Daniel In Exile

Hook

Review from last year and pick up where we left off

Compare to the unspoken contract that parents and kids make when they are born

Kenna and the dots

Leviticus 26:27-33 (ESV)

Leviticus 26:27–33 ESV

“But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins. You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. And I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you. And I will lay your cities waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing aromas. And I myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be appalled at it. And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

Leviticus 26:39 ESV

And those of you who are left shall rot away in your enemies’ lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them.

Transition

The prophets had been passionately telling the people that judgment was immanent if they didn’t turn back and obey the Lord.

The people persisted in their disobedience, and the judgment the Lord promised came. First, the northern kingdom of Israel was captured by Assyria in the mid-700s BC. The southern kingdom of Judah was cap­tured less than 200 years later, culminating in the burning of the temple in 586 BC.

A significant portion of the Jewish population found themselves exiled to Babylon.

Book

Daniel 1:1–7 ESV

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 vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.

Daniel found himself in need of rescue

Have you ever needed to be rescued?

House fire

Daniel has served Babylon for 50 years

Changes in leadership

Do you think Daniel gives into the culture around him?

No, it looks like Daniel has remained steady. He’s upstanding and wise and has found favor in the eyes of those in charge. No one could find fault with him. He hasn’t given into the culture and lives and upright life.

Develops and flexes his spiritual muscles.

Have you ever had someone who was jealous of you

Daniel did

Daniel 6:3–5 ESV

Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him. Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”

Why do you think some high officials and satraps wanted to find something wrong with Daniel?

They were jealous of his position.

What was the plan they came up with to trap Daniel

They wanted to put Daniel in a miserable situation. They knew he wasn’t going to want to pray to King Darius. But they also knew that getting thrown in a lion’s den wasn’t exactly minor punishment. They wanted Daniel to make a choice. If he bowed down, they could criticize him for not staying true to his beliefs. If he didn’t, they could have him killed.

Did their plan stop Daniel?

Nope, he heard about it and still went to his house and prayed to the Lord in the same way he always had. The authorities that got the king to make the law gathered evidence against Daniel and took it to the king. They informed him that Daniel and been praying to the Lord as usual. The king wasn’t happy about this. Not because he was mad at Daniel, but he realized their true motives. He didn’t want to punish Daniel, but he couldn’t look weak and go back on the law. So he had Daniel thrown in the lion’s den.

Let’s talk about Daniel for a second.

What are some key components of his character? What stands out to you about him?

Answers here will vary, but some noticeable things about Daniel are that he’s faithful in the midst of adversity and he’s consistent regardless of the circumstances.

Consider everything we’ve studied about Daniel today. Do you think he’s more concerned with the eternal or the temporal? Explain?

He’s more concerned with the eternal. Most people look at what’s right in front of them and make decisions based on that. In chapters 1 and 6, Daniel was more concerned with faithfulness and obedience to the Lord than he was with what happened to his life.

Daniel 6:25–28 ESV

Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.” So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

King Darius obviously had respect for Daniel before the whole lion’s den thing went down. But as he witnessed what happened to Daniel when he was thrown in with the lions, he was given a different per­spective. This went beyond Daniel being a good guy and strong leader; he now started to see the power of Daniel’s God. He recognized that Daniel’s God was the true, living God.

Transition

Is this story more about Daniel or about God?

The story is more about God. There are definitely great human examples all throughout the Bible. But the stories of their faith aren’t intended for us to just be impressed with them. They’re intended to point us toward their amazing God, the one who delivers and rescues.

What if the lions had eaten Daniel? Would that change anything about God? Would it still have been right for Darius to say that God delivers and rescues?

God would still be the same God if He had allowed Daniel to be eaten by the lions. The reason we can say that is because, while sometimes He does deliver and rescue people from physical harm on earth, His ultimate delivery and rescue is a spiritual one.

Look

Colossians 1:11-14

Colossians 1:11–14 ESV

being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

How is this different from the deliverance Daniel experienced in the lion’s den?

No doubt, God rescuing Daniel from the lion’s was an amazing miracle. But it only spared Daniel’s life here on earth for a period of time. Eventually, he, like everyone else, died. So, while the experience in the lion’s den was awesome, it was small potatoes compared with the eternal deliv­erance that is being talked about in this passage. One was temporary; one is completely perfect and eternal.

Transition

It’s so easy for us to value what is right in front of us, and lose sight of what is really going to last. We can tend to value deliverance from tough situations much more than we value what Christ has done for us. Probe into why the students responses of why they tend to do that.

Took

Mason Jars

Here is the thing, and the trap that a lot of us as Christians fall into, and if you are not a Christian I want you to pay attention because

Closing