Daniel
1 – Daniel’s Faithfulness
In the 3rd year of the
reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Jerusalem was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon. God allowed the
people to be delivered into Babylon’s hands along with some of the articles
from the temple. King Nebuchadnezzar
chose the brightest young men from the Israelite families to serve in his
palace. Among them were Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. They were
given new names. Daniel given the name
Belteshazzar; Hananiah was given Shadrach; Mishael was given Meshach; Azariah
was given Abednego. (Dan. 1-7) Daniel was a teenager, about 17 years
old.
Daniel faced challenges. He didn’t want to defile himself with the
king’s rich food and wine so he asked the guard if they would eat only
vegetables and water. He ask to let them
do this for 10 days and then compare their appearance with the others who at
the rich food. The guard agreed. At the end of the ten days Daniel and his
friends looked healthier that the others.
Since they were so faithful to God by not defiling themselves, God blessed
the four and gave them knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature
and learning. Daniel was able to
understand dreams and visions. The king
was pleased and they entered into the service of the king. (Dan. 8-21)
Daniel’s life changed when he was
captured, because God had a bigger purpose for him. The king tried to change Daniel and his
friend’s thinking and make them citizens of Babylon, but God’s kingdom is in
every location and in every person.
Whether you believe Him or not, He is the ruler of all. As Creator, He rules all things. Daniel shows us what it’s like to be in the
kingdom of God. As we submit and obey
Him, we are expanding His kingdom on earth.
God’s kingdom is here and now and also in the future. God is in charge.
I am sure it was very hard to
resist the charms of Babylon. Babylon was
all about self. It was a philosophy, an
attitude, and all about indulgent choices.
It was about beauty and self-absorption.
We live in a Babylonian time. We
are surrounded by a Babylon of our own.
In this day and time the world is all about ME. As a nation we believe in luxury, culture,
education and beauty. We have
everything, yet we are still not happy and satisfied. Daniel and his friends resisted Babylon’s
poisonous harms. They are great examples
for us to resist our Babylon.
Principle: God is Creator and ruler of all things; God
is in charge.
Daniel
2 – Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
King Nebuchadnezzar had a
disturbing dream. He called on all his
magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he dreamed
and what it meant. If they couldn’t, he
would have them cut into pieces. Then
the astrologers remember Daniel who could interpret dreams so they call upon
him. Daniel and his friends prayed that
God would reveal the dream and that night God did just that. God revealed to Daniel the mystery of the
dream. Daniel was faithful to God and God
was faithful to Daniel. Daniel told the
king what his dream was and what it meant.
He praised God for His wisdom, power, knowledge and for revealing to
Daniel the meaning of the dream. Daniel didn’t
take credit for his wisdom, but told the king that the God in heaven is the one
who reveals mysteries. (Dan. 2:1-28)
The dream was of an enormous
statue. The head was made of pure
gold. The chest and arms were
silver. Its belly and thighs were
bronze. Its legs were iron and its feet
were part iron and baked clay. Then a
rock was cut out not by human hands, struck the statue’s feet and smashed
them. Then the rest of the status was
broken into pieces. The broken pieces
were swept away without leaving a trace.
Then the rock became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. (Dan. 2:31-45)
Each of the parts of the statue
represents a world empire:
The head was Babylon - historical
fulfillment in 626-539 B.C.
The chest and arms was the
Medo-Persian Empire – historical fulfillment 539-331 B.C.
The belly and thighs were the
Greek Empire – historical fulfillment 331-63 B.C.
The legs were the Roman Empire – historical
fulfillment 63 B.C. – A.D. 476.
The feet could be the outgrowth
of the divided Roman Empire. The toes
and feet may represent a political system yet to come. The ten horns foretell a ten kingdom
confederacy that will operate jointly at the time of Christ’s return. (Dan. 7:7, 24; Rev. 13:1; 17:12)
The rock represents the kingdom
of the Messiah, which will fill the whole earth.
History has proven Daniel’s
interpretation. We learn about God’s
relationship to earthly kingdoms and rulers.
Dan. 2:29-45 tell us that earthly kingdoms come and go, but the
Kingdom of God will last forever. It
will NEVER be destroyed.
Principle: Earthly kingdoms come and go, but the Kingdom
of God will last forever.
Daniel
6 – Daniel in the Lion’s Den
God continued to bless
Daniel. He was put in charge of all the
king’s wise men. He had distinguished
himself among the administrators and satraps.
They became jealous of Daniel, but couldn’t find a way to discredit
him. Then they came up with a plan. They told the king that he should order
everyone to pray only to the king and not to other gods or they would be thrown
to the lions. I am sure this flattered
the king so he agreed. They knew this
would finally be the end of Daniel, because they knew he would pray to God.
This didn’t stop Daniel. He continued to pray 3 times a day to God
with his windows open. Of course he was
found out and put into the lion’s den.
We all know the end of this story.
God saved Daniel. Daniel said, “My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the
lions.” Dan. 6:21.
Dan.
6:24-28 – The men who falsely accused
Daniel were thrown into the lions’ den along with their families and were
overpowered by the lions.
Daniel was loyal to God and was
spared. His faith should be an encouragement
to us when we face difficult choices. But
loyalty to God’s kingdom often comes at a personal cost. He doesn’t always rescue us when
persecuted. Sometimes rescue comes with
suffering or even death. With death we
are rescued from this world then we can be with Him in heaven.
Principle: God continues to bless those who are faithful
to Him.
Daniel
7 – Daniel Prophesied
Now Daniel was about 68 years old
and he himself had a dream. In his dream
he saw 4 heavenly winds churning up the sea and 4 great beasts came up out of
the sea. The first was like a lion with
wings of an eagle. The second was like a
bear. The third was like a leopard with
4 heads and was given authority to rule.
The fourth beast had 4 horns and was frightening and very powerful. Daniel then saw a little horn that came up
among the others. This horn had eyes
like a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully.
(Dan. 7:1-8)
Verse 17 interprets the sea to be
symbolic to the earth and the 4 beast to be 4 earthly kingdoms. We saw these kingdoms in chapter 2 in the
form of the statue.
Then Daniel saw a vision. He saw the Ancient of Days (God) seated on
His throne. He was clothed in white and
had hair like white wool. The throne was
blazing with fire. There was a river of
fire coming out from the throne.
Thousands attended Him. The court
was seated and the books were opened.
This is the Great White Throne Judgment and the books are considered to
be the book of deeds. God is about to
judge the little horn, which is the Anti-Christ. See
Rev. 20.
This gives us great confidence in
God and His dominion over all the earth.
God is in control and in charge and there is nothing or no one greater
or more powerful.
Then Daniel saw the judgment of
the beasts and little horn (Anti-Christ).
(Dan. 7:11-12) Then he saw one like a son of man (Jesus)
coming in the clouds. The Ancient of
Days gave him authority, glory and sovereign power over all people and
nations. All men worshiped Him and His
dominion is everlasting and will never be destroyed. (Dan.
7:13-14)
Daniel said he was deeply
troubled by what he saw. (Dan. 7:15; 28)
Does this trouble you or does it give
you hope and encouragement? I have mixed
feelings here. I am saddened that there
will be those who will suffer, but encouraged that God is in charge and He will
win in the end.
Principle: God is in control and there is nothing or no
one greater or more powerful.
Next week we will study Revelation
4 – The Heavenly Throne Room. – I
encourage you to trust in Jesus.
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