[This reflection by Helen Ruffhead was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 22/Jun/2025]
When studying the book of Daniel at Connect in Faith recently, I was struck by the number of references to Jesus in it.
In chapter 2, Jesus is the rock which shatters the statue in King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. As Daniel explained to the king, the statue represented 4 great kingdoms and in the time of the 4th kingdom (Rome), God would establish a kingdom which would destroy all the earthly kingdoms but his kingdom would last forever.
When Daniel’s 3 friends are thrown in the fiery furnace in chapter 3, a 4th person joins them, who looks like a god. I believe that this was Jesus. As the song “There is a hope” by Stuart Townend says: “When the world has plunged me in its deepest pit I find the Saviour there.”
In the 7th chapter Daniel has a vision of someone “like a son of man” coming with the clouds of heaven, to whom God gives all authority, glory and power, who would be worshipped by all and whose kingdom would last forever. At his trial before the religious leaders, Jesus quoted from this passage (Matthew 26:64), much to the fury of his accusers.
In chapter 9 Daniel is told about the coming of the Anointed One, who would be cut off and about the destruction of the temple which would follow. Finally, in chapter 10, Daniel has a vision which is strikingly similar to the one John had of Jesus in Revelation chapter 1. As it says in the song “At your feet we fall” by David Fellingham:
There we see You stand, mighty risen Lord,
clothed in garments pure and holy, shining bright;
eyes of flashing fire, feet like burnished bronze,
and the sound of many waters is Your voice:
‘I am He that liveth, that liveth and was dead.
Behold I am alive for evermore.’
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Last Sunday’s reflection: Well, That Was Funny! by Michael Goble
Contributed by Helen Ruffhead; © Helen Ruffhead