Dr. Pothana's Teaching

2. Why study Daniel?

3. Chapters 1-6 are a narrative and basically
an autobiography of Daniel.
Chapters 7-12 deal primarily with future
prophecy.

4. Purpose
1. To present a divine philosophy of history.
God is sovereign over all history.
2. It provides a prophetic framework for the
future.
3. It explains other portions of scripture,
especially the Book of Revelation.
4. It served as a book of encouragement to
Israel while they were exiles in Babylon.

5. Daniel 1:6Among these
were some from Judah:
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael
and Azariah.
Main Theme:
- God is sovereign
The Book of Daniel

6. 6
I. Chapter 1-9 – God alone is sovereign; His people are afflicted
by pseudo-sovereigns
A. Ch. 1 – Exile; People of God afflicted
B. Ch. 2 – Four empires brought low by God’s king
(type in history)
C. Ch. 3 – King sets himself up as god; People of God
afflicted
D. Ch. 4 – Nebuchadnezzar brought low
D′. Ch. 5 – Belshazzar brought low
C′. Ch. 6 – King sets himself up as god; People of God
afflicted
B′. Ch. 7 – Four empires brought low by God’s king
(eschatological)
B′. Ch. 8 – Four empires brought low
A′. Ch. 9 – Return from exile; Messiah afflicted
II. Chapter 10-12 – Visions of the future

7. Daniel 1
The Captivity

8. Who was Babylon?
 Babylon was located
where the famous tower
of Babel had once been
(Genesis 11) and founded
by Nimrod (Gen. 10)
 Hammurabi – 1800 B.C.
had made it prominent
 Assyria had conquered it
and it had been part of the
Assyrian empire

9. Who was Babylon?
 Between 626 B.C. and 612 B.C. King
Nabopolasser crushed the Assyrians and
became the founder of “New Babylon”
 His son, Nebuchadnezzar II, brought
Babylon to its golden age (his name: a
prayer to the god Nabu for protection)

10. Daniel 1 - Background
 Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptian
army at Carcemish in June, 605 B.C.
 This gave him control of Judea and Syria
 Then he came to Jerusalem, forced the
Jewish king to sign a treaty with Babylon,
and as a sign of his victory over the Jewish
god – he took some utensils from the temple
and a select few youth (Daniel included)

12. Daniel 1
 Daniel 1:1-3; Even
though
Nebuchadnezzar
probably took great
pride that it was he
who had conquered
the Jews – v. 2 states
clearly that it was God
who “gave” the
victory to him

13. Captivity – why did God do it?
 God promised Israel
when He took them out
of Egypt - Ex. 19:5,6
“If you will obey my
voice and keep my
covenant, you shall be
my own possession
among all
peoples;…and you shall
be to me a kingdom of
priests and a holy
nation.”

14. Captivity – why did God do it?
 2 Chronicles 36:15-17; The Lord, the God
of their fathers, sent word to them through
His messengers again and again, because
He had pity on His people and His dwelling
place. But they mocked God’s messengers,
despised His words and scoffed at His
prophets until the wrath of the Lord was
aroused against His people and there was no
remedy…..

15. Captivity – why did God do it?
 He brought against
them the king of the
Babylonians, who
killed their young
men with the sword
in the sanctuary, and
spared neither
young man nor
young woman, old
man or aged.” 2
Chronicles 36:15-17

16. What sins did the Jews commit?
 Dishonesty
 Injustice to the poor
 Murder
 Breaking the Sabbath and God’s covenant
 Sexual immorality (extramarital, premarital,
homosexual and bestial)
 Worship of Baal and false images of gods
 Persecuted the prophets
 Listened to false prophets who said “soothing”
things
 Jeremiah 9:14; 17:19-27; 22:1-5; 28

17. Did God want to send the Jews
into captivity?
 Hosea 11:8 – “How can I give you up
Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O
Israel…my heart recoils within me, My
compassion grows warm and tender.”
 Ezekiel 33:11 – “Turn back, turn back from
your evil ways; for why will you die, O
house of Israel.”

18. The Captivity
 722 B.C. – The northern kingdom of Israel
is conquered by the Assyrians
 605 B.C. – The southern kingdom of Judah
is overcome by Babylon
 God only gave them up, because their
wound was incurable!

19. Daniel 1
 Daniel marched
the 1500 km.
with the army for
about two
months before
reaching the
beautiful city of
Babylon

20. The return from the captivity
 God did promise that he would punish the
nation that took them into captivity and that
they would return after 70 years. Jer.
25:11,12; 29:1
 God even promised that He would write His
law on their hearts afterwards and they
would follow Him and that He would
restore the temple. Ezek. 36:24-28

21. Daniel 1
 Daniel studied:
1. Mathematics (their specialty)
2. Astronomy (advanced)
3. Architecture
4. Business (checks, interest, letters of credit)
5. Languages (Akkadian – Babylonian language;
Sumerian – traditional religious language;
Aramaic – language of international trade and
commerce)

22. Daniel 1
 Vs. 4 – Daniel was found to be “skillful in
all wisdom, endowed with knowledge,
understanding learning”.
 Even though Judah had been corrupt, Daniel
had been brought up by reading the Holy
Scriptures and had a good education
 How can a young man keep his way pure?
“By guarding it according to thy word.”
Psalm 119:9

23. How do we know that Daniel
knew the Bible?
 He knew that it was not right to eat food
sacrificed to idols that were not the true
God
 He knew the list of unclean meats – Deut.
14
 He knew that drinking alcoholic wine is a
sin – Lev. 10:1-11
 He was faithful and honest – Dan. 6:4
 He prayed often – Dan. 2,9

24. Instruction for youth
 Deuteronomy 6:4-7; God told parents to
teach their children the law of God when
they were sitting in the house, walking on
the road – all the time
 It is possible that the prophet Jeremiah even
instructed him when Daniel was a boy in
Jerusalem

25. Daniel 1
 Daniel 1:5-21
 Even though it was
a great honor to
eat from the table
of the king, Daniel
and his three
friends didn’t
compromise

26. Daniel 1
 Daniel and his
three friends
were ten times
better than the
others (v. 20)
 God rewards
people for their
faithfulness in
keeping His
laws

27. Theme of Daniel
 Even though God’s
people are located in
Babylon, God will
give the kingdom to
His faithful saints!
Dan. 7:27

28. Daniel 2
The History of the World Revealed to
Daniel

29. Daniel 2
 King
Nebuchadnezzar
had a dream that
even he could not
remember
 He demanded that
his wise men tell
him the dream

30. “Wise Men” of Babylon
 Who were these “wise men” serving in the
court of Nebuchadnezzar?
“Enchanters” – trained to keep the gods happy
“Magicians”/ “sorcerers” – kept people happy by
warding off demons/evil spirits
“Astrologers” – studied stars and predicted future
“Chaldeans” – general term for elite ruling class
of Babylon

31. Daniel 2
 The magicians told him, “That is too difficult for
men. No one can reveal it to the king except the
gods, and they DO NOT LIVE AMONG MEN!”
v. 11

32. Daniel 2
 The king declared that all the wise men in the
kingdom should be put to death (including
Daniel and his three friends)
 Daniel approached the servant of the king and
then the king himself and asked for time to
interpret the dream
 Then Daniel and his friends pleaded with God
for mercy and for help – v. 18

33. Daniel 2
 Symbol: human
wisdom without the
Word of God is
meaningless.
 The Word of God is
LIVING and ACTIVE.
Heb. 4:12
 Isaiah 8:20 – To the law
and to the testimony! If
they do not speak
according to this word,
they have no light of
dawn.

34. Daniel 2
 Daniel receives the interpretation from God
and praises God with a beautiful poem:
verses 20-23.

35. Daniel 2
 Daniel goes
before the king
 Daniel tells him
that only God
can reveal
dreams and tell
the future!
2:27,28,30

36. Daniel 2
 Daniel tells him
that he saw an
image in his dream

37. Daniel 2

38. Daniel 2
God is kind enough to even
interpret the dream for
him:
Head of gold – Babylon
and Nebuchadnezzar
Chest and arms of silver -
kingdom after Babylon
Belly and thighs of bronze
– kingdom that will rule
the whole world

39.  Legs of iron – a strong
kingdom that smashes
everything
 Feet and ten toes of iron
and clay – a kingdom that
will be divided with some of
the remaining strength of the
iron – partly strong and
brittle – will never be united
 Rock – Kingdom of God –
will break all the other
kingdoms and reign forever

40. Daniel 2
 The king was very
happy with Daniel
and awarded him
and his three
friends high
positions in his
kingdom

41. Daniel 2
 Was prophecy
fulfilled?
 What happened
after
Nebuchadnezzar
and Babylon?

42. Daniel 2
 Babylon was
conquered by
Cyrus the Great
(Medo-Persian
kingdom) in 539
B.C. and ruled the
“world” until 331
B.C.

43. Daniel 2
 331 B.C.
Alexander the
Great and the
Greeks conquered
the Medes and the
Persians and ruled
until 168 B.C.

44. Daniel 2
 In 168 B.C. Rome
became dominate
and ruled the
“world” until 476
A.D.
 They were very
violent and
“smashed” other
countries

45. Daniel 2
 After Rome, 10 tribes divided up the
western Roman empire and became
present-day Europe:
1. Ostrogoths 6. Visigoths
2. Franks 7. Vandals
3. Suevi 8. Alamanni
4. Anglo-Saxon 9. Heruli
5. Lombards 10. Burgundians

46. Daniel 2
 These tribes would never “join together”
 Has anybody tried to unite Europe?
1. Charlemagne (8th century AD)
2. Charles V (16th century AD)
3. Napoleon (19th century AD)
4. Kaiser Wilhelm II (20th cent. AD)
5. Adolph Hitler (20th century AD)
6. European Union (present)

47. Daniel 2
 Then the rock
comes and sets up
the kingdom of
God
 Has this happened?

48. Daniel 2
 Who is the Rock?
 1 Corinthians 10:4 – the
Rock was Christ
 Isaiah 28:16, Luke
20:17,18 – Jesus is the
“cornerstone”

49. Daniel 2
 God’s kingdom: Jesus preached that the
kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew
4:17, 10:7
 Did Christ’s kingdom come already when
Jesus died on the cross?
 John 6:1-15 – the people then wanted Jesus
to bring an earthly kingdom – and defeat
the Romans

50. Daniel 2
 Somebody once asked Jesus when the
kingdom of God would come, and Jesus
said, “The kingdom of God does not come
visibly… for the kingdom of God is within
you.” Luke 17:20,21
 Jesus said that the kingdom of God is like
yeast that a woman stirs into the bread or
like seeds in a field. Matt. 13:13, Mark
4:26-29

51. Daniel 2
 However, the kingdom that Daniel saw
came after Europe – and Jesus lived before
Europe
 Matthew 25:31,34 – the Son of Man will
come in His glory and sit on His throne
 Matthew 26:29 – Jesus will be with us again
in His Father’s kingdom

52. Daniel 2
 The Rock
breaking the
image represents
the second coming
of Christ

53. Daniel 2 - Review
1. Head – Babylon (605-539 B.C.)
2. Chest – Medo-Persia (539 –331 B.C.)
3. Waist – Greece (331-168 B.C.)
4. Legs – Rome (168 B.C.-476 A.D.)
5. Feet – Europe (476 A.D. – present)
6. Rock – Second coming of Christ

54. Daniel 2
 The next event in
history that the
Bible foretells is
the second coming
of Christ. Are you
preparing for that
day?

55. Second Coming of Christ
 Jesus said that it
will be as it was
in the days of
Noah at the
second coming.
Matt. 24:37

56. Second Coming of Christ
 God gave
warnings through
Noah for over
100 years – but
people refused to
obey the
command to go
in the ark

57. Second Coming of Christ
 Have you heard
Christ knocking
on the door of
your heart? Rev.
3:20
 God does live
among men.
Isaiah 7:14