TONIGHT BEGINS A NINE WEEK STUDY OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL...
Is The Book Of Daniel fact or fiction?
Creative ghost-writing by some later unknown or pure truth written by Daniel?
Does The Bible tell us?
Daniel Chapter 1-2
Tell us who and what Daniel was?
CAN WE DARE TO BE A DANIEL?
Who WAS Daniel?
What does it mean to DARE TO BE A DANIEL?
Can we be faithful?
Can we STAND ALONE on Jesus’ Word?
Can we TRUST as Daniel did?
Can we BELIEVE without DOUBT in Jesus’ Promises?
What does the Bible tell/show us about DANIEL, THE YOUNG TEENAGE CAPTIVE?
Turn with me to Daniel 1.….
Daniel tells us HOW to keep PURE In The Face of Adversity
Here is WHAT WAS going on around the world at this place & time in history…
The prophet Daniel lived in the sixth century BEFORE the birth of Jesus. During this approximate period:
Construction on the Acropolis in Athens began
Mayan civilization flourished in Mexico
Aesop wrote his fables
Confucius and Buddha lived
Greek art began to truly excel
The Phoenicians made the first known sea journey around Africa
The Greeks introduced the olive tree to Italy
KNOW THIS: The Book of Daniel has been a target of critics who doubt that the Daniel described in the book wrote the book, especially in light of the book’s amazing prophecies.
So WHO wrote the Book of Daniel? It claims to have been written by Daniel himself, and the fact that it is written mostly in the third person does not contradict that claim.
The author mostly speaks in the third person, except for Daniel 8:1; 9:2; 9:20, and 10:2, where he speaks in the “I, Daniel” form. However, it was CUSTOMARY for ancient writers to speak in the 3rd person EVEN when writing about themselves. The one Old Testament exception to this is the Book of Nehemiah, which is in the form of Nehemiah’s personal diary.
REMEMBER THIS AS WELL: Even ALMIGHTY GOD switches between the grammatical first and third person when speaking of Himself: compare Exodus 20:2 (I am the Lord your God) and Exodus 20:7 (for the Lord will not hold him guiltless).
FORTUNATELY OUR JESUS knew the critics WOULD come; HE SAW IT thousands of years in advance, & so HE takes away ALL DOUBT on the matter. He tells us that IT WAS Daniel who wrote the book of Daniel: “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet.” (Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14)
Daniel describes events of the 2nd century before Jesus (especially the period 175-164 b.c.) with such PIN-POINT accuracy that critics TRY TO ALLOW that it MUST have been written after that period, during the time of the Maccabees (in between the Old and New Testaments). THEY CLAIM, the purpose for writing Daniel at that time was to inspire God’s people on to victory during the Maccabean wars.
The first one to suggest a Maccabean date for Daniel was the Neoplatonic philosopher Porphyrius of Tyre (third century a.d.) Porphyrius REFUSED TO believe the prophecies, so he suggested the later date. Jerome, in his commentary on Daniel, spent much of his time refuting these IDIOTIC arguments.
Beginning in 1771, influenced by the Enlightenment, academics began to revive the old Maccabean date theory about the Book of Daniel. They all agreed that every accurate prediction in Daniel COULD ONLY HAVE BEEN written AFTER the events took place.
The modern argument for "late dating" Daniel is based on supposed inevitable mistakes that a second century b.c. writer made when writing about a period 400 years before, in the sixth century b.c. In our own day, it would be as if someone wrote a story about the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock and they mentioned speedboats and computers. We would KNOW that it was a forgery.
There are FIVE CRITIC HISTORIC DEBATES:
The "wrong date" for Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion of Judah
Using the word “Chaldeans” to describe a class of soothsayers
The “obviously legendary” account of Nebuchadnezzar’s madness
King Belshazzar and his relationship to Nabonidus
The “legendary” figure of Darius the Mede
There is also ONE linguistic argument made, claiming Greek words are used in Daniel are words that did NOT come into the Hebrew vocabulary until the second century b.c.
As we go through the Book of Daniel, we SHALL give special attention to these issues, and what modern archaeological research has to say about them.
But what FEW ASK IS THIS: WHY such a strong attack against the Book of Daniel? WHY has the lost world & satan SOUGHT to DISMISS & ERASE the words of Daniel? Simply because Daniel contains MORE fulfilled prophecies than any other book in the Bible. In New Testament prophecy, Daniel is referred to MORE than any other Old Testament book.
At times, Communist governments EVEN prohibited preaching from the Book of Daniel because it reveals God’s knowledge of the future, and it shows that in the end the Lord God and His people WIN.
So REMEMBER all these things WHILE we STUDY all 12 Chapters of Daniel.
Also, the reason I do not JUMP straight into the End Times prophecies of Daniel…it is SO IMPORTANT to SEE, KNOW, and UNDERSTAND the life and times of Daniel that LED UP to ALMIGHTY GOD entrusting Daniel with these prophecies.
DANIEL 1...
Verses 1-2 tell us HOW Nebuchadnezzar conquers Jerusalem.
“In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.”
Jehoiakim was a Judean king placed on the throne BY the Pharaoh of Egypt. His name means “Yahweh raises up,” but the Lord did NOT raise him up at all - Pharaoh DID.
Nebuchadnezzar was the mighty ruler of the Babylonian Empire. The name Nebuchadnezzar is a Hebrew transliteration of the Babylonian name Nebu-kudduri-utzur, which means “Nebu protects the crown.”
WHY did Nebuchadnezzar come against Jerusalem?
Because the Pharaoh of Egypt invaded Babylon. In response the young prince Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptians at Charchemish, then he pursued their fleeing army all the way down to the Sinai. Along the way (or on the way back), he subdued Jerusalem, who had been loyal to the Pharaoh of Egypt.
This happened in 605 b.c. and it was the FIRST, but NOT the last encounter between Nebuchadnezzar and Jehoiakim. There would be TWO later invasions (597 and 587 b.c.).
Is this a historical blunder?
This invasion in 605 b.c. is NOT mentioned in the book of Kings, but Josephus’ quotation of the Babylonian historian Berossus shows that the Biblical account of THREE SEPERATE Babylonian attacks on Judah IS accurate (Against Apion, I 19; Antiquities, X 11, 1).
Also, the Babylonian chronicles are a collection of tablets discovered as early as 1887, and are held in the British Museum. In them, Nebuchadnezzar’s 605 b.c. presence in Judah IS documented and clarified.
The Bible IS infallible…the Bible IS accurate.
When the Babylonian chronicles were finally published in 1956, they gave us first-rate, detailed political and military information about the first 10 years of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. L.W. King prepared these tablets in 1919; he then died, and they were neglected for four decades (40 YEARS).
Also as proof that DANIEL spoke the TRUTH, there are excavations/documents which ALSO prove the victory of Nebuchadnezzar over the Egyptians at Carchemish in May or June of 605 b.c. Archaeologists found evidences of battle, vast quantities of arrowheads, layers of ash, and a shield of a Greek mercenary fighting for the Egyptians.
This campaign was interrupted suddenly when Nebuchadnezzar heard of his father’s death and raced back to Babylon to secure his succession to the throne. He traveled about 500 miles in two weeks - back then, that WAS AMAZINGLY fast.
“In the third year of the reign”… There is also NO contradiction between Daniel, who says this happened in the third year of Jehoiakim, and Jeremiah 46:2, which says it was in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Daniel reckoned a king’s years after the Babylonian method: the first year of a king’s reign begins at the start of the calendar year after he takes the throne. Jeremiah uses the JEWISH method.
Having spent MOST of his life in Babylon, it is only natural that Daniel should USE a Babylonian form of chronology.
In this 597 b.c. deportation, Jehoiakim, Ezekiel and others were taken away. This deportation is ALSO described in 2 Kings 24:14-16.
Though Judah is conquered, God’s hand is obvious; He IS in command. This was prophesied in Isaiah 39:7: “And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
This prophecy leads some to think Daniel and his companions were made eunuchs. Certainly, the Hebrew term “SARIS” was used of literal eunuchs; but the word derives from a phrase that simply means to be a SERVANT of the king. It wasn’t exclusively applied to literal eunuchs.
BUT WHY DID the Lord give Judah into the hands of the Babylonians?
The two main reasons for the captivity were Israel’s idolatry, and their failure to observe the sabbaths for the land (Leviticus 25:1-7 and 26:2-35).
This shows that God always settles accounts with those who REFUSE to respond to His warnings. In the 587 b.c. invasion, the city of Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed (2 Kings 25:9-10).
Nebuchadnezzar did not take ALL the furnishings of the temple, only some. The rest were either hidden before Nebuchadnezzar came or brought to Babylon later.
The confiscation of these items and their deposit in a Babylonian temple was a dramatic declaration by Nebuchadnezzar saying, “my god is better than your God.” Was the God of Israel able to vindicate Himself?
This was a low time for Judah and God’s people. It seemed that the God of Israel lost out to the gods of Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon. The Book of Daniel shows God vindicating Himself at a time when the conquest of Israel might have brought His reputation into disrepute.
Verses 3-4 tell us about Babylon’s system of indoctrination.
ONLY the best and the brightest of Jerusalem’s YOUNG MEN are chosen and taken to Babylon.
“Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king's descendants and some of the nobles, young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans.”
Nebuchadnezzar NOT only confiscated holy things from the temple, but the shining lights of Judah’s future as well young men WHO WERE perhaps 13-17 years old.
Nebuchadnezzar showed himself a wise administrator, and a shrewd tactician. Taking these young men as hostages reminded the people back in Jerusalem that they should not revolt against recently imposed Babylonian rule.
Verses 5-7 tells us once IN Babylon, the Hebrew youths are groomed for the civil service.
“And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king. Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.
It was a given that the Babylonian government would provide for these young men in training. Yet, to have the same food and wine prepared for the king was intended as a SPECIAL honor.
In the ancient world much more than the modern world, there was a HUGE difference between the food enjoyed by the elite and what common people ate.
The name Daniel (meaning God is my judge) was changed to Belteshazzar (meaning Bel’s prince).
The name Hannaniah (meaning Beloved by the Lord) was changed to Shadrach (meaning Illumined by Sun-god).
The name Mishael (meaning Who is as God) was changed to Meshach (meaning Who is like Venus).
The name Azariah (meaning The Lord is my help) was changed to Abed-Nego (meaning Servant of Nego).
This was an effort at TOTAL indoctrination, working to make these young Jewish men FORGET their Hebrew God, heritage, and culture. Undoubtedly, Nebuchadnezzar wanted these young men, “look to me for everything.” Daniel and his friends REFUSED, insisting that they look to God.
Sounds just like the world and satan today, right?
Verse 8 tells us Daniel’s decision to be faithful.
“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”
The ancient Hebrew word DEFILE carries the thought of polluting or staining (see also Isaiah 59:3; Zephaniah 3:1, and Malachi 1:7). That Daniel requested that he might not defile himself implies that he explained THE SPIRITUAL basis for his request. He didn't make it SEEM he wanted to avoid the king's food out of other reasons.
Some have said, “Isn’t Daniel making a BIG DEAL over a little thing?
Yes, but the ONLY WAY to go on with JESUS is by being faithful in LITTLE things. Others have said, “Why bring religion into it?” But Daniel KNEW that his RELATIONSHIP with God touched EVERY AREA of his life, even what he ate. Significantly, the very root of sin goes back to eating forbidden food.
Why did Daniel and his friends consider the king’s food defiled?
First, it was NOT kosher.
Second, it was food SACRIFICED to idols.
Third, it IMPLIED ACCEPTANCE OF Babylon’s cultural system.
You notice Daniel did NOT object to the name given to him.
WHY?
Because he KNEW whom he was - you could call him what you liked. Daniel did NOT object to the Babylonian education, because he KNEW what he believed. Daniel DID object to the food from the king's table, because to eat it WAS IN DIRECT DISOBEIDENCE to God's word.
AND by eastern standards of the day, to SHARE a meal was to commit one’s self to friendship; it was A COVENANT.
God did NOT forbid drinking wine. BUT in pagan cultures most wine and meat WERE DEDICATED TO their gods FIRST, so Daniel WAS right to refuse it.
Daniel HAD COURAGE to make such a decision, ESPECIALLY when we think of ALL the reasons WHY it was dangerous.
The king ordered the menu. Rejecting the menu was rejecting the king, and could result in severe punishment.
Refusing the food might have branded them as being uncooperative, and spoiled all chances of advancement (many other Hebrew youths did eat the food).
There WAS a real THREAT of punishment. Ancient kings were well known for the severe and often sadistic punishments against those who crossed them. Nebuchadnezzar was capable of GREAT cruelty. He murdered the sons of one king of Judah before the king's eyes; then immediately gouged out the eyes of the king, so his last memory would always be the murder of his sons (Jeremiah 39:6-7). Other rulers of Judah were literally roasted to death over a fire (Jeremiah 29:22).
The food itself was RICH & THE BEST, and seemed a much better alternative than eating a vegetarian diet and water for three years.
Separated from family and home, it was EASIER to compromise.
It was easy to think that God had let them down by allowing them to be carried away into Babylon. Why should they RISK their necks for a God who let them down? Many Christians have a mentality that says, “God, you do right by me, and I’ll do right by you.” Of course, God will always do right by us; but we don’t always KNOW what IS right for us.
Daniel purposed in his heart SHOWS US how to conquer a difficult trial and glorify God before others in the midst of testing. He made up his mind BEFOREHAND that he would NOT compromise.
Daniel WAS respectful/courteous in his request. Making a stand for Jesus Christ does NOT mean we CAN be obnoxious.
Self-denial MUST be sought. Daniel and his friends KNEW this WOULD cost them something, yet they were willing.
Verse 9 tells us God gives Daniel favor and goodwill with the CHIEF of the eunuches. God will NEVER abandon us when we stand for Him. Daniel TRUSTED IN GOD, not man.
Verses 10-13 tells us Daniel suggests a plan to the chief eunuch.
“And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, "I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king." So Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, "Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. "Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king's delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.”
Daniel UNDERSTOOD the steward’s fears. Daniel wouldn’t let the chief of the eunuchs pay the price for Daniel’s conscience. In it all, Daniel was willing to put himself and his faith in God to the test.
Daniel's approach is REASONABLE. He could have gone on a hunger strike; he could have started throwing over banquet tables. Instead he made a polite request, made it to the right person and said, "Put us to the test."
Daniel MADE a godly and wise COMPROMISE with the chief of the eunuchs. He SHOWED the wisdom James 3:17 speaks about: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”
Vegetables refers to all kinds of grains and plants, not strictly vegetables. Basically, this was a vegetarian diet, chosen because none of the meat WAS butchered in a kosher manner as God demanded, but had FIRST been sacrificed to idols.
Daniel WAS NOT testing God. He was obeying Exodus 23:25 says, “So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water.”
Verses 14-16 tells us Daniel and his companions are blessed for their faithfulness & the Chief Eunuch GAVE them vegetables & water.
This WAS the hand of God at work. The chief of the eunuchs had all the "power" in this situation; Daniel and his friends seemed to be completely at his mercy. Yet God moved upon this man, and he consented with them in this matter.
That AFTER only 10 days and their features appeared better and fatter AGAIN showed the hand of God at work. There is NO biological reason why a vegetarian diet should make them appear better and fatter. Perhaps their diet would have made them appear the same as the other Jewish young men who ate the king's food, but not better and fatter.
Verses 17-21 tells us Daniel and his companions are blessed and promoted.
“As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Now at the end of the days, when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they served before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm. Thus Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus.”
The SPECIAL intellectual ability of Daniel and his companions was NOT due to their diet, but to the SPECIAL INTERVENTION of the Lord.
Daniel’s understanding in ALL visions and dreams TELLS us that purity of heart and faithfulness to God come before enlightenment in divine mysteries. Daniel will later receive GREAT revelation, but now he simply shows himself a dedicated follower of God.
These young men from Jerusalem were immersed in the study of Babylonian culture, literature and religion; yet they REMAINED faithful to God. The work of the prophets like Jeremiah, Zephaniah and Habakkuk had not been in vain. They were IN Babylon, but not OF Babylon.
We can infer that Daniel and his friends were WELL trained by their parents. We MUST train our children this way.
Daniel HAD a long, successful career in the WORST of circumstances. He worked for TYRANTS who thought nothing of killing their staff and advisors, much less firing them. His employer suffered the worst kind of hostile takeover when the Medo-Persian Empire conquered the Babylonian Empire. The seeds of his great success are evident in the very first chapter of the Book of Daniel.
Daniel and his friends show us that INNER CONVICTION WILL overcome ANY outer pressure, and that God-honoring convictions yield God-given rewards.
Turn with me to DANIEL 2...
Nebuchadnezzar Dreams of a TROUBLING Image
Verse 1 tells us…
“Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him.”
By Babylonian reckoning, the year 602 b.c. WAS both the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign and after three years of training for the Hebrew youths.
Verses 2-9 tells us Nebuchadnezzar demands to know the dream and its interpretation from his wise men.
“Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. And the king said to them, "I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream." Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, "O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation." The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, "My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap. However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation." They answered again and said, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will give its interpretation." The king answered and said, "I know for certain that you would gain time, because you see that my decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, there is only one decree for you! For you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation."
It is hard to say if Nebuchadnezzar REALLY remembered the dream or not. Perhaps he had ONLY a sense of it, but had only vague remembrance of the details.
Nebuchadnezzar had NO criteria by which to judge the accuracy of the interpretation of the dream by his wise men, but he could test their ability to tell what he dreamed.
Despite their protests, Nebuchadnezzar wasn't asking too much of these magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans. These men MADE their living on their supposed ability TO CONTACT the gods and gain secrets from the spirit realm. If they were in reality what they presented themselves as in image, they should be able to tell Nebuchadnezzar both the dream and its interpretation.
The harsh threat of Nebuchadnezzar and the method of execution he describes are both perfectly consistent with an ancient eastern monarch. Another favorite of the king recorded in those days was of dismemberment. Whomever ANGERED the king was tied to four trees with a rope at each limb. The trees were bent inwards and tied together at the top; then the top rope was cut and the body was snapped into four pieces.
In this verse we have the FIRST MENTION of Chaldeans as a class of soothsayers to the king. Critics cite the use of this word as a mistake that only a second century b.c. writer would make. Critics suppose that in Daniel’s day, the term Chaldean was only used as a racial designation, describing what the Chaldeans thought was the “master race” who ruled Nebuchadnezzar’s superpower empire.
That is NOT true.
Linguistic research has PROVED that the Babylonian word for an “astrologer-priest,” and their word for their supposed MASTER RACE were homonyms, both having the sound Chaldean (kas-du in Babylonian), but each retaining their own meaning. This is the same way that the English sound tu can mean to, two, or too….and they MAY sound alike…but they MEAN very different things, right?
Daniel’s understanding of this REAL DISTINCTION is clear from the text, because he also uses the term Chaldean in its racial sense (Daniel 3:8 and 5:30).
Also, from Daniel 2:4 to 7:28, the text is in ARAMAIC - not Hebrew. This is the only section of the Bible written in Aramaic. This WAS the language of the Babylonian Empire.
Verses 10-11 tells us the wise men explain the IMPOSSIBILITY of Nebuchadnezzar’s request.
“The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, "There is not a man on earth who can tell the king's matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean. It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh."
The Chaldeans DO ADMIT that true revelation comes from God down to man; it is not the achievement of man.
Despite all their wisdom - real and imagined - these wise men had NO answer for Nebuchadnezzar, because ONLY God could bring an answer to the king.
AND THE STRATEGY of the wise men was to convince the king that he WAS unreasonable, NOT that they were incompetent.
As far as these PAGAN magicians, astrologers, and wise men KNEW, this was true. They did not KNOW what we KNOW about our precious Jesus - that HE IS Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23).
Verses 12-13 tells us Nebuchadnezzar is SO FURIOUS that he sentences ALL his wise men to death.
“For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave a command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.”
Though he was a despot & a monster, Nebuchadnezzar KNEW that false religious is worse than useless. He knew that it was a curse, and he didn't want "wise men" who could not bring him wisdom from God.
And as a NEW KING, he USED the situation to TEST the suitability of his father’s old advisors. The dream provided him with a good reason to CLEAN house.
Verses 14-16 tells us that Daniel reacts to Nebuchadnezzar’s decree by asking for a brief extension.
“Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon; he answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, "Why is the decree from the king so urgent?" Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel. So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation.
Daniel is obviously INNOCENT in all this, yet he CALMLY and discretely deals with the crisis. Daniel’s calmness in this crisis showed what kind of man he really was. In one sense, crises do NOT MAKE the man, but they DO REVEAL what kind of man he is.
This wasn't just a stalling tactic. Daniel KNEW that it takes time to listen to the Lord and to WAIT upon Him, and Daniel was willing to TAKE THE TIME if the king would grant it.
Verses 17-18 tells us Daniel asks his companions for prayer.
“Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.”
Daniel was in the type of situation where ONLY God could meet his need. Therefore he KNEW how important it was for both him and his companions to pray IN AGREEMENT.
The REAL battle was WON when Daniel prayed with his friends.
Daniel KNEW God could do an unprecedented miracle. Joseph had interpreted dreams with God’s help, but had NOT reconstructed the dreams. Daniel was the FIRST.
Considering what was at stake, there is little doubt that their prayers were extremely earnest. God listens to earnest prayer.
Verse 19 tells us God reveals Nebuchadnezzar’s dream AND its interpretation to Daniel.
“Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.”
This WAS revelation. Daniel did NOT FIGURE IT OUT, God REVEALED it to him.
Verses 20-23 tells us Daniel THANKS/PRAISES God for this revelation.
“Daniel answered and said: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of You, for You have made known to us the king's demand."
Daniel praises God for His communication to man. All God's power and might were of LITTLE HELP to Daniel if God stayed silent. Daniel is grateful that God has revealed His great knowledge.
Daniel KNEW BY FAITH that God gave him THE answer, BEFORE Nebuchadnezzar EVER confirmed it.
DANIEL SHOWS US our level of faith DEPENDS ON HOW LONG it takes us to start praising God. If we WON’T praise Him until AFTER the answer is in hand, then we DON’T have much faith.
Verses 24-30 tells us Daniel is ushered into the king’s presence, tells & interprets the dream and gives glory to God for revealing the dream.
“Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; take me before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation." Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king, and said thus to him, "I have found a man of the captives of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation." The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?" Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, "The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these: As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be. But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.”
Arioch TRIES to glorify himself for the answer to the king's dream. But Daniel REFUSED to take credit, he gave it ALL TO GOD.
Nebuchadnezzar's dream didn't just concern himself for his kingdom, but the whole span of the future - which was to Nebuchadnezzar the latter days.
Verses 31-35 tells us Daniel describes Nebuchadnezzar's dream.
“You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”
Daniel’s description is clear. This is a massive and spectacular image made of different materials. You notice the materials descended in value from top to bottom, with gold at the top and iron mixed with clay at the bottom.
This spectacular image is destroyed by a stone made without hands, and what remains of it is blown away like worthless chaff, while the stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Verses 36-45 tell us the interpretation of the dream.
“This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all; you are this head of gold. But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure."
WISELY, Daniel FIRST told the EXACT content of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. This gave Daniel credibility when explaining what the dream meant, the interpretation.
Nebuchadnezzar is the head of gold. After him will come THREE other kingdoms, each represented by the different materials Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. After the succession of kingdoms, then the FINAL kingdom set up BY God.
Let’s look at the fulfillment of this prophecy in history.
Three dominating empires came after Babylon: Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. The nature of these empires is accurately reflected by the nature of the image Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream.
The empires succeeding Babylon WERE inferior to Nebuchadnezzar's head of gold in the sense of their centralization of absolute power. Nebuchadnezzar was an ABSOLUTE monarch, the succeeding empires progressively less so. They were LARGER and lasted LONGER than Babylon, but NONE held as much centralized POWER as Nebuchadnezzar did.
Babylon, the head of gold, was an absolute autocracy. Persia, a monarchial oligarchy with the nobles EQUAL to the king in all but office, is represented by silver. Greece is set forth by brass, indicated the still lower value of it aristocracy of mind and influence . . . Rome, a democratic imperialism, with military dominion dependent upon the choice of army and citizenry and administered in the spirit of martial law, is set forth by iron."
The THIRD kingdom, of bronze, is the one which shall rule over the whole earth. Indeed, Alexander's Grecian Empire was the largest among those compared in the image (except the FINAL government of JESUS CHRIST).
The Babylonian Empire stood for 66 years; the Medo-Persian Empire for 208 years; the Grecian Empire for 185 years, and the Roman Empire stood for more than 500 years.
Liberal commentators DO NOT believe that the fourth kingdom is Rome, but they say it is Greece, and that the second and third kingdoms are Media and Persia respectively, instead of the Medo-Persian Empire as a whole.
WHY do they interpret this way? Because they DO NOT BELIEVE it was POSSIBLE for Daniel to predict the rise of these empires.
“In the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed”…this describes the FUTURE FULFILLMENT of this prophecy. The stone cut without hands shatters a confederation of kings, represented by the feet of the image, and then God's Kingdom dominates the earth.
And since Roman history provides NO FULFILLMENT of this federation of kings (which numbers ten, because of the number of toes, and passages like Daniel 7:24 and Revelation 17:12) this prophecy is MUST STILL BE IN THE FUTURE.
And since the fall of the Roman Empire, there has NEVER been a world-dominating empire equal to Rome. Many have tried - the Huns, Islam, the so-called Holy Roman Empire, Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin - but NONE succeeded. Each of these had amazing power and influence, but nothing compared to that of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire, in some form or another, will be REVIVED under the leadership of the FINAL fallen dictator, the Antichrist.
“It broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold”….ALSO describes a SINGLE, decisive EVENT that shatters the image representing the glory of man's rule on earth. Since the Church or the gospel have not, in a single decisive event, shattered the reign of human kingdoms, this event is still in the future.
This stone cut without hands is JESUS CHRIST, not the Church. Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 8:14; Isaiah 28:16, and Zechariah 3:9 also refer to Jesus as A STONE.
Therefore, the FINAL WORLD superpower WILL be a “revival” of the Roman Empire, a continuation of the image. This will be the final world empire that the returning OUR JESUS CHRIST will conquer over.
The kingdom that THE ANTI-CHRIST WILL HEAD shall be partly strong and partly fragile: This final world empire will be according to the nature of clay mixed with iron. It will have MORE THE IMAGE OF true strength than the SUBSTANCE OF true strength.
As a whole, the image accurately represents human power and empire. The image SEEMS invincible, but is actually UNSTABLE at its base. No wonder one blow to the foundation can topple the whole thing!
It's also significant to see that the image describes DEVOLUTION, NOT EVOLUTION. Instead of man beginning in the dust and evolving into gold, this vision declares that man's dominion begins with gold and devalues into dust.
Some 40 years from this, Daniel had a vision describing the same succession of empires. Daniel saw it from God's perspective, and Nebuchadnezzar saw it from man's perspective. Nebuchadnezzar saw these empires as an IMPRESSIVE MARVELOUS image; Daniel saw them as RAVENING FIERCE beasts.
The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure: This wasn't Daniel guessing or thinking - this was ALMIGHTY GOD announcing the future. REMEMBER ALWAYS, the ONLY reason that God can predict history is because he CAN/DOES control it.
Verses 46-49 tells us Nebuchadnezzar's reaction to Daniel's reporting of the dream and its interpretation.
“Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him. The king answered Daniel, and said, "Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret." Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.”
EVEN this great MONSTER king WAS impressed. He WAS NOT one to SHOW/GIVE RESPECT to anyone, especially a foreign slave who was about to be executed with the rest of the wise men. This confirms that Daniel accurately reported the dream and skillfully explained its meaning.
“Your God is the God of gods” tells us Nebuchadnezzar KNEW that it wasn't Daniel himself that revealed these things, but Daniel's God revealed it through Daniel. Daniel wanted the glory to go to God, and it did.
Daniel, who was yet a teenager at the time, not only had his life spared, but he was promoted to high office - and he made SURE his friends were also promoted. It was fitting that Daniel’s friends GOT TO SHARE in his advancement, because they accomplished much of the victory through their UNITED prayers.
So what does Daniel 1 & 2 show us & tell us…His trust & belief in Almighty God and God’s ABSOLUTE control over ALL things was were ROCK solid. They were indisputable. Daniel began everything with PRAISE and WORSHIP BEFORE he started praying and AFTER he had prayed BEFORE Daniel SAW/WAS GIVEN ANSWERS.
Daniel 1 & 2 tells us to ALWAYS trust Jesus Christ. HE knows all. HE sees all. HE controls all.
ALMIGHTY GOD & JESUS CHRIST HAVE A PLAN…
Daniel’s SECRET to hearing from God & receiving answers was to PRAISE, PRAY, PRAISE, TRUST, PRAISE &WAIT ON JESUS…
JESUS NEVER FAILS.