Daniel 4

[JLG]

So once again the king of Babylon has a dream and no one can give the interpretation except Daniel ! The king of Babylon is going to lose his power and become like a beast eating grass having lost his mind. And Daniel warns him but he doesn’t care and one year after that it happens. Usual story, same human pattern ! No wisdom at all, the world leaders have only empty speeches ! Finally the king of Babylon recovers and gets back his kingdom.

 

[JLG]

What about Daniel? We have no idea if he had a family and a wife and children. He had big responsibilities. he was definitely a good example. Could he educate properly his children and help them to become God's faithful servants? He was in a foreign country with different traditions which means it would be more difficult.

 

[JLG]

What can we learn from Daniel in the Bible?


Daniel is a story of a person being faithful to God. More importantly, the life of Daniel recorded in the Old Testament gives evidence of God's faithfulness. God knew Daniel – He knew Daniel's needs and what Daniel was struggling with – and it's clear that God cared for Daniel.1 janv. 2020

Growing in Our Love of God and Learning: Lessons from Daniel

 

[JStates]

What about Daniel? We have no idea if he had a family and a wife and children. He had big responsibilities. he was definitely a good example. Could he educate properly his children and help them to become God's faithful servants? He was in a foreign country with different traditions which means it would be more difficult.

Extrabiblical sources suggest that Daniel may have been a eunuch. It would not have been uncommon for a captured slave to have been castrated by his conquerors.

 

[JLG]

interesting!

https://www.gotquestions.org/Daniel-eunuch.html

The Bible does not say whether Daniel was made a eunuch. However, Daniel served as a slave in Babylon during a time in which many slaves were castrated and made eunuchs. Therefore, some have suggested Daniel was castrated as well. There is no biblical evidence either way, which leaves this issue uncertain.

There are certain indicators from Scripture to support the view Daniel was made a eunuch. First, he was never married. Second, as mentioned, he was a slave in a time and place where castration of slaves was common. Third, 2 Kings 20:18 indicates that some of Hezekiah’s descendants would one day be taken from Israel to serve in the palace of the king of Babylon as eunuchs: “And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood that will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” Daniel 1:3 indicates Daniel and his friends were under the authority of the “chief eunuch” (ESV), a man named Ashpenaz. This same verse indicates that these young men were specifically taken in order to serve the king in his palace.

Why would a king have his slaves castrated? Castration was often performed to ensure a king’s advisers did not have children or romantic interests that might tempt them towards betrayal. This procedure was intended to make the subject asexual, disinterested in sex, lacking sexual urges, and unable to produce children.

Of course, it is possible Daniel was not castrated and made a eunuch. First, the reference in 2 Kings 20:18 does not mention Daniel and may not have applied to him. Second, there is no verse that specifically states Daniel was castrated. Third, just because Daniel was single did not necessitate him being made a eunuch. In Matthew 19:12 Jesus says, “For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.” God calls some people to remain single for the purpose of serving Him more fully.

While we may wish the Bible was clearer on this issue, it remains uncertain whether or not Daniel was a eunuch. In either case, Daniel’s life stands as a positive example for other followers of God. He remained faithful to the Lord in a pagan culture, served his leaders and nation well, and impacted the lives of many through his faith and through the revelation of many prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled.

 

[JLG]

Who gave the King of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehoiakim

Jehoiakim was appointed king by Necho II, king of Egypt, in 609 BC, after Necho's return from the battle in Harran, three months after he had killed King Josiah at Megiddo. Necho deposed Jehoiakim's younger brother Jehoahaz after a reign of only three months and took him to Egypt, where he died. Jehoiakim ruled originally as a vassal of the Egyptians, paying a heavy tribute. To raise the money he "taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments.

However, after the Egyptians were defeated by the Babylonians at the battle of Carchemish in 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II besieged Jerusalem, and Jehoiakim changed allegiances to avoid the destruction of Jerusalem. He paid tribute from the treasury in Jerusalem, some temple artifacts, and handed over some of the royal family and nobility as hostages. In the Book of Daniel, Daniel is described as being one of these.

Rabbinical literature describes Jehoiakim as a godless tyrant who committed atrocious sins and crimes. He is portrayed as living in incestuous relations with his mother, daughter-in-law, and stepmother, and was in the habit of murdering men, whose wives he then violated and whose property he seized. He also had tattooed his body.

The prophet Jeremiah criticised the king's policies, insisting on repentance and strict adherence to the law. Another prophet, Uriah ben Shemaiah, proclaimed a similar message and Jehoiakim ordered his execution (Jeremiah 26:20–23).

Jehoiakim continued for three years as a vassal to the Babylonians, until the failure of an invasion of Egypt in 601 BC undermined their control of the area. Jehoiakim switched allegiance back to the Egyptians. In late 598 BC, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II invaded Judah and again laid siege to Jerusalem, which lasted three months. Jehoiakim died before the siege ended. The Book of Chronicles records that "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ... bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon." Jeremiah prophesied that he died without proper funeral, describing the people of Judah "shall not lament for him, saying, 'Alas, master!' or 'Alas, his glory!' He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem" (Jeremiah 22:18–19) "and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night" (Jeremiah 36:30). Josephus writes that Nebuchadnezzar slew Jehoiakim along with high-ranking officers and then commanded Jehoiakim's body "to be thrown before the walls, without any burial."

 

[JLG]

Why did Daniel purposes in his heart not to eat any portion of the King’s food or drink the wine?

He wants to keep faithful to his faith and to God. People would say it is nothing but on the contrary it means a lot. You start giving up small things and you finish giving up yourself. Really deep examples of faith and examples to remember again and again to measure our faith in God !

To defile or sully oneself :
1 to make foul or dirty; pollute
2 to tarnish or sully the brightness of; taint; corrupt
3 to damage or sully (someone's good name, reputation, etc.)
4 to make unfit for ceremonial use; desecrate
5 to violate the chastity of

 

[JLG]

What did the King tell the Chaldeans that he would do to them if they could not tell him the dream or tell him the interpretation of the dream?

He will dismembered them and turn their houses into public latrines. At this time there was no mercy, it was just obey or die, good or bad, white or black, just a questio of survival.

 

[JLG]

What power was to be greater than all of these Kingdoms? (Daniel 2:44)

God’s kingdom will put an end to all of these kingdoms and will last forever.

 

[JLG]

How was the faith of the three friends of Daniel tried? (Daniel 3:20-23)

They had a strong faith such as Daniel, we can say they were made of the same strong material, something that God really appreciates. What a privilege it would be to work for God and with such men under God’s governance and this forever in a world it would be possible to constantly improve instead of destroying it, learning all the time ! God made human beings with incredible mental and physical abilities but not for what we see in this society !

 

[JLG]

What was to happen to King Nebuchadnezzar in verse 25 of the book of Daniel? (Daniel 4:25)

He was going to behave like an animal eating grass.

How long was the King to dwell like a beast in the field and eat grass like oxen? (Daniel 4:25)

Seven times

 

[JLG]

What did the King promise Daniel, if he could read the writing and tell him the interpretation of it? (Daniel 5:16)

Expensive clothes and a gold necklace and a high position in the kingdom as he will become the third one in the kingdom

What did Daniel say to the King Belshazzar about the gifts and rewards that he offered to him? (Daniel 5:17)

He could keep his gifts and give his presents to others.

 

[JLG]

When the King made a proclamation concerning Daniel, that he should be the third ruler in his kingdom, what happened to the King? (Daniel 5:30)

He is killed that is everything is out of control. So anything can happen at any time ! Nothing is sure ! And nobody can be trusted ! No control at all and the governments want to give the impression that everything is in their control when it’s the contrary, that’s the real progress, knowing we are nowhere and going nowhere,k the world can be compared to the Titanic.

 

[JLG]

Why could not the King alter this decree that he sighed? (Daniel 6:15)
The law of the Medes and the Persians is that any ban or decree that the king establishes cannot be changed.

 

[JLG]

What did the King do to all of the men and their families that accused Daniel? (Daniel 6:24)
They were thrown into the lions’ pit, along with their sons and their wives.

 

[JLG]

How did Daniel describe the third world empire of Greece? (Daniel 7:6), (Daniel 2:39), (Daniel 8:21-22), (Daniel 11:2-4)
- It is made of copper and it will rule over the whole earth
- The hairy male goat
- It will stand up and rule with extensive dominion and do as he pleases. But when he has stood up, his kingdom will be broken and be divided toward the four winds of the heavens, but not to his descendants and not like the dominion with which he ruled ; for his kingdom will be uprooted and go to others besides these.

 

[JLG]

Where was Daniel when the vision appeared to him in verse two of the book of Daniel? (Daniel 8:2)

He was in Shushan the citadel in the province of Elam next to the watercourse of Ulai.

 

[JLG]

What was the identity of the ram that Daniel saw with two horns? (Daniel 8:20)

The kings of Media and Persia.

 

[JLG]

What was Daniels confession and prayer to the Lord in theses verses in the book of Daniel? (Daniel 9:4-19)

He recognized the Jews’ sins against God (wrong, wickedly, rebelled, deviated, not listened, shame, unfaithfully, sinned, rebelled, not obeyed, overstepped, turned away, not obeying, sinned, sinned, wickedly, sins, errors). They couldn’t have done worse ! How could they called themselves God’s chosen people !

 

[JLG]

What did the Angel say to Daniel in these verses of the book of Daniel? (Daniel 10:11-14)

First of all, he calls him PRECIOUS MAN : can we just stop and forget everything and just concentrate on the combination of the two words ! Usually we hear about a precious stone like diamond or precious metal like gold but here we have PRECIOUS MAN! WOW! This combination tells everything about Daniel and who he is and about is faithfulness! Then if you put together this combination and the prayer he makes to God to beg God for the restoration of Jerusalem in spite of all the sins of the Jews and there are countless and countless is insufficient but there is no other word to describe their misconduct, you may understand why Daniel is one of the top faithful examples in the bible! And it is because of Daniel’s humility that God gives him the opportunity to know about the final part of the days! RESPECT!