Daniel's Life Part 1 Bible Study
The Overview
The Book of Daniel contains the personal history and visions of the future of Daniel, a Jew deported to Babylon as a teenager in 605 B.C. There Daniel was trained, with young people from other conquered nations, to become administrators in the empire of Nebuchadnezzar.
The book is divided into two natural parts:
I. Daniel's Life and Work - 1-6
II. Daniel's Prophetic Visions - Dan 7-12
The Book of Daniel is written in two languages: 1:1-2:4 a, and 8-12 are in Hebrew. The rest of the book, 2:4 b-7:28, is written in Aramaic. Archeology has shown that other writings of the same time share this trait.
The name "Daniel" means "God is my judge." The first six chapters of this important Old Testament book show how the conviction represented by Daniel's name guided his actions from youth through old age. Committed to pleasing God alone, this man was unshakable in his determination to do what he knew was right.
The book, written in the first person, gives an insider's view of the administration of three great empires Daniel served. While some have challenged Daniel's authenticity because of the accuracy of its fulfilled prophecy, this unit reviews some of the evidence which shows it truly was written by Daniel in his own time.
The Bible is a book of history. Archeological discovery after discovery has shown just how accurate it is. We can trust Scripture's historical accounts.
But the Bible is more. Among its amazing claims is the clear expression of confidence that its writers and prophets were inspired by God to predict the future. Sometimes these predictions are narrow and specific, touching the life of an individual or the near future of a city or nation. But often prediction involves vast and sweeping panoramas, encompassing the destiny of not only the nations of our world but of the universe itself. In the next unit we'll look at the shape of history ahead as the Bible describes it in one of the most fascinating of Bible prophetic books.
But how confident can we be that the Bible's picture of history ahead is accurate? Probably the best way is to look closely at the life and writings of one man: Daniel.
As a young teenager, Daniel and several friends were taken to Babylon in the first group of captives (605 B.C.). There Daniel was trained with young men from other districts of the far-flung empire for the Babylonian civil service. Through a series of events recorded in his book, Daniel was advanced to the highest positions in the administration of three empires, and his lifetime spans the entire period of Judah's Captivity.
Five incidents illustrate Daniel's relationship with these world rulers: his decision not to defile himself with pagan foods (chap. 1: 602 B.C.); his interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's first dream (chap. 2: 595 B.C.); his interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's second dream (chap. 4: 567 B.C.); his reading of the writing on Belshazzar's wall, when Daniel was at least 80 (chap 5: 539 B.C.); and his being cast into the lions' den (chap. 6: 537 or 536 B.C.).
In addition, Daniel experienced, at least four times, special revelations of the future. Those recorded in chapters 7-9 were probably given during Belshazzar's reign, while those in chapters 10-12 were in the first and third years of Cyrus' rule.
Of particular note is the fact that the Book of Daniel is written half in Hebrew and half in Aramaic, the language of the Gentile world of Daniel's day. The Aramaic portion, chapters 2:4 b-7:28, seems to concentrate on Gentile issues.
Daniel the man. Daniel is portrayed as a distinctly committed and humble man. Though he rose to the highest governmental rank, and was familiar with several world rulers, Daniel maintained his daily walk with God. His character is mentioned several times by Ezekiel, a contemporary of his, who compared Daniel's righteousness to Noah's and Job's (Ezek. 14:14,20). Daniel was set up by Ezekiel as the standard against which to measure wisdom (28:3). When jealous enemies tried to set Daniel aside from his administrative posts, they could find no areas of weakness except that he was faithful to God. Their attempt to turn Daniel's commitment to their own advantage, and how that attempt backfired! is recorded in the famous story of Daniel and the lions' den.
Daniel's times. Probably the Book of Daniel has been given more critical scrutiny than any of the prophetic books of the Old Testament. Some scholars have believed that it was not written by Daniel at all, but by an unknown author about 165 B.C. The main reason for this belief is the amazing detail with which Daniel outlines history from the days of the Roman Empire to at least the time of Antiochus in the 160 s. Those who cannot accept the idea of supernatural revelation of the future have been forced to seek some other explanation for Daniel's accuracy!
Yet the book itself claims to be Daniel's work, and Jesus authenticates his prophecies (Matt 24:15; Mark 13:14). Fragments of Daniel's book have been found in the Qumran documents, a cache of Old Testament books dating from the early first and second centuries A.D., and it is highly unlikely that "fiction" would have been included among that community's treasure-house of Scripture.
The supernatural. The only serious question left concerning the authenticity of Daniel has to do with the likelihood of the supernatural. The book describes several notable miracles. God delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (three Jewish fellow captives) from a fiery furnace. Through Daniel, God not only interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream; he even described the dream when Nebuchadnezzar refused to reveal it to his "wise men" advisers. The mouths of a den of hungry lions were closed by angelic intervention to preserve Daniel's life; then opened to crush the bones of Daniel's enemies. Nebuchadnezzar was struck with seven years' madness, and when he recovered his throne was returned.
How likely are these amazing events? How much confidence can we place in these miracles?
This is, of course, the same argument raised against prophecy. No living human being can possibly know the outline of the future and surely not in the detail given in the Book of Daniel. If we reject the idea that God exists or that He acts in the world of men, then of course we have to seek some other explanation for miracles. We have to suppose that people who describe historical events live after the events have happened and not before.
But once we admit the possibility of the supernatural; once we accept the fact that God may actually not be standing impotently on the outside of space and time, then everything changes! If God exists, and if He is the kind of God the Bible describes, then there is nothing impossible about miracles and nothing unlikely about prophecy.
In fact, the Bible records four great but relatively short outbursts of miracles. The first was the time of miracles associated with the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage (the Exodus Age). The second was the days of Elijah and Elisha, shortly after Israel's unified kingdom had been shattered into two. The third was focused in the time of Daniel. And the fourth was the day of Jesus and the early church. Through most of recorded time God has not chosen to intervene in obvious ways. He has chosen instead the quiet providential manner of guiding events illustrated so powerfully in' the Book of Esther.
Why then the periods of miracles? Some have suggested that miracles may be associated with times of deep-set resistance to God, or times of questioning God's power. In Daniel's time the miracles certainly had both these functions, of witness and reassurance. To the Babylonians, a god was evaluated by the size of the nation which worshiped him and the power of that nation's army. How could the God of insignificant Judah, whose people had been led away in humiliation, be anything but insignificant too?
And then, as Daniel recorded the series of miraculous interventions, we see a gradual change in the attitude of the Babylonian rulers. Finally, even Nebuchadnezzar himself is seen praising and honoring the Most-High:
His dominion is an eternal dominion; His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: "What have You done?" Daniel 4:34-35
We can see how such rulers' public decrees acknowledging God must have comforted their captives. Had their God lost power, or lost His love for them?
No, even in Captivity they were not abandoned! Even here God acted and, in His miracles, gave continuing testimony to His involvement in their lives.
You or I may choose to hold a view of God that denies Him the power to intervene in space and time, or that at least doubts His will to do so. But it is clear that the writers of the Bible held no such limited view. The God of the Bible chose to stand behind the scenes of history for the most part. But when He chooses, He can and will intervene. And even behind the scenes, He is the Author and Director of the play. So, history moves, purposefully, toward the great climax He has planned.
Impact on His Own Time
Like all Old Testament prophets, Daniel had a great impact on his own era. Unlike most, Daniel's impact was primarily on the very highest ranks of pagan rulers!
Earlier, the experience of Jonah had shown that God cares for pagan peoples as well as for His chosen community of Israel (especially Jonah 4). In Daniel we see God acting in grace in the lives of pagan individuals, to bring them to a knowledge of Himself. The apparent conversion of Nebuchadnezzar is among the most striking of all Old Testament events, particularly when contrasted to Pharaoh's response some thousand years earlier.
At the same time, Daniel must have had several very vital influences on the captive Israelites. His early example of commitment to God (Daniel 1) was an encouraging testimony to the fact that the believer could remain true to his faith in a pagan culture and still find acceptance and even advancement. Rather than withdrawing from his world, Daniel influenced the course of events!
Often questions are raised today about the validity of Christians in politics. Shouldn't the true believer withdraw from the system, particularly when to get ahead seems associated with compromise and questionable "yokes" with unbelievers?
While this is not a simple question, the experience of Daniel demonstrated that when God calls a believer to a role within the power structure of society, that individual can both remain true to God and influence the course of history.
It is possible, as some have suggested, that the influence of Daniel even extended to drafting Cyrus' decree permitting the first groups of Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. If so, it must have been one of the final, and most satisfying acts of Daniel's long and useful life.
Daniel's righteousness, described by Ezekiel as being legendary in his own day, stood to the exiles as a beacon, pointing them toward the way to live for God no matter where they might be.
One final influence on his own people must have come from the prophetic sections of the book Daniel authored (chaps. 7-12). Daniel was old when these sections were introduced. The Jews had been in Babylon for a generation or more. After the passage of decades, the majority would have settled down to seek the best possible adjustment to their fate. Many would have been born and grown to maturity there, knowing nothing of their homeland or their God except what was passed on by their parents. For a great many of that generation, Hebrew was a foreign tongue; a scholar had to explain in Aramaic what the original text said.
But God's people were not meant to settle down in a foreign land. Destiny awaited them, and the whole world, in Palestine!
Someday Messiah would come. Someday the kingdoms of this world would be shaken. Someday all worldly glory would be shattered. There would come one "like a Son of man" (7:13). To Him, the Ancient of Days would make a great presentation. Looking ahead in a great vision of the night, Daniel saw destiny.
He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. Daniel 7:14