Exiles in Babylon: An Introduction to Daniel

Put yourself, it you can, in a scenario where the nation that you love so much has fallen.

Your city was destroyed. And you have been taken captive. Everything you own has been destroyed or looted. Everyone you know if either dead or also taken captive to be a slave as you are.

Are you carried off to a foreign land. A land that has different values and ideals. A land that has a different system of government. A different culture. Different deities. They probably use the metric system.

What do you? How do you think about how to integrate yourself into that society? How do you survive? How do you maintain your faith?

These are the challenges that the main characters in the book of Daniel faced.

If we rewind a thousand years, we find that God has chosen Abraham for a special purpose. Through his descendants all the earth would be blessed. God promised a nation would come from Him, and hundreds of years later that was fulfilled as God called the Hebrew people out of the land of Egypt where they were enslaved and brought them into his promised land. There God constituted the nation of Israel and made a conditional covenant with them.

If they would obey the word of the Lord. If they would be humble before Him. If they would worship the one true God and Him alone.

God would prosper them. God would protect them. God would cause them to flourish!

But if they rebelled, God would hand them over to the consequences of their sin and would bring against them invading armies to carry them away.

Yet even with the threat of punishment, God says that He will remain faithful to the promise he made to Abraham. So even if such a horrible event were to take place, God would one day bring them back to the land and cause and bring about the Messiah through this promised line.

But the people were not faithful. We saw this in the book of judges before we studied Mark. Everyone did what? What was right in their own eye.

They asked for a king to lead them.

God said that was a rejection of HIM as king over them, but granted their desire.

Saul started well, but ended poorly. David was a King after God’s own heart. Solomon started well and God gave him immense wisdom and wealth…but he was distracted by things of the world and his heart was led astray.

After him the kingdom was divided. 10 tribes to the north, they took the name Israel. How many good kings ruled over the northern kingdom? Zero. They were all wicked. The people also acted wickedly. They worshiped false God’s, some of which involved rituals with temple prostitutes, or child sacrifice. They did not keep the Law of God. Consequently God carried them off into captivity at the hands of the Assyrians.

Two Tribes to the south, they took the name Judah. They had some good kings, some kings that ruled well and sought to turn the people back to the Lord as they ruled, but the most of these kings were also wicked, and the people still pursued false God and forsook the word of the Lord.

Prophet after prophet was sent to warn the people and turn them back to the Lord. They did not heed the warnings.

So God sent Nebuchadnezzar to bring judgment. Over the course of three campaigns he seiged the city, knocked down the walls, destroyed the temple, and carried off many into captivity to be slaves in Babylon and around the new Babylonian Empire.

That is the background to the book of Daniel. A Jewish man, taken against his will to Babylon to serve in the court of the pagan king, surrounded by pagans, immorality, and corruption.

How did Daniel and his friends survive? How did they walk through that and maintain their faith in God? How did they not bend and break under the most severe of pressure??

While Daniel was in Babylon the Prophet Jeremiah sent a word from the Lord to those in exile, telling them how they should think about about their deportation.

Jeremiah 29:1–14 LSB

Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken away into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. (This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the court officials, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had gone out from Jerusalem.) The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their fruit. ‘Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. ‘Seek the peace of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to Yahweh on its behalf; for in its peace you will have peace.’ “For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to your dreams which you dream. ‘For they prophesy a lie to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares Yahweh. “For thus says Yahweh, ‘When seventy years have been fulfilled for Babylon, I will visit you and establish My good word to you, to return you to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘plans for peace and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and I will return your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have banished you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and I will cause you to return to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

This is what God has promised to the exiles. Settle in. Seek the peace of the city where I have sent you. Pray for the city where I have sent you.

Many people’s favorite bible verse is vs 11. Did you know this was the context? That verse isn’t about you in an immediate way. It’s about God’s faithfulness to the people of Israel even as they are in captivity.

The story of Daniel portrays him and his friends as essentially living out the instructions of Jer 29. They settle in. They seek the welfare of the city. but they navigate some really difficult things along the way.

As we look at the story of Daniel we will see that it’s a story of great character. Great conviction. Great Courage. and Great Confidence.

The Godly Character of Daniel and his friends are on display.

This character is grounded in their conviction that God is the one who is ruling over all.

This conviction allows them to have courage in the face of sever persecution and even death.

And that conviction is born out of the confidence they have in the one true God to do and act in such a way as to bring about our greatest good and His greatest glory.

Confidence in the one true God.

Confidence in the only Sovereign one, who rules over the nations of men, who raises kings up and sets kings down.

Confidence in the one who is able to save and deliver, but even if he doesn’t he is still the only one worthy of worship.

What emerges as we look upon all that Daniel has to say is the picture of the rule of the Most High God over the nations. Confidence in that truth has profound implications upon how we live, especially as exiles in a foreign land.

Whenever we begin a new book study, I always seek to set the book within its historical context, and I’ve essentially done that just now. But I also always survey some basic information about the book along with a overview, and it is to that that I now turn.

Author and Date: Daniel, ca. 530s BC

I know that when I am speaking here that I do not need to convince you that Daniel wrote Daniel, or that it was written after the end of the Babylonian Empire and during the Medeo-Persian empire.

The book claims to be written by Daniel during specific periods of time when certain kings were reigning. Jesus himself also attributes this work to Daniel. For people like us, it’s as simple as that.

But you need to know that there have been several world-class scholars who have sought to discredit the book of Daniel. They claim it was written much later, during the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes and that it was wartime propaganda to get people to join the rebellion.

Those that suggest such an idea do so because they have massive presupposition: They don’t believe genuine predictive prophecy is a thing. They reject the supernatural. These are theologically liberal scholars who reject the miraculous and the entire concept of revelation altogether.

Daniel’s prophecies. They are much too specific, and much too accurate to have possibly been written prior to the events they foretold. It must have been written after the fact. They have come up with a variety of reasons for why they think this is the case.

What do we know about truth? It never needs to be afraid of investigation.

Well, upon close investigation, there is ample evidence for the early date of Daniel.

The vocabulary fits the early date better than the late.

The information contained in the Dead-Sea Scrolls points to an earlier date.

The idea that this was wartime propaganda makes no sense when you consider how courteous Daniel is in serving the pagan kings

As noted, Jesus himself said Daniel wrote it

Ezekiel mentions Daniel, and all agree on his early date of writing.

Daniel’s familiarity with certain customs that could only be known if he lived them as that info wasn’t available later.

All this evidence and more comes together and the picture is very clear. Daniel wrote it. He wrote it likely in the 530s, BC. Yes, it tells of events yet to come in remarkable detail with astounding accuracy. That’s because it is a Divine book. Daniel wrote as he was carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Purpose of Writing: To comfort God’s people with the knowledge of the Lord’s rule as the Most High God and promise of deliverance as they lived as exiles in a foreign land.

Major Themes: God’s Sovereignty over the Nations, God’s deliverance for His people, Eschatology

Key Verses:

Daniel 2:20–22 LSB

Daniel answered and said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and might belong to Him. “And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding. “He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him.

Daniel 3:17–18 LSB

“If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to save us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will save us out of your hand, O king. “But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods, and we will not worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Daniel 4:34–35 LSB

“But at the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes toward heaven, and my knowledge returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. “And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can strike against His hand Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’

Daniel 6:26–27 LSB

“I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom, men are to fear and be in dread before the God of Daniel; For He is the living God and enduring forever, And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, And His dominion will be unto the end. “He saves and delivers and does signs and wonders In heaven and on earth, Who has also saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”

Daniel 7:13–14 LSB

“I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And came near before Him. “And to Him was given dominion, Glory, and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not be taken away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.

Daniel 9:25–27 LSB

“So you are to know and have insight that from the going out of a word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be restored and rebuilt, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. “Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are decreed. “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will make sacrifice and grain offering cease; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

Outline of the Book. Two approaches

Narrative and Prophecy. 1-6, 7-12

This is the simplest way to break it down, and it is easy to do so with our English Bibles. Part one contains the stories of how God demonstrated his rule in Babylon and preserved and delivered his faithful ones, part two tells of God will rule over the nations in the future and preserve and deliver his faithful ones.

But did you know that Daniel was written two languages?

Chapter 1 was in Hebrew. 2-7 are in Aramaic. 8-12 are back in Hebrew. Hebrew, of course was the language of the Jews. Aramaic was the common language of the day spoken by the majority of people across the people groups.

This makes sense when you consider the subject matter. Chapter one serves as a prologue and introduction to the characters and their commitment to the Lord. 2-7 contain demonstrations of the Lord’s sovereignty over the nations and God revealing to the nations what he plans to do. Chapter 8-12 the subject matter shifts back to what the Lord plans to do in regard to His people and how he will rescue them, but not until they endure suffering at the hands of the antichrist.

Thus the outline looks something like this

Introduction/Prologue - The character of the main characters (Dan 1)

God’s Rule over the Nations (Dan 2-7)

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream of the coming eternal Kingdom (Dan 2)

God’s Deliverance of His Faithful (Dan 3)

God’s Humbling of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 4)

God’s Humbling of Belshazzar (Dan 5)

God’s Deliverance of Daniel (Dan 6)

God’s Plan Revealed in the Four Beasts (Dan 7)

God’s Plan to Rescue Israel (Dan 8-12)

Vision of the Ram and Goat (Dan 8)

Vision of the 70 Weeks (Dan 9)

Vision of the last days (Dan 10-12)

When you take the book as a whole, we see that even though God had brought Israel into exile to the land of Babylon, God was sovereign over that nation. Babylon isn’t a rogue nation that caught God by surprise. The Most High Rules over all!

As God gives visions of the future that same theme emerges. Even though the anti-christ will do horrible things, God remains in control and will ultimately deliver his people.

In the midst of all that, we get to see Daniel, Hannaiah, Meshael, and Azaraih (Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego) living as exiles in the foreign land. They are living for the Lord in a culture that rejects the Most High God. They are living in days of immorality, idolatry, and insane pressure to bow the knee to the culture. And they stand strong. They are men of Character. men of conviction. Men of Courage. Men of confidence.

Do you think that might have implications and applications to us? We who have our citizenship in heaven? As much as we love these United States of America, this is not our final home. How do we live in a world that hates the one true god? A world of idolatry, immorality, and insane pressure to bow the knee to the culture? I think so.

God showed his sovereignty over the nations in uncertain times. Do you think that has relevance to us here in the year 2024, which just so happens to be an election year with much uncertainty? I tend to think so.

I cannot tell you how excited I am to walk through this book with you and see all that the Lord has for us. I hope you’re as excited as I am. If you’re not, I hope you can get there.

For now. Let’s pray.