Daniel: Living a Life of Integrity

Good morning, over the next few weeks we will be looking at the Old Testament book of Daniel. The name of this series is “Daniel: Living a Life of Integrity.” As we go through the book, one of the things that stands out the most about Daniel is that Daniel was a man who was unwilling to compromise his integrity, despite enormous pressure. Of course, that is just one aspect of Daniel. He was also a mighty prophet. We will do our best to explore both aspects.

PRAY

In your handout I’ve included a rough general outline for the book of Daniel.

Book of Daniel (Outline)

I. The Godly Remnant in the Times of the Gentiles (1:1–21)

A. Daniel and his friends in the Babylonian captivity (1:1–7)

B. Daniel and the king’s food (1:8–16)

C. Daniel and the Lord’s reward (1:17–21)

II. God’s Sovereignty over the Times of the Gentiles (2:1–7:28)

III. God’s People in the Times of the Gentiles (8:1–12:13)

I shortened the outline for the purposes of today…I only included the sub-points for chapter one…which is what we will be covering today. As we go through Daniel 1 I will also be filling in some background context, so we can have a better appreciation for the life of Daniel. We will break the chapter up into the 3 sections I mention in the handout. Let’s begin with

Daniel 1:1–7 (CSB) In the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it. The Lord handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God. Nebuchadnezzar carried them to the land of Babylon, to the house of his god, and put the vessels in the treasury of his god. The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the Israelites from the royal family and from the nobility—young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom, knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the Chaldean language and literature. The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank. They were to be trained for three years, and at the end of that time they were to attend the king. Among them, from the Judahites, were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The chief eunuch gave them names; he gave the name Belteshazzar to Daniel, Shadrach to Hananiah, Meshach to Mishael, and Abednego to Azariah.

Let’s quickly look at a timeline of O.T. Prophets and see where Daniel fits:

TIMELINE OF DANIEL

Daniel had served five kings: Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-merodach, Belshazzar, Darius, and Cyrus.

The book opens up with Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar conquering Jerusalem and, in the process, took many of the Children of Israel to Babylon in captivity. This is how Daniel ended up in Babylon. When Nebuchadnezzar died, his son Belshazzar became King. He was followed by kings Darius and Cyrus. We know that Daniel remained in Babylon through the first year of the reign of King Cyrus.

When it comes to O.T. books written by individuals that we consider prophets, it is not uncommon for the author to begin with a “time and place” type of announcement.

Isaiah 1:1 “The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah.”

Jeremiah 1:2 “The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.”

Ezekiel 1:1 “In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, while I was among the exiles by the Chebar Canal, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.”

Normally, these introductions serve as a way for the prophet to let the reader know when God spoke to them…as we see from the examples I read. Daniel does begin with a time and place announcement, but it is a bit different. Instead of Daniel pointing out the time and place God spoke to him, Daniel uses the first few lines to tell the reader when he was taken into exile. Daniel also gives us some important information that will help us better understand the rest of the book.

A few interesting things to note about Daniel and how he and his book stand as very unique. The O.T. books fit into 4 separate classifications:

Law

History

Poetry

Prophecy

Daniel is never called or referred to as a prophet anywhere in the book. Not only that, but Daniel never gave a public prophecy, in the same way Isaiah or Jeremiah did. Typically, guys like Isaiah and Jeremiah would hear from the Lord, then they would relay what God told them to the nation of Israel. Daniel operated a bit differently. The book of Daniel does not fit squarely in the prophetic section, or in the history section.

Daniel’s experiences in Babylon (Dan 1:1–6:28)

Daniel’s visions of future events (Dan 7:1–12:13)

The first 6 chapters of Daniel fit into the history category, while the last 6 chapters fit in the prophecy books.