Daniel to  John

At the river with Jesus.

End and Beginning

13You, Daniel, go to the end of Noah and you will arise in your time to the end of the days. Daniel 12:13 (Daniel 12:13 BRB)
FA 1In the beginning was the word, and the word was with god, and god was that word. John 1:1-2 (John 1:1 BRB)

Daniel is the last book of the Old Testament while John is the first book of the New Testament. So it might not be too surprising that Daniel finishes with something akin to "THE END" and John starts "In the beginning."

The presence of red words at the end of Daniel is a tip off that Jesus is the voice speaking to Daniel. John then begins by stating that the "word" (which is code for "Jesus") was in the beginning. In other words, go back and read the Old Testament again, because Jesus is there. He appears and speaks often, in fact, like near the end of Daniel.

Jesus at the River

4On the 24th day of the 1st month, as I was by the side of the great river Tigris, 5I lifted up my eyes and looked and saw 1 man clothed in linen whose loins were girded with glory and majesty. 6His appearance was peculiar and there is nothing like it. 1|4 His face was like the appearance of lightning, 2|4 and his eyes like lamps of fire, 3|4 and his arms and his feet like the color of burnished brass, 4|4 and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. Daniel 10:4-67I, Daniel, alone saw this vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great fear fell on them and they fled from fear 8and I alone was left and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me, and my insides were turned to corruption, and there was no strength in me. 9When I heard the sound of his words I fell down on my face on the ground. M Ezekiel 1:28 M Revelation 1:17 Daniel 10:7-910A hand touched me and set me on my knees and on the palms of my hands. 11He said to me, Arise Daniel, man greatly beloved. Understand the words that I speak to you and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you. M Ezekiel 2:1 Daniel 10:10-11When he spoke this word with me I stood up trembling Daniel 10:11-14 (Daniel 10:4-11 BRB)
28These things happened in Beth Any at the Jordan passing where John was baptizing. John 1:2829The next day John saw Joshua coming to him and he said, Look the lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world. John 1:29-31 (John 1:28-29 BRB)

Jesus visits Daniel and John at the river's edge.

Jesus went to Daniel at the Euphrates river and gave him a rather long vision that stretches to the end of his book. Jesus visited John at the edge of the Jordan where he was baptizing, ultimately to be baptized by him and revealed to Israel.

Daniel has the baptism theme too, but it's less obvious. Daniel is told he will rise from the dead at the end of days. Baptism pictures death and resurrection. It's a picture of Jesus' death and resurrection. By dying to one's own desires and following Jesus the promise of actual resurrection and everlasting life is attained. Daniel was promised resurrection because he did what Jesus told him.

Daniel had trouble standing when Jesus showed up at the river. He fell forward on his face, only to be picked up by Jesus. It looks like Jesus baptized Daniel. Daniel does not say explicitly that he fell in the water, but the description of where he was and what happened coupled with the baptism theme shared by Daniel and John strongly suggests this. So Jesus baptized Daniel in the Euphrates and John baptized Jesus in the Jordan.

Other Notes

Aramaic

Aramaic is the language of the New Testament, though it was quickly translated to Greek to supply the increasing interest in copies of the Bible by Greek readers. Half of Daniel was written in Aramaic. The other being Hebrew.

Daniel, as the last book of the Hebrew Old Testament, anticipates the language shift that occurs with John and the New Testament. He shows the future of the text by writing half the content in Aramaic. Daniel seems to know what's coming in terms of the text itself and models what the finished product would look like in miniature by writing a book in two languages.

Daniel & Revelation

Daniel is often compared with Revelation and studied in parallel. There are a number of correlations shared between the books, which is why they are studied together so often. One example is the way Daniel is told to seal his word, but John is told not to seal. Why? Daniel was not at the end yet, but John was. Some of the parallels make sense in light of the book order placing Daniel at the end of the Old Testament.

Ryan Eaton 2008-09-12 2010-11-08