John Russell

I thought a brief summary of the first 6 chapters we covered last week, connecting them to the summaries for the last 6 chapters this week, will help bring the “big picture” of the book of Daniel into focus.

Daniel chapter 1 begins right after Babylon’s has defeated the Kingdom of Judah (for the historical narrative, see 2 Kings 24) and, after plundering the city and the Temple, Babylon had started deporting the people of Jerusalem into exile. Included in this first wave of exiles were 4 youths of the royal families of Judah: Daniel (renamed by the Babylonians as Belteshazzar) and his three friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who became Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. As I am writing this (on Sunday, January 26, 2025), I am still basking in the glow of Pastor Kamstra’s amazing teaching about hope. One of the book of Daniel’s central themes is how, despite all their struggles, these four men maintain hope while enslaved in the land of their oppressors.

Verse 1 of Chapter 6 connects back to v. 31 of Chapter 5 (the last verse of Chapter 5) to put the events of Chapter 6 into the historical perspective. The Medeo-Persian Empire has conquered Babylon, fulfilling the Daniel’s prophetic interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Chapter 2 (where Daniel explained the golden head of the statute represented the current political reality where Babylon was the preeminent world power, but a kingdom would come and take its place, represented by the neck and shoulders of the statue made of silver, which proved to be the empire of Cyrus the Great).

Chapter 5 opens with a King who is not Nebuchadnezzar.

Historical records show that the Babylonian King identified as “Belshazzar” here is NOT the son of Nebuchadnezzar. While Daniel identifies Nebuchadnezzar as Belshazzar’s father in v. 18, and as “his son” in v. 22, the word for “son” in the Aramaic original language can also mean “grandson” or “descendant” or even “successor.” Belshazzar was actually the son of Nabonidus, one of the successors to Nebuchadnezzar, who at the time of the events of Chapter 5 was away fighting the invading Persians. Belshazzar never actually became king, but in this instance, was acting as a regent in his father’s absence.

The King experiences another prophetic dream and needs Daniel’s interpretive skills once again.

Once again, there is no reference here to the passing of time. How long has it been since the episode on the plain of Dura and the fiery furnace? Verse 4 says that Nebuchadnezzar was “at home in [his] palace, contented and prosperous.” Things seem peaceful, and the King’s immature and impetuous nature seems abated. I would have to think a significant period has passed for this kind of change to have taken hold. (We will see later that putting together Daniel’s interpretation of the dream, the timing of its fulfillment, and the historical records of ancient Babylon make it likely that this episode is occurring around 581-82 BC – 25 to 30 years after Chapter 2).

The focus of the story moves away from Daniel to his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, a.k.a. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The King erected a massive golden idol in what had to have been the equivalent of Millennium Park in Chicago and issued an order that whenever his orchestra started to play, everyone within earshot had to drop to their knees and worship the image. If anyone refused to bow in this manner, they faced immediate execution by being “thrown into a blazing furnace.”