Christian Development

Daniel – Researching the Past

I just started preaching through Daniel at my church and I thought I would share some of the more interesting historical and cultural information I have learned while researching this series.

First, there is a lot of debate about the year in which Daniel was written, but I will save that debate for future blog as I teach through the book.

Surprisingly, there is a TON of archeological information that is relevant to the book of Daniel, because the city of Babylon has some ruins that have been investigated and can be seen today. One of them is the famous Ishtar Gate, one of the gates that lead into the inner, fortified city of Babylon.  It was through this gate that Daniel would have probably come many times during his life.

One of the main characters of the book of Daniel is the figure of Nebuchadnezzar.  He was an ancient king that exerted tremendous power and was a dominating individual.  In the year 605 BC or thereabouts, God used Nebuchadnezzar to attack and conquer the entire Middle-East.

A coin found bearing the image of Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar himself is a well-known historical figure.  Technically he is Nebuchadnezzar II and exists as the preeminent king of the Babylonian dynasty, which was brief, albeit very powerful during his day.  At its height, it controlled virtually the entire middle eastern region.

He began this particular conquest at the head of his father Nabopolassar’s, army.  Nabopolassar was a Chaldean prince who rebelled against the Assyrian army with the help of some allies.  He eventually secured his own kingdom centered in Babylon.  After he consolidated power, he reigned in Babylon for 20 years.  After some time, Nebuchadnezzar, his son, was sent out to crush the Syrian opposition and move down to Egypt where Egypt was trying to fill the void left by the recent fall of the Assyrian empire.  Nebuchadnezzar did just that.  He conquered Egypt overwhelmingly in battle, but soon after the battle received word

Territory conquered by the Babylonians.

that his father had died and so he returned to Babylon with a small contingent of warriors. It was during series of conquests that he conquered the Judean realm.

Daniel 1:2 mentions how Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and carried off the sacred items used in the Hebrew’s temple worship.  This was a common thing to do in the ancient middle-east, but it would have been strange for an

Israelite to read this because what it signified back then was that the gods of whoever won were stronger than the gods of whoever they conquered.  So, to an ancient reader, this would seem like Nebuchadnezzar was the stronger person and Babylon was the stronger land. The text tells us that it was God that gave Judah into Nebuchadnezzar’s hand.  In Israel, nothing was more sacred than the objects used to worship the Lord in the very temple itself. No one was allowed to touch them except the Levites and the priests themselves.  Incense burners, menorahs, cups, plates and other instruments.  These things were used in the very worship of Yahweh himself.  They never left the temple area.  They were the epitome of what was holy.  And now, they are going to reside in a pagan temple, a temple where people bowed down and worshiped idols.

So, now the story will shift to the land of Babylon.  Babylon itself later became somewhat of a by word among religious people of many faiths in that it signified the “WORLD” and it’s systems. This is directly the result of how the Jews were deported in this story to the land of Babylon.  It signified their defeat at the hands of the world and their longing to return home to their own promised land. Babylon itself however at this time was the very height of education, military might, engineering and prestige. By this time the Babylonians had measure the hour into sixty minutes, they had measured the circle into 360 degrees.

The City of Babylon

The city itself is near the Persian Gulf and lies about 30 miles outside of the modern city of Baghdad. It lay right next to

A stylized rendering of how magnificent Babylon must have seemed back then.

the Euphrates river and indeed there were sections of the city on both sides of the river.  Nebuchadnezzar greatly fortified the city, erecting larger city walls on both sides of the river so that it could not be attacked. There was an inner fortified city which was about 500 acres in all in which lay their most sacred temple and the king’s palace.  Outside of this was the regular city, which was still strongly fortified and was about 3,000 acres total.  The outer wall of this city was so large that a four house chariot could ride on the top with room. The city itself was laid out in a square so that the streets intersected each other in ninety degree angles.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

This was also the place where Nebuchadnezzar built the famous hanging gardens of Babylon, which were considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. He built them for one of his wives who was homesick for her native land.  During this period, Babylon was probably the most impressive city in the entire ancient world.  

One of the things that surprises people about Daniel is the journey he had to take even to reach Babylon as a captive.  Since the actual mileage is not listed in scripture, we are dependent on historical records of the routes that people traveled on back then.  In being transported as a refugee from Jerusalem to Babylon, the Babylonian army would have

Daniel's route to Babylon

traveled through the well-known trade routes of the middle east, moving north through Judea before crossing over and moving down along the routes of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.  This is only one piece of the story that suggests what great trials Daniel went through in his life of service to God. We are sometimes tempted to believe that the characters in scripture had epic moments of faith, without realizing what trials and struggles they also must have had to go through.  Thinking through the life situation and possible trials of the heroes of our faith makes their stands of faith and ministry more incredible as we learn more about the things that actually happened to them. In Daniel’s case, he was forced to make this 500 mile journey after having experienced the siege and destruction of all those things he held dearest.  He may have lost family members in the war against Nebuchadnezzar’s army.  His faith surely took a hit when it was learned that Nebuchadnezzar had raided the very temple itself.  In addition to this, the word used to describe Daniel and his friends in Daniel chapter one is the Hebrew word yeled, which is the word for “young man” usually denoting a male between the ages of 15-20.  So Daniel was probably only 16-17 when these events took place.  It is an incredible beginning to a remarkable life of faith and dependence of the Lord.

January 9, 2012 Posted by matttague | The Bible | Daniel, Old Testamant | Leave a Comment