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Daniel...
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Daniel
surrounded by the Lions
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Daniel, from the Hebrew
word meaning God is my Judge, is one of the
major prophets of the Old Testament, and of
the New Testament since much of the prophecy
given to him corresponds to that given to the apostle John in the Book of
Revelation, and for our time now - Jesus Christ Himself specifically
referred to events recorded in The Book of Daniel (Matthew
24:15) that
would occur just prior to The Return Of Jesus Christ.
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Daniel was of royal lineage (Daniel 1:3), probably born
in or near Jerusalem about 622 B.C. during the
reign of Josiah (see Kings of Judah). In the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim, about
605 B.C., the great Babylonians under King
Nebuchadnezzar besieged
Jerusalem,
looted the original First Temple that had been built by
Solomon, and took a number of the
people of Judah away into exile in Babylon. Among them was the teenage
Daniel (Daniel 1:1-3). |
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Despite being a prisoner-exile, Daniel's living
conditions in Babylon were likely at least as good as they had been back
home. He was selected, along with a number of others, to be trained for
service in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 1:3-7). There, he
distinguished himself with wisdom and ability (Daniel 1:19).
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Daniel's first great test came when he was required not
only to interpret the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, but to do so
without the king even telling him what the dream was (Daniel 2:1-23). With
the help of God, Daniel successfully interpreted the dream which represented the great future empires of history, from the
time then of Babylonian supremacy (Daniel 2:37), to the Persians who
conquered them (see Ancient Empires - Persia), to the Greeks who in turn
conquered them (see Ancient Empires - Greece), to the successive revivals
of the Roman Empire (see Ancient Empires - Rome) that will lead right to
the Return of Jesus Christ (Daniel 2:34,44). |
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