Daniel
(Daniel 12: 11. Matthew 24: 15)
(C3375-3445, 625/530 BC)
Daniel in Hebrew, means "God’s judge”. He wrote a book of prophecies that bears his name.
Nothing is known for certain of his ancestry or family, except that he was of noble lineage, possibly of the Royal House of David (Daniel 1:3).
Daniel was taken to Babylon in the third year of King Jehoiakim of Judah (604 BC) and chosen by the Babylonians among the young people in whom there “was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand”, able to serve in the palace of the king. He was then taught the language and the literature of the Chaldeans.
Along with three other Jewish young men picked with him, to avoid contamination he decided to refuse the king's wine and delicacies apportioned to him, limiting himself to vegetables and water. God caused the chief of the eunuchs to allow them to do so for ten days, as a test. At the end, it was found that they were stronger and enjoyed better health than the others, so he and his companions were allowed to continue eating that way (Daniel 1: 8-16).
God blessed these four young people during those three years of learning by giving them “knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams“. (Daniel 1:17). When brought to Nebuchadnezzar, the king chose them from among them all to serve before him, because he found them " ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm" (Daniel 1:20).
Shortly after, the king commanded that all the wise men be destroyed: the reason was that his “magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and the Chaldeans” had angered him by not being able to dscover and then interpret a dream that had troubled him a lot but that he had forgotten. Daniel had not participated, but was included in the condemnation.
Daniel then obtained concession of time from king so that he would be able to find out and tell him the dream and its interpretation. He advised his comrades (who were also sentenced to death) and the four asked for God's mercy so they would not perish along with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
God answered their request, and “the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision”. After praising God for this, Daniel told the King what had been revealed, giving full credit to the true God. This vision is the first prophecy of Daniel, known as “of the statue", which provides the sequence of great empires involving Israel, since Babylon until the Millennium.
For having revealed this mystery to him, Nebuchadnezzar worshipped Daniel as if he were a god and stated that “truly your God is the God of gods”, then promoted Daniel, gave him many great gifts, “and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon". At the request of Daniel, the king placed his companions “ over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gate of the king”. (Daniel 2: 1-49).
Nebuchadnezzar had another remarkable dream, which made him again to summon all the wise men of Babylon to give its interpretation, to no avail, and finally see Daniel. The interpretation was then given by Daniel, somewhat disturbed because it disclosed the humiliation coming to Nebuchadnezzar. It happened shortly after, exactly according to the prophetic interpretation of Daniel, and the whole episode was written by Nebuchadnezzar, who finished by praising, extolling and honouring the "King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down." (Daniel 4: 1-37)
In 555 BC, some forty-five years after the "prophecy of the statue" (600 BC), Nebuchadnezzar's son (or grandson) Belshazzar reigned. That's when Daniel had a dream and visions, and wrote the dream of four animals representing the four empires of the previous vision of the statue, namely, the lion (Babylon), the bear (Medo-Persia), the leopard (Greco-Macedonia) and the dreadful and terrible beast (Rome). It should be noted that, at this point, the Babylonian Empire was about to be finally defeated by the army of Medo-Persia which took its place. Daniel saw God surmounting all the powers of the Earth, and the sovereignty of the Son of Man over all (Daniel 7: 1-28).
In 553 BC, Daniel had a vision: he was in Shushan, in the province of Elam, by the River Ulai and he saw a ram that pushed its horns to the West, North and South, and no one could resist it; but a male goat came from the West, attacked the ram, “cast him down to the ground and trampled him; and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand.” It was a prophecy concerning the destruction of the Persian Empire by Alexander the Great, and the great misery that he would bring upon the people of God (Daniel 8: 1.2).
Later that same year, Belshazzar gave a great feast to a thousand of his great men and brought the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had confiscated from the Temple in Jerusalem, and all of them, including their wives and concubines, drank wine from them. “In the same hour the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote opposite the lamp stand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote”. The king was afraid and trembled as he saw it.
No one understood what was written, not even the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers who the King summoned. Apparently Daniel, now an old man, had been forgotten but the queen reminded the King of him, as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, and he had been honoured by Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel was called, identified and the King promised him honours, riches and power, if he could interpret what was written, but Daniel said simply: "Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another; yet I will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation. He described how Nebuchadnezzar had come to know the true God and honoured him, but even knowing this Belshazzar lifted himself above Him, drank wine with his guests in the vessels of the House of God and gave praise to idols made of metal, wood and stone.
Therefore God had sent the fingers of the hand to write words of condemnation and judgment: his Kingdom was divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Belshazzar gave him the promised reward, but that same night was killed and "Darius the Mede, received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years of age" (Daniel 5: 1-31).
Darius appointed three presidents, of whom Daniel was one. The King saw that Daniel "had a great spirit" and did exceed all other presidents and satraps, so he intended to turn the entire Kingdom over to him.
The other leaders, jealous of Daniel, conspired and arranged it so that he would have to disobey a decree signed by the King at their suggestion whereby any person who made a petition to a god or a man other than to the King would be thrown "into the lions ' den".
As expected, Daniel did not fail to pray and pray to his God three times a day, opening his windows towards Jerusalem as he always did.
The King could not turn back and though he wished save Daniel, he was released into the Lions ' den. Early the following morning the King went to the grave and found Daniel unharmed, because God had given him protection.
Those who had plotted against him were arrested and thrown to the lions with their families, and Darius wrote to all peoples under his rule that they should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel Daniel's, " For He is the living God, and steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure to the end.” And Daniel prospered (Daniel 6: 1-28).
Daniel also wrote several prophecies, was instructed by the angel Gabriel, and many of his prophecies were fulfilled and others are awaiting the end of the time of the gentile times to be fulfilled, starting with the last of the seven weeks of years (Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:15), its words being "shut up and the book sealed until the time of the end” (Daniel 12:9.
Daniel is mentioned by God in the book of the prophet Ezekiel (his contemporary), along with Noah and Job, as a man of high justice. His integrity, loyalty to God, wisdom and justice are magnificent examples for all of us, even today.
R David Jones