Daniel’s Faith and Friendship

Daniel 2:1-23

Welcome

Summer series – discipleship relationshipsLast week – discipleship makes us useful to GodToday – Daniel and his friends

Kings and Kingdoms

Israel – became a nation under Moses (Exodus), God warned them, eventually a divided kingdom

Northern kingdom of Israel – overtaken by the Assyrians in 722 B.C.

Southern kingdom of Judah – spared, but living under threat of domination, would not repent

Josiah – a good king of Judah, attempted to reform, could not turn away coming destruction, and died in 609 B.C.

Egyptians – controlling Judahite politics, replaced Jehoahaz with Jehoiakim (another son of Josiah)

Babylonians – able to push Egyptian control out of Palestine and exert their influence as recorded in Daniel 1 and 2 Kings 24

Welcome to Babylon!

Exile – neo-Babylonian period, 6th Century B.C., 12 tribes of Israel taken captive to Babylon, 900km from Jerusalem!

Babylon – between Tigris and Euphrates, ruled by king Nebuchadnezzar, famed hanging gardens

Israelites – spoke Hebrew, worshipped YAHWEH

Babylonians – spoke Aramaic, worshipped other gods (Marduk, Nebo)

Nobles – young men from royal family and nobility of Israel, summoned to the king’s court, trained for 3 years before entering the king’s service

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah – faced near death experiences because of their strong beliefs, God rescued them

Daniel and Friends

Book of Daniel – Old Testament, Major Prophet, court narrative (experience under various kings), apocalyptic prophecy (visions of future kingdoms)

Chapter 1 – young men, handsome, aptitude for every kind of learning, quick to understand, qualified to serve in the king’s palace

God – gave them knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning

Daniels Faith and Friendship

Discipleship relationships:

PRAYERPATIENCE

PRAISE

Prayer as discipleship:Daniel is quick to act with tact and boldness (v.14)He urges his friends to pray to God for mercy (v.18)

Praying for someone is an act of discipleship, but so is asking them to pray for you.

Patience as discipleship:

“I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the LORD more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.” (Psalm 130:5-7)

Patience as discipleship:

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” (Psalm 27:13-14)

Patience as discipleship:

“Wait on the Lord. Wait at his door with prayer; wait at his foot with humility; wait at his table with service; and wait at his window with expectancy.” - Charles H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David

Patience as discipleship:

“During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.” (Daniel 2:20)

Praise as discipleship:

Praise God because he is the source of all wisdom.Praise God because of his providence.Praise God because he is generous.Praise God because he is light.

Praise as discipleship:

“You have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king.” (Daniel 2:23)

* Daniel includes his friends in his prayer of praise.

Jesus, the Rock of Ages

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream – a large statue, head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs and feet of iron and baked clay

Four kingdoms – Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome

The Rock – the kingdom of God, ushered in by God’s one and only son, Jesus

The kingdom of God – will bring about peace and all things good

Conclusion

“At Daniels request the king appointed Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.” (Daniel 2:49)

Conclusion

Faith and Friendship – as we grow in faith, our prayer lives grow, as does our patience and our desire to praise God