Daniel - Introduction

PLUS

NEXT I. Daniel’s Deportation and His Faithfulness to God (Daniel 1:1-21)

Introduction

Author

UNTIL MODERN TIMES, IT WAS broadly accepted that Daniel authored the book that bears his name. Modern critical scholars, however, usually reject that the historical Daniel wrote it—as they do in the cases of a number of other prophetic biblical books. This is mostly based on a denial of the possibility of predictive prophecy. Yet, unless one assumes that God is unable to reveal the future to his prophets, then there is no good reason to deny the traditional view that Daniel wrote the book. Moreover, the discovery of a portion of a Daniel manuscript among the Dead Sea Scrolls testifies to an older date of writing than most critical scholars are willing to affirm. Thus, it is likely that Daniel wrote sometime after the end of the Babylonian captivity in the sixth century BC.

Daniel claims to have received visions from God, which he subsequently recorded (e.g., 2:19; 7:2; 8:1; 10:7). In Matthew 24:15, Jesus attributes the prophecy about the “abomination of desolation” (9:27; 11:31; 12:11) to Daniel. This confirms that our Lord believes the historical Daniel authored the book.

Historical Background

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Judah three times: once in 605 BC, again in 597 BC, and again in 586 BC. During the last of these, he destroyed Jerusalem and razed the temple. But, it was after the first invasion that Daniel and his friends were taken to Babylon in captivity (1:1-7). Daniel’s service to Nebuchadnezzar began after his arrival there and continued into the reign of Cyrus, the Medo-Persian king who defeated the Babylonians (1:21; 10:1).

Message and Purpose

The book of Daniel is about how God’s people are to live during the times of the Gentiles. Daniel was one of the first exiles to Babylon, where the Jews fell under Gentile domination because of their sin and rebellion against God.

Daniel’s book is designed to teach how the entire period of Gentile rule—from Daniel’s day to the second coming of the Messiah to set up his kingdom—should be viewed. God used the nations to bring judgment and discipline to Israel. In his own life, Daniel also illustrated how the people of God were to live, showing what faithfulness to God and his kingdom agenda looked like even when undergoing his discipline.

This book includes prophecy, as well as prayer, apocalyptic visions, and insight into spiritual warfare—all of which teach that God’s people are under his sovereignty even when circumstances on earth do not appear to be in their favor. Daniel shows that the God of heaven rules on earth, even when earth seems to be out of control.

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