STUDY OF DANIEL
INTRODUCTION
To start off our study, I want to first give you an introduction to the Book of Daniel, which consists of 12 chapters.
In the Book of Daniel, we find one of the most dramatic prophecies in the Bible, about the coming Kingdom of God. Here, God predicts the rise and fall of Earth’s Kingdoms, Beginning in Babylon’s Time, to the end of time, and the second coming of Christ.
The Book of Daniel identifies the Prophet Daniel as the author 9:2, Jesus mentions Daniel as the author as well in
Daniel lived in the century B.C. He was taken captive to Babylon in 606 B. C. and lived on into the Medo-Persian reign, which began in 538 B.C. So, the Book of Daniel was likely written between 540 and 530 B.C.
Because of their disobedience to God, the nations of Israel and Judah had been taken captive. Eventually the city of Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and most of the Jews were carried away to Babylon. The Book of Daniel begins with Jerusalem being desolated by the heathen King Nebuchadnezzar and God’s people being removed to a strange land.
Even though the Book of Daniel was written while God’s people were captive in Babylon because of their sins, the focal point of the book is not the Jewish captivity, but the time of the As we study Daniel, we must keep in mind that everything is pointing to the end of the world. You will discover that this gives the Book of Daniel tremendous meaning for us today.
There are two basic sections to the Book of Daniel:
(1) The historical, found in the first half of the book, contains stories about Daniel’s day.
(2) The prophetic, found in the latter part of the book, contains prophecies pointing to the end time.
What the Book of Daniel says about history provides a key that unlocks the meaning of history, while its prophetic section opens a window through which we see how the God of Heaven is guiding the affairs of the world towards that great climatic event, the second coming of Christ.
Many people in their haste to quickly unravel the prophecies of Daniel have skipped the historical section and missed a lot of the meaning in the book. The stories of Daniel are not given simply as stories; rather they illustrate what the prophecies predict. The stories reveal that what happened to Daniel and his friends in Ancient Babylon are symbolic of the experiences of the people of God in the end time.
Always remember that the focal point of the Book of Daniel is The Time of the end of the conflict between good and evil. In this lesson, we will study the entire Book of Daniel, chapter by chapter, including both the historical and prophetic sections. We shall study the historical sections to discover the message there for the end time, and then we will discover how the prophetic sections have predicted those very conditions in the last days. In addition, we will be studying the great key prophecies of the Book of Revelation.
Since the Book of Revelation in the New Testament is the companion Book to Daniel, we will be examining many similar prophecies in Revelation in order that we might better understand Daniel. We will embrace both Daniel and Revelation, but will put special emphasis on the Book of Daniel.
These two Bible books are full of prophetic symbols, and these must be interpreted by the Bible itself. Man-made interpretations have no validity whatsoever Peter In order to understand the prophecies correctly, we must let the Bible explain them.
In Peter the Bible says prophecy is sure; we should heed it. Instead of studying Bible prophecy to provide hope today, many people are turning to the occult, to spirit mediums and witches in an endeavor to understand today’s chaotic world. The Bible asserts that real answers can be found only in prophecy. Prophecy is a light that illuminates our pathway, and the study of prophecy causes Christ (The Day Star) to find a place in our hearts.
Much of the books of both Daniel and Revelation was written in symbolic language. In order to correctly interpret the prophecies, one must understand the Biblical meaning of the symbols. Once the symbols are understood, the prophecies make sense. The following are a few Biblical samples:
A) Beast | (Daniel 7:23) | Empires or Kingdoms |
B) Day | (Ezekiel 4:6) | One Year |
C) Water | (Rev. 22:17) | Inhabited area/people, (Revelations 17:15) nations |
This does not mean that every time these words appear in scripture, they have symbolic meaning, but rather only in the symbolic prophecies as those found in Daniel and Revelation.
The underlying message in Daniel is God is in The nations are subject to the will of God, not the will of man, and God will preserve His people through trouble. By revealing specifics of His plan, God prepares and encourages His people for the future. Daniel confirms the identity of Jesus Christ as Messiah 9:24-27), by foretelling the exact month and year of Christ’s death, and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. The Book of Daniel lays the groundwork for the return of Christ, detailing events that will take place take place in the end of leading to the return of Christ Jesus.
Daniel demonstrates God’s complete control and comprehension over time and nations by giving detailed prophecies about the succession of kingdoms and rulers. Daniel foretells the eventual establishment of Christ’s kingdom, which will overthrow the kingdoms of the world.
Daniel is the foundation for the Book of Revelation. And the Book of Revelation is the completion of the plan first revealed to Daniel in the Babylonian and Persian kingdoms over 2500 years ago.
Next, we will begin Chapter I, where Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, are taken captive back to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.
I think it will be exciting as we begin to unravel these fantastic prophecies and see how the various stories relate to the Time of the