|
Part 0: Introduction to the book published 7/9/1999Nothing is known of the early life of Daniel other than what he tells us of himself in the book. His writings are written in two different ways. In chapters 1-6 he writes in the 3rd person (eg "Daniel resolved not to ..." Dn 1:8 and "Daniel then said ..." Dn 1:11). During the period covered by chapters 1 to 6, Daniel is recording the history of the time which included important dreams which Gentile kings received and which Daniel proceeded to interpret for them. Chapters 7-12 contain little about history and much about prophetic visions which came, together with their interpretation, to Daniel himself. In these chapters Daniel writes in the 1st person (eg first "Daniel said 'In my vision at night I looked ..." Dn 7:2 then "I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit ..." Dn 7:15 etc.) Critics of the Bible have always found difficulty in accepting that Daniel actually wrote the book in spite of his writing half of it in the first person, and that is because of the historical accuracy, as it turned out, of the detailed prophecy about later kings and wars after the fall of Babylon (Dn 11:2-35). Many have preferred to think of it as a writing in the 2nd century BC, written after the event, rather than in the 6th during the lifetime of Daniel. However, Jesus attests its authenticity when refering to the "desolation spoken of through the prophet Daniel" (Mt 24:15). Evangelical Christians usually regard Daniel as the writer of the whole book. It is not the purpose of these studies to look at the prophetic teachings which it contains. However the general approach to interpreting Daniel's prophecies is that all of them up to and including the vision of seventy weeks (Dn 9:24) are accomplished either:
The studies which form this series are character studies about Daniel and about his companions, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo. It is intended to see what made these four effective witnesses for God in an unbelieving society, and what lessons are to be drawn from their lives.)
|