The next several articles are from the book of Daniel. If you’re not already reading the Bible on a regular basis, I encourage you to read through this book on your own, perhaps after reading the introduction below (not because I have any unique insight into it, though, but rather so that you’re not surprised at the style change in chapter 7).
Those who were raised in certain Christian traditions might remember participating in a “sword drill” as a child. In this activity, a church leader would call out a reference in the Bible (i.e., book, chapter, and verse), and the first student to find it in their own print Bible would win the round. Given the value of God’s Word, I think that it’s great to know not only where books of the Bible are located, but also to be able to look up specific verses that we have learned. (Having said that, a simple table of contents in the front of a printed Bible is a perfectly legitimate way of finding specific books, and the search capabilities of electronic editions of the Bible make finding passages easier than ever, which I appreciate for my own study and lesson preparations.)
Regardless of how you find it, though, the book of Daniel is sort of the last of the “big books” before the so-called “Minor Prophets”. (To be fair, though, the books referred to as the “minor prophets” are only called minor because they are relatively short books, and not because they are less important!)
However, the book of Daniel is particularly interesting in that it contains at least two key types of recorded history. The first part contains mainly narrative accounts of Daniel and three of his fellow Israelites. Many of these accounts are particularly recognizable, like the lion’s den and the fiery furnace, as well as these guys eating their vegetables. Another key part of the book of Daniel, though, is a significant amount of prophecy, more like the book of Revelation. In fact, while some might think of Revelation as the place to go for end times prophecies (which it certainly contains), the book of Daniel – especially in the latter chapters – also includes some very similar content.
Having describes these two sections of the book of Daniel, though, if you read through the book in order, I think that you’ll find that all of these accounts – despite their apparent differences in content – are tied together and tell an even larger part of God’s message when looked at as a whole.
Let’s get some context at the start of this book.
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.
Daniel 1:1-2 NIV
As you might know, Nebuchadnezzar actually invaded Jerusalem twice. The first time, which is the one that is described here, Nebuchadnezzar took some of the treasures of the temple, as well as some of the people of Judea, back to Babylon. This locates the first chapter of Daniel in the time of Jeremiah, who was left in Jerusalem since – apparently – Nebuchadnezzar didn’t consider him worthy of being taken with him back to Babylon. Looking ahead in the book, it also appears that Daniel served in Babylon a long time, for the entire duration of the Jewish exile.
The next time that Nebuchadnezzar overthrew Jerusalem (because the puppet leaders he had left in charge tried to “get smart” with him), he destroyed the city walls. That was the state to which people like Nehemiah and Ezra returned, years later.
You can also read more about these invasions in 2 Chronicles 36 and 2 Kings 24-25.
In that context, I hope that you’ll continue reading through the book of Daniel on your own. Let’s pick up in this chapter next time, also, and see if we can learn more about it together.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for June 2, 2024
References:
- The Lookout, June 2, 2024, © 2024 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – Esther & Daniel, by Mark Mangano. © 2001 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 