The Book of Daniel: Chapters 1–6

By Michael D. Matlock

In this edition of the OneBook Daily-Weekly, professor and Hebrew scholar Michael D. Matlock leads seekers on a twelve-week study of the first six chapters of the book of Daniel. With keen understanding of the perilous times in which Daniel and his friends lived, Dr. Matlock shows students how they can also survive, even thrive, in exile and under pressure—without compromising. Join Dr. Matlock on an exciting journey through stories of courage under fire, grace under pressure, and promotion in spite of rivalry—and learn how you can be victorious too.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seedbed
• Release date: Nov 16, 2015
• ISBN: 9781628242348

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The Book of Daniel

OneBook.

DAILY-WEEKLY

The Book of Daniel

Chapters 1–6

with Michael D. Matlock

Copyright 2016 by Michael D. Matlock

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION of the Bible. © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-62824-232-4

Mobi ISBN: 978-1-62824-233-1

ePub ISBN: 978-1-62824-234-8

uPDF ISBN: 978-1-62824-235-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015953317

Cover design by Nikabrik Design

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CONTENTS

Welcome to the OneBook Daily-Weekly

Week One

Brain Drain, Diet, Defilement, and Denouement: Living in the Diaspora I

Day One: Babylon Defeats Israel

Day Two: King Nebuchadnezzar’s Command

Day Three: Reprogramming through Education—Babylon U

Day Four: Reprogramming through Royal Portions

Day Five: What’s in a Name? Reprogramming

Commentary Notes

Week One: Gathering Discussion Outline

Week Two

Brain Drain, Diet, Defilement, and Denouement: Living in the Diaspora II

Day One: Daniel Says No Way to Royal Portions

Day Two: Daniel Continues Negotiations with the Supervisor

Day Three: God’s Work Behind the Scenes

Day Four: Nebuchadnezzar’s Job Interview

Day Five: Overview of God’s Faithful Men During the Entire Exile

Commentary Notes

Week Two: Gathering Discussion Outline

Week Three

The Story of Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream I

Day One: A Troubled King

Day Two: Tell Me the Dream!

Day Three: An Angry King

Day Four: A Prudent Man of God

Day Five: A Thankful Man of God

Commentary Notes

Week Three: Gathering Discussion Outline

Week Four

The Story of Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream II

Day One: Daniel Takes Wise Action

Day Two: Recounting the Dream Contents

Day Three: Interpreting the Dream: Four Earthly Kingdoms

Day Four: Interpreting the Dream: One Everlasting Kingdom

Day Five: Daniel Benefits from the Outcome

Commentary Notes

Week Four: Gathering Discussion Outline

Week Five

The Story of the Fiery Furnace I

Day One: A Ninety-by-Nine-Foot Statue

Day Two: At the Music, Bow Down and Worship

Day Three: Pay No Heed, O People of God

Day Four: Who Is the God That Will Deliver You?

Day Five: We Will Not Bow Down!

Commentary Notes

Week Five: Gathering Discussion Outline

Week Six

The Story of the Fiery Furnace II

Day One: Furious Nebuchadnezzar

Day Two: Thrown into the Blazing Fire

Day Three: Four Men, Not Three

Day Four: Not Even the Smell of Fire

Day Five: Nebuchadnezzar’s Accolades

Commentary Notes

Week Six: Gathering Discussion Outline

Week Seven

The Story of Nebuchadnezzar’s Madness I

Day One: Nebuchadnezzar’s Letter

Day Two: Living on Easy Street Is Not So Easy

Day Three: Putting Hope in Daniel Once Again

Day Four: A Real Big Tree

Day Five: Mind of an Animal

Commentary Notes

Week Seven: Gathering Discussion Outline

Week Eight

The Story of Nebuchadnezzar’s Madness II

Day One: Nebuchadnezzar Is the Tree

Day Two: Nebuchadnezzar Will Become Like an Animal

Day Three: Eating Grass Like Oxen

Day Four: With Reason Comes Praise

Day Five: Recognizing God’s Truth and Justice

Commentary Notes

Week Eight: Gathering Discussion Outline

Week Nine

The Story of Belshazzar’s Feast I

Day One: Making Merry

Day Two: Writing on the Wall

Day Three: Pale Face

Day Four: You Need Daniel

Day Five: Excellent Wisdom in Daniel

Commentary Notes

Week Nine: Gathering Discussion Outline

Week Ten

The Story of Belshazzar’s Feast II

Day One: I Do Not Want Your Rewards!

Day Two: Lessons from Your Father, Nebuchadnezzar

Day Three: Not Honoring the Lord

Day Four: "Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin"

Day Five: Daniel Elevated, Belshazzar Assassinated

Commentary Notes

Week Ten: Gathering Discussion Outline

Week Eleven

The Story of the Lion’s Den I

Day One: Darius’s Administrative System

Day Two: Finding Fault with Daniel

Day Three: Revoking Religious Freedom

Day Four: Praying Three Times a Day

Day Five: A King Worried for Daniel

Commentary Notes

Week Eleven: Gathering Discussion Outline

Week Twelve

The Story of the Lion’s Den II

Day One: Thrown into the Den of Lions

Day Two: Crying Out for Daniel

Day Three: The Lions’ Mouths Were Shut

Day Four: Role Reversals

Day Five: Darius’s Confession of God’s Kingdom

Commentary Notes

Week Twelve: Gathering Discussion Outline

WELCOME TO THE ONEBOOK DAILY-WEEKLY

John Wesley, in a letter to one of his leaders, penned the following,

O begin! Fix some part of every day for private exercises. You may acquire the taste which you have not: what is tedious at first, will afterwards be pleasant.

Whether you like it or not, read and pray daily. It is for your life; there is no other way; else you will be a trifler all your days. . . . Do justice to your own soul; give it time and means to grow. Do not starve yourself any longer. Take up your cross and be a Christian altogether.

Rarely are our lives most shaped by our biggest ambitions and highest aspirations. Rather, our lives are most shaped, for better or for worse, by those small things we do every single day.

At Seedbed, our biggest ambition and highest aspiration is to resource the followers of Jesus to become lovers and doers of the Word of God every single day, to become people of One Book.

To that end, we have created the OneBook Daily-Weekly. First, it’s important to understand what this is not: warm and fuzzy, sentimental devotions. If you engage the Daily-Weekly for any length of time, you will learn the Word of God. You will grow profoundly in your love for God, and you will become a passionate lover of people.

How does the Daily-Weekly work?

Daily. As the name implies, every day invites a short but substantive engagement with the Bible. Five days a week you will read a passage of Scripture followed by a short segment of teaching and closing with a question for reflection and self-examination. On the sixth day, you will review and reflect on the previous five days.

Weekly. Each week, on the seventh day, find a way to gather with at least one other person doing the study. Pursue the weekly guidance for gathering. Share learning, insight, encouragement, and most important, how the Holy Spirit is working in your lives.

That’s it. When the twelve weeks are done, we will be ready with twelve more. Four times a year we will release a new edition of the Daily-Weekly. Over time, those who pursue this course of learning will develop a rich library of Bible learning resources for the long haul. Following is the plan for how we will work our way through the Bible.

The Gospels: Twelve weeks of the year the Daily-Weekly will delve into one of the Gospels, either in a broad overview or through a deep dive into a more focused segment of the text.

The Epistles: Twelve weeks of the year the Daily-Weekly will explore one of the letters, sermons, or the Acts of the Apostles that make up the rest of the New Testament.

The Wisdom Writings: Twelve weeks of the year the Daily-Weekly will lead us into some part of the Psalms, Proverbs, or prophetic writings.

The Old Testament: Twelve weeks of the year the Daily-Weekly will engage with some portion of the Books of Moses (Genesis–Deuteronomy), the historical books, or other writings from the Old Testament.

If you are looking for a substantive study to learn Scripture through a steadfast method, look no further. If it’s sentimental and superficial you are after, there is no shortage of options elsewhere. The OneBook Daily-Weekly will also be available through the OneBook App. To learn more about how to access the app, please visit OneBookApp.com.

WEEK ONE

Daniel 1:1–7

Brain Drain, Diet, Defilement, and Denouement: Living in the Diaspora I

INTRODUCTION

The stories in Daniel 1–6 have become childhood favorites, and the strange visions in Daniel 7–12 have been an inspiration for the apocalyptic genre in modern books and movies. The many stories and visions set the Lord’s chosen people in exile far from their homeland. The people of God are in exile because God has enacted his covenant curses upon them for not remaining in covenant obedience with him. He uses two nations (Assyria in the eighth century BC and Babylon in the sixth century BC) to overtake and capture his people, taking many far away from their homeland in Israel. The central question of the book is: How do God’s people live faithfully in exile?

Exile is often referred to as diaspora (or the dispersion of God’s people). God’s people are banished from their homeland to live in Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar and later under other foreign rulers. Many have claimed that exile for God’s people ended in 539 BC, when King Cyrus of Persia allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and city. Exile continued for God’s people, however, because exile is not always geographical, but often symbolic and liturgical. A person can be living at home geographically but not psychologically, spiritually, or otherwise relationally. Living in exile and with affliction ignites discussions of the classic problematic question of why there is so much evil in the world if God is both all-powerful and all-loving. Moreover, in Daniel, exile and affliction also raise questions about God’s sovereignty and faithfulness.

The focus of this commentary falls upon the court stories of contest or conflict in Daniel 1–6. These stories consist of six narratives recounting the experience of Hebrew captives in a foreign royal court, whose lives are endangered by conspiracy or the need to solve a difficult problem of the king. As we study Daniel and his friends’ experiences in several earthly kings’ courts, we will be forced to consider and embrace life in the kingdom of God as Christ instituted it in its fuller measures. Even so, until the day arrives when the kingdom of God is in its fullest measure, those of us who live in the interim period are called to participate in the political, religious, and physical restoration of the kingdom of this present age much like Daniel and his friends.

The people of God who first went into exile in Babylon in the sixth century BC asked the question, How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? (Ps. 137:4 NIV). The stories of exile in Daniel propose a radical answer. No longer are God’s people in exile, hanging their harps on the willows (Ps. 137:2) and calling for the death of Babylonian children by smashing their heads on the rocks (Ps. 137:9). They are singing a new song. They are courageously taking their stand in the world and working side by side with their non-believing associates and achieving excellence. Multiple times, the Lord elevates Daniel and his friends through a means of grace observed through their virtuous character established by faith and trust in the Father. We begin our transformation by studying one portion of the first court contest in Week One (Dan. 1:1–7) and the other portion of this story in Week Two (Dan. 1:8–21).

ONE

Babylon Defeats Israel

Daniel 1:1–2 In the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ²The Lord let King Jehoiakim of Judah fall into his power, as well as some of the vessels of the house of God. These he brought to the land of Shinar, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his gods.

Understanding the Word. These first verses create the historical and international political setting of the story. Also, we should quickly note the wording of the last verse in the story, And Daniel continued there until the first year of King Cyrus (1:21). A historical bracketing effect in verses 1 and 21 indicates a main idea of the passage. By telling us that Daniel’s story began in the third year of Jehoiakim (605 BC; v. 1) and ended in the first year of Cyrus (539 BC; v. 21), the paired dates accentuate the key situation of Daniel in this story and the remainder of the book. Daniel’s existence and discipleship are to be viewed within the chronological framework of the beginning and end of a Babylonian exile because the standard framework for Jews in Babylonian exile was 605 (or 586) BC to 539 BC. (Those who date the exile’s beginning at 605 BC base their choice on the year of Nebuchadnezzar’s ascension to the throne; those citing 586 BC base this date on the year of the temple’s destruction.) The Babylonian conquerors came to Jerusalem and took captives back to Babylon in 605 BC, but in 539 BC the Babylonians lost control to the great Persian king Cyrus.

Readers of this story, and the other stories in Daniel 2–6, normally notice the importance of Daniel and friends. Less often do readers realize how crucially the different Gentile kings factor into these stories and the lessons that may be learned by their characterization in the stories. As the Judean king Jehoiakim (who is on the side of God’s kingdom) loses his grip on political power and control of the nation-state, the Gentile king, Nebuchadnezzar, grabs more and more of this forfeited power. He takes the temple vessels, which prepares for the details of Belshazzar’s feast in chapter 5. But, more crucial for this first court story, we learn that the portable symbol of divine presence, the temple vessels, is transported to Babylon (or Shinar, the more traditional, archaic name of Babylon; see Genesis 11:2). Not only was Indiana Jones concerned with where the temple vessels settled, but many Second Temple Jewish texts broached this topic too. Only in Daniel and Ezra do biblical texts mention that the vessels made their way to a Babylonian temple. The Gentile kings are powerful, but not absolutely powerful, as each story reveals.

A very important phrase in verse 2, but one easily overlooked, is "the Lord let King Jehoiakim of Judah fall into his power (emphasis added). This is the scandalous gospel element in the story. This gospel notion also appears in verse 9 as now God allowed Daniel and in verse 17 as to these four young men God gave" (emphasis added). What is scandalous is the fact that God has allowed—indeed, initiated—a terrible experience for Israel, but God is in control and can be trusted; somehow all this must make sense. But through judgment comes grace. We are to discover that God is providing a measure of prevenient grace, or an initial gift of God, that provides minimal power for the first turning to God for deliverance. Herein lies the opportunity to turn in faith to God, whose will can be adhered to, even when exercised in an unusual way. The whole period of Daniel’s (and the Gentile kings’) existence is situated under the sovereignty of God! And yet, God’s sovereignty does not equal absolute determinism. On the contrary, Daniel and his friends must exercise their free will in the midst of divine sovereignty. They can submit to God’s gift of grace or deny it. As this story reminds us, it is God’s ultimate desire to provide grace to wretched people; certainly, Daniel and his friends fit the bill of a wretched state.

1. Reflect on the writer’s chronological framing of Daniel’s Babylonian exile. What might we learn about Daniel’s existence and discipleship in Babylonian exile as opposed to Daniel living at home with all of his creature comforts?

2. What kind of response might the original readers have shown to the detail that the Judean king, Jehoiakim, as well as the vessels of the house of God, were taken by Nebuchadnezzar? Imagine how a patriotic American would feel if the Lincoln Memorial or other American icons were scavenged by invaders.

3. Reflect on the notion that King Nebuchadnezzar is powerful over these men of God, but not absolutely powerful. Why does the writer include the little phrase "the Lord let" in these details of two earthly kings?

TWO

King Nebuchadnezzar’s Command

Daniel 1:3 Then the king commanded his palace master Ashpenaz to bring some of the Israelites of the royal family and of the nobility

Understanding the Word. The narrator begins to report the speech of Nebuchadnezzar, and in so doing, serves to present the type of person he was. The text paints Nebuchadnezzar as large and in charge. He is a king accustomed to commanding and making things happen. He reigned the longest (forty-three years) in the Chaldean dynasty; he had considerable military experience and was a fierce competitor and a productive builder (including the alleged Hanging Gardens of Babylon). In this first story, he is depicted as pragmatic and as displaying some benevolence by placing the captured Hebrew men into his court bureaucracy and not dealing with them in a severe manner. He seeks to capitalize on the already superior qualities of these soon-to-be eunuchs (men who are castrated to deter them from having sexual relations with women in the royal court): young men without physical defect and handsome, versed in every branch of wisdom, endowed with knowledge and insight, and competent to serve in the king’s palace (v. 4).

As with any bureaucracy, there are many levels of command. Our attention turns to the palace master, or chief eunuch, whose name is given as Ashpenaz, meaning innkeeper. Ashpenaz is a middle manager of power for these young Hebrew men. His introduction and depiction in the story highlights the fact that most people have little access to the leader of the highest authority and power (the king, in this case). However, many of God’s people will have access and the opportunity to influence those who represent middle management of government or business. We know that middle management have influence over those under their authority, but this story reminds us that those in middle management may be influenced by the people and mission of God.

Those chosen were the most likely to be natural leaders (of the royal family and of the nobility). To discourage the Judeans from rebelling, Nebuchadnezzar sought to saturate the young and future leadership in the Babylonian ways through experience, observation, and instruction. Carefully note how these natural leaders are introduced nameless, faceless, and seemingly defenseless to the eunuch overseer and his head honcho, King Nebuchadnezzar. They have fallen far from their aristocratic life in Judah. They no longer are able to order someone else around to do their bidding. They cannot use their wealth or other means of influence to persuade others to do what they desire. They are powerless.

One of the backdrops for our story is found in 2 Kings 18:17–35. About one hundred years earlier, an Assyrian chief of staff (much like Ashpenaz) for King Sennacherib of Assyria went to Jerusalem and gave King