exchanged living.

Sermon Prep: Daniel 5:1-31

I’m preaching again soon- this time on the story of Daniel, King Belshazzar and the writing on the wall. This summer’s journey through some of the great points in the Old Testament narrative has been pretty amazing for the people at Hope, and it’s put me in a place to preach texts that either have never preached from or would not usually choose. In this case, it’s both.

As I’ve done my preliminary readings and contextualization, I’ve realized that I have little real knowledge of the text of Daniel beyond his venture into vegetarian eating and the stories of the Lion’s Den and the Fiery Furnace (or to rephrase that, I’ve got the same knowledge of Daniel now that the average church-going 2nd grader does). So I’m beefing up on my Daniel-scholarship and looking for good resources if you know of any.

My two big speed bumps with this text so far:

• what does this text really say to the original audience (and us)? and
• how does this text tie into the whole story of the gospel? (or, perhaps to phrase that differently, how should I connect this to the big picture of the story of God?)

Insights are welcomed!