Daniel Chapter 2 (Part 3)

Daniel Chapter 2 (Part 3)

God’s People under Discipline for Seventy Years

God had already delivered the people of Judah and the land to the king of Babylon. However, the people of Judah were descendants of Abraham. God had made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and later with David. God would not break his covenant, nor would he forsake his people. God would surely watch over his people. Now that the people of Judah and the land were in the hand of king of Babylon, God must have a plan.

→ Now listen to the words of God spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 24:1-3, KJV

The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.

One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe; and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.

Then said the LORD unto me, what seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.

• Jeconiah, also known as Jehoiachin, was the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. ​​Jehoiachin succeeded his father as king for three months, then Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, besieged the city with his army. Jehoiachin did not resist; instead, he led his mother, servants, nobles, and officials out of the city, and all surrendered to the king of Babylon, and took the captive to Babylon. (2 Kings 24:10-16)

• The LORD said “…… the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians” (Jeremiah 24:5)

• “After this”, the Lord God spoke through the two baskets of figs set before the temple of God.

→ The symbolism of two baskets of figs:

Basket of Evil Figs, too Rotten to Eat

Jeremiah 24:8-10 (KJV)

And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:

And I will deliver them to be removed into all kingdoms of earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.

And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.

• After King Jehoiachin of Judah was taken captive to Babylon, the Babylonian king made his uncle Zedekiah as king in his place. (2 Kings 24:17)

• Zedekiah was the last king of Judah, installed by the Babylonian king, yet he rebelled against him. In the ninth year of his reign, the King of Babylon led his entire army to attack Jerusalem, besieged the city. Zedekiah attempted to escape, but was captured and put on trial. The king of Babylon killed all his sons before his eyes, gouged out his eyes, chained him with bronze chains, and took him to Babylon.

• Zedekiah and those disobeyed king of Babylon were like the rotten, inedible figs, and their end was destruction, thus evil figs symbolizing those who disobey God would perish.

Basket of Good Figs

Jeremiah 24:4-7 (KJV)

Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, who I have sent out of this place into the land of Chaldeans for their good.

For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.

And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto to me with their whole heart.

• King Jehoiachin of Judah surrendered to the king of Babylon and was taken captive to Babylon, but later God raised him up. He was released out of prison, and ate bread all the days of his life. (2 Kings 25:27-30)

• Those who were taken captive with him to Babylon, and their descendants, built houses there, planted fields, had children, and prayed for peace in their cities, for if the city was at peace, they would also be at peace (Jeremiah 29:1-7). The captive Jews who obeyed God survived; they were regarded as good figs, because God’s eyes watched over them. And God would bring them back.

• God did not deliver the Jews to Nebuchadnezzar to destroy them, but to test them, so that they might have a heart that knows God. Because they did not obey God’s word and did not follow the Mosaic Law, God used the king of Babylon to take them captive to discipline them and to make them know the one true God.

→ How long does it take for God to discipline his people?

Seventy Years

Jeremiah 25:8-14 (KJV)

Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; because ye have not heard my words,

Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.

Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.

And this whole land shall be desolation, and astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesized against all the nations.

For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.

→ When did Jeremiah preach these words of God?

• “In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon” (Jeremiah 25:1).

• King Nebuchadnezzar ascended the throne in the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah. ​​Upon his ascension, God’s words came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah and all the surrounding nations.

• God delivered his people into the hands of the Babylonian king because they disobeyed his word. The people of Judah and all the surrounding nations were to serve the Babylonian king for seventy years. This was God’s will.

• God’s discipline and arrangements for his people are time-bound. Whether it was the “four hundred years” of suffering that the descendants of Abraham would endure in Egypt (Genesis 15:13), or the “ten days” of tribulation that the church in Smyrna would suffer (Revelation 2:10), God’s arrangements had a time limit.

★ After the seventy years were up, the people of Judah would return.

• How would they return?

• When God started punishing Babylon. Another nation would rise up and destroy Babylon. After Babylon’s destruction, the Chaldeans would become slaves to other nations. This was God’s doing.

• For the Jews, serving the Babylonian king for seventy years was God’s way of disciplining them. However, because God had made covenants with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David, God could not break his covenant. Therefore, after the discipline, God would bring the Jews back to their place.

• God called Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian king as “my servant” (Jeremiah 25:8). A servant is someone God uses. For this reason, Nebuchadnezzar wondered if his kingdom would last forever.

• Of course, no king doesn’t want his kingdom to last forever. God has his ways; God arranges everything. God revealed all his arrangements in the dream Nebuchadnezzar had, but he didn’t understand the dream he had.

★ This dream is a mystery. Who can explain it?

→ Read again Daniel 2:28: “But there is a God in heaven that reveals mysteries. He has shown king Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the days to come.”

• This is what Daniel’s words mean: The dream you had is a mystery, and only this God in heaven reveals secrets. He has already shown you what will happen in the future. These things are certain to happen. God has arranged them, and they are bound to happen.

• Daniel continued saying to the king: “As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than other living men, but so that you, O king, may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.” (Daniel 2:30)

• Daniel gave glory and power to God. This was what he meant: God gave this dream to you, not to me. Now God has told you, King of Babylon, about the future. Why I am also told? It’s because you don’t understand, that’s why I’m being told. It’s not because I’m very clever or wise, “but so that you, O king, may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.”

• Daniel wanted king Nebuchadnezzar to know a truth: that God reigns in the kingdoms of men, and that earthly kings should not act recklessly. If you disobey God’s will and act according to your own will, you will bear full responsibility for the consequences.

To be continued.