Darius is now king of Babylon and he wants to make Daniel the governor over the whole realm, “because an excellent spirit was in him.” Well, the other governors don’t like this idea so they plan to bring a charge against Daniel concerning the law of his God. They have King Darius sign a decree that says anyone who worships any god or man besides King Darius for 30 days will be thrown in the den of lions.

When Daniel hears about the decree he goes to his room and gets on his knees facing Jerusalem and prays toward the temple 3 times a day as he always does believing that God hears the prayers of His people just as Solomon said in his temple dedication prayer in 1 Kings 8:28-30. When the bogus schemers see him praying they tell King Darius to throw him in the lions den. King Darius tries to protect Daniel but the decree is binding per the law of the Medes and the Persians.

So Daniel is thrown in the den of lions but the Lord sends an angel to shut the mouths of the lions and “no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God.” 🙌 But things didn’t turn out so well for the schemers. They were thrown in the lions’ den with their entire families and all were killed. 😳 Then King Darius makes a new decree “that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.”

The 70 years of captivity is coming to an end. Daniel “understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolation of Jerusalem.” So Daniel prays to God to restore His people “for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies.” Then the Angel Gabriel appears before Daniel giving him a vision of 70 weeks which there are various interpretations on but by this vision we can know that God has a plan and a timing of His plan so we can trust that He is in control.

We end the reading with the Lord stirring King Cyrus’s heart to let His people return to Jerusalem to rebuild His temple. Cyrus sends off some captives from Babylon to Jerusalem with the articles that were taken from the original temple by King Nebuchadnezzar. And that’s a wrap on the Captivity Era! 🎉

Return Era starts tomorrow so keep reading!

(Daniel 6:1-28, Daniel 9:1-27, 2 Chronicles 36:22-23, Ezra 1:1-11, 1 Chronicles 3:17-18)

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14 Eras:

Creation Era (Gen 1:1-11:26)✅

Patriarch Era (Gen 11:27-50:26 and Job)✅

Exodus Era (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) ✅

Conquest Era (Joshua) ✅

Judges Era (Judges, Ruth) ✅

Kingdom Era (1,2 Samuel, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles 1-9, 1 Kings 1-11, various Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon) ✅

Divided Kingdom Era (2 Chronicles 10-36, 1 Kings 11-22, 2 Kings, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, and some of Jeremiah) ✅

Captivity Era (the rest of Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel) ✅

Return Era (Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi) is up next!

Eras to follow:

Silent, Gospel, Church, Missions, and End Times/New Beginnings

Today Daniel has 2 visions and then he interprets a message from the Lord to King Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar’s son.

In the first vision Daniel sees 4 beasts representing 4 world empires: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. After the 4th beast was killed, Daniel saw “One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven…Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion.”

The vision troubles Daniel, especially the 4th beast. An angel explains that the 10 horns on that beast are 10 kings who will arise from that kingdom and the other horn, which has eyes and a mouth and spoke pompous words, is the Antichrist. He will persecute God’s people for a period of time but will ultimately be destroyed. This is similar to a vision that John will have at the end of the Story. John will see a prideful beast that speaks blasphemous words and oppresses God’s people (Revelation 13:5-7). However, there is an expiration date to the reign of the Antichrist bc Jesus is going to defeat him. “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:15).

Daniel has another vision of a ram representing the kings of Medo-Persia and a goat representing the king of Greece who will conquer the Persian empire. There was going to be turmoil in the future but God is sovereign over it all.

We end the reading with King Belshazzar having a huge drunken feast where they are drinking wine from vessels that were taken from the house of the Lord and praising their false gods. Well, God doesn’t like that too much so He writes Belshazzar a message on the wall. Daniel interprets the message for him saying that bc of Belshazzar’s pride and dishonor of the Lord, his kingdom will be divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.

Tomorrow Daniel gets thrown in the lions den and King Cyrus signs a decree allowing the exiles to return to Jerusalem bringing an end to the Captivity Era. Keep reading.

(Daniel 7:1-8:27, Daniel 5:1-31)

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Today in the new temple vision, Ezekiel sees a stream of water flowing from the temple and out the east gate. The stream turns into a great river. The Lord says when the water reaches the sea, it’s waters are healed. “And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever they may go, will live”; indicating the regeneration that will occur during the time of the new temple. At the end of the Story, John will have a similar vision. “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:1-2).

Then the Lord shows Ezekiel the boundaries of the land that will be divided equally among the 12 tribes of Israel. The boundaries correspond with the land boundaries He gave Moses back in the wilderness (Numbers 34). The Lord not only provides land for the 12 tribes of Israel but also “for the strangers who dwell among you and who bear children among you…they shall have an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.” The Lord allocates a gate to each of the 12 sons of Jacob which surround the new city and He calls the city THE LORD IS THERE.

We conclude the Book of Ezekiel by reading his last oracle which says that Nebuchadnezzar is going to conquer Egypt. According to the ESV Study Bible, this prophesy was given in 571 B.C. and Nebuchadnezzar conquered Egypt in 568 B.C.

Today’s reading ends with us seeing God’s faithfulness to King David’s bloodline. Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon, releases Jehoiachin, former king of Judah, from prison “and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the kings who were with him in Babylon… all the days of his life.”

Tomorrow Daniel receives some visions from the Lord. Keep reading.

(Ezekiel 47:1-48:35, Ezekiel 28:17-30:19, 2 Kings 25:27-30, Jeremiah 52:31-34)

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In the future temple vision, the Lord tells Ezekiel, “Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears, all that I say to you concerning all the ordinances of the house of the Lord and all it’s laws. Mark well who may enter the house and all who go out from the sanctuary.” Only those who have hearts for the Lord will be able to enter the new temple.

The Lord gives new laws for the priests. He says bc of their wandering from the Lord and their great sin, they will be allowed to perform certain duties of a priest regarding temple care and ministering to the people but, “they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priests, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place”, except for the descendants of Zadok. Zadok, a descendant of Aaron’s son Eleazar, was the priest that was loyal to King David when his son, Absalom, tried to take the kingdom from David. He was also the priest that anointed Solomon as king after his brother, Adonijah, tried to claim the throne for himself. Since Zadok and his descendants remained faithful to the Lord, “They will enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near to My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.”

The Lord also provides instructions for future offerings and sacrifices to Him. These ritual offerings and sacrifices are to commemorate what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross when He shed His innocent blood to atone for our sins. It is a picture and a reminder of the finished work of Christ. Much like the picture God gave us back in the garden when He killed that innocent animal to cover the guilt of Adam and Eve, and He gave them a promise to send a Savior. For Jesus was slain and “redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Rev 5:9).

Tomorrow concludes the new temple vision. Keep reading.

(Ezekiel 44:1-46:24)

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This future temple vision is possibly a new temple during the millennial kingdom when Jesus will return and reign on earth for 1,000 years. However, this vision and the Book of Revelation describing the future temple are highly debated and I’m not going to figure it out. 🤷‍♀️ But through this temple vision we see how the Lord is in the details, down to cubits as He shows Ezekiel the rooms and courtyard.

“Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east.” So on August 18th we read Ezekiel’s vision where the glory of the Lord departed the temple through the east gate. Today the glory of the Lord returns through the east gate.

Later in the Story, one week before Jesus is crucified, He will make a triumphal entrance into Jerusalem through the east gate, also called the Golden Gate or the Beautiful Gate. Conquering kings often came from the east, like Jesus, but King Jesus will come through the gate humbly, on a donkey, declaring himself Lord and fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9. And the people will shout “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matthew 21:9).

Then one day, Jesus will come again. This time as a conquering King on a white horse and He will put an end to evil for good. We get a glimpse of what it will be like after Jesus returns, reigns, and defeats Satan in a vision the Lord gives John at the end of the Story. “And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the lamb” (Revelation 21:22-23). 🙌

More on the temple vision tomorrow. Keep reading.

(Ezekiel 40:38-43:27)

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Today Nebuchadnezzar has another dream that no one can interpret except Daniel bc “in him is the Spirit of the Holy God.” Nebuchadnezzar dreamt of a large fruitful tree that reached to the heavens. Then a holy one from heaven cried out to chop down the tree and said, “Let his heart be changed from that of a man, let him be given the heart of a beast, and let seven times pass over him.”

Daniel explains that the tree is Nebuchadnezzar “for your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth.” Nebuchadnezzar’s pride is going to lead to his downfall and he will be driven to the fields like a wild beast for seven years “till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.”

Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that if he will humble himself and turn from his sin “perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity.” However, Nebuchadnezzar does not humble himself. Therefore the Lord humbles him and he becomes like a wild beast in the fields for 7 years “and at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever.”

We end the reading in the 25th year of captivity and 14 years after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Ezekiel receives a vision from the Lord where the Lord shows him a new temple that He is planning and tells Ezekiel to “declare to the house of Israel everything that you see.” This temple is unlike the corrupt temple that the Lord showed Ezekiel 20 years ago.

More on the temple tomorrow. Keep reading.

(1 Chronicles 8:29-40, Daniel 4:1-37, Ezekiel 40:1-37)

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Today we read the lineage of Manasseh and Ephraim (Joseph’s sons), Aaron (from the tribe of Levi), Issachar, Naphtali, Asher, and Benjamin.

Manasseh – During the Conquest Era, they failed to drive the people out of the land (Joshua 17). We see in today’s genealogy of Manasseh children born to a foreign woman, a Syrian concubine. This tribe was part of Northern Israel who left the Lord for the worship of false gods and were overtaken by the Assyrians.

Ephraim – The name Ephraim is also used in the Bible to describe the 10 tribes of Northern Israel. They too did not drive the people out of their land (Joshua 16) and they also turned from the Lord to idolatry. Hosea said, “Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked by human precept” (Hosea 5:11).

Aaron – His descendants are the priests who offered sacrifices to the Lord to make atonement for Israel. They too failed by leaving the Lord and His Word. ”Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things…” (Ezekiel 22:26).

Issachar, Naphtali, and Asher – All tribes of Northern Israel whose descendants turned from the Lord toward false gods.

Benjamin – The son of Rachel and Jacob and the brother of Joseph. This is the tribe that was almost wiped out during the Judges Era (Judges 19-21). The first king, Saul, was a Benjamite. When the kingdom divided, the tribe of Benjamin became part of Southern Judah. Later in the Story when we meet Paul, we will discover that he too came from the tribe of Benjamin. We will read more about this genealogy tomorrow.

Also tomorrow, Nebuchadnezzar has another dream…keep reading!

(1 Chronicles 5:18-26, 1 Chronicles 6:3b,49,4-15, 1 Chronicles 7:1-8:28)

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#chronologicalbibleteaching