Sunday
Morning Bible Study
April
7, 2013
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk
– Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved?
Historical Background
We are entering into a new time period in the Bible, so we need to take a
trip through time. Everybody climb into the DeLorean
…
701 BC – On
Thursday nights we’ve been looking at the life of King Hezekiah, and the great Assyrian empire
that ruled the world.
It was the Assyrians who wiped out the northern kingdom of Israel in
722BC, scattering the northern tribes throughout the great empire.
In 701 BC, The Assyrians had tried to take Jerusalem, but a single
angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrians in a single night, and King Hezekiah
was saved.
612 BC – Nineveh falls, the
capital of the Assyrians.
Play Nineveh falls map clip.
The Assyrian capital of Nineveh will fall to the growing Babylonian empire,
led by Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar. The Assyrians will flee toward the west.
605 BC – there
is a great climactic battle at Carchemish.
Play Neb takes
Jerusalem map clip
The Assyrians have allied themselves with Egypt, and together they are
defeated by Nebuchadnezzar.
Nebuchadnezzar then pursues the Egyptians southward, eventually coming
into the land of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar
will attack Jerusalem for the first time.
This is a clip from the History Channel’s “Bible” series: I
have to admit that though there are parts that are wonderful, there are also
parts that they didn’t quite get right.
This clip is actually their version of Nebuchadnezzar’s final siege of
Jerusalem, but it will give us an idea of the first attack as well.
Play
Nebuchadnezzar attacks clip
This is the
First Deportation. Nebuchadnezzar takes
some of the choicest people captive back to Babylon, including Daniel. This is the context of today’s chapter.
597 BC – King Jehoiachin rebels against Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar comes
back.
This is the
Second Deportation. Nebuchadnezzar takes
10,000 captives back to Babylon, including the prophet Ezekiel.
588 BC – King Zedekiah rebels against Babylon, old Neb comes back again
and lays siege to the city.
586 BC – King Zedekiah
revolts. Jerusalem falls.
The Temple is destroyed. Most of
the remaining Jews are taken to Babylon with only a few left behind. Our focus for now in on 605 BC when Daniel is
taken.
539 BC – Cyrus the Persian overthrows Babylon.
538 BC – Cyrus decrees the Jews can return to Jerusalem. 50,000 Jews return, the Temple foundations
are laid.
1:1-2 Captivity
:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
This is 605 BC, the time of the “First Deportation”
:2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into
his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into
the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into
the treasure house of his god.
:2 some of the articles of the
house of God
This isn’t a complete sacking of Jerusalem and the Temple, but there are items taken
from the Temple. It was a common thing for kings to take the treasures from the
temples of their conquered foes and put them in their own gods’ temples as a
sign of who is more powerful.
You even see it back in the times of Joshua, when the treasures seized
from Jericho are stored before the Ark of the Covenant
(Jos 6:19
NKJV) But
all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated
to the Lord; they shall come into
the treasury of the Lord.”
Note that “the Lord” gave these things to Nebuchadnezzar. God is behind this judgment on the nation of
Judah.
Treasures from the Temple
They will come into our story again when we get to chapter 6, and King
Belshazzar hauls out the cups from Jerusalem and makes toasts to his pagan
gods.
People from Israel
I think you could make a case that some of the people that are taken
captive are among the “articles” taken.
:2 the land of Shinar
Another name for Babylon
1:3-7 Training
Starts
:3 Then the king instructed Ashpenaz,
the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of
the king’s descendants and some of the nobles,
:4 young men in whom there was no blemish,
but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to
understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they
might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans.
:3 Ashpenaz
–“"I will make prominent the sprinkled”
:3 the master of his eunuchs
eunuchs – cariyc
– official, eunuch
Some suggest the word “eunuch”
simply means court officials.
Daniel is under the authority of Ashpenaz, the
chief or leader of the “eunuchs”.
This reminds us of Isaiah’s prophecy to Hezekiah:
(2 Ki 20:18 NKJV) ‘And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from
you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king
of Babylon.’ ”
We believe Daniel is also of the “king’s descendants”, royalty.
:3 some of the king’s descendants
Daniel the man
Royalty
He apparently was descended from the royal line of David
We think verse 3 is talking about Daniel and his
companions being the “king’s descendants”
Isaiah had prophesied to King Hezekiah 100 years earlier,
(2 Ki
20:17–18 NKJV) —17 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all
that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this
day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord. 18 ‘And
they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will
beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”
We’re not sure if Daniel was a “eunuch”, but he does seem
to have been from the royal line, and he served the king of Babylon.
Handsome
He was physically attractive
Verse 4 describes them as having no blemish, but
good-looking
Long Life
When he was taken captive, he was around 16 years old in 605 BC.
He will still be alive in the third year of Cyrus (536 BC), so he lived
at least 85 years.
Righteous
He was known as a man of great righteousness by his own contemporaries
(like Ezekiel)
(Eze 14:14
NKJV) Even
if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would
deliver only themselves by their righteousness,” says the Lord God.
Imagine being put in the same class as Noah and Job!
Wise
Our verse (4) puts Daniel among the wise, possessing knowledge, and
quick to understand. He was also known
by his contemporaries for his wisdom.
(Eze 28:3
NKJV) (Behold,
you are wiser than Daniel! There is no secret that can be hidden from
you!
This was written about the prince of Tyre.
:4 the language and literature of
the Chaldeans
Part of Nebuchadnezzar’s foreign policy involved taking the best and
brightest from each kingdom he conquered, and educating them in the ways of Babylon, and using
them to help run his empire.
Their education probably included:
Agriculture,
architecture, astrology, astronomy, law, mathematics, and the difficult Akkadian language.
Language
The book of Daniel is unique in that it was written in two different
languages, Hebrew and Aramaic.
Hebrew was the language of the Jews
Aramaic was the general language of the Gentile world in that day.
The order of the languages:
1:1 - 2:4a are written in Hebrew
2:4b - 7:28 are written in Aramaic
8:1 - 12:13 are written in Hebrew
Why the different languages?
There is much in the book of Daniel that contains prophecies that
affect the entire Gentile world.
These just happen to lie within Dan.2:4b - 7:28
The rest of the book greatly affects the nation Israel, written in
Hebrew.
:5 And the king
appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine
which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that
time they might serve before the king.
:5 the king’s delicacies
The word for “delicacies” is pathbag, a Persian (not Parisian) word. One expert says it means “food of an idol”,
another expert says it means “food of a father”.
Some people have different tastes when it comes to food. Perhaps Nebuchadnezzar’s buffet table looked something
like …
We don’t have
the menu listing exactly what Nebuchadnezzar’s “delicacies” were, but there
might be an issue with these Jewish young men and the dietary laws described in
the Law of Moses.
As good Jewish
young men, there were certain foods that were forbidden.
Jews were
forbidden to eat foods considered “unclean”. (Lev. 11)
Jews were
forbidden to eat meat that had not had the blood properly drained from it.
(Lev. 17)
Jews were
forbidden to eat meat that had been sacrificed to other gods. (Ex. 34:15)
There’s a good chance that we are heading for trouble over food.
:5 three years of training
At the end of this three year training program, the graduates would
enter into the service of the king.
:6 Now from among those of
the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
:7 To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he
gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael,
Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.
:7 he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar …
Each of their birth names has a legacy of God in them.
Daniel = “God
is my judge”
Belteshazzar
= “Lady, protect the king”
Hananiah
= “Yahweh has been gracious”
Shadrach = “I
am fearful of a god”
Mishael
= “Who is what God is?”
Meshach = “I am
despised before my god”
Azariah
= “Yahweh has helped”
Abed-nego = “Servant of Nebo”
The point in giving these young men new names is to cut them off from their
past, and especially cut them off from their God. They will no longer be Judean, but will be Babylonian.
Lesson
The World’s Influence
The world wants to push us into its mold.
It might even try giving us a new “name”.
There are going to be some things we will have to accept with the world,
things we can accept without compromising who we are.
You might say, “But they have such horrible new names!”
I will remind you to watch these young men.
Inside they haven’t changed.
The world may
be able to influence the outside, but they can’t touch the inside.
(Ro 12:1–2 NKJV) —1 I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable
service. 2 And do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that
you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
We need to be careful just how much we allow the world to
“mold” or “conform” us into its image.
We need to keep ourselves consecrated to God, letting Him
renew our mind.
With Daniel and his friends, we will see a great example
of how this is lived out. You just
watch.
We can’t and we shouldn’t try to completely avoid the world.
(1 Co 5:9–11 NKJV) —9 I wrote to
you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did
not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the
covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then
you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep
company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a
reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner— not even
to eat with such a person.
If you follow Paul’s thinking,
the people we ought to stay away from are the phony Christians – those who claim
to follow Jesus, but are living horrible, sinful lives. These are people who fake it on the outside,
while the inside is unchanged.
The real Christian is the one who is changed from the
inside out.
And pay attention – Paul does not want his readers to “go
out of the world”.
How will the world hear about God if we don’t stay in the
world to talk about Him?
1:8-21 The Diet Test
:8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would
not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine
which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he
might not defile himself.
:8 purposed in his heart
(Da 1:8 NLT) But Daniel was
determined not to defile himself …
Daniel had already decided inside himself that he was not going to cross
what he knew to be wrong.
purposed – suwm –
to put, place, set, appoint, make; determine, fix
Lesson
Good Intentions
At some point, you have to make up your mind what you intend to do.
You need to make a decision on how you’re going to live your life.
If
you are undecided about how to live your life, you will find yourself
bowing to every outside influence that wants to affect you.
Job was considered a righteous man, and it was his choices that got him
there.
(Job 31:1 NKJV) “I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why
then should I look upon a young woman?
Sometimes we
don’t make clear choices because we are afraid we are going to fail.
You say to yourself, “I’m
not going to promise to stay pure with my girlfriend, and that way I
won’t feel like a failure when we have sex outside of marriage.”
Listen to yourself – you are already choosing to disobey
God.
Making choices
on how we are going to live doesn’t mean we aren’t going to fail.
But it does mean we intend to pursue a certain course in
life.
I know that just having a good intention is not enough.
Somebody once
said,
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions”
Stating your intentions to live a life that honors God is only a first
step.
You have to go beyond “intention”
and take action.
Watch what
Daniel does. He may not have a “purity
ring 3000”, but he also doesn’t have a “semi-commitment”. He takes
real action. Daniel doesn’t keep
his choices to himself. He goes to his
boss and makes a proposal.
Daniel’s issues have to do with
diet.
A lot of us struggle with our
weight.
Things can change.
It starts with
good intentions.
Then step out and
do something about it.
It works like this throughout life.
If you have trouble with a certain
sin – it’s important to state your “intentions”. But then you must follow those intentions
with action.
And if you
stumble, you get back at it. Your plan
may need to change, but get back at it.
:9 Now God had brought
Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs.
:10 And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel,
“I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should
he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age?
Then you would endanger my head before the king.”
Daniel’s boss can’t imagine that not eating the diet of the world will do
anything but cause problems. He’s also
afraid that if Daniel’s plan fails, he will be the one to pay the price.
Sometimes our bold moves can
endanger others. Be aware of that.
:11 So Daniel said to the steward whom the chief
of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
:12 “Please test your servants for ten days, and
let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.
:13 Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of
the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit,
so deal with your servants.”
:14 So he consented with them in this matter, and
tested them ten days.
:11 Daniel said to the steward
Daniel’s proposal isn’t given to Ashpenaz. Instead, he asks his immediate supervisor if
they can do a quick 10 day test – something that won’t involve much risk to
anyone.
:15 And at the end of ten
days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men
who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies.
:16 Thus the steward took away their portion of
delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.
:16 gave them vegetables
I probably should talk about diet and health, but that’s not exactly where
I want to go with this.
Lesson
Brain Diet
I would like to challenge you about the choices you make to feed your
brain.
Are you going to feed it with what the world has to offer?
Or are you going to feed it with God’s truth?
Lesson
God’s Better Ways
You can live your life on the diet that the world wants to feed you
The world wants to fill your head with thoughts of being rich and
powerful.
It wants to fill your thoughts that make you want to live your life for
the pursuit of pleasure.
It has all sorts of exciting things to fill your mind, things like TV,
movies, games, internet, etc.
- OR -
You can live your life on the diet that God wants to give you.
God’s diet starts with the Word of God.
It may not always be quite as exciting as the world’s
diet.
It may be like choosing to eat vegetables over ice-cream
sundaes.
But the result of God’s diet is the same as Daniel’s
diet.
at
the end of ten days their features appeared better
:17 As for these four young
men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel
had understanding in all visions and dreams.
:17 understanding in all visions
and dreams
We will see this come into play
throughout the rest of the book.
:18 Now at the end of the days, when the king had
said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in
before Nebuchadnezzar.
It’s time for their senior dissertation.
The ultimate “final”.
:19 Then the king interviewed them, and among them
all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore
they served before the king.
:20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the
king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and
astrologers who were in all his realm.
:21 Thus Daniel continued until the first year of
King Cyrus.
:21 the first year of King
Cyrus
539 BC
:20 matters of wisdom and
understanding
wisdom – chokmah – wisdom; skill (in war); wisdom (in administration); shrewdness,
wisdom; reasoning skills and thought process
understanding – biynah – understanding, discernment; insight
(Da 1:20 NLT) Whenever the king
consulted them in any matter requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, he found
them ten times more capable than any of the magicians and enchanters in his
entire kingdom.
:12 Please test your servants
Lesson
Test me
Daniel is so confident in God’s ways being best that he can confidently
say, “Put me to the test”.
That says to me that Daniel has been living under God’s ways.
This isn’t his first time doing what God wants.
He already knows that God’s ways are best.
Pass the test yourself first
Sometimes we get wrong notions of what God wants for us (like God wants
everyone wealthy and healthy)
We step out and fail miserably in front of others, not
because God failed us, but because we got it wrong.
Learn God’s ways. Test them. Prove to yourself that His ways are right.
Daniel’s not worried he’s going to fail the test because he has lived his
whole life doing things God’s ways. He
already knows God’s ways are best.
Challenge others to test you
Paul wrote,
(1 Co 11:1 NKJV) Imitate
me, just as I also imitate Christ.
This is really putting your faith out there.
This means that people have to be up close and personal
enough to see how you live your life.
They need to see whether or not you’re genuine.
Yield to God’s tests
Sometimes the
“test” involves the difficulties we are facing.
Christians are often asking God to rescue them from their
difficulties, their “tests”.
Yet sometimes God wants us to go through these “tests” so
others can see that God is really at work in our lives.
Paul wrote,
(2 Co 4:11 NKJV) For we who
live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also
may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
Sometimes that means that people will see Jesus best in me
when I am going through my most difficult times.
Think of Paul
and Silas, being arrested in Philippi for casting a demon out of a girl, having
been beaten and thrown into prison.
(Ac 16:25–30 NKJV) —25 But at
midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the
prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so
that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors
were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep
and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his
sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying,
“Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” 29 Then he called
for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he
brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
Do you think the way that Paul and Silas handled
themselves in their “test” impacted others?
People are watching you.
They want to see how you’ll handle your test.
And
what must you do to be saved? You
need to trust in Jesus.