Search The Scriptures —Study 8 — Daniel 7

Study 8 From the Book of  Daniel is:  Daniel 7

The chapter records, first, the vision (verses 2:14); then the general interpretation (verses 15-18); then Daniel’s enquiry concerning three features of the vision (verses 19, 20); and lastly, the answer given to these enquiries.

1-     Assuming the four kingdoms to be the same as those which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream (chapter 2), what is there new in this vision which caused Daniel such distress and agitation of spirit (verses 15, 28))?

2-     To Nebuchadnezzar the kingdoms of this world appeared in the glittering splendour of material wealth and power, whereas by Daniel they are seen as beast of prey. What is the difference between these points of view, and which is the deeper and truer view? Cf. 1 Sa. 16:7; Mt. 4:8; 1 Jn. 2:16, 17.

3-     What is to be the final goal of history to which this vision looks forward?  Who are meant by ‘the saints of the Most High’  (verse 18)? What privileges will they have in the days to come?

Notes

1-     Verse 5. The bear represented the Medo-Persian Empire, noted for its greed for further conquest.

2-     Verse 6. The wings on the leopards’ back indicate the swiftness of Alexander’s campaigns. After his death his empire was divided into four parts.

3-     Verse 7. The fourth beast is either the Seleucid Empire, with its many kings (horns), of whom Antiochus Epiphanes was the most deadly, or Rome with its many emperors, under one of whom arose the Son of man.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 7 — Daniel 6

Study 7 From the Book of Daniel is: Daniel 6

            The identity of Darius the Mede is still a matter for debate, but the most likely candidates are Gobryas (Gubaru), the governor or Babylon, or Cyrus the king. This is one of many instances of biblical interpretation over which the reader has to admit that he simply does not know the answer until fresh evidence comes to light to help to solve the mystery.

       1-     Neither pressure of business nor the threat of death kept Daniel from prayer. How is it with you? Do you think that other qualities in Daniel’s character revealed in this chapter were the outcome of his prayer life? What were those qualities?  Cf. Is. 40:29-31; Phil: 4:5, 6.

      2-     Is your faith of such a kind that you can stand alone in obedience to God without external support? Are we so living that even our keenest critics take it for granted that the will of God comes first in our lives, come that what may?

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Search The Scriptures —Study 6 — Daniel 5

Study 6 From the Book of  Daniel is:  Daniel 5

Babylon fell in 539 BC, twenty-three years after the death of Nebuchadnezzar. A quarter of a century, therefore, has elapsed since the events of chapter 4.

      1-     What four accusations did Daniel bring against Belshazzar? In what two ways was Belshazzar’s sin aggravated and made more heinous?

       2-     Consider the judgment pronounced upon Belshazzar as symbolizing the divine judgment upon all ungodliness, whether in national or individual life. See verses 26 – 28, and cf. Pr. 15:3, 9; Ec. 8:11-13.

Notes

       1-     The identity of Belshazzar was for long unknown, but he is now known to have been the eldest son of King Nabonidus (556-59), and to have shared the duties of the throne with his father. While Nabonidus was a way from Babylon, his son had supreme authority there.

       2-     Verse 10, ‘The queen’: probably the queen-mother, window of Nebuchadnezzar.

       3-     Verses 25-28. The words represent three weights or coins, viz mina, shekel, and peres or half-mina. But the interpretation conceals numerous plays on words, for the verbal roots mean ‘to number to weight and to divide’. In the case of ‘peres’, ‘to divide’, a further similarity to the word for Persian has been used.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 5 — Daniel 4

Study 5 From the Book of Daniel is: Daniel 4

The theme of this chapter is pride. It takes the form of a decree by Nebuchadnezzar announcing the strange psychical affliction he has undergone, through which he has learnt the all-important lesson that

‘the Most High rules the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom he will’ (verse 25).  It can be compared with Is. 14:8-17 and Ezk. 1-10, passages which in their turn look back to the basic sin of humanity (Gn. 3).

       1-     How effective was the king’s experience in bringing him to humility? Contrast his attitude to God and confession of Him in this chapter with his previous utterances in 2:47; 3:29. How would you define the change?

      2-     What are the main themes of Daniel’s teaching in this situation? With verse 27, cf. Mi. 6:8.

Notes

      1-     Verse 13. ‘A watcher, a holy one’: i.e., an angelic figure who acted with the authority of God.

      2-     Verse 33. The mental derangement, known as zoanthropy, lasted for a set period described as ‘seven times’ (verse 16). This could mean ‘seven years’ or simply ‘a substantial period of time’.  In the apocryphal ‘Prayer of Nabonidus’, found a Qumran, it is recorded that King Nabonidus, a successor of Nebuchadnezzar, spent seven years of his reign in isolation at Teima because of some strange illness. So this chapter is not without parallel in ancient traditions.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 4 — Daniel 3

Study 4 From the Book of Daniel is:  Daniel 3

In the opening part of this chapter the king manifests a very different attitude towards the Lord from that of 2:47. The probable reason is that between chapters 2 and 3 there is an interval of several years, during which Nebuchadnezzar had evidence that his own god was greater than the God of the Jews (cf. verse 15b). It accounts also for the enmity of the Chaldean officials against Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They would resent Jews continuing to hold rule over the province of Babylon.

      1-     What threefold accusation was brought against the three Hebrews? Consider how subtly it was worded to stir the king’s anger.

      2-     How does this trial of faith differ from anything these men had had to meet hitherto? For similar instances of courage see Acts 4:8-12; 5:29-32; 2 Tim. 4:16, 17. What purposes were served by the miracle of deliverance which God wrought?

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Search The Scriptures —Study 3 — Daniel 2:31-49

Study 3 From the Book of Daniel is: Daniel 2:31-49

      1-     Observe that the four kingdoms through historically appearing one after the other, are yet all parts of the one image.  Also, it is not only the last kingdom of the four, but the whole image that is broken to pieces by the stone that smites it.  What does the dream reveal as to God’s final purpose? And what differences do you find between the kingdoms of the world that compose the image and the kingdom prefigured by the stone? Cf. Rev. 11:15.

      2-     What divine purposes did the dream serve in relation to (a) Nebuchadnezzar, (b) Daniel and his friends, and (c) all who knew or know of it?

Note. Verses 39, 40. Those who assign the book of Daniel to the Maccabean period take the four kingdoms to be those of Babylon, the Medes, the Persians and the Greeks. This, however, however, apart from other objections, seems to go contrary to the book itself, which regards Medo-Persia as one kingdom (see 5:28;6:8; 8:20, 21). The older interpretation, therefore, which takes the four kingdoms to be Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, its to be preferred.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 2 — Daniel 2:1-30

Study 2 From the Book of  Daniel is:  Daniel 2:1-30

       1-     Daniel and his companions were brought suddenly into great peril through no fault of their own. Note carefully what steps Daniel took. What may we learn from his example as to how to act in any such time of sudden danger? Cf. Acts 4:23, 24; 12:5.

      2-     Watch the four at prayer. They might have asked God to change the kings’ mind, for he was acting very unreasonably; but what did they ask? Consider the faith behind their petition, and how God answered them above what they had asked. See 2:47-49; and cf. Eph. 3:20, 21.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 1 — Daniel 1

Study 1 From the Book of Daniel is: Daniel 1

   

1-     What were the motives which lay behind the resolve of Daniel and his three friends to avoid defilement? Cf. Lv. 3:17; 20:24-26. How did they set about achieving their aim? What Christian qualities did they display in their approach to authority? With what gifts did God reward them?

      2-     What light does the story throw upon what it means to be ‘in the world’ (Jn. 17:11), but not of the world’ (Jn. 17:16)?  Notice how firmness of conviction in youth laid the foundation for later steadfastness.

Notes

       1-     Verse 1. The year is probably 605 BC, and the reference is to a Babylonian foray immediately after their victory at Carchemish.

       2-     Verse 2. ‘Shinar’: an ancient name for Babylon.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 0 — Introduction of the Book of Daniel

Study 0 From the Book of Daniel is:  The Introduction of the Book of Daniel 

The book of Daniel is rich in spiritual instruction, and will reward prayerful study. It shows first of all, how those who believe in God can take their place in the society where they find themselves, ply their part in current affairs, and yet remain true to God, thereby bringing glory to Him and blessing to me. Such men and women are needed among the nations today.

            The book of Daniel is also tonic to faith.  The overthrow and exile of the Jews raised the question ‘Where is their God?  (Ps. 115:2).  The book of Daniel reveals God as sovereign over the nation, watchful over those who trust in Him, and working all things according to the counsel of his will’. The earlier chapters helped to bring home to the Jews the great truth of the sole Deity of the Lord. This weaned them from idol-worship (cf. Ps. 115:3-11). The later chapters of the book, with their exact prediction of the course of events, were the means by which the faith of the remnant was sustained amid the troubles and persecutions that they endured. This book should help also to sustain our own faith in days of darkness.

            The book of Daniel is also an integral part of Scripture in its revelation of things to come. This assumes that the book is a true record and prophecy belonging to the time of the exile.  There has been a strong trend in recent times to dispute this, and to assign the composition of the book to a period 400 years later, when many of its predictions had already become facts of history. The older view is not without its difficulties, but the progress of archaeology has already removed some of these, and in holding to the authenticity of the book, we are in line with the New Testament, which bears witness to its miracles and predictions (see, e.g., Heb. 11:33, 34; Mt. 24:15, and quotes from or alludes to it frequently, especially in the synoptic Gospel and the book of Revelation.

Search The Scriptures —Study 2 — Jude 17-25

Study 3 From the Book of Jude is:  Jude 17-25

Tomorrow we will start the book of Daniel

1-     Verses 17-21. When confronted by the adverse influences of the world, what are we to do, and what will God do, to maintain our spiritual development?

2-     What should be our attitude as Christians to those around us who may be  going astray, and what to the sin that has defiled them?

3-     What may we learn from verses 24, 25 concerning the ground of our confidence, the source of our joy, and the object of our aspirations? What should such awareness move us to do?

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