The Book of Daniel, Background
Quick Rundown
Daniel is an incredible & genuinely inspiring figure
writing at an extraordinary time in Israel’s history. Israel’s captivity, persecution, and
oppression continues under the pagan reign of Nebuchadnezzar and his
cabinet. Utilizing epic visions and
stories and accounts such as the three in the fire pit and the writing on the
wall, Daniel encourages the people of his time with the hope that God will
bring the tyrant down and restore sovereignty to God’s people. In the last chapter (12), Daniel details the
end of times that will bring about the total rapture of God’s dead and living
followers, followed by awful horrors of the destruction of the wicked, and the
long anticipated and longed-for sovereign reign of God.
Title
According to Hebrew custom, the title is drawn from the
prophet who throughout the book received revelations from God. Daniel bridges the entire 70 years of the
Babylonian captivity (ca. 605-536 B.C.; cf. 1:1 and 9:1-3). Nine of the 12 chapters relate revelation
through dreams and visions. Daniel was
God’s mouthpiece to the Gentile and Jewish world, declaring God’s current and
future plans. What Revelation is to the
NT prophetically and apocalyptically, Daniel is to the OT.
Author and Date
Several verses indicate that the writer is Daniel
(8:15,27; 9:2; 10:2,7; 12:4,5), whose name means “God is my judge.” He wrote in the autobiographical first person
from 7:2 onward, and is to be distinguished from the other 3 Daniel of the OT
(cf. 1Ch 3:1; Ezr 8:2; Ne 10:6). As a
teenager, possibly about 15 years old, Daniel was kidnapped from his noble
family in Judah and deported to Babylon to be brainwashed into Babylonian
culture for the task of assisting in dealing with the imported Jews. There he spent the remainder of a long life
(85 years or more). He made the most of
the exile, successfully exalting God by his character and service. He quickly rose to the role of statesman by
official and royal appointment and served as a confidante of kings as well as a
prophet in two world empires, i.e., the Babylonian (2:48) and the Medo-Persian
(6:1,2). Christ confirmed Daniel as the
author of this book (cf. Mt 24:15).
Daniel lived beyond the time described in Daniel 10:1
(ca. 536 B.C.). It seems most probable
that he wrote the book shortly after this date but before ca. 530 B.C. Daniel
2:4b-7:28, which prophetically describes the course of Gentile world history,
was originally and appropriately written in Aramaic, the contemporary language
of international business. Ezekiel,
Habakkuk, Jeremiah, and Zephaniah were Daniel’s prophetic contemporaries.
Background and Setting
The book begins in 605 B.C. when Babylon conquered
Jerusalem and exiled Daniel, his 3 friends, and others. It continues to the eventual demise of
Babylonian supremacy in 539 B.C., when Medo-Persian besiegers conquered Babylon
(5:30,31), and goes even beyond that to 536 B.C. (10:1). After Daniel was transported to Babylon, the
Babylonian victors conquered Jerusalem in two further stages (597 B.C. and 586
B.C.). In both takeovers, they deported
more Jewish captives. Daniel
passionately remembered his home, particularly the temple at Jerusalem, almost
70 years after having been taken away from it (6:10).
Daniel’s background is alluded to in part by Jeremiah,
who names 3 of the last 5 kings in Judah before captivity (cf. Jer 1:1-3):
Josiah (ca. 641-609 B.C.), Jehoiakim (ca. 609-597 B.C.) and Zedekiah (597-586
B.C.). Jehoahaz (ca. 609 B.C.) and Jehoiachin
(ca. 598-597 B.C.) are not mentioned.
Daniel is also mentioned by Ezekiel (cf. 14:14, 20; 28:3) as being
righteous and wise. He is alluded to by
the writer of Hebrews as one of “…the prophets: who by faith…shut the mouths of
lions” (Heb 11:32,33).
The long-continued sin of the Judeans without national
repentance eventually led to God’s judgment for which Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and
Zephaniah had given fair warning.
Earlier, Isaiah and other faithful prophets of God had also trumpeted
the danger. When Assyrian power had
ebbed by 625 B.C., the Neo-Babylonians conquered: 1) Assyria with its capital
Ninevah in 612 B.C.; 2) Egypt in the following years; and 3) Judah in 605 B.C.
when they overthrew Jerusalem in the first of 3 steps (also 597 B.C., 586
B.C.). Daniel was one of the first
groups of deportees, and Ezekiel followed in 597 B.C.
Israel of the northern kingdom had earlier fallen to
Assyria in 722 B.C. With Judah’s
captivity, the judgment was complete. In
Babylon, Daniel received God’s word concerning successive stages of Gentile
world domination through the centuries until the greatest Conqueror, Messiah,
would put down all Gentile lordship. He
then will defeat all foes and raise His covenant people to blessing in His
glorious millennial kingdom.
Historical and Theological Themes
Daniel was written to encourage the exiled Jews by revealing God’s program for them, both during and after the time of Gentile power in the world. Prominent above every other theme in the book is God’s sovereign control over the affairs of all rulers and nations, and their final replacement with the True King. The key verses are 2:20-22,44 (cf. 2:28,27; 4:34-46; 6:25-27). God had not suffered defeat in allowing Israel’s fall (Da 1), but was providentially working His sure purposes toward an eventual display of His King, the exalted Christ. He sovereignly allowed Gentiles to dominate Israel, i.e., Babylon (605-539 B.C.), Medo-Persia (539-331 B.C.), Greece (331-146 B.C.), Rome (146 B.C.-A.D. 476 A.D.), and all the way to the Second Advent of Christ. These stages in Gentile power are set forth in the 2nd and 7th chapters. This same theme also embraces Israel’s experience both in defeat and finally in her kingdom blessing in chapters 8-12 (cf. 2:35,45; 7:27). A key aspect within the over-arching theme of God’s kingly control is Messiah’s coming to rule the world in glory over all men (2:35,45; 7:13,14,27). He is like a stone in chapter two, and like a son of man in chapter seven. In addition, He is the Annointed One (Messiah) in chapter 9:26. Chapter 9 provides the chronological framework for Daniel’s time to Christ’s kingdom.
A second theme woven into the fabric of Daniel is the
display of God’s sovereign power through miracles. Daniel’s era is one of 6 in the Bible with a
major focus on miracles by which God accomplished His purposes. Other periods include: 1) the Creation and
Flood (Ge 1-11); 2) the patriarchs and Moses (Ge 12-Dt); 3) Elijah and Elisha
(1Ki 17-2Ki 13); 4) Jesus and the apostles (Gospels, Acts); and 5) the time of
the Second Advent (Revelation). God, who
was everlasting dominion and ability to work according to His will (4:34,35),
is capable of miracles, all of which would be lesser displays of power than was
exhibited when He acted as Creator in Ge 1:1.
Daniel chronicles the God-enabled recounting and interpreting of dreams
which God used to reveal His will (chapters 2,4,7). Other miracles included: 1) His writing on
the wall and Daniel’s interpreting it (chapter 5); 2) His protection of the 3
men in a blazing furnace (chapter 3); 3) His provision of safety for Daniel in
a lion’s den (chapter 6); and 4) supernatural prophecies (chaps. 2; 7; 8;
9:24-12:13).
Interpretive Challenges
The main challenges center on interpreting passages about
future tribulation and kingdom promises.
Though the use of Imperial Aramaic and archaeology have confirmed the
early date of writing, some skeptical interpreters, unwilling to acknowledge
supernatural prophecies that came to pass (there are over 100 in chapter 11
alone that were fulfilled), place these details in the intertestamental
times. They see these prophecies not as
miraculously foretelling the future, but as simply the observations of a later
writer, who is recording events of his own day.
Thus, they date Daniel in the days of Antiochus IV Ephiphanes (175-164
B.C., chapter 8; 11:21-45). According to
this scheme, the expectation of the Stone and Son of Man (chapters 2,7) turned
out to be a mistaken notion that did not actually come to pass, or the writer
was being intentionally deceptive. Actually,
a future seven-year judgment period (cf. 7:21,22; 11:36-45; 12:1) and a literal
1,000-year kingdom (cf. Rev 20) after Christ’s second coming when He will reign
over Israelites and Gentiles (7:27) are taught.
This will be an era before and distinct from the final, absolutely
perfect, ultimate state, i.e., the new heaven and the new earth with its
capital, the New Jerusalem (Rev 21,22).
The literal interpretation of prophecy, including Daniel, leads to the
premillennial perspective.
Many other aspects of interpretation challenge readers:
e.g., interpreting numbers (1:12,20; 3:19; 9:24-27); identifying the one like a
Son of Man (7:13,14); determining whether to see Antiochus of the past or
Antichrist of the far future in 8:19-23; explaining the “seventy weeks” in
9:24-27; and deciding whether Antiochus of 11:21-35 is still meant in 11:36-45,
or whether it is the future Antichrist.
Outline
I. The Personal Background of Daniel (1:1-21)
A. Conquest
of Jerusalem (1:1,2)
B. Conscription
of Jews for Training (1:3-7)
C. Courage of
Four Men in Trial (1:8-16)
D. Choice of
Four Men for Royal Positions (1:17-21)
II. The Prophetic Course of Gentile Dominion (2:1-7:28)
A. Dilemmas
of Nebuchadnezzar (2:1-4:37)
B. Debauchery
and Demise of Belshazzar (5:1-31)
C. Deliverance
of Daniel (6:1-28)
D. Dream of
Daniel (7:1-28)
III. The Prophetic Course of Israel’s Destiny
(8:1-12:13)
A. Prophecy
of the Ram and Male Goat (8:1-12:13)
B. Prophecy
of the Seventy Weeks (9:1-27)
C. Prophecy
of Israel’s Humiliation and Restoration (10:1-12:13)
MacArthur Study Bible, NASB, Updated Edition. 2006. Nelson Bibles,
Thomas Nelson. La Habra, CA.
