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Second Plenary
Preaching Old Testament Apocalyptic to a New Testament Church
—Daniel Block
Listen to Recording

Note: The full text of this plenary address is published in the April 2006 issue of Calvin Theological Journal.

The answer to the question "How shall we preach the book of Daniel," said Daniel Block, depends on a prior question, "How shall we read the book of Daniel?" To that question, he said, "First, read the whole book." He noted that Daniel 7 was read in its entirety in morning worship and remarked, "Has it ever dawned on us that the scriptures were not written primarily to be preached, they were written to be read? We preachers are often so anxious to displace the word of God with our foolish reflections."

Block identified three pairs of dangerous extremes when it comes to interpreting apocalyptic literature: overly symbolic or overly spiritual interpretation, overly futuristic or overly historical, and overly credulous and overly suspicious. He established the connection of chapter 7 to the first six chapters of Daniel, rather than the following five, and established Daniel's status as a historical character, not a fictional one.

Block also sketched the form and structure of chapter 7, calling it "not primarily a vision account but a dream report," and providing an intricate analysis of chapter 7's language and placement in the book as a whole. He noted the source of the revelations to Daniel—not Daniel's "apocalyptic imagination" but "a long history of revelation." A supplementary handout noted 12 examples of allusions in the book of Daniel to scripture and the book itself. "I commend to you an intertextual reading" of Daniel, Block said.

After this complex analysis of particulars, Block affirmed the book's broad theme. "If you read the book of Daniel in one sitting, you cannot miss the point: Who rules? God does." Block listed the places in the book where this theme is iterated by Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, the interpreting angel of chapter 7, and God himself (4:31-32).

"What do you tell people whose God has [apparently] betrayed you?" Block said. "The message of the book of Daniel [is] a reminder to Daniel and his people that God's story is not finished. God is still on the throne, and God is still on the throne on their behalf." Block also observed the use of superlatives used to describe God in Daniel: God of gods, Lord of kings, God in heaven, King of heaven, Most High.

Block concluded with these six recommendations to preachers of apocalyptic texts:

1. Understand any apocalyptic text within the context of the entire composition.
2. Adopt a humble stance toward our own interpretations, admitting that we do not understand everything.
3. Recognize that while we demand a literal interpretation of Scripture (which means we interpret them as they were intended to be interpreted) this does not mean that everything is interpreted literally.
4. Examine how apocalyptic motifs and images are picked up and used in later texts.
5. Pay attention to the apocalyptist’s pastoral concern for his immediate audience.
6. Draw the applications for the present from the main points, rather than speculating on the details.

Block closed by saying, "You've got to go home and read the book in its entirety. You've got to let it burn a hole in your heart. If it won't burn a hole there, how can it in anybody else's?"

—Nathan Bierma