Category Archives: Article #2 of Our Daniel Studies

Article 4 of our Daniel Study

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Last article we ended with the question of where is the Ark of the Covenant today.

There are various theories about what happened to the Ark of the Covenant, but by far and away the most plausible is that it was taken by the Levites during the reign of king Manasseh who was desecrating everything that was holy, in order to keep it safe. It is believed that it was taken to Ethiopia. There are many legends of the ark being in Ethiopia including a previous study of the connection with Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and 1,000 years later, Phillip meeting with the Ethiopian eunuch.

Recent discoveries by Bob Cornuke have brought to light some compelling evidence to support this Levite belief. What makes all of this interesting is to realize that Pharaoh Necho was not himself Egyptian, but Ethiopian! Could this therefore be the reason that Josiah went out to fight with Necho? Even Ethiopian Necho himself was surprised by Josiah’s actions and told Josiah that he was following God’s instructions and claimed that ‘God is with me’ – a strange comment from a Gentile, unless of course he had the Ark! Bob is president of the Bible Archaeology Search and Exploration Institute in Colorado.

JIV NOTE: There was at times ONE EGYPT and at other times a northern and southern kingdom of Egypt. Ethiopians sat on the throne of Egypt many times throughout history.

Anyway, Josiah died in the battle and Necho went on to defeat the Assyrians as has been mentioned (and was prophesied in Isaiah 10:5-11). With Josiah now dead, his son, Jehoahaz became king in Jerusalem, that is until Necho, on his way back from the battle, stopped off at Jerusalem, and in reprisal put Judah under tribute, carried Jehoahaz away to Egypt and made Jehoahaz’s brother, Jehoiakim, king instead. SPECIAL NOTE: Ethiopia since the Queen of Sheba time had been under Judaism. IN MODERN TIMES IT HAS BEEN MOSTLY CHRISTIAN.

With the Assyrians conquered there was now a ‘power vacuum’ that needed to be filled. Necho was powerful, but there was a new kid on the block; a young general called Nebuchadnezzar. The king of Babylon at that time was Nabopolassar, but it was his son Nebuchadnezzar; i.e. Book of Daniel, who was destined to become one of the most powerful rulers the world has known. Three years after Necho had won at Carchemish he found himself going back again, but this time to fight against Nabopolassar’s Babylon under the command of Nebuchadnezzar. Necho lost the battle and so began the mighty Babylonian Empire.

Eager to make his mark, the young Nebuchadnezzar stopped off at Jerusalem on his way home for some trophies, and here begins the book of Daniel: “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah…” (Dan 1:1) Jehoiakim was taken to Babylon but then allowed to return as a ‘vassal king’ and he reigned for another eight years. However the last five of these YEARS he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar despite the warnings from Jeremiah who faithfully continued to prophesy in Jerusalem. When Jehoiakim died (at age 36) his son Jehoiachin (also called Jeconiah and sometimes simply Coniah) reigned, but only for three months and ten days (2 Chronicles 36:9). The Bible says he was evil in the sight of the Lord for which a blood curse was put upon him and his descendants (Jeremiah 22:30).

NOTE: Jehoiachin/Jeconiah was of the royal lineage of King David. This poses a real problem from the coming Messiah who is to be a descendant of David, of the royal line! Spot the difference between Matthew’s 1:1-17 and Luke’s 3:23-37 genealogies!

Eight years after his first visit, Nebuchadnezzar came again, laid siege to Jerusalem and took Jehoiachin back to Babylon along with more captives including a certain young priest called Ezekiel. Ezekiel started prophesying from Babylon in what would have been the 5th year of Jehoiachin; by this time Daniel would have been about 27 years old.

King Nebuchadnezzar then made Zedekiah (Jehoiachin’s uncle: 2 Kings 24:17) the final king of Judah. Zedekiah reigned for eleven years before he too was carried away to Babylon after once again ignoring the prophecies of Jeremiah. (See Jer 34:2-3, then Ezekiel 12:13 and finally Jer 52:8-11 for a dramatic fulfillment of prophecy – Zedekiah went to Babylon, but he never saw it!)

In Jeremiah we read:“Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem, And burned the house of the LORD, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire: And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about.” (Jeremiah 52:12-14)

Jerusalem was finally destroyed and the remaining people of Judah, all but the very poor and farmers, were led away captive from the land to give the land the rest that it was owed. They remained in this land ever since. Israelis have not vacated the land as Hamas and other Islamic groups would have us believe in modern times.

“To fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill threescore and ten years.” (2 Chronicles 36:21) (See also Leviticus 25:2-4 & 26:32-35)

Judah had seen herself as unconquerable. After all they were God’s chosen people, Jerusalem was the city of David and they had the Temple of God to hide behind. This complacency had led them into idolatry. Idols had been put on the hills and even on the temple mount; sexual immorality was everywhere. All that God had despised about the Canaanites whom God had removed from the land, Israel was now doing. All that God had said would destroy a nation they had embraced – if you sow the wind you will reap the whirlwind. “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Proverbs 14:34)

Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem three times in total; the final time in 587 B.C. he leveled the city and destroyed the temple. With the first siege began the ‘servitude of the nation’, which, as prophesied in Jeremiah 29:10, lasted exactly seventy years (based on a 360 Jewish calendar-day-year). The final siege began a period of time known as the ‘desolations of Jerusalem’ (Jer 25:11; Daniel 9:2), also seventy years to the day. The first period of seventy years (servitude of the nation) was ended by the decree of Cyrus in 537 B.C. Legend has it that Cyrus was met at the gate of Babylon by an aged Daniel who presented Cyrus with a scroll of Isaiah in which there was a detailed prophecy from some 200 years earlier which not only mentioned Cyrus by name, but also recorded how he would take the city, and that he would set the captive Jews free allowing them to return home to Jerusalem (see Isaiah 44:24; ­45:6).

Article 3 of our Daniel Study

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authenticProphecy. This needs no explanation other than to say that prophecy is one of the infallible and undeniable proofs that God has given us to show that His word is true (see 2 Peter 1:19). Jesus Himself in Matthew 24 pointed to a prophecy in the book of Daniel as the key to understanding the end-times, yet it is astonishing that so many Christians are ignorant regarding the prophecies in the Bible. Job said: “Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?” (Job 24:1). Jesus held the Jews accountable for not understanding the prophetic scriptures, and rebuked the Pharisees because, although they could predict the weather, they didn’t understand the signs of the times.Miscellaneous facts about the book

 

Author: Daniel – how do we know? Because seven times we read “I Daniel…” and secondly because Jesus said Daniel wrote it (Matt 24:15). “If you don’t believe what Jesus said you’ve got much bigger problems than the authorship of Daniel!” – Chuck Missler

Daniel uses his own name 75 times.

When was it written?: About 606-530 B.C.

Daniel is one of only a few people in scripture of whom no sin is recorded, Joseph being another – this doesn’t mean they didn’t sin, Romans 3:23 makes that clear, but in this way they become a type of Christ.

Daniel is called ‘beloved’ (Dan 9:23 / 10:11 / 10:19), the same title is given to John in the NT. Both Daniel and John were given revelations of the climax of world events. It appears that God reserves His most intimate secrets for those who are His beloved. The church is also called His beloved (Rom 9:25) – i.e. these secrets are for us – what a privily The History of the Times of Daniel

Before we begin our study it would be profitable to do a crash course in ancient history to give us some of the background of the times that Daniel lived i

facts

Israel as a nation became divided during the reign of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam. Thorthern part of the nation became known as ‘Israel’, the southern part as ‘Judah’. Israel went from bad to worse and God sent prophet after prophet to warn them to repent or face judgment. All of this is recorded in the books of Kings and Chronicles. There was not a good king among the kings of Israel and so eventually God allowed the Assyrians to conquer Israel in around 722 B.C.

Judah was not a great deal better, with many bad kings who did not seek God but indulged in idolatry but all descended from King David. However there were a few good kings such as Jehoshaphat (2 Chron 17:1-6), Joash (2 Chron 24:1-4), Hezakiah (2 Chron 29:1-2), and Josiah (2 Chron 34:1-2).

Josiah reigned in Judah from about 641 to 609 B.C. However Josiah’s death was brought about by a strange event that is recorded in 2 Chronicles 35:19-27.

Assyria had been the dominating world empire, having already conquered the northern kingdom of Israel as mentioned above; but their days were numbered as God had prophesied through Nahum. In 612 B.C. *Babylon and Media formed an alliance and conquered Assyria’s capital, Nineveh. Three years later Pharaoh Necho, the king of Egypt attacked Assyria and defeated it at a place called Carchemish.

*Odd alliance as it was the same Media with Persia who eventually conquered Babylon.

 
The Times of Daniel
Charchemish

In 2 Chronicles 35:19-21 we read: “

Josiah had prepared the temple, (for Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him. But he sent messengers to him, saying, “What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against the house with which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you.” NKJV

Now remember that Assyria had been Israel’s enemy for centuries; remember Jonah’s reluctance to go and preach to them; and king Sennacherib’s taunts against Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32). So the question has to be asked, why did King Josiah go out against Necho who was on his way to destroy

Israel’s enemies? Surely Josiah should have been fighting with him if anything, not against him. The answer may be found in the opening line of verse 19: “After all this, when Josiah

had prepared the temple” – prepared it for what? Reading chapters 34 & 35 of 2 Chronicles we discover that Josiah had been presented with ‘the book of the law’ that had been discovered as they were starting to repair the temple. After reading it, Josiah realized how far away from God the nation had gone – the same is true today, reading God’s word will show how far from God our nation has gone. Not if we simply read it for awareness, but for knowledge and understanding.

Josiah set about restoring everything according to the Law of Moses, however in verse 3 of chapter 35 he tells the priests to put the holy ark in the house that Solomon had built. they were to put it in there, it was obviously not in there at that time. So where was it

Noah's Ark

The Ark…so where is it? Next week we will show you scripture that gives us that answer.

J Stark

May, 2019

Article #2 of Our Daniel Studies

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 ‘Pre-eminence, Purpose, Purity & Prophecy’ is an apt summary of the book.

Pre-eminence because the book shows time and again that it is God who rules in the kingdoms of men (Dan 4:17 / 4:25 / 4:32). It is He who orders the steps of a good man (Psalm 37:23), indeed, “Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?” (Proverbs 20:24). This was the basis of Daniel’s life, a confident assurance that whatever happened on the outside, however desperate things seemed to be, God was still on the throne, the One who is the same, yesterday, today,  (Hebrews 13:8).

Purpose for two reasons:

Firstly because this book underlines the fact that God has a purpose for all that happens in our lives (HIS creation), as Daniel and his friends show – who would have thought that these teenagers who were dragged away in shackles would be the ones to bring the most powerful nation to its knees? Paul reminds us: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28).

called

Secondly, purpose because “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” (Dan 1:8).

NOTE: This text in Daniel 1:8 infers that Daniel was also a eunuch.

 

In this context the ‘purpose’ referred to is a determined conscious decision that is made in the heart “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matt 6:21). Daniel’s treasure was to do the will of God regardless of what others thought or said, as we will see in chapter 6: “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, [that everyone should worship king Darius alone or be thrown to the lions] he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.” (Dan 6:10). Oh for men and women who purpose in their hearts to serve God. In the New Testament Paul purposed in his heart to preach the gospel: “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:24 NKJV) “…woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16), as a result of this purpose of heart we read: “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures” (Acts 17:2). For these people, serving God was a way of life, not just a ‘Sunday thing’. The challenge for us as we go through this book is: are we really living lives worthy of our calling? (Eph 4:1; Col 1:10; 1 Thess 2:12).

  • Purity. Because of Daniel’s purpose of heart there was a beautiful purity about Daniel (as there was with Joseph). It is so easy for us to get tainted by the world and our surroundings, but when we do, it can so quickly escalate out of control. Chuck Smith sums it up clearly and concisely, “The flesh is never satisfied”. Chuck Missler comments that the more you feed a desire, the more you need to feed that desire; if you give into drink, you will need more drink to be satisfied, but then that will not be enough. If you take drugs, you will soon need more drugs to feed your habit; but that will not be enough. If you lust after the flesh, you will find yourself wanting more and more. If you gossip, one little story is never enough. Sin will always take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay. If you have a tin of pure white paint, how many drops of black paint would it take to stop it being pure white? And so it is with our lives. Daniel never gave in; and twice in the book of Ezekiel God points to Daniel as an example of what a righteous man should be like. (Ezekiel 14:14 /20). May God put us through His crucible to remove the dross so that, like pure gold, we become reflections of His glory.refletion

 

Next week: Article #3 of our Daniel study