Daniel 1:1, Part 2

Gideon Levytam: The study of Daniel chapter one.
Guest (Male): Thirdly, the dates in which the book was written—the dates in which these twelve chapters of the book of Daniel took place—is beginning at 605 BC to about 536 BC. If you notice, by the way, in Daniel chapter one and verse one, where we began our reading today, it says, "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon unto Jerusalem and besieged it." This year of the taking of the city of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar was 605 BC. And then if you just turn to chapter ten of the book of Daniel and verse one, it says here, "In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel." This is approximately 536 or 535 BC. So it really took a span of about 69 to 70 years for the whole 12 chapters. From 605 BC till about 536 BC is approximately a 69 to 70-year span for those 12 chapters of the book of Daniel. Okay, so we've got so far: the author is Daniel. Secondly, we discovered that the name of Daniel means "God is my judge." Thirdly, we discovered that the dates are about 605 BC to 536 BC. It's approximately 69 to 70 years for the whole span of these 12 chapters. Now, what is the place that the book of Daniel has in the canon of scriptures? It is interesting that it is a little bit different in the Old Testament Hebrew scriptures than what we know today as the Old Testament in the King James that you have in your hand or the English Bible. It is located in a different order in the scriptures. Let me just give you some of the things. In the Septuagint—the Septuagint, by the way, is the Greek translation of the Old Testament Hebrew Bible—it was translated to Greek by 70 Jewish rabbis. They translated it from Hebrew into Greek to make it available for others besides only the Jewish people or the Hebrew speakers. It was translated about 250 BC by 70 Jewish rabbis. That's why the name Septuagint simply means "the 70." It was translated by those individuals and it was placed, by the way, among the prophets, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. So when it was translated from Hebrew into the Greek language, it was placed among the prophets. But do you know, beloved brothers and sisters, if I take my Hebrew Bible here and I open it, you will not find the book of Daniel among the prophets. In fact, the Hebrew scripture, the Old Testament, is divided into three sections: Torah—the first five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; Nevi'im—the prophets; and the Ketuvim—the writings. And the book of Daniel in the Hebrew Old Testament is found not among the prophets, but among the writings. Remember, he became a man that became second to the king, if you will, Nebuchadnezzar, and they looked at him as more of a politician rather than a prophet. By the way, very little today of the book of Daniel is being understood by the Jewish people. The rabbis today, by virtue of the fact that they don't recognize that in the book of Daniel we see prophetically speaking about the Messiah's coming—specifically in chapter nine—many of the rabbis do not see it. Their eyes are not being opened. Some do, but in general, they don't see him as a prophet. They look at him as a statesman, as a politician. So while the Septuagint placed the book of Daniel among the prophets, in the particular Tanakh, he is placed among the writings and he is not placed among the prophets. Now, let me give you some historical background, the fifth thing that we learn. Authorship: Daniel; his name: God is my judge; the dates: 605 to 536; the place in the canon: under the Old Testament Hebrew scriptures he is found among the writings, while with the Septuagint and the English scripture he is found among the prophets. Fifthly, notice about the historical background. King Nebuchadnezzar had three campaigns against Israel. Three times King Nebuchadnezzar came against the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem. If you're writing them down, let me just quickly pass them to you. The first campaign was in 605 BC. This is where we are in the book of Daniel. In the first campaign, Nebuchadnezzar came in 605 BC and he took with him Daniel and some of his friends, some of the young boys from among the Jewish people. In addition to them, he took some of the vessels from the temple. That was in 605 BC. Turn with me to Second Chronicles chapter 36. Second Chronicles chapter 36 is the last chapter in the book of Chronicles. Actually, it is the last chapter in the Hebrew Bible. Notice, I'm going to read some of these verses here. In verses five and six, we see the first time that King Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem. I'm reading: "Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem, and he did that which was evil in the sight of his God." And notice what we read: "Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he bound him in fetters and he carried him to Babylon." That was, beloved, 605 BC. By the way, Nebuchadnezzar at that time was really not yet a king; he was a crown prince. His father's name was Nabopolassar. He was really the king of Babylon at that time. But Nebuchadnezzar, who was with the Babylonian army, had a conflict against Egypt. They were the two major nations that were at conflict at that particular time, 605 BC. Apparently, as the battle raged, Nebuchadnezzar won the battle against the Egyptians. As the Egyptians were going back from the north all the way back through Israel back to the south to their own country, Nebuchadnezzar had the opportunity to come and to go against the nation of Israel. As it says here, "Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he bound him in fetters and he carried him to Babylon." Apparently what happened in 605 BC—I understand that it was somewhere in the summer, about the month of August—Nebuchadnezzar, winning the war against the Egyptians, came all the way down to Jerusalem, besieged Jerusalem, and then what he did, he got the news that his father, Nabopolassar, who reigned up till 605 BC, had died. When Nebuchadnezzar had to hurry to go back to take the throne of the Babylonian, he carried with him Daniel and some of his friends. We find out that he also carried with him Jehoiakim and some of the vessels of the house of God. That was in 605 BC. Now if you just go back a little bit down and read from verse nine. In verse nine and 10, we find out what we read here: "Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and 10 days in Jerusalem, and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. And when the year was expired, King Nebuchadnezzar sent and he brought him to Babylon with the goodly vessels of the house of the Lord, and he made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah in Jerusalem." Well, some say 18 and in the King James here it says eight; some suggest he's 18. But the point is not so much the age of this man. What I want to say is this was 598 or 597 BC. It's the second time that King Nebuchadnezzar is sending and he is coming to besiege Jerusalem. Again, I want you to notice what does he do? He takes Jehoiachin again. It says here he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and then he sent and brought him now to Babylon. Apparently, in the second time in 597 BC, Ezekiel also was taken to Babylon. So we have 605 BC where Daniel was taken captive to Babylon with some of the vessels. The second time, 597 BC, if you read with Ezekiel chapter one the first three verses, also 10,000 other Jews have been taken to Babylon in addition to Ezekiel and this particular man by name of Jehoiachin. And listen to that. Verse 11: "Zedekiah was one and 20 years old when he began to reign and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet, speaking from the mouth of the Lord." "And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear by God, but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel. Moreover, all the chief of the priests and the people transgressed very much after all the abomination of the heathen and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their fathers sent unto them messengers, rising up betimes and sending because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, they despised his words and they misused his prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy." Now notice verse 17: "Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion upon the young man or maiden, old man or him that stoop for age. He gave them all in his hand. And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasure of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon." Now notice verse 19: "And he burned the house of God." This is, by the way, 586 BC. He burned the house of God and he brake down the walls of Jerusalem and burned all the palaces thereof with fire and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. "And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon, where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah until the land had enjoyed her sabbath. For as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath to fulfill 70 years." Now, beloved, I don't know if you see the picture here. Second Chronicles chapter 36 gives us really the three periods of time in the history of the Jewish people where King Nebuchadnezzar came and took over. First of all, he took Daniel, his friends, and some of the vessels in 605 BC. Secondly, he came the second time in 597 BC and he took about 10,000 Jewish people in addition to the prophet Ezekiel and this particular man by name of Jehoiachin. Then in 586 BC, he came to Jerusalem and he burned the temple and broke down the walls of Jerusalem and completely took everything away. You see the sad story here at the end. Notice what it says in verse 19, and I'm repeating that: "And he burned the house of God and he brake down the walls of Jerusalem and burned all the palaces thereof with fire and destroyed all the goodly vessels." Notice verse 20: "Them that had escaped from the sword carried them away to Babylon and they became servants to him and to his sons until the kingdom of Persia." When you think about it, I'm often referring to Psalm 137, where the Jewish people sing that song: "By the river of Babylon, there we sat down and we wept as we remember Zion." There those that took us captive told us, "Sing unto us one of Zion's songs." Remember they mocked them and they laughed at them, and the Jewish people said, "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" How sad. In the introduction of the book of Daniel, the very fact that we think of Daniel being in Babylon—there was a reason behind it. It's because Israel had departed from the ways of the Lord. I want you to notice how the book of Daniel begins. Go back now to Daniel chapter one and notice what it says there: "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem and besieged it." Notice verse two: "And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah unto his hand." It was not that Nebuchadnezzar could do it on his own, but it was the Lord who gave Jehoiakim the king of Judah unto his hand. Three times, beloved brothers and sisters, Nebuchadnezzar came because the Lord, in a judicial way to judge the nation whom he loved so dearly, sent King Nebuchadnezzar in order to discipline his very own people whom he loved so dearly there in Babylon in view of restoration. This is an important lesson for us to get a hold of because there is a historical background to the book of Daniel. What in the world is Daniel doing in Babylon? Well, it all began because of the departure of our people, the Jewish people, the people of Israel, from the will of the Lord. I want to make a parallel for that for a minute with regard to the Church of Jesus Christ. We are just as guilty as believers in the Lord Jesus in this present day, in the Laodicean age. God will have to discipline the Church in the same way that he disciplined his own people, Israel. When you see how scattered the people of God are, how divided the people of God are, how not much spiritual energy the people of God have—why is it? It is because there is departure from the Lord, and when we depart from the Lord, the Lord comes in and disciplines. That is what happened to the people of Israel until finally, can you imagine, the house of God had been burned and the walls of Jerusalem had been broken. Now you see the Jewish people being carried away by Nebuchadnezzar into his kingdom, if you will, into Babylon. So the historical background is very important to get a hold of. From 605, 597, and 586, three times he came until finally he destroyed completely the temple and the city of Jerusalem, burned it with fire, and took all the Jewish people as many as he could with him to Babylon. The next point that I want to point out by way of introduction. By the way, if you want to write some other passages, with respect to 605 BC, it's Second Chronicles chapter 36 verse seven and Daniel chapter one verses one to seven. When it comes to 597 BC, you can write in connection with that Second Kings 24 verses 11 to 16 and Ezekiel chapter one verses one to three. When it comes to 586 BC, the third time that Jerusalem and the temple were burned and the walls were destroyed, in addition to what we read in Second Chronicles 36, look also at Second Kings chapter 25 verses 13 to 17. So those are the three periods of time that Nebuchadnezzar came. The style of the book of Daniel is really apocalyptic style. This is a word that I had to learn. Apocalyptic style simply means unveiling of the truth. It's actually a Greek word, *apokalyptikós*. It is a very interesting style. The book of Daniel is very similar—apocalyptic is unveiling—it is very similar to another book that we have studied a long time ago, the Book of Revelation. The Book of Revelation is in a sense a very interesting style. It is symbolic. In addition to symbolic, you have all kinds of visions that you see there, just like we saw in the Book of Revelation. So there are symbols, there are visions and there is prophetic ministry there. You can see that the style of it is like an unveiling. We find out there are visions there and there are dreams that Nebuchadnezzar is dreaming and Daniel sees certain visions. It is really an unveiling of truth and yet we have very many prophetic messages that look forward from the time of Daniel. So the style of this book is an apocalyptic style or unveiling. Another thing by way of introduction which is important: what kind of language, in what language was the book of Daniel written? Now, I want you to notice that the book of Daniel was written in two languages. Chapter one verse one till chapter two and verse three was written in Hebrew. Chapter two verse four to chapter seven verse 28 was written in Aramaic. This is the tongue of the Babylonians. Then from chapter eight verse one till chapter 12 verse 13, it continues in the Hebrew language. There is a reason for that. There is a reason for that. The reason for that is because when Daniel is specifically dealing with the Jewish people and the Hebrews, he's writing in the Hebrew language. And when he is dealing like from chapter two verse four to chapter seven verse 28—this is to the end of chapter seven—then he's dealing with the times of the Gentiles and for that, he's writing in the Aramaic language. This is the Babylonian language. So really the book of Daniel was written in two languages: Hebrew, chapter one, one to chapter two, three; Aramaic, chapter two, four to chapter seven, 28; and Hebrew again, chapter eight verse one to chapter 12 verse 13. Now let me just say one thing about that. When I read in the Hebrew language the book of Daniel, when I get to the Aramaic part, the letters are very similar to the Hebrew letters. It's not different. But you can see that there is some sort of difference between the two languages, and yet it is the same alphabet. A person needs to know Aramaic in order to understand better what it says. The Bible was written in more than one language. If you want to write this down, Ezra chapter four and verse eight till chapter six and verse 18, and chapter seven verse 12 to 26 also are written in Aramaic.