Daniel 1:1, Part 3

Guest (Male): Shalom. Holy Scriptures and Israel is a ministry designed to share with the Jewish people the good news of the Lord Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah, and to instruct Christians on the Jewish roots of their faith. And now, teaching God's Word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective, here is Gideon Levytam.
Gideon Levytam: This study is for Daniel chapter one. 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, they told us, those that took us captive, 'Sing unto us one of Zion's songs.'" You remember they mocked them and they laughed at them. The Jewish people said, "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" How sad. The introduction to the book of Daniel, the very fact that we think of Daniel being in Babylon, there was a reason behind it. It is because Israel has 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 Daniel chapter one. 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." And notice verse two: "And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into 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 into 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. So, 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 with regard to the church of Jesus Christ. The church, we are just as guilty, if you will, 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 in discipline. That is what happened to the people of Israel. Finally, can you imagine? The house of God had been burned. The walls of Jerusalem had been broken. Now, you see the Jewish people being carried away by Nebuchadnezzar into his kingdom, into Babylon. 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 into by way of introduction, by the way, if you want to write some other passages with respect to the 605 BC, it is 2 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 2 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 had been burned and the temple had been burned and the walls had been destroyed, in addition to what we read in 2 Chronicles 36, also 2 Kings chapter 25 verses 13 to 17. 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 or unveiling of truth. It's actually a Greek word. Apocalyptic is a very interesting style. The book of Daniel is very similar. It's apocalyptic. It is unveiling. It's very similar to another book that we have studied long time ago, the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation, it 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 are 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. Now, another thing by way of introduction which is important: In what language was the book of Daniel written? I don't know if you notice that because you probably didn't notice that, but 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, it was written in Hebrew. Chapter two verse four to chapter seven verse 28, it was written in Aramaic. This is the tongue of the Babylonians. Then from chapter eight verse one till chapter 12 verse 13, it continued in the Hebrew language. 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 is writing in the Hebrew language. When he is dealing, like from chapter two verse four to chapter seven verse 28, with the times of the Gentiles, for that, he is writing in the Aramaic language. This is the Babylonian language. So really, the book of Daniel was written in two languages: Hebrew (chapter one verse 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). 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 a difference, 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 is 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 is written in Aramaic. The rest of the book is written in Hebrew. There is a reason for that because certain of the chapters there that are dealing with the Aramaic language have to do with the Gentile nations and the times of the Gentiles. A couple more points because we are still in introduction for today so I want to get that over with. In which order chronologically the book of Daniel is going? I'm just going to give you the chapters in a chronological order. It doesn't go by history or by direct order as Daniel had a theme. He had a theme. So, listen to the order: chapter one, chapter two, chapter three, chapter four, chapter seven, chapter eight, chapter five, chapter nine, chapter six, chapter 10, 11, and 12. Let me repeat that: chapter one, two, three, four, seven, eight, five, nine, six, 10, 11, and 12. That's the chronological order. So, there is a theme and there is a chronological order. In actuality, when you get to chapter four, really by the chronological order, it should be chapter seven, not chapter five, and so on. A few more points here. It is interesting that the book of Daniel is one of the books in the history of the Bible that has quite a few miracles there. Sometimes we say that God is working miracles and God does work miracles, there is no doubt. But there are specific periods in the history of the Bible where God specifically, in addition to what we would say miracle here and there, God specifically has acted in a supernatural way in certain periods of time in the history of the Bible, the history of Israel. We have to distinguish. God can make miracles at any time, but we definitely can say that there are periods in biblical history where there were many more miracles that happened than in the norm and a day-to-day history of the Bible. I'm going to give you some of those. First of all, in the book of Exodus and the wanderings of the people of Israel on the way to Canaan. The book of Exodus is a book that shows us many miracles that God had done for his people Israel. For example, the 10 plagues that he poured upon the Egyptians, the opening of the Red Sea for Israel to walk through it, the opening of the Jordan River for Israel to get into the Promised Land, and Moses hit the rock and water came out of it, and the manna being prepared for the people of Israel. Every day they were getting up in the morning, and in a miraculous way, there was manna prepared. We don't have it today, and I'm not limiting God, I'm not putting him in a box, but the miraculous period of the history of the Exodus is not evident today. It's obvious. Secondly, the second period of miraculous time in the history of Israel was Elijah and Elisha, the period of Elijah. Elijah was praying to God and fire came from heaven and consumed the sacrifice. You show me the person who can do that today. Elijah was praying and heaven was shut from raining for about three, three and a half years. There was no rain. And he prayed again, and the rain descended. In the period of Elijah and Elisha, the raven was feeding Elijah in a certain period of time. The widow who was feeding him from nothing that was left in a barrel, she could feed this man by the name of Elijah. Well, there was a period of time that was the time of Elijah and Elisha in the time of the kings where it was a miraculous thing that happened. Another period of time in the history of the Bible is also the book of Daniel, where there are certain miracles and unique times that God was working in a unique way. The fourth period of time in the history of the Bible is very definitely in the time of the Gospels and the book of Acts, when Peter's shadow would fall upon a person and he would be healed. When Paul, when a serpent touches him and doesn't poison him. When all kinds of miracles, people were healed in the name of Jesus was speaking and people were getting healed. People came to him. The blind received his sight and the lame could walk and the dumb could speak. Listen, beloved brothers and sisters, that was a unique period in biblical history which cannot be compared, not today, I can assure you that. When Philip finished preaching to the Ethiopian eunuch, he disappeared after this man had been baptized. The spirit of God carried him. We cannot speak about this today. Even those who claim to be faith healers, they still have to take a train or bus to their meeting room, and they cannot do like Philip, disappeared, carried by the Holy Spirit. I can just assure you that many of those people who got healed, and I'm not judging, but I can assure you that many of those who we claim that God healed, the next week coming back and their problem is still there. Now, I'm not judging, and I'm not telling, but I'm saying we have to realize that there are periods in biblical history where God was working in a supernatural way: in the time of Exodus, in the time of Elijah and Elisha, in the time of the Gospels, and also in this period of time that Daniel can be included in. The book of Daniel also teaches us various doctrines concerning the scriptures. Daniel is pointing to us various facts. Daniel pointing to us six things about God in the Bible, in his book. This is the doctrine of the scriptures. This is theology. Daniel teaches us, number one, that God is sovereign. Daniel, number two, teaching us that God is a loving God. Daniel teaches us that God is a righteous God. Daniel teaches us that God is a merciful God. Daniel teaches us that God is omniscient, he knows all things. And Daniel teaches us that God is omnipresent and omnipotent, he is all-powerful and he is everywhere. Something else the book of Daniel by way of theology, the teaching of doctrine, Daniel teaches us concerning the coming of the Messiah. I think this is one of the reasons why so many people who are liberal do not believe in the book of Daniel, because Daniel is clearly teaching us. In fact, it gives us in chapter nine, it helps us with dates somehow, of the coming of the Messiah, of the first coming specifically, and how he will be cut off and he will die. It speaks about the coming of the Messiah. The book of Daniel is so important to know because it teaches us about the coming of the Messiah as well. By the way, this is chapter nine verse 24 to 27. Also, what we learn from the book of Daniel by way of theology, we learn from the book of Daniel that the book of Jeremiah was divinely inspired. It was from God. This is Daniel chapter nine and verse two. Jeremiah was a prophet of God. Another thing that is important in the book of Daniel that we learn is the doctrine concerning the people of Israel, the teaching concerning the people of Israel. The book of Daniel deals with God's program for Israel, his chosen people, during the times of the Gentiles. If you want a verse for that, it's Luke 21 and verse 24, this expression "the times of the Gentiles." We're going to talk about it later on. Another thing that we learn from the book of Daniel: Daniel dealt with future things from his perspective. Let me give you five things that he's speaking about the future. The first thing, he's speaking about of God's plan for Israel's future. Secondly, God's plans for the future of the Gentile nations. Thirdly, of God's plan for the tribulation period. Fourthly, God's information we get from the book of Daniel about the future coming of the Antichrist. And one more thing that Daniel teaches us that others do not, about the future of the interval of the time between the second coming of the Messiah and the Millennial Age. Daniel deals with it somewhat, giving us some numbers of days about that. What is the purpose of the book of Daniel? There are three things that we learn here. Number one, the book of Daniel shows us and teaching us, specifically the Jewish people, how the Jewish people should live among the Gentile world, specifically in the time where they were under the law of Moses. How should they behave, the Jewish people who were outside of the land of Israel among the Gentile nations in the time where they were still under the law of Moses. Remember that the law of Moses was still in effect when Daniel was taken captive into Babylon. Secondly, in the purpose of the book, to teach Gentiles about Israel's God, the holy and true God. Many kings have learned. By the way, you remember the Magi, the wise men who came from the East and they said, "Where is he that was born the king of the Jews?" Where do you think they have learned that from? They have learned it from a man like Daniel and others that have been in the East and have taught the truth concerning the true and living God, the God of Israel. And then thirdly, by way of the purpose of the book, is looking after Israel's interests in captivity. God is still taking care of the Jewish people while they were in captivity. By the way, I don't know if you know, but the book of Esther, the Jewish people have just celebrated the feast of Purim, the feast of Esther. It is interesting in the book of Esther, while we don't find the name of God once in the book of Esther, we don't find the name "prayer" once in the book of Esther, and yet we see the hands of God in protection of the Jewish people in the diaspora. When Haman, the evil man who wanted to destroy all the Jews, you find God's providence working behind the scene, protecting the Jewish people from the evil man by the name of Haman. We learn here also that God's looking after Israel's interest while the Jewish people are in captivity. The theme of the book of Daniel, I'll give you a twofold theme. Number one, the times of the Gentiles. The verse for that is Luke 21:24. If I'll take another theme that we can write down for the book of Daniel, it is the sovereignty of God. Do you know God is sovereign? I want to turn to one verse in Daniel, Daniel 4:17. "This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men." Do you know, beloved, that God is a sovereign God? He is the one, the most High God ruleth in the kingdom of men. That's the theme. In fact, this verse can be very well put into as the main verse of the book of Daniel, that the most High God is ruling in the kingdom of men. God is sovereign. He is in control even though we don't see it at time. Even sometimes we see so much mess in this world, there's mess all over around us, but reality, God is sovereign and he is the one who is ruling in the affairs of men. He puts whomsoever he will, he lifted up, and whomsoever he will, he put down. God is in full control. That's the theme of the book of Daniel. Number one, the times of the Gentiles. Number two, the sovereignty of God. And now, we're going to close with the outline of the book quickly. There are three ways to outline the book. Number one, the content of the book. Chapter one to six, it's history with some prophecy. Chapter seven to 12 is prophecy with some history. That's one way of dividing the book. Or we can divide the book or we can outline the book by language. Chapter one Hebrew, chapter two to seven Aramaic, chapter eight to 12 Hebrew. It's another way of outlining the book. And number three, a way of to outline of the book is to outline it by topic. Each chapter has his own topic. Each chapter has his own topic: chapter one, chapter two, chapter three, chapter four, and so on. The last three chapters, 10, 11, and 12, are going together. But generally, almost every chapter has his own topic and we're going to try to go by topics, not so much by language or by content, but we're going to go together as we go through it. We're going to go by topics.
Guest (Male): You have been listening to the Holy Scriptures and Israel with Gideon Levytam. Gideon teaches God's Word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective. For more information about this ministry, write to Holy Scriptures and Israel, Box 1411, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, L0S 1J0, or visit our website at holyscripturesandisrael.com. You are also invited to Gideon's weekly Bible teaching on Fridays at 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM and Saturdays at 1:00 PM at Willowdale Christian Assembly Hall, 28 Martin Ross Avenue in Toronto. Holy Scriptures and Israel is made possible by your prayers and financial support. If you would like to support the program, visit holyscripturesandisrael.com. God bless you. Shalom, shalom.