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DANIEL AND KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR
PART 1
CHAPTER 1
When King Nebuchadnezzar and his army attacked Jerusalem, he took the king of Judah and thousands of other people who lived in the city to Babylon. He took all of the silver and gold from the temple and placed it in the house of his own god.
A young man by the name of Daniel was one of the captives. He didn't panic like most of the captives did, but instead he was confident that God had a purpose for his life. He had been well-trained in the Word of God by his parents and others with whom he had grown up. Daniel was also of royal blood.
After much training and numerous testings, Daniel was assigned to various positions of high authority by several great kings whom he served. The first of those kings was Nebuchadnezzar, the Chaldean.
Nebuchadnezzar knew that some of the prisoners had descended from Jewish royalty, so he selected some of them to be trained to serve in the palace in Babylon.
The young men who were chosen were isolated from their own people and taught the language and the ways of the Chaldeans, (by doing that, the king could isolate them from the Word of God and from other Jewish believers) The young men were given a special diet of the same food that the king ate and the wine that he drank. That was to be done for three years, and then they were to be presented before the king.
Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, were among the selected ones and were given into the custody of melzar, the prince of the eunuchs in the king's personal service. Their names were changed to Chaldean names. Daniel was called Belteshazzar; Mishael was named Meshach; Hanania was called Shadrack, and Azariah's name became Abednigo.
The Lord brought Daniel into special favor with Melzar, and when Daniel asked that he and his three friends be given a diet of cereal and water rather than the food specified by the king, Melzar listened to the request and then replied, "I'm afraid to disobey the king! If he sees the four of you looking worse than the others, I'll be in danger of losing my head!"
Daniel replied, "Please let us try it for ten days, and then compare our appearances with those who have eaten the king's food. I know you will be pleasantly surprised."
Melzar agreed to try it for ten days, and at the end of that time, he saw that Daniel and his three companions looked so much better than the others, that he allowed them to continue eating cereal and drinking water for the remainder of the three years.
When the king called for the young men who had trained with Melzar, he questioned them at length and found that Daniel and his three companions were more pleasing to him than all of the others. In fact, in matters that called for wisdom and understanding, he found their answers to be ten times superior to all of the wise men in his realm, so he chose them for special service in Babylon.
CHAPTER 2
PART 1 continued
In the second year of his reign King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that troubled him greatly. He commanded that all of the wise men, the magicians and the sorcerers in the kingdom be brought before him. He made a decree and said, '1 insist that you tell me my dream and interpret it for me!"
The men looked at each other in shock and amazement and answered, "0 king, live forever! Please tell us your dream and we will be happy to interpret it for you."
Impatiently, the king demanded, "If you don't tell me my dream and the meaning of it, you will all be cut in pieces and everything you own will be burned! On the other hand, if your answer is pleasing to me, you will be rewarded handsomely. That is my decree!"
They questioned, "How can anyone tell you what you dreamed?"
The king replied, "I know you are stalling for time! You are preparing lies and corrupt words to say to me until the time elapses when the decree is no longer in effect!"
The men tried to reason with the king and said, "There isn't a man on earth who can answer you ... only the gods can do that, your majesty!"
Nebuchadnezzar became furious and commanded that all of the wise men in Babylon were to be slain, and a search was made for Daniel and his three friends.
Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, found Daniel and was about to arrest him when Daniel questioned, "Why is the king's order so urgent that you have come to arrest me without giving me a chance to speak on my own behalf?"
Arioch explained what had taken place regarding the king's dream, and when Daniel heard the facts, he asked that he be allowed to consider the dream and find an answer for the king.. Arioch agreed to wait until the following morning.
Daniel searched for his three friends, and they prayed earnestly all that night and asked the Lord to reveal the king's dream to them.
The Lord answered their prayers and gave the answer to Daniel in a night vision. Daniel praised the Lord and said, "Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever and ever! Wisdom and strength are His! He alone changes the times and the seasons. He sets up kings and removes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and adds knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals the deep and secret things. I thank thee, 0 God of my fathers, for giving me wisdom and strength and for revealing the matter of the king's dream to me."
When Arioch came in the next morning, Daniel said, "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon, because I have been given the meaning of the king's dream."
Arooch took Daniel into the king's presence and said, "Your majesty, I have brought one of the Jewish captives to you, and he will interpret your dream."
Nebuchadnezzar looked at Daniel and questioned, "Can you truly tell me what my dream was and interpret it as well?"
Daniel replied, "Your majesty, it is not because your wise men or I have any unusual wisdom, but there is a God in heaven who is able to reveal all hidden things, and He has done this for you so that you may know what future events are going to take place during your lifetime and beyond."
By this time, the king and all who stood with him were absolutely speechless, and they listened intently to Daniel as he began to reveal the dream to them.
Daniel said, "0 king, in your dream you saw a gigantic and brilliant statue, and the sight of it made you extremely afraid. The head of the statue was of gold, and the breast and arms were of silver. The thighs and belly were of brass, and the legs were of iron. The feet and toes were a mixture of iron and clay. As you observed the image, a huge stone suddenly appeared and rolled against the feet of the image, breaking it into so many pieces that it became powder and the wind blew it away. After that, the stone that destroyed the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth."
The king listened intently and waited for the interpretation of the dream.
Daniel said, "Here's the interpretation of your dream, your majesty: You are the head of gold. The God of heaven has given you a magnificent kingdom with great power, strength and glory. You rule over many nations, but after you there will be a third kingdom that will bear rule over all the earth. The fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron and extremely cruel to those whom it controls. The feet and toes of the image that are a mixture of iron and clay will be a divided kingdom of ten nations. Those nations will not always be in agreement with one another, and in the days of those ten kings, the God of heaven shall come and destroy them and set up an everlasting kingdom over which He shall rule forever."
Nebuchadnezzar interrupted and said, "Why would the most high God tell us these things?"
Daniel replied, "God has made these events known to you so that you may know in advance His plan that will surely come to pass."
Daniel's answers pleased the king, and he gave him many gifts. He also promoted Daniel as ruler over the entire province of Babylon and made him chief of the governors who were in charge of all of the wise men in Babylon.
Daniel accepted the honors bestowed upon him by the king, and asked that favor be shown also to his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo.
Nebuchadnezzar set those three friends of Daniel over the internal affairs of the province.
CHAPTER 3
PART 1 continued
The more Nebuchadnezzar thought about the head of gold,
the more his pride increased. He ordered construction of a solid gold image
ninety feet high and nine feel wide to be built in the plain of Dura where
it could be seen for miles in all directions.
When the image was completed, Nebuchadnezzar sent for all the rulers in the provinces to come to the dedication of the idol he had made. He ordered musicians to come and to bring as many musical instruments as they could find.
Hundreds of people arrived for the ceremony, and at the proper time a herald shouted loudly, 'To you, 0 people of all nations and languages who are assembled here today, it is commanded that you fall down and worship the king's golden idol when you hear the sound of the music. If you refuse to do so. you will be cast into the fiery furnace where lawbreakers in Babylon are executed!"
When the music was played, everyone who was present fell on their knees before the image except three officials ... Shadrach. Meshach and Abednigo!
Certain Chaldeans who were jealous of those three because they had been promoted above them reported their act of disobedience to the king. They bowed before the king and said, "Your majesty, there are certain Jews whom you placed over the affairs of the province of Babylon who have refused to worship the golden idol that you have set up!"
When the king heard that, he became very angry and sent for the three men and questioned them. Nebuchadnezzar said, "Is it true that you refuse to bow down and worship the golden image that I have set up?"
Without waiting for their excuses, the king said, "I will give you one more chance! When you hear the sound of the music, you will fall down and worship the image, and if you refuse, you shall surely be cast into the middle of the burning, fiery furnace! There is no god who can deliver you out of my hands!"
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo were not afraid, and they replied, "0 king, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the fiery furnace if He chooses to do so, but even if He does not protect us, we will not serve your gods nor will we worship the idol you have set up!"
In his fury, the king changed his attitude toward them, and he ordered his servants to heat the furnace seven times hotter than usual. Then he called for the strongest men i his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo and cast them into the furnace.
The enormous furnace had an opening at the top where they would take certain prisoners and cast them into the fire below. There was a stairway leading up to the opening, and there were windows at the bottom where observation could be made.
Then, because the king's command was urgent and the furnace was extremely hot, the flames killed the soldiers as they deposited their three prisoners into the fire below.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo fell down bound into the middle of the fire. The king was observing all of this activity very carefully, and then suddenly said to hi counselors, "Didn't we cast three men securely bound into the fire?"
They replied, "That's true, your majesty!"
The king said, "If that's true, why is it that I see four men who are not bound walking in the middle of the fire? The fourth one must be an angel sent by their god!" ,
Then Nebuchadnezzar walked closer to the furnace and spoke to the men inside and said, "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo ... you servants of the most high God ..
The three men were lifted up out of the fire, and all the king's officials standing by saw with their own eyes that the fire had not even singed one hair on the heads of the prisoners' Their clothing was not damaged in any way, and even the smell of fire could not be detected on them!
The king spoke to all who were assembled and said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo who has protected these men because they trusted in Him. He also changed the king's word! These three men offered their bodies to be burned rather than to worship any other god than their own!"
After saying that, the king made a decree that anyone in the kingdom who would speak a word against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo should be cut into pieces and their property made a garbage heap!
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo to even higher positions of authority than they had before.
CHAPTER 4
PART 1 continued
Things went well for Nebuchadnezzar and his people after that, but then the king had a second dream that troubled him. As before, he sent for all of the wise men in Babylon and demanded that they interpret his dream.
After he described the dream to them, the wise men found that they were not able to tell the meaning of it to the king.
Finally, Daniel was located and brought before the king, and Nebuchadnezzar said to him, "0 Daniel, I know there is no secret hidden from you, so I will tell you my dream. I beheld a huge tree in the midst of the earth, and as I looked at the tree, it grew so tall that it reached up into the heavens. The leaves were healthy, and the branches were so broad that all of the birds and beasts of the earth found shelter in and under its branches. The fruit on the tree was so plentiful that the whole earth was fed from its production!"
The king watched Daniel's expression for a moment and then continued, "Suddenly, an angel came down from heaven and shouted loudly for all to hear, 'Cut the tree down and destroy it's branches and it*s fruit, but band the stump with iron and brass, and let it be wet with the dew from heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts of the field for seven years. ' "
Daniel was so upset when he heard the king's dream that he didn't speak to anyone for an hour.
Then the king said to him, Daniel, don't let the dream or the interpretation of it upset you so!"
Daniel replied, "0 king, let the dream be for those who hate you and the interpretation of it be for your enemies! The tree you saw that reached up into heaven and protected and fed all creatures on the earth is you, your majesty. The greatness of your kingdom has been extended throughout all the earth. When you saw the angel from heaven and heard him say, 'Cut the tree down and leave the stump banded with iron and brass, and let it be wet with the dew from heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field for seven years, it was a decree from the Lord God of heaven regarding you!"
The king listened to Daniel but said nothing. Then Daniel continued, "All of these things will happen to you, your majesty! You will be driven from men and made to live with the beasts of the field where you will eat grass like the ox, and the dew from heaven will cover your body. All of this will come to pass and will continue for seven years. After that, you will know that the Lord rules over the kingdoms of men and gives power to whomever He pleases! The command that was given to leave the stump and the roots of the tree was so that you may know and understand that your kingdom will be taken from you, but it will be returned to you after you humble yourself before the Lord! I now implore you to accept my counsel, and change your ways, your majesty! If you will show mercy to your people, the Lord may extend the peace you now enjoy!"