Exalting Jesus in Daniel

Dr. Daniel L. Akin, David Platt, Dr. Daniel L. Akin, Tony Merida, David Platt, Dr. Daniel L. Akin, Tony Merida

• Publisher: Holman Reference
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9780805496895
• Topic: Théologie et religion
• Subtopic: Commentaire biblique

Exalting Jesus in Daniel is part of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series. This series affirms that the Bible is a Christ-centered book, containing a unified story of redemptive history of which Jesus is the hero. It's presented as sermons, divided into chapters that conclude with a "Reflect & Discuss" section, making this series ideal for small group study, personal devotion, and even sermon preparation. It's not academic but rather presents an easy-reading, practical and friendly commentary. The series is projected to be 48 volumes.

Daniel

Be Strong and of Good Courage (Preparing Our Children for the Nations)

Daniel 1:1-21

Main Idea: Even in times of great trial and opposition, Christians must remain faithful to God and his gospel, imitating Christ’s own steadfastness as he endured persecution and death for our sakes.

I. God May Sovereignly Send You to a Difficult Place to Spread His Name among the Nations (1:1-3).

A. God works in spite of the sins of his people (1:1-2).

B. God works as he scatters his people (1:3).

II. Be Prepared for the Challenges Non-Christian Cultures Will Throw at You to Lead You Away from God (1:3-7).

A. Isolation (1:3)

B. Indoctrination (1:4)

C. Assimilation (1:5)

D. Confusion (1:6-7)

III. Determine Early in Your Life and Heart That You Will Not Compromise Your Convictions and Commitments to God (1:8-13).

A. Resist the temptation to defile yourself (1:8).

B. Win the favor of those in authority when possible (1:9-10).

C. Wisely offer alternative solutions that are win-win (1:11-13).

IV. Trust God to Honor Your Devotion and Faithfulness to Him (1:14-21).

A. God blessed them physically (1:14-16).

B. God blessed them mentally (1:17,20).

C. God blessed them spiritually (1:17).

D. God blessed them socially (1:18-21).

When we find our feet forcibly planted in the soil of an anti-God, anti-Christian culture, it is absolutely imperative that our hearts be drawn to heaven and our minds be immersed in the Word of God. As Paul wrote in Colossians 3:1-2, “So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” As Paul adds in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Thoughts like these were essential for four Hebrew teenagers who had been plucked from their families and their country and taken captive to the evil empire of that day, the empire of Babylon. Their names are Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (1:6).

The theme of the book called Daniel is the sovereignty of God in all things. He is sovereign over the big things like international powers, and he is sovereign over small things like the apparently insignificant lives of teenagers. He is sovereign over history and is sovereign concerning the future. Our God is sovereign.

Though it is something of an oversimplification, the book can be divided into two parts: chapters 1–6 focus on the prophet (the man), and chapters 7–12 reveal the prophecies (the message), with Daniel as the central figure in both sections.

The contents of the book span a time period from about 605 through 539 BC. Using both narrative and apocalyptic vision, Daniel encourages God’s people to trust in God’s providence and remain faithful no matter what happens since their Lord is in complete control. Ronald Pierce highlights three specific themes that naturally flow out of this basic proposition: (1) God is able to rescue and reward faithful servants; (2) God holds accountable people and kings who oppose him; and (3) in the end God will replace all earthly kingdoms with his eternal kingdom (Daniel, 9).

My good friend and New Testament scholar, Bob Stein, once told me that among the persecuted believers around the world the two most favored books in the Bible are Daniel and Revelation. This is because both teach that in the end our God wins. The text before us, Daniel 1, reveals that God once won the day for four faithful Hebrew teens in a foreign and distant land away from family and friends. How did God do it? What was he up to?

God May Sovereignly Send You to a Difficult Place to Spread His Name among the Nations

DANIEL 1:1-3

Dale Davis well says, “Sometimes God may allow hardships to reach us because he wants his mercy to reach beyond us” (Message of Daniel, 36). God’s purpose in such hardships is almost always multifaceted. He allows suffering in the lives of his people to demonstrate his sovereignty, strengthen their faith, show himself wise and strong, and put his glory on display among the nations that they might be drawn to him.

That there is pain for us in all of this is often the case. That there is great gain for the glory of God and the advance of his kingdom is certain. Such a perspective will help us remember who the true hero of Daniel is. It is not the Hebrew teenagers. It is a sovereign, all-powerful God of grace who, as Bryan Chapell notes,

uses his sovereign power to maintain his covenant promises forever. This gospel according to Daniel should give us courage against our foes, hope in our distress, and perseverance in our trials. (Gospel According to Daniel, 9)

God Works in Spite of the Sins of His People (1:1-2)

Throughout history, armies have invaded nations with acts of aggression and war. The results have been tragic: land destroyed, property destroyed and confiscated, and POWs taken captive and sent away to foreign lands never to see family and friends again. This is what happened to Daniel and his friends. They were uprooted and replanted in the harsh and wicked soil of the Babylonian Empire. And surprisingly, it was God’s doing. It was God’s plan.

Verse 1 provides the historical context. Verse 2 provides the theological explanation (note vv. 2, 9, and 17). Judah, the southern kingdom, had been in political and spiritual decline for some time. During the reign of Jehoiakim (609–598 BC), one of Judah’s worst kings who was nothing like his godly father Josiah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (605–562 BC) attacked Jerusalem in 605 BC. This happened because “the Lord handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God” (v. 2). The vessels of God, as trophies of war, were transported to Babylon and placed in the house of a pagan god in Babylon—probably Marduk, the chief god of the Babylonians. This was a way of saying, “Our god is better and stronger than your god.” Daniel, on the other hand, says, “Not so!” The people of God have sinned, and the real God is judging them. In the process he is extending his presence among the nations. God is at work even through the sins of his people.

God Works as He Scatters His People (1:3)

There would be three deportations of the people of Israel to Babylon (605, 597, 586 BC). In Deuteronomy the Lord had warned his people that if they disobeyed him, curses would come on them (Deut 28:15). These curses would include military defeat (Deut 28:25) and deportation (Deut 28:64). In the book of Daniel, we see that God kept his word.

In addition to the temple vessels that were brought to “the land of Babylon,” Nebuchadnezzar orders a man named Ashpenaz to deport members both “from the royal family and from the nobility.” This was intended to strip the nation of its best and brightest, as verse 4 makes clear, and benefit Babylon by adding those gifted individuals to its own ranks. Unknown to the Babylonians, however, is the fact that God is working through this conquest. This is a divine invasion of enemy territory! The city of man is being invaded by the city of God, to draw from Augustine. Babylon (or Shina...