The name Dani‘el means “God has judged.” This book is not written in reference to a judgment against Daniel, but through his writings, dreams, and visions, he stands as a judge against the Jewish people in Jerusalem and even Babylon in his present day to the ‘Mystery Babylon’ in the future. The visions and accounts reveal Daniel’s faithfulness to God and how God rewards his obedience to Torah.
Tag: Daniel’s timeline
Chapter 8 – The Ram and Goat
TSome scholars believe the ‘little horn’ represents King Antiochus Epiphanes, who forced everyone in the Greek Seleucid empire to sacrifice to the Greek gods. When Antiochus came into Jerusalem, he ended the sacrificial system, he forced the Jews to stop obeying Torah, circumcising their sons, and observing the Sabbath. He forced them to eat unclean animals and sacrifice to foreign gods. Ultimately he desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem with pig’s blood and set an idol of Zeus in the Holy of Holies.
Chapter 5 – The Hand Writes on the Wall
The Babylonian kingdom is divided at this time between the Medes and the Persians. Esther was crowned Queen of Persia; however, she did not come to royal stature until sometime after 486 BCE. The Temple had been restored by that time and the first wave of Jews had been freed from captivity to live in Jerusalem. Many Jews were comfortable with their lives in Babylon and remained there until after the events in Esther when there was a second exodus from Persia back to Jerusalem.
Chapter 2 – The Dream of the Statue
This event was only two years into Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. The time of preparation for Daniel and the other boys was three years. Because of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, their time in preparation was cut short and they were given places of authority, and Daniel became a prominent member of the king’s court. Eunuchs were never made rulers over provinces or given authority over other men. This is where the controversy comes over whether or not these boys of noble birth were made eunuchs.