LESSON 7 - Daniel’s Faith - Daniel 1 & 3

In modern divisions of the Old Testament, the book of Daniel is included among the prophets, but that is not true of the ancient Hebrews. They put Daniel in a group called The Writings of which Psalms was a part.

Daniel’s writings come during the period of time called the Exile or Babylonian captivity. Daniel was taken captive in the first deportation, in 605, whereas Ezekiel had gone in the second group in 597. Because of a connection with the royal family in Israel, Daniel was included among the captives who were chosen for leadership ability and received training and responsibility in government. Daniel and his friends were able to make the most of their time as exiles, at least in terms of faithful obedience to God. According to 1:21, Daniel stayed in the royal court of first the Babylonians, then the Medes and Persians until the first year of King Cyrus (539 BC). Daniel was still living in 537 (10:1), but he would have probably been at least 80 years of age.

Daniel is an interesting book in that in can easily be seen to divide into two sections. The first section, chapters 1-6, is relatively easy to understand with its powerful stories of faith. The last half, chapters 7-12, are much more difficult, filled with visions, obscure history, and apocalyptic writing (discussed more in lesson 10). Daniel was also written in two languages: Daniel 2:4—7:28 is written in Aramaic, the rest is in Hebrew like most of the Old Testament.

The main purpose of Daniel is to show the ultimate victory of those faithful to God. The first six chapters give stories of faith. They show victory over conflict in the royal courts.

One simple outline of Daniel categorizes the book this way:

• Introduction (chapter 1)
• Destiny of the nations (chapters 2-7)
• Destiny of Israel (chapters 8-12)

After giving the setting, Daniel begins by introducing some of the main characters of the book in a conflict. Daniel and three friends (whom we meet again in chapter 3) are being groomed, along with others, for responsibilities in the government. They received special treatment, including food from the king. Daniel believed that eating the king’s food would defile him, so he asked for permission not to eat it. Instead he requested food that he thought would be better for himself and his three friends. In order to do this, he suggested a test to see who was in better health after 10 days—Daniel and his friends on the special diet or all of the rest who ate the king’s food.

This introduction also serves to show that God is with Daniel and his friends because of their faith. God caused the chief of court officials to look with favor on them (1:9). He also gave these four young men special abilities (1:17), so that the king regarded them highly (1:20).

One of the best-known stories of faith is found in chapter 3, where Daniel’s 3 friends refuse to bow down to a special statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has built for himself. Even when threatened to be thrown into a furnace if they do not bow down, they remain steadfast. Their strong faith is shown in their response to the king, “Even if he does not [rescue us], we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up (3:18).”

God protects them when thrown into the furnace which has been stoked seven times hotter than normal. King Nebuchadnezzar sees four figures walking around in the furnace, which he assumes to be a god of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who is protecting them. Nebuchadnezzar believed in many gods. The king then calls them out of the fire.

This would have been a memorable experience. Out of it, Nebuchadnezzar praises the God of Israel and the faith of these three officials. It raises their esteem in his eyes and he promotes them in his government.

Open

1. The Lord may or may not have told Daniel that he was being placed in important government positions in order to influence the king for God’s purposes or that God was influencing events in Daniel’s favor. It is also difficult to know when God has influenced events in our lives in our favor. Can you look back on your life and see events in which God had evidently played a part in changing its course?

2. How hard is it to ask to be a “special case” (like the special diet) because of your faith? Think of examples when Christians ask for special circumstances in our society today.

Examine

1. There were a great number of people at the dedication of the king’s statue, yet Daniel’s three friends were noticed and reported for not bowing down. Do you think they had enemies? Why?

2. What was the king’s decree as an outcome of the furnace incident? How would this have affected the captives not in the royal court (such as Ezekiel)?

Reflect and Apply

• Both events in this lesson show great faith. One is confrontational, the other is not. Can you think of circumstances in your life which required great faith? Can you think of an instance which required you to be confrontational about your faith?
• Daniel was a young man in the early part of the Jewish captivity under Babylon, perhaps in his teens. How would these early events affect his faith in later years?
• In each event of this lesson, the outcome resulted in God blessing their faithfulness even more. Can we see this in faith-filled living today?