The book of Daniel
The book of Daniel in the Bible seems to have two sides: One is the first 6 chapters that show a great example of faith, while the other 6 chapters are full of strange visions that seem to be the cause of many strange theologies. But this is not true.
A quick walk through
Let us have a quick walk through:
Dan.1: This describes Daniel and three “friends” going to Babel (it is not clear if they were friends before or just became friends in the new place) and having to maintain their faith in an environment hostile to the Jewish faith.
Dan.2: Daniel gives an interpretation of a dream that the Babylonian king ( Nebukadnezar ) had: the statue representing the kingdoms being destroyed by a mysterious stone — we will come to that later.
Dan.3: The Babylonian king decides to build such a statue and forces everyone to worship it. But Daniel’s three friends are faithful and overcome.
Dan.4: This chapter takes us into another dream interpretation that describes how the king’s pride humbles him into a beast until he recognizes God as the ruler of the whole world.
Dan.5: The successor of King Nebukadnezar makes a feast and in his pride uses the goblet from the Jewish temple to drink from it. As a result, a hand writes the judgment against him on a wall. That same night the king is killed and his kingdom ends and is taken over by the Persians. Similar to chapter 4, this is about pride and humiliation.
Dan.6: As in chapter 3, Daniel is faithful in his faith, sentenced to death (in the lions’ den), heavenly protected, and promoted in the (new) kingdom.
Dan.7: This is the first of the “weird” chapters. Don’t worry, we’ll get to them. As in chapter 2, we have four (beasts) representing four successive kingdoms.
The chiasm
You may have noticed that we have a chiasm here linking chapters 2 and 7, 3 and 6, 4 and 5 with a similar theme but intentional differences.
Chapters 2 and 7 both describe 4 kingdoms, but while chapter 2 describes them in decreasing value and following each other and finally being destroyed by a mysterious stone, chapter 7 shows them as beasts destroying each other, being subdued by the God of heaven and described in their enmity toward God’s people.
Chapters 3 and 6 both describe the rescue from persecution, but in chapter 3 this comes from the evil ruler who is reported to be forcing officials to worship idols, while in chapter 6 this is done by officials tricking the king that Daniel cannot live his faith. Chapter 6 ends the story of the king, leaving the king as a good king, while chapter 3 leads to the chapter of the former king’s humiliation.
Chapters 4 and 5 describe pride and humiliation. While in chapter 4 the king is deeply humiliated even to the stage of living like a beast because of his pride, but he is restored after giving glory to God, but in chapter 5 the king gets the warning and his reaction was to promote Daniel, but he and his kingdom die the same night.
This gives the perspective that these 6 chapters are the center of the book (while chapter 1 is the introduction and chapters 8–12 are the appendix). Especially the setting of chapters 2 and 7 seems to be important).
The walk through continued
Dan.8: This describes in very broad strokes the fall of the Persian Empire by Alexander the Great, which ultimately leads to the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes IV, the Jewish experience of the Antichrist which leads to the Maccabean War, which leads to the political independence of Israel. The 2300 mornings and evenings probably refer to the time from the desecration of the Temple by Antiochus in 6.12.176 to the fortification of the Temple Mountain after the dedication of the Temple in 31.1.163 (4.12.164)
Dan.9: The described prayer of Daniel regarding the 70 weeks (that Israel went into exile) and the mystery behind it, which is the complete deliverance of Israel (and the New Covenant) from all evil. We will study this in more detail.
Dan.10: This chapter is a preparation for the final vision that will come in chapters 11 and 12.
Dan.11/1–35: This is a part where commentators agree, because there is such a strong connection to the history books that it cannot be denied: It is the time from the Persian kings (Daniel’s time) to the Jewish Antichrist Antiochus Epiphanes IV.
Dan.11/36–45: This passage seems to follow smoothly from the previous one, but there is actually no connection to historical events. Rather, this passage describes the powers and potentials behind this king and type of kingship, similar to Tyre.
Dan.12: These are some final encouragements for the saint to persevere in all these times.
Whats the point?
There are several dimensions of the story that overlap:
- The story of the faith of Daniel and his friends and their deliverance, the story of Israel and the deliverance of their heirs.
- The secular powers and their downfall.
- May it be the overthrow of the Babylonian king and his empire (the head of gold) or all other kingdoms under God (chapters 2 and 7), or
- the secular deliverance from the Antichrist (Antiochus Epiphanes IV through the Maccabean War), leading to the later subjugation by the Roman Empire.
- The divine deliverance of the whole world and its empires in God’s mysterious way that lasts forever.
All this together shows the importance of each person’s faith in the eternal destiny of the world. God acts in the subtle acts of individuals and brings forth an unbeatable kingdom.