the angel of God

September 24, 2017

The prophet Habakkuk visits Daniel (Dan 14:37-14:39)

“Then Habakkuk shouted.

‘Daniel!

Daniel!

Take the food

That God has sent you.’

Daniel said.

‘You have remembered me!

O God!

You have not forsaken

Those who love you!’

So,

Daniel got up.

He ate.

The angel of God

Immediately returned Habakkuk

To his own place.”

When Habakkuk landed on top of the den, he cried out to Daniel. He told Daniel that God had sent him with a dinner. Daniel praised God for not forgetting him. Then he got up and ate the dinner. Finally, the angel of God returned Habakkuk to his own home. At least, Daniel had a good dinner for one of his 6 days in the den. Habakkuk was also back home again.

September 20, 2017

Under what tree did all this take place (Dan 13:58-13:59)

“‘Now then,

Tell me!

Under what tree

Did you catch them

Being intimate

With each other?’

The second elder answered.

‘Under an evergreen oak.’

Daniel said to him.

‘Very well!

This lie will cost you

Your head.

The angel of God

Is waiting

With his sword

To split you in two.

Thus,

He will destroy you both.’”

Daniel asked the second elder the same question that he had asked the first elder. Under what tree did you find Susanna and her friend being sexually intimate with each other? The second elder said that they were under an evergreen oak tree, a large holly oak tree, quite different from the small mastic tree. Once again, Daniel told this elder, like the first elder, that his lying response would cost him his life. The angel of God was waiting with his sword to split him in two. Thus, both these lying old judges would be destroyed. Once again there is a Greek play on words with evergreen oak tree (πρϊνος) and split (καταπριση).

June 27, 2015

The prayer of Judas Maccabeus (2 Macc 15:22-15:24)

“He called upon God in these words.

‘O Lord,

You sent your angel at the time of Hezekiah king of Judea.

He killed fully a hundred and eighty-five thousand

In the camp of Sennacherib.

So now,

O Sovereign of the heavens,

Send a good angel to spread terror and trembling before us.

By the might of your arm

May these blasphemers

Who come against your holy people

Be struck down.’

With these words he ended his prayer.”

This prayer is a reminder to God of what the angel of God did to King Sennacherib and Assyrians in 2 Kings, chapter 19, when he killed 185,000 men in one night during the time of King Hezekiah of Judah. Judas Maccabeus wanted a similar good angel to spread terror and trembling to these blasphemers who were coming to attack these holy people.

May 6, 2015

Judas prays (1 Macc 7:39-7:42)

“Now Nicanor went out from Jerusalem. He encamped in Beth-horon where the Syrian army joined him. Judas encamped in Adasa with three thousand men. Then Judas prayed and said.

‘When the messengers from the king spoke blasphemy,

Your angel went out.

He struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand of the Assyrians.

So also crush this army before us today.

Let the rest learn

That Nicanor has spoken wickedly against the sanctuary.

Judge him according to this wickedness.’”

Nicanor went to Beth-horon where he met up with his Syrian army. Beth-horon was on the border between the old territories of Benjamin and Ephraim, north of Jerusalem. Judas was camped at Adasa was about 7 miles north of Jerusalem with about 3,000 men. Judas prayed that the angel of God would come down as he had done in 2 Kings, chapter 19, against the Syrian King Sennacherib who had also mocked Yahweh. He explicitly mentioned the amazing 185,000 Assyrians who died that night. Judas made the comparison between that event and what was happening to him.