Week 12: Day 2
Should we read the Old Testament like a game of Where's Wally? Join Christie as she unpacks Daniel 7:13-14.
In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
Intro: Hello and welcome to Orbit, a short reflection to help you put God at the centre of your life from the team behind Satellites - I'm Christie Gilfeather. Each weekday we share a little bit of the Bible with you, give you a chance to pray and think about it, and provide you with one practical way to put it into practice today.
Bible: Today’s Bible reading comes from Daniel 7:13-14. It says:
In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
Thoughts: Today’s reflection starts with a question. How should we read the Old Testament? The texts can be so strange and so alien to us and it’s really difficult to find out way around. Maybe we’ve heard lots more sermons on the New Testament than the old, or just on those passages where we catch a glimpse of Jesus.
Sometimes, the temptation is to read the Old Testament like a game of ‘Where’s Wally’, looking for the places where the texts speak prophetically about Jesus, or tell stories that we can understand as giving a glimpse of him. If we only do this, though, we miss all of the rest of the riches that the Old Testament has for us.
It tells us so much about God’s character and offers us wisdom in how to live our lives well. It gives us fascinating stories which help to show us how to live, or how not to live in some cases, and through reading the Holy Spirit changes our hearts and shows us how to be more like Jesus.
Although this is not the only thing that the Old Testament is doing, there are some amazing places where we can see the figure of Jesus in the texts. Our reading this morning is one of those. In the gospels, Jesus refers to himself as the ‘son of man’ very often in the gospels, and here is describes as coming on the clouds of haven, with authority, glory and sovereign power. Here we see the side of Jesus which is king, and this sits alongside the ways in which he is a humble servant and our friend.
Texts like this, where we find hints of Jesus in the Hebrew Bible, are few and far between – but they are very important. They show that God’s plan for our salvation was set before the world began and long before these texts were written. Alongside these are other wonderful texts that God will use to teach us more about who he is, so let’s approach our reading of the Old Testament expectant for what the holy spirit might do.
Silence: Lets pause here for a moment of silence to ask God what he might have to say to us through this passage
Prayer: Gracious God, thank you for the gift of the scriptures. Help us to see all of the wonderful things that you are saying to us through your word and give us hearts which are softened to the work of the holy spirit. Amen
Action: How does this kind of text in which we see Jesus as king of the universe make you feel? Prayerfully read the text again and then respond in some way that is creative – perhaps you could draw something, sing, write a poem or take a selection of photos which capture how you respond to this text
Outro: That's it for today's Orbit. Thanks so much for joining us - we'll be back with another reflection tomorrow.