God’s Big Story: Daniel (Part I)

Series Context and Big Story Arc

• Series: Season 2 of Jesus, flying at 40,000 feet through major prophetic books

• Arc so far: Isaiah (incarnation), Jeremiah (rejection), Lamentations (cross/resurrection), Ezekiel (Spirit poured out)

• Daniel zooms back out to God, his people, and the whole earth, mirroring the Great Commission canvas

• Schedule ahead:

  • Next week: Daniel in the lion’s den

  • June 28: special speaker

  • After Daniel: Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, 400 Years of Silence, then Women in Leadership into fall

Daniel 1 and 2 Summary

• Daniel and friends taken to Babylon in 605 BC, roughly age 13-14, marched ~1,000 miles

• Renamed with pagan names, enrolled in a 3-year Babylonian re-education program

• Daniel refused the king’s food, proposed a 10-day vegetable-and-water test

  • Emerged looking better than the others, kept his program

• Nebuchadnezzar’s dream: a great statue (gold head, silver, bronze, iron, clay feet) destroyed by a stone cut without hands

  • Stone = Jesus; mountain filling the whole earth = the Church

  • Kingdoms identified: Babylon, Persia, Greece (Alexander), Rome, and beyond

• Daniel’s response modeled a pattern worth noting:

  • Asked for time rather than reacting quickly

  • Gathered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego for a prayer meeting

  • Received the dream and interpretation in a night vision

  • Thanked God before acting (Daniel 2:19-23)

  • Gave all credit to God before the king

• Nebuchadnezzar’s reaction: fell on his face, declared God “a god of gods and lord of kings”

• Daniel and his three friends promoted

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Furnace

• Nebuchadnezzar built a 90-foot gold statue of himself, commanded all to bow when the band played

• Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused, even after a second chance from the king

  • “Our God is capable of delivering us, but even if he doesn’t, we’re not bowing”

• Furnace heated seven times hotter; the three thrown in bound

• Nebuchadnezzar saw four figures walking in the fire, the fourth looking like “the son of the gods”

• They walked out: no singed hair, no smell of smoke, only the ropes were gone

  • “Sometimes you go through the fire to get your ropes burnt off”

• Promoted again; Nebuchadnezzar decreed anyone insulting their God would be torn limb from limb

Spiritual Principles: Stand Your Ground

• Small obedience unlocks big victory: Daniel’s food decision was small, his authority in Babylon was enormous

• Mantra given for the season: Study like a scholar, listen like a prophet, act like an apostle

• Daniel’s approach as a framework:

  • Build discernment and sound judgment first (2 Tim 1:7: spirit of love, power, sound mind, not fear)

  • Ask for time in a crisis, slow down, pray

  • When God provides, thank him before moving

  • Give credit to God publicly, then accept the promotion

• Submission vs. obedience: submit to governing authority, but not unconditional obedience

  • 2020 referenced as a live example: worship restricted while bars stayed open

  • “I’ll submit to the consequences, but I won’t do what isn’t Kingdom”

• The fourth man in the fire is always present

Next Steps

• Read Daniel chapters 1-7 this week, ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and courage