Daniel 1 – Daniel’s Faithfulness
In the
3rd year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Jerusalem was
taken captive by the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. God allowed them 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
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 10 days Daniel and his
friends looked healthier that the others.
Since they were so faithful to God by not defiling themselves, God gave
the 4 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.
Why? 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.
Do you
have the strength of Daniel to resist worldly choices?
How
does Daniel encourage you?
How has
God blessed you in your faithfulness?
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 dream 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 interpretations. Earthly kingdoms come and go, but the Kingdom of God will last
forever. It will NEVER be destroyed.
How is
this encouraging to you?
How
does the promise of God’s kingdom give you hope in the future?
What is
your view of God’s authority?
Daniel 6 – Daniel in the Lion’s Den
Daniel
was put in charge of all the king’s wise men.
He had distinguished himself among the others. They became jealous of Daniel, but couldn’t
find a way to discredit him. 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.
Daniel
was loyal to God, 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.
What
hard choices do you have to make to be faithful to God?
How
could you faithfully impact those around you?
Daniel 7 – Daniel’s Dream
(Note: Chapter 6 and 7 are not in chronological
order. At the end of chapter 6 Daniel is
about 80 years old. In chapter 7 is
about 68 years.)
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 beats 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 the Ancient of Days (God)
seated on His throne. He was clothed in
white with 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
should give you 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.
Does this trouble you or does it give you hope and encouragement? I have mixed feelings here. I am sadden that there will be those who will
suffer, but encouraged that God is in charge and He will win in the end.
Next
week we will get back to Revelation and study chapter 4 – The Heavenly Throne
Room. Hope to see you here.
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