Daniel Lesson 2 Ch.1:1-7 - Fairhaven Baptist Church

Daniel

Lesson 2

Text: Daniel 1:1-7 “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god. 3 And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes; 4 Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. 5 And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. 6 Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: 7 Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.”

Vs.1, “In the third year…”
1. the bible tells us the time frame of the beginning of the book of Daniel,
  - it kicks off as, the 3^rd year of Jehoiakim.
    - Jehoiakim ruled form 608-598 B.C.
      - He was evil in the sight of the Lord, II Kings 24:9
      - He was also the king, when Jeremiah sent him word form God, beacme angery and burned the scrolls in the fire that was before him. (Jeremiah 36:21-26)
        
        vs.29 of that chapter,
        
        “And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast? ”
      - This puts this invasion of Jerusalem in 605 B.C.
    - Jeremiah 25:1 call it the 4^th year,
      - however this is easily reconciled. Simply by the way they used the calendar.
      - Daniel uses it as 3 full years, where Jeremiah used the partial year as a full year.
        
        This is accounted for the what Jewish people and the Babylonian empire used calendars.
2. Daniel would be part of the first deportation,
  - This is 8 years before Ezekiel, and the 2^nd deportation.
  - See II Kings 24:1&2; Jeremiah 25:1; 52:12-30
  - II Chronicles 36:5-7 “Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. 6 Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon. 7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.”
  - So the deportations went like this:
    - the first one was in 605,
    - the second after Jerusalem aligned themselves with Egypt, against Jeremiahs warning, in 597 B.C.
    - Then the third, was in 586 B.C.
  - Daniel, and the others would be of the finest of the Hebrews that were taken first,
    - the second took basically the middle class, and the third took the rest,
    - leaving only the poorest.
Vs.2 “The Lord Gave…”
1. For decades the prophets had warned of the coming judgment of God,
  - their idolatry, their immorality, their injustice toward the weak, and poor.
  - They were warned that this would lead to their judgment, but they would not heed.
  - Nearly 100 years before, Isaiah prophesied this
    - See Isaiah ch.13, 21, & 39
  - Micah said “Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. ” Micah 4:10
  - The Prophet Habakkuk,
    - couldn’t understand how God could use an ungodly nation like the Babylonians to punish the people of God,
  - Warren Weirsby “God would rather have His people living in shameful captivity in a pagan land than living like pagans in the Holy Land and disgracing His Name”
2. So the Lord gave Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians the victory,
  - as well as allowing them to take the vessels used in the temple as spoils of victory.
    - Incidentally these would play a role later,
  - Notice that it says he took part…
    - Why would an invading king take only part, and then only take part of the people?
      - He was smart enough to not break them to the point of nothingness, he want them to keep a little, in order to continue to serve him.
Vs.3 “ …bring certain of the children of Israel…”
1. this was the kings decree to assimilate the brightest and best into the Babylonian culture
  - II Kings 20:17&18 “Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. 18 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
  - see Also Isaiah 39:7
Vs.4 Nebuchadnezzar’s criteria,
1. they were to be young, no blemish, well skilled, good understanding and knowledge,
  - Sound familiar? What about Nazi Germany?
  - He wanted to put forth the image of superiority.
    - By selecting the best and brightest of every nation, then placing them all together,
    - He increased the understanding of the whole, as well as destroyed any remain national identity.
Vs.5 Nebuchadnezzar’s Folly,
1. one of the things that will mark the life of Nebuchadnezzar is PRIDE,
  - of course we know that “God resist the proud” “Pride goeth before the fall”
  - But, later we will see where Nebuchadnezzar will lift himself up and look at all “HE” built
  - here we see, the same folly, instead of depending on the Lord, we will make people after the image we want,
    - we will control their diet, their food and drink, their exercise regiment, we will teach them how to walk, to talk, to think.
2. There was a massive leap forward in art during this time, mainly in the Greek empire, which we will see later.
  - Before this time the statues and paintings of humans were blocky, and more abstract. You could tell what they were suppose to be, but, they didn’t look real.
  - In about 450 B.C. A sculpture named Polyclitus developed Techniques to allow them to make more life like sculptures. However with this knowledge and skill the artist still didn’t make lifelike sculptures, they added mussels, and extended necks, and backs. Much like modern man airbrushes pictures, they wanted to make them “More Perfect” Not in God’s image, but in our idea of what better looks like.
    - See for more infromation, The Raice Bronzes, or Warriors.
  - Exodus 20:22-25 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.”
    - this is what happens when we get involved with the fashioning of it,
    - it is why the world will lift up a 100 lb half dressed woman that sings of perversions, and a woman that is 200 lb, and speaks of the bible is thought to be odd.
    - 150 lb drunk is normal and a 250 lb non drinker is not.
    - We emphasis looks more than character, body rather than morality, we focus on substance of things more than substance of character.
Vs.6&7 Name Changes,
1. just another way to assimilate,
2. Daniel- God judges to Belteshazzar- Bel Protects Life,
  - from the judge being God, to a pagan god protects life.
3. Hananiah- God Shows Grace, to Shadrach- command of Aku (the moon god)
  - from living under the grace of God to being under command of the moon god.
    - Incidentally, do you know who still worships the moon god? Muslims
4. Mishael- Who is like God, to Meshach- one who is like Aku, the moon god,
  - going from being like God to being like the pagan god.
    - We do take on the character of the one we serve.
5. Azariah- the Lord is my Help, to Abednego- the servant of nebo,
  - nebo was the pagan god of wisdom and understanding.
  - So the name went form God being my help to depending on my own understanding and wisdom.
    - It’s actually pretty profound if you think about it.
6. In each case the name was changed in order to be an attack on God,
  - their name also stood as a reminder of what the Babylonian empire wanted them to be.
  - I Chronicles 4:9-11 “And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow. 10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.”
  - he was called Jabez because she bore him in sorrow. Jabez- to grieve, or to make sorry,
    - “that it may not grieve me”
    - this was in a scence Jabez saying let me not live up to my name.
    - For Daniel, and the three Hebrews, it would be a constant fight to remember who they are, instead of listening to what people want them to be.
  - Throughout the book of Daniel, He never referred to himself as Belteshazzar, sometimes the king would call him that, but he would say “Daniel, who the king named …” or something like that.
  - We should never allow ourselves to be defined by what others think about us.