27 - Daniel

TLDR: Daniel and his friends stay faithful in Babylon; God reveals dreams and rescues from the furnace and the lions. Visions of kingdoms and the Son of Man point to God's everlasting kingdom.

Overarching Storyline

Ch. 1–6: Stories — diet, Nebuchadnezzar's dreams, furnace, handwriting on the wall, lions' den. Ch. 7–12: Visions — four beasts, ram and goat, 70 weeks, end-times.

Bible Project: Daniel overview.

Pegs for Memorizing This Book

• Person: Daniel, Shadrach/Meshach/Abednego, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar.
• Image: Lion's den, furnace, statue, beasts, Son of Man.
• Number: 3 (in the fire; 3 friends), 70 (weeks in ch. 9), 6 (chapters of stories).
• Phrase: "God is able" (3:17); "Son of man" (7:13); "Seventy weeks" (9:24).

Highlights

• Daniel 2 — Nebuchadnezzar's dream; stone that becomes a mountain.
• Daniel 3 — Fiery furnace; "the fourth looks like a son of the gods."
• Daniel 6 — Lions' den.
• Daniel 7:13–14 — Son of man coming with the clouds.
• Daniel 9:24–27 — Seventy weeks.

(Link to verse entries and meditations as added.)

Before and After

• Before: Ezekiel is vision and restoration; Daniel is court narrative and apocalyptic.
• After: Hosea opens the Twelve; Daniel's Son of Man is picked up in the Gospels and Revelation.

Place in the Overarching Biblical Story

Faithfulness and kingdom. Jesus is the Son of Man (Mark 14:62); the kingdom that will never be destroyed is His. The book encourages faithfulness under pressure.

Interesting Facts

• Aramaic — Daniel 2:4–7:28 is in Aramaic; rest in Hebrew.
• Seventy weeks — Interpreted many ways; often seen as pointing to the coming of the Anointed One.