Daniel

The man Daniel – The Prophet, the fourth of the major prophets.

He belonged to a family of high rank.

He was taken to Babylon at the age of sixteen.

His whole life from that time was spent in Babylon

He lived a saintly life in an ungodly country

Though he belonged to a captive race, he never swerved from devotion and loyalty to God, and he rose to the highest position in the State.

He not only was a State servant but also a prophet of God and as we shall see his prophecies deal principally with the Gentiles and are among the most remarkable in the Bible. He was a man of prayer—He was a man of God. Jer 25-Bondage; Jer 29 Freedom

The Book of Daniel

The great mysteries of Matt 24, 25: Mark 13; Luke 21; 2 Thess 2, and Revelation can only be unlocked through an understanding of Daniel.

Daniel is rightly classified as an “apocalypse”. In this category it takes its place with Revelation in the N. T. and Ezekiel and Zechariah in the O.T.

The word “apocalypse” means unveiling (Apoclyptical; Apocolyptic)

Writings of this kind were composed during oppressive conditions. The prophet used symbols to express what they saw in the same way as the Lord used parables to explain the mysteries of the Kingdom.

It is interesting to note the conditions and the men who wrote the great books of prophecy.

Ezekiel was written during the Babylonian captivity. Ezekiel was also in exile with Daniel.

Zechariah was written in the difficult years of restoration – everyone was trying to hinder the work.

Daniel—The Book

This fervent, fascinating book was written during Judah’s captivity in the land of Babylon, to which country they were taken as foretold by the prophet Jeremiah, “And them that had escaped from the sword carried he [that is, the king of the Chaldeans] to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: to fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years” (II Chron. 36:20, 21).

Lesson 118: Jeremiah’s Call And Ministry
Jeremiah 1:1—2:19
Golden Texts Proverbs 29:25

I. The Historic Setting; 1:1-3. The decline of the nation of Judah due to its disobedience to the word of God and its sinful practices. Cp. 2 Chronicles 36:14-16. Jeremiah has been well called “The prophet of the bleeding heart and the iron will.”

II. The Divine Call; vs. 4, 5. Note its prenatal character. Cp. Galatians 1:15; Romans 8:29-31; Ephesians
1:4; John 17:2, 6, 9, 10, 11. 12, 24; 1 Peter 1:2; Romans 11:33, 34. Here is the glorious truth of God’s foreknowledge and predestination. Isaiah 40:28; 46:10; Acts 15:18.

III. The Response; V. 6. A sense of his weakness, ignorance and inexperience. Cp. Other calls and other responses. Moses, Exodus 4:10; Isaiah, Isaiah 6:5; Solomon, 1 Kings 3:7.

IV. The Divine Encouragement; vs. 7-19.

1. Divine Promise; v. 7. Think of Who is speaking! God’s promises are His enablings. Ephesians 3:20.

2. Divine protection; v. 8. “I am with Thee.” Cp. Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:19, 20; Isaiah 41:10; Deuteronomy 31:6; 2 Timothy 4:16, 17; Psalm 23:4.

3. Divine enduement. V. 9. Here is verbal inspiration Cp. 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21. Cp. 2 Samuel 23:2. “Thus saith the Lord.” Emphasize this.

4. Divine plan; v. 10. Note the order. First to pull down ere setting up. Man needs to be brought down. Matthew 9:12, 13? Luke 19:10. There must be repentance, humiliation, self judgment and confession of sin before there can be a building up in the holy faith. The great need of many is to unlearn their false theories before they can take in God’s truth.

5. The Divine illustration; vs. 11-16. All through this book symbols and pictures are used to convey the lesson.

In the Book of Ezekiel we have seen the government of God on earth fully developed in connection with Israel; whether in condemning the sin which occasioned the judgment of that people, or in their restoration under the authority of Christ, the Branch that should spring from the house of David, and who, in the book of that prophet, bears even the name of David, as the true “beloved “of God, the description of the temple, with its whole organisation, being given at the end. In this develo...

The last great prophecy, or revelation, made known to Daniel is detailed for us in chapters 10-12. It is the most detailed of all the prophecies given in the book. It commences with Daniel’s day and culminates in the ushering in of the kingdom. It is important to notice that here, as elsewhere in the prophetic Scriptures, it is distinctively Daniel’s people who are in view (see verse 14). We will find nothing here, nor elsewhere in the Old Testament, about the church of the present di...

Part One: The Wars Of The Ptolemies And The Seleucids

In taking up the first part of Daniel 11 (verses 1-35), I want to emphasize again the words of the apostle Paul that “all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable” (2 Timothy 3:16, italics added). For in seeking to expand this particular portion I will need to deal almost entirely with a period in history covering about 200 years in connection with the wars that desolated the land of Palestine after the death of Alexander the Great. This may seem very dry and unspiritual to some, but the subject demands this kind of treatment to be made clear. I feel sure if this history is carefully noted it will help many see as never before the absolute unerring precision of God’s holy Word.

We have been given a record that was first made in Heaven; God intended us to study it and to understand it, or He would not have included it in the volume of Scripture. In order to understand it we must take some pains, for it is a portion of the Word that we cannot clearly comprehend unless we take the trouble to investigate and see how it has been fulfilled. For those who decry the study of historical and other subjects in connection with the Word of God, I would mention again the pregnant sentence that “All history is His story.” Surely the man of God can gain much by observing how remarkably history confirms prophecy and sets its seal on the divine inspiration of the Bible. The Holy Spirit never condemns our acquiring the knowledge of this world. It is the wisdom of this world that is set aside as untrustworthy and causing strife and speculation. We are warned against human philosophy, against the reasoning of the human mind uninstructed by divine illumination. But we are not warned against the acquisition of true knowledge if we couple it with the fear of God and the love of the Spirit.

This final chapter is intimately connected with the activity of the previous chapter. “At that time”—that is, at the time of the rise of the antichrist and the overthrow of the Assyrian or king of the North—“shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy [Daniel’s] people” (1). There is very likely a close connection here with what we have recorded in Revelation 12. There John sees war in Heaven. The dragon and his angels fight to maintain their...

A multitude of questions and objections were handed to the author and answered or replied to when lecturing on this book. A selection of those that might pose difficulties to others has been made here, together with abbreviated notes of the answers given. Only those bearing directly on the themes treated in Daniel have been preserved. 1. Is it the antichrist or the Roman little horn who will make the seven-years covenant with the Jews? In a sense, both; for while the little horn is “...

Revised Edition Introductory Notes by Arno C. Gaebelein Daniel © 1996 by Loizeaux Brothers, Inc. Neptune, New Jersey First Edition, 1911 Second Edition, 1920 Revised Edition, 1996 Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the King James version of the Bible. Introductory Notes are taken from Gaebelein’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible, ©1970, 1985 by Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., and also reference the main commentary. Introductory Notes ...

Henry Allan Ironside, one of the twentieth century’s greatest preachers, was born in Toronto, Canada, on October 14, 1876. He lived his life by faith; his needs at crucial moments were met in the most remarkable ways. Though his classes stopped with grammar school, his fondness for reading and an incredibly retentive memory put learning to use. His scholarship was well recognized in academic circles with Wheaton College awarding an honorary Litt. D. in 1930 and Bob Jones University an h...