Daniel: Introduction

Introduction
The book of Daniel is set during the period of Israel’s (Judah and Jerusalem) captivity in Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem in 589 BC, and finally breached the wall and captured the city in 586 BC. The writer of 2 Kings tells us what happened next.

Read 2 Kings 24.1-16

Read Daniel 1.1, 2

¹In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ²And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.

Think it Through
1.  What happened to Jerusalem? How must it have felt to be living in Jerusalem at that time? According to Daniel 1.2, Who was ultimately back of this tragedy?

2.  Why did this happen? What does this tell us about God (cf. Heb. 12.3-11)? Why does He do this?

Meditate
“The fact that Jehoiakim is recorded to have been given over shows that it was not a victory for the might of his enemies but rather it was of the will of the Lord.” Jerome (347-420 AD)

“For I am the LORD, I do not change…” Malachi 3.6

You are the Lord of all chastening, O God, and You do not change. As I think about my walk with You, and the state of the Church in our country…

Pray
How shall we sing the LORD’s song
In a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget its skill!
If I do not remember you,
Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth—
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.

Psalm 137.4-6

Psalm 137.4-6 (The Gift of Love: Though I May Speak)
How can we sing, exalt Your Name, or praises bring amid our shame?
If we forget Your Church’s fame, O Lord, then let our hands grow lame.

If ever praise forsake my tongue, if Zion’s ways no more be sung,
If greater joy by me be found, my lips destroy, no more to sound.

T. M Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006.