Daniel 1

Daniel 1
The Captivity
Why Study Daniel?
1. Jesus studied him and foretold about the
time that Daniel prophesied – the
“abomination of desolation” – Mark 13:14
and Matthew 24:15
Why Study Daniel?
2. Daniel foretold events that would happen
up until the end of the world
Why Study Daniel?
3. The prophetic book of Revelation is based
on the principles and powers in the book of
Daniel
Why Study Daniel?
4. You will be more blessed and joyful! (Rev.
1:3
Daniel – Historical Perspective
 Daniel was born into an upper-class Jewish
family in Judea about 622 B.C.
 The Assyrian Empire which had viciously
ruled the world for about 300 years was
coming to an end
 Babylon was coming to be a “world” power
at the time Daniel was a boy
Who were the world powers?
 There were four kingdoms that were
powerful at the time:
1. Babylon – dominant
2. Media
3. Egypt
4. Lydia
Who was Babylon?
 Babylon was located

where the famous tower
of Babel had once been
(Genesis 11) and founded
by Nimrod (Gen. 10)
 Hammurabi – 1800 B.C.
had made it prominent
 Assyria had conquered it
and it had been part of the
Assyrian empire
Who was Babylon?
 Between 626 B.C. and 612 B.C. King
Nabopolasser crushed the Assyrians and
became the founder of “New Babylon”
 His son, Nebuchadnezzar II, brought
Babylon to its golden age (his name: a
prayer to the god Nabu for protection)
Daniel 1 - Background
 Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptian
army at Carcemish in June, 605 B.C.
 This gave him control of Judea and Syria
 Then he came to Jerusalem, forced the
Jewish king to sign a treaty with Babylon,
and as a sign of his victory over the Jewish
god – he took some utensils from the temple
and a select few youth (Daniel included)
Daniel 1
 Daniel 1:1-3; Even
though
Nebuchadnezzar
probably took great
pride that it was he
who had conquered
the Jews – v. 2 states
clearly that it was God
who “gave” the
victory to him
Captivity – why did God do it?
 God promised Israel
when He took them out
of Egypt - Ex. 19:5,6
“If you will obey my
voice and keep my
covenant, you shall be
my own possession
among all
peoples;…and you shall
be to me a kingdom of
priests and a holy
nation.”
 2 Chronicles 36:15-17; The Lord, the God
of their fathers, sent word to them through
His messengers again and again, because
He had pity on His people and His dwelling
place. But they mocked God’s messengers,
despised His words and scoffed at His
prophets until the wrath of the Lord was
aroused against His people and there was no
remedy…..
 He brought against
them the king of the
Babylonians, who
killed their young
men with the sword
in the sanctuary, and
spared neither
young man nor
young woman, old
man or aged.” 2
Chronicles 36:15-17
What sins did the Jews commit?
 Dishonesty
 Injustice to the poor
 Murder
 Breaking the Sabbath and God’s covenant
 Sexual immorality (extramarital, premarital,
homosexual and bestial)
 Worship of Baal and false images of gods
 Persecuted the prophets
 Listened to false prophets who said “soothing”
things
 Jeremiah 9:14; 17:19-27; 22:1-5; 28
Did God want to send the Jews
into captivity?
 Hosea 11:8 – “How can I give you up
Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O
Israel…my heart recoils within me, My
compassion grows warm and tender.”
 Ezekiel 33:11 – “Turn back, turn back from
your evil ways; for why will you die, O
house of Israel.”
The Captivity
 722 B.C. – The northern kingdom of Israel
is conquered by the Assyrians
 605 B.C. – The southern kingdom of Judah
is overcome by Babylon
 God only gave them up, because their

wound was incurable!
Daniel 1
 Daniel marched
the 1500 km.
with the army for
about two
months before
reaching the
beautiful city of
Babylon
The return from the captivity
 God did promise that he would punish the
nation that took them into captivity and that
they would return after 70 years. Jer.
25:11,12; 29:1
 God even promised that He would write His
law on their hearts afterwards and they
would follow Him and that He would
restore the temple. Ezek. 36:24-28
Daniel 1
 Daniel studied:
1. Mathematics (their specialty)
2. Astronomy (advanced)
3. Architecture
4. Business (checks, interest, letters of credit)
5. Languages (Akkadian – Babylonian language;
Sumerian – traditional religious language;
Aramaic – language of international trade and
commerce)
Daniel 1
 Vs. 4 – Daniel was found to be “skillful in
all wisdom, endowed with knowledge,
understanding learning”.
 Even though Judah had been corrupt, Daniel
had been brought up by reading the Holy
Scriptures and had a good education
 How can a young man keep his way pure?
“By guarding it according to thy word.”
Psalm 119:9
How do we know that Daniel
knew the Bible?
 He knew that it was not right to eat food
sacrificed to idols that were not the true
God
 He knew the list of unclean meats – Deut.
14
 He knew that drinking alcoholic wine is a
sin – Lev. 10:1-11
 He was faithful and honest – Dan. 6:4
 He prayed often – Dan. 2,9
Instruction for youth
 Deuteronomy 6:4-7; God told parents to
teach their children the law of God when
they were sitting in the house, walking on
the road – all the time
 It is possible that the prophet Jeremiah even
instructed him when Daniel was a boy in
Jerusalem
Daniel 1
 Daniel 1:5-21
 Even though it was
a great honor to
eat from the table
of the king, Daniel
and his three
friends didn’t
compromise
Daniel 1
 Daniel and his
three friends
were ten times
better than the
others (v. 20)
 God rewards
people for their
faithfulness in
keeping His
laws
Theme of Daniel
 Even though God’s
people are located in
Babylon, God will
give the kingdom to
His faithful saints!
Dan. 7:27
Next Lesson
 Does God know the future?
 Daniel 2

Daniel 1

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Daniel 1

 Babylon was located

 God only gave them up, because their

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