{"id":5660,"date":"2012-06-27T01:00:15","date_gmt":"2012-06-27T08:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/?p=5660"},"modified":"2012-11-28T04:27:54","modified_gmt":"2012-11-28T12:27:54","slug":"bob-daniel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/2012\/06\/27\/bob-daniel\/","title":{"rendered":"BOB – Daniel"},"content":{"rendered":"

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by Stephen Rodgers<\/em><\/p>\n

DANIEL IN\u00a010\u00a0WORDS\u00a0OR\u00a0LESS<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Faithful to God in a challenging setting, Daniel is blessed.”<\/p>\n

TITLE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like almost all the other prophetic books, the book of Daniel takes its name from the prophet responsible for its content. And since Daniel is a particularly significant book in the context of the OT, let’s get this started with a more-expanded-than-usual quote from the MSB:<\/p>\n

According to Hebrew custom, the title is drawn from the prophet who throughout the book received revelations from God. Daniel bridges the entire 70 years of the Babylonian captivity (ca. 605\u2013536 B.C.; cf. Dan. 1:1 and 9:1\u20133). Nine of the 12 chapters relate revelation through dreams\/visions. Daniel was God\u2019s mouthpiece to the Gentile and Jewish world, declaring God\u2019s current and future plans. What Revelation is to the NT prophetically and apocalyptically, Daniel is to the OT.<\/em><\/p>\n

AUTHOR\u00a0&\u00a0AUDIENCE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Per the MSB:<\/p>\n

Several verses indicate that the writer is Daniel (Dan. 8:15,27; 9:2; 10:2,7; 12:4,5), whose name means \u201cGod is my Judge.\u201d He wrote in the autobiographical first person from Dan. 7:2 on, and is to be distinguished from the other 3 Daniel\u2019s of the OT (cf. 1 Chr. 3:1; Ezra 8:2; Neh. 10:6). As a teenager, possibly about 15 years old, Daniel was kidnaped from his noble family in Judah and deported to Babylon to be brainwashed into Babylonian culture for the task of assisting in dealing with the imported Jews. There he spent the remainder of a long life (85 years or more). He made the most of the exile, successfully exalting God by his character and service. He quickly rose to the role of statesman by official royal appointment and served as a confidante of kings as well as a prophet in two world empires, i.e., the Babylonian (Dan. 2:48) and the Medo-Persian (Dan. 6:1,2). Christ confirmed Daniel as the author of this book (cf. Matt. 24:15).<\/em><\/p>\n

Per Constable:<\/p>\n

There is little doubt among conservative scholars that Daniel himself wrote this book under the Holy Spirit\u2019s guidance. Probably he did so late in his life, which could have been about 530 B.C. or a few years later. Several Persian-derived governmental terms appear in the book. The presence of these words suggests that the book received its final polishing after Persian had become the official language of government. This would have been late in Daniel\u2019s life. What makes Daniel\u2019s authorship quite clear is both internal and external evidence. <\/em>(see OBJECTIONS)<\/p>\n

Assuming a traditional date of composition (approximately 530 BC), Daniel would have been writing for the benefit of other Jewish exiles in Babylon.<\/p>\n

DATE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Per the MSB:<\/p>\n

Daniel lived beyond the time described in Dan. 10:1 (ca. 536 B.C.). It seems most probable that he wrote the book shortly after this date but before ca. 530 B.C. Daniel 2:4b\u20137:28, which prophetically describes the course of Gentile world history, was originally and appropriately written in Aramaic, the contemporary language of international business.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ezekiel<\/a>, Habakkuk<\/a>, Jeremiah<\/a>, and Zephaniah<\/a> were Daniel\u2019s prophetic contemporaries. (As\u00a0discussed\u00a0below, Ezekiel actually references Daniel twice).<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND\u00a0&\u00a0SETTING<\/strong><\/p>\n

Roughly speaking, you can think of Jeremiah<\/a> as the prequel<\/em> to both Ezekiel<\/a> and Daniel, with the latter two being simultaneous and roughly concurrent sequels<\/em> which continue the story from different points of view, which in turn set up the events in Ezra<\/a> and Nehemiah<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So let’s do a quick review just to get our bearings:<\/p>\n