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Introduction
“The Most High Rules Over The Realm Of Mankind” That is the point of the book of Daniel, to show that Jehovah rules over mankind. Interestingly, the idolatry of the Babylonian and then Persian kings is not directly challenged (for the most part), yet the book makes a point of referring to God as “the…
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Daniel 1
Without doubt, the verse most of us know best from Daniel 1 is vs. 8: “But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.” Daniel’s faith…
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Daniel 2
While most of us know this chapter by the contents of Nebuchadnezzar’s vision (vss. 31-45), the dominant theme is “mystery”. The Aramaic term rāz (translated as “mystery” in the NASB, ESV and NIV, “secret” in the NKJV), is found only 9 times in the Bible, all occurring in the book of Daniel and 8 of those…
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Daniel 3
(Material for this chapter provided by Steve Patton) This event must be viewed not only as Nebuchadnezzar would, but also how the captive Jews would see this event. This day will humble a king and comfort slaves. There will be no doubt who is God of gods and who rules over the affairs of kings…
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Daniel 4-5
In our study of chapter 2 we noted how the Aramaic section of Daniel (2.4-7.28) has a symmetrical outline: 4 kingdoms and God’s sovereignty (Daniel 2) God delivers those who trust in Him (Daniel 3) God humbles those who walk in pride (Daniel 4) God humbles those who walk in pride (Daniel 5) God delivers…
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Daniel 6
Our study of Daniel began with Jehovah giving His people into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (Daniel 1.1-2). However, God continued to rule over the realm of mankind and brought the Babylonian empire to an end, giving Babylon into the hand of “Darius the Mede” (Daniel 5.30-31). As we noted in our last…
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Daniel 7
We noted earlier in our study that Daniel 2.4-7.28 were written in Aramaic, which may be significant as this entire section focuses on the Lord’s rule over the nations. As we put forth before, there’s a scheme to the material in this section: 4 kingdoms and God’s sovereignty (Daniel 2) God delivers those who trust in Him…
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Daniel 8
As we’ve noted already, both Daniel 7 and Daniel 2 contain dreams where 4 world empires are described, but God’s eternal Kingdom is established, bringing to an end the dominion of man. However, there are some significant differences between the two chapters. First, the dream of chapter 7 was given to God’s prophet, Daniel, whereas the dream of chapter…
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Daniel 9.1-23
The year 539 BC was a momentous one. Daniel had served in the court of the Babylonian king ever since the first captives were taken (605 B.C.) and had witnessed Babylon’s fall to the Persians (Daniel 5.30-31). But to Daniel that year wasn’t important merely because one empire had fallen and another had risen in…
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Daniel 9.24-27
The 70 “weeks” prophecy is one of the more challenging passages in Daniel. Various interpretations have been given to the prophecy, and we simply do not have the time to discuss them all. However, when kept in context, the meaning of the prophecy becomes more clear and I hope and pray that this lesson will…
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Daniel 10
In our study of the 70 weeks (Daniel 9.24-27) we proposed that the vision encompassed the time from when Daniel received the message (in the first year of Cyrus, 539 BC) until the time when God would bring His vengeance on the “one who makes desolate”. It seems that Rome is intended, the 4th empire…
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Daniel 11.1-20
In our study of Daniel 10 we saw that a divine messenger was sent to Daniel so that he would have “an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days…” (Daniel 10.14) and that Daniel would be told “what is inscribed in the writing of truth” (Daniel 10.21). God, the Ruler of the…
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Daniel 11.21-45
In previous visions it had been revealed to Daniel that future rulers and kingdoms would continue to oppress his people. In chapter 7 he was told that rulers of the 4th kingdom would wage “war with the saints and overpower them” (7.21). In chapter 8 Daniel was told that a Greek ruler would “destroy mighty…
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Daniel 12
While 2 years elapsed between the visions of Daniel 9 and Daniel 10-12, it seems that the visions were connected. Recall that Daniel concluded his prayer by petitioning the Lord to hear and forgive, “because Your city and Your people are called by Your name” (Daniel 9.19). The Lord responded by sending Gabriel to communicate the “70 sevens”…