The Book of Daniel 10/7/2023

Chapter 1

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzer, king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. and the Lord delivered Jehoiakim, king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried of to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.

Then the king ordered some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility - young men without any physical defect, the very best and brightest of all the captives, to come serve in the king’s palace. These were to be taught for three years the language and literature of Chaldea (Babylonian) and they were assigned a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table, after which they were to enter into the king’s service.

Among these were that were chose from Judah were: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: Daniel became Belteshazzar, Hananiah became Shadrach, Mishael became Meshach, and Azariah became Abednego.

Daniel resolved not to defile himself with royal food and wine, so he asked he chief official for permission for all four of them to eat only vegetables and water for ten days.

At the end of the ten days the four Hebrew boys looked healthier and better nourished than all the others that had consumed the royal food. So, the four were allowed to continue with the vegetable and water diet.

God gave these four young men knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel was given the ability to understand dreams and visions of all kinds.

At the end of the three years learning period, they were brought before the king to enter into his service. The king found them to be full of wisdom and understanding. The king also found them to be ten times better than all of his magicians, and enchanters in the entire kingdom, so they entered into the service of the king .

Chapter 2

King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that troubled him and he could not sleep, but he could not remember the dream. The king called in all of his magicians, astrologers, enchanters, and sorcerers and demanded that they not only tell him exactly what he dreamed, since he could not fully remember the dream, and also the interpretation of the dream. Nobody could do what the king asked. This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all of the wise men of Babylon, which at this time included Daniel and his three friends.

When the king’s guard came for Daniel and his friends, Daniel asked why did the king issue such a harsh decree. Arioch , the commander explined the matter to Daniel. At this, daniel asked to speak tothe king and asked for time to interpret the dream for him. Then Daniel returned to the house and explained the mateer to his friends and they urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery. During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and went to Arioch. He asked Arioch not to execute the wise men of Babylon and he also asked to be brought to the king to tell the king the dream and the interpretation of that dream.

when Daniel arrived before the king, the king asked Daniel, “are you able to tell me what i saw in my dream and interpret it?

Daniel replied, “No wise man , enchanter, magician, sorcere, or enchanter can explain to the king the mystery that he has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzer what will happen in days to come.

Daniel told the king that the mystery had been revealed to Daniel, so that the king may know and understand what went though his mind.

“Your majesty saw in a dream a large dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head was made of pure gold , the chest and arms made of silver, the belly and thighs were made of bronze, the legs were made of iron, and the feet were partly iron and partly baked clay. While you were watching the, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and cly and smashed them. Then the iron, clay, the bronze the silver and the gold were all broken into pieces and became like chaff on the threshing room floor and was swept away by the wind without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a large mountain and filled the whole earth”.

“This was the dream. and now the interpretation for the king. Your majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory.; in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.

“After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours, as represented by the chest and arms of silver. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom. strong as iron - for iron breaks and smashes everything - and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly baked clay and partly iron, so this will be a divided kingdom, yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it. As the toes were partly iron and partly of baked clay, so it will be divided kingdom, yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, so the kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. and so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united anymore than iron mixes with clay.

“In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, not will it be left to another people. It will crush all of those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands - a rock that broke the iron, bronze, clay, silver and gold to pieces.

“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

Then King Nebuchadnezzer fell prostrate before Daniel and paid honor acknowledging the true God of heaven. Daniel was promoted to a high position and many gifts were lavished on him. Daniel was made ruler over the entire province and placed in charge of all its wise men. Moreover, at Daniel's request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon.

Chapter 3

King Nebuchadnezzer made an image of gold that was 90’ tall by 9’ wide and set it up to be dedicated, and a decree was issued so that everyone in Babylon would fall down and worship the image of gold that the king had set up, whenever a certain sound of music was heard. Whoever does not fall down and worship the image of gold will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship the gold image. This infuriated the king so much that he summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and threatened to throw hem into the fiery furnace if they refused.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego repiled to the king, “ King nebuchadnezzer, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from your majesty’s hand. But, even if he does not, we want you to know. Your majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.

The Nebuchadnezzer was furious and ordered the furnace to be heated up seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. The fire was so hot that the fire killed the soldiers as they pushed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were firmly tied into the blazing furnace.

Then the king leaped to his feet as he saw four men walking around unbound and unharmed inside the blazing furnace.

Nebudnezzer the approache the opeing of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!

They came out and the fire did not singe their hair or clothing, they were not burned, nor did they even smell of fire.

The Nebuchadnezzer said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants.

Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Chapter 4