This study, of Daniel chapters 1-4, taught by Pastor Barry Forder, is the 27th session of our ‘Through-the-Bible-in-a-Year’ series recorded during 2014 as part of our Sunday morning family services.
Daniel, whose name means ‘God is my judge’, was just a teenager, probably about 14, when the Babylonian army, led by king Nebuchadnezzar, came and took him and his friends away from all they knew, and carried them away into Babylon. In the first four chapters we see Daniel’s introduction to ‘the bright lights of the city’ of Babylon, and his subsequent rejection of all the world had to offer in favour of his God. We see him rise to 2nd in the kingdom and being appointed chief of the Magi (based on a prophecy Daniel revealed to them, it would later be the descendants of these Magi who would travel from the east to visit a Baby born in Bethlehem). We also witness the revealing of a dream that would foretell world history for the next three thousand years, and have profound significance to you and I today! We see his three Jewish friends taking a stand against the ruler of the world, refusing to bow down to his image, and then a proud king humbled before Almighty God.
The scope of this book, as with the other major prophets, takes us from the collapse of the nation of Israel and the beginning of the ‘times of the gentiles’, to the return of Christ and His millennial kingdom.
May this overview prompt you to undertake your own study of this divinely inspired book.
The PDF slides are from the PowerPoint presentation used during the teaching session.
You can listen to the audio on this web page, or save it for later listening.
