Meant for GoodSample

The Bookends of the Old Testament

Read: Daniel 2

Discover

King Nebuchadnezzar, after just two years on the throne, awakens in the middle of the night following a troublesome dream. He summons the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and Chaldeans to interpret the dream, but they are unsuccessful even to the point of death. To avoid death, Daniel, a young Hebrew exile and slave, entreats his God for the correct interpretation. He gives Nebuchadnezzar the correct interpretation and is given authority to rule over the province of Babylon.

Learn

Nearly thirteen centuries after Joseph interpreted dreams in the court of Pharaoh, another young Hebrew exiled to serve in a foreign court is allowed to interpret dreams for King Nebuchadnezzar. Before reading below, take some time to read through Daniel 2 and note any connections between the stories of Joseph and Daniel.

The connections between Joseph and Daniel are numerous:

• Pharaoh’s dreams occur two years into Joseph’s imprisonment (Genesis 41:1); Nebuchadnezzar’s dream occurs two years into his reign (Daniel 2:1)
• Both Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams are “troubling” and awaken them from sleep (Genesis 41:8; Daniel 2:1, 3)
• The kings’ wise men and magicians are unable to interpret the dreams (Genesis 41:8; Daniel 2:4-11)
• Joseph and Daniel are both introduced by their ethnicity (Genesis 41:2; Daniel 2:25)
• Both Hebrew boys attribute dream interpretation to God alone (Genesis 41:16; Daniel 2:28-30)
• The dreams concern events in the future (Genesis 41:26-31; Daniel 2:45)
• Joseph and Daniel are promoted to being rulers in a foreign land (Genesis 41:41; Daniel 2:48)

Daniel’s experience in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court parallels Joseph’s experience in Pharaoh’s court. Like Joseph, who is sent to a foreign land to eventually preserve the Abrahamic family, Daniel, and the exiles are sent to Babylon to preserve the messianic line from corruption in the land of Canaan. Both Joseph and Daniel pay careful attention to their personal integrity before men and God (Genesis 39:8-9; Daniel 1:4, 1:8-16, 6:10). Both find favor with their captors due to their great wisdom and administrative skill (Genesis 39:2-6; Daniel 1:4, 17, 5:11).

Why are these connections important? Because God always paints with the same hues of deliverance, salvation, and redemption. Over a millennia after the death of Joseph, the Serpent still strikes at the heels of God’s people. What the Serpent meant for evil by subjecting God’s people to the horrors of conquest and exile, God Himself meant for good. Through the exile, a righteous remnant of Jews is preserved, and the messianic line is protected from certain destruction. From the beginning of the Old Testament to the end, the same truths resonate: God is faithfully sovereign over all things, He always keeps His promises, and He loves to lavish His grace on those who least deserve it.

Apply

God bookends the Old Testament with two stories of faithfulness amid exile and deliverance against the greatest odds. Like Joseph and Daniel, we too are strangers and exiles sojourning on the earth (Hebrews 11:13). We are caught between the incredible promises of future glory and the reality of suffering and defeat in this life. How does being a stranger and exile on the earth rearrange our priorities? How do the stories of Joseph and Daniel give us a blueprint for how to flourish as exiles in this life?