Daniel

1
Daniel

• They could find no fault with Daniel, because he
  was faithful (64)

2

• Isaiah then told the king, The LORD Almighty
  says that a time is coming when everything in
  your palace, everything that your ancestors have
  stored up to this day, will be carried off to
  Babylonia. Nothing will be left. Some of your own
  direct descendants will be taken away and made
  eunuchs to serve in the palace of the king of
  Babylonia. (Isaiah 395-7) 703-701 BC

3
Chronology
King Prophet
650 Manasseh
Amon Nahum
Josiah Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Ezekiel
Joahaz
600 Jehoiakim 605 1st invasion (Daniel)
Jehoiachin 597 2nd invasion (Ezekiel)
586 Zedekiah 586 3rd invasion (Jeremiah)
538 Cyrus conquers Babylon

4

• In the third year that Jehoiakim was king of
  Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia attacked
  Jerusalem and surrounded the city. The Lord let
  him capture King Jehoiakim and seize some of the
  Temple treasures. He took some prisoners back
  with him to the temple of his gods in Babylon,
  and put the captured treasures in the temple
  storerooms. The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief
  official, to select from among the Israelite
  exiles some young men of the royal family and of
  the noble families. They had to be handsome,
  intelligent, well-trained, quick to learn, and
  free from physical defects, so that they would be
  qualified to serve in the royal court.

5

• Ashpenaz was to teach them to read and write the
  Babylonian language. The king also gave orders
  that every day they were to be given the same
  food and wine as the members of the royal court.
  After three years of this training they were to
  appear before the king. Among those chosen were
  Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, all of
  whom were from the tribe of Judah. (Daniel 11-6)

6

• Daniel (God is my Judge) to Belteshazzar (Bel
  protect the king),
• Hananiah (God has been gracious) to Shadrach
  (I am very fearful of god),
• Mishael (Who is what God is?) to Meshach (I am
  of little account)
• Azariah (The Lord has helped) to Abed-Nego
  (Servant of the shining one i.e. Nebo)

7

• Daniel made up his mind not to let himself
  become ritually unclean by eating the food and
  drinking the wine of the royal court, so he asked
  Ashpenaz to help him, and God made Ashpenaz
  sympathetic to Daniel. Ashpenaz, however, was
  afraid of the king, so he said to Daniel, The
  king has decided what you are to eat and drink,
  and if you dont look as fit as the other young
  men, he may kill me. So Daniel went to the guard
  whom Ashpenaz had placed in charge of him and his
  three friends. Test us for ten days, he said.
  Give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.
  Then compare us with the young men who are eating
  the food of the royal court, and base your
  decision on how we look. He agreed to let them
  try it for ten days. When the time was up, they
  looked healthier and stronger than all those who
  had been eating the royal food.

8

• So from then on the guard let them continue to
  eat vegetables instead of what the king provided.
  God gave the four young men knowledge and skill
  in literature and philosophy. In addition, he
  gave Daniel skill in interpreting visions and
  dreams. At the end of the three years set by the
  king, Ashpenaz took all the young men to
  Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them all,
  and Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah
  impressed him more than any of the others. So
  they became members of the king's court. No
  matter what question the king asked or what
  problem he raised, these four knew ten times more
  than any fortuneteller or magician in his whole
  kingdom. Daniel remained at the royal court until
  Cyrus, the emperor of Persia, conquered
  Babylonia. (Daniel 18-21)

9
(No Transcript)
10

• So then, about eating the food offered to idols
  we know that an idol stands for something that
  does not really exist we know that there is only
  the one God. Even if there are so-called "gods,"
  whether in heaven or on earth, and even though
  there are many of these "gods" and "lords," yet
  there is for us only one God, the Father, who is
  the Creator of all things and for whom we live
  and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through
  whom all things were created and through whom we
  live. But not everyone knows this truth. Some
  people have been so used to idols that to this
  day when they eat such food they still think of
  it as food that belongs to an idol their
  conscience is weak, and they feel they are
  defiled by the food. Food, however, will not
  improve our relation with God we shall not lose
  anything if we do not eat, nor shall we gain
  anything if we do eat. (1 Corinthians 81-11)

11

• Be careful, however, not to let your freedom of
  action make those who are weak in the faith fall
  into sin. Suppose a person whose conscience is
  weak in this matter sees you, who have so-called
  "knowledge," eating in the temple of an idol
  will not this encourage him to eat food offered
  to idols? And so this weak person, your brother
  for whom Christ died, will perish because of your
  "knowledge"! And in this way you will be sinning
  against Christ by sinning against other
  Christians and wounding their weak conscience. So
  then, if food makes a believer sin, I will never
  eat meat again, so as not to make a believer fall
  into sin. (1Corinthians 89-13)

12

• None of you should be looking out for your own
  interests, but for the interests of others. You
  are free to eat anything sold in the meat market,
  without asking any questions because of your
  conscience. For, as the scripture says, The
  earth and everything in it belong to the Lord.
  If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you
  decide to go, eat what is set before you, without
  asking any questions because of your conscience.
  But if someone tells you, This food was offered
  to idols, then do not eat that food, for the
  sake of the one who told you and for conscience'
  sake--- that is, not your own conscience, but the
  other person's conscience.

13

• Well, then, someone asks, why should my
  freedom to act be limited by another person's
  conscience? If I thank God for my food, why
  should anyone criticize me about food for which I
  give thanks? Well, whatever you do, whether you
  eat or drink, do it all for Gods glory. Live in
  such a way as to cause no trouble either to Jews
  or Gentiles or to the church of God. Just do as I
  do I try to please everyone in all that I do,
  not thinking of my own good, but of the good of
  all, so that they might be saved. (1 Corinthians
  1024-33)

14
The Bible is an inspired book that instills
principles of living
15

• In the second year that Nebuchadnezzar was king,
  he had a dream. It worried him so much that he
  couldn't sleep, so he sent for his
  fortunetellers, magicians, sorcerers, and wizards
  to come and explain the dream to him. When they
  came and stood before the king, he said to them,
  Im worried about a dream Ive had. I want to
  know what it means. They answered the king in
  Aramaic, May Your Majesty live forever! Tell us
  your dream, and we will explain it to you. The
  king said to them, I have made up my mind that
  you must tell me the dream and then tell me what
  it means. If you cant, Ill have you torn limb
  from limb and make your houses a pile of ruins.
  (Daniel 21-5)

16

• What Your Majesty is asking for is so difficult
  that no one can do it for you except the gods,
  and they do not live among human beings. (Daniel
  211)

17

• The king said to Daniel (who was also called
  Belteshazzar), Can you tell me what I dreamed
  and what it means? Daniel replied, Your
  Majesty, there is no wizard, magician,
  fortuneteller, or astrologer who can tell you
  that. But there is a God in heaven, who reveals
  mysteries. He has informed Your Majesty what will
  happen in the future. Now I will tell you the
  dream, the vision you had while you were asleep.
  While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed
  about the future and God, who reveals mysteries,
  showed you what is going to happen. (Daniel
  226-30)

18
Authorship of Daniel?

• The repeated allusions to the desecration of the
  Jerusalem Temple suggest the time of
  persecution175-164 B.C. Good News Bible
• The ram you saw that had two horns represents
  the kingdoms of Media and Persia. The goat
  represents the kingdom of Greece, and the
  prominent horn between his eyes is the first
  king. (Daniel 820-21)

19
Specific names, dates details

• In the first year that Belshazzar was king of
  Babylonia, I had a dream. (Daniel 71)
• In the third year that Belshazzar was king, I
  saw a second vision. (Daniel 81)
• Darius the Mede, who was the son of Xerxes,
  ruled over the kingdom of Babylonia. In the first
  year of his reign I was studying the sacred books
  and thinking about the seventy years that
  Jerusalem would be in ruins, according to what
  the LORD had told the prophet Jeremiah. (Daniel
  91-2)

20
Specific names, dates details

• The LORD says, When Babylonia's seventy years
  are over, I will show my concern for you and keep
  my promise to bring you back home. (Jeremiah
  2910)
• In the third year that Jehoiakim was king of
  Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia attacked
  Jerusalem and surrounded the city. (Daniel 11)
  - - - 606 BC
• Daniel remained at the royal court until Cyrus,
  the emperor of Persia, conquered Babylonia.
  (Daniel 121) - - 538 BC

21

• Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre, This is
  what the Almighty LORD saysYou think that you
  are wiser than Daniel and that no secret can be
  hidden from you. (Ezekiel 282-3)

22

• You will see The Awful Horror of which the
  prophet Daniel spoke. (Matthew 2415)
• Textual analysis

23
(No Transcript)
24
The faithfulness of Daniel

• Daniel was determined not to defile himself by
  eating the food and wine given to them by the
  king. He asked the chief of staff for permission
  not to eat these unacceptable foods. (Daniel
  18)

25
Selfless

• Now I have heard that you can find hidden
  meanings and explain mysteries. If you can read
  this writing and tell me what it means, you will
  be dressed in robes of royal purple, wear a gold
  chain of honor around your neck, and be the third
  in power in the kingdom. Daniel replied, Keep
  your gifts for yourself or give them to someone
  else. I will read for Your Majesty
  what has been written and
  tell you
  what it means.
  (Daniel 516-17)

26
Reliable, honestblameless

• Then the other supervisors and the governors
  tried to find something wrong with the way Daniel
  administered the empire, but they couldn't,
  because Daniel was reliable and did not do
  anything wrong or dishonest. They said to each
  other, We are not going to find anything of
  which to accuse Daniel unless it is something in
  connection with his religion. (Daniel 64-5)
• But they couldn't find anything wrong because he
  was trustworthy (GW) faithful (NRSV)
• They could find no corruption in him, because he
  was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor
  negligent. (NIV) He could always be trusted
  (NIRV)

27
Connected to God complete trust in God

• When Daniel learned that the order had been
  signed, he went home. In an upstairs room of his
  house there were windows that faced toward
  Jerusalem. There, just as he had always done, he
  knelt down at the open windows and prayed to God
  three times a day. (Daniel 610)
• The king was overjoyed and gave orders for
  Daniel to be pulled up out of the pit. So they
  pulled him up and saw that he had not been hurt
  at all, for he trusted God. (Daniel 623)

28
Humility

• Now, this mystery was revealed to me, not
  because I am wiser than anyone else, but so that
  Your Majesty may learn the meaning of your dream
  and understand the thoughts that have come to
  you. (Daniel 230)

29
Humility

• We have sinned, we have been evil, we have done
  wrong. We have rejected what you commanded us to
  do and have turned away from what you showed us
  was right. We have not listened to your servants
  the prophetsYou are merciful and forgiving,
  although we have rebelled against you. We did not
  listen to you, O LORD our God, when you told us
  to live according to the laws which you gave us
  through your servants the prophetsWe sinned
  against youBut even now, O LORD our God, we have
  not tried to please you by turning from our sins
  or by following your truthwe did not listen to
  youwe have sinned we have done wrongwe are
  praying to you because you are merciful, not
  because we have done right. (Daniel 95-18)

30

• I am meek and humble of heart. (Matthew 1129)
• (Moses was a very humble man, more humble than
  anyone else on earth.) (Numbers 123)
• Blessed are those who are humble they will
  receive what God has promised! (Matthew 55)
• But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace,
  patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
  humility, and self-control. (Galatians 522-23)

31

• Biblical humility is where the good of the others
  is placed over that of the individual.
• The opposite of humility
• Attempts to better oneself at the expense of
  others (money, power, honor) pride, selfishness

32

• It is Pride which has been the chief cause of
  misery in every nation and every family since the
  world began...As long as you are proud you cannot
  know God. A proud man is always looking down on
  things and people and, of course, as long as you
  are looking down, you cannot see something that
  is above you. 
• C.S. Lewis

33
(No Transcript)
34

• I dont know what your destiny will be, but one
  thing I do know the only ones among you who will
  be really happy are those who have sought and
  found how to serve. (Albert Schweitzer)

35
The Results?

• The king said, Your God is the greatest of all
  gods, the Lord over kings, and the one who
  reveals mysteries. I know this because you have
  been able to explain this mystery. (Daniel
  247)

36
The Results?

• The king said, Praise the God of Shadrach,
  Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel and
  rescued these men who serve and trust him. They
  disobeyed my orders and risked their lives rather
  than bow down and worship any god except their
  own. And now I command that if anyone of any
  nation, race, or language speaks disrespectfully
  of the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, he
  is to be torn limb from limb, and his house is to
  be made a pile of ruins. There is no other god
  who can rescue like this. (Daniel 328-29)

37
The Results?

• And now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, honor, and
  glorify the King of Heaven. Everything he does is
  right and just, and he can humble anyone who acts
  proudly. (Daniel 437)

38
The Results?

• Then King Darius wrote to the people of all
  nations, races, and languages on earth
  Greetings! I command that throughout my empire
  everyone should fear and respect Daniel's God.
  "He is a living God, and he will rule forever.
  His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his
  power will never come to an end. He saves and
  rescues he performs wonders and miracles in
  heaven and on earth. He saved Daniel from being
  killed by the lions. Daniel prospered during the
  reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the
  Persian. (Daniel 625-28)

39
Today?

• Do to us what you will and we will still love
  you...But be assured that we'll wear you down by
  our capacity to suffer, and one day we will win
  our freedom. We will not only win freedom for
  ourselves we will appeal to your heart and
  conscience that we will win you in the process
  and our victory will be a double victory.
  - Martin Luther King, Jr.