Disciples Global Network

The church of Smyrna is only one of two of the seven Asian churches that received no correction, the other being Philadelphia. What set this congregation apart was the level of persecution that it endured because of its “ testimony ,” and its steadfast refusal to “ eat meat offered to idols ” and otherwise compromise with the Greco-Roman culture. Its members stood firm in their refusal to participate in the imperial idolatry of Rome, and consequently, they suffered “ tribulation ” and persecution due to false accusations against them made by Satan’s agents.

Upon his arrival in the imperial city, Daniel was confronted with a predicament. If he consumed the food and drink of the pagan king, it would violate his ritual purity. While he might have wished to avoid eating “unclean” meats, more likely, his concern was that consuming the royal “delicacies” would mean his participation in the idolatrous rituals of the Babylonian court and religion. Either way, the young man's decision could have dire consequences.

The  Book of Daniel  presents insights into the future with an emphasis on the rise and fall of empires. This includes times of “ tribulation ” when the people of God endure persecution at the hands of despotic pagan rulers. However, before doing so, the Book declares that the downfall of the Jewish kingdom was according to the will of Yahweh. It was the God of Israel who “ gave ” the Babylonian king sovereignty over Judah.

The arrogant acts of Nebuchadnezzar in the Book of Daniel parallel the incident at the Tower of Babel in Genesis .  The  Book of Daniel  begins by referring to the Babylon of Daniel’s day as the “ Land of Shinar ,” a verbal link to the story of the Tower of Babel in  Genesis  and the founding of the city of Babel that centuries later became the capital of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. That incident is echoed again in the third chapter of the Book when Nebuchadnezzar gathered all the nations and peoples of his realm to pay homage to the great golden image that he had “ set up ” on the Mesopotamian plain.

The  Book of Daniel  is a well-structured literary work, not a collection of folk stories or random and unrelated visions. At its beginning, the key themes of the Book are presented in brief, then worked out in detail in its subsequent chapters, and each new vision builds on the preceding ones.

Imperial arrogance is the legacy of Babel, humanity’s first but certainly not last attempt to establish a World Empire . The Tower of Babel incident is echoed in the  Book of Daniel  when the new ruler of “ Shinar ,” Nebuchadnezzar, gathered all nations to pay homage to the great golden image that he had set up in the “ Plain of Dura .” His empire was not a new political entity, but the latest incarnation of Satan’s ancient effort to unite humanity under his overlordship, a plan that has been underway since human civilization dawned.