Daniel

Daniel is a prophet from the old testament in the Bible. Daniel has no exact date of birth but the Associate Pastor at Crossroads Bible Church, Kris Udd believes that Daniel was born "around 620 BC".

##### Daniel's name and the start of his journey

"After Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, besieged Jerusalem, he chose noble men from Israel’s royal household who were handsome and showed an aptitude for learning, to be trained in the ways of the Babylonians. After their three years’ training, they would be put into the king’s service". Daniel was one of the men chosen along with three countrymen from Judea. When they were chosen they were given new names. "The Babylonians most likely gave them new names that were completely disassociated with their Hebrew roots to hasten Daniel and his friends’ assimilation into the Babylonian culture". Daniel's name meant "God is my judge" in Hebrew. Though Daniel's new name given to him was “Belteshazzar". The three countrymen from Judea Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah names were changed to “Shadrach", "Meshach", and "Abednego”. While training Daniel and his compatriot were educated and "became knowledgeable in all Babylonian matters". Daniel was also "given by God the ability to understand dreams and visions of all kinds". During the training Daniel and his compatriots proved to be incredibly wise and "at the end of their training, they entered the service of King Nebuchadnezzar". Daniel’s first sign of faithfulness to God was when "he and his three friends rejected the rich food and wine from the king’s table, because they deemed it a defilement, and became vegetarians". They were allowed to keep with their diet because "their health improved".

##### Daniel and his ability to understand dreams and visions of all kinds

King Nebuchadnezzar who Daniel served had a problem, he was troubled with a dream that he could not interpret. The kings dream was of a massive thing that had a "head of fine gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet and toes partly of iron and partly of clay". "Nebuchadnezzar commanded his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers to also describe his dream" but " they said that revealing the dream itself was an impossible task for humans". The king was very upset and "decreed that all the wise men, including Daniel and his companions, must be put to death". Daniel sought God in prayer so God could help Daniel interpret the kings dream. God answered Daniel and revealed what the dream meant to Daniel. "Appearing before King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel told the king that there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and that He had revealed to Daniel not only the dream, but its interpretation". Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar that the image in his dream represented four great kingdoms that would arise in succession to dominate the world. "He tells the king that the head of the statue represents his kingdom of Babylon, and that another kingdom would come up behind it that is inferior to the original, as silver is inferior to gold, and that another will come after that, and so on, with the fourth kingdom being hard as iron, crushing the others before it, and as the feet are made of iron and clay, and divided, so too the kingdom and the people will be divided and not mix well. The rock that breaks up the statue is a kingdom that God is setting up that will crush all that came before. It will never be divided and will rule forever". King Nebuchadnezzar rewarded Daniel for his wisdom and was placed in authority over all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel also requested that his three countrymen were also placed in positions of authority as administrators of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar agreed to Daniel's request.

##### Daniel and the lions

After king Nebuchadnezzar died his son Belshazzar became the new king. "Under the new ruler, Daniel excelled in his duties as one of the administrators to such a degree that King Darius was contemplating making him head over all the kingdom". Daniel being favored infuriated the other administrators so much that they looked for a way to bring Daniel down. They decided to focus on the matter of Daniel’s religion.The "administrators coaxed Darius into issuing a decree forbidding prayers to any god other than the king for the next thirty days". The penalty for disobeying this rule was to be thrown into a den of lions. As Daniel was faithful to his God he continued to pray. Daniel prayed openly to his God. He was seen praying and arrested. The king had to arrest even though he didn't really want to because he was so fond of Daniel. In Daniel 6:16 it states "Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”". "The next day, when Daniel was found alive and well, he told the king that God had sent an angel to shut the lions’ mouths and so he had remained unharmed. This miracle resulted in King Darius sending out a decree that all his subjects were to worship the God of Daniel. Daniel continued to prosper throughout King Darius’ reign".

1. ↑ Udd, Kris. “Life and Times of Daniel.” *Crossroads Bible Church*, 2 May 2019, crossroadsbible.net/2019/05/02/life-and-times-of-daniel/.
2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 GotQuestions.org. “Home.” *GotQuestions.Org*, 7 Jan. 2010, www.gotquestions.org/life-Daniel.html.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Murray, Larry. “Daniel 2: Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream.” *Life, Hope & Truth*, lifehopeandtruth.com/prophecy/understanding-the-book-of-daniel/daniel-2/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2023.
4. ↑ Howard, Wayne. “Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream.” *Jesussaves*, 18 Dec. 2017, www.hiwaytosabbath.com/post/2017/12/17/nebuchadnezzars-dream.
5. ↑ “Daniel 6:16.” *BibleRef.Com*, www.bibleref.com/Daniel/6/Daniel-6-16.html. Accessed 24 Oct. 2023.