Comparing The Book Of Daniel In The Old Testament

In the Old Testament, God uses prophets to communicate his message to the world. He chooses specific people to lead, instruct, admonish, and encourage. Prophets are specifically called by God, sometimes with a vision. They are usually sent when God is displeased with how the priests are teaching God’s law to the people or when the kings are ruling unjustly. They are often set apart somehow, either by their appearance, lifestyle, or some other way. Most prophets lead lives filled with difficulty and hardship, and many predict the future. Each prophet has a unique background, audience, and style. Daniel, Jeremiah, and Isaiah are the prophets that will be discussed throughout this paper. These three men share many similarities, but there are
also many differences between them. Each one uses different methods to deliver God’s message to a specific group of people within a specific historical context. One thing that these profits share is that they are all anointed by God. In this way they are set apart from the average people of their time. To be able to understand the importance of each of these men, it is important to know the history and experiences of each one.
The book of Daniel in the Old Testament takes place from 605-536 B.C.
and is claims to be written by Daniel himself (Keathley, 2006). Daniel is of Jewish descent and is raised by his mother and father, both believers in God. Daniel learns at a young age the way of his parents and becomes spiritually mature (Kreger, 2000). When he is a youth he is taken to Babylon with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Daniel and his companions serve in Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel is able to prove his wisdom to the king by interpreting the king's dreams, and he works his way up to higher positions within Babylon (Daniel 2:18). Daniel interprets the king’s dreams to mean that God will destroy the four kingdoms, including Babylon, and replace them with his own kingdom (Daniel 2:1-43). King Nebuchadnezzar gives Daniel many gifts before making him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and placing him in charge of all wise men. Daniel becomes one of the highest rulers of the land of Babylon, and God blesses him with a gift of great wisdom. Daniel’s success makes others jealous, and he is accused of worshipping God instead of the king and is thrown into the lion’s den. Daniel shows great faith in God when he is thrown into the lion's den. He remains faithful by praying, and God sends and angel to save him (Daniel 6:19-22). Throughout Daniel’s life, God sends messages to him through angels and visions. For example, he sends the angel Gabriel to let Daniel know the visions of
god(Daniel, 8:15-17). Daniel’s relationship with God is substantial. Daniel is well known for the prophecies that he receives through God in visions and dreams (Swanson). He has a series of four visions that predict suffering the suffering of Israel. With all that Daniel goes through, he continually stays faithful to god. Jeremiah, also Jewish, grows up in a village called Anathoth, located near Jerusalem (Hyatt 1958).
The book of Jeremiah takes place from 627-585 B.C. (Keathley, 2006). Jeremiah is the son of Hilkiah and comes from a family of priests. Before Jeremiah is born, God chooses him to be a prophet to the nations. He speaks to Jeremiah many times throughout his youth (Jeremiah 2:1-3). Jeremiah begins to doubt himself because he is only a boy, but God tells him, “don’t say, ‘I am only a boy.’ You must go everywhere I send you and say everything I tell you to say” and touches his mouth to place in him the word of the Lord (Jeremiah 1:6-7). God had also gives Jeremiah a vision of what is going to happen in the northern kingdoms. He is told that Judah and Jerusalem are going to be attacked, and that he should warn the people (Jeremiah 1:11-19). Jeremiah continues to prophecy during the reign of King Josiah (Hyatt 1958). He condemns idolatry the greed of the priests, and false prophets. He wars the Judeans of what is to come because of their sins, but most people do not listen to him. The kings continue to worship idols and be unfaithful to the laws of the covenant. Jeremiah leaves to go to the territory of Benjamin to receive his share of property. Jeremiah is stopped by the captain of the guard and is imprisoned (Jeremiah 37:11-12). While Jeremiah is in prison he continues to prophecy. Jeremiah tells the people that who ever goes to the Babylonians will live and not be killed
(Jeremiah 38:1-3). People begin to question Jeremiah again, but that does not stop him. He is set free and heads back to Gedaliah where the governor has been killed (Jeremiah 40:5-8). Many people doubt Jeremiah and persecute him, but he never loses faith in God. The story of Jeremiah is a unique one because of how young he was when he was called to be a prophet of the nations and how much he suffers for it. Isaiah, son of Amoz, is one of the more outstanding prophets there are. Isaiah lives in Jerusalem and is given the name “YAHWEH”. Isaiah prophecies over Israel, Judah, and other nations. He receives visions from God during the reign of the four kings of Judah when king Uzziah’s reign ends (Isaiah 6:1). In these visions, Isaiah sees God and his angels. As God speaks to Isaiah, he feels unworthy of his presence (Isaiah 6:4-6). God tells Isaiah to admonish Israel and Judah for their many sins and for failing to follow the laws of the covenant. He warns them of the judgement that is coming. Isaiah has two children with a prophetess and gives them prophetic names, Shear-Jashub and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (Isaiah 7:3, 8:18). Isaiah and his family live in Israel. Isaiah tells many prophecies about Christ and his second coming, more than any other prophet (Haeffele). Isaiah receives a prophecy from God that a virgin will give birth to a son named Emmanuel (Isaiah 7:14). God will let him suffer as an offering for the sins of man (Isaiah 53:10). In another prophecy of Isaiah, God says that the daughter of Babylon will lose everything and pay for her sins towards god (Isaiah 57:1-5). Isaiah also makes prophecies about the kingdom of God that the Messiah will usher in at his second coming. He says that god will build his kingdom over all nations and teach man his ways (Isaiah 2:2-4). He goes on to say that God will create new heavens and a new earth (Isaiah 65:17). The prophecy continues to describe how joyful this new kingdom will be. Before this however, will be the Day of the Lord, which will be one year before the second coming in which God will show his wrath upon sinners. Isaiah probably knows the most about heaven of all the prophets. Isaiah is extremely important to the bible, for many of his prophecies come true in the New Testament. With looking deeper into the lives of Daniel, Jeremiah, and Isaiah, there a many similarities and differences that they all share. Hearing god is no doubt one thing that all of these prophets share. To even be considered a prophet it is important to be able to interpret what god is telling you. Another thing that these three prophets have in common is that they always remained faithful. Daniel is put into a lion's den and he calls unto god for help (Daniel 6:19-22). Jeremiah goes to prison for no real reason, but he continues to prophecy in prison (Jeremiah 38:1-3). Isaiah does not go through as hard of times compared to Daniel and Jeremiah. One thing that Isaiah and Daniel have in common is that they both are married. Jeremiah is told by god not to marry and to not have kids (Jeremiah 16:1-4). Each one of these prophets were told by god many different things. Daniel is able to prophecy through the dreams that he has. Daniel also interprets King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream which is different compared to how the other prophets have prophesied. Jeremiah is the youngest one to receive a prophecy from god. God said that before Jeremiah was formed in the womb, he knew he would be a prophet of the nations (Jeremiah 1:4-6). Prophets are very important in the bible and help change the future of many lives throughout the old and new testament.