Jeremiah 49:1-33 | Daniel 1-2

Please note, this entry was originally scheduled for August 9.

In Jeremiah 49:1-33 the Lord speaks against Ammon, who were the descendants of Lot’s second son, and also promises to restore them in the end.  Then He prophesies destruction on Edom (the descendants of Esau), on Syria, and also Hazor.  All of these nations will be cast down when Nebuchadnezzar invades the region and also destroys Jerusalem, and takes the survivors away as slaves to Babylon.

In Daniel 1 and 2 we are introduced to him and his 3 friends, who were all taken as captives to Babylon during the reign of Jehoiakim, which was about 8-9 years before Nebuchadnezzar goes back and completely destroys Jerusalem.  Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Meshiel (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) were young men, who were probably among the royal families in Judah, who Nebuchadnezzar would have taken hostage to prompt Jehoiakim to behave himself.

Daniel and his friends are chosen to be trained and educated in Babylon, and God gives them good favor with their master, and blesses them for being faithful to Him in all that they do.

God gives king Nebuchadnezzar a dream, and none of the wise men and sorcerers in Babylon could tell him the dream, or the interpretation.  Yet God told Daniel what the dream was, and what the interpretation was, which provided a birds eye view of history.  The Babylonians would be succeeded by the Medes and Persians, who would be conquered by the Greeks (Alexander), who would then be conquered by the Romans.  A remnant of the Roman empire would eventually be completely destroyed by God, and Jesus will reign thereafter on the earth.

Nebuchadnezzar promotes Daniel to very high office in his kingdom, along with the other 3 Hebrew friends of Daniel, and Daniel will have position and influence even until the days of Cyrus, more than 70 years later.