Among the great prophetic books of Scripture, the Book of Daniel provides the most comprehensive and chronological prophetic position of the wide motion of history. Of the three prophetic plans revealed in Scripture, sketching the class of the states, Israel, and the church, Daniel entirely reveals the inside informations of God ‘s program for both the states and Israel.[ 1 ]The Book of Daniel is the record of the life and prophetic disclosures given to Daniel, a confined Jew carried off the Babylon after the first conquering of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC. The testimony of events extends to the 3rd twelvemonth of Cyrus and covers a period of about 70 old ages. Daniel himself may hold lived on to about 530 BC.[ 1 ]Harmonizing to the Orthodox position, the Book of Daniel is a narration of some unexpected events that happened in the life of a angelic Judaic prisoner, keeping a really high place at the tribunals of Babylon and of Persia, a fragmental life of the 1 who was a particular front-runner of Eden, including visions such as have been granted to no other adult male, except perchance the beloved apostle – visions making to the terminal of clip.[ 2 ]
At the clip when the Book was composing the Grecian imperium occupied what is now Palestine. After the rise of the concluding imperium, the writer had the advantage of hindsight. The book is chiefly a history of past events, non a prognostication of the hereafter. The writer wrote the book about a century before the Roman Empire was attacked by Palestine. Since he had no cognition or outlook of this invasion, it was non mentioned in the book. In the concluding chapter of Daniel, the writer describes the “ terminal of history ” – a Resurrection of the dead, judgement and reassign the resurrected dead to heaven or hell. Daniel 12:12 says that these events would go on during about three old ages following the “ abomination of devastation ” ( the hard-on of a statue of Zeus in the Judaic temple in 167 BCE ) . Some Bible bookmans have interpreted this period of clip as busying many millenary. But this is clearly non a valid reading, because Daniel 12:12 refers to people who “ delay and unrecorded to see the completion of the interval. ”[ 3 ]The cardinal subject of the Book- its convincing integrity unity.
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The traditional division of the book of Daniel into two halves ( 1-6 ; 7-12 ) has normally been justified on the footing that the first six chapters are historical and the last six chapters are revelatory or prognostic. The Book of Daniel gives a elaborate history of Daniel ‘s life ; small is said about the history of Israel or the tonss of the Judaic prisoners in Babylon.
The intent of the Book was to uncover God ‘s go oning to work in His people Israel even in the clip of the clip of their correction[ 4 ], to set up hope in future Restoration by reflecting in vision God ‘s covering with Israel ‘s national wickedness through the times of the Gentiles[ 5 ], to dispute “ the faithful to be awake and ready for the unexpected intercession of God in wrapping up all of human history ”[ 6 ]. The reading of the Dreams, Visions and End of the World are besides different. There is a point of position that 4 lands mentioned in the Book symbolize Babylon, Greece, Rome and Medo-Persia.
Talking about the writer of the book we can happen a batch of different points of position. The conservative Christians have strong belief that The Book of Daniel was written by himself. Furthermore there is twosome of poetries that proves this assuming: “ I, Daniel, was reading the Bibles… ” ( Daniel 9:2 ) , “ I, Daniel, looked and saw two others standing… ” ( Daniel 12:5 ) , “ … as for me, Daniel, my ideas dismayed me greatly… . ” ( Daniel 7:28 ) The Broad Christians consider that the writer of the Book was anon. and written long clip after the decease of Daniel. Reasons for this theory are: the Book includes Greek linguistic communication which was non in that country at the clip the Book was written, in Daniel 1:4 is said about the “ Chaldaeans ” ( the pastoral category in Babylon ) and this term besides was non used until 6Th century, the musical instruments mentioned in the Book of Daniel was non present at that minute[ 7 ].
The Book of Daniel is the most comprehensive prophetic disclosure of the Old Testament, giving the lone entire position of the universe history from Babylon to the 2nd coming of Christ and interrelating Gentile history and prognostication with that which concerns Israel. Daniel provides the key to the overall reading of prognostication. Its disclosure of the sovereignty and power of God has brought confidence to Jew and Gentile alike that God will carry through His crowned head intents in clip and infinity.[ 8 ]
Part II
In the first chapters of the Book of Daniel there is a analogues between Daniel at the tribunal and Nebuchadnezzar and Joseph at the tribunal of Pharaoh. Both work forces were expatriates, showed model commitment to God and his jurisprudence. Both became intimates of the male monarch and were given 2nd topographic point merely to him in the authorities of the kingdom. Both work forces were recognized as holding extraordinary gifts from God, were classed as outstanding among those who were “ wise ” , and were associated with the other wise work forces of the tribunal.[ 9 ]
The Book of Daniel provides God like a crowned head, loving, almighty, righteous and merciful. He is the God of Israel and He is God of the Gentiles. Both of these statements are sufficiently sustained in the content of the Book. Besides Daniel does n’t concern himself chiefly with Messianic.
The philosophy of angels is outstanding in the Book of Daniel with Gabriel and Michael named and active in the events of the Book. In this, Daniel is an progress in the Old Testament philosophy but the broad unfavorable judgment that Daniel borrowed from Babylonian and Iranian beginnings is undue and it is non supported by the text.
Daniel ‘s part to eschatology is apparent with his chief subject being the class of history and Israel ‘s relation to it, climaxing in the 2nd coming of Christ. On the whole, Daniel makes a enormous part to theology in maintaining with the general disclosure of Scripture, but representing a distinguishable progress in Old Testament disclosure.[ 10 ]
