About This Book
Daniel demonstrates God's sovereignty over earthly kingdoms while revealing prophetic visions of future world history and God's eternal kingdom. Daniel, a young Jewish noble, is taken to Babylon during Nebuchadnezzar's first conquest of Jerusalem. Chosen for royal service, Daniel and his friends refuse to defile themselves with the king's food, thriving on vegetables and water by God's blessing. God grants them wisdom exceeding all Babylon's magicians and enchanters.
When Nebuchadnezzar demands interpretation of a forgotten dream, threatening to execute all wise men, Daniel receives divine revelation—a statue of various metals represents successive kingdoms, destroyed by a stone representing God's eternal kingdom. Daniel rises to high position. Later, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to worship Nebuchadnezzar's golden image, preferring death to idolatry. Thrown into a blazing furnace, they emerge unharmed, protected by a fourth figure like a son of the gods.
Nebuchadnezzar later goes insane, fulfilling Daniel's interpretation of another dream, but is restored when he acknowledges heaven's sovereignty. Under Belshazzar, during a feast using Jerusalem temple vessels, a hand writes on the wall: 'Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin.' Daniel interprets: Babylon is numbered, weighed, found wanting, and will fall to the Medes and Persians—which happens that night. Under Persian rule, Daniel continues serving faithfully. Jealous officials manipulate King Darius into a decree that condemns Daniel for praying to God.
Thrown into a lions' den, Daniel survives supernaturally. The book's second half contains Daniel's apocalyptic visions: four beasts representing kingdoms, the Ancient of Days giving dominion to one like a son of man, seventy weeks decreed concerning Israel's future, and detailed prophecies about conflicts between kingdoms, ultimately revealing that despite earthly turmoil, God's kingdom will triumph eternally.