Geisler and Nix wrote: “The influence of the Bible and its teaching in the Western world is clear for all who study history. And the influential role of the west in the course of world events is equally clear. Civilization has been influenced more by the Judeo-Christian Scriptures than by any other book or series of books in the world. Indeed, no great moral or religious work in the world exceeds the depth of morality in the principle of Christian love,and none has a more lofty spiritual concept than the Biblical view of God. The Bible presents the highest ideals known to men, ideals that have molded civilization”. Who among us today could deny the tremendous impact of this truth upon our lives? The freedom that we enjoy. The moral quality of our laws. The vast blessing of our way of life has been molded by the regard that the founders of our country had for the Holy Scriptures.”All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
I am proud to be a Christian. Christianity is unique. As I travel the world I gain a deeper understanding of other world religions. In contrast to false belief systems, Christianity overwhelmingly prevails. I realize this world is more corrupt than my little white class mind could ever comprehend, but that Jesus Christ is the true answer and one source of true hope. Our foundation as Christians stems from the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, the greatest man who ever lived. The Alpha, the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Almighty God, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, the One Savior and our true Messiah. Jesus changed every aspect of human life and he has determined the course of human history. As Christmas season gets kicked into full gear my prayer is that we would not miss the meaning of the season. Don’t miss how Jesus has so completely impacted the world. How tragic it is that people have forgotten Him to whom they owe so very much.
Thursday afternoon was our day off. Offered to our squad was a free (the best price ever) tour led by Jay Smith. After picking up some hot coffee on the morning subway ride into town, we hit the halls of some of the world’s most famous institutions. The tour walked us through the British Museum and British Library in London with the intention of supporting the historical veracity of the Bible using archaeological, documentary and manuscript evidences.
Jay wears a pair of dark rimmed glasses and has deflection in his voice that sounds much like Bob Barker from the Price is Right. About half way through the tour he marched our posse up to a very small exhibit containing a tan looking barrel and a small tablet with ancient writing.
He jumped right into the book of Daniel-Sweet! Daniel is my favorite book in the Old Testament. Daniel is a book packed full of prophecies. Daniel describes the rise and fall of four major empires- Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman empires. So, what’s the big deal, right? Well, it’s a huge deal when you realize Daniel authored his book in the 6th century B.C., hundreds of years before the Grecian and Roman empires ever came into existence. Thus, if historians could prove that Daniel was not written in the 6th century B.C. they could therefore discount the prophecies. One area where Biblical critics had succeeded in disproving the authenticity of Daniel is found in chapter 5. Lets take a look.
Balshazar throws this kicking party with lots of food, alcohol, and women. In the midst of his festivities he manages to defame the sacred articles of the temple. Next mysteriously this creep-ball handwriting shows up on the wall and freaks everyone out. To make a long story short, Daniel figures out what the writing says and saves the day. Balshazar as a result makes him number three in the empire. However, his reign as number three doesn’t last very long at all. History supports that the same night the Babylonian empire was attacked, overthrown, and conquered by the Medo-Persian Empire.
But, lets back up for a moment and address some of the criticism presented by historians. So the question presented by historians is twofold. First, there is no historical data that describes this Bashazar fellow? Second, why was Daniel made number three in the empire, instead of number two? Good questions right? All historical data to date supported that Nabonidus was the last king of the Babylonian Empire with no mention of Balshazar. We know that Nabonidus was in power when Cyrus overthrew the Babylonians. Historians have thus concluded that whoever wrote the book of Daniel most likely wrote in the second century B.C. during the rule of the Roman Empire. This author then redacted back to the Daniel in the 6th century B.C.
Now we introduce the Nabonidus Drum into our discussion. The drum contains a prayer written in this crazy language called cuneiform. It contains a prayer written by Nabonidus for his son. And take a guess who his son is. Yep, you guessed – our party animal-Belshazaar. Belshazar was the son of Nabonidus. So, mstery number one is now solved. Balshazar is a documented historical man.
But,we still have to deal with our other question. Why wasn’t Daniel made number two in the empire? Well,next to the barrel is a tablet. The tablet describes that Nabonidus moved to Teman in Arabia for the last tn years of his reign as king of Babylon. As a result we know that Belshazar and Nabonidus were co-regents of the kingdom. In Daniel 5:16 Balshazar turns to Daniel and says,” I’ll make you number three in the kingdom.” We know what he’s saying as he and his father were number one and two.
If the historians are right and Daniel was written during the Roman Empire, how could the author know specific details? How could the writer know it was Balshazar in Babylon while his father took a ten-year vacation to Arabia? Because Darius had destroyed Babylon and the evidence of Balshazar, Herodetus, a historian writing a hundred years after Daniels life, didn’t even know this privilege information. Thus, this tiny little barrel that I probably would have strolled right by on any other day supports that the author of Daniel had to have been eye witness to the events. From two artifacts we can support the accuracy of the book of Daniel, thus supporting the biblical prophecy.
