Today’s passage: Daniel 7:15-28

Helpful thoughts:

• “The saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.”  That’s us!
• The eleventh horn that becomes great is the Anti-Christ.
  • He makes war with the saints (See note above…)
  • The judgment of the Ancient of Days (God the Father) will put an end to the work of the Anti-Christ.
• A time, times and half a time = a year, two years and a half year =  3.5 years.
  • The second half of the Anti-Christ’s time in power (The seven year Tribulation) will be a time of great persecution for the saints.

Questions to consider:

1. Why was Daniel right to be so alarmed by everything he had just seen?  What time did God reveal to him?
2. Who is going to make everything right?  Who is going to judge righteously and usher in the kingdom that lasts forever?
3. How do God’s promises of victory and the kingdom give you confidence and rest even in the midst of trial…or even persecution?

Today’s passage: Daniel 7:1-14

Helpful thoughts:

• Daniel’s dream occurred before the events of Daniel 5 and 6.  The first 6 chapters of Daniel are more historical and biographical (though they do contain some prophecy from Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams).  The final 6 chapters are more prophetic in nature.  The book is outlined first by style of content, then in chronological order.
• The four beasts:
  • A lion with eagles wings.  The wings were plucked off. It was lifted off of the ground and stood on two feet, receiving the mind of a man.
    • Perhaps this made you think of King Nebuchadnezzar after his time of beastly insanity…
    • Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar were depicted even in those days by a lion with eagle’s wings.
  • A bear with three ribs in his mouth.
    • Some believe the bear being raised up on one side is symbolic of the Persian superiority over the Medes in their jointly held empire.
  • A leopard with four wings and four heads.
    • Greece, led by Alexander the Great, swept across the Middle East in conquest.  After Alexander’s death in 323 B.C., the empire was divided into four parts.
  • A terrifying beast with iron teeth.  It did not look like anything closely enough for Daniel to say!
    • Rome was exceedingly strong, trampling under their feet every enemy.  There were no other empires like it.
    • Horns are typically symbolic of kings in biblical prophecy.  The number ten could be specific (Ten literal kingdoms/nations), or it could be symbolic (Holistic/total rule).
    • The eleventh horn will speak “great things”, meaning that he will boast of himself.
• The Ancient of Days is God the Father.
• The Son of Man is Jesus Christ.

Questions to consider:

1. How does this dream compare to the dream of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2?  Why does it make sense that the other parts of the statue remained and the previous beasts didn’t cease to exist but simply dropped out of view/prominence?  How does that allow for this fourth beast to still have parts of this prophecy left to be fulfilled?
2. How does a passage like this give you confidence in the accuracy of the Bible?  If everything the Bible has prophesied so far has come to pass, what can we be confident of moving forward?
3. Is God going to be worried about the events of the end times?  How is all of this going to end?  How should these truths change the way we live?

Today’s passage: Daniel 6:16-28

Helpful thoughts:

• The fact that the king knew to declare his hope to Daniel implies they were well aware that Daniel was not killed immediately after being cast into the den.  He survived the initial drop.  (Remember that for later…)
• Darius knew he had done wrong:
  • The request for Daniel’s survival through God’s intervention was a normal request.  They believed that the innocent could be vindicated through divine intervention (“I was found blameless before Him.”).
  • He did not want to eat.
  • He could not sleep.
  • He rushed back to see if Daniel survived and cried out in anguish.
• Daniel attributed the praise to God and made sure Darius knew that he meant him no harm.  Daniel intended to continue to obey God and faithfully serve the king.
•  In case you thought the Lions were not hungry…
• Just like Nebuchadnezzar, Darius makes a royal decree to acknowledge the power and sovereignty of God.  These Gentile pagan kings of the empires where the Jewish people were exiled after the fall of Judah seemed to have more respect for God than many of the kings of Israel and Judah.

Questions to consider:

1. What did the greed of the other officials and satraps result in?  Did it only affect them (The families of criminals such as this were punishable by Persian custom. This was not unusual or unexpected)?  Do we get to choose the consequences of our sin?
2. How could Daniel have responded to Darius differently?  Why was his response so wise?
3. If Daniel had been eaten by the Lions, what would have happened to him?  Where would he have gone?  Was it only good that Daniel prayed to God because he lived, or simply because God is worthy of our obedience, regardless of the consequences?

Today’s passage: Daniel 6:1-15

Helpful thoughts:

• In the eyes of the other officials and satraps, Daniel did nothing wrong…except for being honest, protecting the king’s interest, and succeeding.
  • The officials were set to watch over the satraps so that the king would “suffer no loss”.  Perhaps Daniel was actually doing his job and the others were hoping the king could suffer some loss (Tax money) to their advantage.
• The officials and satraps wouldn’t do anything (Even going to see if Daniel was praying) unless they were in agreement.  Their desire for the praise of man made them fearful.
• Daniel prayed with his windows open toward Jerusalem.  Solomon (In a prophetic prayer) encouraged this when the Temple was dedicated (1 King 8:33-53).  You really should read this passage…please don’t skip over it.

Questions to consider:

1. What would it have been like if the entire empire, for thirty days, was not allowed to pray to any god (even their own) or ask for help from any man, except for the king?  How busy would the king have been for that month?  What could have been the motivation to sign such an idea into law?
2. What might the king have learned happens when we act selfishly?  Was it truly to his benefit?  How had the officials and satraps manipulated him?
3. What was Daniel’s response to man telling him he was not allowed to obey God?  Who is really in charge?  Who should we obey first?

Today’s passage: Daniel 5:13-31

Helpful thoughts:

• Daniel gives Belshazzar a little history lesson on humility and the sovereignty of the Most High God.
• Belshazzar was responsible to be humble before God.  It didn’t matter whether he believed in God or not.  God exists and is on the throne whether people want to acknowledge that or not.  (Acts 17:30, Romans 1:18-20)
• The great empire of Babylon parties to glory in their riches and power, and is then destroyed and taken over by another in one night.
  • Historians have found that the Persians invaded that night precisely because of the festival they knew was taking place.
  • They marched into the city and were warmly received by many people of the city (Belshazzar was regarded as a wicked king even in his own empire).

Questions to consider:

1. What is different in the way Daniel initially responds to Belshazzar compared to how he spoke to Nebuchadnezzar?  What might have made Daniel so quick to disregard the king’s offer for gifts and rewards (Besides the fact that the kingdom was about to be conquered)?  What was his motive to answer the king’s request?  How was Daniel’s disinterest in reward and power different than the king?
2. To which God is Belshazzar responsible?  Was he ever going to have to stand before the judgment of the gods of gold, wood, etc.?
3. What does pride and the desire for praise do to our relationships?  Our ability to lead?

Today’s passage: Daniel 5:1-12

Helpful thoughts:

• Chapter 5 moves into the reign of Belshazzar.
  • Nabonidus reigned as king after Nebuchadnezzar.
  • Belshazzar and Nabonidus then shared a co-regency (He could only promise the third highest position in the kingdom).
  • It is believed by historians that Nabonidus spent time away from Babylon worshiping their moon god, leaving Belshazzar in charge.
• Using the vessels from the Temple of God to drink and toast to the gods of the Babylonians was a direct insult to the God of Israel and would have normally been viewed as insulting and inappropriate even by the Babylonians…the king was drunk and wanted to assert the superiority of Babylon when he gave the command.  Quite the contrast from Nebuchadnezzar’s realization from Daniel 4!
• The king was not hallucinating.  Everyone could see the writing on the wall.
• The queen who called for the king to bring in Daniel was quite possibly the queen mother, either Nebuchadnezzar’s or Nabonidus’ queen.

Questions to consider:

1. Why was Belshazzar’s decision to bring in the items from the Temple in Jerusalem so foolish?  What do you think he was trying to communicate with their use for drinking and toasting the Babylonian gods?
2. What do you think Belshazzar would have been thinking when he first saw the hand and the writing?  What might he have thought concerning the gods and the supernatural activity?
3. Even though the queen didn’t know why Daniel was the way he was, how did his testimony of service provide an opportunity for him to be used by God?  Who made Daniel that way and gifted him for that time and these opportunities?  How could God use you today?

Today’s passage: Daniel 4:34-37

Helpful thoughts:

• Now that Nebuchadnezzar has returned to sanity, he also returns as the narrator.
• Nebuchadnezzar first blesses the Most High God by acknowledging that nothing and no one on this earth comes anywhere close to God’s power and sovereignty.
• By God’s power, Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom was not taken away from him during his seven years of absence.  Not only did everything he had return to him (From possessions to people), he also say that he was given even more.
• In an indication of genuine repentance, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges that God was just in His actions of humbling the king.

Questions to consider:

1. What did Nebuchadnezzar learn about God as a result of this discipline?
2. How does his response show genuine signs of his repentance?  What would have been another way (A proud way) he could have evaluated all that had happened to him?
3. How can this passage (And passage like Hebrews 12:6 and Proverbs 3:12) be an encouragement to us when we are going through discipline?  How would we know that we are?

Today’s passage: Daniel 4:28-33

Helpful thoughts:

• Nebuchadnezzar didn’t repent, and his dream came true.
• While the words were still in his mouth, God’s promised consequence came to be.
• Matthew 15:18 – “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart…”

Questions to consider:

1. Babylon was an amazing place.  But, who had made it that way?
2. What kinds of things was Nebuchadnezzar saying that sound wrong?  If he had repented and had a humble heart, what might he have said instead?
3. Why did Nebuchadnezzar say those things anyway?  What was it that he wanted?  Where did he truly need to repent?