THE REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM

Daniel 1:1 reads: "In the third year of the kingship of  Jehoiakim the king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and proceeded to lay siege to it."  Critics have found fault with this scripture because it does not seem to agree with Jeremiah, who says that the fourth year of Jehoiakim was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar.   (Jeremiah 25:1; 46:2) Was Daniel contradicting Jeremiah?  With more information, the matter is readily clarified. When first made king in 628 B.C.E. by Pharoah Necho, Jehoiakim became a mere puppet of that Egyptian ruler.  This was about three years before Nebuchadnezzar succeeded his father to the throne of Babylon, in 624 B.C.E. Soon thereafter (in 620 B.C.E.,) Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah and made Jehoiakim a vassal king under Babylon, Jehoiakim's "third year" would have been the third year of that king's vassal service to Babylon.  Daniel wrote from that perspective.  Jeremiah, however wrote from the perspective of the Jews living right in Jerusalem.  So he referred to Jehoiakim's kingship as starting when Pharoah Necho made him king.  

Really, then, this alleged discrepancy only bolsters the evidence that Daniel wrote his book in Babylon while among Jewish exiles.  But there is another gaping hole in this argument against Daniel.  Remember that the writer of Daniel clearly  had the book of Jeremiah available and even referred to it.  (Daniel 9:2) If the writer of Daniel were a  clever forger, as the critics claim, would the risk contradicting so respected a source as Jeremiah - and in the very first verse of his book at that? Of course not!   (Critics are a waste of time and money; any critics as they are not Christians, people need to do for themselves and not rely on people to make their opinions for them. That is why God put a brain in your head, to use) 

Next time: TELLING DETAILS

From the Book: PAY ATTENTION TO DANIEL'S PROPHECY! 1999