27) The Book of Daniel

DANIEL became a captive in Babylon during the reign of Jehoiakim. Daniel was a Jewish child of royalty and his captivity fulfilled the prophecy to Hezekiah (Isa. 39:3-8). Daniel and his three friends were trained by Babylonian instructors to indoctrinate them into the culture and religion of Babylon, but Daniel purposed to keep his heart and life pure from the worldly ways of Babylon. God used Daniel over seventy years as a prophet to the kings of two world empires, Babylon and Media-Persia. He was a contemporary to Jeremiah, Ezekiel, & Ezra.

The book of Daniel parallels the book of Revelation. Both books record prophecies of the end times, which will complete the times of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24; Rom. 11:25). The great prophecies reveal the omniscience of God to know the future and the omnipotence of God to fulfill the words of detailed prophecies (Isa. 41:21-24; Rev. 17:17; 19:10). Daniel's humble mind and believing heart qualified him to receive the understanding of many dreams that were revealed to him and others (Num. 12:6). Daniel typifies the Holy Ghost as the true interpreter of the words of God (2 Peter 1:20-21). Five visions describe worldwide kings and kingdoms as beasts until the final Beast, the Antichrist (Rev. 13). These supernatural prophecies fill the historical gap between Malachi and Matthew.

The practical wisdom of the book reveals the fallacies of worldly wisdom versus the glory of righteous wisdom (1 Cor. 3: 18-19; James 3:15-18). The scholars of Chaldea believed world kingdoms were evolving better and better until a world peace and prosperity ushered in an utopian society, but the honest wisdom of Daniel portrayed worldly kings and kingdoms as ruthless beasts operating under the law of the jungle (7:17; Matt. 11:12). These wicked beasts degenerate into iron fisted tyrants as the Antichrist (2 Tim. 3:13; 2 Peter 2:12). The only hope for this downward slide is the glorious Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rev. 11:15). Daniel closed the 12 chapters and 357 verses of the book by sealing it until the end.

King James Bible.