God's instrument of judgment for the nation's unbelief
was Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 1:1
cf. Jeremiah 25:1)
Nebuchadnezzar sets out from Babylon to besiege Jerusalem
in the 3rd year of the reign of Jehoiakim (Daniel 1:1)
and arrives to besiege the city in the 4th year of the reign of Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 25:1) after having conquered Pharaohnecho of Egypt in the same year (Jeremiah 46:1-2)
The "Times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24)
politically began at the demise of Israel's theocracy, which occurred in three stages as indicated by the thrice
repetition of "overturn" (Ezekiel 21:24-27):
The 1st stage occurred when Nebuchadnezzar "removed
the crown" from Jehoiakim (II Chronicles 36:5-8) and was the time when Daniel and his three friends were taken captive
(Daniel 1:3,6) along with "PART of the vessels of the house of God" (Daniel 1:2)
The 2nd stage occurred when Nebuchadnezzar "removed
the crown" from Jehoiachin (II Chronicles 36:9-10)
The 3rd stage occurred when Nebuchadnezzar "removed
the crown" from Zedekiah (II Chronicles 36:11-20) at which time "ALL of the vessels of the house of God" were
"brought to Babylon" (II Chronicles 36:18)
God withdrew His presence from among His people in three
stages as He gave up His people to political captivity:
He "goes up fromthecherub ... tothethresholdto
thehouse" (Ezekiel 9:3)
He "departed from off the threshold of the house"
(Ezekiel 10:18)
He "went up from the midst of the city" (Ezekiel 11:23)
The transfer of political authority from Israel to Babylon
was marked by the blinding of Israel's king who was "bound with fetters" and "carried to Babylon"
(II Kings 25:5-7) - a picture of the nation "led awaycaptive" for the duration
of the "Times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24)
The "Times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24)
spiritually (Romans 15:25-27) began with the temporary setting aside of Israel via Paul's apostleship
to the Gentiles (Romans 11:11-13) and just as was the case politically - it was the result of Israel's
thrice rejection of God's call to national repentance:
The 1st rejection occurred when they asked for the head
of John the Baptist (Matthew 14:6-9) - a man "sent from God (the Father)" (John 1:6)
who called the nation to repentance at the announcement of "Heaven's King" (Matthew 3:1-2 cf. Daniel 2:44)
The 2nd rejection occurred when they demanded the crucifixion
of Jesus (Mark 15:12-14) - "Heaven's King" Himself, God the Son (John 20:31),
Who also called the nation to repentance at the announcement of "Heaven's King" (Matthew 4:17 cf. Daniel 2:44)
The 3rd rejection occurred when they stoned Stephen (Acts 7:58-59)
- a man "full of faith and the Holy Spirit" (Acts 6:5)
and "full of faith and power" (Acts 6:8)
- the Holy Spirit was the power promised by the Father and Christ (Acts 1:4-5,8) to testify of Christ's resurrection (Acts 1:20-26) with the offer to return "Heaven's King" conditioned upon
the nation's repentance for crucifying their King (Acts 3:17-21)
Israel's thrice rejection of God's call to national repentance
resulted in Israel's commission of the "unpardonable sin" warned about by the Lord (Matthew 12:31-32)
and just as was the case politically - God withdrew His covenant blessing from Israel in three stages:
Paul at Antioch says "weturn to the Gentiles" (Acts 13:14,44-46)
Paul at Corinth says "I will go unto the Gentiles"
(Acts 18:1,4-6)
Paul at Rome says "the salvation of God is sent unto
the Gentiles" (Acts 28:16,23-28)
Just as was the case politically - the transfer of spiritual
authority from Israel to the Gentiles was marked by the blinding of a Jew - this time a "false prophet"
- who "went about seeking some to lead him by the hand" (Acts 13:6-11)
God's apostle to the Gentiles gets a name change from
Saul (his Hebrew name) to Paul (his Gentile name) in honor of his first Gentile convert (Acts 13:9)
at the start of his "separated work" ordained by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:1-2)
God gave the treasures of Israel's God into the hand of
the king of Babylon to be carried into the house of his god (Daniel 1:1-2) and Israel's choice royal seed to be eunuchs in the palace of the
king of Babylon (Daniel 1:3-4) in fulfillment of His promised punishment for Hezekiah's folly for
magnifying himselfbefore the king of Babylon (Isaiah 39)
and NOT giving the Lord the glory for having enriched him (II Chronicles 32:24-31) by giving the common enemy of Israel and the nations into his hand
(II Chronicles 32:10-23)
The name of Nebuchadnezzar's god was Bel (Daniel 4:8)
whom God will confound and destroy (Jeremiah 50:2) and will cause to return all that Bel has "swallowed up"
(Jeremiah 51:44) just as was the case when the "ark of God" was carried into
the house of Dagon (god of the Philistines) and God destroyed the idol and smote its worshippers (I Samuel 5:1-7)
so that after seven months the "ark of God" was returned to Israel "not empty" (I Samuel 6:1-3)
It should also be noted that the selection of the king's
seed and princes was from the "children of Israel" (Daniel 1:3)
- not just from the southern kingdom of Judah that was taken into captivity (Daniel 1:1-2)
The faithful in the northern kingdom of Israel migrated
to the southern kingdom of Judah such as in Hezekiah's day (II Chronicles 30:5-11)
So all the tribes of Israel were represented in the Babylonian
captivity as well as in the return from that captivity under Ezra (Ezra 6:16-17)
There are NO lost tribes of Israel and so the Lord came
seeking the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24), such as "a certain priest named Zechariah" (Luke 1:5)
and Anna "of the tribe of Asher" (Luke 2:36)
and promised His 12 apostles to "sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel" (Matthew 19:28)
Just as Nebuchadnezzar claimed victory of his god over
Israel's God by carrying His treasures into the house of his god (Daniel 1:1-2) - he also sought to claim victory over God's royal seed by turning
their allegiance from Him to the god of the Chaldeans (Daniel 1:3-4)
He used education as a means of indoctrination ("the
learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans" (Daniel 1:4)
just as "Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians" (Acts 7:22)
Thru the eyes of faith - the world's wisdom was found
wanting by Daniel and his three friends (Daniel 2:16-19) and by Moses (Hebrews 11:24-26)
He used his choicest delicacies to nourish them during
their training (Daniel 1:5),
which by faith Daniel refused (Daniel 1:8)
He changed their names in order to effect a character
change, so that they would reflect the glory ofhis god rather than Israel's God (Daniel 1:6-7)
The Hebrew name Daniel means "God is my Judge"
was changed to Belteshazzar meaning "A Prince of Bel"
The Hebrew name Hananiah means "God is gracious"
was changed to Shadrach meaning "Inspired of Rak" (the sun god also called Ra by the Egyptians)
The Hebrew name Mishael means "Who is as God"
was changed to Meshach meaning "Who is as Aku" (i.e., Venus, the goddess of love also known as the "Queen
of Heaven" or the moon god)
The Hebrew name Azariah means "Helped of God"
was changed to Abednego meaning "The servant of the Fire-god"
The Hebrew names of these four choice Hebrew children
in the OT bear a significant relationship to the Greek name of Israel's Messiah in the NT:
Both Hebrew and Greek alphabets have letters which also
stand for numbers - hence the phrase "the number of his name" (Revelation 13:17) and the instruction to "count the number of the beast" (Revelation 13:18)
The letters in the Greek Name ("Iesous"), i.e.
"Jesus", add up to the number 888 ("the number of HisName")
This is the Name which speaks of the Risen Crucified One
Who was raised on "the first day of the week" (Matthew 28:1,5-6), i.e. the eighth day (the day after the Sabbath, the seventh day)
The Name is thrice the number 8 (888) due to the fact
that it is He Who was given "all power in heaven and in earth" representing the Triune Godhead - The
Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:18-19)
The total numerical value for the four Hebrew names of
Daniel and his three friends is 888 (thenumber of the Name of the Risen Savior):
Name
Number
Daniel
95
Hananiah
120
Mishael
381
Azariah
292
Total
888
The composite number oftheir verynames
show them to be collectively identified with their Divine Savior Who makes them victorious overcomers and, therefore,
they are wondrous resurrection types of the Tribulation overcomers (Hebrews 11:33-34; Hebrews 12:1-2 cf. Revelation 15:2; Revelation 20:4)
Purposing of Faith - Separation unto
God(Daniel 1:8)
In this he stands as a type of the 144,000 ("the
firstfruits unto God and the Lamb") in the Day of the Lord who will "not be defiled" with theidolatrous
religious system (Revelation 14:1-5) associated with Jezebel, "the false prophetess", which included
the "eating of things sacrificed untoidols" (Revelation 2:20)
God pronounced judgment upon the remnant of Judah who
escaped the Babylonian captivity and chose to stay in Egypt (Jeremiah 44:11-14), because these people sought to justify their idolatry (Jeremiah 44:15-17)
which included "drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven" (Jeremiah 44:18-19)
One cannot partake of the cup and the table of the Lord
while also partaking of the cup and the table of devils (demons) as Israel found out (I Corinthians 10:18-21):
Balaam taught Balak how to ensnare Israel by enticing
them to "eat things sacrificed to idols" (Revelation 2:14), which brought the judgment of God down upon the offenders (Numbers 25:1-5)
Jeroboam, the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel,
feared that he would lose his kingdom should his people go down to Jerusalem to worship (I Kings 12:26-27),
so he "took counsel" and introduced the SAME idolatry condemned by God at the beginning of Israel's existence
as a nation (I Kings 12:28-30 cf. Exodus 32:1-8)
He patterned this idolatrous religious system after the
worship of the True God complete with priests, a feast day, an altar, and sacrifices (I Kings 12:31-33)
Thirteen times are recorded the words, "Jeroboam,
the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin" - the number 13 is associated with rebellion, e.g. Sodom "rebelled
in the thirteenth year" (Genesis 14:1-4)
Ahab made idolatry (Baal worship) the state religion of
Israel when he married Jezebel (I Kings 16:29-33) and in his reign the forbidden rebuilding of Jericho occurred (I Kings 16:34 cf. Joshua 6:26)
Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal (literally meaning
"living with Baal") and is called an idolatrous "prophetess" (Revelation 2:20)
The Lord pronounced the SAME terriblejudgment
upon both the royal houses of Jeroboam and Ahab (I Kings 14:7-11; I Kings 21:20-22) and He pronounced a singular awful judgment upon Jezebel (I Kings 21:23-24)
for her particular evil influence upon Ahab (I Kings 21:25)
It began with a man named Micah who lived in Ephraim (Judges 17:1)
whose mother made Divinely forbidden graven images (Judges 17:3
cf. Exodus 20:4),
which became her son's "house of gods" (Judges 17:5)
God says Ephraim is to be "left alone", because
he is "joined to idols" (Hosea 4:17)
Micah takes a wayward Levite and makes him a priest to
his family and gives him a "suit of apparel", an annual salary, and sustenance for his ministry (Judges 17:10)
The Lord expressly forbids the calling of any man "Rabbi
(Master)" or "Father", because these are strictly Divine titles of worship (Matthew 23:8-9)
The idolatrous "suit of apparel" is a set of
"garments" called "vestments" (II Kings 10:20-22)
The tribe of Dan failed by faith to capture their inheritance
(Judges 18:1
cf. Joshua 19:40,48,51)
and instead attack a small defenseless people in the extreme north of Palestine with the blessing ofMicah's
idolatrous priest to establish their inheritance (Judges 18:2-6)
Afterwards, the tribe of Dan goes into Micah's house and
steals all his idolatrous goods and priest (Judges 18:17-21)
Micah's trust in an idolatrous Levite priest for the Lord's
blessing (Judges 17:13) ends in his loss of everything (Judges 18:22-26)
The tribe of Dan persisted in idolatry FROM the days of
Jonathan (Micah's high priest), who was the grandson of Moses ("Manasseh" is a corrupted name change),
UNTIL the "day of the captivity of the Land" (Judges 18:30-31 cf. Exodus 2:21-22)
Very fittingly this tribe is NOT mentioned in the sealing
of the nation's faithful servants to God during the nation's final tribulation (Revelation 7:1-8)
Paul exhorts the Church to "touch NOT the unclean
thing", i.e. idolatry (II Corinthians 6:14-17) and quotes God's Word to Israel on that forbidden practice (Isaiah 52:11)
Reward of Faith - Exaltation of
the Royal Captives(Daniel 1:9-21)
Daniel's purposing of faith NOT to defile himself with
the king's meat and drink associated with offering to idols is rewarded by God granting Daniel favor and "tender
love" ("compassion") from the prince of the eunuchs (Daniel 1:8-9)
Daniel's request NOT to be defiled was motivated by the
"fear of the Lord" which "pleases the Lord" and, therefore, God made Daniel's enemy "to
be at peace with him" (Proverbs 16:6-7)
The repentant cry to God by Daniel in captivity caused
God to move hiscaptors "to pity" him (Psalms 106:43-46)
Although sympathetic to Daniel's request, the prince of
the eunuchs also feared the loss of his head by the king (Daniel 1:10
cf. Daniel 5:18-19)
- should granting Daniel his request cause Daniel and his three friends to be seen as having the sad and emaciated
look of fasting (Matthew 6:16) when compared to the faces of the other Hebrew captives (Daniel 1:10 cf. Daniel 1:3,6-7)
The prince of the eunuchs solves his dilemma by placing
(the) "Melzar" (Hebrew for "butler") in charge of Daniel's request (Daniel 1:11)
to whom Daniel proposes a ten day test of feeding he and his three friends pulse (mixture of ground seeds, fruits
and vegetables in water) after which time their countenances will be compared to their fellow Hebrew captives given
the king's portion of meat and drink (Daniel 1:12-13)
God honors Daniel's proposition by the Melzar's consent
(Daniel 1:14)
The "trying of faith" is what "worketh
patience" (James 1:3)
The "trial of faith" is "more precious
than of gold ... tried with fire" (I Peter 1:7)
"Whoever puts in God his trust, builds surely NOT
on sand or dust" (Author Unknown)
Daniel's faith along with that of his three friends is
rewarded by God with a miraculous physical result (Daniel 1:15)
for they withstood the temptation that was removed AFTER their trial (Daniel 1:16)
Result was their being physically "fairer and fatter"
(Daniel 1:15)
The "fear of the Lord" is to "depart from
evil" and results in physical well-being (Proverbs 3:7-8) of the Lord's earthly people (Matthew 11:2-6)
Daniel's faith along with that of his three friends is
rewarded by God with a miraculous spiritual result (Daniel 1:17)
Resulted in ALL four children being given Divine knowledge,
learning and wisdom (Daniel 1:17)
Daniel and his three friends are honored above ALL the
Hebrew captives at the end of their training by appearing before the king to be examined by him and God blessed
them by being "ten times" more wisethan Babylon's finest minds (Daniel 1:18-20)
- their "ten times" reward (Daniel 1:20)
corresponding to their "ten days" of trial (Daniel 1:14)
Daniel and his three friends (as types of their Messiah)
are examples of those who have "more understanding than ALL their teachers" and "more understanding
than the 'ancients' ('aged men')", because they hold fast His Word and "hate every false way" (Psalms 119:99-104)
True wisdom "from above" is above ALL "pure",
which is NOT the case with the "devilish" wisdom "from beneath" (James 3:13-17)
Daniel continued in public office till the year of Israel's
release from captivity (Daniel 1:21
cf. Ezra 1:1-4),
although he received his final vision two years later (Daniel 10:1)