July
27, 2014
Introduction: “Several verses indicate that the writer is Daniel (Daniel 8:15,
Daniel 8:27; Daniel 9:2; Daniel 10:2,
Daniel 10:7; Daniel 12:4-5),
whose name means "God is my Judge." He wrote in the autobiographical
first person from Daniel
7:2 on, and is to be distinguished from the
other three Daniels of the OT (cf. 1Chronicles 3:1; Ezra 8:2;
Nehemiah 10:6). As a teenager, possibly about fifteen years old,
Daniel was kidnaped from his noble family in Judah and deported to Babylon to
be brainwashed into Babylonian culture for the task of assisting with the
imported Jews. There, he spent the remainder of a long life (eighty-five years
or more).”
****
“The book begins in 605 B.C. when
Babylon conquered Jerusalem and exiled Daniel, his three friends, and others.”
****
“Daniel
was written to encourage the exiled Jews by revealing God's program for them,
both during and after the time of Gentile power in the world. Prominent above
every other theme in the book is God's sovereign control over the affairs of
all rulers and nations, and their final replacement with the true King.”
MacArthur Bible Commentary (John MacArthur)
·
Daniel
(“God is my judge”), Hananiah (“Yah has been gracious”),
Mishael ("Who is what God is?") and Azariah (“Yah has helped,")
·
Belteshazzar (“Beltis protect the king!”), Shadrach (“servant
of Sin”), Meshach (“the shadow of the prince”) and Abed-nego (“servant of Nebo”)
July
25, 2014
“…
a local Mosul official, Zuhair al-Chalabi, told al-Sumaria News on Thursday
that Prophet Daniel’s tomb was also destroyed. While Daniel is considered to be
a prophet by Muslims, he is not mentioned in the Quran.
‘ISIS implanted explosives around Prophet
Daniel’s tomb in Mosul and blasted it, leading to its destruction,’ he told
Al-Sumaria News.”
Evaluate What
Others a Demand (Daniel 1:3-5)
3 Then the king
ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of
Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles,
4 youths in whom was
no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with
understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the
king's court; and he ordered him
to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.
5 The king appointed
for them a daily ration from the king's choice food and from the wine which he
drank, and appointed that they
should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the
king's personal service. NASB
Verse
3:
“It is
probable that the king presumed that among the royal youths who had been made
captive there would be found those of most talent, and of course those best
qualified to impart dignity and honor to his government,”
Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
“…children of
Israel, but such as were of the blood royal, or of the king of Judah's family,
or some way related to it; or, however, that were of princely birth, the
children of persons of the first rank,”
John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
Verse
4:
“Nebuchadnezzar...weakened
Jerusalem's prospects by exiling the cream of its youth, and he prepared for
the future by giving them a thoroughly Babylonian education.”
The
Preacher’s Commentary
“The
Chaldeans were distinguished chiefly for such sciences as these:
(1) Astronomy.
(2) Astrology.
(3) Magic; soothsaying; divination; or
whatever would contribute to lay open the future, or disclose the secrets of
the invisible world.”
Albert
Barnes, Notes on the Bible
Verse
5:
·
Nebuchadnezzar appears to have used several tactics in order to
conform these youths to Babylon’s culture: 1. Isolation, 2. Indoctrination, 3.
Compromise and 4. Confusion (Suggested by the Preacher’s Commentary)
Act Boldly On
Principle (Daniel 1:8-10)
8 But Daniel made up
his mind that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food or with
the wine which he drank; so he sought permission
from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.
9 Now God granted
Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials,
10 and the commander
of the officials said to Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king, who has
appointed your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking
more haggard than the youths who are your own age? Then you would make me forfeit
my head to the king." NASB
Verse
8:
“There were certain foods used by the
Babylonians, such as the flesh of swine, the flesh of the hare, and of certain
fish, that were unclean, and when these came from the king’s table, if Daniel
ate them, he would be breaking the law of Moses given in the Book of Leviticus,
and thus he would be defiled.”
The
Biblical Illustrator
“The chief reasons why Daniel would not
eat meat from the royal table were probably these three: -
1. Because they ate unclean beasts,
which were forbidden by the Jewish law.
2. Because they ate, as did the heathens
in general, beasts which had been strangled, or not properly blooded.
3. Because the animals that were eaten
were first offered as victims to their gods.”
Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible
Verse
9:
“God was the
author of the favor which was thus shown to Daniel. It was by a controlling
influence which he exerted, that this result had been secured, and Daniel
traced it directly to him.”
Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
·
It
was probably Daniel’s desire to honor God through obedience to His word that
pleased God to give him favor and success is his request.
Verse
10:
“…it is as if
he should say, I could freely out of respect to you grant you your request;
were it not for duty to my lord the king,
…
I shall commit a trespass,
of which I shall be found guilty, and be condemned to die,”
John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
Be Prepared For
Tests (Daniel 1:12-15)
12 "Please test
your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and
water to drink.
13 "Then let our
appearance be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths who
are eating the king's choice food; 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 their appearance seemed better and they were fatter than all the youths
who had been eating the king's choice food. NASB
Verse
12:
“The word used
signifies anything sown, all kinds of roots, herbs, and fruits;”
John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
Verse
13:
“…the rosy
faces and vigorous health of Daniel and his friends may illustrate, by a
picturesque example, a large truth-that God suffers no man to be a loser by
faithfulness, and more than makes up all that is surrendered for His sake.”
Expositions of Holy Scripture (Alexander MacLaren)
Verse 14-15:
“The sentence
is not intended to assert that their faces merely were fatter than those of the
other youths of their rank and circumstances, but that their whole body was so.
This contrast of reference is brought out in the Septuagint paraphrase. Any one
looking on the Assyrian and Babylonian sculptures, and comparing them with the
sculptures and paintings of Egypt, will observe the relatively greater
stoutness of the Assyrians. In the eunuchs especially, one cannot fail to notice the full round faces and the double chins of
those in immediate attendance on the king. Among savage nations and
semi-civilized ones, corpulence is regarded as a sign of nobility.”
The Pulpit Commentary
Trust God For a
Wisdom (Daniel 1:17-19)
17 As for these four
youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom;
Daniel even understood all kinds of
visions and dreams.
18 Then at the end of
the days which the king had specified for presenting them, the commander of the
officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar.
19 The king talked
with them, and out of them all not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael
and Azariah; so they entered the king's personal service. NASB
Verse
17:
“As they
prospered in their bodies, they succeeded in their studies, and improved in
their minds, and became great proficients in all kind of lawful and useful knowledge;
not owing so much to their own sagacity and diligence, and the goodness and
ability of their teachers, as to the blessing of God on their instructions and
studies; for, as all natural, so all acquired parts are to be ascribed to God;”
John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
“…seeing very
remarkable visions of future things, and of interpreting dreams; and this not
by rules of art, … but by the gift of God;”
John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
Verse
18:
·
After
the three years of training
·
All
of the youths, not just Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and
Azariah.
Verse
19:
“…whatever may
have been the result on the others, the historian means to say that these young
men rose to higher eminence than they did, and were permitted to stand nearer
the throne. The phrase “stood before the king,” is one which denotes elevated
rank.”
Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Proverbs 22:29
Do you
see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand
before obscure men. NASB
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