Don Friesen
In early 2374, Keevan's attack ship crashed on a class-M planetoid inside a dark-matter nebula in Cardassian territory. In the crash, all but a few vials of ketracel-white were destroyed, and only ten Jem'Hadar survived. Keevan himself was seriously injured, and the unit's communications equipment was damaged, leaving them unable to send a distress call. (adapted from www.memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Keevan)
If this narrative leaves you puzzled, it may be because you're unaware that Keevan was a Vorta overseer in the service of the dominion. It may also be because we're in Star Trek territory and you're not a Trekkie! Well, I'm no Trekkie, and no doubt I've already gotten some things wrong about this science fiction world.
The Bewildering World of Daniel's Babylon
Unless you're a hard-core Trekkie, the world of Vortas and Vulcans and Klingons and starships may leave you bewildered, but it's no more bewildering than the world of Daniel in the Old Testament! Beasts inhabit this part of the Old Testament world and no ordinary beasts! There are lions with eagles' wings; savage, three-tusked bears; leopard-like beasts with four wings and four heads; and the beast at the head of the class a ten-horned beast, violent and arrogant, with huge iron teeth, devouring, breaking in pieces, and stamping on everything in its path!
If Star Trek's Keevan was known for his deceit and general disregard for morality, Daniel's Babylonian world is worse! It's a world of tyrants and beasts, a world of pagan kings, oppressive regimes, and evil empires. It's a world of dreams and visions and strange goings-on. It's also a world of power and struggle, and courage.
The Story of Daniel
The story of Daniel himself is a fascinating story. Daniel is one of the major prophets, but his rise in Babylon's public service is a great story in its own right. Daniel was but a teenager when he was captured and taken into captivity by the Babylonian forces. He was one of only a few hand-picked young men who had to pass high standards of appearance, intelligence, insight and competence, and who were then groomed for public service, sent off for three years of training in the literature and language of the empire. (Daniel 1:4-5)
Daniel was no ordinary teenager. He was of noble birth, a member of Jewish royalty, and though initially pressed into the service of the Babylonian king, he soon rose to a senior position in King Nebuchadnezzar's administration because of his exceptional intelligence and skills. (Daniel 2:48) Daniel gained the confidence and esteem of his superiors and was soon promoted to Chief of Royal Advisers, ranking third in the kingdom. (5:29) Even when Nebuchadnezzar passed from the scene, Daniel, we are told, "prospered during (both) the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus...." (6:28) The transfer of power to Cyrus was a shift to a Persian regime a whole other empire but Daniel retained considerable power, and even when he had a chance to return to Judah, the end to the captivity of his people no doubt a policy he influenced, Daniel remained in Babylon.
Daniel's rise to power in the inner court of his captors made him a target, of course, a target of those who envied his vast influence. It has been suggested that the Old Testament book of Daniel is a study in office politics, filled, as it is, with treacherous manoeuvres and back-stabbing. And office politics in an ancient royal court meant the stakes were high! In the Babylonian civil service there were no sideways promotions or implicit demotions. It was all or nothing! The king had at his disposal things fit for any James Bond movie! Dens of lions! Human furnaces! Sharks with laser beams attached to their heads! You name it!
Daniel remained a faithful believer in the God of Abraham and Sarah, even though at times his power threatened to plummet straight down into a shark pit! Daniel's fidelity to God left him vulnerable to all sorts of nasty manoeuvres, but Daniel prevailed. The pressure to conform must have been enormous, for Daniel was caught between two dominions. On the one hand was the dominion of Babylon, a mighty and fierce power, and on the other hand was God's dominion. Under the dominion of Nebuchadnezzar Nineveh, the capital of Babylon and fifty miles south of modern Baghdad, became one of the most splendid cities of the ancient world, resplendent with amazing palaces and other monuments to wealth and glory. Babylon was also synonymous with tyranny and idolatry, so much so that biblical literature uses the same name for a tyrannical and idolatrous Rome.
Daniel, in many ways, was the beneficiary of Babylonian dominance, but his personal success never compromised his loyalty to another dominion, the one he describes in our Old Testament reading:
The language of dominion may seem a tad quaint, but it's not unfamiliar to us. After all, we live in the Dominion of Canada or at least we used to, until about the 1950s, when the phrase was phased out. In fact, in November of 1951 Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent (1882-1973) rose in the House of Commons and declared, "...it is the policy of this government when statutes come up for review ...to replace the word dominion'....'" There were, of course, political reasons for doing so, and today it's also considered an imperialistic term, though changing language scarcely hides the fact that there are imperialistic realities, whatever their name!
Canada's founders actually wanted our nation to be known as "the Kingdom of Canada," and it was Samuel Leonard Tilley (1818-1896), the premier of New Brunswick who led his province into confederation, and who was a devout Christian, who, inspired by reading Psalm 72, suggested the name, "Dominion of Canada". Some dismiss this as a patriotic fable, and, indeed, the Dominion of Canada has gone the way of the Dodo bird, even Dominion Day giving way to Canada Day in 1982. Vestiges remain, however, in the names of other institutions: the Toronto-Dominion Bank; the Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company; the Canada Dominion Resources Group; the Dominion-Chalmers United Church. And in an interesting development, given the gradual loss of the term, a new newspaper based in Halifax calls itself The Dominion, presenting itself as "Canada's Grassroots National Newspaper".
Is John's Gospel Dominion-free?
The term, "dominion," is familiar to us, and perhaps it is sufficiently quaint to substitute for the word, kingdom, which is anathema to modern sensibilities. Jesus spoke unashamedly of the impending reign / empire / dominion / kingdom of God and so it's not surprising to find the New Testament Gospels saturated with kingdom language. Well, the Synoptic Gospels are saturated with kingdom language, it being, after all, one of the main themes of the New Testament! What is interesting is that the Gospel of John scarcely mentions it at all! If you don't like kingdom-language, read John's Gospel. It should come with a label, like the label on some foods declaring that there are no peanuts in their product.
If you have an allergic reaction to kingdom language, read John's Gospel a kingdom-free Gospel! The term itself appears infrequently and there are none of those annoying parables, most of which portray life in God's kingdom. Matthew, Mark and Luke, right from the very beginning of their gospels, feature Jesus proclaiming the imminence of the kingdom of God (Matthew 3:2; Mark 1:15; Luke 10:9). They highlight the miracles of Jesus, presenting them as signs of the kingdom breaking into history. They pile parable upon parable, each one declaring, The kingdom of God is like this; the kingdom of God is like that; the kingdom of God is like this.... The synoptic gospels show Jesus eager to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God (Matthew 4:23; 9:35; Mark 1:14-15; Luke 4:43), and also encouraging his disciples to proclaim this good news (Matthew 4:17; 10:72; Mark 16:15; Luke 9:2, 60), but the Gospel of John is remarkable for few explicit references to this theme.
The Gospel of John is remarkable for few references to the kingdom theme... ...until chapter 18, and then, in the short space of two chapters, kingdom language literally explodes on the page! John uses the Greek words for king and kingdom sixteen times in two chapters, and it seems to kick in upon Jesus' arrest and appearance before Pilate, the Roman Procurator of Judea. Upon Jesus' arrest, John's regal references start to flow. "My kingdom is not of this world," Jesus tells the Procurator repeatedly. (John 18:36) "So you are a king?" challenges Pilate (18:37), and as the gospel narrative continues, Pilate continues to refer to Jesus as king (19:15), though he may have done it simply to amuse himself.
The Procurator may have been amused; John was not, and he continues to add to the kingly collage, what with Jesus' crown (John 19:2); the royal robe (19:2); royal homage "Hail, King of the Jews!" A mock coronation, to be sure, but the kingdom imagery is striking. Then the presentation of this king to his royal subjects (19:5); the royal procession down the coronation route (19:17); until, affixed to a political instrument of death, his enthronement begins. It may be stretching the regal imagery, but one might say that the cross is his throne, a placard above his head, in three languages for all to read, bearing the royal title, "King of the Jews."
What is curious to me is John's reticence about Jesus' kingliness, or rather, the end of his reticence. What provokes this onslaught of royal language and imagery? And I wonder if a clue cannot be found in the clash of dominions that moves up a notch when Jesus and Pilate face off. This courtroom drama is not just a power struggle between two strong personalities, but a conflict between two dominions. On the one hand is a ruthless procurator who hated the people he was sent to rule, and who, when irritated by them freely shed their blood. Even those who sought to appease him knew him as a cruel, criminal despot. That, in this biblical drama, is the one dominion, the kingdom of this world. The dominion not of this world is represented by a no-account Nazarene who espouses policies of love and peace and justice.
This clash resembles a scene a child might enact with action figures:
Here is Pilate. Here is Jesus.
The clash of competing dominions is a great cosmic drama, but let's get real! We don't live in a time of captivity. There are no lion dens at City Hall. There are no torture chambers at Queen's Park. To my knowledge, no crucifixions have been carried out on Parliament Hill. What relevance does this cosmic, spiritual battle have to our everyday lives?
It struck me that this great biblical theme of God's dominion, God's sovereignty, might be like a medic-alert bracelet. Some of you wear these bracelets, and because of your specific medical condition, allergy or special need, the bracelet ensures that in an emergency you will receive the vital attention you need, in a timely fashion. Years can go by, and this bracelet hangs around your wrist for no immediate reason, but it is a great comfort, because you know that in certain circumstances, potentially dire circumstances, it is your life-line!
Similarly, the strong biblical proclamation of God's dominion has been a great comfort to many believers through the ages. It's a theme easy to forget in good times, and we might be tempted to remove our Dominion-Alert bracelets put them away in a drawer somewhere but the grand sweep of human history tells us that this would be a mistake!
The word, "dominion," has the Latin root, "dom," from we get a number of words, like "domis," a house; "dome," "domicile," "domestic," "dominate," and "domineer". There is a difference between dominion and domination, however, and it is particularly in times of domination that Christians have found the biblical theme of divine dominion a great comfort.
I think of the Christians who lived during the time that the book of Revelation was written. The seven churches mentioned in the book were experiencing unparalleled persecution and repression, and what theme does the writer of this book bring to the fore? God's reign, matched by none other, for ultimately, says the book of Revelation, we worship the "King of kings!" (Revelation 19:16) "To him be glory and dominion forever and ever." (1:6)
John wrote the book of Revelation to Christians who were being asked to worship emperors every bit as bestial as the ones described in the Book of Daniel! John audaciously declared the kingship, the emperorship, the dominion of One who came not as a beast, but as a servant! The One who asked his followers not to dominate not to lord it over each other (Matthew 20:25-26) but to become peacemaking settlers in his just and peaceable kingdom.
I think of the Christians who lived after New Testament times, and especially of Polycarp, an early leader of the Christian church. The emperor of the time wanted Christians to worship a statue of himself! "Swear by the godhead of Caesar, and blaspheme Christ!" he demanded. To which Polycarp answered, "Eighty and six years have I served Christ, and he has never done me wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?"
The biblical theme of divine dominion was a great comfort to the Christians who lived during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian (240Old Testament311). His name is associated with the last, but most terrible of the ten persecutions of the Early Church. Diocletian revived worship of the Roman gods, and allowed no other worship. The Christians, however, were all wearing their Dominion-Alert bracelets, and refused to fall into line. On February 24, 303 Diocletian ordered the destruction of all churches and Scriptures within the empire, and ordered all Christian clergy to be thrown into prison, release to be obtained only by offering a sacrifice to the Roman gods. A massive wave of executions followed.
I think of our own people who faced death during the Reformation, and during the years following the Russian Revolution. I think of a small congregation of Christians in Japan, meeting for their first Christmas after the devastation the atomic bomb unleashed upon their city, meeting in the ruins of their church and singing: "Joy to the World!"
Perhaps the power of Christians in the face of suffering has a lot to do with the fact that Pilate's victory in the showdown between the Procurator and the Christ was short-lived. "Short the dominion of death and the grave," we sing ("Lift your glad voices," #275, Hymnal: A Worship Book), and empires robbed of the power to inflict death are robbed of their power. The power "God put ...to work in Christ," says the New Testament, is "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come." (Ephesians 1:20-21)
The Scriptures, of course, teach that God's dominion is not only a distant early warning system; assurance of God's sovereignty also lent Daniel the courage to remain faithful from day to day in the face of fierce opposition. Daniel, chapter six, conveys a most admirable character reference for Daniel, particularly, in the Jerusalem Bible version, which reads, "Daniel, by virtue of the marvellous spirit residing in him, was so evidently superior to the other presidents and satraps that the king considered appointing him to rule the whole kingdom. The presidents and satraps, in consequence, started hunting for some affair of state by which they could discredit Daniel; but they could find nothing to his discredit, and no case of negligence; he was so punctilious that they could not find a single instance of maladministration or neglect." (Daniel 6:4)
The stories of Daniel and Jesus and Polycarp and many other courageous believers encourage us to live and work with integrity, even as many do not, and to stand tall in our faith. May God give us the grace so to do.
"As I watched, thrones were set in place, and an Ancient One took his throne, his clothing ...white as snow... As for the ...the beasts, their dominion was taken away ... (Then) I saw one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion... and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed." (Daniel 7:9, 12-14)
The Language of Dominion And the struggle is to the death! Loser gets to die a most painful death. It's the classic clash of dominions.
Here is Nebuchadnezzar. Here is Daniel. Loser gets to live with some ravenous lions though not for long!
Here is the emperor Nero. Here are the Christians.Losers get to be today's reality show in the Coliseum!
Here is the Grand Inquisitor. Here is the Christ who haunts his dreams. Who, I ask, is the ultimate loser?
The Comfort of Divine Dominion in Times of Domination "Joy to the World, the Lord is come!
There is something about the Christian psyche and Christian memory that transcends the dominions of tyrants who come and go. One of the readings in this week's Rejoice devotional guide tells of a missionary in China whose Chinese friends said, about the Cultural Revolution and the persecution Christians faced during that period, "Communism will never last. Four hundred years at most." (Frank Ramirez, Rejoice, November 24, 2006, page 95) I remember remarks about the seventy years of Russian communism, more than enough time for Stalin and others to inflict incredible suffering and death, but Christians have a long, long memory. There is a dominion whose reign will last longer than seventy years, longer than four hundred years, longer than any earthly empire.
Let earth receive her king...."
All quotations of Scripture, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version.