The Coming of the Kingdom: Matthew’s Use of the Book of Daniel (An Exploration of Danielic Themes and Motifs in the Language of Jesus)

The Coming of the Kingdom: Matthew’s Use of the Book of Daniel
(An Exploration of Danielic Themes and Motifs in the Language of Jesus)1

The book of Matthew is rich with Old Testament and extra-biblical text quotations, allusions, and echos. It seems that the author intended to show the gospel of Christ in continuity with the work of the Most High through-out the ages, and back his information with the authority of figures, such as the prophets, in order to better validate his message. An example of this comes in the well-known “this was to fulfill” sayings. The author of Matthew was seeking to put Jesus into the spotlight of prophetic culmination and fulfillment. Although much of this intertextual play comes from the narrator, another large part of it looks to have come from Jesus himself. Certain allusions and themes attributed to him come out strong in all four gospels hinting that they are from one, solitary source. One such allusion is Jesus’ identification of himself as the “Son of Man”. It appears he borrowed the term from the book of Daniel where in chapter seven the author describes a figure as “one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven”. Jesus then, adopting and modifying the phrase, uses it through-out the gospels referring to himself. The strongest link associating these sayings with the book of Daniel comes in Matthew 24:30-31, saying:
“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”

This is an obvious reference to 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 peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

This passage in Daniel is the point of inspiration for this paper. At first glance it seems to be an independent case that alludes to Daniel with no relation to any other part of the gospel, but as one studies Matthew’s writings at a closer, detailed perspective more Danielic images and themes appear and prove to be a great influence on Jesus and the gospel’s writer. If this is the case, Matthew 24 then turns into a stone hitting water causing ripples throughout the text. Although the passage in Matthew 24 is the impact point, many more allusions to Daniel surround it.
The focus here is to capture these themes and discuss their significance in relation to Daniel. Both the authors of Daniel and Matthew had a very similar message and point to their writings. They lived in alike situations, and were addressing nearly identical issues. In order to discuss these themes, a brief study of Daniel is needed and will be included in this paper. Continuing we will take a look at four major themes that are shared between the books, first in Daniel then in Matthew; they are, the universality of God’s kingdom, the everlasting nature of God’s kingdom, the humility required for God’s kingdom, and finally a critique promoting non-violence and loyalty to the ways of God. The message of Daniel and Matthew have to do with the coming of the kingdom of God, a kingdom that is universal, everlasting, and most of all above all other.2
Daniel
The book of Daniel is one of the most captivating texts in the Bible. It’s stories, images, prophecies, and language make it a common topic among readers, and much dispute has risen concerning it’s original date, authorship, message, and setting. The book claims to be written by Daniel, a hebrew living in the time of the Babylonian exile who interpreted kings’ dreams and later had visions of his own. This would place the date of the work to be around the 600’s BCE. Porphyry first called this stance into question in the third century CE.3 He argued that Daniel had predicted the events after the exile all the way up to the time of Antiochus Epiphanies in the 2nd century BCE. In Porphyry’s mind, Daniel could not have known about these events, and so the text was a vaticinium ex eventu, a foretelling after the event, which of course is no foretelling at all. Most scholars today identify with this conclusion saying that the author of Daniel was a Maccabean era, Jewish man, writing to critique fellow Jews about how to respond in the situation that was at hand, the persecution under Antiochus Epiphanies and the domination of the Greek and Roman Empires.4 At this point there are many conservative scholars who object for fear of negating the inspiration of the Bible by denying the possibility of supernatural, predictive prophesy. John Collins responds,
“What is at issue in all this is not the veracity of “the word of God,” as literalists usually construe it, but a question of genre. An assumption that the “word of God” must be factual historical reporting, and cannot be literary fiction, is theologically unwarranted.5”

and later,

“The issue is not ‘a dogmatic rejection of predictive prophecy’ as conservatives like to assert, but a calculation of probability. Everyone recognizes that the predictions of Enoch are after the fact. The same logic holds in the case of Daniel.6”

Adding to this, the book was written in two different languages. Chapters 1 through 2:4 are in hebrew, chapters 3 through 7 are in aramaic, and chapters 8 through 12 are once again written in hebrew. The majority of the aramaic passages are narratives describing life in exile for Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, while the majority of the hebrew portions are the apocalyptic visions ascribed to Daniel. The most probable explanation, is that the aramaic stories had been circulating for many years until the second century BCE when Daniel’s author joint them with his hebrew prophecies. The primary message of the stories was to say that God is ultimately in control over all earthly kings and kingdoms and someday His dominion will be everlasting and universal. A refrain is almost sung throughout the stories starting in 4:17, “so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.” The author’s intention then was to apply this message to his own current situation by ascribing prophecies to the character Daniel about the times between the exile and Antiochus Epiphanies. Through these prophecies he criticized the zealots (wanting to fight the Romans) and also the hellenizers (wanting to join them) to say that God is ultimately in control and the purpose of His people is to be loyal to Him. The aramaic tales were perfect to accomplish this goal because of the common situation in them. In each of the stories the “servants of the Most High” are persecuted under a king until God saves them and humbles that king. The connection is obvious. Antiochus Epiphanies persecuted the jews a great deal and tried to implement a law making them worship the Greek god, Zeus. In 167 BCE he placed a statue of Zeus in the Temple and sacrificed swine upon the altar7. The author of the prophecies most assuredly saw the relation of this event with King Nebuchadnezzar’s image of gold in Daniel 3 where the hebrews in exile were also forced to worship a statue. Through the prophecies, he desired to make these hebrew victims into role models so that his own people would cry out like they did in verse 17, “the God we serve is able to save us [from it], and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Since Daniel was already well known for his wisdom and prophecies concerning the kings of the aramaic stories, the second century author placed authority on the entire book by ascribing his prophecies to Daniel as a pseudonym. This was a common practice during the time as shown by the many texts concerning Enoch, another ancient, Godly character who was ascribed prophecies8. If this is the case, were the stories of Daniel and his friends historical and real? There are certain clues within the stories that help answer this question. One of which is the passage’s inaccuracy of history. The way in which Daniel chapters 2 through 6 describe the order of kings and ruling kingdoms goes against factual history. This does not necessarily mean the stories are untrue, but it does make researchers question why. William Sanford Lasor makes an excellent point in his book on this topic, “It is sufficient to say here that Daniel’s main purpose is not to record detailed history but to use stories and symbols to demonstrate God’s control of history9.” Either way, the book of Daniel’s message is strong. God is in control, and he will save his servants by establishing a kingdom that will never end.
There are four themes that help accomplish this task. The first is the universality of the kingdom of God. The theme is by no means bold and apparent, but it is a settle reoccurring point throughout both the earlier stories as well as the later prophecies. Daniel’s author seems very distinct from the other biblical authors as he continually used phrases like, “all nations,” “men of all languages,” “and “the whole earth.” Before Daniel10 even speaks of these phrases, he whispers the idea of universality by applying the number four in various places to convey for the reader an image of the four corners of the world (4 men in 1:6, 4 kingdoms in 2:40, 4 men in a blazing furnace in 3:25, 4 winds of heaven in 7:2, 4 great beasts in 7:3, 4 kingdoms in 7:17, 4 prominent horns in 8:8, 4 kings in 11:2, etc.)11. There are five aramaic stories included in the book of Daniel, and each, at some point, employ the idea of universality. In the first story, King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream and calls on magicians everywhere to interpret it for him. No one but Daniel accomplishes this task, and the king raised him up in a high place and gave him authority over the entire province of Babylon12. In the dream the king saw a statue built into four sections, each section made with a different material. The head was of gold, the chest and arms were of silver, the belly was of bronze, and its legs were partly iron and partly clay. The statue was destroyed, however, by a rock that struck it and grew into an enormous mountain that filled the earth. Daniel interprets each section of the body to represent a kingdom, each in succession to one another. The head kingdom represents King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, and Daniel says it is a reign that reaches all mankind, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air wherever they are. The author is saying that in some way the king’s reign reaches the end of the world and encompasses all life. The other kingdoms that follow are inferior to the king’s reign, but 2:39 states that even the third kingdom will “rule over the whole earth”. After all the kingdoms have had their time, the rock that destroys represents a kingdom established by the God of heaven that will take over and rule the whole earth forever13. The universality in this story is the extent to which the king’s rule was present, and the even superior kingdom that God established. In chapter 3, the same king, Nebuchadnezzar, issues a decree that calls on “peoples, nations, and men of every language” to bow down and worship a ninety-foot tall, gold statue. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah refuse and are thrown into a blazing furnace, but through a supernatural delivery, Nebuchadnezzar is inspired to issue another decree: for all nations and languages to respect the hebrew God. Language for universality continually permeates the book of Daniel in the same way as just seen. Most of the time the people of a kingdom are mentioned, they are described as being widespread. The purpose of this diction finds its place in Daniel 7:14, the same climatic point of the book quoted earlier as the inspiration for this paper. “He [one like a son of man] was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all people, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” The verse comes from a passage where Daniel the dream interpreter becomes the dreamer. He envisions a scene in which four beasts rise up and cause havoc in the world. At the point when it seems that there is no hope and the beasts have taken all control, Daniel looks and sees on a throne “the Ancient of Days,” and with him on the clouds is “one like a son of man.” This moment is the establishing of God’s kingdom as mentioned earlier in Nebuchadezzar’s dream. Daniel’s aim is to shift the world’s worship from earthly kings, to the heavenly king. The kingdoms of the world are fleeting and will pass, but the kingdom of God is an everlasting kingdom worthy of everyone’s worship. It is a universal kingdom that encompasses all creation, to the ends of the world.
The second theme is interrelated with the first, that is the everlasting nature of God’s kingdom. Not only was the rock in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream the representation of a universal kingdom from God, but it was said to be an everlasting kingdom. In 2:44, “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.” This passage, like the one mentioned earlier, acts as a refrain through the whole book of Daniel. One can imagine that if these stories were orally recited among the community, the group would all join in together at the parts that spoke of God’s everlasting kingdom that would some day come. It was the center point of their hope, especially those who were in such great a persecution as the time during the Maccabean revolt. To be able to look forward at a kingdom that would be presented to the Jewish nation in despite of their current situation, and know that they would never again have to worry about the tyrant that may overcome them, would prove to be the driving force that caused people to continue on in the faith. Even Nebuchadnezzar declares in 4:3 “How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation.” The refrain is then repeated in 4:43 and 6:26, until it’s culmination point that again happens in 7:14. This time however the owner of the everlasting dominion has shifted from God, to the one like a son of man. The phrasing is uniformed perfectly with all of the other instances, but the context in the case is not applied to God. Ultimately the Ancient of Days had ownership of the kingdom, but in this passage He has given all authority and power to the one like a son of man in the clouds. In some way the son of man figure is the leader of the eschatological coming kingdom of God, and becomes the representation of Israel in the spiritual realms. Through these themes, universality and the everlasting, Daniel is emphasizing the nature of a coming kingdom that will encompass all people, and go on forever, never to return back to the ways of this world. An ear should begin perking up at these ideas if they have ever heard the messages of Jesus in the gospels.
A third reoccurring theme that takes place in the writings of Matthew is the requirement for humility in the kingdom of God. A common phrase describing this theme is, “Pride comes before a fall.” Daniel wants the reader to recognize the position and authority God holds in the universe in relation to the small status played by men and women. In each of the aramaic tales, a king grows in power, strength, and status until God is forced to interrupt him of his ruling for a time of humbling and judgement. In one of these instances King Nebuchadnezzar is sent into exile to live among the animals because of the great pride that had infected his soul. He was given a dream that told him he could not leave these circumstances until he recognized that “the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.14” The passage is repeated in 4:25, 4:34, and 5:21. When Nebuchadnezzar reached the end of the exile he understood that no matter what happens on earth, and no matter who is in charge on the throne, God is above it all. Chapter 4:37 declares, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” This is the point that Daniel wants to establish for the reader, God is in control.
The author who later added the prophesies to the aramaic stories read and understood these important themes. He most likely was deeply influenced and inspired by them, and as so he applied them to the situation that was at hand in ancient Palestine during the persecution and rule of Antiochus Epiphanies. In the formation of his prophecies, as he used the well-known stories, he created an additional theme and position pointed directly at his contemporary Jewish neighbors- do not respond in violence, but rather respond with your loyalty to God and his people. The author performed a number of exegetical works on the traditional stories, and transformed their meanings to take on a new light. One example of this is the adaptation of the humbling refrain spoken by King Nebuchadnezzar. The original stories stated that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms, and that he could give charge of them to whomever he pleases. The Jewish author adapts this passage and says, “But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever - yes for ever and ever.” This is significant because the stories simply said God was in control, but the prophet says that the saints receive the kingdom and possess it forever. Assuming the saints are part of the Jewish nation, the author is making a bold point. God is in control (not Antiochus Epiphanies), he humbles the proud and will eventually humble this ruler too. God can give kingdoms to whomever he chooses, and “Daniel” said he would give it to his saints, who of course is the people of Israel. The story of Daniel is no longer just about morals, theology, and eschatology, it is political. A second example takes place in our favorite passage, 7:14. Here the author applies all of the themes of the stories into one focal point, the son of man figure. He is the one that receives authority from the Most High who is in control of all things. He is also the subject of worship for all people, nations, and men of every language. Instead of the world gathering to worship a gold statue, here they have gathered to worship the initiator of the kingdom of God. Not only is he praised by all nations, his kingdom and dominion will never end. The long-hoped for everlasting kingdom awaited on in the stories becomes that of the son of man figure. He acts as the initiator and ruler over the kingdom.
The author of the prophecies deeply desired his people to be loyal to God and his ways. He addresses this issue in a few different approaches. One is his reference to Jeremiah which inspired Daniel’s prayer in Chapter 9. His reasoning is if people repent and commit to the Lord, He will intercede in the current situation and deliver His people from the hand of their oppressor. The author believes that this is the best response in the current situation. Of course there are those zealots who say that the oppressor should be attacked and killed, but chapter 8 verse 25 says that the wicked ruler will be destroyed, but not by human hands. Some scholars believe that the author’s intention for this statement is to show that the violent responses to oppression will ultimately fail15. Just as the kings in the old stories were humbled by the hand of God and not men, so the Jews should not take up violence but let God’s hand humble the empire. This is again brought up in 11:14 when violent men from Daniel’s own people tried to rebel, but failed. On the other hand, the Jews should neither conform to the empire and benefit from its wickedness. Chapter 11:32 calls these hellenizers corrupt because they have violated the covenant, but there is another group of people who know their God and will firmly resist the assimilation of themselves with a wicked empire16. No doubt these who stand firm are those who prayed like Daniel for repentance and committed their ways to the Lord.
Daniel is a very complicated book. It’s layers make it hard to determine who is writing each passage, and what their intention is. It is easy for the scholar to be caught up in these questions, but despite all of the unknowings, the message of Daniel is very clear. No matter who is in charge or what the circumstances are, God is in control, and He will intercede on behalf of the people loyal to Him. One day His kingdom will end all this misery, pain, and oppression, and will become the universal and everlasting place for his saints to live in peace.
Matthew
The book of Matthew is deeply influenced by the message and themes of Daniel. There are a number of times that Jesus specifically alluded to the book, one of which (24:15) he directly mentioned Daniel. Matthew is built on thousands of influences coming from many texts of course, but Daniel’s messages and themes seem to be strongly uniform (more so than others) with Matthew’s. Each of the books were written in a unique time and circumstance for different purposes, but both were able to use the same themes to convey a similar message that could be applied in both situations. Jesus’ primary point was to spread the good news of the kingdom of heaven. Just as there were strong ideas about God’s kingdom in Daniel, Matthew is full of images and and speech about God’s kingdom as well. Jesus describes this kingdom using the same four themes written by the author of the Old Testament apocalypse. Here we will spend time discussing these correlations and intertextual play.
The first theme, universality, has a significant part to play in the book of Matthew. Throughout the text there are instances, mostly eschatological, that speak of the kingdom of heaven reaching the nations or people across the earth. An example of this is found in Matthew 24 just a few verses before our well-known Son of Man passage. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (v. 14). When the Son of Man comes, verse 31 says in the same chapter, “And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” Chapter 25 contains a parable of the judgement identifying the good and the bad as sheep and goats from all the nations. Perhaps the most insightful passage containing the universal theme is the great commission in Matthew 28:19. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” This passage is an allusion to the coming of one like a son of man excerpt in Daniel. In the Danielic passage the Ancient of Days gave all authority, glory, and power to the figure, and here in Matthew Jesus is applying the event to himself. Just as all the nations worship the figure in Daniel, Jesus is now calling his disciples to spread the word through the nations so that that same Danielic event may find it’s fulfillment in Jesus. More light will be shed on this passage later.
The everlasting nature of God’s kingdom is a common notion in the words of Jesus as well. By this time in history there is already a longing for eternal life and a hope for the ending resurrection. We see this in Matthew 19:16 when a rich man asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. When he is unable to sell all he has to follow Jesus, the rabbi applies the question of eternal life to the kingdom of heaven by saying that it is difficult for the rich to enter in. The sadducees also question Jesus about the eventual resurrection in chapter 22. At the end of the parallel passage of the Son of Man in 24:30 Jesus asserts, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” This also correlates to the dominion of the one like a son of man in Daniel 7, and the great commission in Matthew 28. “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age17.”
Humility is another major aspect having to do with the kingdom of heaven. Though the kings in Daniel prided themselves with their great kingdoms, God humbled them; and God desires the same type of humility in Matthew. Even Jesus is subject to this humility. In Chapter 22 of Matthew the mother of James and John comes to Jesus asking if her sons can sit at Christ’s side when he comes into the kingdom. Jesus replies,
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must become your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

By the use of “Son of Man” in this passage, Jesus is pointing to the book of Daniel. He is showing the opposition of his rule to those of the gentile rulers of his time and the kings of the time of Daniel. Where they messed up and prided themselves, Jesus got it right by humbling himself to serve others. Later in 23 he says, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.18”
The theme regarding anti-violence and loyalty to the ways of God is a given in Matthew. Although many of the writings here are not allusions or echos to Daniel, I am convinced that Jesus himself was in some way influenced by the position that the ancient Jewish author of Daniel took. The beatitudes say bless the peacemaker, the sermon on the mount says love the enemy, and Jesus said “father forgive them,” as he hung on the cross from the brutality of those he loved. In addition, neither did Jesus conform in any way to the empire in power at the time. Instead he set aside the ways of the world, and took up a kingdom from God that was different than any other way of living.
The coming of the kingdom is the primary message in both the books of Daniel and Matthew. Through interrelated themes, both authors are able to convey a message of hope and call on their people to repent and commit their ways to God and his kingdom. This kingdom is a universal, everlasting kingdom that humbles the proud and lifts up the humble. It is a kingdom that forms not through the violence or compromise of men, but rather through the relationship of God and his authority with his people and their humble embrace of the kingdom. Jesus did an amazing job applying these Danielic themes to himself and the situation of his time. The greatest part of this message is its continuing potential for reapplication in the lives of contemporary people today. We can all embrace the coming of the kingdom and join with it to accomplish Christ’s great commission: actualize the prophecy in Daniel and spread the word throughout the nations. Let men of every language come to worship him.
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:9-11
Bibliography
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Kim, Seyoon. The Son of Man as the Son of God. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1983.
LaCocque, Andre. Daniel in His Time. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 1998.
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