A Fiery Furnace Experience - Daniel 3:8-30

8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews.
9 They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever!
10 You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image.
11 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace.
12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king.
14 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up?
15 Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
18 But even if He does not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated.

20 And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
21 Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace.
22 Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”
25 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire.
27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them.
28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.

29 Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.”
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.  Daniel 3:8-30

We will talk about these verses in a few lessons from now.

The King's Golden Image - Daniel 3:1-7

  

1 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
2 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
3 Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
4 And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages,
5 that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
6 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.”
7 Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.   Daniel 3:1-7
 
 
This statue King Nebuchadnezzar created was about 90 feet, or 27.5 meters, tall. The late Pastor and Professor Lehman Strauss stated that this statue and the one of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2 are too much alike to not be connected. The difference is that what God showed the king in his dream was political in nature while this statue was intended as a religious figure. In the dream image, only the head was made of gold, but in this statue, the entire form was of gold. Since many scholars believe there was a period of about 20 years between the dream and this statue, they believe this statue was created in the king’s later years in an attempt to hold on to the power that the “head of gold” in the dream had implied.

Another thing of note here is the three mentions of the number 6 – the image’s height (60 cubits), its width (6 cubits), and the number of instruments used in the celebration (6 named in verse 7). The number “666” is a reference to the Antichrist in Revelation 13:18. In general, the number 6 in the Bible is the number associated with mankind, while the number 7 is the number of completeness and perfection relating to God.

Another question often asked is why Daniel is not mentioned as being present in this chapter. Dr. Strauss again reminds his readers that Daniel had been promoted to a high position in King Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom, so it is highly possible the king waited until Daniel was gone out of country on an assignment so he would not be part of this religious ceremony.

*In what way are you being pressured today to worship other gods?

Rewards for Service - Daniel 2:46-49

Continuing from our last lesson with the understanding of the statue King Nebuchadnezzar saw, we study the meanings of the different metals in the statue. Gold is the most valuable and iron the least. But gold is the softest, and iron is the strongest. Gold speaks of power, and the interesting thing we will see later in Daniel, when he was thrown to the lions, is that King Darius, pictured by silver, did not have the power to change the law Daniel’s enemies had written with the intention of destroying him. He was not as powerful as King Nebuchadnezzar. Bronze, representing the Grecian Empire, is also interesting in that Greece used bronze for weapons. For the “legs of iron” as a picture of Rome, Rome was eventually divided into two sections, east and west, with two capitols – Constantinople and Rome. When we arrive at Daniel’s visions of the empire that is pictured in the ten toes of iron and clay, we will study this future kingdom in more detail.

 

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him.
47 The king answered and said Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.”
48 Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.
49 Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king’s court.  Daniel 2:46-49


In these last verses of Daniel 2, we see King Nebuchadnezzar’s response to Daniel’s interpretation of his dream. While he acknowledges God in these verses, we will see in the next chapter that he was still a proud man who believed the picture that had been painted of him in his dream.

Verse 48 is an interesting verse. Have you ever wondered how the “Magi” of Matthew 2 knew what to look for when Jesus was born? The answer is here. About 400 years before Jesus’ birth, Daniel became the leader of the wise men of Babylon. We know Daniel was not shy about telling people about God, so this is very likely the place and time when they began to look for these signs in the heavens. Later, Daniel would also have a vision that would give the year that Jesus would be crucified, so they also knew WHEN to look for the signs in the heavens.

One more privilege Daniel claimed from the king was the promotion of his three friends to leadership positions in King Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom.

*Thought questions: In what way is your testimony for Jesus today powerful enough to be remembered many years into the future, long after you have died? Is there anything you can do to make it last that long?

The History of the World Foretold - Daniel 2:31-45

31 “You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening.

32 The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze,
33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
34 As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation.
37 You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory,
38 and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold.
39 Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
40 And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these.
41 And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle.
43 As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay.
44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,
45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”  Daniel 2:31-45

One of the first questions we need to answer about this prophecy is why it was given to an unbelieving king like King Nebuchadnezzar rather than to Daniel. One reason was to show this king of a powerful, ungodly kingdom that the true God was the only one who could foretell the events of earth’s future. This is one of the greatest signs that the Bible is real and true – only Someone who knows the future in complete detail can prophecy those details hundreds and even thousands of years in advance.

A second reason was to bring King Nebuchadnezzar to be a believer in Creator God. While this did not happen immediately, it was certainly a part of all that God did in his life to bring him to faith in Himself. As we, too, come to Jesus by faith, we soon begin to recognize the plans He had for us which directed us along His path to bring us to Himself.

A third reason is that it brought Daniel to a high position which would affect history hundreds of years later. We will talk about this in a later lesson. We will see Daniel’s promotion in the next lesson.

A fourth reason, as we will also see later in this book, was for us, today, to see the truth of God’s plan for human history and lead us into deeper faith in Himself. Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 24 that He gave them (and us) information of things that would come in the future so that when we see them happening, we will believe Him more completely and our trust in Him would grow.

The dream foretold of six government systems that would rule the earth as attempts to revive Babel, (Genesis 11) which God dispersed. Only the last of these listed will truly accomplish that goal. As we read in the verses in the last lesson, those one-world governments are:
*Babylon under the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar
*Medo-Persian Empire which defeated and succeeded Babylon
*Greece under the rule of Alexander the Great
*Rome under the Caesars
*A revived-Roman Empire ruling the whole world in the last days
*A “stone” that would crush all the other governments and fill the earth

The first four of these one-world governments are described in our history books which confirm the details from this chapter. More details of these four kingdoms are also prophesied in the book of Ezekiel. The fifth will receive far greater detail and explanation in later chapters of Daniel as God tells him more. And the “stone” is Jesus Christ, foretelling His description as the “chief cornerstone” in Ephesians 2:20 and other passages. We will study this kingdom more later as well.

People around us may insist that everything is by chance, but God makes that argument void as He tells us what will happen in the kind of detail that only comes from someone who has “seen” those events. God, eternal and not limited to time as we are, knows the “end from the beginning” as He states in Isaiah 46:10.

*Memorize: Isaiah 46:9-10 – Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand.”

Responding to Answered Prayers - Daniel 2:19-30

 

Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

20 Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might.
21 He changes times and seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;
22 He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.
23 To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of You, for You have made known to us the king’s matter.”
24 Therefore Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.”
25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him: “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.”
26 The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?”
27 Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked,
28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these:
29 To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and He who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be.
30 But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind.  Daniel 2:19-30

Daniel gives us four great examples of what we should do when we have prayed, and God has answered our prayers.
-First, Daniel’s first response was back to God, to thank and praise Him for answering his request.
-Second, Daniel did whatever he could to protect others in the situation about which he had prayed. In this situation, the lives of many other people were in danger. The king had demanded that those who had failed to give him his answer were all to be killed. Daniel hurried to the man in charge of this task and asked him to spare the lives of all these people.
-Third, Daniel followed the rules of the kingdom in how things were to be done. Rather than rushing into the king’s presence to announce that he had the answer, he went to the chief of the king’s guard and let him fulfill his duties.
-Fourth, when the king asked if Daniel could now interpret the dream, Daniel told him truthfully that the honor was not his but belonged to God.

*Memorize: 1 Timothy 1:17 - To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Impossible Prayers - Daniel 2:10-18

 

10 The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean.
11 The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
12 Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed.
13 So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.
14 Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.
15 He declared to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel.
16 And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.
17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,
18 and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.  Daniel 2:10-18

Daniel and his friends were given very good jobs in the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, but they were not yet of high enough position that they were even told about the king’s problem. More important people had been called to solve the king’s dream, while Daniel and his friends were elsewhere doing their assignments. But when the king was angry with his advisors, the punishment of death now included Daniel and his friends.

God had given Daniel a wonderful gift in a man called Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard. As soon as the king charged him with the task of killing all his advisors, Arioch immediately told Daniel what he had been told to do. Rather than becoming angry at Arioch, Daniel simply asked him what had happened, and Arioch told him. Daniel then asked for an immediate meeting with the king so the opportunity of satisfying the king’s request would be given to him. The king granted Daniel’s request.

Daniel did not beg the king to be spared the judgment of death; he only asked to be given an opportunity to answer the king’s request. He then immediately rushed home to gather his friends together to ask them to pray with and for him – that God would give him the answer for the king.

*Thought questions: How often do we seek human advice or wisdom for the impossible situations in our lives?
Do we ever see God as waiting for us to understand that He is wanting to give us an answer that will deepen our trust in Him?
When was the last time you asked someone to pray with you so you would be able to wisely help another person?

Impossible Dreams - Daniel 2:1-9

 

1 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him.
2 Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.
3 And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.”
4 Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.”
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins.
6 But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.”
7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.”
8 The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm—
9 if you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.”  Daniel 2:1-9

Have you ever noticed that Jesus sets things up so that only He can solve your problem? Remember, from Job 1, that the evil one can do NOTHING to you without asking God for permission. In our lesson today, we see one of those times when God allowed something bad to happen – so bad that only He could fix it.

King Nebuchadnezzar was so troubled by the dream he had that he wanted to make certain he would get the best possible answer for it. With that in mind, he demanded that his best people in the kingdom should first tell him what he had dreamed before they interpreted it. These wise men whom he had called knew if they did not give him good news about the dream, he would have them killed. Their habit was to always give him “good news” just to save their own lives.

But in verse 9 above we read that the king wanted to know the truth about his dream. He did not want flattery or false “good news” from his advisors so he made his request of Daniel and his friends, something no human magician or enchanter or sorcerer could know. The king did not know yet that God planned this so only He, through Daniel, would be able to solve the king’s problem.

*Memorize James 1:5 - If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

God's Reply to Faithfulness - Daniel 1:17-21

17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.18 At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. 20 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. 21 And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.   Daniel 1:17-21

Earlier in this chapter, in verse 5, we read that the period of time Daniel and his three friends spent in being re-educated by King Nebuchadnezzar was three years. In our verses above we see that God gave all four of them the ability to learn quickly and well. They were probably sixteen to eighteen years old when they were kidnapped, so now at the end of their training they would have been nineteen to twenty-one years old. They were about to face their “final exam” for their education. Failure meant death. Excellence meant opportunities to serve God in ways they had never dreamed possible.

We need to understand what this final exam looked like. King Nebuchadnezzar specifically ordered that they were to learn the ways of the Chaldeans – their history, religion, writings, culture, sciences, and so on. These four young men were supposed to be rid of all they had learned about God as well as all Hebrew culture in which they had been born. Did this mean that the young men had to lie to the king? No. It only meant that they had learned what the king wanted them to learn but had stayed true to their faith as well. We, too, can give the answers required for passing a course without adopting that information as truth if it is contrary to what the Bible tells us. By learning the culture the king had demanded, these four young men gained the wisdom to be able to tell God’s truth to people in this world through things the people would understand.

We can do the same today as we attend classes necessary for the career God is leading us into. We believe the Bible, learn what the classes teach, and then determine not to let the world’s knowledge change our minds about God’s wisdom. As we determine in our hearts ahead of time that we will not forsake what Jesus says in the Bible, He will guide us into truth just as God did with Daniel and his friends.

*What have you learned in classes that is different from what the Bible teaches? How can you use what you have learned to teach someone else the truth?

Choosing Battles Wisely - Daniel 1:11-16

11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
12 “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.
13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.”
14 So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days.
15 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food.
16 So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.  Daniel 1:11-16

We cannot fight every battle in our life, so we must choose which are the important battles. This is what our verses from Daniel show us today. Return to verse 4 of this chapter: the king intended to “teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.” Then, in verse 7, their names were changed from names that spoke of God and who He is in their lives to names about serving Babylon’s gods.

Daniel and his friends did not fight against what they would be asked to learn. We can learn all the things the world wants to teach us and still hold to Truth in Jesus. Many schools will now intentionally teach heresies to take a student away from the Christian beliefs they may have learned from their parents. Even if you did not come from a Christian family but now believe in Jesus, faith is something someone will try to help you “un-learn”. Daniel knew that what he believed did not rely on how much education he was given. He knew that trusting and believing God was a choice he made for himself.

Daniel and his friends did not fight against their name changes. They knew that it truly does not matter what someone calls you. Only your relationship with Jesus determines who you are.

They DID choose to fight the battle over food. Why was food important? Food, for the people of Israel, was part of their worship of God. They determined they would not defile themselves with the king’s food, which likely had been offered in worship to Babylon’s false god Marduk before being served to the young men. Jewish law forbade them to eat foods offered to idols.

This is another important thing we see in Daniel. Remember verse 8 from our last lesson? Right after their names were changed, we read, “Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine…” Before the situation arose, Daniel made the decision in his heart that he would not take this step if or when it would be asked of him. The verses in this account suggest that some time passed between the name changes and the decision on the food.

*When you realize that some important decisions will be coming to you, do you decide ahead of time what you will do? Think of a bad decision you made in the past – what would have happened if you had decided ahead of time which decision you would make, and then stayed with that decision?

Daniel Under Pressure (Daniel 1:5-10)

 

5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king.
6 Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah.
7 And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
8 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.
9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs,
10 and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.”  Daniel 1:5-10


Daniel and his three friends were placed into an environment which intended to change everything they had been taught and believed. Had they been taken to a place where they would have been tortured or beaten or mistreated as slaves, it might have been easy to hate their captors and remain true to the things they learned as children in their homes. However, this was not King Nebuchadnezzar’s plan. He wanted to indoctrinate them into the ways of his gods and separate them from everything they had ever known or believed. His plan for success was to give these boys everything their hearts could imagine of “the good life” that only royalty could dream of having. They would receive the best clothes, the highest education, and were promised jobs for life with the king. They would be given the same food the king himself ate. Whatever they needed or wanted would be theirs for the asking.

What would it take to tempt you to give up your trust in Jesus? Ask this question in another way – what is the most important goal of your life? The world today is teaching us that we can have anything we want. But that is not true. Look around you at reality – how many people around you are satisfied with what they have? In Daniel’s case, the supply of all they could imagine would last only for as long as the king was pleased with what they said or did. Failure meant only one thing: death. “The good things of life” have only a temporary pleasure attached to them. They cannot provide long-term satisfaction because God “put eternity” into our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Nothing but the eternal – God – can satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts.

*What is the most important goal in your life?

Joseph - A Picture of Jesus

 

Joseph is one of the most remarkable portraits of Jesus, the Messiah, in all the Bible. In many ways, his life illustrated the future life and work of Jesus. Here are a few ways in which Joseph and Jesus are alike.

“There is scarcely any personal type in the Old Testament which is more clearly and fully a portrait of our Lord Jesus Christ than is the type of Joseph.” (Charles Spurgeon)

1. Was a shepherd.

2. Loved by his father.

3. Sent unto his brethren.

4. Hated by his brothers.

5. Prophesied his coming glory.

6. Rejected by his brothers.

7. Endured unjust punishment from his brothers.

8. Sentenced to the pit.

9. Condemned to the pit, though a leader knew he should go free.

10. Sold for pieces of silver.

11. Handed over to the Gentiles.

12. Regarded as dead but raised out of the pit.

13. Went to Egypt.

14. Made a servant.

15. Tempted severely but did not sin.

16. Falsely accused.

17. Made no defense.

18. Cast into prison and numbered with sinners and criminals.

19. Endured unjust punishment from Gentiles.

20. Associated with two other criminals; one was pardoned, and one was not.

21. Showed compassion.

22. Brought a message of deliverance in prison.

23. Wanted to be remembered.

24. Shown to have divine wisdom.

25. Recognized as having the Spirit of God.

26. Betrayed by friends.

27. Glorified after his humility.

28. Honored among Gentiles while still despised or forgotten by his brethren.

29. Given a Gentile bride.

30. Was 30 years old when he began his life’s work.

31. Blessed the world with bread.

32. Became the only source of bread for the world.

33. The world was instructed to go to him and do whatever he said to do.

34. Was given the name “God Speaks and He Lives.”

35. His brethren were driven out of their own land.

36. In his second appearing, he did not first go to his brothers; they came to him.

37. He knew his brethren even while unknown and unrecognized by them.

38. He blessed his brethren without their knowledge.

39. He wanted all of his brethren to come to him.

40. There was a significant time gap between his initial relationship with his brothers and his second relationship to his brothers.

41. He gave his brothers a way of deliverance through substitution.

42. His “second coming” to his brothers had two appearances. He made himself known to his brethren at his second appearing to them.

43. He was revealed as a man of compassion.

44. His brothers repented of rejecting him, with great amazement and tears.

45. He allowed no fellowship (as in eating together) until his brothers repented and he revealed himself.

46. His brethren went forth to proclaim his glory.

47. He made provision for his brethren.

48. He prepared a place for his brethren, and he received them into it.

49. He brought Jew and Gentile together in the land.

From Pastor David Guzik, Enduring Word ministries