Daniel, The Book of the Prophet

[He. Danniyel “judge of God”]

Courtesy ofAlexander Scourby(Bible Audio)The Book of Daniel

Background: Daniel was also exile in Babylon but was chosen to live in the Babylonian court and to train for civil service.

Despite this privilege we learn that Daniel, and later 3 of his friends, refusesd to give up their Jewish faith. God blessed their loyalty and Daniel was respected and consulted by the Babylonian, and later the Persian kings, particularly because of his ability to interpret dreams. The second part (7-12) includes some detailed visions full of strange symbols and not always easy to interpret.

Author: Daniel: internally, 8:1;9:2; 10:2 and Externally, Mt24:15

Date and Location: He records events from his life during the reigns of the Babylonian kings:[Nebuchadnezzar(605-562) and Belshazzar (553-559)]and during the first yrs of Persian rule under Darius and Cyrus

Purpose: Proclaiming

*God’s control over human affairs (5:21)

*Providing examples of believers facing death

Unique Features:

*Dn has more to say about the tribulation and the antichrist than any other OT book

*Dn11 includes a greater number of prophecies fulfilled than any other single chapter of the bible

*Da refers to Jeremiah (9:2)

*9:25, 26, marks the only OT occurrence of the He. term Messiah “Anointed One”

*In the original Aramaic 7:13 uses the term the Son of Man, refer to Christ

*Da is the only OT book to mention angels by name: Gabriel (8:16;9:21) and Michael (10:13,21; 12:1 Jd1:9 Re12:7-9)

Comparison:

*Earthly kingdom becoming God’s everlasting kingdom (2:44 Re11:15)

*Uses the word “times” for units of yrs. (7:25;12:7 Re12:14)

*Mention the ministry of angel Michael(See Unique Features)

*Book containing the names of the righteous (12:1 Re20:12)

*10 kingdoms, 2:41; 7:24; Re17:12

Abbreviations: Dan./ Da./ Dn.

MV: Thy tabernacle, Jb5:24

Bib1Yr: Lk16, 17Parables