Tag: jesus

Nebuchadnezzar has had a dream that troubled him.  As all leaders do, he had probably been thinking about the future.  What was next for his kingdom?  Would it last?  What would be his legacy?  God has given him a dream that, unknown to him at the moment, did have to do with his future.  The problem was, none of his psychic cabinet could either tell him what the dream was, nor could they interpret it.  They were, in fact, frauds, and Nebuchadnezzar conceived of a plan to prove it.

One man, however, could tell the king his dream AND interpret it, not because he was all-knowing and all-wise, but because he served the God who did know the future, because He had planned it all.  And know the Most High God is showing Nebuchadnezzar the plan for the “times of the Gentiles,” as Jesus called them (Luke 21:24).

So we pick up our study of the book of Daniel in chapter 2, verse 31.  In explaining the dream (2:31-35), Daniel began by recounting the substance of the dream (2:31-36).

“You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening.  The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.  As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.  Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found.  But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.  “This was the dream.  Now we will tell the king its interpretation.

“To his astonishment, Nebuchadnezzar 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” (Gleason Archer Jr., Daniel in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, p. 45).

So, in his dream the king had seen a colossal image in human form.  It was terrible to behold because of its size and because of its glowing brightness, made almost entirely of gleaming metals.

Charles Feinberg says, “”The figure of a man was employed here because God wished to make known what would transpire during man’s day, the ages in which mortal man ruled the earth.  Here, in one panoramic sweep, the whole history of human civilization is spread before us, from the days of Nebuchadnezzar to the end of time” (Daniel: The Kingdom of the Lord, p. 35).

God shows to Nebuchadnezzar that he has a plan for those outside the nation of Israel, to use them as a means to draw His own people back to Himself.  God also shows Israel that He has not forgotten them, for the final kingdom (the kingdom of Jesus Christ) will have the final, and the eternal, victory.

God had two objectives in communicating this revelation of future kingdoms.  First, he wanted to clearly show that every earthly kingdom is temporary and that only His kingdom will stand eternally.  All of those who link their futures and livelihood to the world will be disappointed.  Just as Babylon the Great will fall in the end-times (Revelation 18), so will all kingdoms of the world.

1 John 2:15-17 – Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Second, God wanted to show His people Israel that there was hope for the future.  When Jesus returns and defeats the armies of the Antichrist, then He will establish a kingdom and sit on David’s throne in Jerusalem.  Israel will become the center of the earth and every nation will come to worship God there.

God had chosen Israel to be a light to the nations (Isaiah 49:6), yet God’s chosen nation had failed at its calling.  Now God will use the Babylonians and the succeeding empires to accomplish His purpose.

The head was fine gold, the breast and arms were of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, its legs were of iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and clay.  The king was contemplating this image in wonder and awe when suddenly he saw a huge stone, cut without hands, descend from the sky.  It smote the image and it toppled in broken pieces then blew away.  The stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

Daniel had done what the professional psychics could not do.  And before the king could say anything, Daniel launched into the interpretation of that dream.

But before we get into that, let’s observe several facts about the image itself.

First, the vision was given to a Gentile king, the first of many such kings who would hold the Jews in bondage and Jerusalem under their feet.  With Nebuchadnezzar began the “times of the Gentiles” concerning God’s people in exile under the domination of various Gentile empires.

When we look over the range of biblical history and God’s purposes we find two significant time periods.

“When God raised up Abraham and promised him that through him and his seed all nations would be blessed (Gen. 12:1-3), He entrusted to him and his descendants two things: secular and spiritual supremacy over all people.  If Israel, as a nation, had been true to its calling, both goals would have been realized.  One day, in the sovereign purpose of God, both of them will be realized; during the millennial reign of Christ, God’s original purpose will be brought to full flower and fruit by the Lord Jesus from Jerusalem, and all of the dynamics of secular ad spiritual power will be concentrated in his hands” (John Phillips, Exploring the Book of Daniel, p. 51).

“Israel failed.  The long history of the nation of Israel in the Promised Land was a record of rebellion, idolatry, and apostasy.  At length, God terminated abruptly Israel’s secular supremacy.  He handed Jerusalem, which was to have been the world’s capital, to a Gentile world power, Babylon.  The temple, which was to have been a house of prayer for all nations, He consigned to the flames.  Thus began the first of the two periods of prophetic significance, the ‘times of the Gentiles.’  During this period, world empires and the city of Jerusalem are to remain solidly in Gentile hands.  For ‘Jerusalem,’ Jesus said, ‘shall be trodden down to the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled’ (Luke 21:24)” (John Phillips, Exploring the Book of Daniel, p 51).

“In 1967, the Jews regained possession of Jerusalem and have made it the capital of the reborn state of Israel.  They have vowed that they will never surrender it.  This has led to some foolish statements that the ‘times of the Gentiles’ will terminate with the coming, career, and collapse of the Antichrist.  For at least three and a half years, he will hold Jerusalem in bondage and will be ravishing the city at the very moment when Christ’s feet touch upon the Mount of Olives” (John Phillips, Exploring the Book of Daniel, p. 51).

So, during the “times of the Gentiles,” Israel’s secular power of the nations will be forfeited.

An equally important period in God’s dealings with the nation of Israel is that spoken of as “the fulness of the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:25-27).  During this period, spiritual ascendancy also is no longer in Hebrew hands but in Gentile (or the church’s) hands.  For two thousand years, from Abraham to Pentecost, whatever God had to say, He said in Hebrew and through a Jew.  After Pentecost, whatever God had to say, He said in Greek….When the Jews murdered their Messiah, spiritual supremacy was torn from the Jews, just as centuries earlier He had torn away their secular supremacy, and He gave that spiritual ascendancy to the church.

Both of these periods, “the times of the Gentiles” and the “fullness of the Gentiles” will end.  The “fullness of the Gentiles” will end with the rapture of the church.  During the tribulation, God will once again speak to the world primarily through Jews (Rev. 11, 7).  The “times of the Gentiles” will end with the return of Christ to a world gone mad.  The “times of the Gentiles” will end with the return of Christ to set up His millennial kingdom on this planet, centered at Jerusalem.

Thomas Constable notes these features of the image:

Several features of this image are noteworthy:  First, the head is the only member of the body made of only one metal.  All the other parts had more than one substance, with the exception of the arms.  Specifically, the upper torso was silver but bronze lower down.  The same was true of the legs and feet.

Second, there is a consistently decreasing value of the substances beginning at the top and proceeding to the bottom of the image.  Gold is the most precious.

In his book on Daniel, John F. Walvoord makes this observation:

“The descending scale of value of the four metals suggests the degeneration of the human race through the ages….This concept contradicts the evolutionist’s interpretations of human history.  Instead of man beginning in the dust and consummating in fine gold, God reveals man in the times of the Gentiles to begin with fine gold and end in dust” (Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation, p. 66).

However, while the parts of the image decrease in value, they increase in strength as we move from kingdom to kingdom.  Of course, this is a terrible combination—to decrease in morality while increasing in strength.

Third, the image was top-heavy.  The specific gravity of gold is about 19.3, silver about 10.51, brass about 8.5, iron at 7.6 and clay at 1.9.  So from the first, the image is doomed to topple, and this would be the case in the history of these kingdoms.  Each successive part of the body, as we move downward, would be the conqueror of the previous kingdom.

John Phillips comments on this, saying, “…although God ordained and allowed Gentile world empires to wax and wane and to rule and dominate the earth, He never intended this innovation, made necessary by Israel’s sins, to be permanent” (John Phillips, Exploring the Book of Daniel, p. 53).  The “times of the Gentiles” would eventually come to an end at the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Fourth, the substances progress from the softest to the hardest, top to bottom.  The feet, however, are a non-adhering combination of very hard and hard but fragile materials.  The clay in view may have been baked clay that the Babylonians used as tiles in construction projects.

Fifth, as we will see in Daniel’s interpretation, the focus concentrates on the head and the feet, the beginning and ending of Gentile rule.  The in-between stages were passed over in silence and became the subject of later visions.

The disturbing part of this dream is what happened to this glorious image.  It was smashed to smithereens by a rock!

34 As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

Without a doubt this is the climax of the vision.  After the stone strikes the image, the image is demolished and the stone expands into a mountain, eventually filling the whole earth.  “The composite statue was then reduced to powder by a huge stone (v. 34) and then the powder was blown away by the wind (v. 35)” (Gleason Archer, Jr. Daniel in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 7, p. 45).

Note that the rock/mountain was not a part of the four-part image. The Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman kingdoms were purely of this world, while the “stone was cut out by no human hand” (v. 34).  It was heavenly in origin and eternal in duration (v. 44), representing a fifth kingdom vastly superior to the previous four.

The shattering was so thorough that the pieces “became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found” (v. 35b)—an image of divine judgment (cf. Psa. 1:4).  No part of the image could endure the stone, which “became a great mountain and filled the whole earth” (Dan. 2:35c).  This worldwide dominion was something ascribed to no other metal or body part—the metals were all vulnerable, but the stone was invincible.

With the words “This was the dream,” Daniel signaled that the time had now come for the interpretation.  Since the king had not questioned any detail of the retelling, Daniel had succeeded in part one of his task, doing more than any of the king’s advisors could do.

The interpretation of the image, which we will finish next week, is given in vv. 37-45.

36 “This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. 37 You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, 38 and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold. 39 Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. 40 And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these. 41 And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage,[c] but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, 45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

The interpretation of the dream revolves around three factors: initial domination, then deterioration and ultimately disintegration of each of these kingdoms.  “The dream and the interpretation given to Daniel were actually quite simple, at least if we focus our attention on its central message, and yet at the same time incredibly profound” (Iain Duguid, Daniel in Reformed Expository Commentary, p. 36).

We’ve been looking at the impossible situation that Nebuchadnezzar put his royal advisors in.  Wanting to see whether they could truly interpret his troubling dream, he refused to tell it to them.  Since none could, he determined that all would be terminated.

Only one man could both tell him his dream and interpret it to him, Daniel.  Daniel diplomatically approached the king and asked for time, then went home and prayed with his friends.  God answered his prayers by communicating what he needed to tell the king.  But Daniel doesn’t go immediately to the king, rather he stops and takes the time to give praise back to God for His help.

In vv. 20-24 we have Daniel’s prayer of praise and thanks to God.  This is the second thing most of us forget to do, to thank God for His answer.

Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.  Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might.  He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.  To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”

Verses 20-21 are often thought of as the theme verses for the book of Daniel:

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might.  He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings”

The book of Daniel and this very dream that Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed would illustrate how history is “His story” and he sovereignly “removes kings and sets up kings” because He is the Sovereign King over all of history.  The “God of heaven” alone possesses the power to control world events.  The future does not rest in the hands of the Babylonian kings or their gods.  The gods of the nations are powerless to either bless or curse their followers (Isaiah 46:5-10).  They cannot affect the future because they are blind, dumb and impotent (Isa. 44:18).

On the other hand, Israel’s God does not merely control the future; he also reveals the future to his servants.  He gives wisdom to the wise and reveals mysteries of the future, as He does for Daniel here. 

This is precisely what the Babylonian diviners wrote off as impossible (2:11), because they knew that the gods do not dwell with them.  Yet Israel’s God, even though He is transcendent and exalted far above the heavens, does dwell with the humble and contrite of spirit (Isa. 57:15).

God determines when in history events are to take place and how long each process or phase in history is to endure. Thus Yahweh not only decreed the fall and destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C.—an event future for Daniel in 602 B.C.—but also the exact number of years the captivity would last (cf. Dan. 9:2).

That Daniel referred to God as “the God of heaven” is significant.  Daniel’s God was the God “of mercies” (v. 18), a very close and personal God, unlike the remote demon gods of the Babylonians.  But He was also the transcendent “God of heaven.”  And while the wise men of Babylon might try to read the stars, Daniel knew the God who made the stars.

Prior to Israel’s captivity, the abiding presence of God departed from the temple (Ezekeil 8:4-6; 9:3; 10:4, 18-19; 11:22-23) leading to its eventual destruction at the hands of Babylon.  Thus, when God’s manifest presence is no longer dwelling on earth, this title emphasizes His rule from heaven rather than from earth.  Also, its use in Daniel is intended to emphasize Israel’s God as the One in command of the heavens rather than the astral bodies worshiped by the Babylonians.  The information the king seeks cannot be obtained from any pagan wise man on earth because its source requires a relationship with the God of heaven.

John Phillips notes that this title occurs for the first time in 2 Chronicles 26:23, the last verse of the last book of the Jewish canon.  It was a name that was introduced into the Bible because God’s earthly people, Israel, had become Lo Ammi, “not my people” and because God had withdrawn His presence from them.  It is a title that demarcates that they were now in “the times of the Gentiles,” a time when God acts from heaven rather than from between the cherubim in the midst of the temple as the God of Israel.

Thomas Constable further notes: “This title for God appears five times in this chapter (vv. 18, 19, 28, 37, 44) plus elsewhere, particularly in books that have pagan Babylon as their setting.  It appears in 5:23; nine times in Ezra; four times in Nehemiah; and in Genesis 24:3 and 7; Psalm 136:26; and Jonah 1:9.  The Babylonians worshipped the heavens, but Yahweh is the God over all the heavens, not just the God of heaven. He is sovereign over all” (https://soniclight.com/tcon/notes/html/daniel/daniel.htm#_ftnref109).

“Blessed be the name” is significant in that the name stands in Holy Scripture for the nature or revealed character of God, and not a mere label or title.

Daniel’s prayer of praise indicates that God is both omniscient and omnipotent (“wisdom and might”) and that God is sovereignly in control of “times and seasons,” and “he removes kings and sets up kings.”  This may be the very thing that Nebuchadnezzar was so worried about—the future of his kingdom.  What would become of him?  What about his legacy?  Would Babylon survive?

These kings believed that they themselves put themselves on the throne, through the wisdom and power of their gods.  Daniel’s assertion that the God of Israel was in fact the originator and grantor of human authority was a strong denial of any perceived role for the gods of the nations.

Nebuchadnezzar was raised up by God (Dan. 1:2; 2:37), but was slow to learn he would also be removed by God (Dan. 4:26, 31; 5:21).  The last ruler of Babylon, Belshazzar, failed to learn this lesson (Dan. 5:21, 28).  “In his dream, Nebuchadnezzar will begin to learn that it is God who is sovereign as He sets up and removes empires. Later, in his second God-given dream (chapter 4), the king will learn in a most personal way that God, not Nebuchadnezzar, is sovereign” (Paul Benware, Daniel’s Prophecy of Things to Come).

This description of God, who is in control of “times and seasons,” can be contrasted to Daniel 7:25 where the little horn, the future world ruler, shall “think to change times and laws,” that is, take the place of God who “changes the times and the seasons” (Dan 2:21).

God turns a king’s heart wherever He wishes (Prov. 21:1).  He will soon make use of Cyrus to release the Jews after the Medo-Persian empire overthrows Babylon.  Yet Cyrus did not know Him (Isa. 44:28; 45:1-4).  At the time of the last Gentile kingdom, God will turn the hearts of the ten toes (ten horns) to give the authority of their kingdoms to the beast (Rev. 17:17).  This same point is made in the New Testament (Rom. 13:1, 4).

Daniel mentioned God’s wisdom and power at the beginning and at the end of his praise (vv. 20, 23), and he illustrated both characteristics in between.  This entire book clearly reveals God’s wisdom and power.

“It should fill us with joy, that infinite wisdom guides the affairs of the world.  Many of its events are shrouded in darkness and mystery, and inextricable confusion sometimes seems to reign.  Often wickedness prevails, and God seems to have forgotten the creatures that He has made.  Our own path through life is dark and devious, and beset with difficulties and dangers.  How full of consolation is the doctrine, that infinite wisdom directs every event, brings order out of confusion, and light out of darkness, and, to those who love God, causes all things, whatever be their present aspect and apparent tendency, to work together for good” (J. L. Dagg, Manual of Theology, Gano Books, 1982 edition of original 1857 edition published by The Southern Baptist Publication Society, p. 86-87).

“To do anything less than commit ourselves completely to our Lord in simple trust during the troubling times in our lives is to insult His wisdom.  To resist Him, question Him, doubt Him, or criticize what He allows in our lives is to deny that He is the only wise God, and claim that we are wiser than He” (Richard Strauss, Treasures of Wisdom).

God in His grace grants us His wisdom often through four sources: prayer (James 1:5), Bible reading (Psa. 19:7), wise counsel (Prov. 12:15) and godly relationships (Prov. 13:20).

God enables his servants to have wisdom and knowledge (v. 21b) and he “reveals deep and hidden things” and “he knows what is in the darkness” so that Daniel could interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. 

In the immediate context, Daniel refers to God’s ability to see the unknown and to expose it—as in the hidden dream of Nebuchadnezzar.  This light illumines what would otherwise be hidden or unknown.  There is nothing remaining in darkness before God’s omniscient gaze.

In other passages, we find God is the source of light (Gen. 1:3; John 1:3-5).  Indeed, it is part of His very nature (1 John. 1:5-7).  In the gospel of John, the Logos, Christ, is identified as the light of the world (John 1:9; 3:19; 8:12; 9:5; 12:46).

This light—provided by Daniel’s interpretation—provides the sought-after answer Nebuchadnezzar’s soul desired.  Only God can provide the answer to the issues of the heart and eternity.  “So the great existential questions of life and death continue to be insoluble to the worldly wise. Without divine revelation, there is only conjecture and subjective opinion” (Gleason Archer Jr. Daniel).

God not only controls the future, but reveals the future to his servants.  This is the reason why Israel should never depend upon idols, for they cannot predict the future (Isa. 41:21-42:9).  The gods cannot deliver the nations, cannot create, cannot predict the future, and therefore, should not be worshipped. 

And again, Daniel says…

To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.” (Daniel 2:23)

Walvoord comments on how Daniel puts God first in this sentence, emphasizing by position in the sentence, “to you.”  Like the Psalmist, he wants to say, “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,” (Psalm 115:1).

Perhaps Daniel’s reference to “God of my fathers” is his understanding that he was experiencing God’s compassion in a way similar to how his spiritual forefathers experienced it—in very personal and immediate ways and through prayer.  The “God of heaven” was the “God of my fathers” (vv. 19, 23).  Daniel knew that he stood in the line of all the great covenants that God had made with His people.  As a descendant of Judah (Daniel 1:3, 6), the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham.  This is one of the titles God has taken to Himself.

God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations” (Exod. 3:15)

This name emphasizes God’s covenant faithfulness and is rooted in the covenant He established with Abraham, who was called from the very region where Daniel now found himself captive.  Abraham left “Ur of the Chaldeans” (Gen. 11:28; 15:7; Neh. 9:7) bound for the Promised Land of Israel and now Daniel finds himself back to the land of the Chaldeans!  Yet despite all outward appearance, Daniel understood God was still bound by His promise to the fathers (Gen. 12:1-3; Gen. 15:7; 17:19-21; 21:12; 22:18; 25:5, 11, 23; 26:3-5; 26:24; 27:27; 28:3-4, 13-15; 32:9; 35:11; 48:4; 49:10).  It was God’s covenant faithfulness standing as a guarantee behind Daniel and his companions who found themselves back in the region of Ur under foreign domination.

And Daniel gives him “thanks and praise” because God had given “what we asked of you,” (did you notice the plural?), the “wisdom and might” needed to communicate to the king.  Walvoord notes: “Notice should be made of the pronouns, namely, that while the revelation was given to Daniel as an individual, it was what ‘we [plural] asked of you,’ and through Daniel the king’s secret was ‘made known unto us,’ that is, Daniel’s companions. Daniel does not attribute to his own prayers any special efficacy.”

The prayers in the book of Daniel bring more than deliverance for Daniel, his companions, and the nation.  In heaven’s response, important revelation from God will be recorded for the benefit of all mankind.

Within a few years of this night, the entire Jewish race will come under threat in Persia.  In response, Mordecai, Esther, and the Jews of Persia fast and pray to obtain deliverance (Esther 4:15-16).

This doxology is at the structural and theological center of this chapter, and, in fact, “God’s sovereignty and wisdom surge like mighty rivers throughout the whole book and figure in other biblical doxologies that praise his might and wisdom (cf. 1 Chron. 29:11; Rom. 11:33-36).

This assertion that Israel’s God is the one who alone possesses all power and wisdom was an important reminder to Daniel’s hearers.  As exiles in Babylon, they were surrounded by alternative religions that all claimed to offer access to the hidden mysteries of the universe.  But the events of this chapter expose the emptiness to their claims: there is only one God who reveals the future, because there is only one God who controls the future.

We also need to be reminded of this truth today.  It is not the politicians, the celebrities or the scientists who control this world, but God alone.  The wisdom of the world may at times look outwardly impressive, but only God truly possesses wisdom and knowledge.  He alone has the power to work all things according to His will (Eph. 1:9; Romans 8:28).

Daniel was now confident that the information that God had given him would save their lives.  This confidence is testimony to the clarity and obvious supernatural source of this revelation.  Daniel did not need to contrive an answer that he hoped would satisfy the king, as the Babylonian seers might have tried.  He simply needed to declare the revelation that the only living and true God had given him.

Throughout the book Daniel would have equal confidence in the other prophecies God gave to him, even if they dealt with great details of future events.

When we have wonderful answers to prayer, then we should testify to God’s goodness and greatness, which is exactly what Daniel does in vv. 24-30.

David Jeremiah notes: “As we see the actions of a boy growing into a man, a composite picture of Daniel begins to appear.  He is composed before crisis, courageous before the captain who is to take his life, confident before God in prayer, careful before his success to give praise to the Lord, and when God answers his prayer he is contrite in his spirit” (Handwriting on the Wall, p. 55).

Warren Wiersbe concludes: “When God’s people face a crisis, they need to follow the example of Daniel and his friends and take the matter to the Lord in prayer.  Faith is living without scheming, and faith brings glory to God.  Daniel and his friends couldn’t take credit for what happened because it came from the hand of God.  “Call upon Me in the day of trouble, I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me” (Psalm 50:15).  “Whatever God can do faith can do,” said A. W. Tozer, “and whatever faith can do prayer can do when it is offered in faith.  An invitation to prayer is, therefore, an invitation to omnipotence, for prayer engages the Omnipotent God and brings Him into our human affairs” (The Set of the Sail, p. 33).

Daniel and his friends–all sixty or so of them–were here being offered the chance of a lifetime—to be employed in the greatest empire on earth at the time, one with untold wealth and opportunities. All they had to do was go along with their education and the perks that went with it. One of them, a key one as we see from our text, was being offered the “daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank” (Dan. 1:5).

However, as we saw last week, “Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank.” He had made a firm resolution that this was something he could not do. Whatever the reason might have been, Daniel knew he had to say “no.”

But notice that Daniel said, “no thanks.” Although he was taking a stand, he was not offensive in the way that he did it. Again, Daniel and his friends sought to maintain their faithfulness to God largely by working within the Babylonian system rather than against it. So we read the rest of verse 8, “Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.”

9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, 10 and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.”

Isn’t it interesting that the very first temptation in history also had to do with food? And the first temptation Jesus faced publicly had to do with food. Now Daniel is facing a temptation regarding food.

To eat or not to eat, that is the question. And, as the balance came down, “two worlds were at stake—this one or the world to come” (John Phillips, Exploring the Book of Daniel, p. 36).

Servers appeared with great trays of exotic food: pork products, shellfish, beef fragrant and tender—meat offered to idols. Others were digging in, marveling over the taste. Consider the fact that these are teenage guys . . . they’re always hungry . . . they don’t eat, they graze.

You can imagine some of the comments: “Hey Daniel – you got to taste some of this honey baked ham . . . you got to try some of that shrimp salad over there – is God good or what?” (adapted from Phillips, Exploring the Book of Daniel, p. 37). But Daniel and his friends stood their ground.

Then the prince of the eunuchs arrived. Behind him was the shadow of a king of uncertain temper, one likely to be personally offended by the prisoners’ refusal to accept joyfully the king’s bounty and goodwill. What was good for him to eat was certainly good enough for them.

But Daniel and his friends weren’t eating. And Daniel “asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.” Other versions say he “sought permission … that he might not defile himself.”

Daniel’s request of the chief of the eunuchs was calm, courageous and courteous. He didn’t demand a different diet. He didn’t stage a “sit in” in opposition to the king’s menu. He didn’t express a “holier than thou” attitude, like “I’m right and you’re all wrong.”

We learn from this that obeying God is only one side of the coin, for we are also responsible as to how we obey God before others. Daniel’s obedience toward God was balanced by a respect for authority. While we live in this world, we will often be in situations where we are placed under the authority of non-believers. God still expects us to honor them; and we honor God by honoring the lines of authority that he has permitted to exist (cf. Rom 13:1–7; 1 Tim 2:1–2; 1 Pet 2:13–15).

This unexpected request must have filled the chief eunuch with surprise and dread—even for his own safety.

Now, notice that Daniel was not offensive in his demeanor or his actions. He was able to take a moral stand without being rude, without attacking the Babylonian religious system. He remained, however, steadfast in his belief, defining himself without getting anxious or angry.

This is what is called being a “non-anxious presence.” In his article, “How to Be a Non-Anxious Presence in a Politically Anxious World” (and who doesn’t think we need that?), Keith Simon remarks on how Daniel and his friends all throughout the book of Danel demonstrate a “calm, cool, and courageous demeanor” and “the more things spun out of control, the more he was at peace.”

He identifies four ways in which Daniel and his friends maintained a “non-anxious presence.”

First, they remembered God. Despite all that Nebuchadnezzar did, either intentionally or not, Daniel and his friends continued to “remember God,” to live their lives as before the face of God (coram deo). Back in verse 2 Daniel reflects on the reality that “the Lord gave Jehoiakim and Judah into [the hand of Nebuchadnezzar].” They reminded themselves often that their God was real and that He was in control of all things. A non-anxious person looks both back to the present and forward the future and sees that God is enthroned—now and forever. Even now, in these difficult circumstances.

Second, Daniel remained connected to a Christian community. When we get to chapter 2, as Daniel is challenged to repeat and interpret the dream of Nebuchadnezzar he calls together his friends to pray to God (Daniel 2:17-18). Simon says, “Anxiety thrives in isolation. If you want more stress, spend more time alone, disconnected from others. Doomscroll with all the doors shut. The non-anxious person has deep relationships with Christians who listen and pray with them when life feels overwhelming. They remind one another of God’s reign and encourage one another to stay calm and faithful.

Third, these men remained submitted to God’s will. Even when they mighty pay with their lives, they continued to worship God alone (Daniel 3) or pray as he normally did (Daniel 6). Daniel’s three friends have this amazing statement in Daniel 3:16-18).
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

They are confident that their lives are in God’s hands, no matter what the king does. They do not presume upon God’s will, they just remain faithful, whether they live or die.

Finally, a non-anxious person confesses their own sins. When anxieties and anger run hot, we are prone to quickly point the finger at others and blame them. But the non-anxious person confesses their own sins.

While meditating on Jeremiah, in Daniel 9, Daniel realizes that Jeremiah had predicted that the exile would last 70 years, and that 70 years was almost up. Knowing that, he confesses his sins and the sins of his people, just like Deuteronomy 30 commands. He doesn’t confess Babylon’s sins, even though there were many, but his own sins.

Reflecting upon our own anxiety during an election year, Simon remarks, “While Christians are pointing an accusatory finger at the culture, Daniel hands us a mirror so we can do some self-examination.”

Edwin Friedman talks about a “non-anxious presence,” and we see this side of the equation all throughout the book of Daniel because Daniel makes himself available to every ruler who calls upon him for help. Even when Darius made an edict that God Daniel thrown into the lion’s den, Daniel didn’t cut himself off from Darius, but responded to him with calmness and courage.

Daniel knew that there were all kinds of excuses for giving in and eating the food and wine offered to him.

• These were not “normal circumstances.”
• After all, what had God done for us lately?
• This could cost us our lives.

I love Jonathan Edwards Resolution # 61; Resolved, That I will not give way to that listlessness which I find relaxes my mind from being fully fixed on my [conviction] . . . whatever excuse I may have for it.

Daniel and his friends certainly took a risk in making an issue of the king’s diet. Probably they were also prepared to pay the consequences of their choice. (We should keep in mind that there are times when we must suffer for choosing to obey God.) In this particular case, however, God honored their obedience.

What was the result of Daniel’s calm and courageous request? Verse 9 says, “And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs…” God enters the picture. He works in Ashpenaz’ heart. God did this for Joseph as well, when Joseph was falsely accused and thrown into prison, Genesis 39:21 tells us that the LORD, the covenant-keeping God, “gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.” God gave these men favor in the eyes of those in charge, who were over them.

God specializes on working on people’s hearts. Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.” And a few decades from this event, “the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia” to allow Jews to return to their homeland (Ezra 1:1).

The chief of eunuchs was able to express favor and compassion towards Daniel and his friends because God had placed this grace and love within him. Had Daniel prayed for this? It is quite possible that he did. In fact, this is an explicit answer to a prayer that King Solomon prayed for when God’s people ended up in exile. That God would “grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them” (1 Kings 8:50).

Whether or not Daniel had prayed for the favor of the chief of the eunuchs, because Daniel trusted God it “pleased God” (Heb. 11:6) and God brought Daniel the favor and compassion of the chief of the eunuchs. When the text tells us “Yet Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself,” we must understand that this was a choice of faith, in which obedience to God became more important than what might have been momentarily more convenient or beneficial for him.

God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of eunuchs – much like Joseph many centuries before in Egypt (Gen. 39:21), or Esther years later in Persia. This is one of the ways that God, although working behind the scenes, exhibits his sovereign control. So, in reality God is working way ahead of Daniel. Even before he had made his commitment, God was preparing the chief of the eunuch’s heart to be open to his suggestion. Amir Tsarfati reminds us, “God knows whether we will say yes to righteousness, and He has already begun working out the situation” (Discovering Daniel, p. 32).

Proverbs 16:7 lays down the general principle that, “When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”

So this is exactly what God did in the case of the head of the court officials who was over Daniel. Rather than being resistant and completely fearful of the king, or wrathful and vindictive towards Daniel, God caused him to be favorably disposed towards him, even sympathetic to his cause. Without a doubt, God used Daniel’s respectfulness as part of the process.

Obviously, God was at work, both in Daniel’s heart to encourage him to obey with calmness and courage, and He was at work in Ashpenaz’ heart to make him favorable to Daniel and his request. Depend on it, God works on hearts.
When you are in a difficult, disagreeable situation, stay committed to do your part, but in a respectful way, and God can work in the heart of the other person to look with favor and sympathy towards your need.

Having conviction does not excuse us from acting with sensitivity, tact, and respect. Daniel had clearly made up his mind that he would be obedient to the Lord, but he went about it in a courteous way. That is especially important to do when relating to those whom God has put in authority over us.

There are several attractive features in the way Daniel made his proposal. First, he was tactful in the way he spoke. He didn’t demand anything, he simply made a request. Second, he was obedient in following the chain of command. Third, his request was reasonable. The test would be over in ten days and didn’t require the preparation of unusual food. Fourth, it was easy to evaluate. The guard simply eyeballed the four versus the others and drew his own conclusions.

As a result, the eunuch’s defenses were down even before he knew they were being stormed. He sensed at once that this strange and unexpected request was quite appropriate and possibly that it had something to do with Daniel’s God.

However, although the official was sympathetic to Daniel’s request, he was also afraid of the potential consequences of bucking the system. He knew he would be held accountable and his head would be on the block if he let Daniel have his way and some physical deterioration would occur, so he was very hesitant. We see this in verse 10, “and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, ‘I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.’”

D. A. Bayliss notes:

This verse, suitably paraphrased, is a verse that has stopped untold numbers of believers from following through on a right stand for God. Almost every clause is dripping with traps into which an undetermined believer can fall and never fully escape. These manipulative statements can be taken in sequence:

First, notice that this was from the chief of the eunuchs. We know that Daniel had the tender love (favor) of the chief eunuch, and we may probably intuit that Daniel had already gained some fondness or trust for this eunuch as well. As a young lad stripped of his past and future he would naturally cling to any friendly soul. Thus, it is exactly that friendly soul that the adversary uses in an attempt to dissuade Daniel from his mission. That’s why Paul warns us in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be deceived, ‘Bad company ruins good morals.”

Second, he said, “I fear my lord the king.” The appeal to a ‘higher’ authority with an added note of fear. Daniel had probably had to pluck up courage just to talk to the chief eunuch, and how immediately the immensity of the problem was being escalated. Note the way in which any fear Daniel had of the king was now going to be increased by knowing that even the chief eunuch harbored such fears.

Third, it was that king “who assigned your food and drink.” Particularly if we are turning down something we are being offered people will rush to tell us that we should be grateful and take what we are offered. Be it a job, a university position, alcohol or sometimes even a spouse there will always be those who tell us that we ought to take an opportunity just because it is there.

Fourth, “Why should he see that you were in worse condition?” The next ploy is always the “How is this going to look?” The Bible says that ” man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). Frequently though, even as Christians we are told that we need to worry about what the outward appearance is, even by those closest to us. There is also a subtle assumption in this phrase: that they will look worse if they follow God’s method. This kind of subtle word play is something we should look for and fight against.

Fifth, “than the youths who are of your own age.” This is a form of peer pressure. Daniel is being told that he is really part of a group and needed to “fit in.” His ‘sort’ has already been categorized, people know what they do and how they should behave. Any behavior outside of the norm is to be avoided. We often think that peer pressure only comes when our children are with their friends. But that’s not true; often we apply peer pressure to them by expecting them to behave as their friends do. “All your friends go to the youth-group, why don’t you?”

Finally, “So you would endanger my head with the king.” When all else fails try emotional blackmail. A straightforward, you cannot do this, think of the effect you will have upon me.

As we shall see, when presented with a barrage like this the trick is to slow down and analyze each of the different arguments and make sure an answer is available for each one. There is a reason we are told to be “wise as a serpent” (Matt. 10:16). The devil is exceptional at using twisted logic to make sin seem not only okay, but beneficial to us and even our very right.

So far in the book of Daniel we’ve seen that four young Hebrew teenagers have been subjected to some pretty heavy indoctrination to try to change their beliefs. We’ve compared it somewhat to young people today attending university. George Barna estimates that roughly 70% of high school students who enter college as professing Christians will leave with little to no faith. These students usually don’t return to their faith even after graduation, as Barna projects that 80% of those reared in the church will be “disengaged” by the time they are 29.

Many of those young people have a church background, but it is likely that during that time they attended irregularly, rarely read their Bibles, and likely just adopted some of the faith and practices of their parents or friends. It is possible that they had no real faith to turn from.

There are some real challenges to Christianity on university campuses. Aside from liberal emphases in most of your classes, your faith is likely to be ridiculed by both professors and fellow students, your obedience to Christ will be challenged by all of the distractions and temptations of campus life. In other words, it is a minefield of potentially faith-destroying or faith-damaging opportunities. Satan makes sure of it.
Daniel and his friends have been taken to Babylon, far from home, and they have been fed all the Babylonian propaganda, had their names changed to make them forget their past allegiances, and they attempted to wine and dine them to soften them up to changing their worldview and loyalties. In the remainder of Daniel 1 we’re going to see that Daniel and his friends do not question their beliefs or outright deny the religious upbringing of their parents and faith community, but instead they stand firm. Their faith was not merely inherited from their parents – it was deeply owned as their own. One of the ways we know that is that they had to pay a price.

This appears in Daniel 1:8-16. Remember that the background of this passage is back in verse 5, “The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank.”

Events now had Daniel in an iron grip. Sooner or later, he would have to make a difficult decision.

John Calvin wrote that Nebuchadnezzar knew that the Jews were a stiff-necked and obstinate people, and that he used the sumptuous food to soften up the captives.

These young men were being treated to the King’s Buffet. I’m sure it was the best gourmet foods that you could find anywhere in the world at that time. Really sumptuous! For me it would be dark chocolate peanut butter cups.

Up to this point Daniel and his three friends had shown no outward resistance to their assimilation into Babylonian culture. They didn’t skip their Babylonian literature classes, and they answered to their Babylonian names when they were called. That is what makes this encounter so striking. Why did Daniel draw the line here? Why did he suddenly say, “No compromise”? Doesn’t this seem like such a little thing?

Now we read…

8 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.

So what was the big deal? Is it that the food being served was not kosher, prepared according to the Levitical dietary laws?

Whether they were actually eating pork, the king’s intention is that they would “eat high on the hog,” symbolizing that they were getting the very best that could be offered. Likely also encouraging them to gorge themselves on this food.

It was not that Daniel was a vegetarian or one who abstained from wine, because later (in Daniel 10) he refrained from meat and wine for a period of three weeks of mourning (vv. 2, 3). That implies that he normally ate meat and drank wine.

Is it because the meat and wine had initially been offered to Babylonian idols?

In his book Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization, A. Leo Oppenheim tells us about the care and feeding of the gods of Babylon. We learn in his book that sumptuous food would be offered to the gods, and after the meal, whatever was left would be brought to the king’s table as the royal food.

According to Exod. 34:15, God’s people were forbidden to eat foods that had been sacrificed or offered to pagan deities or idols. In Babylon, food was served to idols and later eaten by the king’s court:

The image was fed, in a ceremonial fashion accompanied by music, from offerings and the produce of the temple land and flocks. When the god was ‘eating’, he was, at least in later times, hidden from human view, even the priests, by linen curtains surrounding the image and his table.… When the god had ‘eaten’, the dishes from his meal were sent to the king for consumption. What was not destined for the table of the main deity, his consort, his children or the servant gods was distributed among the temple administrators and craftsmen. The quantities of food involved could be enormous.

Iain Duguid notes: “The key to understanding why the four young men abstained from the royal food and wine is noticing that instead they chose to eat only those things that grow naturally—grains and vegetables—and to drink only naturally occurring water (1:12). This suggests that the goal of this simple lifestyle was to be constantly reminded of their dependence upon their creator God for their food, not King Nebuchadnezzar. Dependence on Nebuchadnezzar’s rich food would have been defiling because it would have repeated in their own lives the sin of King Hezekiah that brought this judgment upon God’s people in the first place (see 1 Kings 20:17)” (Daniel: Reformed Expository Commentary, p. 13).

Daniel was the influence here, among the four friends. Scripture shows that this was Daniel’s purpose that he shared with the other three, and then they joined with Daniel completely. The four did not collaboratively arrive at the decision, rather it was Daniel’s thought and his persuasion upon the others to follow this course of action.

You and I will all face tests in life, tests that challenge our faith, that call us to compromise, that encourage us to sin. We will be faced with some things that seem so innocent and insignificant, but which could change the course of our lives. This was a defining moment for Daniel.

Daniel “resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank.” He made a resolution; he made up his mind. Likely, this was something that he had been taught about by his parents, knew what the laws of God were, and had already made up his mind that this was a line he would not cross.

Arnold points out how the word-play at the beginning of v. 8 (wayyāśem)—in light of its earlier use in v. 7—sets the stage for the remainder of the book:

The irony of the word play is that the Babylonians think they have changed Daniel’s character, but the narrator knows otherwise. They succeeded in changing all the circumstances of his life, and the name change in verse 7 represents Daniel’s complete transformation, at least from the Babylonian perspective. But the inner resolve and dedication revealed by the word play in verse 8 is the narrator’s full portrait of Daniel and transcends even the description of his impressive personal and intellectual skills in verses 3–4. It is his commitment to God that sets Daniel apart, and prepares the reader for the continued conflict between aggressive world powers and God’s servants.

What about you? Have you made resolutions? Have you determined the lines that you will not cross, no matter what the negative cost might be, or the positive payoff? All of us face forks in the road of our lives, whereby we decide either to follow the Lord or go our own way. And as Robert Frost in his poem The Road Not Taken says that “has made all the difference.”

Now, I know some of us start each new year with a fresh set of resolutions. On average, they last less than four weeks. That’s not what Daniel did. He didn’t decide that he needed to lose weight or get smarter or build better relationships. He knew what God’s Word said and he was determined to do it. He made a settled decision ahead of time not to violate God’s law.

It’s more like what Jonathan Edwards, pastor and theologian in early America, did. Beginning in 1723, when he was 20 years of age, he began composing his list of 70 resolutions. I read a devotional book based on his resolutions last year.

Let me read a few of them:

• Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.

That pretty much takes care of everything, doesn’t it? I mean, what more do you need?

He would go on for about a year, writing 70 resolutions in all, which served as a rudder over the course of his life.

Because Jonathan Edwards had such a realistic view of his personal sanctification and growth, he added several along these lines – here’s one:

• Resolved, never to slacken my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.

And again:

• Resolved, if I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.

Here’s another realistic, humble admission that led him to add another resolution – he writes:

• Resolved, always to do what I shall wish I had done when I see someone else doing it.

One more: and I think this was a key to his success – Jonathan Edwards made a resolution to review his resolutions –

• Resolved, to inquire every night, as I am going to bed, where I have been negligent, what sin I have committed, and where I have denied myself (that is, where I’ve done the right thing): [and to do so] at the end of every week, [every] month and [every] year.

In other words, every night he’d run through a mental accountability; but at the end of every week, month and year, he’d pull out the list.

Maybe one of our problems is that we so soon forget what we’ve resolved.
I want to introduce to you, another man who made some resolutions while he was still a young man. And I think this is key. He made these decision when he was young. And he seems to have made up his mind ahead of time.

Believe me, the heat of the moment is not the time to be making these decisions. You need to think ahead of time about what you will and will not do, what lines you will not cross. Young men (and women) need to think ahead of time what boundaries they will not cross in dating, with regard to drinking and drugs and parties. Don’t wait until you get tempted; think it through ahead of time.

I believe this is what the book of Proverbs does for the young man. The father gives his son some future scenarios that he will likely face with regard to gangs (Proverbs 1:10ff) and seductive women (Proverbs 5, 7). He warns him about get-rich-quick schemes and the tendency to be lazy. Young people, think through these things ahead of time. Parents, prepare your children for the future. You know the traps that lay ahead of them. Get them ready to make good decisions.

Daniel’s resolutions will place him squarely in the middle of conflict – in fact, they will eventually threaten his life (Daniel 6).

Because of his resolutions, he will live his life in the minority . . . with only a few personal friends; he will face incredible pressure to conform to the surrounding culture his entire life.

Other versions say that Daniel “made up his mind” (NASB, CEV) or “purposed in his heart” (KJV), reminding us how important it is to “watch over [our] heart” (Prov. 4:23) because it affects everything else about our lives.

I think it is important that Daniel “made up his mind” ahead of time. He didn’t wait until the heat of the moment to figure out what his stance on this issue was. He had thought it through ahead of time and made a decision not to defile himself in this way.

This reminds me of Eric Liddell, the “flying Scotsman.” The son of Christian missionaries, Eric Liddell was born in China in 1902 and died there 43 years later in a Japanese internment camp in China. In between, he played for Scotland at rugby, won Olympic gold for Britain and inspired an Oscar-winning film about his athletic exploits many years later.

He was selected for the British squad for the 1924 Paris Olympics, where he was among the favourites to win in his strongest event, the 100m sprint.

But when the timetable for the Games was released, the 100m heats were on a Sunday and Eric Liddell dropped a stunning revelation. The Christian Sabbath was the Lord’s Day and there was nothing in this world that could persuade him to run.

In the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, Liddell only learns the 100m heats will be held on a Sunday while boarding the boat to France. In reality, the schedule was known several months in advance. However, the movie’s creative licence does reflect the real-life drama caused by his principled stance.

Looking back 60 years later, his friend and fellow athlete Greville Young said while those who knew Liddell were aware of his strong religious feelings, “it caused tremendous furore amongst many people, particularly with the newspapers and journalists”.

Reporters hammered on the door of their student accommodation in Edinburgh, demanding to speak to Liddell. According to Young, “They were quite menacing almost and there were cries of, ‘He’s a traitor to his country’.”

Liddell’s decision meant he had to give up on his strongest event and switch his focus to the 400 meters. Liddell had experienced some early success at the Paris Olympics, winning bronze in the 200m. Few believed he could improve on this in the longer distance final on Friday 11 July, 1924.

When the starting gun fired, he set off at a blistering speed, flashing past the halfway mark in 22.2 seconds. Throwing his head back in his distinctive style, he stretched his lead and ended up finishing 5 meters ahead of the chasing pack. The finishing time was 47.6 seconds. A rather breathless report in the next day’s London Times described it as “probably the most dramatic race ever seen on a running track”.

Tom Riddell told the BBC he had asked Liddell about his tactical approach: “In his own words he said, ‘Well, when the gun goes, I go as fast as I can, and I trust to God that I’ll have the strength to do the second half.’ And I think he really did.”

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240705-olympics-hero-eric-liddell-and-the-real-story-behind-chariots-of-fire

As the unknown poet put it,

Some ships go east, and some go west,
Before the wind that blows;
It’s the set of the sail, and not the gale;
That determines the way it goes.

We can well imagine Daniel’s emotions as he showed up in the student’s dining hall for that first meal. There was about to be an explosion, a confrontation, perhaps even an execution. Daniel knew the cost. You don’t defy kings.

And we will pick up the rest of Daniel’s test next week.

Today is our third week introducing the book of Daniel. It is vitally important that we understand the background of any book of the Bible. That is why we are spending so much time on it.
The Purpose of the Book

At this dark hour in Israel’s history, with the tragic destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, a strong reminder was needed that their God, Yahweh, really was in total control of nations and national rulers.

The book of Daniel is, for the most part, a prophetical history of Gentile world-power from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar to the coming of CHRIST. The prophets in general emphasize GOD’s power and sovereignty in relation to Israel, and they reveal Him as guiding the destinies of His chosen people throughout the centuries until their final restoration.

Daniel, on the other hand, emphasizes GOD’s sovereignty in relation to the Gentile world-empires, and reveals Him as the One controlling and overruling in their affairs, until the time of their destruction at the coming of His Son.

“The vision is that of the overruling GOD, in wisdom knowing and in might working; of kings reigning and passing, of dynasties and empires rising and falling, while GOD enthroned above rules their movements” (Campbell Morgan).

John MacArthur reminds us, “The book of Daniel will teach you who is running human history. God raises up the Assyrians and puts them down. God raises up the Babylonians and puts the down. God raises up Nebuchadnezzar and puts him down. God raises up Cyrus and has him do what He wants. God literally controls human history.”

The book’s central theme is God’s sovereignty over history, empires, and kings (2:21; 4:43-47). All the kingdoms of this world will come to an end and will be replaced by the Lord’s kingdom, which will never pass away (2:44; 7:27). This is illustrated by the fact that even Daniel outlived the Babylonian Empire!

Though trials and difficulties will continue for God’s people up until the end, those who are faithful will be raised to glory, honor, and everlasting life in this final kingdom (12:1-3).

John Walvoord notes, “The book of Daniel, like Esther, reveals God continuing to work in His people Israel even in the time of their chastening. In this framework the tremendous revelation concerning the times of the Gentiles and the program of God for Israel was unfolded. While it is doubtful whether these prophecies were sufficiently known in Daniel’s lifetime to be much of an encouragement to the captives themselves, the book of Daniel undoubtedly gave hope to the Jews who returned to restore the temple and the city, and it was particularly helpful during the Maccabean persecutions.”

Key Themes

I. It is possible to live a faithful life while surrounded by pagan influences, if one serves the Lord wholeheartedly (ch. 1).
II. God can give his faithful servants abilities that cause even unbelievers to appreciate them (chs. 2, 3, 6). Nevertheless, believers should not assume that God will always rescue them from harm (3:16-18).
III. God humbles the proud and raises up the humble. Even the hearts of the greatest kings are under his control (chs. 4, 5).
IV. This world will be a place of persecution for God’s people, getting worse and worse rather than better and better (chs. 2, 7). The Lord will judge the kingdoms of this world and bring them to an end, replacing them with his own kingdom that will never end. This kingdom will be ruled by “one like a son of man” who comes “with the clouds,” a figure who combines human and divine traits (7:13).
V. God is sovereign over the course of history, even over those who rebel against him and seek to destroy his people (ch. 8).
VI. The Babylonian exile was not the end of Israel’s history of rebellion and judgment. In the future, Israel would continue to sin against the Lord, and Jerusalem would be handed over to her enemies, who would damage her temple and do other offensive things (chs. 8, 9, 12). Eventually, though, the anointed ruler would come to deliver God’s people from their sins (9:24-27).
VII. These earthly events are reflections of a great conflict between angelic forces of good and evil (ch. 10). Prayer is a significant weapon in that conflict (9:23).
VIII. God rules over all of these conflicts and events, he limits the damage they do, and he has a precise timetable for the end of his people’s persecutions. At that time he will finally intervene to cleanse and deliver his people (ch. 12).
IX. In the meantime, believers must be patient and faithful in a hostile world, looking to the Lord alone for deliverance (11:33-35).

Genre: Apocalyptic

Daniel is classified as an apocalyptic writing, because of its series of supernatural visions which by their character fulfilled what is intimated by the Greek word apokalypsis, which means unveiling of truth which would otherwise be concealed.

Although apocalyptic works abound outside the Bible, relatively few are found in Scripture. In the New Testament only the book of Revelation can be classified as apocalyptic; but in the Old Testament, Ezekiel and Zechariah may be so classified in addition to Daniel.

A couple of hundred years later, apocalyptic writings abound. These were classified as pseudepigrapha, written to imitate the style of biblical apocalyptic books. Apocalyptic works classified as the pseudepigrapha include such titles as Ascension of Isaiah; Assumption of Moses; Book of Enoch; Book of Jubilees; Greek Apocalypse of Baruch; Letters of Aristeas; III and IV Maccabees; Psalms of Solomon; Secrets of Enoch; Sibylline Oracles; Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch; Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs; Apocalypses of Adam, Elijah, and Zephaniah; and Testament of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob.

Another characteristic about the book of Daniel is that, unlike most of the other prophets, Daniel does not confront the people of Israel with their sins. He comforts only. In addition, Daniel’s book includes historical narrative in the first 6 chapters.

Apocalyptic literature is a uniquely Jewish literary genre. It was often used in tension-filled times to express the conviction that God is in control of history and will bring deliverance to His people.

This type of literature is characterized by:

1. a strong sense of the universal sovereignty of God (monotheism and determinism)
2. a struggle between good and evil, this evil age and the age of righteousness to come (a limited dualism)
3. use of standardized secret code words (usually from the OT prophetic texts or intertestamental Jewish apocalyptic literature)
4. use of colors, numbers, animals, sometimes animals/human hybrids
5. use of angelic involvement by means of visions and dreams, which are usually interpreted by angels
6. primarily focuses on the soon-coming, climatic events of the end-time (new age)
7. use of a fixed set of symbols to communicate the end-time message from God.

Languages

An unusual feature of the book of Daniel is the fact that the central portion (2:4-7:28) is written in biblical Aramaic, also called Chaldee. A similar use of Aramaic is found in Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Jer 10:11; and the two words of the compound name Jegar-Sahadutha in Genesis 31:47, showing that the Aramaic tongue had been around long before the inter-testamental period.
The Aramaic portion of Daniel clearly covers the “Times of the Gentiles,” while the Hebrew portions at the beginning and end devote more attention to what happens to Israel and the children of Israel in the midst of the nations. Aramaic was also the contemporary language of international business.

Canonical Place

When we use the word “canon” we’re talking about the books which were recognized [not “determined,” but “recognized”] as being inspired by God and they formed the group of books we call our Old and New Testaments.

In our English Bible (Septuagint, Vulgate and Luther), the book of Daniel appears as the last of the major prophets. Along with Ezekiel, Daniel wrote in the exilic period. In the Hebrew Bible Daniel is part of the Kethubim (the writings). The Jews call the Old Testament the Tanak, which is a word that consists of the T for Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, what we often call the Pentateuch; the N stands for Neviim, the prophets, and the K stands for Kethubim. Daniel is part of the Kethubim, the writings.

Robert Dick Wilson believes that this is because Daniel was never called a “prophet” (navi, נָבִיא), but a “seer” (hozeh, חֹזֶה) and “wise man” (hakhamin, חַכִּימִ֣ין). J. B. Payne observes, “For though Christ spoke of Daniel’s function as prophetic (Matt. 24:15), his position was that of governmental official and inspired writer, rather than ministering prophet (cf. Acts 2:29-30)” (J. Barton Payne, “Book of Daniel,” Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, p. 198).

So why is Daniel placed in the Writings rather than in the Prophets for the Jews? This may be because Daniel’s prophetic messages do not confront the Jewish people with their sins, which was common among the Major and Minor Prophets. Also, the Masoretes may not have considered Daniel to be a prophet because there is no mention of his ordination or calling to be a prophet.

Major Divisions and Unity

The traditional division of the book of Daniel into two halves (1-6; 7-12) has usually been justified on the basis that the first six chapters are historical and the last six chapters are apocalyptic or predictive. There is much to commend this division which often also regards chapter 1 as introductory.

An alternative approach, recognizing the Aramaic section as being significant, divides the book into three major divisions: (1) Introduction, Daniel 1; (2) The Times of the Gentiles, presented in Aramaic, Daniel 2-7; (3) Israel in Relation to the Gentiles, in Hebrew, Daniel 8-12.
These two approaches are roughly the same.

Overview of the Book of Daniel

One of the things I like to do whenever I study or preach on a book of the Bible is to first look at the whole book and how it is organized and laid out, to get the “30,000 foot view” so that I can see the whole before examining the parts.

There are several good resources for this. The Bible Project has a video on YouTube and a chart that you can find on Google images, that is a good overview of the book.

Charles Swindoll has his book chart on his website Insight for Living. Philip Jensen has a book chart on the Precepts Austin website.

The book of Daniel is divided into two parts, the historical narratives of chapters 1-6 and the apocalyptic visions of chapters 7-12. In the first half, Daniel is interpreting the dreams or experiences of two Gentile kings, Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. Darius is included chronologically in this section as the Medo-Persian empire conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. In the second half, it is Daniel’s visions that are interpreted by an angel. Again, chapters 2-7 are written in Aramaic, primarily because the history (both present and future history) covered in this part concerned Gentile empires, while chapters 8-12 are written in Hebrew because the history (both present and future history) concerns Israel.

The Key Verse

Some books have purpose statements, such as the gospel of John, “these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). The Gospel of John was revealed to John by God’s Spirit for the express purpose of helping people believe in Jesus Christ as God’s Son and experiencing “life in his name.”

Likewise, the first epistle of John has an express purpose statement. 1 John 5:12 says, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” The Gospel of John is written so that we may believe and the epistle of John is written so that believers “may know that you have eternal life. God wants us to have the assurance that we possess the very life He promised to give through His Son.

The book of Acts has verse that reveals the programmatic desires of Jesus for his church. In Acts 1:8 Jesus says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” As you follow the narrative of the book of Acts, you see that the gospel witness and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit begins in Jerusalem (Acts 2), but later expands into Judea-Samaria (Acts 8) and finally reaches to the Gentiles (Acts 10 and following).

Is there are similar verse for the book of Daniel? Well, there is not a clear and explicit purpose statement, but we can identify a verse which highlights a major theme of the book of Daniel—God’s sovereignty over the nations.

The key verse for the book of Daniel could very well be Daniel 4:17.

“‘The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of people.’”

In this case God wanted Nebuchadnezzar to know that He, “the Most High,” “is sovereign over all kingdom on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of people.” Nebuchadnezzar needed to realize that the power of Babylon did not depend upon Nebuchadnezzar himself but upon “the Most High” God of the Israelites. And as Israel read this, they would remember that they were “the lowliest of people” at this time and would have taken heart that God could reverse their misfortunes that they were presently experiencing. It would give them hope, as prophecy should give us hope, that God will fulfill all His promises for His people someday soon.