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:

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37. 604 BC - Daniel 2 Times of the Gentiles

Time:  604 BC
Place:  Nebuchadnezzar's palace
Event:  Nebuchadnezzar's First Dream

The Book of Daniel records Nebuchadnezzar's two big dreams.

Daniel Chapter 2 talks about his first dream.

Daniel 2:1 "In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams.  His spirit was troubled and his sleep left him."

Homework:

Take out your Timeline Graph and let's fill in Chapter 2.

Let's note down a few insights here:

• This event happened while Daniel was still in his 3 years of training program

• As you can see God's judgement came upon the Israelites because they had spiritually degenerated into gross idolatry.   The Israelites had already begun in captivity in Babylon (605 BC)  with the second group coming in 7 years time (597 BC)  and then the impending destruction of Jerusalem only 18 years away (586 BC).

• Now God chooses a new path to reveal his revelation. This is the beginning of the "Times of Gentiles", a term that our Lord Jesus uses in the Gospel.

• This prophetic revelation is given through this Gentile king, Nebuchadnezzar.

• The prophecy is not just for the Gentiles but for everyone including the Israelites, and God chooses Daniel to be the instrument to interpret these dreams.

Tomorrow we will talk about his first dream.

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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.


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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.

:)

20. Daniel 1:1-2 Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem

Time:  605 BC
Place: Jerusalem to Babylon
Scripture:  Daniel 1:1-2


The Book of Daniel begins with the King of Babylon conquering Jerusalem, deposing its king, and taking some of its royal and noble young men captive.

"And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand." (Daniel 1:2)

This phrase has deep spiritual significance.  Read this sentence carefully.

Here is the historical context:  God had prophesied long ago to the earlier King, Hezekiah, that the nation would be delivered to Babylon.  (2 Kings 20:16-17; Isaiah 39:5-6).  And the years had passed.  Did people take God's word to heart?  In fact, a century has passed.  People had forgotten God's words.  God sent prophets continuously to Jerusalem to warn the nation of their disobedience.  The people were stiff-necked and did not repent.  Continuous warnings were given that if they continued to disobey, judgment would come on the nation.

The time has come -  Judgment is at hand.

Judgment has coming upon Jerusalem.  "And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand." (Daniel 1:2)  The people of God were delivered into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.

Imagine!  God actually delivered His people into the hands of the enemy.

This is the consequence of sin of disobedience.  Can you feel the pain in God's heart?


Nebuchadnezzar plundered the temple and took "part" of its treasures "to decorate the house of his own god"(Dan 1:1-2).  Nebuchadnezzar not only was an enemy to Israel but he was also an enemy to Yahweh God.

Nebuchadnezzar did not have in mind to destroy the temple at this time. He wanted the nation of Israel to surrender to Babylon. So this was not a complete conquering of Jerusalem as "only part" of the vessels were taken back to Babylon.

God was giving time for the nation of Israel to repent.  Jeremiah warned the nations that they either completely surrender to Babylon or they will be wiped out in Jerusalem which eventually was the path they chose.

From history, we know what happened to the nation of Israel. They did not heed God's warnings. 

• It was a sad page in history when the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed by fire finally 19 years after this first siege in Jerusalem.

• For the next 19 years, Jeremiah continued to warn the nation to repent.  Before God's judgments come, He warns again and again to give time for individuals and the nation to repent.  No judgment of God ever comes without warnings.

• There were 19 years for the Israelites to repent!  Time was given to them!  How quickly those 19 years pass by and Jerusalem finally fell in 586 BC.

How readily are we to heed to these warnings and repent quickly of our ways before the judgment comes?


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15. The Three Dates of the Exiles

Time:  622 - 586 BC
Place: Jerusalem & Babylon
People:  Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel

When we study Daniel, we need to be aware of the 3 prophets that Yahweh God raised up to shepherd His people during this tumultuous time.

They all experienced the three dates of the Babylonian captivity when Israelites were driven out of their land to Babylon:

605 BC 1st Exile - Daniel 1:1-7

Daniel and other members of Judah's elite were taken into captivity.

597 BC 2nd Exile - 2 Kings 24:10-11, 13; 2 Kings 24:14,16; 2 Chron 36:9,10

Ezekiel along with 10,000 men of valor were taken into captivity.  King Jehoiachin along with other members of the royal family were taken to Babylon.

586 BC 3rd Exile - 2 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 36:17-21

After a siege of lasting approximately one and a half years, Jerusalem was conquered and destroyed. Most of the people were taken into captivity along with articles from the temple. Jeremiah and  the poorest people remained.

Take out your Timeline Graph and fill in Ezekiel and Daniel's age when Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC.  While we know Ezekiel's age, Daniel's age is an approximate estimation.

Ezekiel's age: 36
Daniel's age:  34

Please Take Note:  This is the first time in history when Israel as a nation was driven to a Gentile world.


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10. Ezekiel was among the 2nd Exile

Place:  Chebar River, River of Babylon
Time:  597 BC 

Ezekiel 1:1, "In the 30th year, in the fourth month, on the 5th day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. On the fifth day of the month (it was the 5th year of the exile of King Jehoiachin),  the word of the Yahweh came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.

Ezekiel  was among the exiles with King Jehoiachin.   Jehoiachin was carried off  to Babylon in 597 BC.  (2King 24:15)

The word of Yahweh came to Ezekiel in the 5th year of the exile of King Jehoiachin, which is 592 BC.  Ezekiel 1:1 tells us that Ezekiel was 30 years old when he began his prophetic ministry when the word of Yahweh came upon him.  So Ezekiel was 25 years old in 597 BC.

Please take note that Ezekiel was at Chebar River when he saw the vision.  Chebar River is mentioned 8 times in the book of Ezekiel.

Ezekiel often comes to this Chebar River of Babylon because the exiles lived there.  "And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar River, and I sat where they were dwelling."

Tel-abib was located about 75 miles southeast of Babylon near the ancient city of Nippur.


Homework:

Take out your timeline graph and let's fill in the following 2 points:

1.  Ezekiel
2.  Ezekiels' age - 25

As we study Daniel, we also need to study the Book of Ezekiel alongside.

• Ezekiel was a contemporary prophet of  Daniel.   
• He was a little bit older than Daniel.  
• In Jerusalem, he sat under the prophetic ministry of Jeremiah for 25 years.  
• At the peak of his youth, he was exiled to Babylon along with 10,000 Israelites.  
• 5 years later, he started his prophetic ministry when he turned 30 in Babylon.
• From the graph, you can see that Ezekiel's ministry lasted for about 22 years, shorter than Daniel.

:)

4. Daniel is among the First Exile - 605 BC

Daniel 1:1-6

In the 3rd year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ... 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....to stand in the king's palace....Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah.


Time: September 605 BC
Place: Jerusalem

In 605 BC,  Nebuchadnezzar deported the first group of Israelites to Babylon.

The Bible tells us that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah were among the first exiles.  They came from royal and noble families and were given an oppportunity to be trained to serve in  King Nebuchadnezzar's palace.

These were mainly teenagers.

We can guess that they must have been in their growing teenage years.

Homework:

Take your Timeline Graph out to put "Daniel" in the timeline.

• While we do not know the exact age of Daniel, the Bible tells us that he is in his youth.  Let's take an educated guess and say Daniel is approximately at the age of 15.  

• It's important that you see the age of Daniel as we move along in the Book of Daniel.

• So if Daniel was around 15, we can project backwards that Daniel was born around the year 620 BC in the land of Judah. This is why in my Timeline graph, I started Daniel's strip at around 620 BC.

You know, Daniel lives in a 'special time' of the days of Judah. My beloved, a significant event happened in 622 BC.  Do you know what it is?  God did an amazing act in that year for the Israelites!  You need to bear these important insights to heart to get involved into the life of Daniel.  Daniel did not become a man of God by accident at all!  :)

We need to look into the history not for the sake of history knowledge but to gain spiritual insights into the "special time" in which Daniel lived and how God worked out His salvation plan for His people.  In this way, we will be able to draw spiritual principles to understand how God works out His salvation plan in our times.

:)

3. 605 BC - The Book of Daniel begins at Jerusalem

Daniel 1:1

In the 3rd year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

The Book of Daniel begins at Jerusalem.

Place:  Jerusalem
Time:  September 605 BC 

Daniel 1:1 tells us a significant event - Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, came to besiege Jerusalem. This took place in September, 605 BC. How do we know?  It is the  3rd year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah.

Here are the following series of events in Nebuchadnezzar's life in the year 605 BC.

• 605 BC -  Nebuchadnezzar leads an army against Egypt in the Battle of Carchemish.  Egypt is defeated. 

• 605 BC May-June - Carchemish destroyed.  

• 605 BC August - Nebuchadnezzar learns of his father's death so he returns to Babylon to assume the crown as king of Babylon.

• 605 BC September - Nebuchadnezzar returns to Palestine, attacking Jerusalem and takes a few of the choicest of the people back to Babylon.  This is known as the  "1st Exile".

Take out your timeline graph and fill in the 605 BC Box.

The 1st exile takes place in the year Nebuchadnezzar was crowned as King of Babylon - 605 B.C. 

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2. King Nebuchadnezzar to King Cyrus

In our last post, we came to see who these 4 reigning Kings were in the Book of Daniel.

King Nebuchadnezzar -  43 years
King Belshazzar  - 14 years
King Darius - 3 years
King Cyrus - 6 years


If we look at the timeline again, we see a GAP between Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar?

This GAP is from the period of 562 - 555 BC.

Nebuchadnezzar:  605 - 562 BC
??? :                     562 - 553 BC
Belshazzar:          553 - 539 BC
Darius:                539 - 536 BC
Cyrus:                 536 - 530 BC

During the GAP, 4 different kings (Nebuchadnezzar's sons) reigned for a very short time and they are not recorded in the book of Daniel.  We need to look into the history books to fill in this missing pieces.

The 4 Kings (562 - 553) are:

1. Evil Merodach       562-560 BC
2. Neriglissar             560-556 BC
3. Labashi - Marduk   556 BC
4.  Nabonidus             556-553 BC

As you can see from the above table, Belshazzar is actually the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar.  He was quite young when he reigned.  His immaturity and wickedness led him to the final fall of Babylon.  We read about this in Daniel 5.

Now we can appreciate the political climate Daniel was in during the Babylon days.  Who would have thought that the great Babylonian Empire who boasted of its greatness would crumble so quickly, almost overnight.

After the fall of Babylon, the Medo Persian Empire conquered and ruled for another 200 years before Greece Empire took over.

Daniel lived through the transition of the Babylonian Empire to Persia. 

From the Book of Daniel, we witness how the Babylonian kings always listened to the advice of  the humble prophet Daniel and how the Babylonian kings recognized Yahweh God is the God who rules over all the earth.  And even after the fall of the Babylonian Empire, Daniel's testimony was so great that even Cyrus the Great was touched by God. What is amazing is that Cyrus the Great issued the Cyrus Edict in 536 BC to let the Jews to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem.  God was working behind the scene all this time.

Hallelujah!  Great is our Yahweh God who works out His wonders in His time!

:)

1. The Four Kings in Daniel's Time

We will proceed the study of Daniel in an interactive workshop format.  Instead of just passively reading, you are going to "think" through this timeline graph as we work on this worksheet together.

First, look at the four color strips with a Letter in each one of them:

The Purple strip:  N
The Green strip: B
The Brown strip: D
The Turquoise strip: C

These Letters signify the beginning letter of the 4 Kings reigning during Daniel's time.

Each letter is the beginning letter of the name of the 4 Kings.

Find out who these Kings are in the following passages:

Daniel 1:1 

Daniel 5:1

Daniel 9:1

Daniel 10:1

This tells us that Daniel lived through 4 different kings in his time.  

Can you guess how many years there are from Daniel 1 to Daniel 10?

This is very important to our study in understanding the Book of Daniel in the context of these 4 reigning Kings.

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