Introducing Daniel
In September at the 10am Service we will starting a new series in the book of Daniel. We’ve put together a short video to give you a helpful summary of where it fits in the Bible story, and what the key themes to look out for are... You’ll find a transcript and glossary below too
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Below the transcript, please find a list of definitions for the words shown in bold.
Welcome to Daniel! Daniel is a book that shows that God rules over everything and is building an everlasting Kingdom. In it we see God’s faithful people living distinctivelives as they trust God’s power and promises.
Daniel himself was one of the Israelites taken away to Babylon after the southern kingdom of Israel, Judah, was defeated, just as God had foretold through messengers such as Habakkuk. Daniel’s writings cover around 70 years of his life serving under various foreign kings. Before we look in more detail at Daniel, let’s remind ourselves how the Israelites ended up in exile and think about how those key themes of the book of Daniel pick up on everything that comes before it.
In the beginning, God made humanity to rule over Creation under him as King.
However, very quickly the first humans attempted to rule themselves. The result was exile from God’s presence into a world of difficulty and death.
Things only got worse from there. By Genesis 11 humanity was seeking to build a kingdom and a name for itself at a place called Shinar, which became known as Babel and was where Babylon would later stand. However, God frustrated those plans, scattering people across the earth.
But he also graciously called a man named Abram and promised to make from him a great nation, who would enjoy living in God’s place under God’s rule and blessing. And God promised that through these descendants of Abram, God would bless all the nations of earth.
From that point onwards, we see two important ideas: God would establish a kingdom for himself, and God would call a people to live under his rule. By doing so,they would be different from the nations around them, and they would both show what God the King is like and be part of how he grows his kingdom.
And there are some stories where we get to see that happening. But, for the most part, the story from Judges through to Chronicles is of the Israelites’ failure to live under God as King and their failure to be different from the nations around them.
So God sent messengers called prophets to them, to warn them that God was going to use other nations to judge and defeat Israel and Judah, taking many people away into exile.
The Prophet Jeremiah, for example, foretold both Judah’s defeat by Babylon and Babylon’s eventual fall. God also revealed that their exile would last for 70 years and promised to watch over the exiles and bring them back. Through Jeremiah, God commanded his faithful people to pray and do good for the city where they would go into exile while they waited for God to deliver them from it.
Which brings us to Daniel himself and his writings during that exile.
As we think about the shape of the book of Daniel, we can think of it as two halves:
Chapters 1-6 contain six separate stories from different stages of Daniel’s time in exile. And chapters 7-12 contain Daniel’s record of visions he is given of long stretches of political and spiritual history. The different visions all have areas of overlap.
However, chapters 2-7 stand out from the others because they are written in Aramaic, the language of the Babylonian court, widely used across the ancient world. These six chapters have a shape that helps us see useful parallels:
In chapters 2 and 7 God reveals visions of four kingdoms.
Chapters 3 and 6 both give examples of God rescuing his people.
And chapter 4 and chapter 5 show God’s rule even over kings.
One final thing is that we’re told that Daniel received his different visions in chapters 7-12 during the time period that is covered in chapters 1-6. And this reminds us to read the two halves of the book as connected, with themes and ideas in common.
So, let’s consider a few tips to help us read Daniel.
The prophecies of chapters 7-12 use apocalyptic language. ‘Apokalypsis’ means ‘revelation’. It uses special imagery to take the reader behind the scenes, as it were, and reveal that true power and authority in history and in the spiritual world lie with God. Its purpose is to encourage God’s people when life feels hard.
Now, while we might be familiar with some picture language in the Bible – Jesus as a lamb, for example – we’re not so familiar with the images used in Daniel. But think of it this way: when we play a new videogame, we have to learn what the symbols on the screen represent to understand what’s going on. The same is true here! So, if as you read Daniel 7-12 you remember that beasts represent kingdoms and horns represent particular kings, that gets you quite a long way.
When we read the prophecies, it also helps to know that:
The Babylonian Kingdom fell to the Medes and Persians, who were in turn defeated by the Greeks, before the establishment of the Roman Empire
After the death of the Greek conqueror Alexander the Great, his empire was divided under four generals
Two of those generals ruled areas in the north and in the south, which came to be in conflict
And if we find ourselves confused about all these rulers, we can step back from the detail and focus on the key ideas: kings rise and fall; persecution of God’s people was foretold and isn’t out of God’s control; God’s chosen King and his eternal kingdom will triumph in the end.
This raises some questions to ask yourself as you read the book of Daniel:
Firstly, what is revealed about God, his work in the world, and his plan for his people?
Also, what questions and struggles might the Israelites have had in the face of defeat, exile, persecution and suffering? How could the truths about God seen in Daniel answer and comfort them? How would they encourage them to live distinctively?
And as we look for Christ in the book of Daniel, we can:
Look out for events in the lives of Daniel and his friends that foreshadow something in the life of Christ
Or look out for prophecies that point forward to God establishing his everlasting Kingdom under the rule of his everlasting King. How does Jesus fulfil them?
The book of Daniel shows us God at work on huge, national scales and in the lives of individuals. It shows God achieving his purposes through the rising and falling of nations and through the life of a faithful believer. It is full of encouragement for the believer facing threat or persecution, and full of encouragement for the whole people of God as they ask questions about his plans and promises. We hope that as you read these words and we look at them together in the coming weeks, you enjoy seeing God’s goodness in the book of Daniel.
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Babylon
An ancient city in modern-day Iraq and capital of the Babylonian empire
court
In this case it means the place where a king lived and ruled, along with all those serving him
descendants
people related to Abram, who lived after him; his family line
distinctive
noticeably different
empire
a large group of countries or peoples who are ruled over by a single ruler
establish
set something up such that it is firm and will last
everlasting
has no end
exile
being sent away from your own country and banned from reentering it
exiles
people sent away from their own country and not allowed to return to it
foreshadow
predict or give a hint of something that will happen later
foretold
said what was going to happen before it happened
frustrated
in this case it means prevented their plans from happening
fulfil
cause the completion or achievement of something
graciously
in a way that shows undeserved, unearned kindness
imagery
using words to create pictures in a reader’s mind, often in a way that helps to communicate an idea, description, impression or mood
overlap
in this case it means having things or ideas in common – shared characteristics
parallels
things or ideas that are very similar to other things or ideas
persecution
seriously unfair or unkind treatment, for example because of your race
prophecies
Old Testament prophecies involved – among other things – God’s prophets (his chosen messengers) telling God’s people what God was going to do in the future.
revelation
in this case, God making something known that only he can make known
scattering
making people or things go in lots of different directions
symbols
signs/shapes/objects/pictures that represent something else
triumph
win
visions
In the Bible, they are a way God allows someone to see details of a heavenly reality and/or future event.
