In my previous study, I mentioned the possibility that there were friendly communications between the kingdoms of Babylon and the Medes, because there existed a natural relationship between Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and Astyages/Darius (Daniel 5:31), who was at that time the king of the Medes. Assuming this is so, it is likely that Nebuchadnezzar mentioned his dream and Daniel’s interpretation of it to his brother-in-law the king of the Medes. Knowing the circumstance surrounding the revelation of the dream and its interpretation that Nebuchadnezzar was the king of kings in the image, could have held sway over any thoughts of warfare between the two kingdoms until Nebuchadnezzar’s death. So, Daniel’s renown may have extended for decades prior to Darius actually meeting Daniel (Daniel 6), if, indeed, this (Daniel 6:1) was their first meeting! Read the rest of this entry »
Sometimes in the lives of adults, their childhood innocence, is revealed, when they are astonished with an event’s occurrence. Nothing is more childlike than an adult’s utter amazement and surprise at a matter’s seemingly miraculous development. I believe something like this occurred, when the warworn, fierce and no doubt sometimes cruel, Darius came to the mouth of the den of lions and feebly, even mournfully, called out to Daniel: Are you there, Daniel? Was your God, whom you serve continually, able to save you? Then Daniel responded, saying God had sent his angel and closed the mouths of the lions, and they couldn’t hurt him. To which, Daniel contended proved his innocence in so far as hurting the king’s prospects for unity in the kingdom was concerned, as that pertained to the new territories the king had conquered (Daniel 6:20-22). Read the rest of this entry »
One of my earliest memories of reading Bible stories as a little boy is the wonder of Daniel, being cast to the lions and coming out alive. Oh, the terror! Oh, the gladness! Oh, the wonder! When you think of it, the heart of a little boy is sometimes able to express it all in the fewest of words! Yet, the Bible’s account of Daniel’s experience isn’t a story out of Grimms Fairy Tales. It’s for real. Therein is real terror, real gladness in the end, and sparks real wonder in the heart that goes on and on, which in turn sparks more and more questions about God and his power. However, even that doesn’t tell it all, because the story of Daniel in the lion’s den is much more than, being introduced to a powerful God. It is also being filled with the astonishment of knowing and believing that this wonderful God is willing to use his power to help and even save those he loves. That’s for real! That’s no fairy tale! Read the rest of this entry »
We left off our study in the Book of Daniel with Darius the Mede appointing certain rulers over the former Babylonian Empire. Moreover, Daniel was being considered for placement in authority over all Darius’ newly appointed governors (Daniel 6:1-3), satraps according to Persian political arrangement. As chance would have it, political rivalries were ignited in that process, and a dangerous political conspiracy against Daniel is, now, under way in the new government of the former Babylonian kingdom (Daniel 6:4-5). Read the rest of this entry »
The text implies that, immediately after conquering Babylon, Dairus the Median (Daniel 5:31) set 120 princes over the kingdom, with three presidents over them, in an effort to protect the king from loss of revenue (cp. Ezra 4:13). Daniel was the preferred president, and the king was making arrangements to make him, effectively, a prime minister over the entire kingdom, formerly known as Babylon (Daniel 6:1-3). But, why would he do that? Would any of us, if we were a world leader, make anyone who had been a former enemy or someone who aided a former enemy, prime minister over the whole kingdom we had just conquered? Read the rest of this entry »
One of the problems we have today, when we try to identify some of the ancient kings who are mentioned in the Bible is that we often misapply appellatives, especially when we come to the eastern kings. For example, no one today would try to tell anyone that the appellatives, Caesar or Pharaoh, were the names of men. Rather, they are titles that are used to identify certain powerful men, similar to how we say President Truman, or President Nixon etc. We would never say “President” was Truman’s first name. Nevertheless, this is what we do, when we come to some of the books of the Bible, such as: Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. Nearly, always scripture uses the titles of the Medo-Persian rulers, never their names, the name, Cyrus, being the sole exception. Read the rest of this entry »
Kings’ Reigns and Years Applied to 70 Years Prophecy
Jewish King
Years
Application
70 Years Prophecy
Jehoiakim
He was 25 years old when he began to reign; and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem (2Kings 23:36).
He became a servant to Babylon during his 4th year (Jeremiah 46:2; Daniel 1:1).[1] He reigned 3 yrs., & rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (2Kings 24:1; cp. Jeremiah 25:1-12).
The last 8 yrs. of his reign represent the first 8 years of the 70 years.
Jehoiachin
reigned in Jerusalem 3 months (2Kings 24:8)
He rebelled against the Lord, and was removed in the 8th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (2Kings 24:11-12).
Jehoiakim’s 11th year was finished out in the 3 months of Jehoiachin’s reign. Nebuchadnezzar’s 8th year, then is also, the beginning of Zedekiah’s reign. So, 11 years of Zedekiah is 19 (11+8 = 19) for Nebuchadnezzar.
Zedekiah
was 21 years old when he began to reign; he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem (2Kings 24:18)
Jerusalem was under siege from the 9th year of Zedekiah until the 11th year. The Jews were brought to Babylon & the Temple & Jerusalem were destroyed in the 19th year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar (2Kings 25:1-9, 21; Jeremiah 52:5)
Add the years of the reign of Zedekiah to those of Jehoiakim and there are 19 years of the 70 years completed.
Jehoiachin
In the 37th year of his captivity Evil-Merodach released him from prison and gave him a place at the kings table (2Kings 25:27; Jeremiah 52:31)
Jehoiachin was released from prison in the 1st year of Evil- Merodach’s reign. This is the first year after Nebuchadnezzar’s reign.
8 years reign of Jehoiakim/3 months of Jehoiachin’s plus the 37 years of his captivity, and there is 45 years of the 70 years completed.
Jehoiachin
Ezekiel’s vision of God (Ezekiel 1:1-2).
The vision occurred in the 5th yr. of Jehoiachin’s captivity. This is also the 5th year of Zedekiah’s reign and 6 years prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.
The 30th year of the Jew’s service to Babylon cannot be the 5th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, because the 5th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity would also be the 5th year of Zedekiah’s reign or 6 years prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. The 30th year of service would put the vision past the time of the destruction of Jerusalem (8 years of Jehoiakim’s reign plus the 11 years of Zedekiah makes 19 years). So, what does Ezekiel mean by saying: “Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year…” (Ezekiel 1:1)? I believe he is referring to his age. The vision came in his 30th year, which according to the scriptures is the year, when the Levites were permitted to enter the service of the Tabernacle (Numbers 4:3). It was the year that Jesus began his public ministry (Luke 3:23). Later, Ezekiel mentions the 25th year of the Jehoiachin’s captivity, which would have been the 33rd year of Judah’s servitude to Babylon. He says that this was the 14th year after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (Ezekiel 40:1). If we add 14 years to the 19 years of the reigns of Judah’s last three kings we come to 33 years, so the prophet is in agreement with the timeline.
Babylonian King
Years
Application
70 Years Prophecy
Evil-Merodach
The Babylonian form of the name is Amēl Marduk (“man of Marduk”).
After two years as king, he was assassinated, probably by his brother-in-law Nergal-šar-uṣur (Nergal Sarezer), who succeeded him on the throne (Jer. 39:3, 13).
Adding 2 years to the 45 above and we get 47 years of servitude and captivity.
Evil-Merodach succeeded his father, Nebuchadnezzar, making Nebuchadnezzar’s reign cir. 40 plus years as ruler of Babylon. If we also add 8 years of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar (2Kings 24:11-12; Jeremiah 25:1) to the 37 years of Jehoiachin’s captivity (2Kings 25:27; Jeremiah 52:31) we get 45 years for the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.
Usurped the throne after the murder/death of Evil-Merodach.
Adding his 4 years to the 47 above the total comes to 51 years of Judah’s servitude to Babylon
After the death of Neriglissar, it isn’t clear how the reigns of the next two kings, Nabonidus, and Belshazzar, fit into Jeremiah’s prophecy as far as the years of their reigns are concerned. The reigns of Nabonidus and Belshazzar aren’t clear, due to their co-regency When did it occur and for how long? Moreover, what about the self-imposed exile of Nabonidus? How long was his exile? Did he return? How long was it before he met his death etc. In any case, according to Daniel, Jeremiah’s prophecy was fulfilled with the coming of “Darius” the Median. However, if we adhere to the number of years of Neriglissar’s reign (which includes his exile and his co-regency with his son, because both end in the same year), then we have 16-17 more years to add to the total above, bringing it to 67/68 years, when Babylon was overthrown. So, we have an error of 2 to 3 years in secular history, according to the Bible.
Darius the Median (Daniel 5:31) is actually an appellative, like Caesar. Darius is not the name of the king, who was co-regent with Cyrus (cp. Daniel 6:28). The name by which he is known in history is conjectural, but I believe him to be Astyages. In the first year of his reign over Babylon, which was also the first year of the reign of Cyrus,[2] Daniel knew the Prophecy of Jeremiah was complete (Daniel 9:1-2), and, in fulfillment of that prophecy, Cyrus released the Jews, who wished to return to their homeland to rebuild both Jerusalem and the Temple, to do so (Ezra 1:1-8).
[1] The difference in the time of Jehoiakim’s reign has to do with counting the ascendency year as the first year of his reign (Judah) or not (Babylon).
[2] Although Cyrus, King of Persia defeated Astyages, the last king of the Kingdom of the Medes, it seems clear that Media occupied a very respectable place within the Persian Empire (Daniel 5:26-28, 31; 6:1, 28; 8:20; cp. Esther 1:14).
In my previous study, we came to understand the implication that Belshazzar, through drunken arrogance, challenged the Lord God of the Jews to prevent him from blaspheming him by drinking from the vessels taken from the Temple at Jerusalem. Immediately after the act was committed, the king saw the fingers of a hand, like the fingers of a man, write upon the wall, and this troubled not only the king but all the princes with him. Belshazzar called for the wise men of the kingdom, but none could help the king understand what was written. However, the queen mother reminded Belshazzar that Daniel, who was made the lord of the wise men of Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, would be able to interpret the writing, because in him rested the Spirit of God. Therefore, the king called for Daniel to be brought before him (Daniel 5:10-13). Read the rest of this entry »
Many folks make reference to the Bible by what they say in everyday language, even atheists, without realizing it. For example, the phrase the writing (or handwriting) is on the wall is “used to say that it is clear that something bad will probably happen soon,” according to the dictionary! While the phrase, itself, isn’t a quote from scripture, its meaning does refer to what occurs in Daniel, chapter five. We begin this study of the fifth chapter of Daniel, which is out of order or out of the actual time sequence of the book. That is to say, this chapter records the end of the Babylonian Empire, and Belshazzar is its last king. Yet, chapters seven and eight, which are obviously later in the book, record what Daniel saw earlier, during the king’s first and third years (Daniel 7:1; 8:1).[1] So, Belshazzar reigned at least three years, and chapter five records what occurred in his final year as king of Babylon, whenever that was. Read the rest of this entry »
The Lord told Jeremiah that he had prepared a table for the kings of Judah and the gentile kings living under the influence of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt (cp. Jeremiah 51:7). Through Jeremiah, he told them that they must serve the king of Babylon for 70 years, and this was his judgment upon them for the evil they had been doing (Jeremiah 25:1-5). When the Lord judges a people or nation, it is only fair that he would judge everyone, and this is what occurred, when he chose to judge Judah. Because the Lord chose to judge his people, fairness demanded he also judge the nations round about her, including Egypt (Jeremiah 25:15-27). In this context, he named Nebuchadnezzar as his servant, and the judgment of God was administered by him (Jeremiah 27:6). Babylon’s judgment would come 70 years later, probably due to the fact that she overdid the judgment, which she was called to do for the Lord (Jeremiah 25:11-12; cp. Daniel 4:27). When he would judge Babylon, he also judged the nations in Babylon’s charge and provided a way for them to return to their homelands (Jeremiah 29:10). Read the rest of this entry »
Although the judgment of God was revealed against Nebuchadnezzar, it didn’t have to occur, as the king dreamed it would. The Lord never punished his people without offering them a grace period, in which they could repent. In fact, this is what occurred to the king of Assyria in the days before Assyria made war against Israel and destroyed Samaria, and took the children of Israel captive. In the Book of Jonah, the prophet was sent to preach to Nineveh and warn the city of the Lord’s intended judgment. The king of Nineveh called for a fast and the city repented, so God repented of the evil he had predicted would occur. Jonah prophesied in the days of Jeroboam II prior to the Lord’s judgment upon Samaria (2Kings 14:23-25). As the Book of Jonah reveals, God’s judgment didn’t fall upon Nineveh in the days of Jonah. Instead, the Lord didn’t judge Nineveh, until the days after Israel’s fall to Assyria, when the prophet called Nahum preached. Read the rest of this entry »
It is difficult to assess the timing of Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream, according to the record in the Book of Daniel. Did Nebuchadnezzar dream this dream after he had conquered and destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple during the 19th year of his reign as the King of Babylon (2Kings 25:8-10), or was this second dream closer to the timing of the first dream, which was in the second year of his reign (Daniel 2:1)? If we can agree that the dream occurred after the king had destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple of God, then we have a context for Nebuchadnezzar’s doubt about the supremacy of the Lord God of the Jews (cp. Daniel 4:30). In the context of ancient warfare, the victor always took the idols (gods) of conquered king and paraded them before the victor’s people and put them in the temple of his god(s), wherein the conquered god(s) were considered subservient to the victor’s god(s). After all, why assume the conquered nation, who was protected by its god(s), would have a stronger god than those of the victorious king? Read the rest of this entry »
All things considered in my previous study, it seems that, although King Nebuchadnezzar had admitted that the God of the Jews was the God of gods and Lord of kings (Daniel 2:47), meaning that he is also Nebuchadnezzar’s God, he was having trouble admitting that God actually ruled over him. Even though Nebuchadnezzar, formerly, admitted that Daniel’s God was able to change the king’s words (Daniel 3:28), meaning the God of the Jews did, in fact, rule over kings, Nebuchadnezzar still had trouble fully embracing that thought. Therefore, while Nebuchadnezzar was resting in his home and flourishing in his palace (Daniel 4:4), he dreamed a dream, which troubled him (Daniel 4:5). Therefore, he commanded all the wise men of Babylon to come to him and make known its interpretation (Daniel 4:6). Read the rest of this entry »
In a previous study, I suggested that there is a theme running through the Book of Daniel, chapters two through four. This theme has to do with Nebuchadnezzar’s recognition that the God of the Jews is supreme over all, including the king. I also suggested that the king’s advisors engaged in political intrigue in order to undermine the king’s recognition of the God of the Jews as the Most High God of gods. Moreover, these political conspiracies also included trying to destroy Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego (Daniel 3:8-9, 12) and probably Daniel, as well (cp. Daniel 6:1-5). When their conspiracies were finally put down by the king’s decree (Daniel 3:29), it seemed that Nebuchadnezzar’s heart was turned fully toward the Lord God of the Jews, but this wasn’t entirely so (cp. Daniel 4:30). Therefore, the Lord once again came to Nebuchadnezzar in a dream to correct the king, finally bringing him to understand that the Lord God reigns over all the earth, including the king, and this is the subject of Nebuchadnezzar’s praise at this point in our study. Read the rest of this entry »
In prior studies of the Book of Daniel, we saw that Daniel and Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego were taken captive and were hostages that were taken to Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar had defeated King Jehoiakim of Judah, who had allied himself with Pharaohnechoh, king of Egypt, for Egypt was at war with Babylon. Daniel and his three brethren spent three years under the authority and tutorage of Ashpenaz, the prince of the eunuchs. So, their first three years in Babylon were spent learning the language of the Chaldees and ways of Babylon. Their rise to power in the Babylonian government came unexpectedly through the authority of King Nebuchadnezzar, due to his gratitude for Daniel’s revelation and interpretation of the king’s dream in the second chapter of the book. The other wise men of the kingdom were, no doubt, shocked and disturbed over the king’s sudden command to put Daniel and his brethren in authority over them. Thus, political conspiracies ensued in an effort to regain the king’s ear and their former power in the kingdom. Read the rest of this entry »
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