Daniel

Daniel was carried into captivity in the third year of Jehoiakim, by Nebuchadnezzar in his first invasion. He was probably about 14 years of a e at the time, and the rest of his life was spent in !abylon. He was contemporary with "zekiel. "zekiel served #od $amon the captives%, and Daniel served #od in the corrupt court. &n spite of the fact that he was a member of a captive race, he rose to positions of power while maintainin unswervin loyalty to his #od. 'here is much in common between the life of Joseph, and that of Daniel. "zekiel refers to Daniel as a model of ri hteousness ("zekiel 14)14*. Daniel was not only reat on earth, but also in heaven. 'wice #od spoke from heaven, and called him $a man reatly beloved% (1+)11,1,*. Daniel-s prophecies deal chiefly with the #entile nations. !y means of #od. iven visions, he predicted the future course of the #entile nations. 'he main theme of his prophecies is the /overei nty of #od (0)01.00*. 'his book, and the book of 1evelation have much in common, and we must understand this book, in order to understand 1evelation. 'he !ook of Daniel falls into two ma2or divisions . Historic and 3rophetic. 'he first half of the book ives us the history of the times and conditions in which Daniel lived (4hapters 1.5*. 'he second half deals with future events from the time of Daniel, until $the time of the end% (Dan. 10)4,,*. HISTORY . (4hapters 1.5* 4hapter one opens with Daniel and the three Hebrew children in !abylon. (Nebuchadnezzar, in his first invasion of Judah, carried away the educated and the skilled into !abylon. 'he historic account of this is found in 0 6in s 04)11.14.* 'hese four youn boys are described in Daniel 1)4. &n the 3alace, they faced their first ma2or decision (1)7*. !ut, these youn men $purposed% in their hearts to be true to their upbrin in and convictions. 'hey, of course, were rewarded by #od (1)18.0+*, and they learned that if they stood true to #od, and would not compromise, that #od would prosper their ways. &n 4hapter two, we have the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. He was deeply troubled by the fact that he had for otten the dream. He demanded, on the penalty of death, that the wise men recall and interpret the dream. Daniel and the three Hebrew children belon ed to the $wise men%, and so faced death, if they could not recall the dream. 'hey sou ht a solution throu h prayer (0)18.19*, and in the ni ht, #od spoke to Daniel: Daniel stood before the kin acknowled in that his information had come from #od (0)09*. this vision portrayed the successive kin dom of the world . !abylon, ;edia and 3ersia, #reece, 1ome, the ten kin doms under <ntichrist, and the final settin up of the 6in dom of #od. &n the earthly kin doms, the one word that describes them is $deterioration%. 'hese kin doms will be destroyed by #od, and an eternal one $which shall never be destroyed% shall be set up (0)44*. 'he stone that $smites the nations% is the =ord Jesus 4hrist. 'his is confirmed and further e>panded in the !ook of 1evelation. 4hapter three records the story of Nebuchadnezzar-s ima e of old. No doubt, this was prompted by the dream of chapter two. Not only was the head old, but the entire body. &t was no doubt an attempt to consolidate his power, and to try to prevent the prophecy of his kin dom-s disinte ration from comin to pass. Here, the Hebrews were faced with bein true to conviction, or yieldin to compromise. ?rom their earliest childhood, they had been tau ht $thou shalt not bow down to any raven ima e%. /o, they took their stand willin to lose their lives, rather than to compromise their convictions. @nce a ain, #od honored them, and sent a miraculous deliverance. Nebuchadnezzar was deeply impressed, and made a decree acknowled in #od (A)0,*. 'he last story dealin with Nebuchadnezzar contains the account of his #od humbled the proud monarch, and tau ht him a lesson o the soverei nty of #od. He was warned in a dream (4),.19*, and Daniel brou ht the interpretation and a plea for repentance (4)08*. 'his plea went unheeded. #od waited one full year for him to repent, and then suddenly sent 2ud ement (4)08.A1*. 'his e>perience was iven to teach him a solemn lesson (4)A0b*. He passes from the pa es of this book, a man who had learned the hard way, the lesson that $#od is over all% (4)A8*.

Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by !elshazzar. He was a man of profli ate habits. &n the midst of a drunken carousal, a hand appeared, writin on the wall. 'he wise men were unable to interpret the writin . Daniel was called, and he told !elshazzar that $#od hath numbered thy kin dom, and finished it . thou art wei hed in the balances and found wantin . they kin dom is divided and iven to the ;edes and 3ersians. !elshazzar had not sinned i norantly (7)01.0A*, and now 2ud ement time had come. 'he chapter concludes with the dramatic words, $&n that ni ht was !elshazzar the kin of the 4haldeans slain. <nd Darius the ;edian took the kin dom%. 'he final chapter in the historic section has to do with Daniel-s activities durin the rei n of Darius. &n the new empire under Darius, Daniel was promoted to the hi hest office in the land (5)1.A*. 'his stirred up the 2ealously of the other rulers who with reat cunnin planned his downfall. < ain, Daniel would not compromise, and he purposed to remain true to #od. 1ead Daniel 5)1+, and you see Daniel $as he did beforetime%, kneelin and ivin thanks. 4onseBuently he was cast into the lion-s den, but $#od who is over all% wrou ht a miraculous deliverance. 'his section closed with these words, $so Daniel prospered in the rei n of Darius, and in the rei n of 4yrus the 3ersian%. &t always pays to serve #od. PROPHECY . (4hapters 8.10* Durin the first year of !elshazzar-s rei n, Daniel had a vision of four wild beasts, which symbolized the four kin doms pictured in Nebuchadnezzar-s dream. Daniel interprets these (8)18.0A*, as representin the kin doms of !abylon (lion*, 3ersia (bear*, #reece (leopard*, and 1ome (terrible beast*. @ver this fourth kin dom, ten kin s would rei n. 'he $little horn% comin up amon the ten is the <ntichrist. His character and deeds are described in 8)07. 'wo years later, in Daniel 9, we have another vision of the ram and the he. oat. 'he two.pron ed ram represented the united power of ;edia and 3ersia. 'he rou h he. oat was the kin of #reece (<le>ander the #reat*. History records the overthrow of the ;edo.3ersian empire by #reece. 'his chapter also contains the prophecy of the division of the #recian "mpire amon the four enerals when <le>ander died. &n the first year of Darius, Daniel became conscious (no doubt by readin the scrolls*, that the seventy years of 2ud ement upon Jerusalem, foretold by Jeremiah, were drawin to a close (,)0*. He then set himself to prayer and penitence on behalf of his people, makin confession of their sin, and pleadin their cause. He based his plea upon the honor of the name of the =ord (,)1,*. <s he was prayin , #abriel came to reveal #od-s future plans for &srael. He said that #od had decreed seventy $weeks% upon the people and the city. 'hese were divided into three periods, the first of seven seeks, the second of si>ty.two weeks, and the third of one week (,)04.08*. &t is evident from the /criptures that a $week% represents a period of seven years. (1) 7 Weeks . (4, years* . be an at the command to build and restore Jerusalem, under "zra and Nehemiah. (2) 62 Weeks . (4A4 years* . be an at the buildin of the wall of Jerusalem to the crucifi>ion. 4hrist is $cut off%, but not for Himself (Dan. ,)07.05*. <t this point, after 49A years, the $clock% of &srael-s national life stops. (3) Gentile Rule . an unknown number of years, intervenes after the 5,th week. Ce are now in this period. #od is callin out a people from both the Jews and the #entiles, to form His body, the 4hurch. (4) 1 Week . (8 years* . not yet be un, durin which #od will deal e>clusively with &srael. !e innin with the 1apture of the 4hurch, and endin with the /econd <dvent. 'his period of time is known as $'he 'ribulation 3eriod%, $Daniel-s 8+th Ceek%, or $'he 'ime of Jacob-s (&srael-s* 'rouble%. 'he last thin s were revealed to Daniel in the rei n of 4yrus. &n the third year of his rei n, Daniel was mournin and fastin for three weeks. ?ollowin this time, there appeared to him a #lorious 3erson who then ave him an insi ht into the thin s that would befall his people in the latter days. 'his chapter draws back the curtain, and reveals some of the unseen conflict in the realms of the spirit (1+)10.1A*.

&n Daniel 11, we find the vision which concerns the immediate future of the ;edo.3ersian "mpire. 'here were to be three more kin s, and then <le>ander the #reat would appear and destroy this empire (11)A.4*. <s was predicted before, his empire would be divided. ;ention is made of the two resurrections (Daniel 10)0*. 'hese two resurrections will be over 1+++ years apart (1ev. 0+)1.5*. 'hen, there follows the promise to those who turn men to #od (Dan. 10)A*. 'his book was to be sealed until the $time of the end%. Now, in this $end time%, as the pieces are fallin into place, this @ld 'estament prophecy takes on new si nificance. 'he si ns indicate the Daniel-s 8+th week is not far off.