Wednesday, Bible Study Fellowship, March 5, 2008
Daniel: The Key to Prophecy
Daniel 1:1, 2
God’s estimate of Daniel was “O Daniel, a man greatly beloved” (Dan.10:11). Jesus refers to Daniel as a prophet (Matt.24:15). Ezekiel refers to Daniel as a man of great wisdom (Ez.28:3). Jeremiah’s ministry in Judah was from 626-585 B.C. Daniel’s ministry in Babylon was from 605-536 B.C. Ezekiel’s ministry in Babylon was from 593-571 B.C. Habakkuk’s ministry in Judah was from 612-588 B.C. Zephaniah’s ministry in Judah was from 640-621 B.C. Nahum’s ministry was from 663-612 B.C. He was a prophet against Nineveh. Both Zephaniah and Nahum would be ending their ministry about the time of Daniel’s birth which would have been around 620 B.C. (Expositors pg.6)
I. God’s Judgment against Jerusalem and Judah
A. Israel as a nation had rebelled against God (Is.24:1-6)
B. Israel had ignored the Sabbath Day as well as the sabbatical year (Jer.34:12-22). [Walvoord, pg.29-30]
C. Israel had become idolatrous (I Kings 11:5; 12:28; 16:31; 18:19)
D. God warned Israel about judgment because of their idolatry (Jer.7:24-8:3; 44:20-23)
E. “Because of their sin, the people of Israel, who had given themselves to idolatry, were carried off captive to Babylon, a center of idolatry and one of the most wicked cities in the ancient world” (Walvoord, pg.30)
F. Read carefully II Chronicles 36:16. Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk and others were ignored. God had warned His people since the days of Moses (Deut.28:64; 29:28)
II. The Theme:
A. “The chief characteristic of Babylon in Nebuchadnezzar’s time was what we would call its radical secular humanism” (Boice, pg.16). Nebuchadnezzar was proud of what he had achieved! (Dan.4:30) He had no thought of giving glory to God!
B. Doesn’t it seem as though the secular humanist agenda triumphs while God’s kingdom falters?
1. Babylon defeated Jerusalem.
2. Daniel was taken captive.
3. Nebuchadnezzar, not a descendant of David, is on the throne.
C. Despite all of this Daniel does not compromise. And we can see from history that God is sovereignly at work. So we must always remember just because we don’t see Him working doesn’t mean that He isn’t!
D. For this reason Dr. G. Campbell Morgan declares the throne of Daniel to be: “Persistent Government of God in the Government of the World” (McGee, pg.xi)
E. Notice carefully: “And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah…” (2)
F. Ezekiel (14:14, 20; 28:3) refers to his contemporary Daniel. Ezekiel is saying that Noah who lived 1,500 years before Job who lived 1,500 years before Daniel could get together and pray for Judah. Even if they did, God would not deter in His punishment of Judah.
G. God allowed His people to go into captivity “…to maintain His integrity as a holy God, who carries out His covenant promises both for good and for ill according to the response of His people” (Expositors, 4)
III. The Book of Daniel is the key to understanding:
A. the Olivet Discourse
B. the book of Revelation
C. the man of sin of II Thess.2:3
IV. The date for the book
A. The third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah (Dan.1:1). That is the year 605 B.C.
1. II Kings 4:1-2
2. II Chronicles 36:5-7
B. Jeremiah 25:1 states that the first year of Nebuchadnezzar was the 4th year of Jehoiakim.
C. How do we solve this?
1. Jeremiah was purely Jewish. He lived in Judah so he would use Israel’s form of reckoning. Therefore, the first year of Nebuchadnezzar was the 4th year.
2. Daniel, while being Jewish, lived in Babylon. He was carried off to Babylon in 605 B.C. The events recorded in the book extend to 536 B.C. If the book was completed toward the end of his life, Daniel, while Jewish, would think like a Babylonian. For Babylonians “it was customary for the Babylonians to consider the first year of a king’s reign as the year of accession and to call the next year the first year” (Walvoord, pg.31). “This follows Babylonian practice, which reckoned the first regnal year as beginning on the first of Nisan following the year of accession to the throne” (Expositors, pg.31)
a. Nebuchadnezzar crowned Tishri (Sept) 605.
b. Nebuchadnezzar 1st regnal year begins Nisan (April) 604.
V. Three deportations
A. 605 B.C. Daniel taken
B. 597 B.C. Ezekiel taken
C. 586 B.C. Jerusalem destroyed. Jeremiah was in Jerusalem at the time!
D. Remember the Northern kingdom fell in 722 B.C.
E. Jeremiah announced 70 years of exile (Jer.29:10). From 605 B.C. until 536 B.C. “…when the first returnees under Zerubbabel once more set up an altar in Jerusalem, amounted to seventy years.” (Expositors, pg.31)
VI. Daniel’s Age
A. Daniel was taken captive in 605 B.C.
B. Daniel continues until the third year of Cyrus (535 B.C. according to Daniel 10:1 (Expositors, pg.6)
C. If Daniel was born around 620 B.C. he was probably close to 90 when he wrote this book!
VII. Why a study of Daniel is important now:
A. It will build on our study of Babylon from Revelation 17 & 18, Genesis 10 & 11 and Jeremiah and Zechariah.
B. Daniel was a godly man living in an ungodly nation.
C. Babylon was very humanistic.
D. Daniel and his friends were under great pressure to conform.
E. The world definitely seemed to be winning!
F. As long as Daniel kept his faith private everything was OK. But as soon as he brought his convictions to the world trouble ensued. (Adapted from Boice, pg.9-18).