Upon his arrival in the imperial city, Daniel was confronted with a predicament. If he consumed the food and drink of the pagan king, it would violate his ritual purity. While he might have wished to avoid eating “unclean” meats, more likely, his concern was that consuming the royal “delicacies” would mean his participation in the idolatrous rituals of the Babylonian court and religion. Either way, the young man’s decision could have dire consequences.
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Empires Rise and Fall
The Tower of Babel incident is echoed in the Book of Daniel when the new ruler of “Shinar,” Nebuchadnezzar, gathered all nations to pay homage to the great golden image that he had set up in the “Plain of Dura.” His empire was not a new political entity, but the latest incarnation of Satan’s ancient effort to unite humanity under his overlordship, a plan that has been underway since human civilization dawned.
Continue readingDREAM OF THE KING
Only Daniel was able to reveal the troubling dream of the King, unveiling the future of kings and empires – Daniel 2:1-49.
The second and third chapters present a single story told in two parts. First, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of an enormous image composed of several materials, which Daniel interpreted, demonstrating the sovereignty of God over history. Second, the king attempted to implement his dream by erecting a great golden image in the “plain of Dura.”
Continue readingWORD OF JEREMIAH
Daniel began to inquire into the predicted end of the Babylonian Captivity recorded in the book of Jeremiah – Daniel 9:1-2.
Daniel received the revelation about the “seventy weeks” in the “first year” of Darius the Mede; that is, shortly after the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire to the “Medes and Persians.” And his inquiry and prayer indicate that the events in chapter 9 occurred before the return of the first Jewish exiles to Jerusalem after the decree of Cyrus the Great.
Continue readingPRAYER AND VISITATION
After praying for the restoration of Israel, the angel Gabriel appeared and began to explain the “vision” to Daniel – Daniel 9:3-23.
After contemplating the prophecy from Jeremiah, Daniel began to pray and repent for the sins of Israel. He did not seek revelation into the meaning of Jeremiah’s prophecy, for he understood its prediction perfectly well (“I understood by the writings the number of the years”). Instead, he confessed the sins of the nation, just as Jeremiah had instructed.
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