Overview of Daniel

INTRO

A little about myself.

I was asked to do an overview of the writing we call “Daniel” divided into two main parts:

The first 6 chapters are narrative stories that show the faithfulness of God & examples of obedience by faithful followers of His - and we will focus on what this looks like in chapter 1, in a few moments.

The last 6 chapters are apocalyptic visions - future prophecies that point to:

the coming world powers of Medo-Persia, Alexander the Great & the Greeks, & the Roman Empire (Dan 7:2-7;15-25).

Daniel focuses attention on the defilement of the temple in 167 BC by Antiochus Epiphanes IV (slaughter pig on the altar, brining prostitutes into the temple, stopping the sacrifices to Yahweh, and attempting to force the people to follow false gods - even erecting a statue to Zeus at the Temple of Yahweh. Daniel also prophecies of the reconsecration of the temple by Judas Maccabees in 164 BC (Dan 8:8-14) - which is what Hanukkah means and what it celebrates.

Finally, Daniel’s prophecy points to Jesus the Messiah being killed and the Temple will be defiled and destroyed in AD 70 (Dan 9:24-27).

But it also points to the Messiah, the Son of Man in Daniel’s vision - who was be given all authority so that all nations worship Him (Dan 7:13-14).

Daniel is an incredible writing, so let’s take a few minute to open it up, understand what was going on in that day, and then find application for our lives today.

PRAY

Daniel 1:1–2 (NIV)

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 delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.

The writing we call “Daniel” opens up with a very important moment in the history of Israel, as the King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon (605-562 BC - 43 years) had besieged Jerusalem for the 1st time in 605 BC and ultimately conquered the capital city and King Jehoiakim. All of Judah and the capital city of Jerusalem became subjects under the reign of Babylon.

When Jehoiakim later rebelled in 597 Nebuchadnezzar besieged & defeated Jerusalem, and Jehoiakim died during the siege.

Finally, in 586 BC the city & its ruler rebelled again, and Nebuchadnezzar sent his army for an 18-month besiegement that resulted in destroying the city, including Solomon’s Temple along with deporting more captives back to Babylon. Read more about this in Jeremiah 39.

Back to our story - Daniel 1:2 specifically says “the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand.” (this happened in 605 BC).

This is interesting because the Old Testament writings often refer to God’s personal name as “Yahweh” (LORD in most English translations).

Yet here it is the Hebrew term “Adonai” translated as “Lord” - meaning authority, master, or owner. This makes sense since God is in control of what has occurred. God has caused the enemies of His people, Babylonian people from a distant land who worshipped false gods, to discipline His disobedient people.

Japan invades Philippines

As you likely know well from your own history, the Japanese invaded the Philippines in Dec of 1941 during WWII. Manila fell to the Japanese on Jan 2, 1942. The Japanese treated your people harshly, including forced labor, imprisonment, and executions.

Imagine what it would have been like if they picked out the most impressive young men, separated them from their families, and marched them to Japan - never to be seen again.

This is what it was like for the people living in Judah (the state that Jerusalem was in).

Further, Daniel notes that the Babylonians entered the Yahweh’s temple in Jerusalem and took different articles back to the temple of Nebuchadnezzar’s god. We know some of these articles were golden goblets that were later used during a banquet (Dan 5:1-4). When a nation conquered another, they also viewed this as their god conquering the god of the other nation.

In fact, Nebuchadnezzar’s name means “Nabu protects” - that’s the Babylonian god of wisdom & writing.

Daniel 1:3–5 (NIV)

Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility—young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.

The Babylonians took these young men captive to his capitol, about 560 miles [1] away from Jerusalem.

They were to be immersed into Babylonian culture for 3 years, eating the best of the best from Babylon, like the king did.

These men would then be highly educated men who who served the King of Babylon.

And now we are introduced to the main Hebrew characters of the story.

Daniel 1:6–7 (NIV)

Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

Note that these men come from the tribe of Judah - that’s the king’s tribe. King Saul & King David - tribe of Judah. King Jesus? Tribe of Judah!

Secondly, we’re told their Hebrew names. I am named after a friend of my father, but my name has no significant meaning to it.

But these men’s names had very significant meanings that spoke to the faithfulness of Yahweh, their God.

Daniel means “God is my judge” ("Dan," meaning "judge," and "El," meaning "God.")

Hanaiah means "Yahweh is gracious" ("חָנַן" (chanan), meaning "to be gracious" or "to show favor," and "יָה" (Yah)

Mishael means "Who is like God?"- Mi (מִי) meaning "who", Sha (שׁ): a contraction of the Hebrew word "asher" (אֲשֶׁר), which means "that" or "which."El (אֵל): This is a Hebrew word for "God."

Azariah means "Yahweh has helped" "Azar" (עָזַר) is a Hebrew verb that means "to help" or "to assist." “"Yah" (יָה) is a short form of "Yahweh" (יהוה).

Yet their names were now replaced by the Babylonians.

Where DANIEL meant “God is my judge”, his new name of Belteshazzar, likely means "Bel protect the king"

Where HANANIAH meant "Yahweh is gracious", his new name of Shadrach is often interpreted to mean "command of Aku [moon god]“.

Where Mishael meant "Who is like God?", his new name of Meshach means "who is like Aku?"

Where Azariah meant "Yahweh has helped", his new name of Abednego meant "servant of Nabu [Babylonian god of wisdom & writing]“

In this way, the Babylonians gave them new names & replace their ‘conquered’ God with Babylonian gods.

Daniel 1:8 (NIV)

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.

What’s wrong with the food? Isn’t it food that came from the king’s table? Yes!

Some think this is because the meat was not kosher (clean), and therefore forbidden for a Hebrew to eat. But there was no forbidden wine in the Hebrew Scriptures. The text doesn’t give us any indication that this food is not kosher, AND…older Daniel later DOES eat from Babylonian meat & wine (Dan 10:3) after his fast is over.

It’s possible that Daniel knows that this food had been first sacrificed to false gods. If so, it would make sense that he and his friends would have no part of that. When Yahweh brought His people into the Promised Land He specifically commanded them to be separate from anything that would lead them to follow false gods - including eating what had been sacrificed to other gods (Ex 34:10-16).

Or, it could simply be that this was a time of relying on God to provide beyond what the Babylonians could NOT provide. The best option to stay fit & strong is NOT choosing to eat no meat. So how could they look so healthy?

Daniel 1:9–16 (NIV)

Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel [notice that while they have been deported, names changed, and forced into school to become servants of a pagan king - GOD is with them!], but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.” Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.

This is not a command for Christians to follow Daniel’s Diet, but it IS a challenge to depend on God. Daniel also gives an example of how to approach ungodly people who are in authority over us.

Next we see that Daniel and his friends spend time studying and learning, and…

Daniel 1:17 (NIV)

To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.

Notice that they did their part, and God - with them despite being ripped away from their homeland & their families - gave them the ability to have incredible knowledge and insight during their 3 years of education & assimilation into the Babylonian culture.

Daniel 1:18–20 (NIV)

At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.

These men evidently had the same training - the same teachers & same writings, yet these young men were top of the class - by a long way - ten times better than the others. When the King really needed insight & wisdom, he knew who to call on - the Hebrew men who were different than all others.

And then there’s this last sentence that contains a MOUTHFUL for what is coming later in the writing.

Daniel 1:21 (NIV) And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.

King Cyrus is the one who later conquers King Nebuchadnezzar & the Babylonians. He is the the King that God calls a messiah - the one anointed to send the Hebrew people back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls and the temple. In other words, Daniel lives to see the faithful hand of God move in Babylon & set the Hebrew captives free to go home!

What do we learn from all this and what can we apply to our lives?

Yahweh is God in all circumstances & Worthy of our lives…not just during the good times.

My wife & I experienced breast cancer, yet Yahweh was still God through it all.

We must influence our culture without being corrupted by our culture. In America we live among ungodly people doing ungodly things. We can’t just throw up our hands, walk away, and wait for Jesus to come back. If we’re going to make a difference, there’s got to BE a DIFFERENCE. We must be different in our language, actions, & attitudes. We live among pagan people who need to see who Jesus is!

We serve an Unconquered King. Jesus allowed Himself to be sacrificed. But He didn’t stay in the tomb. He rose from the dead 2000 years ago, and transforms the lives of His disciples. He is STILL transforming lives.

Josh McDowell’s story.

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