THE PROPHETIC SYMBOLS OF DANIEL MUST BE INTERPRETED BY THE BIBLE ITSELF. MAN-MADE INTERPRETATIONS HAVE NO VALIDITY AT ALL. THE COMPREHENSION OF THE PROPHECIES OF DANIEL GIVE US A CLEARER UNDERSTANDING OF JESUS.

DANIEL, ALTHOUGH WRITING IN THE THIRD PERSON, GAVE A PERSONAL HISTORY, AS HE LIVED IT, IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL. JESUS ATTESTED TO DANIEL'S RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE WORDS FOUND IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL, AS HIS THIRD POINT, WHEN HE TOLD HIS FOLLOWERS TO UNDERSTAND THE PROPHECIES OF DANIEL, THE FIRST TWO BEING: TO STUDY THE PROPHECIES, AND THEY COULD BE UNDERSTOOD.

DANIEL IS SET DURING THE REIGN OF KING NEBUCHDREZZAR OF BABYLON, WHICH BEGAN IN 605 B.C., AND EXTENDS INTO

TODAY WE LIVE IN A TIME OF PROSPERITY, WHEN IT IS RELATIVELY EASY TO SERVE GOD. IF WE CANNOT BE OBEDIENT TO GOD IN THIS TIME OF RELATIVE EASE, CAN WE EXPECT TO BE LOYAL WHEN THE TIMES ARE DIFFICULT?

DANIEL, IN HIS SEVENTIES AT THE TIME OF THE MEDO-PERSION CONQUEST, WAS KNOWN TO BE A PROPHET, SEER AND FAITHFUL ADMINISTRATOR WHO WAS FAVORED WITH WISDOM BY GOD. THE NEW KING, DARIUS, WAS WELL PLEASED WITH DANIEL AND MADE PLANS FOR HIM TO GOVERN THE KINGDOM FOR HIM. THIS INCURRED THE JEALOUSY OF THE OTHER RULERS WHO PLOTTED TO DISCREDIT DANIEL. TRICKING THE KING, THEY MANIPULATED HIM IN TO PROCLAIMING A NEW LAW WHICH THEY NEW WOULD END WITH DANIEL'S DEATH. THEY HAD NOT CONSIDERED DANIEL'S PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH, AND STEADFASTNESS TO GOD, WHICH HAD PROTECTED SUSTAINED AND PROSPERED HIM THROUGHOUT HIS CAPTIVITY. THE KING WAS IN A NO-WIN SITUATION AND COULD NOT HELP DANIEL. HE WOULD UNDERMINE HIS OWN POWER IF HE PARDONED HIM, AND IF HE DID NOT HE WOULD LOOSE THE ONLY PERSON HE COULD TRUST. DANIEL STOOD HIS GROUND AND DID NOT CHANGE HIS PRAYER HABITS WHICH MEANT HE VIOLATED THE LAW. DANIEL COULD NOT DENY HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD; COULD NOT HID HIS FAITH. HE KNEW THE SOURCE OF HIS STRENGTH AND WHO HAD

FALSE WORSHIP AND DISOBEDIENCE HAD LED TO ISRAEL'S CAPTIVITY IN THE FIRST PLACE. WE SEE THAT DANIEL AND HIS FRIENDS, WHEN TAKEN INTO CAPTIVITY, FACED IMPORTANT TESTS, IMPOSED BY NEBUCHADREZZAR, BUT DIRECTED BY GOD, TO TEST THEIR FAITH AND CHARACTER. THE TESTS DESCRIBED IN THE BEGINNING OF DANIEL SEEM MILD WHEN COMPARED TO THOSE THAT CAME LATER, BUT DANIEL WAS ALWAYS CONSISTENT IN CHOOSING OBEDIENCE TO GOD RATHER THAN OBEDIENCE TO MAN, ALTHOUGH, IN DOING SO HE RISKED EVEN HIS MORTAL LIFE. THE FIRST TEST, SEEMS SIMPLE ENOUGH. DO DANIEL AND HIS FRIENDS EAT WITH THE KING OR NOT? THEY CHOOSE NOT TO BE TEMPTED BY THE KING'S BOUNTY BUT TO REMAIN LOYAL TO GOD AND WERE REWARDED. AN IMPLICATION NOT TO OVERLOOK HERE IS THAT THESE FOUR CHILDREN WERE NOT THE ONLY ONES TAKEN INTO CAPTIVITY. THEY ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO ARE KNOWN TO US TO HAVE REMAINED FAITHFUL TO GOD; WHO NEVER COMPROMISED EVEN, WHAT SEEMS TO US, THE SMALLEST ISSUE. THOSE WHO COULD NOT REMAIN LOYAL TO GOD AND WHO COMPROMISED ON THIS FIRST TEST ARE NOT EVEN MENTIONED AND EVIDENTLY COMPROMISED ON ALL THE OTHER TESTS.

BECAUSE OF THEIR DISOBEDIENCE TO GOD, THE NATIONS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH FOUND THEMSELVES CONQUERED BY NEBUCHADREZZAR AND THEIR PEOPLE TAKEN CAPTIVE TO A HEATHEN COUNTRY. ALTHOUGH, THE BOOK OF DANIEL WAS WRITTEN WHILE GOD'S PEOPLE WERE CAPTIVE IN BABYLON BECAUSE OF THEIR SINS, THE FOCUS OF THE BOOK IS NOT ABOUT THE CAPTIVITY, BUT ABOUT THE END TIME. THIS DISCOVERY ABOUT THE BOOK, GIVES DANIEL RELEVANCE FOR US TODAY.

VISITED BY TWO ANGELIC BEINGS, ONE BEING CHRIST HIMSELF, DANIEL WAS TOLD HE HAD FAITHFULLY AND OBEDIENTLY DONE COMPLETED HIS WORK FOR THE LORD; THERE WOULD BE NO MORE VISIONS FOR HIM TO SEE NOR PROPHECIES TO RECORD, DANIEL COULD GO ABOUT HIS OWN BUSINESS UNTIL THE END OF HIS LIFE AT WHICH TIME HE WOULD REST UNTIL HE WAS RESURRECTED BODILY AT THE END OF THE TRIBULATION.

THERE ARE TWO ISSUES THAT ARE AT THE FORE OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL...WORSHIP AND OBEDIENCE. THROUGHOUT THE BOOK OF DANIEL WE SEE HOW HIS OBEDIENCE TO GOD AND WORSHIP OF GOD ARE THREATENED AND TESTED. HIS PROPHECIES POINT TO THE LAST DAYS WHEN THESE ISSUES WILL ARISE AGAIN. THEN, AS NOW, GOVERNMENTS TRY TO PROHIBIT TRUE WORSHIP AND IMPOSE FALSE WORSHIP. THE BOOK OF DANIEL CLEARLY TELLS US THAT GOD WILL HAVE A VICTORIOUS PEOPLE. THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE AND REMAIN TRUE AND FAITHFUL, AS DANIEL DID, WILL BE DELIVERED.

BELSHAZZAR SUCCEEDED NEBUCHADREZZAR AS KING OF BABYLON. HE CHOOSE NOT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE ONE TRUE GOD AND HE DID NOT RESPECT THE CONSECRATED OBJECTS OF WORSHIP WHICH HAD BEEN STOLEN FROM THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM.

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Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)