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Daniel the Empire Prophet

 

Introduction: The miracles of the "fiery furnace, the writing on the wall, and lions subdued, happened in Daniel.  

In the chapters 1-6  Daniel tells us the history of that era and when the Jews were captive and enslaved by the Babylonians. The first captives were taken in 605 BC when Daniel was just a young man. He also tells of how the kings were so impressed about the knowledge and wisdom that his God gave him that they made Daniel their chief wise man and honored him with gifts.

Daniel predicted the kingdoms yet to come and to be overthrown: King Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon, King Cyrus ruled over the Persian empire, King Darius also king over the Persian empire, (all of which Daniel served as chief wise man as he stayed steadfast servicing the one true God.  Then came the Grecian and Roman Empires which God reviled to Daniel. 

And finally the last kingdom that will never be overthrown and that will last for ever and ever, the kingdom of Jesus Christ, the new heaven and the new earth for us to live with Him and the Father and the angles forever.

 In these chapters Daniel (whose Chaldeans name was Belteshazzar) was tested in a den of lions and his friends are tested because of their strong faith in the true God. Shad-rach, ( whose Jewish name was Hananiah) ,Meshach (whose Jewish name was  Mishael  ), and Abednego (whose Jewish name was Azariah ) were tested by Nebuchadnezzar for their faith and were sent into a fiery furnace---three were .in and the king saw four walking around in the fire.....when they were called out of the furnace their cloths were not burnt or even smelled of smoke--not a hair or hurt was on their bodies....then the king said "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's words, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort." Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon. (King James Bible Daniel 4:28-30)

Chapters  8-12 Daniels visions from God showed him the future great powers of this world and the coming kingdom of God. 

The book of Daniel in the Greek translation contains more information than the Hebrew and Aramaic text.  The Song of the Three Holy Children, the History of Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon, are the individual books that are listed in the Apocryph.

In my study at bible-history.com (access above) there are 70 weeks mentioned in chapter 9 of Daniel which they explain very well......."The 70 weeks of Daniel......

       The 70 weeks in Daniel are mentioned in Daniel 9, and they refer to a prophecy of Daniel where he claims that the king of Persia will release the Jews to rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem. When he makes this decree the Jews are to begin counting, and after 70 weeks (7 year periods or 490 years) the kingdom of the Messiah will be established on earth. But something interesting would happen, at the end of the 69th week (483 years) the Messiah will be "cut off" which indicates His death. 

 www.bible-history.com)
 

 The final seven year period is suddenly thrown into the future, to the time of the end of the world. This final seven year period is described in the book of Revelation as a time of the Messiah taking back the earth. It is divided into two 3 1/2 year periods and directly in the middle is when the anti-Christ sets up his throne in Jerusalem and reveals himself as God. Certain portions of this final seven years are mentioned in other prophetic books of the Bible like Zechariah. The book of Daniel assures God's people that their situation in exile would not be permanent, that God would keep his promise to Abraham, he would keep his promise through Jeremiah the prophet that they would return after 70 years. And he would also keep his promise that the Jews would still be the channel through which all nations would be blessed. The book of Daniel is a grand tribute to the providence of God and His lordship of history and the universe.

Daniel in short:

       [– –1-6 – – the prophetic ministry of Daniel from King Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon to King Cyrus and Persia– –

-- 7-12– – the visions of Daniel during the reigns of Belshazzar of Babylon, Darius and Cyrus of Persia.] (www.bible-history.com)

 This was a very interesting book and I loved reading it.