Customer Reviews

Hope in the Midst of a Hostile World: The Gospel According to Daniel (Gospel According to the Old Testament)

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One of the problems I have always had with books dealing with the Book of Daniel was that there has always been a specifically premillennial point of view toward the study that is so strong that it drowns out many of the other messages that are found in the Book of Daniel. And while I admit I am a PreMill, I also want to see what the Book being examined has to say besides who or what the Beast or the Statue in Daniel pertains to right now. In other words, so many eschatological scholars try to fit the prophecies found in the Book of Daniel into today's prophetic undertow, that the rest of Daniel is, sadly, skipped or at least skimmed. This then does not do justice toward the Book of Daniel. The book of Daniel has more to often than to just tapping it to whatever Tim Lahaye has to say right now (I say with a bit of saddened bemusement). Not so with Professor Schwab's book. Professor Schwab's book looks to the very heart of what Daniel had to say to the readers when it was circulated ages ago, along with what the book has to say to each of us as a Christian today. What is the message toward pagan idolatry, how does it fit in what was happening to the Jewish exiles of the time and how does it fit in with what we see today in modern society? Just how close is today's humanistic, antiChristian bigotry like the bigotry toward those who were faithful to Yahweh during the time of the exile in Babylon? How does Daniel speak toward the faithful to Yahweh when faced with persecution (whether being thrown into the fire or thrown into the lion's den), and what does this messages speak toward Christians throughout the past two thousand years of Christianity? Schwab's book contains many answers, or at the very least, pointers toward where you can find the answers through God's guidance. If you wish to truly gain a better appreciation toward the Book of Daniel, I suggest that you look no further and focus your attention on this book.

Schwab opens the Book of Daniel in refreshing ways. This book does not intend to be a verse-by-verse study but handles the Book of Daniel by its sections and chapters as dictated by the Hebrew and Aramaic portions as well as by theme. This is often lost in commentaries so focused on every verse. In fact, there is more meat in this book than in most commentaries I have read on Daniel and it would be a great companion for a verse-by-verse study as it keeps the forest in view while we study the trees. Schwab demonstrates how Daniel's unity, structure, themes, and message inform our lives today as well as our future. Most importantly, Schwab exposes how readily the text points to Christ and the Gospel.

I liked this commentary on Daniel and will refer to it often for the class I teach on the book. It will be frustrating for those who prefer a verse-by-verse exposition, such as the commentaries of John MacArthur. Schwab focuses on how Daniel points to Jesus Christ, which you don't find in many OT commentaries, but he does so at the expense of guiding the reader through the text.