Daniel 1-3

This is for my sweet mother and dear daddy....sorry I haven't blogged in two weeks. Hannalee is in the playpen.....let's see if I can get this done!!!

Well.....I seem to catch the end of books....we've now finished Ezekiel...I was tired of the cubits!! Goodness.....a cubit is about 18" or in those days, they measured from their elbow to the tips of their fingers...not a very standard unit of measurement. :)

To sum up Ezekiel.....God judged the nations for their rebellion against God. I love how many times at the end of each judgment it says "then they will know that I am the Lord." I don't think they ever got it!! Dern....we don't either sometimes....and God is right there telling us, showing us, loving us, and guiding us in His will and His ways!! After the prophecy of judgment, Jerusalem falls....the leaders and the people were denounced. There is a vision for a new Temple....God gives this vision to Ezekiel and a vision of God returning in glory to a new Temple.....God in the midst of the people never to leave again.

On to Daniel.........this book is divided into two parts....the first 6 chapters relate to the historical events of Babylon.....here we have Daniel and his 3 fiery friends! :) Notice that the rest of the book is written in first person and records the 4 visions of future events given to Daniel in his old age.

chapter 1 Daniel and his friends are young and dedicated...they are not going to compromise their religion by eating unclean food. They want the veggies and water for 10 days to prove that they can not only survive, but thrive, by sticking to their beliefs!!! They were in a special training school to be servants to the king. Because of their beliefs and convictions, they "graduated with honors."

chapter 2 King Nebuchadnezzar's dream........ in ancient days, dreams were considered important as a means of foretelling the future and communicating the will of "the gods." Daniel was tested right after this school. Interpreting dreams was a well-established role of the Babylonian magicians. But anyone can come up with an interpretation. But Daniel believes that God alone can reveal the dream as well as its meaning. Daniel has the faith to pray for this! The king was ready to kill all the wise men of Babylon if the dream wasn't revealed and interpreted. Lucky for Daniel he believes in God!!! The only One who has the ability to do what the king asks. Daniel acknowledges God in heaven as the one who reveals mysteries and interprets dreams Daniel knows this with certainty because he and his friends cried out to God in the night asking for wisdom to interpret the dream. And of course he received it. Daniel foretells events that are to come to pass during and following the king's reign. The most important part of the dream is that the dream is the eternal kingdom that God will one day establish.....a kingdom that will never be destroyed and never end. We don't know the hour, buy we do know that God will reign supreme at the end of the age......Jesus come quickly! :)

chapter 3 the ordeal of the fiery furnace - - So obviously years have passed and the king forget that he once thought God was supreme.......king Neb. set up his own gold image to be worshiped. But Daniel and his friends know that there is only one God and God's law forbids them to worship any other. The know God can deliver them from a terrible death. The flames kill those who throw the friends in the fire and burn their own bonds, but they all come out with not so much smoke on them....there was even a godlike figure walking with them in the fire. The king is compelled to worship God again.

tomorrow:: 4-6

taddaaaaaa! I blogged! :)