Daniel

When Daniel was a teenager, the army of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem. Daniel and other young nobles were taken far away to Babylon, the greatest city in the world at that time.

The King’s Plan

Nebuchadnezzar wanted to turn these young Hebrews into Babylonians. He changed their names, gave them a 3-year Babylonian education, and sent them food and wine from his royal table.

Daniel’s name was changed to Belteshazzar. But Daniel could not be changed on the inside.

The Courageous Choice

The Law of Moses forbade certain foods. By eating from the king’s table, Daniel would have broken God’s Law. He purposed in his heart not to do it.

He respectfully asked to eat only vegetables and water for 10 days. The official was afraid he would be punished if Daniel looked weaker. But Daniel asked him to give him the chance.

The Result

After 10 days, Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, looked healthier and better fed than all the other young men. God gave them knowledge and understanding.

King Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream that he could not remember in the morning. He demanded that the magicians and astrologers tell him the dream and explain it.

The Impossible Demand

No one in the world can know another person’s dream! The wise men admitted: “There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter.”

The king was furious and ordered that all the wise men of Babylon be killed, including Daniel and his friends.

Daniel Prays

Daniel asked for time. Then he went home and asked God for help together with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. During the night God revealed the secret to him.

Daniel praised God right away:

The Explanation

Daniel told the king his dream: a great statue made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay, standing for the great empires of the world. A stone struck the statue and smashed it, and became a mountain that filled the whole earth, God’s kingdom.

Nebuchadnezzar bowed down before Daniel and admitted: “Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets.”

King Nebuchadnezzar set up a gold statue 90 feet (27 meters) high on the plain of Dura. He ordered all the officials of the empire to bow down to the statue when they heard the music.

The Punishment for Refusing

The order was clear: whoever would not bow down would be thrown at once into a blazing furnace!

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel’s friends, refused. Someone told the king. Furious, Nebuchadnezzar called them in and warned them himself:

The Answer of the Three

Their answer is one of the most courageous in the whole Bible:

The Miracle

The king ordered the furnace heated 7 times hotter. He had them thrown in. But looking into the furnace, Nebuchadnezzar saw 4 men walking around free, and he said: “the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

The three came out unharmed. Their clothes did not even smell of smoke.

After Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar came to the throne, a king who did not respect God. One night he held a grand feast for a thousand of his nobles.

Defying God

At the feast, Belshazzar ordered that the gold and silver vessels taken from the Temple in Jerusalem be brought in. The king and his nobles drank wine from them and praised idols of gold, silver, bronze, and wood.

It was a direct challenge to God.

The Hand That Writes

Suddenly a man’s hand appeared and wrote on the white wall of the hall:

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN

The king turned pale. He trembled. His advisers did not know what it meant.

Daniel Explains

The queen reminded him of Daniel. Daniel was brought in and spoke without fear:

The meaning: 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.”

“In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.”

Under the new king Darius, Daniel became one of the three most important rulers of the empire. The king even planned to put him over the whole kingdom.

Envy and a Plot

The other rulers and officials envied Daniel and looked for something to accuse him of. But they found nothing, because Daniel was faithful and honest.

So they decided to attack the one thing he would not change: his faith in God.

They convinced Darius to sign a decree: for 30 days, no one may pray to anyone but the king, on pain of being thrown into the lions’ den.

Daniel Keeps Praying

Daniel learned about the decree. He opened his window toward Jerusalem and prayed three times a day as he always had, where everyone could see.

He was caught and brought to the king. Darius was sad, because he loved Daniel, but the law could not be changed. Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den.

The Rescue

The king did not sleep all night. In the morning he ran to the den and cried out: “O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?”

Daniel came out unharmed. God protects those who are faithful to Him.

On top of all the miracles he lived through, Daniel received extraordinary visions from God about the future of the world and the coming of the Messiah.

Daniel’s Visions

In visions Daniel saw four great beasts coming up out of the sea, standing for the great empires of the world: Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome.

But most importantly, he saw something beyond all the empires:

The Messiah in Daniel’s Prophecies

Daniel prophesied about the Anointed One, the Messiah, hundreds of years before Jesus was born:

• He foretold that the Messiah would be cut off (Daniel 9:26), a reference to the death of Jesus
• He spoke about the resurrection of the dead (Daniel 12:2)
• He described God’s everlasting kingdom, which will never be destroyed

The Man Loved by God

The angel Gabriel told Daniel: “thou art greatly beloved.” God had valued Daniel for his whole life of faithfulness.

Daniel lived through 4 empires, served 6 kings, and stayed faithful to God from his youth to a very old age.