Daniel Images and
NotesThe Book of Daniel
Daniel
6:15-16 - Then these men assembled unto the king, and said
unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and
Persians [is], That no decree nor statute which the king
establisheth may be changed. Then the king commanded, and they
brought Daniel, and cast [him] into the den of lions. [Now] the
king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest
continually, he will deliver thee.
Daniel
7:13-14 - I saw in the night visions, and, behold, [one]
like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to
the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And
there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all
people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion
[is] an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his
kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed.
Daniel
9:24-27 - Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and
upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an
end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to
bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision
and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and
understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to
restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince
[shall be] seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street
shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And
after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not
for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall
destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof [shall
be] with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are
determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one
week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice
and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of
abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the
consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the
desolate.
The Old Testament - A Brief Overview
Bible Survey - Daniel
Hebrew Name - Dani-El "God is my judge"
Greek Name - Danil (Greek form of the Hebrew)
Author - Daniel (According to Tradition)
Date - 607 BC Approximately
Theme - The final kingdom of the Messiah
Types and Shadows - In Daniel Jesus was the fourth man in the fiery furnace
Summary of The Book of Daniel
The prophet Daniel was
actually taken captive during the Babylonian invasion on
Jerusalem, the first attack in 607 BC. When Daniel came to
Babylon he became a chief minister at Nebuchadnezzar's royal
court. He became known as a man who could interpret dreams and
visions. God did mighty miracles through Daniel that impressed
King Nebuchadnezzar himself, so much so that he worshiped the
Jewish God. Later when the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon
King Cyrus ruled the Persian Empire. He also had visions that
Daniel had given interpretation to. some of the great miracles
mentioned in the Bible happened in the book of Daniel: the fiery
furnace, the handwriting on the wall, and Daniel in the lion's
den. Daniel can be seen in the Bible as the Empire predicting
prophet, because he accurately predicted the world
governing empires before they came on the scene, first Babylon,
second Persia, third Greece, fourth Rome, and in the last days
would be another Roman empire where the antichrist would arise.
At this time the Messiah will return and set up his everlasting
kingdom. Daniel also predicted the exact day and year the
Messiah would die. There is also a prophecy Daniel refers to as
the 70th week, which speaks of a seven-year period in the future
that will mark the second coming of the Messiah (Son of Man)
coming with the clouds of heaven.
- The above text is © Rusty
Russell - Bible History Online and must be sourced for use on a
website.
"I was watching in the night visions, and behold,
One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He
came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before
Him. 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, which shall not pass away,
and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed." Daniel
7:13-14
Daniel was among the Jewish captives who were brought to
Babylon from Jerusalem after Nebuchadnezzar conquered the city.
Daniel was still a youth but apparently of high status (Daniel
1:3). He was of such a high status that he was considered one of
the wise men of the court of Babylon .He was quickly recognized
in Babylon for his devotion to the one God Yahweh, and he
refused to eat of the "dainties" which were brought to him by
the king's servants. He also became recognized as the
interpreter of dreams (Daniel 1:8-16), because when King
Nebuchadnezzar being disturbed by a dream asked his own wise men
to interpret they could not. Daniel offered to give the king the
interpretation and the King was very appreciative to Daniel, he
was so impressed that he allowed Daniel to rise to a place of
great prominence in Babylon. Later when Babylon fell to the
Persians the Jews had new masters over them, and Daniel was
quickly recognized as a very special man and he had favor with
the king of Persia. This caused many of those in authority to
scrutinize Daniel and to look for flaws in his character and
they could not find any. They developed a plot which forced the
King to have Daniel thrown in the lion's den. The King
recognizing their treachery and hoped for Daniel's deliverance,
and when the Lord saved Daniel from the mouth of the lions
Darius ordered his own leaders to be thrown into the lion's den
and they were torn in pieces immediately.
Daniel the Empire Predicting Prophet
Daniel is clearly seen as the Empire predicting prophet. He
was an interpreter of dreams, and God revealed through his
interpretations his plans for the kingdoms that would rise to
power in world history. At that time Babylon was in power, and
in fact a world governing Empire in the ancient world. But
Daniel said that Babylon would be defeated by the Medes and the
Persians who would become a world governing empire. Then Greece
would come and dominate the world, and after Greece the Romans
would become a world governing empire. Then Daniel predicted
that way in the future a final world governing empire would rise
that would be like Rome, but different in that it would consist
of 10 kings, and then finally 1 king who would rise to power.
This 1 king would be a man referred to in the Bible as
the antichrist. This would all take place in the final
seven-year period known as the 70th week of Daniel. At its
consummation the Lord will return, he will crush the enemy, and
he will set up a kingdom, an everlasting kingdom, which will
never be destroyed.
The 70 weeks of Daniel
The 70 weeks in Daniel are mentioned in Daniel 9, and they
refer to a prophecy of Daniel where he claims that the king of
Persia will release the Jews to rebuild their Temple in
Jerusalem. When he makes this decree the Jews are to begin
counting, and after 70 weeks (7 year periods or 490 years) the
kingdom of the Messiah will be established on earth. But
something interesting would happen, at the end of the 69th week
(483 years) the Messiah will be "cut off" which indicates His
death. The final seven year period is suddenly thrown into the
future, to the time of the end of the world. This final seven
year period is described in the book of Revelation as a time of
the Messiah taking back the earth. It is divided into two 3 1/2
year periods and directly in the middle is when the antichrist
sets up his throne in Jerusalem and reveals himself as God.
Certain portions of this final seven years are mentioned in
other prophetic books of the Bible like Zechariah.
Daniel, The Author of His Book
Daniel was the author of this book, and this was confirmed by
Jesus himself, but there has been considerable criticism about
the book of Daniel because of the accuracy of the prophecies.
Many claim that these had to been written after the fact, and
that Daniel could not possibly have known so much detail about
the future. The first major critic of the genuineness of the book
of Daniel
was Porphyry of Tyre, a Greek philosopher of the third century AD who
claimed that the book of Daniel had been written by a person living in the second century BC
during the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes. His main reason for rejecting the book
of Daniel was centered around the person of Antiochus Epiphanes,
whom Daniel claimed was a prototype of the Antichrist. Daniel's
prophecies written a few hundred years prior but were very very
accurate in their detail. Many other critics have tried to
discredit the book of Daniel, but the Bible and history have
confirmed that Daniel was the author of this book, and therefore
was written at the time of the Persian Empire (sixth century
BC).
The contents of the book may be analyzed further as follows :
Outline of the Book of Daniel
Daniel is divided into two sections of six chapters each. Daniel 1-6 are
largely historical, explaining how Daniel came to be in the court of
Nebuchadnezzar and of his rise to power. It tells of Nebuchadnezzar's dream of
the image which Daniel interpreted to refer to the current kingdom and three
world powers which would arise after it and of the kingdom of God "a kingdom
which shall never be destroyed" which would arise during the era of the last of
these great empires. This section also includes the account of the deliverance
of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace and of the handwriting
on the wall which spelled out the defeat of Belshazzar at the hands of the Medes
and the Persians.
The second section, Daniel 8-12, describes visions which Daniel received
concerning the great world powers of the future and the kingdom of God.
The Greek translation of Daniel contains additions not found in the Hebrew
and Aramaic text. These additions are found as separate books in the Apocrypha
and are called The Song of the Three Holy Children, the History of Susanna, and
Bel and the Dragon.
The book of Daniel assures God's people
that their situation in exile would not be permanent, that God would keep his promise
to Abraham, he would keep his promise through Jeremiah the prophet that they
would return after 70 years. And he would also keep his promise that the Jews would still be the channel through which all
nations would be blessed. The book of Daniel is a grand tribute to the providence of God and His
lordship of history and the universe.
Daniel Resources
The Divided Kingdom
The
Northern Kingdom of Israel
The
Southern Kingdom of Judah
The Assyrian Captivity
The Babylonian Captivity
The Return From Babylon
The Prophets
The Messiah
The Book of Daniel
More About the Book of
Daniel
Daniel in the Picture
Study Bible
Timeline of the Ancient
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