Daniel – CHAPTER 1

THE PUNISHER & PROTECTOR OF HIS PEOPLE

by Lane Rogers




1In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.2The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god.3Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the  chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles,4youths in whom was no  defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king's court; and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 5The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king's choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the king's personal service.6Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.7Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah Abed-nego.


God Punishes His Unfaithful People. 1: 1-7

I. Babylonian Captivity. 1:1-2

a. Promised. Deut. 28:15,36,37,49-52

b. Predicted. Isa. 39:3-6: Jer.25:11-12
c. Provoked by:
(1) Manasseh. 2 Kings 24: 1-4: 21: 2-9, 16: 22:8; 23:7

(2) Jeohoiakim. Jer. 26: 20-24, 11; 36:22-23, 26

d. Perpetrated

(1) 606 B.C. --2 Chron. 36:5-8, First Invasion

(2) 598 B.C. --2 Chron. 36: 9-10, Second Invasion

(3) 586 B.C.--2 Chron. 36:18-19, Third Invasion

II. The Fall of Judah

V.1__"In the Third Year": it is here we are confronted with an apparent discrepancy between Daniel and Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 25:1 says that it was the "fourth year" of Jehoiakim's reign. There is general agreement that the difference between this two accounts is simply each one is using a different method of computing time. We will not go into this in our class study since this is a study in and of itself but will defer to some time later since there are vast amounts of material on this subject.


Verse One___The fate of Judah was determined under the reign of Josiah with the failure to root out paganism. Assyria was replaced by the Chaldean dynasty under Nebopolasar (625-605) and his great son Neuchadnezzar II (604-562). The fate of Assyria was sealed at the battle of Carchemish.i It was also at this great battle that Israel's favorite king was killed and the die was cast for the fate of the Lord's people.ii [The Biblical texts refers to this as the "Battle of Megiddo (2nd Kings 23:29ff) in Old Testament Hebrew and in the New Testament Greek it is known as the battle of Aramgeddon]. The reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah were stories of defeat and humiliation, submission and exile at the hands of Egypt and Babylon.

III. Desecration of God's House. 1:2ff
Verse 2___If one thought that God was not still at work all we need to do is look at where the vessels of the Temple were place. The ended up in the idols-house or the house of the Babylonian god. God has given them to Nebuchadnezzar and they are under his control.

6"Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have given him also the wild animals of the field to serve him. Jeremiah 27:6


Notes in other Texts

Note 1. Sacred vessels & treasure store in the house of false Babylonian gods. 2 Chron. 36:18
Note 2. House of God Destroyed. 2 Chron. 36:19


The Land of Shinar__a term for Babylonia.



IV. Verses 3-7____A group of young Israelites, silent, faceless and nameless are to be taken, taught, trained and renamed for life in the this foreign land. These were God's people who were to representatives in a pagan court. The indications are that Daniel was a eunuch.

3And the king saith, to Ashpenaz master of his eunuchs, to bring in out of the sons of Israel, (even of the royal seed, and of the chiefs,)

Daniel 1:3__Young's Literal Translation

We can only guess as to the above but what we can know for sure that that prophecy was fulfilled.

7and of thy sons who come forth from thee, whom thou begettest, they take, and they have been eunuchs in a palace of the king of Babylon.' Isaiah 39:7__Young's Literal Translation

Changed Identities. Dan. 1:6-7

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah are given new names.

(1) Daniel (God Judges) to Belteshazzar (Bel Protects)
(2) Hananiah (YHWH is Great) to Shadrach (Servant of Sin)
(3) Mishael (Like God) to Meshach (Shadow of the Prince)
(4) Azariah (YHWH Helps) to Abed-nego (Servant of Nebo)
The change of names was a sign of ownership.

B. God Protects His Faithful Captives. 1:8-16

8But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.9Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials,10and the commander of the officials said to Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the youths who are your own age? Then you would make me forfeit my head to the king."11But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah,12"Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink.

13"Then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king's choice food; and deal with your servants according to what you see."14So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days.15At the end of ten days their appearance seemed better and they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king's choice food.16So the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and kept giving them vegetables.


I. Verse 8___

Notes to Ponder

1. The Faithful courage of Four Young People. 1:8-16
a. Refusal to be defiled. 1:8
(1) Unclean food. Lev.11:47; Mk. 7:19; I Tim. 4:3-5
(2) Meat from strangled animals or blood. Lev.17:10-14; 19:26;
Acts15:29
(3) Meat and wine sacrificed to idols. Deut. 32:38 I Cor. 10:14,
(4) Wine that would intoxicate. Prov. 23:31-35; Isa. 28:7
b. Respect for authority. 1:8
c. Searching for a way to escape. I Cor. 10:13 ___The injunction of 1st Cor. 10:13 is related to fleeing idolatry and is certainly appropriate here.


Here we are forced to read between the lines. Since Daniel's decisions are based in the laws of YHWH and Daniel intends to stand firm even in the foreign land we must presume he is doing so while others are not. (vv 10-16,19). It is also supposed that those who are not are other Hebrews.

A. The "food and drink" of the palace most likely came from the temple and was offered to some deity. (cf. 5:3-4; Exod. 34:15). l .

B. The palace would not observe laws in the Torah about which animals might be eaten and how they are killed (Lev. 11; Deut. 12:23-25).

C. Meat and wine were festival food and abstaining from it is a sign of mourning or penitence and would be appropriate in exile (Isa. 22:13).

D. Daniel is not being ascetic and abstaining from something good in order to seek God, but Daniel is abstaining in order to obey God.
F. The Mishnah infers from Lev. 11:37-38 that grain does not become unclean through contact with meat as long as it is kept dry (Makshirn 1:1) but it is not clear that Lev. 11:37-38 even refers to grain for eating.

It is here that Daniel seeks permission so that he may not defile himself.

II. Verse 9-14__An interpretation of the answer is in order here. I think the official is saying "yes" you may if it does not involve me and if it does not make the king ask questions. In light of other passages in this book, it is entirely reasonable to believe that Neb would remove someones head. In verse 12__the "test your servants" has several implications. It is obvious from the context that the "meat" was considered needed for health reasons. Therefore the reply to allow Daniel and his friends a period long enough to see the "effects" of having no meat and wine.

III. Verses 15-16__At the end of ten days their appearance was even "better" than expected.

The Rewards of Faithfulness______17-21

17As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams.18Then at the end of the days which the king had specified for presenting them, the commander of the officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar.19The king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king's personal service.20As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm.21And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king.

I. Verse 17-21___These young men turned out to be not only as good but 10 times better than his other counselors. But in particular, the king liked Daniel.


Carchemish


The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright


Carchemish, ancient city in Turkey, on the Euphrates River, at the Syrian border, c.35 mi (56 km) SE of Gaziantep. It was an important Neo-Hittite city and was prosperous in the 9th cent. BC before it was destroyed by the Assyrians. Even then it continued as an important trade center. There, in 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar defeated Necho (2 Chron. 35.20; Jer. 46.2; Isa. 10.9). Among the excavated remains are sculptured neo-Hittite reliefs with hieroglyphic Hittite inscriptions.

Bibliography: See British Museum, Carchemish (3 vol. in 2, 1914-52).


Josiah's life came to a tragic end, at age 39, in battle with the Egyptians:

"After all this, when Josiah had prepared the Temple, Neco king of Egypt [see The Ancient Egyptians and Egyptian Pharaohs] went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates and Josiah went out against him. But he sent envoys to him, saying, "What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war; and God has commanded me to make haste. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy you."

"Nevertheless Josiah would not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but joined battle in the plain of Megiddo [see Armageddon]."

"And the archers shot King Josiah; and the king said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am badly wounded." So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in his second chariot and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died, and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah." (2 Chronicles 35:20-24 RSV)

Josiah was buried with the greatest honors, in fulfillment of Huldah's prophecy (2 Kings 22:20, Jeremiah 34:5), and the prophet Jeremiah composed a lament for him (2 Chronicles 35:25, Lamentations 4:20).



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