LESSON'S FROM THE BOOK OF DANIEL

OBJECTIVES

The Purpose of the book of Daniel

Understanding the sovereignty of God in History

Lessons from the life of Daniel Purpose, Prayer, Perception, Power

INTRODUCTION: THE SETTING (CHAP: 1)

Historical Introduction Dan 1: 1-8

Daniel and His Friends Are Taken Captive The Young Men Are Faithful The Young Men Are Elevated to High Positions

Dan 1: 17- 20

DANIEL 1: 1 - 4

In the 3rd yr of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure-house of his god. 3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility – 4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.6 Among those chosen were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah

ANCIENT EMPIRES - BABYLON Capital city of ancient Babylonia 50 miles

south of Baghdad-Iraq Situated in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley,

referred to as "the cradle of the human race“ (Garden of Eden)

The Old Babylonian Kingdom was at its peak at about the time of God's calling of Abraham

Babylonians under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar completely devastated the city of Jerusalem, looted and burned the original Temple of God, built by Solomon

Carried the people of Judah, including the prophets Daniel and Ezekiel into captivity.

606 to 536 BC

THE GLORY OF BABYLON

Numerous biblically related Babylonian artifacts - British MuseumIshtar Gate in Babylon and a model, - Pergammon Museum, Berlin

DANIEL 1: 5 - 8

5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.

7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself in this way.

DANIEL 1: 17 - 20 17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and

understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.

19 The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service.

20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.

SUMMARY OF DANIEL CHAPS 2 - 7

King Nebuchadnezzar's Dream of a Large Statue (ch. 2)

Nebuchadnezzar's Making of a Gold Image and His Decree That It Be Worshiped (ch. 3)

The Second Promotion (ch.3) Nebuchadnezzar's 2nd Dream of a Tree (ch. 4) New King Belshazzar's and Babylon's Downfall (ch.

5) New King Darius and Daniel's Deliverance from the

Lion's Den (ch. 6) Daniel's Dream of Four Beasts (ch. 7)

NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM DANIEL 2: 36 - 43

‘This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has

given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

39 ‘After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron – for iron breaks and smashes everything – and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM DANIEL 2: 43 - 46

43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

44 ‘In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure for ever. 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands – a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.

‘The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.’

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honour and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, ‘Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.’

DANIEL 3: 16 - 1816 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us

from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.’

IN THE FIRE - DANIEL 3

So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, 27 and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. Dan 3: 26 -27

DANIEL 5: 25 - 26

This is the inscription that was written:“MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN”

“God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end”.

In 536 after 70 yrs of supremacy Babylon was conquered by Cyrus the Great.

THE PERSIAN EMPIRE Daniel reveals that the Persian

Empire was the silver breast and arms. Founded by Cyrus in 536 BC.

Cyrus issued the famous decree for the Jews to return to their homeland to rebuild their Temple.

Darius - 2nd Temple of Zerubbabel completed

Xerxes - Events of Esther happened

Artaxerxes - Jewish state reformed by Ezra and the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt by Nehemiah.

The Empire lasted about 200 years, and came to an end in 330 BC.

PERSIAN RELIC

British Museum

The Cyrus Cylinder, sometimes called "the first declaration of human rights," is a barrel-shaped baked clay cylinder smaller than an American football.

Discovered in the ruins of Babylon, the Cyrus Cylinder is from the 6th century BC when Cyrus the Great conquered the city. It is inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform

Describes how Cyrus conquered Babylon, sets all the peoples free to go back to their homelands.

The book of Ezra tells of how King Cyrus permits the Jewish exiled people to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.

DANIEL 6: 1 - 5

It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, 2 with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. 3 Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. 4 At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. 5 Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”

DANIEL IN THE LION’S DEN (CHAP 6)

DANIEL 6: 26 - 28

“I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.

“For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end.27 He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”

28 So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus[b] the Persian.

THE GRECO-MACEDONIAN EMPIRE

God revealed to Daniel that the statue’s brass belly and thighs represented the Macedonian-Greco Empire.

The Macedonian-Greco Empire was started by King Phillip II and reached its glory during the reign of his son Alexander the Great

Thorough military genius Alexander the Great conquered the world within 10 years at age 32. He died at a very young age.

Relative peace for Israel under this rule until the last group of Greek rulers- the Seleucid Empire

Seleucid Empire was overthrown by Romans in 87BC.

331 BC to 31 BC

THE ROMAN EMPIRE God revealed to Daniel

that the statue’s iron legs and toes were the Roman Empire

At its peak it was one of the most extensive and powerful in all human history.

Rome had a profound and lasting influence on the development of the modern world.

Emperors influential during New Testament times; Caesar Augustus,Nero,Titus, Domitian

At its peak 145 B.C. to 476 A.D.

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

MAIN CAMP (EUROPE – THE TEN DIVISIONS)

A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Thomas Arnold, 1795 -1842, Historian “The deliverance of Europe from the dominion of Napoleon was effected neither by Russia, nor by Germany, nor by England, but BY THE HAND OF GOD.”

Napoleon was stopped by the weather.

Hitler was stopped by the weather (thick mist).

Others tried to unify Europe - all defeated.

They are still trying through the EU to unify Europe, but God said …’they shall not cleave..

A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

ANOTHER CAMP – THE ENTIRE WORLD UNIONOne Leg of Iron mixed with clay is based on the western part of the former Roman Empire

There are 5 toes of iron mixed with clay from this leg, they are all based in the western part of the Roman Empire.1. Western Europe; 2. North America including the United States; 3. Latin America (Middle, West-South and East South ) including the Caribbean4. Sub-Saharan Africa (mostly colonies of western Europe-West Africa, Eastern Africa and Southern Africa5. Australia, New Zealand and Oceania (part of South East Asia and Oceania)

One Leg of Iron is the Eastern Roman Empire Based in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey)

There are 5 Toes of Iron Mixed with Clay from this Leg, They are all Based in the Eastern Part of the Roman Empire.

1. Eastern Europe and Russia(Central and Eastern Europe on map); 2. Middle East including Central Asia and Northern Africa 3. Indian subcontinent(South Asia); 4. South-East Asia 5. China, Japan and Korea(East Asia and Western Pacific )

“Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.” Dan 7: 27 (NIV)

“the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and He shall reign forever and ever!’ Rev 11:15

KNOWING THE FUTURETIME MAGAZINE VS THE WORD OF GOD

REASONS FOR PROPHECY

To prove that the Bible is Divinely inspired

To allow us to recognize where we are in the stream of time

To assist mankind to escape deception

Gives us the confidence, that even when we look at the confusion around us and even when it does not seem like it, God is always in control

Affirms that all things were made by Him, for Him and through Him…Jesus is Lord

DANIEL’S LIFE LESSONS

The book of Daniel is as much about a consecrated life as it is prophetic

Devotion and Love for the Lord on display A life of excellence The presence of God in the fire and in the Lions

Den The wisdom and direction of the Lord for all

seasons Prov 1:7, Prov 3:6-7, 1Cor 2:2-3 , Col 2:2-3, James 1:5 ; 3:17

Purpose, Prayer, Perception, Power (Marilyn Hickey)

REFERENCES

•Book of Daniel by Marilyn Hickey, 2013

•Bible Study – The Prophet Daniel by Wayne Blank, 2010

• Website: www.spiritandtruthministries.org

•Book of Daniel teaching Part 1 and Part 2 by Chuck Missler

•Bible Study Notes on the Book of Daniel by Dr. Rob Lindsted and Dr. Chuck Missler, 1989