What To Do When Someone Is Jealous Of You.

09/14/2020 What To Do When Someone Is Jealous Of You.

Series: Daniel - Influencing Culture  

https://vimeo.com/452383244

Have you ever had someone try to hurt you because they are jealous?

What Does The Bible Say?

Daniel 6

3 Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire. 4 Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. 5 So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.” (Daniel 6:3-5 NLT)

In life, you will find people who are jealous of you. 

 6 So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, “Long live King Darius! 7 We are all in agreement—we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers, and governors—that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions. 8 And now, Your Majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.” 9 So King Darius signed the law. (Daniel 6:6-9 NLT)

Ego and pride always lead to poor decisions.

10 But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God. 11 Then the officials went together to Daniel’s house and found him praying and asking for God’s help. (Daniel 6:10-11 NLT)

Just do what you Do.

12 So they went straight to the king and reminded him about his law. “Did you not sign a law that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions?” “Yes,” the king replied, “that decision stands; it is an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.” 13 Then they told the king, “That man Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, is ignoring you and your law. He still prays to his God three times a day.” (Daniel 6:12-13 NLT)

There are always people watching you, some with pure motives, others with poor motives.

14 Hearing this, the king was deeply troubled, and he tried to think of a way to save Daniel. He spent the rest of the day looking for a way to get Daniel out of this predicament. …18 Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night fasting. He refused his usual entertainment and couldn’t sleep at all that night. (Daniel 6:14 & 18 NLT)

If you are doing right, there will be people who will support you.  

How Can You Obey?

19 Very early the next morning, the king got up and hurried out to the lions’ den. 20 When he got there, he called out in anguish, “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you serve so faithfully, able to rescue you from the lions?” 21 Daniel answered, “Long live the king! 22 My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.” (Daniel 6:19-22 NLT)

You can sleep with lions when your conscience is clear.

23 The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was found on him, for he had trusted in his God. 24 Then the king gave orders to arrest the men who had maliciously accused Daniel. He had them thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. The lions leaped on them and tore them apart before they even hit the floor of the den. (Daniel 6:23-24 NLT)

Let God take care of the haters.

25 Then King Darius sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world: “Peace and prosperity to you! 26 “I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, and he will endure forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his rule will never end. 27 He rescues and saves his people; he performs miraculous signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.” 28 So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian. (Daniel 6:25–28 NLT)

Your life should always point people to God.

Additional Notes:

If you would like to use your home to disciple others, check out our training at https://courses.crosswavesu.com/courses/cross-waves-host-training. Cross Waves has produce short videos to train you how to use your home to reach others for Christ. So please check it out.  

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Resources to help you with What was going on politically, economically, culturally, and religiously when the books of the Bible were written:

Keener, Craig S., & Walton, John H. (2917). NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Freeman, J. M., & Chadwick, H. J. (1998). Manners & customs of the Bible (p. iii). North Brunswick, NJ: Bridge-Logos Publishers.

Vos, H. F. (1999). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible manners & customs: how the people of the Bible really lived. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson Publishers.

Malina, B., & Joubert, S. (1997). A Time Travel to the World of Jesus. Halfway House: Orion.

Edersheim, A. (n.d.). Sketches of Jewish social life in the days of Christ. London: The Religious Tract Society.

Eisenberg, R. L. (2004). The JPS guide to Jewish traditions (1st ed.). Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.

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The events recorded in Daniel 1–4 pertained to the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who expanded and united the Babylonian Empire. Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 b.c. after ruling 43 years. The ensuing years of Babylonian history till its overthrow by Cyrus in 539 b.c. were marked by progressive deterioration, intrigue, and murder. Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son Evil-Merodach who ruled for two years (562–560 b.c., 2 Kings 25:27–30; Jer. 52:31–34). Evil-Merodach was murdered in August 560 by Neriglissar, Nebuchadnezzar’s son-in-law and Evil-Merodach’s own brother-in-law. Neriglissar then ruled four years (560–556 b.c.). He is the Nergal-Sharezer mentioned in Jeremiah 39:3, 13. At his death, he was succeeded by his young son Labashi-Marduk, who ruled only two months (May and June 556) before he was assassinated and succeeded by Nabonidus, who reigned 17 years (556–539 b.c.). See the chart “Kings of the Neo-Babylonian Empire,” in the Introduction.

Nabonidus did much to restore the glory that had belonged to Babylon under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Nabonidus’ mother was the highpriestess of the moon god at Haran. Perhaps because of her influence, he had great interest in restoring and expanding the Babylonian religion and did much to restore abandoned temples. He was absent from Babylon for 10 of his 17 years, from 554 through 545. In Haran he restored the temple of the moon god Sin, and then he attacked Edom and conquered parts of Arabia where he then lived for some time.

Belshazzar was Nabonidus’ eldest son and was appointed by his father as his coregent. (Nebuchadnezzar is referred to as Belshazzar’s father [Dan. 5:2, 11, 13, 18; cf. v. 22] in the sense that he was his ancestor or predecessor.) This coregency explains why Belshazzar was called king (v. 1) and why he exercised kingly authority even though Nabonidus actually held the throne.

Pentecost, J. D. (1985). Daniel. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1344). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

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Darius in Daniel 5 and 6 is not Darius I who is mentioned in the book of Ezra who reigned from 521 to 486 B.C. after Cyrus and upheld the decree to rebuild the Temple. He may have been a ruler appointed by Cyrus, the king of Persia at that time. Note that Daniel 5:31 in the original says that Darius received the kingdom. The text of Daniel never mentions Darius as a ruler of either the Persians or the Medes, but always as a ruler of Babylon. Scholars remain divided on who this person may have been, but lack of secular historical corroboration is no reason to doubt the reliability of God’s Word. As with many other questions, the discovery of one simple clay tablet could resolve all questions and vindicate Daniel’s record. 

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Who was Darius the Mede? (1) Darius may have been another name for Cyrus. Daniel 6:28 may be translated, “So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius, even the reign of Cyrus the Persian.” It was common for ancient rulers to use different names in various parts of their realms. Thus Darius may have been a localized name for Cyrus. (2) A second explanation is that Darius was appointed by Cyrus to rule over Babylon, a comparatively small portion of the vast Medo-Persian Empire. (3) A third explanation is that Ugbaru, governor of Gutium, conquered Babylon, and that Gubaru, alias Darius, was the man Cyrus appointed to rule over Babylon. Still others suggest Darius the Mede should be identified with Cambyses, Cyrus’ son, who ruled Persia 530–522 B.C. 

(Pentecost, J. D. (1985). Daniel. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1347). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)

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6:1 Darius the Mede decided to divide the kingdom into 120 provinces, and he appointed a high officer to rule over each province. 2 The king also chose Daniel and two others as administrators to supervise the high officers and protect the king’s interests. (Daniel 6:1-2 NLT)

Daniel was an exceptional administrator, and he had about 39 years of experience under Nebuchadnezzar (2:48). Now the new king was going to place him over the whole kingdom. 

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If we could travel back to Daniel in a time machine, some of us would surely tell him, “Hey, Daniel, just pray silently, in your heart. No one will see anything, but God will know your heart.” In Daniel’s culture, however, prayer was a visible and audible practice. If one prayed, one could be seen and heard doing so. We may do well in our day to revalue praying “out loud.” This is not to say that all prayer must be out loud. It is to say that we should give audible prayer its appropriate importance in our spiritual habits. We should not pull back from the word habit. Bad habits are detrimental, of course, and meaningless habits accomplish little of value.

But we should cultivate good habits, whether in work, nutrition, physical activity, or spiritual disciplines. 

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Daniel went into exile as a young man, probably a teenager. He remained separated from his homeland the rest of his life. He served the following kings or rulers: 

• Nebuchadnezzar 605-562 B.C. 

• Amel-Marduk (Evil-Merodach in Scripture) 562-560 B.C. 

• Neriglissar 560-556 B.C. 

• Labashi-Marduk 556 B.C. 

• Nabonidus 556-539 B.C. 

• Belshazzar - 539 B.C. 

• Darius the Mede c. 539 B.C. (governor or co-regent) 

• Cyrus the Persian from 539 B.C. to the end of his life 

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Daniel

The Book of Visions

“ ‘In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure for ever.’ ” Daniel 2:44

Major Theme

When God’s people had little hope, Daniel provided encouragement by revealing God’s power and his plans for the future.

Background and Purpose

The book of Daniel records the experiences of Daniel and some of his fellow-exiles in Babylon and how their faith in God protected them. It has never been easy interpreting the visions about the rise and fall of several empires, in the second part of the book of Daniel. Jesus took seriously Daniel’s prophecies about Antiochus Epiphanes, who ruled most of Asia Minor, Syria and Palestine from 175 bc until 164 bc. See Matthew 24:15

One helpful way of interpreting these prophecies is to see that they may have more than one point of fulfilment:

• In the time of Antiochus

• When the city of Jerusalem fell again in ad 70

• At the final End Time.

Author

Daniel is stated as the author of this book (9:2). Jesus attributed the quotation from Daniel (9:27) to “the prophet Daniel” (Matthew 24:15). Certain scholars do not accept Daniel as the author, nor do they accept prophetic predictions. Thus they date the book as late as 160 bc, which of course eliminates all the prophetic element of the book.

Date

Daniel prophesied in Babylon and probably completed his book just after Babylon was captured by Cyrus in 539 BC.

Brief Outline

1. Daniel’s life at the Babylonian court 1:1–2:49

2. Daniel’s early visions in Babylon 3:1–6:28

3. Daniel’s visions of world empires 7:1–8:27

4.  Daniel’s prayer and vision of the 70 “sevens” 9:1–27

5. Daniel’s visions of Israel’s future 10:1–12:13

Important Events

• Daniel’s three friends survive being thrown into the fiery furnace

• Daniel in the lions’ den

Christ in Daniel

• The “Ancient of Days” is Jesus (7:13).

 Water, M. (2001). The Books of the Bible made easy (p. 27). Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishing.

Question 1 of 5

Why is it important to know what was going on politically, economically, culturally, and religiously at the time of the writing?     

Question 2 of 5

What kinds of opposition do Christians face in our culture?     

Question 3 of 5

Why is it important that we display excellent character and work ethic in all we do?    

Question 4 of 5

Does remaining faithful to God mean He will always deliver us from persecution and difficulty? Explain.   

Question 5 of 5

What role do you think Daniel’s consistent practice of prayer had in shaping him to be this kind of man?