Deeper Reflection
The fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar and the exile of Judah to Babylon at God’s command as the ultimate covenant curse in 586 BC (2 Kin 24:1-3; 25:1-21), in a way, marked the beginning of significant tribulations for God’s people. For instance, the severe famine caused by the Babylonian invasion resulted in compassionate mothers boiling their own children for food (Lam 4:9-10). While the pre-exilic prophets prophesied of a prosperous and glorious post-exilic future for God’s people (e.g., Am 9:11-15), Daniel prophesied that tribulations for God’s people are here to stay for a long time – for “seventy weeks” (Dan 9:24-27). In Daniel, the source of tribulations is the tyrants, typified by Antiochus (Dan 11:21-36).In Daniel, at the heart of tribulation is the issue of worship. Worship is essentially giving allegiance. Refusing to bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue would end up in the blazing furnace (vv.8-15). Tribulations occur when “the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up” in God’s temple (Dan 7:21-25; 8:9-14; 9:27; 11:31- 35). Tribulation is a test of our faithfulness to God. We will be severely tempted to “forsake the holy covenant” (Dan 11:30). For us to grow in faithfulness to God, tribulation is a divine necessity. So, we must expect tribulations. Tribulations will only be more and more, and get harder and harder. The “times of distress” (Dan 9:25) will progress to the climactic “time of distress such as never occurred…until that time” (Dan 12:1).When we suffer tribulations under tyrants, however tyrannical they are, we are to see and stand in the One who is on the throne.