The Man Daniel

"In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah" (1:1; Babylonian reckoning of time, i.e., 605 B.C.), Daniel, along with other young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans (1:4), was taken as a hostage by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from Judah to Chaldea to be trained to serve as a wise man before the king. Daniel’s name was changed to the Chaldean Belteshazzar.

Daniel and his three companions, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Chaldean Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego), refused to defile themselves with the unclean food of Babylon. They were allowed to eat vegetables and to drink water. "God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams" (1:17). After three years of training (1:5), when they were tested by the king "in all matters of wisdom and understanding ... he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm" (1:20).

Daniel served the Babylonians "until the first year of King Cyrus" of Persia (1:21, i.e., 539 B.C.). Daniel’s last recorded vision occurred in "the third year of Cyrus king of Persia" (10:1, i.e., 536 B.C.), at which time he must have been in his mid eighties.

Because of the divine wisdom imparted to Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar "made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon" (2:48). Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, Belshazzar,on the very night his kingdom fell to the Medes and Persians, elevated Daniel to "be the third ruler in the kingdom" (5:29). The king of Media at the time Cyrus conquered Babylon, "Darius the Mede" (5:31), made Daniel one of the "three governors" over the whole empire (6:1-2).

Daniel was noted by inspiration as an example of righteousness (Ezekiel 14:14,20) and wisdom (Ezekiel 28:3).

Author

Daniel is the author of the book that bears his name. The book speccifically claims to be the work of Daniel (7:2,28; 8:1,15; 9:2; 10:2; 12:5), and the Lord confirms this claim by quoting from the book and ascribing it to Daniel (Matthew 24:15; cf. Daniel 9:27; 12:11).

Date

Probably Daniel was written in 536 B.C., three years after Cyrus decreed the Jews could return to Jerusalem (10:1; cf. 9:2; Jeremiah 29:10; 2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4).

Language

An unusual characteristic of the book of Daniel is that much of it (2:4 - 7:28) is written in the Aramaic language, the international language of trade and diplomacy of the ancient Near East (like first century koine Greek and modern English). The remainder of the book is in Hebrew. Those portions of Daniel in Aramaic are particularly designed to show the pagan Gentiles that there is one true God Who rules the nations and affairs of men.

Theme

The theme of Daniel is the Kingdom of God. Perhaps no other book of the Bible so plainly, forcefully states the fact that God rules over all the nations of the earth and ultimately decides whether they prosper or fall (Daniel 4:17,24-25,34-35; 5:21). The historical sections of the book (chapters 2-6) are uniformly designed to demonstrate that God rules over all men and nations (2:44; 3:29; 4:1-2,17,25,32,34-35; 5:18,21-23; 6:26). The prophetic portion (chapters 7-12) takes this theme and foretells the development of the four great, middle eastern empires from Daniel’s day on (Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian, and Roman) that led to and culminated in the establishment of the kingdom of God. These chapters also foretell the sufferings of the Jews up to and including the time of their destruction as a nation by the Romans in A.D. 70 (cf. 9:24-27).

The book of Daniel prophesies the time of the establishment of the kingdom of God. It was to be in the days of the Roman rulers (2:31-45), when the Son of Man ascended to the Father to receive His kingdom (7:13-14; cf. Acts 1:9-11; Mark 16:19).

Daniel teaches about the reign of Messiah (7:13-14), the ministry of angels (8:16 - 12:1), the resurrection of the dead (12:2-3), and personal devotion to God and freedom from defilement with paganism (1:8; 3:13-18; 6:4-10).

Daniel is one of the three major prophets of the time of the Babylonian Captivity. Jeremiah prophesied to the Jews in Palestine, Ezekiel to the Jews in the Dispersion, and Daniel to the courts of pagan kings of empires concerning the universal rule of the one true God.

Like Ezekiel, symbolism from the book of Daniel influenced John in penning Revelation (compare, e.g., Daniel 7:7 with Revelation 12:3; Daniel 12:7 with Revelation 12:14).

Outline

I. Historical - chapters 1-6
...A. Introduction - chapter 1
...B. Nebuchadnezzar's Dream of a Great Image - chapter 2
...C. The Fiery Furnance - chapter 3
...D. Nebuchadnezzar's Dream of a Great Tree - chapter 4
...E. Belshazzar's Feast - chapter 5
...F. The Den of Lions - chapter 6

II. Prophetic - chapters 7-12
...A. The Four Beasts (Four Kingdoms) - chapter 7
...B. The Ram & the Male Goat (Persia & Greece) - chapter 8
...C. The Seventy Weeks - chapter 9
...D. Fall of Persia - chapter 10
...E. Kings of North & South (Seleucids & Ptolemies) - chapter 11
...F. The Time of the End of Daniel's Visions - chapter 12