Lesson Number Six & Seven Chapter ONEwinterparkcocnc.com/attachments/File/bibleclasses/daniel/...7/22/2017 The Book Of Daniel 2 • Daniel (and friends) taken captive from Jerusalem

Lesson Number Six & Seven

Chapter ONE

7/22/2017 The Book Of Daniel

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• Daniel (and friends) taken captive from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar’s army in 605 BC.

• From the third year of Jehoiakim, 605 (1:1) to third year of King Cyrus, 537 (10:1)

• Babylon replaced Assyria as the dominant world power

• God had responded to the unfaithfulness of the southern kingdom of Judah, leading to the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem (586) and giving rise to an approximately 70-year period of exile (Jews exiled from homeland—605 to 539)

• It was a period of national and theological crisis for the Jewish people


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• 605 - 587BC --- Jeremiah remained in Jerusalem.

• 605 BC --- Daniel taken captive to Babylon In 1st Deportation.

• 597 BC --- Ezekiel taken Captive to Babylon In 2nd Deportation.


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Jerusalem

Carchemish

Babylon

Pharaoh

Neco

Nebuchadnezzar


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• The first five chapters of Daniel are set in the era of the Babylonian or Chaldean Empire (both names describe the same empire—the Chaldeans ruled from Babylon).

• Daniel functions also as a high official under the Medes and Persians, the world power which succeeded the Babylonian Empire.

– So Daniel functioned as a leading courtier under two successive major world powers, the first six chapters of the book records six episodes from this period in history.

– The first half of the book is distinct from the second half, for it records other men’s visions and dreams while remaining largely silent on Daniel’s experiences.

– The second half is devoted exclusively to Daniel’s visions and spiritual experiences.

DANIEL UNDER

THE CHALDEANS


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The Personal Background of Daniel (1:1–21)

Conquest of Jerusalem (1:1, 2) Conscription of Jews for Training

(1:3–7) Courage of Four Men in Trial (1:8–16)

Choice of Four Men for Royal Positions (1:17–21)

John F. MacArthur, Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible, (Dallas: Word

Publishing) 1997.

Outline of

Chapter One:


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• “This first subdivision of the book argues that young Daniel and his three companions were dedicated believers and that God honored their faith in Him by granting them exceptional physical and intellectual prowess as well as favor in the king’s court.

• It thus establishes their righteous standing before God, and thus their worthiness to act as His representatives to the Gentile powers.”

– Mills, M.S., Daniel, A Study Guide, (Dallas, TX: 3E Ministries) 1998.

Outline of

Chapter One:


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Daniel 1:1-2 • “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.” – The invasion is presumably that referred to in Jer 25, Jeremiah’s “seventy

years” prophecy, though the date there is Jehoiakim’s fourth year. – The one-year difference arises with other OT dates through the use of

different methods of reckoning (Bruce, “Chronology”; Wiseman, Notes, 16–18).

– The years of a king’s reign can be counted from the new year before his accession, from the accession itself, or from the next new year; thus the fall of Jerusalem can be dated in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year (Jer 52:29) or in his nineteenth (2 Kgs 25:8; Jer 52:12).


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• 1:1 third year. 606–605 b.c. – It was the third year by Babylonian dating, which did not

count a king’s initial (accession) year, but began with the following year. • So the “third year” is in harmony with the same year

labeled as “fourth” by the Judean system of dating (cf. Jer. 46:2).

– Jehoiakim. Son of Josiah who ruled (ca. 609–597 b.c.) when Nebuchadnezzar first plundered Jerusalem. • John F. MacArthur, Jr., The MacArthur Study

Bible, (Dallas: Word Publishing) 1997.


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THE IMPORTANCE OF NAME CHAGES IN DANIEL CHAPTER ONE

► Daniel replaces the name Yahweh in Jeremiah and Chronicles by ynda “the Lord” and µyhlah “God.”

► That may issue from reverence, but the effect is also

to undermine any hint that he is merely Israel’s national God and the temple its national shrine, as Babylon has it’s gods and shrines. The titles “the Lord” and “God” belong only to

Yahweh; they have absolute implications, hinting that the exile happened by the act of the sovereign God who is also Israel’s God, not Nebuchadnezzar’s


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THE IMPORTANCE OF NAME CHAGES IN DANIEL CHAPTER ONE

Jewish names Babylonian names Daniel Belteshazzar

(God is my judge) (may Bel protect his life) Hananiah Shadrach

(Yhwh is gracious) (command of Aku)

Mishael Meshach (who is what God is?) (who is what Aku is?)

Azariah Abednego (Yhwh has helped) (Servant of Nebo)

► To conquer another nation’s deities was thought to prove the superiority of the victor’s god.


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• The meaning of their Babylonian names is by no means certain, but the ones listed are those favored by Walvoord and Leupold. – Bel was the Chaldean equivalent of Baal, also known as Marduk (same as

Merodach)

– Aku was the moon-god

– And Nego or Nebo was the son of Baal a god of vegetation (cf. Is. 46:1)

• It is evident that their Babylonian overlords insisted on their absolute control over even the religious lives of the princes enrolled in this royal academy. – Clearly, they intended to Chaldeanize these Jews who served in the Kings

court!!

• No mention is given of other Jews names being changed who later were exiled to Babylon.


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God Blesses

Daniel for His

Obedience

(1:8–17)

• Daniel’s youth’s brave resolve to faithfully maintain his obligation to obey Yhwh’s laws (vv.8–13).

– The meat at the king’s table would not have been slaughtered in accord with Jewish laws and tradition, so in order to ensure their continued obedience to these laws, Daniel and his three companions chose a vegetarian diet.

– Abstinence from wine is not required by the Law of Moses, Torah or tradition, so it seems they would have entered a temporary Nazarite vow (Num 6:3)


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1:8 Daniel

purposed….

• The pagan food and drink was devoted to idols. – To indulge was to be understood as

honoring these deities. • Daniel “purposed in his heart” (cf. Prov.

4:23) not to engage in compromise by being untrue to God’s call of commitment (cf. Ex. 34:14, 15). – Also, foods that God’s law prohibited (Lev.

1:1) were items that pagans consumed; to partake entailed direct compromise (cf. Dan. 1:12).

– Refusing to be defiled by the things which are contrary to God’s law is seen in Moses taking this stand (Heb. 11:24–26), as did the psalmist (Psa. 119:115), and Jesus (Heb. 7:26). Cf. 2 Cor. 6:14–18; 2 Tim 2:20.


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God Blesses

Daniel for His

Obedience

(1:8–17)

• Note that the Hebrew words used in v.17 are particularly instructive. God gave each of these four young men three intellectual gifts: – knowledge—the ability to think, to reason; – understanding—prudence, insight,

comprehension (kjv skill); – wisdom—the divine gift of applying knowledge in

practice. • In Daniel’s case, to these intellectual gifts was added

the spiritual gift of insight into visions and dreams. – This gift marked him as the recipient of the same

divine favor as Joseph, who was also introduced to a foreign court through this gift.


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Daniel’s Confirmation

in Nebuchadnezzar’s

Court (1:18–21)

• Chronologically, this section is to be placed after the event described in chapter 2 as that took place in Nebuchadnezzar’s second year, while this event occurred in his forth year, as it happened three years after he took Jerusalem (v.5) which is dated in his first year.

– Shows that the college of training that Daniel and his friends endured was at least 3 years cf. 1:5 and 2:1.

• Nebuchadnezzar doubtless thought he was in control of the situation, but by the time he wrote the poem recorded in 4:4–5 this astute king had come to understand the supreme truth.


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Court (1:18–21)

• Verse 20 again stresses the wisdom of the four, but this verse introduces a new word—they displayed wisdom in discernment. – In other words, these young men were

highly perceptive, mature beyond their years—a most useful attribute for royal service.

• The other terms in v.20 sound bizarre to our western ears but this is more a fault of translation than factual.


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Court (1:18–21)

– “The word translated ‘magician’ also means ‘engraver,’ and that gives us the clue we need; Babylonian records were literally engraved on clay tablets or cylinders—engravers were scribes, the scholars of the day.

– (The same holds good for Gen 41:8, for those ‘magicians’ were probably the scholars who engraved Egypt’s hieroglyphics on rock!)

– Conjurers (or necromancers, astrologers), were the diviners customarily attached to royal courts of that day, men who held out that they could interpret omens and portents which the gods gave to direct their human subjects—in other words, pagan prophets.” Mills, M.S., Daniel, A Study Guide, (Dallas, TX: 3E Ministries) 1998.


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CONCLUSION ► Daniel has been introduced to the reader.

He is a young man, probably in his teens (thought to be 15 years of age), good-looking and with obvious intellectual potential – note the requirements in 1:4.

His three companions have similar attributes.

►They are probably all of noble blood, but Daniel emerges as the natural leader, so at least he may be of royal blood (1:3b).


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CONCLUSION ► The chapter reports powerfully how the

righteousness of the four, as well as the depth of their faith remained constant for the full three years – 1:5 and 2:1.

Likewise, God’s faithfulness to those who are true to Him is portrayed by their story.

Clearly, this story illustrates the theological principle that God is ever true to His promise to sustain those who place their faith in Him.

► The stage is set; the story line can now unfold.

Documents

Lesson Number Six & Seven Chapter ONEwinterparkcocnc.com/attachments/File/bibleclasses/daniel/...7/22/2017 The Book Of Daniel 2 • Daniel (and friends) taken captive from Jerusalem