THE BOOK OF DANIEL

INTRODUCTION:

1.Liberal critics say this Book was written about 164 BC (350 years after the claim of the Book); That its miracles did not really happen; And that it relates history, claiming it to be prophecy. If they are right, this is not the Word of God.

a.But all the negative arguments have been clearly answered: For a good discussion, See International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Verse olume Two, pages 784-786.

b.Positive evidence (both internal and external) is abundant to show that the Book is true and accurate.

2.DANIEL: He was an Exilic Prophet who served in the courts of two empires during the Captivity (Babylonian Empire - Dan 2:48; Persian Empire - Dan 5:31-6:3).

a.Daniel in Babylon: This was a city of wonder near the Garden of Eden; Its wall was sixty miles around, fifteen miles on each side, three hundred feet high, eighty feet thick; Two hundred fifty guard towers on the wall; Foundation was thirty-five feet deep -- so it was not possible that enemies could tunnel under.

b.Daniel’s life in Babylon spanned the seventy years of the Captivity; He lived from Pre-Exile to Post-Exile times.

c.BOOK OF DANIEL covers about 72 years (606-534 BC) - 1:1,21.

d.The BOOK possibly was completed about 530 BC.

3.AUTHOR: Daniel - 7:1; 8:1; 9:2; 11:31; 12:4,11; Mt 24:15.

4.CONTEXT: 2Kg 23:34-25:30; 2Chapter 36:4-23.

5.THEME: The Sovereignty Of God Over Men And Nations.

a.The message of Daniel’s life and prophetic ministry: God Is Real, And He Is In Control!

b.The summary and emphasis of the Book - 2:20-22.

1.THE PROPHET -- CHAPTER 1: DANIEL’S BACKGROUND
AND PREPARATION.

A.Daniel and three others from The Tribe of Judah were among the early captives, Verses 1-7.

B.They would not defile themselves with the king’s food (presumably it was unclean to Jews, or had been sacrificed to idols, or maybe both), Verse 8.

C.God blessed their faith with progress above the others who were in training, Verse 17.

2.PROPHECIES PRIMARILY CONCERNING GENTILE NATIONS -- CHAPTERS 2-6.

A.Chapter 2, Four Earthly Kingdoms, And Heaven’s Eternal Kingdom.

1.Nebuchadnezzar’s troublesome dream; Failure of the wise men to interpret; Daniel was still very young, Verse 1.

2.Daniel prayed for wisdom; Made the interpretation, Verses 19-22, 26-45; History shows four world empires (three of them at that time still in the future) were to fulfill this dream.

a.Babylonian, 606-536 BC (Captivity Of Judah); This was the HEAD OF GOLD.

b.Medo-Persian, 536-330 BC (Restoration Of Jews); BREAST AND ARMS OF SILVER.

c.Grecian, or Macedonian, 330-146 BC (Between The Testaments); THIGHS OF BRASS.

d.Roman, 146 BC-476 AD (New Testament Period); LEGS OF IRON; FEET OF IRON AND CLAY.

3.The last one (Roman) was strong (IRON), but had within it weak elements (CLAY) which would eventually cause it to fall (It was a loose mixture of varied cultures).

4.In the days of world empires (the Roman specifically) God would set up a kingdom, Verse 44.

a.NOT LEFT TO OTHERS in that God’s kingdom is not succeeded, as world empires have been.

b.His kingdom does not destroy all kingdoms, but all THESE kingdoms -- it ended all world empires by teaching individual rights and responsibilities; People will not now allow themselves to be stifled on a world-wide basis.

c.The STONE accomplished the same things as His KINGDOM; So it seems safe to conclude they are the same.

d.Fulfillment is in the beginning and growth of the spiritual body of Christ - Mt 16:18; Ac 1:8; 2:38-39.

5.Daniel then elevated to prominence in royal court, Verses 46-49.

B.Chapter 3, Nebuchadnezzar’s Golden Image; The Fiery Furnace.

1.THE IMAGE: Nebuchadnezzar (proud of his position in the dream?) erected a golden image (ninety feet high!), and demanded the worship of his subjects, Verses 1,4-6.

2.THE FURNACE: The three Hebrews refused to worship the image, and were cast into a furnace, Verses 13-18,21.

3.THE DELIVERANCE: God honored their faith, and demonstrated His power, Verses 24-27.

4.THE DECREE: For the second time, Nebuchadnezzar bowed and proclaimed Jehovah to be the true God, Verses 28-30.

C.Chapter 4, The King Punished For His Pride By Temporary Insanity.

1.Nebuchadnezzar had another dream, this one about a tree which was cut down; Again the wise men could not interpret.

2.But Daniel again had the power to interpret, Verses 24-25.

3.The king, refusing the warning, lost his sanity, Verses 30-33.

4.He recovered, was restored, and worshipped God, Verses 36-37.

5.Three times in this Chapter the key thought of the Book is given - Verses 17,25,32.

D.Chapter 5, Belshazzar’s Feast.

1.Belshazzar was now king. Daniel had been in Babylon seventy years; This was the night he was going to see the kingdom fall; This would be the end of the Babylonian Empire.

2.Belshazzar made a great party; The people drank from vessels that had been taken from the temple in Jerusalem, Verses 3-4.

3.Mysterious writing appeared as a warning of doom; Daniel interpreted the writing, Verses 5-6,23-24,26-28.

4.The prophecy was fulfilled that very night when Darius the Mede diverted the Euphrates, his army marched through the dry bed, and conquered Babylon; Belshazzar was killed, Verses 29-31.

5.This marked the beginning of the Medo-Persian Empire of 537-330 BC (Restoration Of Jews).

E.Chapter 6, Daniel In The Lion’s Den.

1.Daniel had been a high officer in the Babylonian government for seventy years (he now must have been about ninety years old); Darius the conqueror immediately placed him in charge of the new government, Verses 1-3.

2.Some in lower offices plotted against Daniel, Verses 4-9.

3.He was thrown to the lions, Verses 10,22-24. NOTE: Daniel believed it was (is) better to be in a den of man-killing animals than not to worship God. He indeed was a great man!

4.Darius honored Daniel and his God, Verses 25-28.

3.PROPHECIES PRIMARILY CONCERNING GOD’S PEOPLE -- CHAPTERS 7-12.

A.Chapter 7, Daniel’s Vision Of The Four Beasts.

1.There is a change here in the Book from personal history to prophetic visions, as it now focuses on revelations about the coming kingdom of God.

2.Chapters 7-12 relate to world history that can be learned from sources other than the Bible.

3.THE VISION, 7:1-14.

a.The same four world empires of history in Chapter 2 (twenty years earlier) are seen again; This time they are represented under the figure of four beasts, 7:1-7.

b.Let us be careful about being upset when we have a hard time understanding all this - cf 7:15,28; 8:27.

b.Ascension and coronation of the coming Messiah, 7:13-14.

4.THE EXPLANATION, 7:15-27.

a.Horrible things of the fourth beast may be the persecutions of the early church by Rome, 7:17,19,21.

b.But saints will receive and possess the kingdom, 7:18,22.

B.Chapter 8, Daniel’s Vision Of The Ram And The He-Goat.

1.THE VISION, Verses 1-2a.

2.THE EXPLANATION, Verses 15-27 (see Verses 15-17,20-21ff).

a.The Persian Empire (before seen as a devouring bear, 7:5) is now seen as a two-horned ram, Verses 3-4; It being a coalition of the Medes and the Persians, Verse 20.

b.The Grecian (four-headed leopard in 7:6) is here a swift goat rushing in from the west, having one great horn, Verse 5.

1)This big horn would be Alexander the Great, Verse 21.

2)Alexander conquered Persia in 330 BC (Daniel foretold this two hundred years before the time!), Verses 6-7.

C.Chapter 9, Prophecy Of The Seventy Weeks.

1.THE PREPARATION, Verses 1-3. Note Daniel’s remembering hearing Jeremiah sixty years before (Verse 2) -- “A godly example and influence are never without power over someone. There is almost always some young Daniel watching and listening. Here is a ministry which we can all exercise. We need not be kings or prophets. What a power can be wielded by the godly example of a father, a mother, a brother, a sister, a friend, a teacher, a business associate!” -- J. Sidlow Baxter.

2.THE PRAYER, Verses 4-20 (Daniel interceded for his people, asking God’s forgiveness, Verses 5-6,9,18).

3.THE PROMISE, Verses 21-27.

a.The Captivity was drawing to a close after seventy years; The Angel told Daniel it would be yet seventy weeks until the coming of the Messiah, Verse 24.

b.The seventy weeks began at the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem, Verse 25.

1)The order to restore Jerusalem was issued in 457 BC; Add sixty-nine weeks of years (483 Years) -- That brings the date to 26 AD (the date of the baptism of Christ and the beginning of His public ministry).

2)The 70th week would witness the events of Verses 26-27.

c.Verse 27 apparently is the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD - Mt 24:15.

D.Chapter 10, Daniel’s Vision Of The Glory Of God, And Of His People’s Future.

1.This final vision (of Chapters 10-12) was received by Daniel two years after the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, Verse 1.

2.Daniel was to be given details of the Maccabean Era as Persia gave way to Greece, Verses 5-6,14,20.

E.Chapter 11, Troubles Of Israel In The Inter-Testament Period.

1.Prophecy covers the time from Darius to the New Testament.

2.More details are now given of the Third Empire (Grecian Empire), Verses 2-3.

3.When Alexander died his empire was divided among his four generals, Verse 4.

4.Wars between Egypt (the SOUTH) and Syria (the NORTH) were predicted.

5.Persecutions led by Antiochus Epiphanes were predicted (Antiochus was a Syrian king who tried to stamp out the
Jewish religion, 175-164 BC)

6.On this Chapter see Halley’s Handbook, pages 314-315.

F.Chapter 12, God’s People To Be Saved Out Of Tribulation And Given Spiritual Blessings.

1.TROUBLE was the persecution by Antiochus during the period of the Maccabees (details are given in the Apocrypha and by Josephus), Verse 1.

2.Those DELIVERED (WRITTEN IN THE BOOK) were those who out-lived the period of persecution, Verse 1.

3.The DELIVERANCE at the time of TROUBLE equals a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked, Verses 1-2.

a.Some (the DELIVERED) would awake to the EVERLASTING LIFE of the Gospel.

b.And some would awake to the CONTEMPT that accompanied the persecutions of Antiochus.

4.Daniel was told to seal up the BOOK, Verse 4; Then the prophecy is concluded.

**THE BOOK OF DANIEL IN FOUR WORDS:

God Rules The World.

**CONTRIBUTION OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL TO THE BIBLE:

1.Most people tend to go with the crowd in the path of least resistance; The people in this BOOK show that conditions do not have to be ideal for one to serve God.

2.The Lord expects His people to be faithful no matter what.

3.Good information is given about the then future Messiah and His eternal kingdom.

**CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL:

1.The STONE which crushes world kingdoms is His kingdom, 2:34-45; Compare Col 1:23.

2.He is the SON OF MAN Who was to be (has now been) given everlasting dominion, 7:13-14.

**CONCLUSION:

1.Daniel was loyal to his king, but unswerving in religious convictions (cf Ac 5:29); He was mentioned three times by Ezekiel as an example of righteousness - Ezek 14:14,20; 28:3.

2.Daniel proves to us the value of living faith, in the power of the Living God -- We must NEVER compromise.

3.Are we thrilled and challenged to be faithful? Let us ever be so!

NOTE: The recently published commentary by Homer Hailey was not consulted in the preparation of this outline. If the Lord wills, I will read that Book, and probably will make some changes in the outline.

-- Derrel Shaw, 10-28-03