The Book of

Now that we have Ezekiel under our belt, we can look at the timing of the events in Daniel, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel as well as 2nd Kings and Chronicles in order to grasp the timing of all these events, as well as the relationships between the leaders and . This will give us a deep insight into the geopolitical climate of the time.

We know that King Josiah was one of the very few Kings that “did well in the sight of the Lord”. 2 Kings 22:1-12. The People of Israel at that time had gone so far into Idolatry that they did not know the Law existed! Josiah finds the Law and to make a long story short there is a massive revival in the land. He destroys all the Idol worship and restores Judaism in the Land. Daniel and his three Friends are brought up during this radical revival of Judaism. We also know that Josiah died in battle against Pharaoh Necho of Egypt Circa 400 BC. The people made Jehoahaz his son king and he ruled for three months. Pharaoh removed Jehoahaz and replaced him with when he was 25 years old. Immediately after this General Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh Necho at the battle of Carchemish basically eliminating Egypt as a world power. And while all this was going on Nebuchadnezzar’s father dies and he becomes the King of while in the field fighting wars. After he destroyed Egypt he came to Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 36:1-8 by this time Jehoiakim had been ruling for about 3 years. Nebuchadnezzar takes captives and part of the vessels from the House of God. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah are taken as captives to Babylon when they were teenagers. After about the 8th year of his reign Jehoiakim rebels against Nebuchadnezzar. During this rebellion Daniel and his three friends are serving in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. Jerusalem is in rebellion to the king of Babylon for 3 years and then it falls for the second time. By now Jehoiakim is dead and Jehoiachin his son is King. Nebuchadnezzar takes more captives loots the city and takes everyone of any value and only leaves the homeless and liberals. He makes Zedekiah king. Ezekiel is part of the captives that were taken during the second siege of Jerusalem. While all this is going on Babylon’s advisory leadership is basically Jewish.

The was probably written before 330 BC.

It is the most hated book by atheists due to its accurate prophecy of the history of the world.

It is the book that I always go to when I have to debate the existence of God. Atheists try to discredit the book by claiming it had 3 authors and was written at different times explaining the accurate prophecies. The book was written in two languages. Aramic and Hebrew. This was the proof to the atheists that the book was a fraud.

When the were discovered, there was a fully intact copy of Daniel that dated back more than 2000 years. The book was exactly the same as what we have today. This proved that the prophecies were actually prophecies and not a fraud.

The book has two authors. Chapter 4 was actually written by King Nebuchadnezzar.

Based on the visions that Daniel received from the Lord, he started a secret society of astronomers and keepers of knowledge which eventually were referred to as Maggi where we get the word Magician,

meaning one having secret Knowledge. Their prime purpose was to keep track of the time and the stars to determine the time the Lord was coming.

Daniel and his friends were teenagers when they were taken as slaves to Babylon. They were quickly promoted to high levels in the government. People don’t give ancient societies enough credit. We see that in Chapter 1 Nebuchadnezzar want attractive intelligent men from each conquered nation to be trained in the Chaldean language in order to serve before the king. We tend to gloss over this when we are reading but let’s ponder it for a minute. When you are a world absolute ruler, you need to communicate with your subjects. Every order that Nebuchadnezzar gives has to be translated into every language in his kingdom so their duties were mostly translating. However there is another interesting use for them. When you work internationally you realize that different cultures approach problems and solutions differently. If you have a problem and go to an Arab, A Jew, a German, and a Chinese, you will get 4 different solutions to the same problem. So having advisors from every region of his kingdom would give him many different perspectives and approaches to issues at hand. Pretty smart.

Daniel served in the court of Nebuchadnezzar all the way to King Darius thru several very turbulent government turnovers. When the king of Persia took over Babylon, Daniel came before him with a letter written to him by name in Isaiah 300 years earlier. In the letter the Lord tells Cyrus that he was created and given Babylon for the purpose of releasing the Jews.

As we have read, the is always very careful to paint an accurate picture of the people it portrays. We read about the flaws and mistakes as well as the great deeds and faith. Daniel and his three friends are the only Characters in the Bible where there are no flaws described and no mistakes. Later on we will see that this is because in the allegories he represents the perfect bride of Christ. In fact as we saw in Revelation God has 4 groups of people in this world. The true church, The Untrue Church, The 144,000 witnesses (not Jehovah’s) and the Believing Jews. We see later that three out of four groups go through the tribulation. So who are these Groups?

The true church: represented by Daniel Needs no Justification Getting Raptured.

The untrue Church: People that are doing God’s work but are compromised and rejected by God.

Zach 5:5-11, Matt 7:22-23

The 144,000 faithful that Guide the Jews through the Tribulation: Rev 7:3-4

The Jews who accept Jesus as the Messiah during the tribulation: Rev 12:17

Armed with these facts we can read Daniel and try to get a fresh metaphorical perspective.

Dan 1:1-8

This is important later. Where were the vessels of the house of God placed by Nebuchadnezzar?

What does this tell us about Nebuchadnezzar’s regard for the God of Israel?

What does the description of the people that qualify to serve before the King tell us about the Babylonian value system?

Let’s look at the Metaphor here. They are forced to live in the capital of Idolatry but choose not to defile themselves. Just because we live in the land of idolatry and messed up values do we have to be a part of it? Can there be consequences to choosing not to be a part of the land’s practices?

Daniel 1:9-21

What kind of meat do you think the king’s meat was?

What do you think Daniel and his friends choosing to make a stand in this situation tell us about their convictions?

What do you think Pulse is?

We see here that God gave them wisdom above the wisdom of the Idol worshipping wise men.

In fact they were so reliable and wise that the other wise men were basically obsessed with destroying them.

Another interesting thing that we can observe is that these 4 have their convictions tested constantly. After each test there is a reward. And the test keep getting tougher and tougher in sequence and the rewards greater and greater. What can we glean from this observation that can pertain to our daily life? Luke 16:10 we have to be faithful and uncompromising where we are in order for God to move us up. Example.

Daniel 2:1-11

Describe an Absolute ruler

Why do you think the King made this demand of his wise men and why is it mentioned that this was in the King’s second year?

Explain the 3 years of terror followed by the befriending celebration. We see this with Solomon, Adexerxies, Nebuchadnezzar, and several other kings in the Bible.

Can you see that this king is a bit different in his attitude towards the wise men, Sorcerers and Magicians? Note that he is accusing them of being corrupt. Could he be using this as an excuse to “clean house”?

Daniel 2: 12-23

Who does Daniel Say sets up kings? If we have a problem with our leaders whom should we go to?

Notice that both Daniel and the “evil” wise men acknowledge that only the God that does not dwell with men can reveal the king’s vision. Does this imply that the “evil” wise men have “gods” that they go to that dwell with men? Where do we see evidence today of people who openly worship demons?

Describe the experiences that the missionaries have had in India.

Daniel 2:24-30

Let’s compare the Babylonian attitude of Arioch with the Godly attitude of Daniel.

Daniel went to Arioch and told him that he could reveal the king’s dream. Yet when Arioch comes before the king, He takes as much credit as he can. In fact it is safe to call it grandstanding.

When Daniel speaks to the king, he takes all focus off of himself and puts it where it belongs on God.

Daniel 2:31-49

Gold Head =Babylon global rule where the King ruled absolutely with no limits

Silver = Mede Persian Global Empire. King ruled absolutely but could not reverse himself. They were inferior to Babylon in that there were politics involved and therefore compromises made.

Brass= Greece global empire Alexander the great and his four generals

Iron= Roman Empire very brutal and crushed everything in its path.

Ten Toes: Ten nation confederacy (now) According to Hal Lindsey and others the ten nation confederacy is the EU However, Eu has basically become Muslim and has 28 nations in it. Nowhere near 10. They’re gone! BOF: There is another Organization that Mimics the Roman Empire. As of today Russia, Albania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania are members. If they get Germany, turkey and Italy, they will constitute the entire ancient Roman Empire. And if the Antichrist comes out of the old Soviet Union it becomes a very natural fit.

Note the absolute respect that Nebuchadnezzar had for the God of Daniel!