Daniel | Session 1 | Introduction 1:1

Today, we begin a new study through the book of Daniel. We will do a brief introduction and take a close look at verse 1, where we will find that King Nebuchadnezzar carried away the southern kingdom of Judah into captivity.

Today, we begin a new weekly study through the book of Daniel. We will look at verses 1-5, where we will find that King Nebuchadnezzar had carried away the southern kingdom of Judah, and we will look to the Scriptures to find out why and for how long.

It has been said that the prophecies in the Book of Daniel are so detailed and exact that scholars who do not believe in the Bible as the inspired Word of God have trouble accepting Daniel as the author. The prophecies are indeed mind-blowing in their accuracy, and as we study this book together, you will see. In fact, I would suggest that you refresh your memory of the book of Revelation, because it has been said that “Daniel is to the Old Testament what Revelation is to the New Testament.”

The author has never really been disputed. He identified himself as the author several times throughout the book. He said, “I Daniel was grieved in my spirit.” (7:15); “In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel.” (8:1); “In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by the books.” (9:2); “And whiles I was speaking.” (9:20); “In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.” (10:2).

Jesus also contributed authorship to him when he said in Matthew 24:15, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place.”

Historically, we also know that Daniel lived in the sixth century before the birth of Jesus, i.e., 538 B.C., and from his writing, he was obviously a very well-educated man, as he wrote in Aramaic, Hebrew, and some Greek.

Chapter 1

Verse 1: “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.” Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem at the end of the third year of Jehoiakim’s reign. History tells us that the city fell to him in the fourth year of his reign, which would have been in 606 BC. The narrative can be found in II Kings 23:36-24:1. It was not until later, when King Jehoiakim defied Nebuchadnezzar, that the Babylonian armies came down on Judah and destroyed it.

Interestingly, God, through the prophet Jeremiah, commanded Israel not to resist Babylon’s capture of the city, because he would use it to sustain the nation, just as he had during their sojourn in Egypt (Jeremiah 27).

Who was Nebuchadnezzar? He was the first great world monarch to rule the entire known world at the time. His kingdom was Babylon. Remember that about 350 years earlier, at the death of King Solomon, the kingdom was divided in 930 BC. As a result, the two southern tribes came under the rule of Rehoboam and were called Judah, and the ten northern tribes came under the rule of Jeroboam and were called Israel. We see this in 1 Kings 12:2-16. The divided kingdoms would never be reunited again.

Over time, the ten northern tribes were conquered by the Assyrians in about 701 BC. And now, here in 606 B.C., the southern kingdom of Judah fell to the Babylonians. This was the beginning of what would be called the Babylonian captivity, which lasted for seventy years. In chapter 9, we will discover why it lasted for only seventy years.

The New Jerusalem

 The New Jerusalem will not be for Gentiles. Paul said in Ephesians 2:6, "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." 

Inspiration Requires Preservation

I have a major problem when churches put up something stupid like this on their websites.  

"We believe in the authoritative Word of God. It alone is the final authority in determining all doctrinal truths. In its original writing, it is inspired, infallible, and inerrant."

The problem with that statement is that we do not have the original writings today!

Follow that logic. That means that what we do have today is not inspired, infallible, nor inerrant. That is literally what it is saying!    

If you believe in inspiration, you must of necessity believe in preservation.

I am a Mid-Acts Dispensationalist

What does that mean? 

Below are just a few reasons out of many. 

1. The Body of Christ did not begin at Pentecost. Instead, it began with the conversion of Paul on the Damascus Road in Acts 9 (Mid-Acts). 

2. As such, Paul was the first grace believer in the Body of Christ. 

1Ti 1:16  Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. 

3. The Twelve never taught the grace gospel. It was always the kingdom gospel, i.e., repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. 

4. The mystery that was revealed to Paul was that Jew and Gentile would now be one in the Body of Christ, saved by grace, outside of the Law. It is the only means of salvation today.

5. The kingdom gospel will not be preached again until the Body of Christ is removed and the Tribulation has begun.

The Ark of the Covenant

While working on a new Daniel commentary, I came upon Daniel 1:2 where it says, "And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.”   Notice that it says that the "Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand."

This clearly means that God was allowing Judah to be punished.  Why? - Idolatry and disobedience.  Jeremiah speaks of this in detail in Jeremiah 25:1-9, 11-12; and 29:10-11, which we will discuss at length when we deal with the seventy weeks in chapter 9.

Note also that it says that King Jehoiakim only took “part of the vessels of the house of God.” Obviously, things were left behind for one reason or another. The most obvious piece seemingly left was the Ark of the Covenant. That is a substantial piece to be left out of the narrative. Remember that it also originally contained the stone tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were written, Aaron’s rod that budded, and some manna which sustained the Israelites in the desert for forty years (Hebrews 9:4).

The last time Scripture mentioned it was forty years before the Babylonian invasion, which was somewhere around 622 BC, when King Josiah had returned it to the temple (2 Chronicles 35:3). 

So, what happened to it? There are many theories, including that it was simply not mentioned, it had been hidden in expectation of the capture by Jeremiah or some of the priests, or that it was possibly destroyed. 

Interestingly, the apocryphal book of 2 Maccabees 2:4-8 suggests that it was the former and even says that Jeremiah hid it in a cave on Mount Nebo, which is modern-day Jordan, where Moses first saw the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 32:49). We have yet to find any archeological evident of that.

Others suggest that it was hidden beneath the Temple Mount in Jerusalem because there was not enough time to get it out of the city prior to the invasion. 

We do know that it will surface during the time of Jacob’s Trouble; i.e., Tribulation, because Daniel himself tells us that after the Antichrist breaks his covenant that he is going to make with the nation of Israel, the “sacrifice and oblation” will cease (Daniel 9:27).    

With that said, some would also argue that the finding the original ark is not really necessary, because a new one could be made according to the dimensions as given in Exodus 25.