Bible Stories: Daniel 1-3

Teacher: Josh Miles
​Series: Bible Stories

Josh's Notes

“If / Then” - (Daniel 1 & 3)

Verses
Romans 8:11
Proverbs 4:20
Daniel 1:1-21
Daniel 3:1-30
2 Corinthians 1:20:
Links to include:
http://billyhumphrey.com/2013/08/08/organizing-the-book-of-daniel-chronologically/ http://www.biblehistory.net/newsletter/belshazzar_darius_mede.htm
Romans 8:11 tells me that I have the same spirit inside of me - the same spirit that Rusty has. It’s the same spirit that was inside of Paul, the same spirit inside of John, and the same spirit that rose Christ from the dead… Have you ever heard that before Leavener?

I’m not a programmer, but that statement is what people who write code would call an “if then statement.” Meaning if _____ is true, then ______ is also true. So in programming, if the value = a valid email address, then submit the contact form. Or if the viewer is logged in, then show the welcome message.

And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through His Spirit who lives in you.

I’d highly recommend using the Bible to instruct you on how to listen and learn. I realize I’m here to talk about Daniel, but in Proverbs 4:20 it says:
20 My son, pay attention to my words; listen closely to my sayings. 21 Don’t lose sight of them; keep them within your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them, and health to one’s whole body. 23 Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.

Chapter 1 is about interpreting a dream and the importance of eating your vegetables, and chapter 3 is about Shadrach Meshach & Abednego. And I bet you didn’t know Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were not their real names!
Daniel is an interesting book, simply by how it’s organized… First of all, just structurally, the writing, the pacing and rhythm of the storytelling in Daniel is interesting.

• The organization of the stories mirror each other. This literary device is called a chiasm, in case you’re ever on Jeopardy or playing Trivial Pursuit.
  
• A. (2:4b-49) – A dream of four kingdoms replaced by a fifth
  
  • B. (3:1–30) – Daniel's three friends in the fiery furnace
    
    • C. (4:1–37) – Daniel interprets a dream for Nebuchadnezzar
      
    • C'. (5:1–31) – Daniel interprets the handwriting on the wall for Belshazzar
      
  • B'. (6:1–28) – Daniel in the lions' den
    
• A'. (7:1–28) – A vision of four world kingdoms replaced by a fifth
  
• The Bible tends to use repetition to point out things that it wants us to get… Daniel is a book that can be interpreted to talk about the end times, and other say it’s more about the fall of the temple in 70 AD. Maybe both…
  
  
• Either way, that stuff is interesting to me, but it’s more like what I see as the fourth layer of meaning in the old testament. I know some people are really into end times and prophecy stuff, but that’s not really my jam right now. In a minute, I’ll tell you how I view these layers of story and meaning, and what I like to look for, and how you can look for that too!
  

So the chronological order might be something more like:

• Chapter 1 – Refuses King’s Delicacies, 605 BC under Nebuchadnezzar
  
• Chapter 2 – Great Golden Image, 603 BC
  
• Chapter 3 – Golden Stature/Fiery Furnace, 587 BC under Nebuchadnezzar
  
• Chapter 4 – Nebuchadnezzar’s Judgment, 571 – 562 BC
  
• Chapter 7 – Four Beasts, Little Horn, Ancient of Days, 553 BC
  
• Chapter 8 – Ram and the Goat, 551 BC
  
• Chapter 9 – Seventy Weeks, 539 BC
  
• Chapter 5 – Writing on the Wall, 539 BC
  
• Chapter 6 – Lion’s Den, 538~534 BC under Darius
  
• Chapter 10 – 12 – King of the North and King of the South to 1335 days, ~534 BC
  

      The first thing they say is that the last King to rule the empire of Babylon before being destroyed by the Medes and Persians, was a man by the name of Nabonidus not Belshazzar.
      Secondly, Belshazzar was never a King of Babylon. And third the bible refers to Nebuchadnezzar as the father of Belshazzar, which he wasn't.
And just like the last link, caveat emptor

• http://www.biblehistory.net/newsletter/belshazzar_darius_mede.htm
  
  Daniel 1:1-21
  

1In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakima king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzarb, c king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it.2The Lord handed Jehoiakim king of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God.d Nebuchadnezzar carried them to the land of Babylon,e, f to the house of his god,g and put the vessels in the treasury of his god.
3The king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials,h to bring some of the Israelites from the royal familyi and from the nobility — 4young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom,j knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king’s palacek — and to teach them the Chaldean languagel and literature. 5The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank.m They were to be trained for three years, and at the end of that time they were to serve in the king’s court.n, o 6Among them, from the descendants of Judah, were Daniel,p Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 7The chief official gave them other names: he gave the name Belteshazzar to Daniel, Shadrach to Hananiah, Meshach to Mishael, and Abednego to Azariah.q
8Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s foodr or with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief official not to defile himself.s 9God had granted Daniel favor and compassion from the chief official,t 10yet he said to Daniel, “My lord the king assigned your food and drink. I’m afraid of what would happen if he saw your faces looking thinner than those of the other young men your age. You would endanger my lifeu with the king.”
11So Daniel said to the guard whom the chief official had assigned to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12“Please test your servants for 10 days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13Then examine our appearance and the appearance of the young men who are eating the king’s food, and deal with your servants based on what you see.” 14He agreed with them about this and tested them for 10 days. 15At the end of 10days they looked better and healthierv than all the young men who were eating the king’s food.w 16So the guard continued to remove their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables.
17God gave these four young men knowledge and understandingx in every kind of literature and wisdom. Daniel also understood visions and dreamsyof every kind. 18At the end of the time that the king had said to present them, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19The king interviewed them, and among all of them, no one was found equal to Daniel,Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.z So they began to serve in the king’s court. 20In every matter of wisdom and understanding that the king consulted them about, he found them 10 timesaa, ab better than all the diviner-priests and mediumsac in his entire kingdom. 21Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.ad

1In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakima king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzarb, c king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it.2The Lord handed Jehoiakim king of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God.d Nebuchadnezzar carried them to the land of Babylon,e, f to the house of his god,g and put the vessels in the treasury of his god.
(It’s cool how the Bible states what else is going on here, so we can look back and figure out when these things happened, who was where, and how His people got in this predicament that Rusty keeps pointing out, Relationship, Rebellion, Captivity, Freedom, Relationship, Rebellion… )
3The king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials,h to bring some of the Israelites from the royal familyi and from the nobility — 4young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom,j knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king’s palacek — and to teach them the Chaldean languagel and literature. 5The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank.m They were to be trained for three years, and at the end of that time they were to serve in the king’s court.n, o 6Among them, from the descendants of Judah, were Daniel,p Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 7The chief official gave them other names: he gave the name Belteshazzar to Daniel, Shadrach to Hananiah, Meshach to Mishael, and Abednego to Azariah.q 8Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s foodr or with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief official not to defile himself.s 9God had granted Daniel favor and compassion from the chief official,t 10yet he said to Daniel, “My lord the king assigned your food and drink. I’m afraid of what would happen if he saw your faces looking thinner than those of the other young men your age. You would endanger my lifeu with the king.” 11So Daniel said to the guard whom the chief official had assigned to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12“Please test your servants for 10 days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13Then examine our appearance and the appearance of the young men who are eating the king’s food, and deal with your servants based on what you see.” 14He agreed with them about this and tested them for 10 days. 15At the end of 10 days they looked better and healthierv than all the young men who were eating the king’s food.w 16So the guard continued to remove their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables.
17God gave these four young men knowledge and understandingx in every kind of literature and wisdom. Daniel also understood visions and dreamsyof every kind. 18At the end of the time that the king had said to present them, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19The king interviewed them, and among all of them, no one was found equal to Daniel,Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.z So they began to serve in the king’s court. 20In every matter of wisdom and understanding that the king consulted them about, he found them 10 timesaa, ab better than all the diviner-priests and mediumsac in his entire kingdom. 21Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.ad

In particular in Chapter 1, I think the characters’ names alone have an underlying message that give us a hint about how God felt about these guys.
• Daniel means "GOD is my judge.”
The Hebrew names of Daniel's friends were Hananiah (חֲנַנְיָה), "Yah (i.e., Yahweh) is gracious", or "Beloved of the Lord."
Mishael (מִישָׁאֵל), "Who is like God?" Or "Who is as GOD,"
and Azariah (עֲזַרְיָה), "Yah has helped", or "The Lord is my help."  But by the king’s decree they assigned Chaldean names, so that Hananiah became Shadrach, Mishael became Meshach and Azariah became Abednego. Shadrach's name is possibly derived from Shudur Aku "Command of Aku (the moon god)", Meshach is probably a variation of Mi-sha-aku, meaning "Who is as Aku is?", and Abednego is either "Servant of the god Nebo/Nabu" or a variation of Abednergal, "servant of the god Nergal."


So let’s check out Daniel 3:1-30
1King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue,a 90 feet high and nine feet wide.b He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.c 2King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the rulersd of the provinces to attend the dedication of the statue King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 3So the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the rulers of the provinces assembled for the dedication of the statue the king had set up. Then they stood before the statue Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

You know, you can’t spell Nebuchadnezzar without Chad, so let’s just call him Chad from now on? Basically, King Chad had big government before big government was cool…  I told you this was a very accomplished dude… basically Chad had 8 layers of government officials, and he brings these guys on every time there’s something that needs to happen officially. My guess is if you dug far enough, you could find meaning in the number 8 there too… the Bible loves to do that with 3, 7, 40, etc…  If you figure out what 8 is, let me know...

4A herald loudly proclaimed, “People of every nation and language, you are commanded: 5When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither,e lyre,fharp, drum,g and every kind of music,h you are to fall down and worship ithe gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6But whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire.”j
7Therefore, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither,lyre, harp, and every kind of music, people of every nation and language fell down and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
8Some Chaldeansk took this occasion to come forward and maliciously accusel, m the Jews. 9They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “May the king live forever. 10You as king have issued a decreen that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music must fall down and worship the gold statue. 11Whoever does not fall downand worship will be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire. 12There are some Jews you have appointed to manage the province of Babylon: Shadrach,Meshach, and Abednego.o These men have ignored you,p the king; they do not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”
13Then in a furious rageq Nebuchadnezzar gave orders to bring in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king. 14Nebuchadnezzar asked them, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,is it true that you don’t serve my gods or worship the gold statuer I have set up? 15Now if you’re ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music, fall down and worship the statue I made. But if you don’t worship it, you will immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire — and who is the god who can rescue you from my power? ”s16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar,we don’t need to give you an answer to this question. 17If the God we serve exists,tu then He can rescuev us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king. 18But even if He does notrescue us,w we want you as king to know that we will not servex your godsyor worship the gold statue you set up.”

THERE IS THAT IF THEN STATEMENT AGAIN! If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue us from the furnace, and rescue for the power of you, the king.
Interesting that they didn’t particularly stick it to Chad to insult him, but there sure didn’t comply either.

19Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage,z and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
What’s interesting here is it almost sounds like Chad wasn’t expecting to go through with this until that point. He was more just flexing a little bit. These were his smart, handsome, picked first for the team guys… But at this point, it was game on.
He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times more than was customary, 20and he commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach,Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the furnace of blazing fire.21So these men, in their trousers, robes, head coverings,aa and other clothes, were tied up and thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. 22Since the king’s command was so urgentab, ac and the furnace extremely hot, the raging flamesad killed those men who carried Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego up. 23And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire.
24Then King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm.ae He said to his advisers, “Didn’t we throw three men, bound, into the fire? ” “Yes, of course, Your Majesty,” they replied to the king.
25He exclaimed, “Look! I see four men, not tied, walking around in the fire unharmed;af and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
26Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fireand called: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the •Most High God — come out! ” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire.ai 27When the satraps, prefects, governors, and the king’s advisers gathered around, they saw that the fire had no effectaj onak the bodies of these men: not a hair of their heads was singed, their robes were unaffected, and there was no smell of fire on them.
al 28Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent His angelam, an and rescued His servants who trusted in Him.ao They violated the king’s command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.ap 29Therefore I issue a decreeaqthat anyone of any people, nation, or languagear who says anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be torn limb from limb and his house made a garbage dump.as For there is no other god who is able to deliver like this.” 30Then the king rewarded Shadrach,Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.at

If. Then. The Bible is full of them. In fact, the Bible also says in
2 Corinthians 1:20: For every one of God’s promises is “Yes” in Him. Therefore, the “Amen” is also spoken through Him by us for God’s glory.
Go find those promises.  I’d encourage you next time you’re reading to look for those.
And walk out that “so what” this week, and report back to me.