The Book of Daniel, Chapter by Chapter

We want to take you through the book of Daniel chapter by chapter. In our Ezekiel study we saw a priest preaching to the captives by the river Chebar. Daniel was in Babylon at the same time. But he was not with the captives by the river. He was in the palace of the king. We will tell you what each chapter is about and how it fits into the message of the book. And how it points us to the one God that is revealed in Jesus Christ.

Daniel is a book about who really rules. Babylon looked like it ruled the world. Nebuchadnezzar burned the temple and carried off the vessels of God’s house. It looked like the gods of Babylon had won. But over and over Daniel shows us that “the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will” (4:17). Kings come and go. Empires rise and fall. But God’s kingdom “shall never be destroyed” (2:44).

There are three things we want you to take away from this study. Daniel is about faithfulness in a foreign land. Daniel and his friends would not bow. Not to the king’s food. Not to the golden image. Not to the king’s law against prayer. Daniel is about the one God who rules over all. “He removeth kings, and setteth up kings” (2:21). And Daniel points to Jesus Christ. The stone cut out without hands (2:34). The Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven (7:13). And the Messiah who would be cut off but not for himself (9:26). We will explain these points as we go through the book. But we want you to keep them in mind as we begin.

“In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it” (1:1). That is 605 BC. It was the first time Babylon carried people away. Most believe Daniel was a teenager. He was from a noble family. He lived through the whole 70 years. He served under Nebuchadnezzar. Then Belshazzar. Then Darius the Mede. And into the reign of Cyrus king of Persia (1:21; 10:1). Daniel’s name means God is my judge. Ezekiel named him with Noah and Job as a righteous man (Ezekiel 14:14). We saw that in our Ezekiel study.

The book has two halves. Chapters 1–6 are stories about Daniel and his friends. Chapters 7–12 are visions Daniel saw. Also notice the language. Daniel starts in Hebrew. Then in 2:4 when the wise men speak to the king it switches to Aramaic. The language of Babylon. It stays in Aramaic all the way to the end of chapter 7. Then it goes back to Hebrew.¹ The Aramaic part is about the nations and God’s rule over them. The Hebrew part is mostly about God’s people.

Critics will say Daniel was not written by Daniel but by someone around 165 BC.² Because the prophecies in chapter 11 are so exact. We will not go into all of that here. But notice that Jesus called him “Daniel the prophet” (Matthew 24:15). And copies of Daniel were found with the Dead Sea Scrolls. We believe God can tell the future. That is the whole point of the book. “There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets” (2:28).

We will go through the book one chapter at a time until chapter 10. Then we will take chapters 10 to 12 together because they are one vision. Then we will put together what Daniel teaches about the one God. Just like in our other studies we will be using the KJV for our scripture quotations. And we will let you know where you can find the work of the scholars we reference.

“And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god” (v.2). Notice who gave Jehoiakim into his hand. The Lord. Babylon did not win because its gods were stronger. God handed his people over because of their sin. Shinar is where they built the tower of Babel in Genesis 11.

The king wanted the best young men from Israel. Smart. Good looking. Able to learn (v.4). He would train them for 3 years in the language and learning of the Chaldeans. Then they would serve in the palace. Among them were Daniel and Hananiah and Mishael and Azariah (v.6). All 4 of their names had God in them. So the prince of the eunuchs changed their names. Daniel became Belteshazzar. Hananiah became Shadrach. Mishael became Meshach. And Azariah became Abednego (v.7). Babylon wanted to take God out of their names. And out of their hearts.

Daniel did not fight the new name. He did not fight learning their books. But he drew a line at the food. The king’s meat was probably not clean by the law of Moses. And it may have been offered to idols first.³ Daniel made up his mind before the plate was set in front of him. That is the key. Purposed in his heart. Decide before the test comes.

He was wise in how he did it. He asked for a 10 day test. Pulse to eat. That is vegetables. And water to drink (v.12). At the end of 10 days they looked better than all the others (v.15). “As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams” (v.17). When the king tested them he found them “ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm” (v.20). Faithfulness in small things led to favor in big things. “And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus” (v.21). He outlasted the whole empire.

Whose Dwelling Is Not With Flesh

Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that troubled him. He called his wise men. But he would not tell them the dream. He said tell me the dream and what it means. If you cannot I will cut you in pieces (vv.2–5). He wanted to know if they really had power from the gods. The wise men said “There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter” (v.10). “And there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh” (v.11).

Notice what they said. Only the gods could tell. And the gods do not dwell with flesh. They were right that no man could do it. But they were wrong about God. The God of heaven did reveal it through a man. And one day he would come and dwell in flesh himself. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

The king ordered all the wise men killed. That included Daniel. Daniel asked for time. He went to his 3 friends and they prayed together for mercy from the God of heaven (vv.16–18). That night God showed Daniel the secret. And the first thing Daniel did was worship.

Then Daniel went to the king. He said no wise man can do this. “But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets” (v.28). “But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living” (v.30). That is just what Joseph told Pharaoh. “It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace” (Genesis 41:16). We saw that in our Genesis study.

The Great Image

The king saw a great image. Its head was gold. Its breast and arms were silver. Its belly and thighs were brass. Its legs were iron. And its feet were part iron and part clay (vv.32–33). Then a stone was cut out without hands. It hit the image on its feet and broke them in pieces. The whole image became like chaff on the threshing floor. The wind blew it away. “And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth” (v.35).

Daniel told the king “Thou art this head of gold” (v.38). Then after him another kingdom. Then a third. Then a fourth strong as iron (vv.39–40). Most believe these are Babylon. Then Medo-Persia. Then Greece. Then Rome.⁴ Each one less precious than the one before. But stronger and harder. Then this.

The stone is the kingdom of God. And the stone is Jesus Christ. “The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner” (Psalm 118:22). Jesus said “whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder” (Luke 20:18). That is Daniel 2. Notice it was cut out “without hands” (v.34). No man made it. Some have seen the virgin birth in that. Jesus came in the days of the Roman empire. He started small. Like a stone. 12 disciples. And his kingdom is filling the whole earth. Every empire on that image is gone. His kingdom is still here.

The king fell on his face. He said “Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets” (v.47). He made Daniel ruler over the province of Babylon. And at Daniel’s request he put his 3 friends over the affairs of the province (vv.48–49).

Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold. 60 cubits high and 6 cubits wide. About 90 feet tall (v.1). In chapter 2 he was only the head of gold. Now the whole image was gold. He did not want any kingdom to come after his. Everyone had to fall down and worship it when the music played. Or be thrown into a burning fiery furnace (vv.5–6).

Some Chaldeans told the king that Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego would not bow (v.12). The king was furious. He gave them one more chance. Then he said “who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?” (v.15). They answered.

“Not careful” means we do not need to think about it. The answer is no. Our God is able. He will deliver us. But if not. That is real faith. Faith is not only believing God can deliver. It is serving him even if he does not. They did not bow because God would save them. They did not bow because he is God.

The king heated the furnace 7 times hotter (v.19). It was so hot it killed the men who threw them in (v.22). Then the king jumped up. “Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God” (v.25). They went in bound. They walked loose. And they were not alone. When they came out not a hair was burned. Their coats were not changed. They did not even smell like smoke (v.27). Isaiah said “when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned” (Isaiah 43:2).

Trinitarians will say the fourth man was the Son as a second divine person before he came in the flesh.⁵ But notice. Nebuchadnezzar said it in Aramaic. The words are bar elahin. Which means a son of the gods. That is how a pagan king would say a heavenly being. And three verses later the king tells us what he meant. “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants” (v.28). His angel. Also notice. The Bible says the Son was made of a woman when the fulness of the time was come (Galatians 4:4). The Son is God manifest in the flesh. If this was a visible appearance of God in the fire then it was the one God showing himself. Not a second person beside him. And either way the point is the same. God was in the fire with them. He does not always keep us out of the fire. But he will be in it with us.

The king said “there is no other God that can deliver after this sort” (v.29). And he promoted them (v.30).

This chapter is a letter from Nebuchadnezzar himself to the whole world. “How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom” (v.3). Then he tells how he learned it.

He dreamed of a great tree that reached to heaven. It fed everyone and the birds lived in its branches (vv.10–12). Then a watcher and an holy one came down and said cut it down. Leave the stump with a band of iron and brass. Let his heart be changed from a man’s to a beast’s. And let 7 times pass over him (vv.13–16). The reason is given. “To the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men” (v.17).

Daniel did not want to tell him. He said I wish this dream were about your enemies (v.19). But he told him. You are the tree. You will be driven from men and eat grass like an ox until you know that the most High rules (vv.22–25). Then Daniel pleaded with him. “Break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor” (v.27). God gave him a year to repent.

He did not. 12 months later he was walking on the roof of his palace. “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” (v.30). While the words were still in his mouth a voice came from heaven. The kingdom is departed from thee (v.31). That same hour he went mad. He ate grass like an ox. His hair grew like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws (v.33). The greatest king in the world on all fours in a field.

He lifted his eyes up to heaven. And his mind came back. Pride makes a man a beast. Looking up to God makes him a man again. “Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven … and those that walk in pride he is able to abase” (v.37). The man who threw 3 Hebrews in the fire for not worshipping his image ended up worshipping their God.

Years later Belshazzar was king. He threw a great feast for 1000 of his lords (v.1). While he was drinking he called for the gold and silver vessels Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem. They drank wine from them. “And praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone” (v.4). He took what was holy to God and used it to praise idols.

“In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall” (v.5). The king turned pale. His knees knocked together (v.6). None of his wise men could read it. Then the queen remembered Daniel (vv.10–12). Daniel was old now. Maybe in his 80s. The king offered him scarlet and a gold chain and the third place in the kingdom (v.16). Daniel said “Let thy gifts be to thyself” (v.17).

Then Daniel preached to him. He reminded him what happened to Nebuchadnezzar. “And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this” (v.22). “The God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified” (v.23). Belshazzar knew. And did it anyway. Then he read the writing. “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN” (v.25). Mene. God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Tekel. “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.” Peres. Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians (vv.26–28).

“In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom” (vv.30–31). That was 539 BC. Babylon fell in one night. For a long time critics said there was no king named Belshazzar. The lists of Babylon’s kings named Nabonidus as the last king. Then old records were found that name Belshazzar as the son of Nabonidus who ruled in Babylon while his father was away.⁶ That is why he could only offer Daniel the third place in the kingdom. His father was first. He was second. The Bible was right all along.

Darius set 120 princes over the kingdom. And 3 presidents over them. And Daniel was first. “Because an excellent spirit was in him” (v.3). The king planned to put him over the whole realm. The other leaders were jealous. They looked for something wrong in his work. They could not find anything. “We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God” (v.5). What a testimony. The only thing they could attack was his faithfulness to God.

So they got the king to sign a law. For 30 days no one could pray to any god or man except the king. Or he would be thrown to the lions (v.7). The law of the Medes and Persians could not be changed (v.8).

Daniel did not hide. He did not close the windows. He did not change anything. As he did aforetime. He prayed toward Jerusalem. We saw in our 1 Kings study that Solomon asked God to hear his people when they prayed toward that house from a foreign land (1 Kings 8:48). The temple was in ruins. But Daniel still believed that prayer. Three times a day. And notice. He gave thanks. Knowing what would happen.

The king was very upset when he found out. He tried all day to save Daniel. But he could not change his own law (v.14). He said to Daniel “Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee” (v.16). They put a stone over the mouth of the den. The king sealed it with his own signet (v.17). Just like they sealed the stone on the tomb of Jesus (Matthew 27:66). The king did not eat or sleep. Early in the morning he ran to the den. “O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?” (v.20).

“My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me” (v.22). Hebrews 11:33 says by faith they “stopped the mouths of lions.” Daniel came out with no hurt. “Because he believed in his God” (v.23). Then Darius wrote to the whole world. “I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed” (v.26). Another pagan king confessing the God of Israel.

Four Beasts From the Sea

Now the visions begin. This one came in the first year of Belshazzar (v.1). So it goes back in time before chapter 5. Daniel saw the 4 winds of heaven stir up the great sea. And 4 great beasts came up out of it (vv.2–3). A lion with eagle’s wings. A bear with 3 ribs in its mouth. A leopard with 4 wings and 4 heads. And a fourth beast “dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth” and 10 horns (vv.4–7). Then a little horn came up among the 10 horns. “In this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things” (v.8).

These are the same 4 kingdoms as the image in chapter 2.⁷ The king saw them as a shining statue. God showed Daniel what they really were. Beasts. The lion is Babylon. The bear is Medo-Persia. The leopard is Greece. And the fourth beast is Rome. The world sees empires as glorious. God sees them as animals tearing each other apart.

The Ancient of Days

The beasts are loud. But heaven is calm. God is on the throne. The Ancient of days. The one who has always been. His hair is white like wool. His throne is fire with wheels. Just like Ezekiel saw. The books were opened. The beast was killed and burned (v.11). Then Daniel saw this.

The beasts came up from the sea. This one came with the clouds of heaven. And he looked like a man. This is where the title Son of man comes from. Jesus called himself the Son of man more than any other name. And at his trial the high priest asked him if he was the Christ. Jesus said “I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62). The high priest tore his clothes and said blasphemy (Mark 14:63–64). He knew Jesus was claiming Daniel 7.

One God or Two Persons

Trinitarians will say this vision shows two divine persons. The Father as the Ancient of days. And the Son as the Son of man coming to him.⁸ We need to look at this closely. There are three things we want to point out.

First this is a vision. Full of symbols. The kingdoms are beasts. The kings are horns. We do not read the beasts as literal animals. In the same way the vision is showing us something. The Son of man is the man Christ Jesus. A real human being. And as a man he receives the kingdom from God. Jesus said “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18). Paul says God “hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name” (Philippians 2:9). The man receives from God. That is not two Gods. That is God and the man in whom he dwells.

Second notice what John saw. “One like unto the Son of man … His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire” (Revelation 1:13–14). That is the description of the Ancient of days in Daniel 7:9. White as snow. Like wool. Fire. John saw the Son of man. And he looked like the Ancient of days. Jesus is both. He is the Son of man. And he is the Ancient of days. The old Greek translation of Daniel 7:13 even says the Son of man came as the Ancient of days.⁹ And notice verse 22. “Until the Ancient of days came.” The Ancient of days comes. We believe that is the coming of Jesus.

Third notice who is served. In verse 14 all people “should serve him.” The Son of man. Then in verse 27 the kingdom belongs to the most High “and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” The same word for serve is used.¹⁰ It is the word for serving God that the 3 Hebrews used when they would not serve the king’s gods (3:12, 18). The worship given to the Son of man is the worship given to the most High. Because they are not two. The most High came as the Son of man. “God was manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16).

The Little Horn and the Saints

Daniel asked what it all meant. The 4 beasts are 4 kings (v.17). “But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever” (v.18). The little horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them (v.21). “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time” (v.25). Then judgment comes. His dominion is taken away (v.26). And the kingdom is given to the saints. “Whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him” (v.27). There are many views on the little horn.¹¹ We will not go into them here. But the end is the same in every view. The saints get the kingdom. God wins.

From chapter 8 on the book is in Hebrew again. Daniel saw a ram with 2 horns. One higher than the other. It pushed west and north and south. No beast could stand before it (vv.3–4). Then a he goat came from the west so fast it did not touch the ground. It had one great horn between its eyes. It smashed the ram (vv.5–7). Then the great horn was broken. And 4 horns came up in its place (v.8).

Daniel did not have to guess this time. The angel Gabriel told him. This is the first time in the Bible an angel is named. “The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king” (vv.20–21). The first king was Alexander the Great. He conquered the Persian empire in just a few years. He died at 32. And his kingdom was split among 4 of his generals (v.22).

Out of one of the 4 came a little horn. It grew great toward the south and the east and the pleasant land. That is Israel. It took away the daily sacrifice and threw down the sanctuary (vv.9–11). Most believe this was Antiochus Epiphanes.¹² In 167 BC he set up an altar to Zeus in the temple in Jerusalem and offered a pig on it. He tried to wipe out the Jewish faith. “He shall be broken without hand” (v.25). God would take him down. And he did. The Jews still remember the cleansing of the temple after that. It is the feast of dedication. Jesus was in the temple at that feast (John 10:22). Daniel was so overwhelmed by the vision that he fainted and was sick for days (v.27).

Daniel’s Prayer

“In the first year of Darius … I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem” (vv.1–2). Daniel was reading Jeremiah. He saw that the 70 years were almost done. We saw in our Jeremiah study that God promised to bring them back after 70 years (Jeremiah 29:10). Notice what Daniel did. He did not just sit back and wait. He prayed.

He fasted and put on sackcloth and ashes (v.3). And he confessed. Not their sins. Our sins. “We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled” (v.5). Daniel was the most righteous man of his day. And he put himself in with the sinners. “O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces” (v.7). “For we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies” (v.18). “O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name” (v.19). God’s promise did not make Daniel lazy in prayer. It made him pray harder.

Unto the Messiah the Prince

While he was still praying Gabriel came flying swiftly. About the time of the evening sacrifice (v.21). There had not been an evening sacrifice in 70 years. But Daniel still kept the time. Gabriel said “at the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth” (v.23). Then he gave the most amazing prophecy in the Old Testament.

The word for weeks means sevens. 70 sevens. Most believe these are sevens of years.¹³ That is 490 years. Daniel was praying about 70 years. God answered with 70 times 7. Then Gabriel broke it down. From the command to rebuild Jerusalem to the Messiah would be 7 sevens and 62 sevens. That is 69 sevens. 483 years. We saw in our Nehemiah study that many believe the starting point was the decree Artaxerxes gave to Nehemiah to rebuild the walls (Nehemiah 2). Others start with the decree he gave to Ezra (Ezra 7). Either way it brings you to the time of Jesus. We will not go into all the math here. But the point is clear. God told Daniel about 500 years ahead when the Messiah would come.

Notice what would happen. “Shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.” The Messiah would be killed. Not for his own sins. For ours. That is Isaiah 53. “He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken” (Isaiah 53:8). Then “the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” After the Messiah is cut off the city and the temple are destroyed. That happened in 70 AD when the Romans burned the temple. So the Messiah had to come before 70 AD. Jesus came. And Jesus was cut off. And about 40 years later the temple was gone.

Now look at the 6 things in verse 24. To finish the transgression. To make an end of sins. To make reconciliation for iniquity. To bring in everlasting righteousness. To seal up the vision and prophecy. And to anoint the most Holy. Only one person can do those things. Jesus Christ. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). He is the Messiah. Which means the anointed one. And verse 27 says he would “confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” Many believe that is Jesus making the new covenant in his blood. And ending the sacrifices by his one sacrifice.¹⁴ Others believe it is the prince that shall come. We will not be dogmatic on it. But we know this. After the cross no other sacrifice for sin is needed (Hebrews 10:12).

Daniel 10: A Man Clothed in Linen

“In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel” (10:1). By now some of the Jews had gone home. Daniel was too old to go. He mourned and fasted 3 full weeks (10:2–3). Then by the river Hiddekel he saw a man. “Behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude” (10:5–6). The men with Daniel did not see it. But they ran and hid (10:7). Daniel fell on his face.

That description is very close to what John saw of Jesus in Revelation 1:13–15. Linen. A golden girdle. Eyes as fire. Feet like brass. A great voice. Some believe the man was the LORD himself.¹⁵ Others believe he was a mighty angel. Because in verse 13 he says the prince of Persia held him back 21 days until Michael came to help him. We will not be dogmatic here. But notice what he said to Daniel. “From the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words” (10:12). God heard the prayer on day one. The answer took 21 days. Because there was a fight in the spiritual world. Paul says “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers” (Ephesians 6:12). Do not quit praying because the answer has not come yet. “O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong” (10:19).

Daniel 11: The Kings of the North and the South

Chapter 11 is the most detailed prophecy in the Bible. It tells of 3 more kings in Persia and a 4th who is very rich (11:2). Then “a mighty king” who rules with great dominion. And his kingdom is broken and divided to the 4 winds (11:3–4). That is Alexander again. Then it follows the wars between the king of the south and the king of the north. Those are the Ptolemies in Egypt and the Seleucids in Syria. Marriages. Betrayals. Battles. All of it happened just as it is written.¹⁶ Then Antiochus Epiphanes again. He would “pollute the sanctuary” and “place the abomination that maketh desolate” (11:31). Jesus spoke of “the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet” as something still to come in his day (Matthew 24:15). In the middle of all the wars there is one verse for us. “But the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits” (11:32).

From verse 36 the king “shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods” (11:36). Paul talks about the man of sin “who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4). Many believe the end of chapter 11 looks past Antiochus to the end of time. There are many views. We will not go into them here.

Daniel 12: Many That Sleep Shall Awake

“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince … and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book” (12:1). Then the clearest promise of the resurrection in the Old Testament.

Everyone will rise. Some to life. Some to shame. Jesus said “the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:28–29). Notice whose voice raises the dead. His voice. Jesus. And the wise who turn many to righteousness will shine like stars forever. That is the reward for winning souls.

Daniel was told to “shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (12:4). Daniel asked how long. The answer was “a time, times, and an half” (12:7). Daniel said I heard but I did not understand (12:8). “Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end” (12:9). In Revelation John was told the opposite. “Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand” (Revelation 22:10). What Daniel saw sealed John saw opened. The book ends with a promise to an old man who had been faithful for 70 years. “But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days” (12:13). Daniel would die. And he would rise.

Daniel lived among many gods. Babylon had a god for everything. But the book of Daniel shows there is only one God who rules. Before we finish we want to put it all together. There are three things we want to point out.

First the one God rules over every kingdom. “He removeth kings, and setteth up kings” (2:21). “The most High ruleth in the kingdom of men” (4:17). “None can stay his hand” (4:35). Even the pagan kings had to say it. Nebuchadnezzar said “your God is a God of gods” (2:47). And “there is no other God that can deliver after this sort” (3:29). Darius said “he is the living God, and stedfast for ever” (6:26). Not one god among many. The only one who rules.

Second the one God came to dwell with flesh. The wise men of Babylon said the gods do not dwell with flesh (2:11). But the stone cut out without hands came into the world in the days of the Roman empire. The Messiah came at the time Gabriel said. And he was cut off but not for himself (9:26). He came to finish the transgression and make an end of sins and make reconciliation for iniquity (9:24). Only God can do that. And God did it in the flesh.

Third the Son of man and the Ancient of days are not two Gods. The Son of man is the man Christ Jesus who received dominion and glory and a kingdom (7:14). The Ancient of days is the eternal God on the throne. And when John saw the Son of man he had the white hair of the Ancient of days (Revelation 1:14). The Ancient of days came (7:22). The worship given to the Son of man is the worship given to the most High (7:14, 27). Jesus is the man who receives the kingdom. And he is the God who gives it. One God. Revealed in Jesus Christ. “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).

We have gone through Daniel chapter by chapter. Here is what we can conclude. First Daniel is about faithfulness in a foreign land. Daniel purposed in his heart. His friends said but if not. Daniel prayed with his windows open. They lost their homes and their names. But they did not lose their God. And God was with them in the fire and in the den. We live in Babylon too. The same God will keep us.

Second Daniel is about the one God who rules over all. Nebuchadnezzar learned it on his hands and knees in a field. Belshazzar learned it the night he died. Darius wrote it to the whole world. The empires rise up out of the sea like beasts. And one by one they are gone. Gold. Silver. Brass. Iron. Clay. Blown away like chaff. But his kingdom shall never be destroyed.

Third Daniel points to Jesus Christ. The stone cut out without hands that fills the whole earth. The Son of man who comes with the clouds of heaven and receives an everlasting kingdom. The Messiah the Prince who came right on time and was cut off but not for himself. The one whose voice will wake the dead. Daniel did not understand everything he saw. But he knew how it ends. God wins. And those that know their God shall be strong.

The big prophets are done. Now we go back in time to the 12 shorter prophets. The first of them preached to the northern kingdom before it fell. And God told him to marry a woman who would be unfaithful to him. That is where Hosea begins.