47. The Messianic Kingdom Endures Forever

Scripture:  Daniel 2: 44

“In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.

46. The Stone Cut Without Hands

Keep in mind the fact that the image is not smitten by the stone until after the stone is cut out of the mountain, without hands.

The wind blows the gold, silver, bronze and iron away,leaving nothing behind.

Then the stone grows and fills the earth, thus in turn becoming a mountain of itself.

The prophet Isaiah says:

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Isa. 2:2, 3.

“Cut out without hands,” without human aid, obviously points

45. The Stone

Time: 604 BC

Place:  King's Palace

Scripture:  Daniel 2:34-35; 44-45

What Smites the Image?  The Stone

  

The Image & The Stone

Daniel 2:34-35

• While you were watching, a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. 
• It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 
• Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer.
• The wind swept them away without leaving a trace.

But the Stone that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

The Interpretation of The Image & The Stone

Daniel 2:44-45

·        In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people.

·        It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 

·        This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.

In our previous article, we have seen the four successive worldly empires ruling the earth.  These dominant world powers have come and gone just as God said they would.  

Daniel 2:44 "And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed."  This Kingdom that shall never be destroyed is the Messianic Kingdom, established by Yahweh God  at the second coming of Jesus.  

We are living in extraordinary times to this great climax for the final act of the Rock, cut not by human hands, destroying all the worldly empires.

Tomorrow, we will look at more spiritual principles so that we can see how all these apply to our lives.

:)

43. The Great Image & Its Interpretation

Date:  604 BC
Place: King's Palace
Scripture: Daniel 2:36-45


Read Daniel 2:36-45

36 “This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation.

37 You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory,

38 and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold.

39 Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.

40 And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these.

41 And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay.

42 And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle.

43 As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay.

44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,

45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

You can watch the video here:

:)

36. King Nebuchadnezzar

Daniel Chapter 2 begins with these words:  "In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams.  His spirit was troubled and his sleep left him."

The entire chapter talks about his troubled dream and how Daniel finally told him his dream and interpreted it for him with God's wisdom.  At that time Daniel was still in the middle of his training. In our next few articles, we will expound on Nebuchadnezzar's  troubled dream.


Today, we will talk about the man Nebuchadnezzar.


Nebuchadnezzar was a tremendous soldier, a statesman, a politician and an amazing architect.

Nebuchadnezzar had a great military mind.  He was the one who took his army and overthrew the Assyrian Empire at the Battle of Carchemish.  Assyria was finished. He even chased the Egyptians all the way back to Egypt and engulfed Israel taking the first group of captives with him in 605 BC.

He designed many gigantic buildings and all the wonders of Babylon that we know today.  Even the great hanging garden was air conditioned, something that is unbelievable in a primitive society.  As you can see, Nebuchadnezzar built  an incredibly modern city of  Babylon as he developed his great Empire.

Nebuchadnezzar worshiped the god of  Marduk in Babylon. 

He was the patron deity of the city of Babylon.  

Nebuchadnezzar built a Marduk Temple for people to worship his god.

Nebuchadnezzar ruled for 43 years.

Book of Daniel teaches us that ultimately God is the one who rules in human history.


:)

35. Daniel living in 'extraordinary times'

Daniel's days were marked with 'extraordinary' times witnessing many 'great historical events'.  

• He experienced the great spiritual revival years when the Book of the Law was discovered in the Temple in Josiah's reign in 622 BC.

• He was nurtured under the preaching of Jeremiah.

• As a lad, he saw the collapse of Nineveh, the mighty and capital city of the Assyrian Empire in 612 BC.  

• Daniel's life encompassed the entire era of the Babylonian kingdom.  He was born possibly around 620 BC - 625 BC, the time when the Babylonian nation was born.  He lived all the way to the reign of Cyrus, who destroyed the  Babylonian kingdom forever and brought in the Kingdom of the Medes and the Persians. 

• Daniel served Nebuchadnezzar during the golden kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar that lasted for 43 years.

• Daniel being a foreigner served in the highest official capacity in the governments of two successive world empires - from Babylon to Media-Persia.

God raises up his man in times of crisis.

Today we are also living in a time of crisis.  Sometimes we give excuse to ourselves that we live in difficult turbulent times, therefore it is difficult for us to stand up and live out our faith.  Look at Daniel.  He was a man of tremendous courage.  He was a man with fearless spiritual commitment to Yahweh God.  He could never be bought with money and power as Belshazzar attempted on him.  He was a man that was not corrupted by power and authority.  He was a man of prayer who knew how to pray and get through to God. He was a man who loved God and beloved by God.  He was a man of crisis and lived through the difficult times in history, and his life 'shone forth' like the stars in the sky.

Daniel 12:3 "But those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above."

Let us not make excuses for ourselves anymore.

Will you also become wise in this generation?
Will you make that choice for God today?

God help us to have many Daniels in these last days.

:)

34. Dan 1:21 Daniel remained until 1st year of King Cyrus

Daniel Chapter 1 ends with these words:  And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.

2 Chronicle 36:22-23 ends the book of history with these words:  In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, Yahweh moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:

“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “‘Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may Yahweh their God be with them.’”

Daniel was there throughout the 70 years of captivity and was present even in the court of Cyrus when Cyrus liberated the people to return home to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. What a glorious moment that is!


It is obvious that Daniel plays a vital role during Cyrus' reign. 

• Daniel had read what Jeremiah had prophesied about the "70 years of captivity". 

• Daniel Chapter 1 begins with 605 BC when Daniel  was carried off as a slave by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon.

• By the time of Cyrus reign, Daniel realized that the 70 years of captivity was coming to an end.

• Daniel would have laid before Cyrus about the prophecy of Jeremiah that at the end of 70 years, the people would return to Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 29:10, "For thus says Yahweh: When 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

• Daniel would have laid before Cyrus about the prophecies spoken through Isaiah that the people would return to Jerusalem.  

Isaiah 44:28, "who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,”  and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”’

Can you  picture Daniel at an old age in his late 80's talking to Cyrus about these prophecies?

• Imagine - Isaiah was ministering in the 8th Century BC (740 BC - 701 BC).  157 years before Cyrus was born, Isaiah had  a prophecy containing this monarch's name.

• Surely, 157 years later, this heather ruler named Cyrus  came on the throne.

• Cyrus decree was issued in 536 BC to let the exiles return to Jerusalem.

Cyrus is mentioned 23X in the Old Testament.

Isaiah refers to Cyrus as Yahweh's “shepherd” (Isa 44:28) and Yahweh's “anointed,” (Isa 45:1) who was providentially appointed to facilitate the divine plan.

Read Isaiah 45.  God would lead this monarch to “subdue nations” and “open doors”.  He would make “rough places smooth" to help the Hebrews to return to their homeland.  

The fulfillment of these plain and specific predictions is set forth in 2 Chronicles 36:22, 23 and Ezra 1:1-4, 7, 8; 3:7; 4:3.

:)

31. Dan 1:18-20 "None were equal" & "10 Times Better" Part 1

Time:  605 BC
Place:  King's Court
Scripture:  Daniel 1:18-20


Daniel 1:18-20

At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.  The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service.  In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.

 
The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah;


Chapter 1  tells us that Daniel and his friends are on a different level from the others.  

• These 4 people go past the minimum and they reach standards for themselves that exceed the norm.  
• These 4 people stand above the crowd.  
• These 4 people don't choose the good.  They choose the best.  
• These 4 people  stand firm in their convictions and beliefs to please God above all else.  
• They are uncompromising people that go past the crowd.  
• Their performance and wisdom are a cut above the rest because they choose to live at a level of total commitment to God that is beyond the rest of the other Israelites who were also there for the 3 years of training.  
• Even the older magicians and enchanters with all their experiences in the whole kingdom do not match up to them.

What a testimony!  

They just shine out like the stars forever.

• The king only needed to talk to these young men to recognize their great character and quality of life.  From his conversation with them, he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.

• The king questioned them in every matter of wisdom and understanding and discovered they were 10 times better than the others.

Tomorrow, we will look at Part 2 :)

29. Daniel 1:10-26 TEST your servants for 10 Days Part 1

Time:  605 BC

Place:  King's court

Daniel 1:10-16

10 and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.”

11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 

12 “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 

13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” 

14 So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. 

15 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food. 

16 So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.

Notice Daniel was NOT passive in this matter of 'not defiling himself.'

• Daniel saw through the difficult situation of the steward and then addressed his legitimate concerns

• Daniel was not unreasonable and insistent

• Daniel was firm, gracious and persistent with his principle

• Daniel took the initiative to suggest a workable plan that would not put the steward in crisis

• Daniel was a man of faith.  This seed of faith springs forth from a pure heart of 'not defiling' himself. 

How is Daniel's Faith manifested?

1. 'put us to the test' - our faith needs to be put to the tested
2. time is needed for the test - 10 days
3. he gives a proposal: instead give us vegetables and water 

The steward then consented to Daniel regarding this new proposal.

When we face awkward situations, we must look to God for wisdom not to be insistent, but have the wisdom to be flexible enough to let our faith be tested and come up with a wise proposal.

:)

28. Dan 1:9 - 21 And God Gave.....

Time:  605 BC
Place: King's Court

Today, I want to share with you how God acts when His people dares to stand up to live a holy life and not defile themselves.

Daniel 1:8 - Daniel takes the step of faith to live up to the holy calling. He resolves not to defile himself and so refuses the pleasure of food from the King.


Step of faith often requires some actions on our part.

1.  Daniel Spoke Up
2.  Daniel Asks


**Whenever we act in faith and stand up for God, God responds**

God always responds!

1.  Daniel 1:9  God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the enuchs.
2.  Daniel 1: 17 God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom...


I will be short today because I want you to meditate on these 2 verses: "God gave..."


In later articles, I will be expounding more on God's actions in blessing His people when we respond to Him in faith.




God responded and blessed Daniel and his 3 friends remarkable ways.

The same for you if you resolve not to defile yourself and live a live a holy life.

:)

25. Daniel 1:8 Resolves not to defile himself Part 1

Time:  605 BC
Place:  King's Court
Scripture:  Daniel 1:8


Here is a Spiritual Challenge to all of us:

Daniel 1:8  -  Daniel 'resolved' that  he would 'not defile himself' with the King's food or with the wine that he drank.  Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him 'not to defile himself.'

Dan 1:6 "Among these....."  There was a  small group of captives offered with the King's food and wine, not just 4 of them.

So here are these young captives being fed with the same meat the King eat!  Imagine!  And they get to drink the wine that he drinks!  The king's food and wine can be compared to a buffet of food in hotels where you get a variety of the best choice of food and wine.  Wine was expensive in those days, so Daniel and his friends could have just let loose, and let themselves enjoy the pleasure of life which they were entitled to, just like all the others.

Why would anybody object to this?  Would you object to eat the King's meat and drink the King's wine?  All this is paid for and you don't even need to pay one cent.  They can dine and feast like princes and sons of the monarch.

They are given the golden opportunity to live a royal life of plenty and luxury.  It is a living standard far above what they had back home in Jerusalem.

Here is Daniel in the new world.   He could have chosen to live this new luxurious lifestyle and nobody would question him.  There was nobody to watch over him from his past.  After all, it was the king's offer for him to have the best food and wine for the 3 years to come.


Would you object to this great offer?  When in Rome we do what the Romans do.  When in Babylon, do what the Babylonians do.  Follow the customs, the lifestyle, the food and the fashion of the day.  What they do, we do. What they think we think.  How they act, we act.  Where they go, we go. We all want to be accepted in the 'norm'.


Look at the 2  different reactions in this group:

1.  Most of the captives in this group did NOT give it much thought and accepted the king's offer.

2.  But Daniel declined the offer!

     Why?  Why?  Tell me Why.

The answer is in Dan 1:8 ... he resolved he would not defile himself.  "Defile" is a very strong word.  Why would the king's food defile him?

What does it mean when it says "Daniel resolves not to defile himself"?  

We will look into this tomorrow.

24. Daniel 1:6-7 Daniel & 3 Friends

Time:  605 BC
People:  Daniel and his 3 friends


Daniel 1:6-7

Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah.  And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.


Please note that there were other Israelites in this group.  The author just wants to focus on these 4 people in the rest of the chapter.

First, let's take a look at their names.  

Their Hebrew names are meaningful to them for they represented God.  

• Elohim is God 
• Yahweh is God's Name.

You will see either 'el' or 'yah' attached to their names:

Daniel -      God is my Judge

Hananiah -  Beloved of Yahweh

Mishel -     Who is as God

Azariah -     Yahweh is My Help

Obviously these children had godly parents who gave them names reminding them of Yahweh Himself and His goodness.




Now, King Nebuchadnezzar changed their identities by giving them Chaldean names in order to assimilate them quickly to the Chaldean culture and their gods. 

Previously their names proclaimed their allegiance to God ( the "el" and the "iah" in their names).  Now, their new names identified them with the gods of the Chaldean .

In each instance of the Babylonian substituted names, they all exalted the heathen idols and names of Chaldean gods.  


With new identities, the king hope that these youths would forget about Yahweh God and wipe out their spiritual heritage back home in Jerusalem.  

With new names given, they would forget their roots and adopt to the new Chaldean philosophies and the paganistic idolatrous life-style.

King Nebuchadnezzar did all he could to "indoctrinate" these young captives to forget about their past and wipe out their memory of Jerusalem.  Daniel and his friends were to be 'Babylonianized' into the pagan culture.  Pressure was put upon them to totally conform and shape into the 'Babylonian' mold of life.

They were under a spiritual pressure cooker to worship the pagan gods.  They were pressured intellectually, psychologically and socially to compromise to go for the world.

:)

But Nebuchadnezzar failed!  


Daniel and his 3 friends were wise people and did not allow the bombarding of outward & environmental changes to stray their hearts from remaining loyal to God.  The Babylonians could change their names, education, diet, and homes, but  they could never change their hearts and devotion to God unless they allow it to happen. The world wants to 'conform' us.  God 'transforms' our hearts.   As the wisdom of Proverbs say, "Keep you heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." Proverbs 4:23


:)

23. Daniel 1:5 King's Food & Wine

Time:  605 BC
Place:  King's palace in Babylon


Daniel 1:5

The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. 

The king truly well treated these young men by providing them 2 great benefits:

• 'the King's food and wine' everyday 

This was no cafeteria food that we ate in our college days.  They were given the opportunity to eat gourmet food every day!  The Hebrew captives would be physically well nurtured with the best Babylonian food and wine.  Not only was it just 'food and wine' but that they would learn the Chaldean social manners of eating and drinking in the king's court. This is the best way to assimilate them to the Chaldean paganistic culture.

• 3 years of  the 'best' education and 'it's free' 

They would be under a rigorous program of training in the Chaldean education which would have included science, mathematical astronomy, astrology, divination, magic and rituals of all kinds.  The best education was provided for them in the king's court.

The purpose of all this is to train up these young people  to serve in the king's court with all the other high ranking officers.

Wow!!  Isn't this the dream of  many young people?  Isn't this the dream of becoming successful in this world?  What great benefits!  Isn't this what many Christians look for in their jobs?

As you can see, all this presented both an opportunity and a spiritual challenge to Daniel and his friends.  

• The opportunity of working for the king and his government meant that they would be well provided for with good lives for all their years.

• They would be spared from slavery and hard labor.

• The spiritual challenge now is whether they are able to stand firm before Yahweh God and not compromise to worship the gods of the Chaldeans in the pagan world.  

Will they be able to stand up for their faith?  We will find out tomorrow.

If you were in their shoes, how would you handle such a situation?

Where are the people of God today who know how to act wisely to make the right decision that pleases God?  Are you one of them?

:)

22. The Aramaic Language

During the 70 years in Babylon, Daniel and the captives spoke Neo-Babylonian which eventually evolved into Aramaic.  





When the captives returned home to Jerusalem 70 years later, most of them had forgotten their mother tongue Hebrew and spoke Aramaic.  Their children and children's children never spoke Hebrew but Aramaic. Aramaic became their native language.  Few people learned Hebrew because they wanted to understand the Law of Moses.

Later when Ezra read from the Book of the Law in Hebrew to the Israelites, it was necessary to translate the readings to Aramaic (Neh 8:8).  When Ezra read it in Hebrew, the people could not understand it.  Ezra had to give the meaning in Aramaic. 

Eventually even  Old Testament Scripture had to be translated and explained in Aramaic called the "Targums".  

Aramaic actually displaced  Hebrew as their everyday language.   In the times of Jesus, Aramaic was the spoken language.

Hebrew was a lost language for nearly 2500 years until the State of Israel came into existence on May 14, 1948.   Hebrew became the official language.  At that time, many immigrants going back to Israel from all over the world spoke different languages, and now they had Hebrew as their common language.  If you go to Israel today, Modern Hebrew is the language they speak.   It is not identical to Biblical Hebrew but it is similar. 

This is remarkable!  A language that went dead in Daniel's time actually came back to life in our times.  


Book of Daniel - Structure

It's interesting that in the Book of Daniel that a certain section (around 6 chapters) was written in Aramaic - Dan 2:4 to Dan 7.  The other 6 chapters (Dan 1, 8-12) were written in Hebrew.  If we read the context of these chapters, we will discover that the sections concerning the Israelites were written in Hebrew and the sections concerning the Gentile world were written in Aramaic.

:)

21. Daniel 1:3-4 Young Exiles

Time:  605 BC
Place:  Babylon
People:  Daniel and his 3 friends; King Nebuchadnezzar; Ashphenaz


Daniel 1:3-4

Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.

This first group taken to Babylon were those in the kingly line descended from David. It is possible that Daniel had royal blood in him.  This was prophesied a hundred years ago by Isaiah to Hezekiah in Isaiah 39:1-8.

1.  The requirements for this 1st group of exiles:

• youths
• no blemish, ie. no physical defects
• well favored
• good looking
• skilfull in all wisdom and knowledge, ie. the top of their class
• competent to stand in the king's court

King Nebuchadnezzar was selective and chose the cream of the crop from Jerusalem to go for 3 years of training in the hope that they can serve him in his kingly court in Babylon.  These were children of captivity.  The anguish and grief of the youth separated from their homeland must have been indescribable.  They were not going for a 3 year holiday. It could be a permanent separation from their family and homeland forever. 

2.  Learn a new language - they were to learn the language of the Chaldeans and their literature.

"Chaldeans" is a term used interchangeably with "Babylonians".   As the Babylonian Empire grew, the Chaldean science and astrology dominated the Babylonian Empire. The Chaldeans had a powerful language in that day. They comprised of two dialects of Sumerian and Kassite which is similar to the Hittite language.

This was not easy at all for these young people. They had to begin all over again in a new school of Chaldean learning in this new environment.

As we study the Daniel Chapter 1, bear in mind that these young people did not have parents or pastors around to guide them in their growing up teen age years now.  They could be the most rebellious and unhappy teens to complain about their situation in a pagan world.  While they were well protected at home in Jerusalem with spiritual nurturing and guidance from spiritual elders, they are now put in an environment that is spiritually hostile to the Most High God, Yahweh.

Do you remember what it was like in your teens?

Or perhaps you are in your teens now, tell us what it is like growing up in this world?

When I grew up in my teens, I asked myself these searching questions:

• Who am I?
• What am I doing here?
• Who is God?
• What does God want me to do?
• What is the meaning of life?
• Why is life so tough as a teens?
• How do I make friends?
• Why do I want to be popular?
• How do I make the most of my life for God?
• What is God's will in my life and how do I participate?

The answers to these questions did not come right away. I went through long years of searching and questioning to finally experiencing God, letting go of my will and let God's will be done in my life.

There was a small book that had made a profound impact on me as a growing up teenager.  The book is called  "Bloom where you are planted." 

Often times, our ideals and thoughts carry us to faraway places and lands thinking that we are "better off" with "better education", "better opportunities", "better family background", "better friends", "better this" and "better that" etc.  It is all 'romantic' thinking.

I have long discovered that the 'better place" to be is to be content to 'bloom where God plants us' wherever and whenever. This is where God's will is manifested.

Daniel and his friends are embarking on this spiritual journey of 'blooming where God plants them' in Babylon.  Is Babylon a "better place" to grown up?  Is it going to be an easy road?  

We shall see that the road to eternal life is truly 'narrow' and 'hard'.  And Daniel proved faithful all the way through to the end when he was thrown into the 'lion's den' for his uncompromising faith to Yahweh God at an old age in his 80's.   

How urgent it is for us to study Daniel and follow his steps to love God with all our hearts to the end of our days.  "Bloom where you are planted by God."

:)

19. The Twelve Chapters of Daniel

Time:  605 BC - 536 BC
Place:  Babylon
Scripture: Daniel - 12 Chapters


As we study the book of Daniel, you will discover that the Book of Daniel is not written in chronological order.  The structure of the book is not designed to read from the chronological order of events taking place.

Daniel was writing to the people in his time so the people knew the times of events taking place so it is easy for them to absorb the content in the book of Daniel by jumping back and forth as Daniel related different events to them.

Daniel's book also has a prophetic element to our times.  So, for us later people who desire to understand the spiritual significance of the historical events taking place "in context", we need to work out the 'chronological order' of the Book of Daniel.   Only in this way will we be able to draw out spiritual principles taking place in their times so as to apply to our times.

The chronological order  in the Book of Daniel:

605 BC - Chapter 1
603 BC - Chapter 2
580 BC - Chapter 3
570 BC - Chapter 4
553 BC - Chapter 7
551 BC - Chapter 8
539 BC - Chapter 5
539 BC - Chapter 9
538 BC - Chapter 6
536 BC - Chapter 10, 11, 12


We will proceed our study in the above chronological order.
Today, we will begin with Daniel Chapter 1. :)


Take out your Timeline Graph and put in "1" for Daniel Chapter 1.

Read Daniel Chapter 1 in your devotion today! :)


:)