Daniel was an exile in Babylon, and was a high ranking official. His life spanned the Babylonian, Media & Persian empires. His book contains remarkable prophecies concerning world events.
Author & date
Both the Author and Date of this book are hotly contested in some quarter. We hold the view that this book was written by Daniel and accept the traditional dating of the 6th century. For further discussion see Notes a. below.
Outline
A. Historical Section Ch.1-6
1. God overcoming the World’s practices Ch.1
- The Hebrew men refusing the king’s meat
2. God overcoming the world’s kingdoms Ch.2
- Dream of Nebuchadnezzar; the image of the statue
3. God overcoming the world’s demand for worship Ch.3
- The three Hebrew men thrown into the fiery furnace
4. God overcoming the world’s pride Ch.4
- Nebuchadnezzar’s humiliation and repentance
5. God overcoming the world’s impiety Ch.5
- Belshazzar’s feast
6. God overcoming the world’s plans Ch.6
- Daniel refuses the king’s order and is thrown into the den of lions
B. Prophetical Section Ch.7-12
1. Vision of the four beasts Ch.7
- Prophecy concerning the four empires
2. Vision of the ram and he-goat Ch.8
- Prophecy concerning the Medio-Persian & Greek empires
3. Prophecy of the 70 weeks Ch.9
- Prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah
4. Daniel’s final visions Ch 10-11
- Daniels’ vision of the Lord Jesus Dan.10:1-9
- Daniel’s vision of the angel Dan.10:10-21
- Prophecies regarding the 400 year gap between Malachi and Matthew Dan.11
5. The prophecies sealed Ch.12
Notes
a. Author and date
- Modern critical scholarship rejects the traditional dating of the 6th century BC and puts it c.168 BC. However there are many reasons why we should accept the traditional dating of the 6th century. One of the best discussions on this is be found in ‘The Prophecy of Daniel’ ( Edward Young; Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1975).
- Jesus speaks explicitly of Daniel both directly and indirectly. Mtt.24:15,21,30;26:64; Lk.12:2.