Daniel 1
Standing Up in a Fallen
World ~ Part 1
Open your Bible to…
Dan. 1:1 In the
third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of
Dan. 1:2 And the
Lord gave Jehoiakim king of
Dan. 1:3 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,
Dan. 1:4 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.
Dan. 1:5 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.
Dan. 1:6 Now
from among those of the sons of
Pray
Intro
√ The book
Unique for a number of reasons, and one of the most cherished books in all of the Bible, some fun facts…
1st of the Apocalyptic books of the Bible ~ unveiling of the future.
Written in two languages…
Chapters 1-2:4a ~ Hebrew
Chapters 2:4b-7:28 ~ Aramaic
Chapters 8-12 ~ Hebrew
Lays the foundation for all Biblical study of the eschatology.
In fact, you cannot begin to understand the Revelation of John until you have a working knowledge of Daniel’s prophecies and visions.
√ The author
Daniel refers to himself as the author throughout the book…
Dan. 7:2, 15 & 28
Dan. 8:1, 15 & 27
Dan. 9:2 & 22
Dan. 10:1, 2, 7, 11 & 12
Dan. 12:5
…who actually lived during the historical events described,
his capture in
That would date the book of Daniel to the 6th Century B.C. (536 B.C. back to 605 B.C.).
Some critics reject Daniel as the author primarily because they claim that no one could predict future events so accurately…
…therefore, they suggest that it must have been written much later (they suggest 165 B.C.) and by someone else using Daniel’s name.
However…
Copies of Daniel’s book were found at Qumran that date to 200 B.C., which means the Essenes had a copy of Daniel’s book that is older than the date the critics say it was written.
Daniel 9 predicts the destruction of the
Jesus Himself attributes the authorship of the book to Daniel (Matt. 24:15).
So, if a person is going to reject Daniel as the actual author of this book then you have to deny the archeological evidence…
…and put yourself at odds with Jesus!
1) Who ~ he was
Vs. 3-4 tell us that Daniel was a young man, the cream of
the crop of
2) What ~ he wrote about
Chapters 1-6 are historical
and provide great insight into the culture and events of the ancient
Chapters 2 & 4 record Daniel’ interpretation of 2 dreams that Nebuchadnezzar had.
Chapters 7-12 record visions that God gave Daniel of the future.
3) Why ~ he wrote
Daniel was inspired to write…
To encourage God’s people how to live in a heathen culture in such a way that they would honor God with their lives.
To remind them that obedience brings blessing!
To encourage God’s people that God is sovereign and that His purposes will be accomplished despite what Men may do.
To encourage God’s people that He is faithful to keep His promises even when His people fail.
To reveal the mystery of God’s plan for the future and how the kingdoms of the Gentile’s will be used to discipline His people until Messiah comes.
To encourage God’s people that Messiah is coming and will establish an everlasting
All of which makes for a very exciting read!
Ap. Importance of the book
The book of Daniel gives us a solid foundation to trust that God is real, and that He is interested in people like you and me!
Our faith is not blind, rather, it is based on the evidence of the prophetic word…
…spoken by God through Daniel and attested to be true by the events of history.
Also gives us hope for the future as we can trust that what God has shown Daniel (and the other prophets) of future events will come to pass.
Since all the events so far described by Daniel have come to pass just as he predicted…
…then we can be sure that God’s Kingdom is coming and those who are faithful like Daniel will be rewarded by the King!
So, let’s check it out!
Daniel’s life (Vs. 1-3)
Dan. 1:1 In the
third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of
Dan. 1:2 And the
Lord gave Jehoiakim king of
√ Daniel’s life
Vs. 1-2 give us the time frame of the historical events recorded in the book of Daniel.
• 3rd year of Jehoiakim – 605 B.C.
• 1st of 3
attacks on
605 B.C. ~ 597 B.C. ~ 586 B.C. at which time the walls
were pulled down
& the
Daniel was taken captive after the 1st attack and
served in
“Thus Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus.”
And, Daniel 10:1…
“In the third year of Cyrus king of
So, Daniel was in
…he lived to at least 85!
Daniel’s crisis (Vs. 3-7)
Dan. 1:3 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,
Dan. 1:4 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.
Dan. 1:5 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.
Dan. 1:6 Now
from among those of the sons of
Dan. 1:7 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.
√ Daniel’s crisis
We all face challenges to our faith, almost on a daily basis, but the real test comes when we face a crisis in our faith!
The day when everything we hold dear, everything we believe in, everything we trust in…
…is suddenly taken from us.
It’s then that we’re in the greatest danger of abandoning our faith in God.
Such was Daniel and his friends’ experience!
Taken captive by a hostile pagan people.
Carried far from their home and family and thrust into a strange and uncomfortable culture.
Surrounded by people who spoke a different language, served different gods, ate weird food, and had control over their life!
And all this happens when you’re in junior high school!
It would be easy to understand why a young man like Daniel might be tempted to reject the God of Israel and embrace the god of Nebuchadnezzar who looked like the winner.
√ Daniel’s indoctrination
The most dangerous moment for Daniel and his friends was
when they first arrived in
While still fearful of what their captors might do to them, they find themselves forced to adopt a new way of life…
…the Babylonian way!
Note that the king commands that Daniel and his friends be indoctrinated in the ways of the Babylonians…
Learn the language of
Permeate their minds with Babylonian philosophy & religion ~ vs. 4
Eat the unclean food of the Babylonians ~ vs. 5
The plan was to take these young gift men and rewire their minds to think like, eat like, and act like Babylonians instead of Jews!
They went as far as to change their names to honor the Babylonian gods and erase all memory of the God of Israel ~ vs. 7
For example…
Daniel = "God is my judged"
Belteshazzar = "Lady, protect the king"
Hananiah = "Yahweh has been gracious"
Shadrach = "I am fearful (of a god)"
Mishael = "Who is what God is?"
Meshach = "I am despised, humbled before my
god"
Azariah = "Yahweh has helped"
Adednego = "Servant of Nebo"
So, for the rest of their lives whenever someone would address them by name they would think of…
…the gods of
Ex. Purpose of Nebuchadnezzar’s plan
1)
Taking hostages of the royal family to help
ensure the cooperation of those left in
2) Prepare these
young men to become vassals of the Babylonian Empire should
Ap. Don’t be conformed to the world
Nebuchadnezzar was doing to Daniel and his friends what Satan attempts to do to us…
…trying to conform us into the image of the world instead of the image of God.
Through media ~ to change the way we think about life and morality.
Through education ~ to redefine what we believe is true according to a humanistic worldview in place of a God-centered worldview.
Through language ~ changing the meaning of words so that we believe truth is relative instead of absolute.
The end result is that God’s people no longer think like, or act like Jesus, they look like and act like the world!
Ex. Power of media
The Marlboro Man comes out of the closet.
“
Today entire denominations, including some evangelicals, are changing the way they think about sexual relationships from God’s view, to the World’s view.
Be careful what you fill your mind with, if you listen to a lie long enough you’ll believe it.
Daniel’s choice (Vs. 8-10)
Dan. 1:8 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.
Dan. 1:9 Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs.
Dan. 1:10 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.”
√ Daniel’s choice
Far from home, surrounded by enemies who worshipped false gods and practiced a life style that was contrary to the Law of God, Daniel makes a stand for the Lord…
“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself…”
This is a young man with a strong moral compass!
More amazing when you consider that the generation of people that Daniel belonged to were judged by God for their disobedience!
That is, Daniel had few role models growing up in
Yet, here we find a hero of the faith, a man who would not compromise his faith to “go with the flow” so that he might escape the wrath of the king.
Instead he chose to honor God through his obedience to God’s
covenant with
So, God responds to Daniel’s faith and grants him favor with his handlers providing an example to the other Jewish captives as to how they should live.
Obedience = blessing!
Ap. Don’t compromise with the world
Put your faith in the Lord, stand firm on you convictions, and watch what God does in your life!
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