The Daniel Fast
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
New series in Daniel - Counterculture
Called that because of Daniel’s lifestyle
He lived in a pagan culture and had to stand for God
This stand frequently threatened his life (and his friends)
Prayer
Prayer
Today we see an example right away
YouVersion: The Daniel Fast
Daniel all of chapter one
Daniel’s Background
Daniel’s Background
Notice something, much of Daniel is in 3rd person
However, many places say “I, Daniel...”
It was common to write in 3rd person - Daniel is the author
In fact, all prophecy books are in 3rd
Except for Nehemiah which is like a diary
Still not enough? Jesus said Daniel wrote it in Mark 13 and Matthew 24!
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 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. 3 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,
Let’s back up an get some history
After Solomon, North and South split
South - Judah (Judah and Benjamin) under Solomon’s Rehoboam
North - Israel (10 tribes rebel) with Jereboam
Years of sin weaken God’s chosen people
Assyria conquered allies and into Israel (show image)
Israel believed they could lean on Egypt and were left to destruction
Capital (Samaria) was destroyed in 3 years, and they were exiled
No one knows what happened to them all (722BC)
Judah has been paying tribute to Assyria
King Hezekiah stops and seeks Egypt’s help
Egypt would be next so it’s in their interest
Prophets like Isaiah warn to trust God, not Egypt!
They don’t listen, and the Assyrians show up
At the buzzer, Hezekiah turns to God
God kills 185,000 invaders and they go home
But they still pay tribute
Eventually, Assyria captures Egypt
Then a new big dog comes on - Babylon!
Hezekiah gets sick and God heals him - adds 15 years to his life
Baladan (King of Bablyon) sends letters and presents to Hezekiah
Tries to impress with a tour
Here’s my palace, here’s the Temple, here’s my treasure...
The delegates are casing the joint!
100 years later, great, great, great grandson Jehoiakim is king
The new king of Bablylon (Nebuchadnezzar II) is on throne
He attacks Egypt and fails
A bunch of countries join with Egypt and stop paying
Judah does too, leaning on Egypt AGAIN!
Nebuchadnezzar strikes Jerusalem and Jehoiakim dies in 597 BC
Son Jechoniah (8 or 18) is is king and loses after 3 months 10 days
Installs Zedekiah (puppet king) in Jerusalem
Exiles some 10,000 wealthy Jews to Babylon
Only the poorest remain
Then, 11 years later (586 BC), Judah rebels again
Zedekiah is blinded, Temple is burned, Judah becomes province
God’s chosen nation would then be nothing
For us, let’s go back to that first siege
Nebuchadnezzar exiled the valuable people
3 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, 4 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. 5 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. 6 Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. 7 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.