Summary...
What it may have meant to its original audience...
How Jesus might have read it...
What it might mean for our faith today...
Some important themes in this book...
Some important questions to ask about this book...
The book of Daniel is considered by some scholars to be one of the last books written in the Old Testament. It is a particularly interesting book both for its narrative and poetic sections. While we are focusing on the narrative here, it is worth noting that the book of Daniel, which is also filled with crazy visions and strange language, is what we call an ‘Apocalypse’. This is a genre, type or ‘family’ of writing that includes the book of Revelation from the New Testament, and is focused on the consequences that Israel’s enemies will one day face.
In its narrative section, Daniel initially deals with the struggles of some of the exiles who have been taken to Babylon, describing the ways that the people there are threatened in their faith by the Babylonian rulers and how they end up surviving those tests. Daniel is a Judean exile in Babylon, where he is raised and educated in the King’s court. In a scene reminiscent of Joseph’s story from Genesis, Daniel is called upon to interpret a dream of the Babylonian king. Daniel’s interpretation of the dream states that the kingdom of Babylon will be succeeded by increasingly powerful kingdoms, until God’s kingdom arises that will not be replaced or ruled by humans. Daniel is honoured for his interpretation, despite the doom it promises to bring.
He arranges promotions for three of his friends—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. However the young men soon become the focus of an interesting story where they are condemned to death by burning for not following pagan religious practices. They are saved by a mysterious fourth figure (an angel, or embodiment of God) who joins them in the furnace and stops them being burned.
Soon, the Babylonians (also called the Chaldeans) are overthrown by the Mede and Persian Empires. Daniel faces his own test of faith after being thrown to lions, but soon secures his place among the royal court of the new rulers. We are then told that Daniel prospered into the reign of Cyrus the Persian, whose conquest of the ancient near-east created some significant possibilities for the exiled Israelites of Judea.