Dunamis of Exegesis | Introduction to Daniel (2)

The city of Babylon, capital of the Babylonian empire, was situated 1,500 kilometres east of Jerusalem and about 88 kilometres south of Baghdad, modern-day capital of Iraq. Babylon's remains are still visible today. The overthrow of the Jewish nation by Babylon was implied in God’s warning to the Israelites just before they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land (Deut 28:45-58).

Who Was Daniel?

Born in Palestine in the 6th century B.C., Daniel belonged to a prominent Jewish family with royal connections. During the Babylonian siege and plunder of Jerusalem around 605 B.C., the young prince was taken hostage, and with the cream of the city's youth, carried off to Babylon where he remained in exile for the rest of his life.

The description of the nation from far away (Deut 28:49-52) aptly fits the siege of Babylon on Judah, especially in the light of Psalm 137. Prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah predicted Babylon’s raids on Jerusalem and the captivity in which Daniel was taken more than a century before either Daniel or Nebuchadnezzar were born (Isa 39:5-7 Jer 1:13-14; 4:3-6).

When Nebuchadnezzar embarked on his military conquests, his initial target was Egypt (See the RED arrow in the map).
But after he conquered Egypt, on his way back to Babylon, he took the route that passed through Jerusalem in Judah (See the BLUE arrow in the map).

Nebuchadnezzar ran over Jerusalem, captured the noble people, took precious vessels from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and carried them to Babylon.
Thus, he fulfilled God’s prophecies to the people in Judah through Jeremiah and Isaiah.

HIGHLIGHTS OF DANIEL CHAPTER 1

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon besieged Judah (Dan 1:1)

God delivered Judah into the hands of the Babylonians who carried people and Temple vessels into exile (Dan 1:2)

Nebuchadnezzar decided to select the best young minds from among the captives from Judah and give them Babylonian education and training (Dan 1:3-5)

Among those selected were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah (Dan 1:6)

The Babylonians changed the names of the Israelites that glorified God to Babylonian names that glorified the Babylonian gods (Dan 1:7)

Thus, the young Hebrew boys faced several major challenges:

Change of environment (from Judah to Babylon)
Change of status (from freemen to captives)
Change of names
Change of diet (Dan 1:5)
Change of education (from Jewish OT to Babylonian)

Daniel and his friends made a proactive resolution not to defile themselves with Babylonian lifestyle (especially food and drink) before they were even selected to study in the King’s University (Dan 1:8)

Consequently, they adopted a lifestyle on food and drink which although not strictly Jewish, helped them honour God throughout their stay in the King’s school (Dan 1:9-17).

God in turn honoured their faithfulness by granting them special grace and favour above their peers both in appearance and academically (Dan 1:18-20).

The first chapter of the book of Daniel has several lessons we can draw from for our lives.

LESSON 1: God always means what He says and what He says must be fulfilled (compare Dan 1:1-2 with Isa 39:5-7 Jer 1:13-14; 4:3-6).

LESSON 2: That you are God’s people does not make you immune to bad and harsh experiences.

LESSON 3: Sometimes, God allows His people to be defeated by unbelievers (Dan 1:1-2) for two reasons:
as a punishment for His people’s disobedience;
as a means of exposing the unbelievers to the knowledge of God.

LESSON 4: The child of God has the opportunity to obey God even in a foreign land and foreign situations.

LESSON 5: A change of name does not change our character. We are called by names but we are known by our character (Dan 1:6-7).

LESSON 6: If you do not make up your mind to obey God before trials come, you may not be able to make up your mind to stand for God (Dan 1:8).

LESSON 7: If you choose to obey God, God makes Himself responsible for the consequences of your obedience (Dan 1:11-16).

LESSON 8: God honours those who choose to honour Him (Dan 1:17-20).

LESSON 9: You can rise to any level of GREATNESS by obeying God. It’s is God who promotes and demotes (Dan 1:20-21).

In life what has been through makes us. Not break us.

I hope you have enjoyed studying the “Introduction To Daniel”

“The Great Global Dream (Dan 2)”

After conquering all possible oppositions to his rule, Nebuchadnezzar settled down in his well-established Empire of Babylon. With little to worry about at present, Nebuchadnezzar, like every monarch, began to worry about THE FUTURE . . . what would become of his great Empire in the FUTURE. God stepped in at such an opportune time when the king was vulnerable and gave Nebuchadnezzar a dream (Dan 2:1) which he commanded the wise men to tell him the but they said it was DIFFICULT and IMPOSSIBLE (Dan 2:2-4, 10,11)

In his anger, Nebuchadnezzar make pronounced a death decree on all his wise men and magicians if they are not able to tell his dream and interpret it. He decided to cut them in pieces and demolish their houses (Dan 2:5). The frightened magicians made a stunning confession about their inability to reveal the unknown. In their own words, “There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks” (Dan 2:10, 11) Only the gods could do this and they do not live among men (Dan 2:11).

When Daniel learned that his life and the lives of all the wise men were in danger, he went straight to the king and requested to be given time so he could show the interpretation of the king’s dream (Dan 2:16).

On returning to his house after his encounter with Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel told his friends what was happening and encouraged them to join him in prayer so that God may spare their lives by revealing to them the king’s dream and its interpretation (Dan 2:17, 18). Four people prayed. God revealed the secret to one—Daniel—at night (Dan 2:19). Daniel gave God the credit (Dan 2:19-23). They praised God, extolling His Sovereignty and greatness.

Emerge!

Original post by me here