Ron Rhodes - 40 Days Through Daniel: Revealing Gods Plan for the Future

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

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40 DAYS THROUGH DANIEL

Copyright 2016 Ron Rhodes

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rhodes, Ron.

40 days through Daniel / Ron Rhodes.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-7369-6445-6 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-6446-3 (eBook)

1. Bible. DanielDevotional use. I. Title. II. Title: Forty days through Daniel.

BS1555.54.R46 2016

224.506dc23

2015017105

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To my beloved wife, Kerri

After I became a Christian, I read one prophecy book after another. I could not get enough.

At the time, I seemed to gravitate toward prophecy books written by professors at Dallas Theological SeminaryJohn F. Walvoord, J. Dwight Pentecost, Charles Ryrie, and others. I found their books to be intelligently and persuasively written. Their words about the prophetic future, based on the Bible, resonated with me.

Little did I know then that in the not-too-distant future, I would actually enroll at Dallas Theological Seminary and take courses under these men, obtaining master of theology and doctor of theology degrees. As I now write about the prophetic book of Daniel, I want to acknowledge my personal indebtedness to these godly teachers of the Word. Their work continues to bear fruit in my life.

I also want to offer continued praise and thanksgiving to God for the wonderful family He has blessed me withmy wife, Kerri, and my two grown children, David and Kylie. With every year that passes, I grow in affection and appreciation for these three.

Thank You, Lord! I am grateful.

Contents

Thank you for joining me in this exciting journey through the book of Daniel. You are in for a spiritually uplifting time! My hope and prayer is that as you read 40 Days Through Daniel , you will experience several significant blessings:

an awareness that God is a personal being who personally interacts with His people

a conviction that God blesses righteous living

an understanding of the need for Gods people to maintain faith in Him regardless of the outward circumstances

an understanding of Gods sovereignty and control over the events of human history, including not only kings and nations but also the specifics of each of our individual lives

an awareness that God will one day providentially cause good to triumph over evil

an awareness that God is now providentially guiding human history toward its prophetic culmination

an exalted view of the true majesty and glory of Jesus Christ, the divine Messiah

an increased conviction of the trustworthiness of the Bible in general and the prophecies in the Bible in particular

As we begin our journey together, I want to address a few things that will lay a foundation for better understanding the book of Daniel. In this introduction, I will briefly look at the big picture. Then, in the chapters that follow, I will zero in on the details.

The Prophet Daniel

Daniel was born into a royal family (Daniel 1:3,6) and was apparently physically attractive (1:4). He became one of the major prophets of the Old Testament. His name means God is my judge. He was uncompromising in his faithfulness to God. His contemporaries acknowledged both his righteousness and his wisdom (see Ezekiel 14:14,20; 28:3).

Daniel was taken captive as a youth to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC. He was likely 15 or 16 years old when this happened. As providence had it, he spent the rest of his life thereperhaps 85 years or more. He was assigned to be a governmental official in charge of assisting with the imported Jews.

There were actually three deportations involved in Babylons victory over Judah. The first took place in 605 BC and included Daniel and his friends. The second took place in 597 BC and included Ezekiel. The third took place in 586, when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the temple.

Daniel wrote the biblical book that bears his name (see Daniel 8:15,27; 9:2; 10:2,7; 12:4-5). His book was titled Daniel not only because he was one of the chief characters in the book but also because it was customary in Bible times to affix the authors name to the book he wrote. In the New Testament, Jesus Himself identified Daniel as a prophet of God (Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14).

Captivity and Exile

In the book of Deuteronomy, God through Moses promised great blessings if the nation lived in obedience to the Sinai covenant. God also warned that if the nation disobeyed His commands, it would experience the punishments listed in the covenantincluding exile from the land (Deuteronomy 28:15-68).

Old Testament history is replete with illustrations of Israels unfaithfulness to the covenant. The two most significant periods of exile for the Jewish people began with the fall of Israel to the Assyrians in 722 BC and the collapse of Judah to the Babylonians in 605 BC. Just as God promised, disobedience brought exile to Gods people.

As a backdrop, it is interesting to observe that the first chapter of Isaiah takes the form of a lawsuit against Judah. Judah was indicted by the Lord (through Isaiah) because of Judahs breach of contract in breaking the Sinai covenant, which had been given to the nation at the time of the Exodus from Egypt. In this courtroom scene, the Lord called on heaven and earth to act as witnesses as He leveled accusations against the nation (Isaiah 1:2). The whole universe was to bear witness that Gods judgments are just.

The Lord indicted Judah for rebelling against Him. It is noteworthy that the Hebrew word translated rebelled in Isaiah 1:2 often referred to a subordinate states violation of a treaty with a sovereign nation. In Isaiah 1, the word points to Judahs blatant violation of Gods covenant. Therefore, Judah went into captivity.