The Setting of Daniel: The Babylonian Empire
The Global Message of Daniel for Today
Introduction to Daniel
Timeline
Author and Date
Daniel wrote this book in the sixth century B.C. It records the events of Daniel’s life and the visions that he saw from the time of his exile in 605 B.C. (Daniel 1:1) until 536 B.C., the third year of King Cyrus (Daniel 10:1).
Theme
The book’s central theme is God’s sovereignty over history, empires, and kings (Daniel 2:21; Daniel 4:34). All the kingdoms of this world will come to an end and will be replaced by the Lord’s kingdom, which will never pass away (Daniel 2:44; Daniel 7:27). Though trials and difficulties will continue for God’s people up until the end, those who are faithful will be raised to glory, honor, and everlasting life in this final kingdom (Daniel 12:1).
Key Themes
- It is possible to live a faithful life while surrounded by pagan influences, if one serves the Lord wholeheartedly (ch. Daniel 1:1).
- God can give his faithful servants abilities that cause even unbelievers to appreciate them (chs. Daniel 2:1; Daniel 3:1; Daniel 6:1). Nevertheless, believers should not assume that God will always rescue them from harm (Daniel 3:16).
- God humbles the proud and raises up the humble. Even the hearts of the greatest kings are under his control (chs. Daniel 4:1; Daniel 5:1).
- This world will be a place of persecution for God’s people, getting worse and worse rather than better and better (chs. Daniel 2:1; Daniel 7:1). The Lord will judge the kingdoms of this world and bring them to an end, replacing them with his own kingdom that will never end. This kingdom will be ruled by “one like a son of man” who comes “with the clouds,” a figure who combines human and divine traits (Daniel 7:13).
- God is sovereign over the course of history, even over those who rebel against him and seek to destroy his people (ch. Daniel 8:1).
- The Babylonian exile was not the end of Israel’s history of rebellion and judgment. In the future, Israel would continue to sin against the Lord, and Jerusalem would be handed over to her enemies, who would damage her temple and do other offensive things (chs. Daniel 8:1; Daniel 9:1; Daniel 12:1). Eventually, though, the anointed ruler would come to deliver God’s people from their sins (Daniel 9:24).
- These earthly events are reflections of a great conflict between angelic forces of good and evil (ch. Daniel 10:1). Prayer is a significant weapon in that conflict (Daniel 9:23).
- God rules over all of these conflicts and events, he limits the damage they do, and he has a precise timetable for the end of his people’s persecutions. At that time he will finally intervene to cleanse and deliver his people (ch. Daniel 12:1).
- In the meantime, believers must be patient and faithful in a hostile world, looking to the Lord alone for deliverance (Daniel 11:33).
Outline
The book of Daniel 1:1 is made up of two halves, each of which has its own literary style. The first half (chs. Daniel 1:1) contains stories from the lives of Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They show how God’s people should live in a world that is not their home (compare Jeremiah 29:5; Hebrews 13:14). The second half of the book (Daniel 7:1) contains apocalyptic visions. They are designed to reassure God’s people that, in spite of their present persecution and suffering, God is in control and will ultimately be victorious.
- Daniel and the Three Friends at the Babylonian Court (Daniel 1:1)
- The Visions of Daniel (Daniel 7:1)
The Setting of Daniel: The Babylonian Empire
c. 605–536 B.C.
Though their empire was short-lived by comparison with the Assyrians before them and the Persians after them, the Babylonians dominated the Near East during the early days of Daniel, and they were responsible for his initial exile to Babylon. Daniel himself, however, outlived the Babylonian Empire, which fell to the Persians in 538 B.C. (See also the map on p. 1163, “The Empires of Daniel’s Visions: The Persians.”)
The Global Message of Daniel
Daniel in Redemptive History
The book of Daniel 1:1 recounts events of worldwide proportion in Daniel’s own day that continue to have decisive significance for the global church today.
Israel’s homelessness. Daniel was a Jew who lived far from his homeland, about six hundred years before Christ. He first served under Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar, and then under the Persian king Cyrus. As with other prophets such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Daniel lived and wrote in the swirling events associated with the exile of Judah to Babylon in the sixth century B.C. It was a tumultuous time for God’s people.
What was especially painful was the apparent end of Israel’s special covenant relationship with God—including their presence in the long-awaited and hard-won Promised Land (Numbers 1:1—Joshua). Exiled from this land, Israel seems to have forfeited their relationship with God through their persistent faithlessness. Yet the book of Daniel 1:1 confronts such discouragement in at least three ways.
God’s encouragement. First, Daniel reminds us that God will not abandon his people. In a long prayer Daniel declares that Yahweh is “the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments” (Daniel 9:4). This does not mean God keeps covenant only with those who never sin—the very next verse of Daniel’s prayer acknowledges his and others’ sin (Daniel 9:5). Rather, for those who trust the Lord, despite their sin, he will prove faithful to redeem and finally restore them. Second, we learn that wherever God’s people are in the world, God provides them the means to be faithful to him. Suffering through exile does not prevent faithfulness. Third, we see in Daniel 1:1 that God’s plan to bring blessing to all the nations has not been foiled, despite the disobedience of his people. Rather, God governs all world events through his sovereign power and good pleasure, and he is determined to bring his saving presence to all the ends of the earth.
Finally, the book of Daniel 1:1 plays its role, along with every other Old Testament book, in preparing us for the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. For example, Daniel speaks of one “like a son of man” who comes in great power and glory (Daniel 7:13) and Jesus draws on the language of Daniel 7:1 to describe himself as the “Son of Man” in the Gospels.
A cosmic war. Viewing Daniel from a broad perspective, we see in this book the way God’s kingdom always clashes with this world’s kingdoms. Ultimately we see this conflict come to a climax in Christ, who ushers in God’s kingdom even as he is rejected by this world’s kingdoms, both religious (the Jews) and irreligious (the Romans). And in Revelation 1:1, picking up much of the imagery of Daniel, we see the final clash between “Babylon”—the godless superpowers of this world, led by Satan—and faithful believers, led by Christ.
Universal Themes in Daniel
Strangers and exiles in this world. Daniel and his friends lived in a hostile environment in which their fundamental loyalty to God was deeply tested. Their presence in Babylon, serving in the king’s court among a foreign people unfriendly toward the God of the Jews, is a picture of what it means for believers all around the world to live in similarly hostile environments. The apostle Peter called the first-century Gentile believers to whom he wrote “elect exiles of the Dispersion” (1 Peter 1:2) and “sojourners” (1 Peter 2:11). Just as God’s people were scattered (“dispersed”) from the Promised Land in Daniel’s time, so believers today are scattered throughout the world, often outnumbered and living among antagonistic people groups. The book of Daniel 1:1 is encouraging as it provides a portrait of what faithfulness in such situations looks like. It reminds us that faithfulness to God is our glad duty no matter what may result (see Daniel 3:16).
God’s sovereignty over world affairs. Throughout Daniel, and especially in chapters 4–5, we see God’s utter sovereignty over global affairs. As mighty King Nebuchadnezzar confessed, “all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand” (Daniel 4:35). This was deep comfort for God’s people in Daniel’s day as they were reminded of the Lord’s invincible sovereignty, and the same holds true today.
The Global Message of Daniel for Today
The book of Daniel 1:1 has much to say to the global church today. In Daniel we see God exercising his sovereign wisdom over all world affairs, even the actions of the most powerful individual rulers of his day. In a world of clashing ideologies and godless worldviews, it is easy to lose hope that truth will prevail. Conflicts rage all around us, great and small, including at times systemic oppression of whole people groups or nations.
The book of Daniel 1:1 rebukes our weak faith amid such thoughts. For Daniel himself lived in a time of unprecedented international strife. Yet we find in his prophecy an exalted view of God and a quiet trust in the Lord’s providential governing of all human affairs, even conflict and evil. The Lord always reigns in perfect righteousness.
Most wonderfully, we see in Daniel 1:1 the sure hope of a coming ruler—“an anointed one, a prince” (Daniel 9:25)—who will put all injustice and wickedness to flight and restore the world and the people of God. He will come to “put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness” (Daniel 9:24). He will be “like a son of man” and will be given glory so “that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him” (Daniel 7:13). In Christ this anointed prince has come. He came once to inaugurate his rule two thousand years ago. One day he will come again to bring it to final and righteous completion.