Understanding the Book of Daniel: A Guide for Everyday Christians

The Book of Daniel stands as one of the most captivating and challenging books in the Bible. Filled with vivid visions, dramatic narratives, and prophetic declarations, it has inspired believers for millennia while also sparking considerable scholarly debate. For everyday Christians seeking to understand this remarkable book, grasping its central themes, historical context, and place within God's broader redemptive story is essential. This guide provides an overview to help you read Daniel with greater insight and appreciation.

1. Central Theme: God's Sovereignty Over All Kingdoms

The primary focus of Daniel is God's absolute sovereignty over history and empires, demonstrating His power to set up and remove kings as He pleases. Though Jerusalem may be destroyed with its temple in ruins, God's people may be in exile, and wicked rulers may seem triumphant, God remains supreme and greater than all circumstances.

This sovereignty theme manifests throughout both halves of the book. From a human perspective, Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, but Daniel reveals he did so only because God allowed it. While it appears that evil forces control the world, at the end of the stories God's people emerge victorious, and at the end of the visions, God defeats the evil human kingdoms that oppress His people.

The book teaches that all kingdoms of this world will end and be replaced by the Lord's kingdom, which will never pass away. Though trials and difficulties will continue for the saints until the end, those who remain faithful will be raised to glory, honor, and everlasting life in God's final kingdom. This message of hope sustained God's people through persecution in ancient times and continues to encourage believers facing hostility today.

2. Purpose: Encouragement Through Difficult Times

Daniel wrote to encourage exiled Jews by revealing God's program for them, both during and after the time of Gentile power in the world. The book served multiple purposes for its original audience and continues to fulfill these purposes for Christians today.

First, Daniel wanted to assert that the God of Israel was sovereign, even over the powerful nations that surrounded His people. When Judah had been conquered and dispersed by the mighty Babylonian Empire, many could have questioned whether God had forgotten His promises. Daniel's answer was that Babylon would fall to another empire, which in turn would fall to yet another great kingdom, with history continuing in this pattern until God judged all Gentile nations and established His everlasting rule.

Second, the book demonstrates that it is possible to live faithfully in exile, surrounded by pagan influences and propaganda, if one sets one's mind to serving the Lord wholeheartedly. Through the examples of Daniel and his three friends, readers learn how to maintain integrity and devotion to God while serving in hostile environments.

Third, Daniel looked forward to the day when God would restore and reward Israel. Though the message included both discouraging and encouraging elements—predicting continued suffering under Gentile powers but also promising that this time of trials would pass—the ultimate message was hope. The time was coming when God would gather His children to Him again and establish His messianic kingdom which would last forever.

3. Historical Context: Authorship, Audience, Date, and Genre

Authorship

Daniel, whose name means "God is my Judge," is the author of the book that bears his name. Several verses indicate that Daniel wrote the book, as he uses the autobiographical first person from chapter seven onward. Christ Himself confirmed Daniel as the author when He referenced "the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel".

As a teenager, possibly about fifteen years old, Daniel was kidnapped from his noble family in Judah and deported to Babylon to be trained in Babylonian culture for assisting in dealing with the imported Jews. He spent the remainder of a long life in Babylon, quickly rising to serve as a statesman by official royal appointment and confidant of kings in both the Babylonian and Medo-Persian empires. Ezekiel, his contemporary in Babylon, linked Daniel with Noah and Job and identified him as a model of righteousness.

Date and Historical Setting

Conservatives date Daniel to the sixth century BC, most likely about 530 BC, toward the end of Daniel's career and life. The book begins in 605 BC when Babylon conquered Jerusalem and exiled Daniel, his three friends, and others, and continues to the eventual demise of Babylonian supremacy in 539 BC when Medo-Persian forces conquered Babylon, going even beyond that to 536 BC.

The historical setting covers much of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the early years of the Persian Empire. By the time of Ashurbanipal's death in 627 BC, Assyria had slipped into decline, and Nabopolassar, a Chaldean prince, captured Babylon and declared himself king in 626 BC. The combined Babylonian-Median forces captured Nineveh in 612 BC, effectively ending Assyrian power.

In 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptians at Carchemish, bringing Syria and Palestine, including Judah, under Babylonian control. Daniel and his friends were among the captives from this first deportation, joined later by other captives during Judah's rebellions that were crushed in 597 BC and 587 BC, after which Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed.

Genre and Literary Structure

The book of Daniel is made up of two halves, each with its own genre. The first half contains narratives from the lives of Daniel and his three friends—court stories that exemplify faithful living in exile and provide models of how God's people should live as strangers and exiles in a world that is not their home.

The second half contains apocalyptic visions, which are designed to reassure God's people that despite their present persecution and suffering, God is in control and will ultimately be victorious. While prophetic texts like Jeremiah focus on the near future, Daniel looks beyond the near future to events of the end times. The use of numbers in apocalyptic texts tends to be symbolic and should not be used to create a calendar of the end times.

Interestingly, the book is written in two different languages—Hebrew and Aramaic—though these do not coincide with the genre division. Daniel wrote in Aramaic from chapter 2:4 through 7:28, which was the contemporary language of international business, making it appropriate for communicating messages with worldwide significance.

4. Special Issues: Understanding Daniel's Unique Challenges

Several unique issues are important for understanding Daniel properly.

The Dating Controversy

Many liberal scholars date the book to the second century BC, usually around 168 BC in the Maccabean period, which would preclude the historic Daniel from being the author. This significant discrepancy reflects a fundamental difference in presuppositions regarding the nature of supernatural inspiration and prophecy.

Critics find Daniel's detailed prophecies about events involving the Seleucid and Ptolemaic dynasties of the divided Greek Empire in the third to second centuries BC particularly troubling. They refer to this as prophecy after the event, claiming that whoever wrote it deceptively portrayed it as prediction.

However, those who believe in supernatural inspiration and revelation have no difficulty accepting Daniel's predictions and are not surprised at the accuracy of fulfillment. The Bible asserts clearly that the Lord announces ahead of time His plans through His prophets as a means of vindicating His sovereignty and encouraging His people. The high degree of specificity in Daniel's prophecies serves its first audience by showing how carefully God has planned events and governs them for His perfect ends.

Historical Accuracy Questions

Some interpreters identify serious historical problems in the narratives about Daniel's experiences in Babylon, particularly concerning Belshazzar's relationship to Nebuchadnezzar and the identity of Darius the Mede. However, current knowledge of sixth-century BC history is far from complete, and there are plausible harmonizations that explain the alleged discrepancies. Daniel accurately described Belshazzar as co-regent with another king, a fact that was not known elsewhere until modern times.

Interpretive Challenges

The main challenges center on interpreting passages about future tribulation and kingdom promises. Many aspects challenge readers, including interpreting numbers, identifying the one like a Son of Man, determining whether to see Antiochus of the past or Antichrist of the far future in certain passages, and explaining the seventy sevens.

There have been significant variations in overall approach to the book, centering especially on its prophecies of the future, which fall into three main categories. These include views that see fulfillment primarily in the time of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, views that emphasize the first coming of Christ, and views that see a dual focus on both Antiochus and the second coming of Christ.

5. Relation to the Rest of Scripture: Daniel's Theological Contribution

Daniel as a Theology of Time

Daniel is a theology of time, and since all history is redemptive in its purpose, Daniel's message contributes significantly to God's revelation of His redemptive plan. The book's tracing of kingdoms from Babylon to Persia to Greece to Rome was designed to show that God's kingdom is coming and His will is being done on earth just as in heaven.

Though from every human perspective it appeared that pagan powers would triumph over righteousness and redemption, God was actually manipulating and using them to set all in place for the fullness of time when He would send His Son into the world. The affairs of the world do not happen by blind chance but as the all-wise God, who knows and determines the end from the beginning, orchestrates them in perfect harmony.

Specific Christological Focus

The book has significant specific texts with Christological focus: Christ is the stone cut without hands that smashes the kingdoms of the world; He is the Son of Man who receives the everlasting kingdom from the Ancient of Days; and He is the Messiah that would be cut off but not for Himself, a reference to His atoning death. The preincarnate Christ appeared with the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace.

Connection to the New Testament

The book of Revelation, the New Testament's apocalyptic book, frequently alludes to Daniel. The image of ultimate evil in Revelation is the beast that arises out of the sea, reminiscent of the four beasts that arise out of the sea in Daniel chapter seven. Jesus is the one who, like a son of man, rides the clouds to battle the powers of evil.

One of Jesus' favorite terms for Himself was "Son of Man," a term that combines the idea of mere humanity with the overtones of the divine and exalted son of man in Daniel 7:13. This human figure bears the marks of deity in that he comes on the clouds and receives the right to exercise judgment over all kingdoms and nations.

Application for Today

The book's message of God's sovereign control brings comfort to God's people throughout history and up to the present day. The truth of God's sovereignty should comfort His people during periods of persecution, encouraging them to trust in the Lord who directs history and whose will cannot be thwarted.

While not every Christian today faces the severe persecution that Daniel and his friends encountered, they do live in a culture that is toxic or hostile to the faith. The book's reminder that God is in control and will win the final victory provides confidence for living in the present and hope to face the future.

The book models how God's people should live in this world torn by evil forces—with courage, confidence, and hope, knowing that God's victory is assured and His kingdom will prevail. While God's persecuted people can survive and even prosper in a toxic culture, they should be ready to face death, knowing that even death is not beyond God's rescue.

6. Outline and Structure: How Daniel Is Organized

The book of Daniel falls into two distinct halves—the first portion contains narratives of challenges faced by Daniel and his three friends at the Babylonian court, while the latter part is apocalyptic, presenting heavenly revelations of the end of the present age.

Part One: Narratives (Chapters 1-6)

The first six chapters present court narratives that follow a pattern. Chapter one narrates how the four men come to Babylon and preserve their faith while being forced to prepare for service in the Babylonian royal court. Chapters two, four, and five tell stories of court contests where the king has a problem of interpretation that his Babylonian wise men cannot solve, but Daniel succeeds, demonstrating the superiority of Daniel's God and leading to Daniel's promotion.

Chapters three and six contain stories of court conflicts where the three friends or Daniel are set up by court rivals and accused of wrongdoing, but God delivers them while those who challenged them are destroyed, leading to promotion.

The specific chapters include:

• Chapter 1: Daniel and friends' arrival and faithfulness
• Chapter 2: Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the great statue
• Chapter 3: The fiery furnace
• Chapter 4: Nebuchadnezzar's humbling and restoration
• Chapter 5: Belshazzar's feast and Babylon's fall
• Chapter 6: Daniel in the lions' den

Part Two: Visions (Chapters 7-12)

The four visions in chapters seven through twelve are apocalyptic in nature, using intense imagery drawn from the symbolic world of the ancient Near East. These visions progressively reveal God's plan for the future:

• Chapter 7: Vision of four beasts and the Son of Man
• Chapter 8: Vision of the ram and the goat
• Chapter 9: Vision of the seventy weeks
• Chapters 10-12: Vision of future conflicts and the final resurrection

Unifying Elements

The two parts of the book are linked by various literary features: the dates attached to the visions locate them during the same period of history as the narratives; the vision of the four beasts in chapter seven mirrors Nebuchadnezzar's dream in chapter two in a number of ways; and the message of the visions reinforces the message of the narratives—God's ultimate victory over the powers of this present evil age is sure.

The concentric symmetry of the Aramaic section is noteworthy: chapters two and seven concern the world, chapters three and six concern righteous individuals, and chapters four and five concern pagan kings. This structure emphasizes that pagan kings, who represented what appeared to be the greatest threat to God's purpose, were in reality subject to God's sovereign rule.

Conclusion

The Book of Daniel stands as a powerful testament to God's sovereignty over all nations and throughout all time. Whether facing the furnace of affliction, the den of despair, or the visions of troubling futures, Daniel consistently points believers to the God who controls history and will establish His eternal kingdom. For everyday Christians reading this remarkable book, understanding its historical context, literary structure, and theological themes opens up its treasures and equips them to live faithfully in their own challenging times, trusting the same sovereign God who sustained Daniel and his friends in ancient Babylon.