Calvin and Daniel

Calvin asked me yesterday if I knew that Satan's name was Lucifer, his teacher told him he said. I remember reading somewhere that it was not so and we ended up reading Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology together - way to go for a 9-year old!

My suspicion was confirmed. The KJV somehow translated "star of the morning" in Isa 14:12-15 as Lucifer and the name stuck, and it is only mentioned in the KJV all but once.

Isa 14:12-15 (NASB)
12"How you have fallen from heaven,
O star of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who have weakened the nations!
13"But you said in your heart,
'I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God,
And I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the recesses of the north.
14'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.'
15"Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol,
To the recesses of the pit.

Anyway, in the midst of reading Grudem, there was a passage quoted from Daniel 2 about King Nebudchanezzer not remembering his dream and now for 2 nights, Calvin was glued to the book of Daniel. He was fascinated with the narratives of the furnace, and the dream, and the statue. I believe he had heard of them during Sunday School lessons when he was younger, but nothing beats reading it for yourself.

Such is the beauty of the bible. It speaks to us in its different forms - narratives, poetry, history, proverbs, songs, letters. It speaks to us no matter who we are or how old we are, wherever we are. God knows us well and what would work for us.

pearlie
Picture by Nikolaj Bourguignon