Prophet: Daniel

The Babylonians had attacked Jerusalem and carried off many Jewish captives. One of them was a young man named Daniel. 

Daniel quickly distinguished himself from the men of Babylon. He was loyal to his God, wise beyond his years and could interpret visions and dreams. Daniel also has vivid, symbolic visions about the future of Israel, world kingdoms, and the kingdom of God—exposing us to some of God’s long-term plan for the world.

Daniel attributes his vast wisdom, insight, and understanding to his God (Daniel 2:28). Daniel recognizes God as the one who raises and removes kings and who establishes new world empires. He is the Ancient of Days on the throne (Daniel 7:9) and is the God of heaven, whose kingdom will never be destroyed (Daniel 2:44).

The book of Daniel can be divided into two parts. The first half is primarily narrative, and concerns Daniel’s life in Babylon under foreign kings. The second half is mostly a record of Daniel’s visions concerning Israel and world empires. 

In the first six chapters, Daniel interprets visions for foreign kings in stories written in Aramaic and in the third person. In the final six chapters God gives visions directly to Daniel. stressing His faithfulness to Israel. These accounts are written in the first person and in Hebrew.

Although Daniel is rich with prophetic visions, the book is better known for its many of the stories.

1. The “fiery furnace” story involves Daniel’s friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. The three defy King Nebuchadnezzar’s command to worship a golden image, and the king hurls them into a blazing furnace. God intervenes, however, and the three are miraculously unharmed. (Daniel 3).

2. Nebuchadnezzar’s descendant Belshazzar uses vessels stolen from the Jew’s temple to praise other gods, but is interrupted when a hand mysteriously appears and writes a cryptic message on the wall. Daniel is the only one who can interpret the message: God will repay Belshazzar by handing over his kingdom to the Medes and Persians.

3. Daniel had been awarded a position of power in Babylon after the Medes and Persians  overthrew the Babylonian king Belshazzar. His jealous peers tricked the king into making prayer to God illegal. When Daniel did not stop praying, he was is thrown to the lions. God delivered Daniel, allowing him to survive the night in the lions’ den. (Daniel 6)

Daniel’s life serves as an example of godly integrity. His visions paint a prophetic landscape for Daniel’s contemporaries, for those of New Testament times and for us today. Jesus himself referenced Daniel when He described the future to his apostles (Matthew 24:15).

Also, Daniel's writings were not all intended for an audience that was necessarily Jewish. The book was written in two languages, and Daniel’s ministry seems more weighted toward supporting the government in Babylon than leading the Jewish community.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Daniel is one of the few books in the Old Testament that explicitly references a bodily resurrection. In Daniel’s last vision, an angel tells him, “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2). The angel even promises Daniel’s resurrection in the end (Daniel 12:13).