the first or second Gospel written. There is debate (starting in the 19th century) as to whether Matthew or Mark was written first, the second using the first as a primary source. Most of the ancient church fathers believed that Matthew was written first, then Mark, Luke and John (therefore the order we have them in the Bible).

Occasion/Purpose: Mark wrote the Gospel because the Christians at Rome requested a copy of what St. Peter had preached to them in his time in Rome (between St. Paul's first and second imprisonments). Mark then took the written Gospel and founded the Church in Alexandria. Its style is indicative of the fact that Mark wrote Peter's teachings from memory and recorded them as he remembered.

Major Theme: The major theme of the Gospel of St. Mark comes in its very first verse: "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ" (1:1).