Notes and Questions for April 19, 2009
This week David will be teaching on chapter 4. I have included the below notes and questions for your use this week.
Please read Daniel 4:28-37 in its entirety
1. What happened to Neb during this passage?
2. Based on what we have discussed thus far in Daniel WHY do you think this has happened?
Please re-read Daniel 28-30
3. What is happening in these verses? (refer to last week’s lesson if necessary on prior verses)
4. What is the significance of verse 28?
5. What is the timeline between verse 27 and verse 29?
6. What did Neb exclaim in verse 30? Why is it important?
7. What is the last relationship or accomplishment you took pride in that you built?
8. What is the last thing, possession, or act that you gave all credit for it to God? Discuss with your spouse.
The sin at the root of Neb’s tyranny was not touched by his attempts to amend his ways. Though eager to avoid judgement, he still retained his pride, taking to himself all the credit for the remarkable achievements he really owed to God’s grace (v 30). Perhaps he refrained from boasting during his preprieve (v. 29), but he never realized his indebtedness to God for all his blessings and his dependence on Him for all his power. He retained a profound admiration for what he had done in beautifying his capital. In fact, his works there were most impressive. The celebrated Ishtart Gate (excavated by Robbert Koldewey and the Deautsche Orientgestellschaft c. 1900) seems to have been erected by him, along with the enameled-brick facing, displaying a procession of dragons and bulls. The East India House Inscription, now in London, refers to about twenty temples he rebuilt or refurbished in Babylon and Borisippa, and also to a vast system of fortifications and large shipping docks.
On one of his inscriptions, Neb boasted, “The fortifications of Esagila [the temple of Marduk] and Babylon I strengthened, and established the name of my reign forever:. To this inscription he appended a prayer to Marduk: “O Marduk, lord of the gods, my divine creator, may my deeds find favor before thee…Thou are indeed my deliverer and my help, O Marduk; by thy faithful word which does not change, may my weapons advance, be sharp and be stronger than the weapons of the foe!” There are many more items including a hymn to Marduk and other inscriptions. Nevertheless this official expression of deference to the patron of deity of Babylon had in it a large measure of the pride of one who by his own achievements deserved the special favor of Heaven. Moreover it was devoid of any appreciation of Yahweh, the one true God, who had so marvelously revealed Himself to Neb in previous chapters.
Read Verses 31-32
9. What has God been saying to you lately?
10. What is the sin or sins He has been impressing in your life? Take a moment to pray to God and ask Him, if He hasn’t already, to reveal to you what you must give up to follow Him?
11. What is it that you are holding on to that is YOURS?
After boasting that he has built Babylon the Great as a residence for himself by his own power (v 30), Neb heard an unexpected word from Yahweh. Because of his gratitude he was going to experience the weight of God’s wrath and the fulfillment of the punishment threatened in his fateful dream as in verses 31 and 32. Then followed the prediction that this degredation would last seven years (iddanin), at the end of which he would recognize the truth that god alone is Sovereign over heaven and earth and bestows power on whomever he chooses. What he should have learned from his vision of the great image and from the deliverance of the three Hebrews from the firery furnance would be indelibly impressed on him.
Read verse 33
12. What was your life like before you accepted Christ as your savior? Really…
This verse describes the wretchedness of Neb’s condition – abhorred and despised even by his lowliest subjects, reduced to the state of a grazing beast in a field. Physically he became like the brute beast he imagined himself to be, as his skin toughened into hide through constant exposure to outdoor weather at all seasons. (The temperature in modern Iraq ranges from a high of 110 or 120 degrees in summer- usually with high humidity- to a low of well below freezing in winter.) Most particularly the hair of his head and his body, becoming matted and coarse, looked like eagle feathers; his fingernails and toenails, never cut, became like claws. So the boasting king, a victim of what is known as baonthropy, sank to a subhuman level.
Read verses 34-35
13. When is the last time you felt utterly helpless before God?
14. What did you do about it (what was your response)?
15. What did Neb do in response to God? Be specific…
16. When is the last time you did these things?
Finally, at the end of the seven years of dementia, the Lord fulfilled His promise to restore the reason of the humiliated king. By a miracle of divine grace, his brain was suddenly healed and his reason returned. He remembered what had happened to him and remembered God’s warning through Daniel’s interpretation and prediction. Honestly, and without resentment toward God, Neb faced the meaning of his chastisement and realized that everything Daniel had told him about the Lord was true. Overwhelmed by this demonstration of Yahweh’s limitless power, Neb prostrated himself before the Ruler of the earth and Heaven (again). For at last he knew his powerlessness before the Almighty and his dependence on him for everything.
Neb’s first response to God for restoring his sanity was to praise, honor, and glorify Him as the eternal, omnipotent Sovereign over the whole universe. He was now ready to give God all the glory for everything he has achieved as king of the Chaldeans and the rebuilder of Babylon.
Neb next exalted God. First of all, he acknowledged God’s unending existence and everlasting power as the ruler of the universe in contrast to man in his creaturely frailty. He also honored God as the ruler whose kingdom, unlike all the human empires, would never end. As the dream image in chapter 2 had taught him, even the mightiest and strongest realms would have their day and then perish.
Third, Neb acknowledged that despite all his boasted progress, man is as nothing before God (v 35). Apart from god, humanity is devoid of value or meaning and “regarded as nothing” (kelahasibin). At last Neb had learned the utter dependence of the creature on the creator.
Fourth, Neb saw that in His absolute Soverignty God is beyond the control of any of His creature and accountable to none of them for anything He chooses to do. The pot cannot ask the Potter, “what have you done” (ref Rom 9:20). The wisdom and holiness of the Almighty so far surpass the comprehension of mankind as to render presumptuous any criticism of God’s providences in managing His world.
Read verses 36-37
17. What has God done for you? Look around and make a list of what has been done for you. (Don’t forget items like relationships, air, your body, shelter, or your church).
18. How do you give credit to God? Who would know that you give credit to God? Do your kids know? Does your spouse, family, friends? WHEN AND HOW do you explicitly give credit to God?
Now that he had, in at least some basic form, begun the fear the Lord, Neb had found the clue to wisdom – an inestimable benefit of his seven-year chastisement. It qualified him for renewed leadership. The patience of his loyal subjects in care for their demented and tortured monarch was at last rewarded. No other leader had qualified to succeed him during the long interval. None could command the loyalty of the troops he had so often led to victory.
The tremendously important principle had to be established in the minds of the captive Jews, serving out their years of bondage in Babylonia. They might have well wondered whether the God of Abraham, Moses, and Elijah was truly alive and able to stand before the triumphant Gentile nations that had reduced His hold city, Jerusalem, to rubble and His holy temple to ashes. It would have been easy for them to conclude, as all the pagan observers assumed, that the Hebrew nation had been so completely crushed and uprooted from their native land because their God was too weak to defend them from the might of the gods of Babylon: Marduk, Nebo, and Bel. True, the warnings in Lev 26 and Deut 28 back in Moses’ day had been very clear that Yahweh would cast his people out of the Land of Promise should they ever prove unfaithful. But now they needed some definite demonstration that their Lord was the true and living God and that all the gods of the pagans were only idols. They needed a series of striking miracles to sustain their flagging faith and renew their waning courage a they waited for their deliverance from exile. The captive Jews needed to know that even the apparently limitless power of Neb was under the control of the Lord God Almighty, who still cared for them and had a great future for them in their land. Therefore, each episode recorded in the first six chapters concludes with a triumphant demonstration of God’s soverieignty and faithfulness and His ability to crush the pride of unconverted mankind.
19. When do you feel like God is not in control?
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Notes and Questions for March 15, 2009
Notes and Questions for March 15, 2009
This week we talked a bit about integrity. We discussed the meaning of integrity where the outside matches the inside. Certainly we see that Daniel has attempted to match his internal love and clear humbleness to God to the outside. We then turn to Daniel’s friends. Are we really surprised that Daniel’s friends would not bow down to an image?
We also discussed distractions and how, even though many of them are very tempting and sound very good, they are just distractions from our mission as a man or woman of God.
I will reiterate what we asked in one of the questions on the worksheet before we get into the next verses. If you can talk about this with your spouse that would be great:
What is your mission?
Take a little bit to answer this. If you need a view on mission think about those in the bible, your relatives, or even political figures. What is their mission? What do you perceive it to be?
This week we will review how Daniel’s friends had consistency in their mission for God.
Please read the section – Daniel 3:8-18
1. What are the main points of this passage and why?
2. How does this passage relate to the prior 2 chapters? What or who has changed and who has not?
3. What have you been asked to conform to in your world?
The three who refused to acknowledge the golden image were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the close companions of that newly promoted high official Belteshazzar. Those stubborn fools were disobeying the royal decree! The knew that everyone was supposed to conform to it. With death staring them in the face, how could they think of disobeying? Didn’t they know that everyone was watching them and that they could not possibly escape the fiery furnace? How could they think of giving up their high office, the royal favor, and even their lives for the sake of their eccentric religious beliefs?
Read verse 8-12
4. When did these people come forward?
5. Who did these people denounce?
6. Why would someone denounce the Jews?
7. What do they say to Neb? How does this match chapter 1 and 2?
8. Why do they remind him of his command?
9. Why does verse 8 say they generally denounced the Jews and then verses 10 through 12 specifically denounce them?
10. What is the charge brought against them? Is it not following the command or not worshipping the gods? How are these intertwined?
After the public worship, some malicious men (v8) were only too glad to report to the king about the disobedience of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These informers are called “Chaldeans”. Unlike chapter 2, chapter 4 does not introduce Chaldeans as one of a long list of soothsayers and sages. Here they approached the king as members of the master race (gubrin is used only of men of importance and high standing in the community, and gubrin kasadain there fore implied Chaldean nobles rather than a class of mere astrologers or soothsayers). This heightens the appropriateness of their reference to Daniel’s three Hebrew associates in government service as Jewish magnates, with a contemptuous emphasis on their despised nationality quite akin to the derogatory tone assumed by King Darius’s officials in 6:13 as they label Daniel “one of the exiles from Judah”.
With a show of zeal for the king, the Chaldeans quoted his edict word for word (v 10-11_ and then related how these three recalicitrant Jews had dared (v 12) to “pay not attention to” (la-samu layk teem – literally “They have not paid regard to you”) the express command of “King Nebuchadnezzar” (v 9); they had refused to bow down and worship the golden image!
Read verses 13-15
11. Why was Neb so mad? Be specific. Is it because they disobeyed, because they made him look bad, because they ….?
12. What does Neb do in verse 14? What is he asking?
13. What offer does Neb make in verse 15?
14. What is the repeated threat in verse 15?
15. What is the final question from Neb to the three at the end of verse 15? What is his real intent in this statement? What is he saying about a God they may worship?
Neb’s response was all the Chaldeans could have hoped for. He became furious and ordered the offenders to be brought before him (v 13). He could not understand that they had defied him, after his many favors and in the face of such a dreadful penalty. Half incredulously he stared at them and asked whether they really had disobeyed his decree (v 14). Then controlling his anger momentarily, he stopped questioning them and magnamimously gave them an opportunity to save themselves. He would order the musicians to play again so the three men might prove their loyalty and obedience by worshipping the image then and there (v15).
But the three friends of Daniel loved Yahweh more than life itself. Not only had they learned to recite the Shema – “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is on. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength: (Deut 6:4-5) – but they made it the center of their lives. For them the will and glory of Yahweh meant more than fame, position, or security. Loving Him with all their heart, they were ready to lay down their lives for Him. Such was the logic of genuine faith, somewhat as Paul the apostle later to say “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – to task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24). So these three refused to plead with Neb to make an exception for them.
Read verses 16-18
16. Do you need to defend yourself when people point out something they don’t like about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit or your beliefs? Why or why not?
17. Would this have been your response?
18. What is the significance of verse 17? How does this relate or conflict with verse 15 and the last question Neb asks them?
19. There is definitive resolve with these three about what they will and won’t do.
20. What is your resolve? What are you consistently known for?
21. If God does not provide what is perceived as good in your life or at the right time does that mean He isn’t involved or working?
22. If God doesn’t save these three is Neb correct and right in his ways, methods, and beliefs? Justify your answer
23. What are you scared of? Pain, death, loneliness, ….?
“O Nebuchadnezzar,” the three said “we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.” The Aramaic word order of v 16 places emphasis on the pronoun ‘we’ implying that it is the Lord Himself who will deal with this king who thinks he is sovereign on earth.
The next statement of the three men has been variously interpreted. Its opening clause is usually rendered “If it be so, our god…is able” (v 17). (NIV has “if we are thrown,…the God we serve is able.”) But a more appropriate rendering in this context would be “If our God exists (hen itay lahana, in which itay, like its Heb. Congnate yes, means ‘there is’ or ‘there exists’), whom we worship, he is able to deliver us from the furnace of burning fire; and from yoru hand, O king, he shall deliver.” Neb had made the mistake of deying Yahweh, saying “Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” (v 15). Like Sennacherib, who had derided Hezekiah’s trust in god by boasting that none of the gods of the other nations had ever been able to save their people from the might of Assyria (2 Kings 18:33). Neb had converted his confrontation with men into a contest with the Lord God Almighty. Neb’s doom and fall were sure, even though he had earlier served God’s purpose as a scourge to chasten God’s apostate people (Jer 27:6-8). Ungratefully he had scoffed at the very God who had granted him success in battle; therefore he was to undergo on humiliation after another, till he groveled in the dust before Israel’s God.
But the heroism of the three men went even further as they declared “But even if he does not deliver us we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods, or worship the image of gold you have set up (v 18). They were ready to be burned up in the firery furnace rather than betray the God they had totally surrendered their lives to. Scripture contains few more heroic words than “but even if He does not.”
Concerning this confrontation between Neb and the three Hebrews, in Ford’s commentary he says:
“The courteous but determined refusal of the Hebrews should be carefully observed. They had obeyed “the powers that be” as far as conscience permitted. They journeyed to the Plain of Dura. And right at the point where conscience shouted, “No further” they rejected the temptation to be arrogant in their non-conformity. As Daniel before them had been courteous in his request to follow his convictions, so these three verbally acknowledge Neb as king, while committing their ultimate allegiance to the King of kings alone (Acts 5:29; Matt 22:21).”
Before passing on to verse 19 next week we need to face the puzzling question of why Daniel did not join his three companions in disobeying the king’s decree. Several answers may be given.
Since Daniel is not mentioned in this chapter, he may have been absent from Babylon at the time, perhaps on government business in some other part of the kingdom.
He may have been closeted with other members of the king’s cabinet, working on legislative or military plans.
He may have been (as Wood suggests in his commentary) too ill to attend the public ceremony; we know 8:27 that sickness occasionally interfered with his carrying on with government business (also 7:28 and 10:8)
It may simply have been assumed that as the king’s vizier (prime minister, for his responsibilities amounted to that of high status 2:48, he was not required to make public demonstration of his loyalty by worshipping the image of his god. After all, there is no indication that Neb himself bowed down to the image. It may have been that he simply sat on his royal dais surveying the scene, with his closest friends and advisers at his side.
It is true that Daniel’s office as ruler over the capital province of Babylon (2:48 again) was not specifically listed in the seven categories of public official and none of the “wise men”, over whom Daniel had been made chief, were included in the call for this public ceremony. As a type of the accredited clergy serving under the state, they may have been exempted from this act of allegiance; their religious commitment would have been presumed to be beyond question. In other words, Daniel did not belong to any of the special groups of jurists, advisors, financial experts, or political leaders included in the terms of the call.
perhaps Daniel’s reputation as a diviner was so formidable that even the jealous Chaldeans did not dare attack him before the king.
This week we talked a bit about integrity. We discussed the meaning of integrity where the outside matches the inside. Certainly we see that Daniel has attempted to match his internal love and clear humbleness to God to the outside. We then turn to Daniel’s friends. Are we really surprised that Daniel’s friends would not bow down to an image?
We also discussed distractions and how, even though many of them are very tempting and sound very good, they are just distractions from our mission as a man or woman of God.
I will reiterate what we asked in one of the questions on the worksheet before we get into the next verses. If you can talk about this with your spouse that would be great:
What is your mission?
Take a little bit to answer this. If you need a view on mission think about those in the bible, your relatives, or even political figures. What is their mission? What do you perceive it to be?
This week we will review how Daniel’s friends had consistency in their mission for God.
Please read the section – Daniel 3:8-18
1. What are the main points of this passage and why?
2. How does this passage relate to the prior 2 chapters? What or who has changed and who has not?
3. What have you been asked to conform to in your world?
The three who refused to acknowledge the golden image were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the close companions of that newly promoted high official Belteshazzar. Those stubborn fools were disobeying the royal decree! The knew that everyone was supposed to conform to it. With death staring them in the face, how could they think of disobeying? Didn’t they know that everyone was watching them and that they could not possibly escape the fiery furnace? How could they think of giving up their high office, the royal favor, and even their lives for the sake of their eccentric religious beliefs?
Read verse 8-12
4. When did these people come forward?
5. Who did these people denounce?
6. Why would someone denounce the Jews?
7. What do they say to Neb? How does this match chapter 1 and 2?
8. Why do they remind him of his command?
9. Why does verse 8 say they generally denounced the Jews and then verses 10 through 12 specifically denounce them?
10. What is the charge brought against them? Is it not following the command or not worshipping the gods? How are these intertwined?
After the public worship, some malicious men (v8) were only too glad to report to the king about the disobedience of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These informers are called “Chaldeans”. Unlike chapter 2, chapter 4 does not introduce Chaldeans as one of a long list of soothsayers and sages. Here they approached the king as members of the master race (gubrin is used only of men of importance and high standing in the community, and gubrin kasadain there fore implied Chaldean nobles rather than a class of mere astrologers or soothsayers). This heightens the appropriateness of their reference to Daniel’s three Hebrew associates in government service as Jewish magnates, with a contemptuous emphasis on their despised nationality quite akin to the derogatory tone assumed by King Darius’s officials in 6:13 as they label Daniel “one of the exiles from Judah”.
With a show of zeal for the king, the Chaldeans quoted his edict word for word (v 10-11_ and then related how these three recalicitrant Jews had dared (v 12) to “pay not attention to” (la-samu layk teem – literally “They have not paid regard to you”) the express command of “King Nebuchadnezzar” (v 9); they had refused to bow down and worship the golden image!
Read verses 13-15
11. Why was Neb so mad? Be specific. Is it because they disobeyed, because they made him look bad, because they ….?
12. What does Neb do in verse 14? What is he asking?
13. What offer does Neb make in verse 15?
14. What is the repeated threat in verse 15?
15. What is the final question from Neb to the three at the end of verse 15? What is his real intent in this statement? What is he saying about a God they may worship?
Neb’s response was all the Chaldeans could have hoped for. He became furious and ordered the offenders to be brought before him (v 13). He could not understand that they had defied him, after his many favors and in the face of such a dreadful penalty. Half incredulously he stared at them and asked whether they really had disobeyed his decree (v 14). Then controlling his anger momentarily, he stopped questioning them and magnamimously gave them an opportunity to save themselves. He would order the musicians to play again so the three men might prove their loyalty and obedience by worshipping the image then and there (v15).
But the three friends of Daniel loved Yahweh more than life itself. Not only had they learned to recite the Shema – “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is on. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength: (Deut 6:4-5) – but they made it the center of their lives. For them the will and glory of Yahweh meant more than fame, position, or security. Loving Him with all their heart, they were ready to lay down their lives for Him. Such was the logic of genuine faith, somewhat as Paul the apostle later to say “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – to task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24). So these three refused to plead with Neb to make an exception for them.
Read verses 16-18
16. Do you need to defend yourself when people point out something they don’t like about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit or your beliefs? Why or why not?
17. Would this have been your response?
18. What is the significance of verse 17? How does this relate or conflict with verse 15 and the last question Neb asks them?
19. There is definitive resolve with these three about what they will and won’t do.
20. What is your resolve? What are you consistently known for?
21. If God does not provide what is perceived as good in your life or at the right time does that mean He isn’t involved or working?
22. If God doesn’t save these three is Neb correct and right in his ways, methods, and beliefs? Justify your answer
23. What are you scared of? Pain, death, loneliness, ….?
“O Nebuchadnezzar,” the three said “we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.” The Aramaic word order of v 16 places emphasis on the pronoun ‘we’ implying that it is the Lord Himself who will deal with this king who thinks he is sovereign on earth.
The next statement of the three men has been variously interpreted. Its opening clause is usually rendered “If it be so, our god…is able” (v 17). (NIV has “if we are thrown,…the God we serve is able.”) But a more appropriate rendering in this context would be “If our God exists (hen itay lahana, in which itay, like its Heb. Congnate yes, means ‘there is’ or ‘there exists’), whom we worship, he is able to deliver us from the furnace of burning fire; and from yoru hand, O king, he shall deliver.” Neb had made the mistake of deying Yahweh, saying “Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” (v 15). Like Sennacherib, who had derided Hezekiah’s trust in god by boasting that none of the gods of the other nations had ever been able to save their people from the might of Assyria (2 Kings 18:33). Neb had converted his confrontation with men into a contest with the Lord God Almighty. Neb’s doom and fall were sure, even though he had earlier served God’s purpose as a scourge to chasten God’s apostate people (Jer 27:6-8). Ungratefully he had scoffed at the very God who had granted him success in battle; therefore he was to undergo on humiliation after another, till he groveled in the dust before Israel’s God.
But the heroism of the three men went even further as they declared “But even if he does not deliver us we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods, or worship the image of gold you have set up (v 18). They were ready to be burned up in the firery furnace rather than betray the God they had totally surrendered their lives to. Scripture contains few more heroic words than “but even if He does not.”
Concerning this confrontation between Neb and the three Hebrews, in Ford’s commentary he says:
“The courteous but determined refusal of the Hebrews should be carefully observed. They had obeyed “the powers that be” as far as conscience permitted. They journeyed to the Plain of Dura. And right at the point where conscience shouted, “No further” they rejected the temptation to be arrogant in their non-conformity. As Daniel before them had been courteous in his request to follow his convictions, so these three verbally acknowledge Neb as king, while committing their ultimate allegiance to the King of kings alone (Acts 5:29; Matt 22:21).”
Before passing on to verse 19 next week we need to face the puzzling question of why Daniel did not join his three companions in disobeying the king’s decree. Several answers may be given.
Since Daniel is not mentioned in this chapter, he may have been absent from Babylon at the time, perhaps on government business in some other part of the kingdom.
He may have been closeted with other members of the king’s cabinet, working on legislative or military plans.
He may have been (as Wood suggests in his commentary) too ill to attend the public ceremony; we know 8:27 that sickness occasionally interfered with his carrying on with government business (also 7:28 and 10:8)
It may simply have been assumed that as the king’s vizier (prime minister, for his responsibilities amounted to that of high status 2:48, he was not required to make public demonstration of his loyalty by worshipping the image of his god. After all, there is no indication that Neb himself bowed down to the image. It may have been that he simply sat on his royal dais surveying the scene, with his closest friends and advisers at his side.
It is true that Daniel’s office as ruler over the capital province of Babylon (2:48 again) was not specifically listed in the seven categories of public official and none of the “wise men”, over whom Daniel had been made chief, were included in the call for this public ceremony. As a type of the accredited clergy serving under the state, they may have been exempted from this act of allegiance; their religious commitment would have been presumed to be beyond question. In other words, Daniel did not belong to any of the special groups of jurists, advisors, financial experts, or political leaders included in the terms of the call.
perhaps Daniel’s reputation as a diviner was so formidable that even the jealous Chaldeans did not dare attack him before the king.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Notes and Questions for March 8, 2009
Notes and Questions for March 8, 2009
Last week we saw how God can see the future and uses those in the bible to show us His sovereignty. He used even the non-believer Neb to reveal the future through his dream and Daniel to tell it.
This week we study how Neb forgot the greatness of Daniel’s God and obviously did not have a true conversion of faith to God. Don’t forget that last week Neb was prostrate in awe of God. Also remember that Daniel plainly told Neb that his interpretation did not come from him but from God.
This week, as we read through the bible in the new building, I am sure to be reminded of how clearly God speaks to us and yet we fall away on small and big things every day. We refocus ourselves on idols in our lives rather than persisting in our faith and refuge and the truth of His word. Because we all do this it is important to look to this week’s study as one where we need to be like Daniel and join arm in arm together in our fight against sin and separation from God through our spiritual disciplines. I am not talking about losing salvation if you are saved so please do not be confused. I am talking about losing out in the joy of our relationship with the one God we will be with for eternity. Remember John 10:10 as you think about what we must give up each day and week in our focus to fully and completely focus on Him.
Please read the section – Daniel 3:1-7
1. What are the main points of this passage and why?
2. So what is wrong with having a big image of gold erected and dedicated?
Despite Yahweh’s warning through the dream and interpretation that he would judge and destroy the idol-worshipping empires, Neb forgot his new religious insights and proceeded to force on all of his subjects – even the Yahweh-worshipping Jews – the worship of the patron god of the Chaldean government. This not only indicates the superficial nature of his earlier confession of Yahweh as “God of gods and Lord of kings” (2:47), but it also suggests an egotism tending toward megalomania. Yet we cannot be certain why he took this extraordinary step. He may have felt, like many pagans, that multiple loyalties were permissible in worshipping the gods. He may have seen nor more conflict between worshipping several different deities that between serving a local government and the central government. In any event, he laid down no requirement for his subjects to renounce or to cease private worship of their own personal gods; he simply demanded complete loyalty to the state, as represented by this public ceremony of prostration before his patron god (presumably Nabu). Failure to do this would not only amount to impiety and irreligion, it would also be treason.
Read verses 1 -3
3. What is being made?
4. What is happening in verse 2?
5. Who is coming to have the image dedicated?
6. Are these your favorite verses in the bible? Why or why not? J
Neb had the statue made of gold (i.e. covered with gold leaf). Actually, there was not enough gold in all of Babylonia to make a statue so large of solid gold. The erecting of the golden image undoubtedly reflected the symbolism of the dream-image in which the head of gold represented Babylonia. Perhaps Neb was motivated by a desire to fulfill the type. As to whom the status represented, it seems doubtful that it was the king himself (as some have suggested). We have no evidence that the statues of a Mesopotamian ruler were ever worshipped as divine during the ruler’s lifetime. Such practices may have been followed in the Egypt of Ramses II (though we have no decisive proof of this), but hardly in the Sumerian, Babylonian, or Assyrian empires. It is far more likely that the status represented Neb’s patron god, Nebo (or Nabu). Prostration before Nebo would amount to a pledge of allegiance to his viceroy, Nabu-kudurri-usur, i.e. Neb.
From the king’s standpoint, no reasonable man could refuse to give this token of loyalty to his sovereign and his government. The fairly recent date of the establishment of the Babylonian Empire as the successor to Assyria (at least in its southern half) made it appropriate for Neb to assemble all the local and provisional leaders from every part of his domain and, in essence, exact from them a solemn oath of loyalty, certified with a religious sanction by this ceremony of adoration of Babylon’s god. But if any officials refused to comply, they were to be immediately executed in the superheated furnace erected nearby.
The titles of the various ranks of government officials give and impression of a well-organized bureaucracy. 1) “the satraps” (from Old Persian - realm protectors) – who apparently were in charge of a fairly large realms; 2) “prefects” (from Akkadian – one who is appointed) – possibly military commanders but more likely lieut governors; 3) “goverors” from Akkadian – lord of administrative district) – indicating leaders of smaller territories like the province of Judea; 4) “advisers” (derived from Persian – counsel giver); 5) “treasurers” – treasure bearer; 6) “judges” (from old Persian – law bearer); 7) “magistrates” (from old Persian – over chief); and 8) “provincial officials” – to have dominion over, a general term for a governmental exectutive.
Five of these titles are apparently of Iranian origin, even though the scene for this episode is early in the reign of Neb (the median tongue might conceivably have contributed some loan words even back around 600 B.C.). We must conclude, therefore, that Daniel 3, in its final form at least, must have been composed after the rise of the Persian Empire (in 539); and the terms used must have replaced those that were actually employed in the Aramaic around the turn of the century. This agrees perfectly with the supposition that Daniel finished this book for publication around 532 B.C., when the new Persian title would have been current in the metropolis of Babylon.
At the same time it should be pointed out that by the second century B.C. (the Maccabean period), some of these Persian loan words had become obsolete and could not longer by correctly translated, at least by the Alexandrian Jews. This can only mean that the chapter 3 of Daniel must have been composed long enough before the second century for these words to have been forgotten – which might well have happened after a composition date in the 530s.
Read verse 4-7
7. what is significant about verse 4?
8. who is being commanded at this point?
9. In verse 5 what is the timing and what are they to do?
10. In verse 6 what is it that will happen if you don’t do what is commanded?
11. Who fell down and worshipped?
12. What do people fall down and worship besides the Lord these days?
13. What is a universal command for our society? Is there a universal response if you don’t follow that command. Take your time here and think about commands society has made…
14. What do you worship in your family? How would someone else know?
15. What would you do in this situation – be honest
16. If you would have fallen down what would be going through your mind? What would have been the witness if you didn’t?
In order to furnish a proper musical setting for the ceremony of worshipping the image, Neb enlisted the services of royal musicians, who played all the instruments then in use. The six instruments listed in verse 5 did not exhaust the list of different instruments, for “all kinds of music” implied that there may have been a good many others besides. It was this orchestra that was to give the signal for all the assembled throng to bow down and worship the golden statue, as a solemn declaration of their commitment to the Babylonian government and their willingness to incur diving wrath if they should ever break their oath of fealty. Nearby the furnace was roaring (verse 6) – a grim reminder of the dreadful alternative to compliance. The official leadership of every nation and district under Neb’s rule had to join in this act of worship on pain of death. Needless to say, there was a universal compliance when the music struck up (verse 7), and all the foreheads in the great multitude touched the ground at the same moment – except for three men.
Last week we saw how God can see the future and uses those in the bible to show us His sovereignty. He used even the non-believer Neb to reveal the future through his dream and Daniel to tell it.
This week we study how Neb forgot the greatness of Daniel’s God and obviously did not have a true conversion of faith to God. Don’t forget that last week Neb was prostrate in awe of God. Also remember that Daniel plainly told Neb that his interpretation did not come from him but from God.
This week, as we read through the bible in the new building, I am sure to be reminded of how clearly God speaks to us and yet we fall away on small and big things every day. We refocus ourselves on idols in our lives rather than persisting in our faith and refuge and the truth of His word. Because we all do this it is important to look to this week’s study as one where we need to be like Daniel and join arm in arm together in our fight against sin and separation from God through our spiritual disciplines. I am not talking about losing salvation if you are saved so please do not be confused. I am talking about losing out in the joy of our relationship with the one God we will be with for eternity. Remember John 10:10 as you think about what we must give up each day and week in our focus to fully and completely focus on Him.
Please read the section – Daniel 3:1-7
1. What are the main points of this passage and why?
2. So what is wrong with having a big image of gold erected and dedicated?
Despite Yahweh’s warning through the dream and interpretation that he would judge and destroy the idol-worshipping empires, Neb forgot his new religious insights and proceeded to force on all of his subjects – even the Yahweh-worshipping Jews – the worship of the patron god of the Chaldean government. This not only indicates the superficial nature of his earlier confession of Yahweh as “God of gods and Lord of kings” (2:47), but it also suggests an egotism tending toward megalomania. Yet we cannot be certain why he took this extraordinary step. He may have felt, like many pagans, that multiple loyalties were permissible in worshipping the gods. He may have seen nor more conflict between worshipping several different deities that between serving a local government and the central government. In any event, he laid down no requirement for his subjects to renounce or to cease private worship of their own personal gods; he simply demanded complete loyalty to the state, as represented by this public ceremony of prostration before his patron god (presumably Nabu). Failure to do this would not only amount to impiety and irreligion, it would also be treason.
Read verses 1 -3
3. What is being made?
4. What is happening in verse 2?
5. Who is coming to have the image dedicated?
6. Are these your favorite verses in the bible? Why or why not? J
Neb had the statue made of gold (i.e. covered with gold leaf). Actually, there was not enough gold in all of Babylonia to make a statue so large of solid gold. The erecting of the golden image undoubtedly reflected the symbolism of the dream-image in which the head of gold represented Babylonia. Perhaps Neb was motivated by a desire to fulfill the type. As to whom the status represented, it seems doubtful that it was the king himself (as some have suggested). We have no evidence that the statues of a Mesopotamian ruler were ever worshipped as divine during the ruler’s lifetime. Such practices may have been followed in the Egypt of Ramses II (though we have no decisive proof of this), but hardly in the Sumerian, Babylonian, or Assyrian empires. It is far more likely that the status represented Neb’s patron god, Nebo (or Nabu). Prostration before Nebo would amount to a pledge of allegiance to his viceroy, Nabu-kudurri-usur, i.e. Neb.
From the king’s standpoint, no reasonable man could refuse to give this token of loyalty to his sovereign and his government. The fairly recent date of the establishment of the Babylonian Empire as the successor to Assyria (at least in its southern half) made it appropriate for Neb to assemble all the local and provisional leaders from every part of his domain and, in essence, exact from them a solemn oath of loyalty, certified with a religious sanction by this ceremony of adoration of Babylon’s god. But if any officials refused to comply, they were to be immediately executed in the superheated furnace erected nearby.
The titles of the various ranks of government officials give and impression of a well-organized bureaucracy. 1) “the satraps” (from Old Persian - realm protectors) – who apparently were in charge of a fairly large realms; 2) “prefects” (from Akkadian – one who is appointed) – possibly military commanders but more likely lieut governors; 3) “goverors” from Akkadian – lord of administrative district) – indicating leaders of smaller territories like the province of Judea; 4) “advisers” (derived from Persian – counsel giver); 5) “treasurers” – treasure bearer; 6) “judges” (from old Persian – law bearer); 7) “magistrates” (from old Persian – over chief); and 8) “provincial officials” – to have dominion over, a general term for a governmental exectutive.
Five of these titles are apparently of Iranian origin, even though the scene for this episode is early in the reign of Neb (the median tongue might conceivably have contributed some loan words even back around 600 B.C.). We must conclude, therefore, that Daniel 3, in its final form at least, must have been composed after the rise of the Persian Empire (in 539); and the terms used must have replaced those that were actually employed in the Aramaic around the turn of the century. This agrees perfectly with the supposition that Daniel finished this book for publication around 532 B.C., when the new Persian title would have been current in the metropolis of Babylon.
At the same time it should be pointed out that by the second century B.C. (the Maccabean period), some of these Persian loan words had become obsolete and could not longer by correctly translated, at least by the Alexandrian Jews. This can only mean that the chapter 3 of Daniel must have been composed long enough before the second century for these words to have been forgotten – which might well have happened after a composition date in the 530s.
Read verse 4-7
7. what is significant about verse 4?
8. who is being commanded at this point?
9. In verse 5 what is the timing and what are they to do?
10. In verse 6 what is it that will happen if you don’t do what is commanded?
11. Who fell down and worshipped?
12. What do people fall down and worship besides the Lord these days?
13. What is a universal command for our society? Is there a universal response if you don’t follow that command. Take your time here and think about commands society has made…
14. What do you worship in your family? How would someone else know?
15. What would you do in this situation – be honest
16. If you would have fallen down what would be going through your mind? What would have been the witness if you didn’t?
In order to furnish a proper musical setting for the ceremony of worshipping the image, Neb enlisted the services of royal musicians, who played all the instruments then in use. The six instruments listed in verse 5 did not exhaust the list of different instruments, for “all kinds of music” implied that there may have been a good many others besides. It was this orchestra that was to give the signal for all the assembled throng to bow down and worship the golden statue, as a solemn declaration of their commitment to the Babylonian government and their willingness to incur diving wrath if they should ever break their oath of fealty. Nearby the furnace was roaring (verse 6) – a grim reminder of the dreadful alternative to compliance. The official leadership of every nation and district under Neb’s rule had to join in this act of worship on pain of death. Needless to say, there was a universal compliance when the music struck up (verse 7), and all the foreheads in the great multitude touched the ground at the same moment – except for three men.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Notes and Questions for February 22, 2009
Notes and Questions for February 22, 2009
Last week we saw how God used even the non-believer Neb to reveal His sovereignty. He also used Daniel and the situation He created to show Himself.
This week begins the interpretation of the dream. Step back for a minute and understand what happened before the interpretation. Don’t forget that Daniel specifically told Neb what the dream was. The dream’s interpretation is almost moot unless you can really sit back and take in the enormity of this. The interpretation then is something to pay close attention to. If the God of the universe is telling us something we must listen closely.
This week we will review what Daniel told Neb the dream means and how Neb reacted in verses 36 through 49 of Chapter 2. In the notes we will talk about the scholarly review of these items and what they relate to. I, as I have hopefully been very open about before, am NOT a bible scholar. In that, I will do my absolute best to study through this and understand what it means to us and will differ to much more learned scholars in our Church if necessary.
Let’s not be afraid to disagree or have debate and know that even the Pharisee’s who studied much of this were pretty much blind. Humbleness should, therefore, overtake us.
Please read the section – Daniel 2:36-49
1. What are the main points of this passage and why? Take your time here. Digest what is being said and think of what you would do after just being told your dream that no one else knew.
This section presents the foreordained succession of world powers that are to dominate the Near East till the final victory of the Messiah in the last days. There is so much material around the theories and how each has flaws or inconsistencies that if you would like, I will send you some links to review as well as have printed materials for borrowing. Bottom line, I have tried to ask questions of relevance and application and given you some basic history and interpretation ON the interpretation.
Read verses 36-38
2. Who is going to interpret the dream in verse 36?
3. What is the different between what Daniel says in verse 37 and what the soothsayers said to him when Neb first asked them to tell him the dream?
4. What is the main theme of verse 38?
5. What has God placed in your hands? List all things you can think of… spouse, children, job, apartment, what?
6. Do you see yourself responsible for what God has given you? Do you see that He has given it to you? Why or why not?
Verses 37-38 identify the golden head of the dream-image with Neb and the Babylonian Empire. The head comes first in the explanation (rather than the feet) probably because “head” (resah) is often used to mean “beginning” (at least in the form of Heb. Congnate ros); from this root the regular word for “beginning” (resit) is derived. For a despot like Neb, his government was the ideal type and was therefore esteemed as highly as gold. He exercised unrestricted authority over life and death throughout all Babylon. His word was law; no prior written law could challenge his will (v 38). Yet Daniel was careful to remind him that even this autocracy of his was under the almighty God. For only by his sufferance could Neb continue to draw breath; only by God’s decree could he exercise political power.
The first of four world-empires, then, was the Ne-Babylonian Empire of the Chaldeans that Neb, whose reign began in 605 B.C., was to rule over for about forty more years – till 562 or 560 B.C. But his empire did not last more than twenty-one years after his death. His son Evil-Merodach (Amel-Marduk in Akkadian) reigned two years only (560-558). Nerglissar (Nergal-shar-usur) reigned for years (560-556) and Labashi-Marduk only one (556). Nabondius engineered a coup d’etat in 555 and ruled until Babylon fell to the Persians in 539.
Read verse 39
7. What will happen after Neb is gone?
8. What will happen after you are gone? What ‘kingdom’ will rise after yours?
Daniel turned next to the other empires. About the second one (represented by silver) he said little except that it was “inferior” (ara minnak, literally, “beneath you”) to Babylon. From Neb’s standpoint the restriction on the monarch’s authority to annul a law once he had made it (6:12) was less desirable than his own unfettered power. The silver empire was to be Medo-Persia, which began with Cyrus the Great, who conquered Egypt but died in 523 or 522. After a brief reign by an upstart claiming to be Cyrus’s younger son, Darius son of Hystaspes deposed and assassinated him and established a new dynasty. Darius brought the Persian Empire to its zenith of power but left unsettled the question of the Greeks in his western borer, even though he did not conquer Thrace. Xerxes (485-464) his son, in his abortive invasion of 480-479, failed to conquer the Greeks. Nor did his successor Artaxerxes I (464-424) do this but rather contented himself with intrigue by setting the Greek city-states against one another. Later Persian emperors – Darius II, Artaxerxes II; Artaxerxes III, Arses, and Darius II declined still further in power. This silver empire was supreme in the Near and Middle East for about two centuries.
As for the third empire (represent by bronze), it was even less desireable from Neb’s standpoint; though Greece was to “rule over the whole earth,” its political tradition was more republican than its predecessor. The bronze empire was the Greco_Mecedonian Empire established by Alexander the Great, who began his invasion of Persia in 334, crushed its last resistance in 331, and established a realm extending from the border of Yugoslavia to beyond the Indus Valley in India – the largest empire of ancient times. After his death in 323, Alexander’s territory soon split up into four smaller realms, ruled over by his former generals (Antipater in Mecedon-Greed, Lysimachus in Thrace-Asia Minor, Seleucus in Asia, and and Ptolemy in Egypt, Cyrenaica, and Palenstine). This situation crystallized after the Battle of Ipsus in 301, when the final attempt to maintain a unified empire was crushed through the defeat of the imperial regent Antigonus. The eastern sections of the Seleucid realm revolted from the central authority at Antioch and were gradually absorbed by the Parthians as far westward ad Mesopotamia. But the remainder of the former Greek Empire was annexed by Rome after Antiochos the Great was defeated at Magneisa in 190 B.C. Macedon was annexed by Rome in 168, Greece as permanently subdued in 146, the Seleucid domains west of the Tigris were annexed by Pompey the Great in 63 B.C. Thus the bronze kingdom lasted for about 260 years before it was supplanted by the fourth kingdom prefigured in Neb’s dream-image.
Read verses 40-43
9. What is the main point of these verses?
10. What is the main point of verse 43? Why would it be important to us now and in this time in history?
Verse 40 describes this fourth empire, symbolized by the legs of iron. From a despotic standpoint, the Roman Republic was of far less value than gold, silver, or bronze; yet iron was the most suited to crush the opposing powers. Iron connotes toughness and ruthlessness and describes the Roman Empire that reached its widest extent under the reign of Trajan (98-117 A.D.), who occupied Rumania and much of Assyria for at least a few brief years.
Verse 41 deals with a later phrase or outgrowth of this fourth empire, symbolized by the feet and ten toes – made up of iron and earthenware, a fragile base for the huge monument. The text clearly implies that this final phase will be marke by some sort of federation rather than a powerful single realm. The iron may possibly represent the influence of the old Roman culture and tradition, and the potter may represent the inherent weakness in a socialist society based on relativism in morality and philosophy. Out of this mixture of iron and clay come weakness and confusion, pointing to the approaching day of doom. Within the scope of verse 43 are disunity, class struggle, and even civil war, resulting from the failure of the hopelessly divided society to achieve an integrated world-order. The iron and pottery may coexist, but they cannot combine into a strong and durable world-order.
An alternative view of the identity of the fourth empire has been proposed by Otto Zoeckler in his commentary on Daniel. Identifying the third empire as that of Alexander the Great, he took the fourth empire of Neb’s dream image to be that of the Seleudics – on of the four divisions Alexander’s empire was partitioned into (that of Seleucus I, c 311 B.C.). This would mean that the third kingdom (that of Alexander) lasted only 11 or 12 years, with an additional 12 years during which Perdiccas and Antigonus tried vainly to maintain the unity of the empire. Thus, it was from this fourth empire that the little horn , Atniochus IV, emerged. But such an identification of the fourth empire can hardly be reconciled with the description of the fourth kingdom as greater and stronger than the third. Could one segment of Alexander’s empire by considered more extensive than his entire realm? Or could it’s power be considered more formidable than that of Alexander himself – Alexander who never lost a battle? This is not a serious theory.
Read Verses 44-45 but just the first part of 45.
11. What is the mountain?
12. What does it mean the rock is carved out of the mountain?
13. Who is the rock?
14. What is destroyed?
15. What mountain is formed? Are the mountains connected?
These verses present the final scene. The rock cut form a mountain, the rock that becomes the fifth kingdom, rolls down from a mountain and smashes against the brittle feet of the great image and topples it over. It then reduces the entire monument – including the four metals – to dust, which the wind sweeps away, after which the rock becomes a mountain (kingdom) that fills the earth. In contract to the limited number of centuries the four man-made empires lasted, this fifth God-established kingdom is destined to endure forever – a realm never to be destroyed. Not only Daniel 7, but parallel passages leave us in no doubt that this fifth realm is the kingdom of God, ruled over by Christ and enduring eternally, even after its earthly, millennial phase, is over.
Read Verses 45 to 47
16. What thoughts do you have about God each day?
17. How REALLY do you respond to God each day?
18. What are God’s plans for you in the future? What if He did know your future? Would you live any differently?
Daniel closed his interpretation of the dream by assuring Neb that it was divinely inspired and absolutely trustworthy. Thus the God of heaven had graciously granted the king the knowledge of the future he had asked for. The baffling mystery had at last been unraveled by the spokesman of the one true God. The king could only acknowledge Yahweh as “God of gods”, the absolute sovereign over all the powers of heaven (even including the king’s own patron gods, Marduk and Nabu), and “Lord of kings” on earth, the true Lord of history. Moreover, the king acknowledged Yahweh’s supremacy in wisdom as being alone able to reveal the mysteries of the future, something no pagan god could do.
In token of his submission to Daniel’s God, Neb then bowed before Daniel and offered incense to him as if he were Deity. What a remarkable scene! The despot who but an hour before had ordered the execution of all his wise men was prostrating himself before the foreign captive from a third-rate subject nation! Even though he opposed the wisdom of the Chaldeans, this absurd monotheist (Daniel) had somehow found the right answer. Surely, therefore, his God was worthy of honor above all the other deities, who had completely failed to reveal the dream. The king’s praise to the Lord does not mean that he doubted the existence of other gods, much less that he had experienced any sort of conversion.
Read verses 48-49
1. What is your response when God reveals Himself to you? Name a specific situation in which God has revealed himself to you…
Since Daniel had so decisively proved himself a true prophet with access to the great God he worshipped, it was only logical for Neb to put him in charge of all the diviners at the court of Babylon. Hence he officially became “ruler” (literally “chief of appointed officials) over the whole bureau of wise men. It was also understandable that the king fulfilled his original promise in chapter 2 verse 6 and loaded him with gifts and royal honors. But that he went on to appoint Daniel civil governor of the entire capital province of Babylon – a post of highest importance in the political structure – was indeed noteworthy. Normally this position would be reserved for a Chaldean nobleman, a member, like Neb, of the master race. For a Jew from the Captivity to be so honored was unprecendented and shows how deeply his intelligence and integrity had impressed the king.
Daniel’s loyalty to his three friend was shown by his request that they too might be given high appointments. Of course, it strengthened Daniel’s hand to have his three trusted friends help him in his administrative duties.
Last week we saw how God used even the non-believer Neb to reveal His sovereignty. He also used Daniel and the situation He created to show Himself.
This week begins the interpretation of the dream. Step back for a minute and understand what happened before the interpretation. Don’t forget that Daniel specifically told Neb what the dream was. The dream’s interpretation is almost moot unless you can really sit back and take in the enormity of this. The interpretation then is something to pay close attention to. If the God of the universe is telling us something we must listen closely.
This week we will review what Daniel told Neb the dream means and how Neb reacted in verses 36 through 49 of Chapter 2. In the notes we will talk about the scholarly review of these items and what they relate to. I, as I have hopefully been very open about before, am NOT a bible scholar. In that, I will do my absolute best to study through this and understand what it means to us and will differ to much more learned scholars in our Church if necessary.
Let’s not be afraid to disagree or have debate and know that even the Pharisee’s who studied much of this were pretty much blind. Humbleness should, therefore, overtake us.
Please read the section – Daniel 2:36-49
1. What are the main points of this passage and why? Take your time here. Digest what is being said and think of what you would do after just being told your dream that no one else knew.
This section presents the foreordained succession of world powers that are to dominate the Near East till the final victory of the Messiah in the last days. There is so much material around the theories and how each has flaws or inconsistencies that if you would like, I will send you some links to review as well as have printed materials for borrowing. Bottom line, I have tried to ask questions of relevance and application and given you some basic history and interpretation ON the interpretation.
Read verses 36-38
2. Who is going to interpret the dream in verse 36?
3. What is the different between what Daniel says in verse 37 and what the soothsayers said to him when Neb first asked them to tell him the dream?
4. What is the main theme of verse 38?
5. What has God placed in your hands? List all things you can think of… spouse, children, job, apartment, what?
6. Do you see yourself responsible for what God has given you? Do you see that He has given it to you? Why or why not?
Verses 37-38 identify the golden head of the dream-image with Neb and the Babylonian Empire. The head comes first in the explanation (rather than the feet) probably because “head” (resah) is often used to mean “beginning” (at least in the form of Heb. Congnate ros); from this root the regular word for “beginning” (resit) is derived. For a despot like Neb, his government was the ideal type and was therefore esteemed as highly as gold. He exercised unrestricted authority over life and death throughout all Babylon. His word was law; no prior written law could challenge his will (v 38). Yet Daniel was careful to remind him that even this autocracy of his was under the almighty God. For only by his sufferance could Neb continue to draw breath; only by God’s decree could he exercise political power.
The first of four world-empires, then, was the Ne-Babylonian Empire of the Chaldeans that Neb, whose reign began in 605 B.C., was to rule over for about forty more years – till 562 or 560 B.C. But his empire did not last more than twenty-one years after his death. His son Evil-Merodach (Amel-Marduk in Akkadian) reigned two years only (560-558). Nerglissar (Nergal-shar-usur) reigned for years (560-556) and Labashi-Marduk only one (556). Nabondius engineered a coup d’etat in 555 and ruled until Babylon fell to the Persians in 539.
Read verse 39
7. What will happen after Neb is gone?
8. What will happen after you are gone? What ‘kingdom’ will rise after yours?
Daniel turned next to the other empires. About the second one (represented by silver) he said little except that it was “inferior” (ara minnak, literally, “beneath you”) to Babylon. From Neb’s standpoint the restriction on the monarch’s authority to annul a law once he had made it (6:12) was less desirable than his own unfettered power. The silver empire was to be Medo-Persia, which began with Cyrus the Great, who conquered Egypt but died in 523 or 522. After a brief reign by an upstart claiming to be Cyrus’s younger son, Darius son of Hystaspes deposed and assassinated him and established a new dynasty. Darius brought the Persian Empire to its zenith of power but left unsettled the question of the Greeks in his western borer, even though he did not conquer Thrace. Xerxes (485-464) his son, in his abortive invasion of 480-479, failed to conquer the Greeks. Nor did his successor Artaxerxes I (464-424) do this but rather contented himself with intrigue by setting the Greek city-states against one another. Later Persian emperors – Darius II, Artaxerxes II; Artaxerxes III, Arses, and Darius II declined still further in power. This silver empire was supreme in the Near and Middle East for about two centuries.
As for the third empire (represent by bronze), it was even less desireable from Neb’s standpoint; though Greece was to “rule over the whole earth,” its political tradition was more republican than its predecessor. The bronze empire was the Greco_Mecedonian Empire established by Alexander the Great, who began his invasion of Persia in 334, crushed its last resistance in 331, and established a realm extending from the border of Yugoslavia to beyond the Indus Valley in India – the largest empire of ancient times. After his death in 323, Alexander’s territory soon split up into four smaller realms, ruled over by his former generals (Antipater in Mecedon-Greed, Lysimachus in Thrace-Asia Minor, Seleucus in Asia, and and Ptolemy in Egypt, Cyrenaica, and Palenstine). This situation crystallized after the Battle of Ipsus in 301, when the final attempt to maintain a unified empire was crushed through the defeat of the imperial regent Antigonus. The eastern sections of the Seleucid realm revolted from the central authority at Antioch and were gradually absorbed by the Parthians as far westward ad Mesopotamia. But the remainder of the former Greek Empire was annexed by Rome after Antiochos the Great was defeated at Magneisa in 190 B.C. Macedon was annexed by Rome in 168, Greece as permanently subdued in 146, the Seleucid domains west of the Tigris were annexed by Pompey the Great in 63 B.C. Thus the bronze kingdom lasted for about 260 years before it was supplanted by the fourth kingdom prefigured in Neb’s dream-image.
Read verses 40-43
9. What is the main point of these verses?
10. What is the main point of verse 43? Why would it be important to us now and in this time in history?
Verse 40 describes this fourth empire, symbolized by the legs of iron. From a despotic standpoint, the Roman Republic was of far less value than gold, silver, or bronze; yet iron was the most suited to crush the opposing powers. Iron connotes toughness and ruthlessness and describes the Roman Empire that reached its widest extent under the reign of Trajan (98-117 A.D.), who occupied Rumania and much of Assyria for at least a few brief years.
Verse 41 deals with a later phrase or outgrowth of this fourth empire, symbolized by the feet and ten toes – made up of iron and earthenware, a fragile base for the huge monument. The text clearly implies that this final phase will be marke by some sort of federation rather than a powerful single realm. The iron may possibly represent the influence of the old Roman culture and tradition, and the potter may represent the inherent weakness in a socialist society based on relativism in morality and philosophy. Out of this mixture of iron and clay come weakness and confusion, pointing to the approaching day of doom. Within the scope of verse 43 are disunity, class struggle, and even civil war, resulting from the failure of the hopelessly divided society to achieve an integrated world-order. The iron and pottery may coexist, but they cannot combine into a strong and durable world-order.
An alternative view of the identity of the fourth empire has been proposed by Otto Zoeckler in his commentary on Daniel. Identifying the third empire as that of Alexander the Great, he took the fourth empire of Neb’s dream image to be that of the Seleudics – on of the four divisions Alexander’s empire was partitioned into (that of Seleucus I, c 311 B.C.). This would mean that the third kingdom (that of Alexander) lasted only 11 or 12 years, with an additional 12 years during which Perdiccas and Antigonus tried vainly to maintain the unity of the empire. Thus, it was from this fourth empire that the little horn , Atniochus IV, emerged. But such an identification of the fourth empire can hardly be reconciled with the description of the fourth kingdom as greater and stronger than the third. Could one segment of Alexander’s empire by considered more extensive than his entire realm? Or could it’s power be considered more formidable than that of Alexander himself – Alexander who never lost a battle? This is not a serious theory.
Read Verses 44-45 but just the first part of 45.
11. What is the mountain?
12. What does it mean the rock is carved out of the mountain?
13. Who is the rock?
14. What is destroyed?
15. What mountain is formed? Are the mountains connected?
These verses present the final scene. The rock cut form a mountain, the rock that becomes the fifth kingdom, rolls down from a mountain and smashes against the brittle feet of the great image and topples it over. It then reduces the entire monument – including the four metals – to dust, which the wind sweeps away, after which the rock becomes a mountain (kingdom) that fills the earth. In contract to the limited number of centuries the four man-made empires lasted, this fifth God-established kingdom is destined to endure forever – a realm never to be destroyed. Not only Daniel 7, but parallel passages leave us in no doubt that this fifth realm is the kingdom of God, ruled over by Christ and enduring eternally, even after its earthly, millennial phase, is over.
Read Verses 45 to 47
16. What thoughts do you have about God each day?
17. How REALLY do you respond to God each day?
18. What are God’s plans for you in the future? What if He did know your future? Would you live any differently?
Daniel closed his interpretation of the dream by assuring Neb that it was divinely inspired and absolutely trustworthy. Thus the God of heaven had graciously granted the king the knowledge of the future he had asked for. The baffling mystery had at last been unraveled by the spokesman of the one true God. The king could only acknowledge Yahweh as “God of gods”, the absolute sovereign over all the powers of heaven (even including the king’s own patron gods, Marduk and Nabu), and “Lord of kings” on earth, the true Lord of history. Moreover, the king acknowledged Yahweh’s supremacy in wisdom as being alone able to reveal the mysteries of the future, something no pagan god could do.
In token of his submission to Daniel’s God, Neb then bowed before Daniel and offered incense to him as if he were Deity. What a remarkable scene! The despot who but an hour before had ordered the execution of all his wise men was prostrating himself before the foreign captive from a third-rate subject nation! Even though he opposed the wisdom of the Chaldeans, this absurd monotheist (Daniel) had somehow found the right answer. Surely, therefore, his God was worthy of honor above all the other deities, who had completely failed to reveal the dream. The king’s praise to the Lord does not mean that he doubted the existence of other gods, much less that he had experienced any sort of conversion.
Read verses 48-49
1. What is your response when God reveals Himself to you? Name a specific situation in which God has revealed himself to you…
Since Daniel had so decisively proved himself a true prophet with access to the great God he worshipped, it was only logical for Neb to put him in charge of all the diviners at the court of Babylon. Hence he officially became “ruler” (literally “chief of appointed officials) over the whole bureau of wise men. It was also understandable that the king fulfilled his original promise in chapter 2 verse 6 and loaded him with gifts and royal honors. But that he went on to appoint Daniel civil governor of the entire capital province of Babylon – a post of highest importance in the political structure – was indeed noteworthy. Normally this position would be reserved for a Chaldean nobleman, a member, like Neb, of the master race. For a Jew from the Captivity to be so honored was unprecendented and shows how deeply his intelligence and integrity had impressed the king.
Daniel’s loyalty to his three friend was shown by his request that they too might be given high appointments. Of course, it strengthened Daniel’s hand to have his three trusted friends help him in his administrative duties.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Notes and Quesitons for February 15, 2009
Notes and Questions for February 15, 2009
First off this week I want to tell you all how much I appreciate each of you. I am looking through the list of names/addresses here and am blessed to know each of you. What God is doing in your lives individually and collectively is amazing. I am humbled each time I am able to talk with each of you.
Second, this Sunday we will be continuing the question I gave you at the beginning of the class last week - "Who are you in Christ?" - which you started to discuss with your spouse.
Take a moment to pull out your notes from class last week and think about who Daniel is in the Lord. Just think up and until this time in the book.
· What traits and qualities would you ascribe to him and/or his friends?
· How would you KNOW that Daniel loved the Lord?
There are two sections of questions for this week to complete:
Section 1 - Who are you in the Lord outwardly...
1. Who are you in the Lord?
2. What traits and qualities would/should be ascribed to you?
3. How do others KNOW that you love the Lord?
Be VERY SPECIFIC about these answers. Don't hold back.
Section 2 - Who are you in the Lord inwardly....
1. What goes on inside of you each day?
2. Who do you look to for guidance and help?
3. How do you inwardly have a relationship with Him?
4. What spiritual disciplines (prayer, worship, bible study, etc) do you practice without others around?
This week's questions are simple enough to ask and to understand but are more difficult to answer - at least they were for me. This Sunday we will be reviewing these questions as the primary part of the class. We will also be reviewing several scriptures from other people in the Bible about their relationship with the Lord.
On February 22, 2009 we will pick up with the interpretation of Neb's dream by Daniel.
First off this week I want to tell you all how much I appreciate each of you. I am looking through the list of names/addresses here and am blessed to know each of you. What God is doing in your lives individually and collectively is amazing. I am humbled each time I am able to talk with each of you.
Second, this Sunday we will be continuing the question I gave you at the beginning of the class last week - "Who are you in Christ?" - which you started to discuss with your spouse.
Take a moment to pull out your notes from class last week and think about who Daniel is in the Lord. Just think up and until this time in the book.
· What traits and qualities would you ascribe to him and/or his friends?
· How would you KNOW that Daniel loved the Lord?
There are two sections of questions for this week to complete:
Section 1 - Who are you in the Lord outwardly...
1. Who are you in the Lord?
2. What traits and qualities would/should be ascribed to you?
3. How do others KNOW that you love the Lord?
Be VERY SPECIFIC about these answers. Don't hold back.
Section 2 - Who are you in the Lord inwardly....
1. What goes on inside of you each day?
2. Who do you look to for guidance and help?
3. How do you inwardly have a relationship with Him?
4. What spiritual disciplines (prayer, worship, bible study, etc) do you practice without others around?
This week's questions are simple enough to ask and to understand but are more difficult to answer - at least they were for me. This Sunday we will be reviewing these questions as the primary part of the class. We will also be reviewing several scriptures from other people in the Bible about their relationship with the Lord.
On February 22, 2009 we will pick up with the interpretation of Neb's dream by Daniel.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Notes and Questions for February 8, 2009
Notes and Questions for February 8, 2009
Last week the plea of Daniel in prayer was met with answer to the prayer through a vision in his dream. In verses 20-23 Daniel exclaimed praise for the one and only true God.
This week we will review verse 24 through 35 of Chapter 2. This is a significant passage in our study of Daniel. The reciting of the dream along with the interpretation is significant prophecy. Note that God is the one that details what this means. Note his use of Neb, not a believer, to show His glory and faithfulness. Notice last, that He is speaking to us now, not just then.
Please read the section - Daniel 2:24-35
What is going on here?
What are the 3 main points (if you were to have to tell someone a summary) of this section?
Read verses 24-25
Who went to who in these verses?
Did Daniel only save those who were his friends? Who did he request that would be spared?
Did Arioch take any credit for Daniel's ability or finding the man?
Observe how Arioch, who had been appointed to execute the wise men (v 24), claimed a measure of credit for himself in having discovered Daniel. After having been assured by Daniel that he had the answer, Arioch hurried to tell Neb: "I have found a man... who can tell the king what his dream means" (v25). Arioch may not have known that Daniel had already asked the king for a stay of execution, unless v 16 merely implies a request with Neb through a secretary - or else Arioch may simply have forgotten this. At any rate, his attempt to enhance his standing through Daniel's success shows his complete confidence in Daniels ability to recall the details of the dream.
Read verses 26-30
When specifically do you acknowledge God? Do we give Him all of the credit or is some of out ours? Why?
What specific ways have you acknowledge what God has done for you? What has God done for you?
Do you believe God guides thoughts and situations for His glory? Why or why not? Discuss this with your spouse.
As Neb half-incredulously asked Daniel whether he could actually describe the dream (v 26), Daniel used to the full his opportunity to witness to Yahweh's unique power to reveal what the false gods of the pagan seers could not tell them - the substance and meaning of the dream (verses 27-30). As he spoke of their inability to unravel the mystery (v 27), Daniel implied the worthlessness of their theology - indeed, of polytheism in general. That He alone, as Yahweh's spokesman, had the answer points unmistakeably to the reality of the God of the Hebrews (v 28). "But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries," in contrast to all the imaginary gods of the heathen who are helpless to reveal anything. "He has shown KingNeb what will happen in the days to come" (beaharit yomayya, lit. "in the end of days", a phrase generally pointing to the times of the Messiah, when human history will be brought to its close (see notes at the end of this week's questions for a more in depth look at verse 28). Then, having explained his ability to do what none of the others could do - all because of his wonderful God - Daniel told Neb what he had seen in his dream.
In verse 29 Daniel reminded the king of the train of thought that had preceded his dream: "As you were lying there, O king, your mind turned to things to come." So he implied that Yahweh had graciously taken note of the king's statesmanlike concern and had granted him a full answer to his inquiry (v 30). Again Daniel disclaimed any personal ability in transmitting this revelation but openly and publicly gave God all the glory.
Read verses 31 to 35 -
What would be your reaction to someone that could tell you something like this (if you were the king)?
Do these specific items mean anything to you? Go verse by verse and interpret these things for face value:
31 - Colossal image - what does this mean - why is it important?
32 - Head
33 - metals and body parts
34 - Stone and crushing
35 - Blown away
Why was it important that the dream be accurately reconstructed? (Go deeper than the fact that Daniel would have been put to death)
Daniel next disclosed the main theme of the dream - the colossal image (v 31) composed of four different metals; the head of gold (v 32), the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of bronze, and the legs of iron (v 33), with their oddly constructed feet of iron mingled with clay. This composite statue was then reduced to powder by a huge stone (v 34), and the powder was blown away by the wind (v 35). Where the image had stood, the rock grew to the size of a huge mountain that filled the whole scene. To his astonishment, Neb recognized the accuracy of every detail of Daniel's description. He must have been leaning forward to hear the explanation from what he now knew to be a spokesman from God.
Next week we will dive into the interpretation and prophecy revealed through the king to us all. Should be fun!
Andrew
In depth notes on verse 28 -from Frank E Gaebelein in the Expositor's Commentary
The expression beaharit yomayya, "in the days to come") first appears in Gen 49:1, where Jacob foretold the lot of Twelve Tribes after their conquest of Canaan some four centuries later. In Duet 4:30 it refers to the period of Israel's return to God after adversity, in 31:29 of the period of Israel's future rebellion. In Isa 2:2 it points forward to the establishment of the millennial kingdom, in Ezek 38:16 to the eschatological war of Gog against restored Israel. Here it seems to refer to all the coming events subsequent to the lifetime of Neb and including the final establishment of the fifth kingdom (the Millennial Age). The other occurrence in Dan 10:14 seems to include both the "Proto Tribulation" under Antiochus Epiphanes in the second century b.c. and the antitypical Great Tribulation under the Beast in the last days. So far as the NT usage is concerned, Peter in his Pentecost sermon in Acts 2:17 referred Joel 2:28-32 to the "last days" (en tais schatais hermerais) and evidently included the whole post crucifixion period, from the establishment of the NT church to the second coming of Christ. In Heb 1:2, the phrase ep schatou ton hemer on touton, ("in these last days") occurs with evident reference to the church age, but without any specific terminous ad quem.
Last week the plea of Daniel in prayer was met with answer to the prayer through a vision in his dream. In verses 20-23 Daniel exclaimed praise for the one and only true God.
This week we will review verse 24 through 35 of Chapter 2. This is a significant passage in our study of Daniel. The reciting of the dream along with the interpretation is significant prophecy. Note that God is the one that details what this means. Note his use of Neb, not a believer, to show His glory and faithfulness. Notice last, that He is speaking to us now, not just then.
Please read the section - Daniel 2:24-35
What is going on here?
What are the 3 main points (if you were to have to tell someone a summary) of this section?
Read verses 24-25
Who went to who in these verses?
Did Daniel only save those who were his friends? Who did he request that would be spared?
Did Arioch take any credit for Daniel's ability or finding the man?
Observe how Arioch, who had been appointed to execute the wise men (v 24), claimed a measure of credit for himself in having discovered Daniel. After having been assured by Daniel that he had the answer, Arioch hurried to tell Neb: "I have found a man... who can tell the king what his dream means" (v25). Arioch may not have known that Daniel had already asked the king for a stay of execution, unless v 16 merely implies a request with Neb through a secretary - or else Arioch may simply have forgotten this. At any rate, his attempt to enhance his standing through Daniel's success shows his complete confidence in Daniels ability to recall the details of the dream.
Read verses 26-30
When specifically do you acknowledge God? Do we give Him all of the credit or is some of out ours? Why?
What specific ways have you acknowledge what God has done for you? What has God done for you?
Do you believe God guides thoughts and situations for His glory? Why or why not? Discuss this with your spouse.
As Neb half-incredulously asked Daniel whether he could actually describe the dream (v 26), Daniel used to the full his opportunity to witness to Yahweh's unique power to reveal what the false gods of the pagan seers could not tell them - the substance and meaning of the dream (verses 27-30). As he spoke of their inability to unravel the mystery (v 27), Daniel implied the worthlessness of their theology - indeed, of polytheism in general. That He alone, as Yahweh's spokesman, had the answer points unmistakeably to the reality of the God of the Hebrews (v 28). "But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries," in contrast to all the imaginary gods of the heathen who are helpless to reveal anything. "He has shown KingNeb what will happen in the days to come" (beaharit yomayya, lit. "in the end of days", a phrase generally pointing to the times of the Messiah, when human history will be brought to its close (see notes at the end of this week's questions for a more in depth look at verse 28). Then, having explained his ability to do what none of the others could do - all because of his wonderful God - Daniel told Neb what he had seen in his dream.
In verse 29 Daniel reminded the king of the train of thought that had preceded his dream: "As you were lying there, O king, your mind turned to things to come." So he implied that Yahweh had graciously taken note of the king's statesmanlike concern and had granted him a full answer to his inquiry (v 30). Again Daniel disclaimed any personal ability in transmitting this revelation but openly and publicly gave God all the glory.
Read verses 31 to 35 -
What would be your reaction to someone that could tell you something like this (if you were the king)?
Do these specific items mean anything to you? Go verse by verse and interpret these things for face value:
31 - Colossal image - what does this mean - why is it important?
32 - Head
33 - metals and body parts
34 - Stone and crushing
35 - Blown away
Why was it important that the dream be accurately reconstructed? (Go deeper than the fact that Daniel would have been put to death)
Daniel next disclosed the main theme of the dream - the colossal image (v 31) composed of four different metals; the head of gold (v 32), the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of bronze, and the legs of iron (v 33), with their oddly constructed feet of iron mingled with clay. This composite statue was then reduced to powder by a huge stone (v 34), and the powder was blown away by the wind (v 35). Where the image had stood, the rock grew to the size of a huge mountain that filled the whole scene. To his astonishment, Neb recognized the accuracy of every detail of Daniel's description. He must have been leaning forward to hear the explanation from what he now knew to be a spokesman from God.
Next week we will dive into the interpretation and prophecy revealed through the king to us all. Should be fun!
Andrew
In depth notes on verse 28 -from Frank E Gaebelein in the Expositor's Commentary
The expression beaharit yomayya, "in the days to come") first appears in Gen 49:1, where Jacob foretold the lot of Twelve Tribes after their conquest of Canaan some four centuries later. In Duet 4:30 it refers to the period of Israel's return to God after adversity, in 31:29 of the period of Israel's future rebellion. In Isa 2:2 it points forward to the establishment of the millennial kingdom, in Ezek 38:16 to the eschatological war of Gog against restored Israel. Here it seems to refer to all the coming events subsequent to the lifetime of Neb and including the final establishment of the fifth kingdom (the Millennial Age). The other occurrence in Dan 10:14 seems to include both the "Proto Tribulation" under Antiochus Epiphanes in the second century b.c. and the antitypical Great Tribulation under the Beast in the last days. So far as the NT usage is concerned, Peter in his Pentecost sermon in Acts 2:17 referred Joel 2:28-32 to the "last days" (en tais schatais hermerais) and evidently included the whole post crucifixion period, from the establishment of the NT church to the second coming of Christ. In Heb 1:2, the phrase ep schatou ton hemer on touton, ("in these last days") occurs with evident reference to the church age, but without any specific terminous ad quem.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Notes and Questions for February 1, 2009
Sorry for the late post.
Notes and Questions for February 1, 2009
Last week the plea from Neb came out loud and clear. If you want a REAL answer when things are really serious you aren’t willing to play games. Neb finished his orders to kill all these ‘wise’ men and didn’t have an answer.
This week we will review verse 14 through 23 of Chapter 2. We started into 14 and 15 last week as we began the review of Daniel’s response.
Please read the entire section – Daniel 2:1-23
What happened last week through verse 13?
Did the ‘wise men’ consult their gods or ask for more time? What was their response?
What is about ready to happen to Daniel?
What is our response when we are confronted with requests? Why?
Read verse 14 to 23
What is significant to you in these verses? What stands out?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Concentrate on verse 14 to 16 –
Speculate on the relationship Daniel has with Arioch…
How did Daniel respond to the news that he would be killed? How do we respond to significant bad news? Why?
Who was Daniel concerned with in verse 15? Contrast this with who the wise men were concerned with in verses 4, 7, 10 and 11… Is this what we are concerned with in a situation?
Do we ever think that God has abandoned us or left us even though His promise in scripture says He will not?
What is a recent example where you forgot, doubted, or were concerned enough that it would show you didn’t see God in control of a situation? What did you do with that situation?
The captain of the royal bodyguard was Arioch (v 14). This name had been born in Abraham’s time by a king of Ellasar, an ally of Kedorlaomer (Gen 14:1); it also appears as Arriwuk in the Mari correspondence and as Ariuki in the Nuzi documents. When Arioch came to Daniel’s quarters to take him to death row; he told Daniel why all the wise men had been condemned (v 15). Then, at Daniel’s request, the captain took him before Nebuchadnezzar himself, so as to secure a stay of execution till Daniel had an opportunity to consult his God about the mysterious dream (v 16). The stage was now set to show the reality, wisdom, and power of the one true God – Yahweh – as over against the inarticulate and impotent imaginary gods the magicians worshipped. It is the same general theme that dominates the remainder of the book and serves to remind the Hebrew nation that despite their own failure, collapse, and banishment into exile, the God of Israel remains as omnipotent as He ever was in the days of Moses and that His covenantal love remains as steadfast toward the seed of Abraham as it ever had been.
As for Daniel, he knew beyond doubt that in this deadly emergency he was to trust himself to the faithfulness of his God, the one who could do the impossible. Never before had an interpreter of dreams – not even Joseph of Egypt – been required to reconstruct the dream itself. But Daniel had confidence that Yahweh could even do this unprecedented miracle and do it for His own glory. The pagan wise men had confessed that only deity could comply with the king’s request. Neb and all of Babylon were therefore to be confronted with unanswerable proof that only Israel’s God was real, sovereign, and limitless in His power.
What seems impossible for you right now?
What is the one thing that holds you back from completely surrendering to God?
Read verse 17 to 19 aloud
What did Daniel do first?
Do you have fellowship with those that you would confront with the greatest problem in your life?
What did Daniel ask for his friend to do? Was he concerned with his life and theirs? What were they to plead for?
How long did they have to interpret Neb’s dream?
What was the response to God from Daniel? Specifically recount the last two times you praised God for what He gave you?
Read verses 20 to 23 ALOUD –
What part of this praise do you identify most with RIGHT NOW?
What part of this praise section do you struggle with?
Note that because for Daniel the demonstration of God’s glory took precedence over his own safety, Daniel confident that God would answer His prayer. But he also realized that the effectiveness of prayer may be heightened when believers unite in common supplication. So he gathered his three companions in a concert of prayer (v 17), that they might “plead for mercy [rahmin] from the God of heave concerning this mystery [raz] (v 18). There is no account given of Daniel’s actual prayer nor of how the Lord answered him, though the latter is implied in Daniel’s word (v 27-35) to the king. But verse 20-23, voicing Daniel’s gratitude, serve as a ringing manifesto of bibilical faith against the pretensions of pagan pride. Though the Babylonians may have vanquished God’s people and dragged them into bondage after burning their temple, yet it was the God of Israel who was absolute sovereign in heaven AND ON EARTH.
Observe the emphasis on two of God’s attributes (v 20): “power” (gburta, which originally meant manly strength, from geber, “man”) and “wisdom” (hokmta). His power is then illustrated by His complete control over the events of history, particularly in bringing about the reversals of fortune that give history its unpredictability (v 21a). “He changes [mehasne, from sena, ‘be different’; hence, ‘make different,’ ‘alter’] the time [iddanayya, from the same iddan in v. 9] and seasons [zimnayya, from zeman, a length or interval of time].” In other words, God determine when in history events are to take place and how long each process or phase in history is to endure (sound familiar these days?). Thus Yahweh not only decreed the fall and destruction of Jerusalem in 587 b.c. – an even future for Daniel in 602 b.c. – but also the exact number of years the captivity would last. The rulers of earth may imagine they have attained power by their own might, but it is only by God’s choice that they permitted their transient authority. At any time He may remove them from their thrones and set up others in their place (v 21a).
Next (v 21b) Daniel turned to another divine attribute – God’s wisdom. Whatever wisdom the wise of this world have attained has come from God, whether or not they recognize this. Humans are prone to swell with pride over their growing understanding of nature and its laws, when only by God’s gifts do they achieve anything. Moreover (v 22), even the cleverest minds will never understand certain areas of mystery and foreknowledge – namely, “the deep hidden things” and what which “lies in darkness”. The bafflement of the pagan wise men in Neb’s court illustrates this. All their knowledge could not deliver them from imminent death. So the great existential questions of life and death continue to be insoluble to the worldly rise. Without divine revelation, where is only conjecture and subjective opinion. Only in Yahweh, the God of Scripture, is ultimate truth to be found: “Light dwells with Him.”
In v 23 Daniel closes his thanksgiving on a joyous note. In a remarkable display of faith, he assumed in advance that the knowledge he had received was absolutely accurate, even before he told it to Neb. Most believers seldom have the faith to thank God in advance for his answers to prayer. Daniel gladly gave God all the glory for the superhuman ‘wisdom’ and ‘power’ he was about to display as the interpreter of the king’s dream. He also acknowledged that this revelation had been granted in response to the collective prayers in which is four companions had joined him: “You have made known to me what we asked of you”.
Give a specific example when you thanked those praying for wisdom when you received it.
How do you specifically acknowledge to others that all you have is from God?
Notes and Questions for February 1, 2009
Last week the plea from Neb came out loud and clear. If you want a REAL answer when things are really serious you aren’t willing to play games. Neb finished his orders to kill all these ‘wise’ men and didn’t have an answer.
This week we will review verse 14 through 23 of Chapter 2. We started into 14 and 15 last week as we began the review of Daniel’s response.
Please read the entire section – Daniel 2:1-23
What happened last week through verse 13?
Did the ‘wise men’ consult their gods or ask for more time? What was their response?
What is about ready to happen to Daniel?
What is our response when we are confronted with requests? Why?
Read verse 14 to 23
What is significant to you in these verses? What stands out?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Concentrate on verse 14 to 16 –
Speculate on the relationship Daniel has with Arioch…
How did Daniel respond to the news that he would be killed? How do we respond to significant bad news? Why?
Who was Daniel concerned with in verse 15? Contrast this with who the wise men were concerned with in verses 4, 7, 10 and 11… Is this what we are concerned with in a situation?
Do we ever think that God has abandoned us or left us even though His promise in scripture says He will not?
What is a recent example where you forgot, doubted, or were concerned enough that it would show you didn’t see God in control of a situation? What did you do with that situation?
The captain of the royal bodyguard was Arioch (v 14). This name had been born in Abraham’s time by a king of Ellasar, an ally of Kedorlaomer (Gen 14:1); it also appears as Arriwuk in the Mari correspondence and as Ariuki in the Nuzi documents. When Arioch came to Daniel’s quarters to take him to death row; he told Daniel why all the wise men had been condemned (v 15). Then, at Daniel’s request, the captain took him before Nebuchadnezzar himself, so as to secure a stay of execution till Daniel had an opportunity to consult his God about the mysterious dream (v 16). The stage was now set to show the reality, wisdom, and power of the one true God – Yahweh – as over against the inarticulate and impotent imaginary gods the magicians worshipped. It is the same general theme that dominates the remainder of the book and serves to remind the Hebrew nation that despite their own failure, collapse, and banishment into exile, the God of Israel remains as omnipotent as He ever was in the days of Moses and that His covenantal love remains as steadfast toward the seed of Abraham as it ever had been.
As for Daniel, he knew beyond doubt that in this deadly emergency he was to trust himself to the faithfulness of his God, the one who could do the impossible. Never before had an interpreter of dreams – not even Joseph of Egypt – been required to reconstruct the dream itself. But Daniel had confidence that Yahweh could even do this unprecedented miracle and do it for His own glory. The pagan wise men had confessed that only deity could comply with the king’s request. Neb and all of Babylon were therefore to be confronted with unanswerable proof that only Israel’s God was real, sovereign, and limitless in His power.
What seems impossible for you right now?
What is the one thing that holds you back from completely surrendering to God?
Read verse 17 to 19 aloud
What did Daniel do first?
Do you have fellowship with those that you would confront with the greatest problem in your life?
What did Daniel ask for his friend to do? Was he concerned with his life and theirs? What were they to plead for?
How long did they have to interpret Neb’s dream?
What was the response to God from Daniel? Specifically recount the last two times you praised God for what He gave you?
Read verses 20 to 23 ALOUD –
What part of this praise do you identify most with RIGHT NOW?
What part of this praise section do you struggle with?
Note that because for Daniel the demonstration of God’s glory took precedence over his own safety, Daniel confident that God would answer His prayer. But he also realized that the effectiveness of prayer may be heightened when believers unite in common supplication. So he gathered his three companions in a concert of prayer (v 17), that they might “plead for mercy [rahmin] from the God of heave concerning this mystery [raz] (v 18). There is no account given of Daniel’s actual prayer nor of how the Lord answered him, though the latter is implied in Daniel’s word (v 27-35) to the king. But verse 20-23, voicing Daniel’s gratitude, serve as a ringing manifesto of bibilical faith against the pretensions of pagan pride. Though the Babylonians may have vanquished God’s people and dragged them into bondage after burning their temple, yet it was the God of Israel who was absolute sovereign in heaven AND ON EARTH.
Observe the emphasis on two of God’s attributes (v 20): “power” (gburta, which originally meant manly strength, from geber, “man”) and “wisdom” (hokmta). His power is then illustrated by His complete control over the events of history, particularly in bringing about the reversals of fortune that give history its unpredictability (v 21a). “He changes [mehasne, from sena, ‘be different’; hence, ‘make different,’ ‘alter’] the time [iddanayya, from the same iddan in v. 9] and seasons [zimnayya, from zeman, a length or interval of time].” In other words, God determine when in history events are to take place and how long each process or phase in history is to endure (sound familiar these days?). Thus Yahweh not only decreed the fall and destruction of Jerusalem in 587 b.c. – an even future for Daniel in 602 b.c. – but also the exact number of years the captivity would last. The rulers of earth may imagine they have attained power by their own might, but it is only by God’s choice that they permitted their transient authority. At any time He may remove them from their thrones and set up others in their place (v 21a).
Next (v 21b) Daniel turned to another divine attribute – God’s wisdom. Whatever wisdom the wise of this world have attained has come from God, whether or not they recognize this. Humans are prone to swell with pride over their growing understanding of nature and its laws, when only by God’s gifts do they achieve anything. Moreover (v 22), even the cleverest minds will never understand certain areas of mystery and foreknowledge – namely, “the deep hidden things” and what which “lies in darkness”. The bafflement of the pagan wise men in Neb’s court illustrates this. All their knowledge could not deliver them from imminent death. So the great existential questions of life and death continue to be insoluble to the worldly rise. Without divine revelation, where is only conjecture and subjective opinion. Only in Yahweh, the God of Scripture, is ultimate truth to be found: “Light dwells with Him.”
In v 23 Daniel closes his thanksgiving on a joyous note. In a remarkable display of faith, he assumed in advance that the knowledge he had received was absolutely accurate, even before he told it to Neb. Most believers seldom have the faith to thank God in advance for his answers to prayer. Daniel gladly gave God all the glory for the superhuman ‘wisdom’ and ‘power’ he was about to display as the interpreter of the king’s dream. He also acknowledged that this revelation had been granted in response to the collective prayers in which is four companions had joined him: “You have made known to me what we asked of you”.
Give a specific example when you thanked those praying for wisdom when you received it.
How do you specifically acknowledge to others that all you have is from God?
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