things daniel teaches us book of daniel timeline

The first attested figure to question the authorship of Daniel was the Neo-Platonist Porphyry (ca. Is the Book of Daniel Maccabean Propaganda? In this way, Daniel’s prophecies are as powerful a message to us today as they were to Nebuchadnezzar. Just like they do not believe in the supernatural creation of the world in 6 days around 6,000 years ago, they do not believe that someone could be given actual knowledge about future events by the Creator. It is important to note that secularists reject Daniel for the same reason that they reject Genesis-they are materialists. It is not surprising that scholars who reject a supernatural Creator also reject the idea of accurate prophecy. The clear prophetic dream foreseeing the kingdoms that would arise after Nebuchadnezzar is either prophecy or a forgery written after these kingdoms arose. One of the most-attacked books of the Old Testament is the book of Daniel. Unsurprisingly, they doubt the historical accuracy of almost every biblical detail that has not been unambiguously confirmed by archaeology. Liberal Bible scholars question the composition of almost every book of the Bible. Genesis isn’t “front and center” in Daniel, but it underlies Daniel’s theology so much that it’s impossible to understand the book without that foundation.

Only the one true God could give the prophetic dream and interpretation and fulfill it, showing he is greater than the Babylonian king, his false gods, and the astrologers that functioned within that pagan system.

When Daniel was able to tell Nebuchadnezzar his dream and the interpretation (Daniel 2), that was because God, who gave the dream in the first place, gave Daniel both the details of the dream and the interpretation. The reason God can give accurate prophecies through the prophets is that he is the Creator who determines the course of history before it happens. He is free to miraculously overturn death sentences, to give revelation to the king that could only be interpreted by God’s servants, and to judge the king himself when he became too prideful. The Jews in that time had to make hard decisions regarding their continued obedience and loyalty to their God, and the ways in which that loyalty was rewarded prove that even though God’s people were being judged for a season, God himself is greater than the pagan empire and its gods. In the book of Daniel, the people of God were in exile under a pagan king who worshipped a false god.

Things daniel teaches us book of daniel timeline