He must speak up to difficult bosses, make moral choices, and deal with competitive colleagues. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading a song in the furnace. The book of daniel, also called the prophecy of daniel, a book of the old testament found in the ketuvim writings, the third section of the jewish canon, but placed among the prophets in the christian canon. The message and purpose of the book of daniel the primary theme the primary theme of the book of daniel is the revelation of israels future in relation to the gentile kingdoms now that the nation has gone into exile in babylon, and gods exaltation of daniel as a channel of revealing his will. Rather the book is prophetic and as such it gives a remarkable forecast of future events some fulfilled within the time of the book itself, others still being fulfilled today. The message of the book of daniel faithlife sermons. This summary of the book of daniel provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of daniel. In the bible, what is the overall message of the book of. Daniel is one of the most controversial books of the bible, yet its message is clear and unmistakable. Taken into slavery after the fall of jerusalem in 605 b.
In our study this morning, we will examine the attributes of god, his activities, and how he relates to man as revealed in the book of daniel. Jesus mentions daniel as the author as well matthew 24. He is the one who assigned this diet and if he sees that you are not as. The message of daniel is that because god is sovereign and his eternal kingdom will reign, his people should and must be faithful to him. The first look at the book of daniel is exciting and tough at the same time.
The book of daniel the book of daniel is one of the most significant prophetic books in the bible. The contents of the first verse in daniel have been challenged on two counts. The book opens with the exile of daniel and his contemporaries from the holy land to babylonia. The overall theme of the book of daniel is gods sovereignty over history, and the theme of the tales in chapters 16 is that god is sovereign over all earthly kings. Once you understand the meaning of the symbol, bible prophecy becomes plain. Many claim that these had to been written after the fact, and that daniel could not possibly have known so much detail about the future. The book of daniel is an attentiongrabber with its compelling stories and shocking visions of the future.
What was the message of the book of daniel answers. Although it does not actually claim to have been written in the sixth century bce, the book of daniel gives clear internal dates such as the third year of the reign of king jehoiakim, that is, 606 bce. At that time, daniel was in mourning, eating meagerly and avoiding meat and wine back to the vegetarian diet again. Chapters 8 and 11 have some sections that are hard to distinguish between the historical figure antiochus epiphanes and the antichrist. The god of israel is consistently called the most high god in the book of daniel. A noble jewish youth of jerusalem, he is taken into captivity by nebuchadnezzar of babylon and serves the king and his successors with loyalty and ability until the time of the persian conqueror cyrus, all the while remaining true.
God is in control, no matter how things look, and his kingdom will one day fill the earth. Like the book of esther, the message of daniel was that god would remain with the jews during their exile and would protect those who serve him. Witness faith and visions come to pass in the book of. The global message of daniel for today the book of daniel has much to say to the global church today. While bible scholars debate issues like when it was written and whether it is historically accurate, the book of daniel consistently calls gods people of. The big picture of the book of daniel bible commentary. The book of daniel differs from the majority of hebrew. Daniels three friends daniels friends shadrach, meshach and abednego served as advisers to king nebuchadnezzar of babylon. The bible speaks today bst 9780830824380 by dale ralph davis. A study of the book of daniel gene taylor3an introduction to daniel i. Its prophecies of worldruling empires are closely related to revelation. Daniel is the story of the people of israel in exile, longing to return to the land of israel.
Daniel 9 new international version niv daniels prayer. Daniel, theology of bakers evangelical dictionary of. The message of the book of daniel is that, just as the god of israel saved daniel and his friends from their enemies, so he. This remarkable piece of scripture has encouraged the faithful for centuries. The message of the book of daniel kindle edition by farley, lawrence r download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The primary theme of the book of daniel is the revelation of israels future in relation to the gentile kingdoms now that the nation has gone into exile in babylon, and gods exaltation of daniel as a channel of revealing his will. The book of daniel is often read for its contribution to our understanding of endtimes events, but sometimes christians have been so obsessed with this that we have missed its main message. It begins straightforwardly enough, with daniel and his companions facing pressure to assimilate to the pleasures and vices of the babylonian royal court.
The message is the bible paraphrased into contemporary english. While the book of daniel recounts the stories of a faithful jewish man during a time of exile and suffering for the jewish people in the 6th century bce, it was far more likely written during a time of occupation in judea during the second century. The book of daniel is a realistic survival manual for the saints, still vitally relevant for the church in todays world. The head of the palace staff, by gods grace, liked daniel, but he warned him, im afraid of what my master the king will do. Unsealing daniels mysteries lesson 1 prophetic symbols. He is the god of heaven, whose kingdom will never be destroyed dan 2. The book of daniel introduction to the book of daniel in the bible. After an introductory chapter in hebrew, daniel switches to aramaic in chapter 27. God in the book of daniel sermon by leo launio, daniel 4.
He quickly acquires fame and rises to a position of great power in the empire. The conflict between the religion of the jews and the paganism of their foreign rulers is also the basic theme of the book of daniel. The book of daniel was likely written between 540 and 530 b. But there is more to god in the book of daniel than being in control and involved in the affairs of mankind. A final connection between the book of daniel and the new testament is daniel s apocalyptic visions that also are reflected in the book of revelation daniel.
The book of daniel is a lively story about daniel, who is taken from jerusalem by the conquering babylonians, to be brought up in the court of the king, nebuchadnezzar. Much of the book is even written in aramaic, the language that was spoken in babylonia during the seventy years of exile following the destruction of the first beit hamikdash. The book of daniel is particularly concerned with events as they impact daniel s people. It was originally prepared some years ago by a member of our church in germany, ralf euerl. Daniel was the author of this book, and this was confirmed by jesus himself, but there has been considerable criticism about the book of daniel because of the accuracy of the prophecies. What is the message of daniel book of the bible answers.
It is complex in its historical and prophetic account of things now past, and things to come. In daniel we see god exercising his sovereign wisdom over all world affairs, even the actions of the most powerful individual rulers of his day. Lawrence farley, an orthodox priest gives us his well thought out and written opinions on the matter as well as should we read the biblical book of daniel as literal history or something else. His visions offer hope that god will bring all nations under his rule. To help you in your understanding, study the chart below. Here is a fine volume on daniel by dale ralph davis, who is simply one of the best writers today on any old testament historical portion, in the bible speaks. The book of daniel has been called the apocalypse of the old testament. A study of the book of daniel the church of christ in. Can there ever be faith again in the midst of darkness, rebellion, and gloom. Summary of the book of daniel the story of the bible.
Daniel the main message this is a slideshow discussing the main, and mostly overlooked, message of the book of daniel. What is the theological message in the book of daniel. The first half of the book chapters 16 contains stories in the third person about the experiences of daniel and his friends under kings nebuchadrezzar ii, belshazzar, darius i, and. Chris wright has often preached on daniel, and hes therefore just the person to help us hear the books message for the pressing context of our lives today. The message of the book of daniel is that, just as the god of israel saved daniel and his friends from their enemies, so he would save all israel in their present oppression. He may have descended from a noble family, perhaps he was even a prince, since normally the prominent people. The story of daniel motivates faithfulness despite exile in babylon. He is the one who assigned this diet and if he sees that you are not as healthy as the rest, hell have my head. The book implies that daniel was its author in several passages, such as 9. It is often claimed that the date given by daniel for the first year of nebuchadnezzars reign contradicts that given by jeremiah so pfeiffer, 1948. The book of daniel identifies the prophet daniel as its author daniel 9. This objection is easily answered as the babylonians used the accession year system of dating also known as. The text says that daniel received a message from god during the reign of king cyrus one of the persian kings.