Jan's Bible NotesDANIEL
Introduction
Why is Daniel counted among the books of prophecy? Did he prophesy to his people? Not to the ones alive at that time, in the usual format “thus saith the Lord,” but much of his message is to those who would come later. Jesus referred to him as a prophet, Mt. 24:15. Actually, he served in the political realm rather than the spiritual one, and is a good example of how a believer can witness by living his faith in whatever his position in life. In Daniel’s case, he stayed true to God and was an effective witness in a pagan society. Surely Daniel was an example to all the captive Jews.
Some Christians believe all or almost all prophecy has been fulfilled. One of the reasons they give is that if this prophet were giving a message that was ONLY speaking of the distant future, without any immediate application for their listeners, it would be meaningless to them. Is this true? The Bible speaks of many things in the future, and we are encouraged and excited to know that God is letting us see the outcome of His great plan.
Some Christians don’t think you should spend much time studying or talking about prophecy. Many claim it is too deep for the average Christian, and that there is too much far-out speculation involved. But ¼ of the books of the Bible are prophetic, and 1/5 of the Bible was prophetic when it was written (much of that prophecy has already been fulfilled). So we find in the Bible, fulfilled and unfilled prophecy. When you read and study the Bible straight through, not skipping over or leaving anything out, you automatically give each verse and topic the proper amount of emphasis. And you cannot understand prophecy without looking at the entire Bible, so that motivates us to read the whole book. We have been looking at Bible symbolism as we come across it, so that we can see how the Bible actually interprets much of the symbolism for us. So I don’t think we are out of line by studying prophecy as we come to it. In II Thes. 2:5, we find that Paul had taught the new Christians in Thessalonica about the Antichrist, the day of the Lord, and the rapture even though he was only there less than a month.
Daniel was a young man, possibly a teenager, when he was taken to Babylon in the first wave of the captivity. He served under 3 kings, Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, and Cyrus. By then, he would be an old man.
This book has come under much attack from liberal Bible scholars. They claim it was written at a much later date, or that it was written by someone other than Daniel himself. There is no evidence for these claims. Liberals do not believe in the supernatural, so fulfilled detailed prophecy like Daniel has given is just plain rejected by them. They think it must have been written AFTER these events happened, by someone later. But the manuscript evidence is strong for Daniel, and Jesus referred to “Daniel the prophet” (Mt. 24:15, Mk. 13:14), so if Daniel is a fake, Jesus was confused or a liar. Even if you don’t know about the manuscript evidence, you can trust what Jesus said. Whenever you question one part of Scripture, you end up questioning more parts of Scripture. For example, if you believe God used evolution to create, then you have a big problem: death then came BEFORE sin, not as a result of it, which means that the whole Bible is wrong, Christ did not need to die for our sin to save us from eternal death, and God is a liar.
We find many important scriptural teachings in this book. Some are: believers living godly lives in a pagan society; God’s faithfulness to His people and His covenant, even though they were currently being disciplined for their disobedience; God’s authority over gentile nations; the outline of “the times of the gentiles,” when Israel is being chastened by means of the gentile nations. Read Luke 21:24; we see this period beginning in II Kings 25:1-12.
Daniel 1
1-2 The historical setting, going back to when Nebuchadnezzar first besieged Jerusalem. This was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. Nebuchadnezzar’s first invasion of Judah took place about a month after his father died and he received the crown. So Nebuchadnezzar’s reign virtually begins with this interaction with Israel. These verses don’t specifically mention the captives, but mention the articles from the temple being taken to a place of idolatry.
3 What kind of families were the captives? We will see that Daniel and his three friends were true followers of God; perhaps their families were not among the faithless of Israel, but had obeyed the prophecies of Jeremiah (Jer. 38:2,17-18) and gone out of the city to the Chaldeans.
4-7 What were Daniel and his friends like? They were to be given a college education and a special diet.
8 We have the setting and the background. Now the real story begins. Who comes up with this? All four of them are involved. Does it mention the dietary restrictions being the Law? But obviously this is why. We see Daniel’s wise, tactful approach to this situation. Does he refuse to cooperate, or make demands? Is he confrontational? Does he have respect for the authority that is over him?
9 The commander could have been unsympathetic. Why was he favorable to them? Lots of things in our lives seem to just happen, good or bad. We need to learn to see God’s hand in everything that happens. That is one of the truths the Old Testament brings out. Things don’t just happen. God is in control of everything. He hasn’t just turned this world loose to run any old way. We are told this about both big events and little events. Doesn't this seem like an insignificant event? Does it end up being a factor in a much bigger situation? Can we know, at the time, which insignificant events in our lives are truly insignificant, and which will end up being a factor in something bigger, later?
10-13 Daniel diplomatically proposes a test. If Daniel had belligerently refused to cooperate, or thrown a fit, might things have happened differently? Is God honored when Christians are belligerent to others or uncooperative with authority?
14-16 Is the overseer willing to let them continue? What is the lesson here for us as New Testament Christians? Is this evidence that we ought to still be following the Law, even the dietary part? Is it speaking against wine drinking? If so, wouldn't we find those restrictions in the Epistles, the directions for the church? We see here, and later also, that Daniel was not concerned about going with the flow. Does Daniel seem to care if following God made him stick out in the crowd? Does he seem overly concerned about consequences, about “what ifs”? Is his obedience to God's Word based on his concerns about possible negative outcomes? Does he ignore or re-interpret God's Word to suit his circumstances? All of these possibilities are temptations we constantly face, I Cor. 10:13.
17-21 Didn't 1:4 already say that they possessed these qualities? They already had certain qualities; God enhanced those qualities even more. We all have certain qualities and natural abilities. If we are yielded to God, as these four were, won't God be able to use and enhance those qualities in our lives even more than if we were wishy-washy Christians, not spending time in God's Word or obeying it? Col. 3:23-24,
These four young men were the best of the best. They were so good that they even stood out above Nebuchadnezzar’s own people. What a unique opportunity God had given them to be an influence of godliness as they serve in secular positions of power in this pagan kingdom. Will they, like many Christians we see in the news, eventually give in to the temptation to water down their beliefs in order to protect their positions? We will find out in the next few chapters. The Bible tells about how God works in the lives of poor, simple, uneducated nobodies, and how He works in the lives of very intelligent, wise and rich people. No matter who we are, God is working in us and through us, to increase our own faith in Him, and so others may see our faith and our lives and perhaps come to the truth.
Copyright 2004 Jan Young