Part 1 of 5 articles

I. Daniel’s Dedication, 1:1-21

A. Daniel’s Circumstances, 1:1-7
B. Daniel’s Dedication, 1:8-16
C. Daniel’s Rise to Favor, 1:17-21

II. Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream: The Great Image, 2:1-49

A. The Dream Received by Nebuchadnezzar, 2:1-6
B. The Dream Revealed to Daniel, 2:7-23
C. The Dream Recited and Interpreted to Nebuchadnezzar, 2:24-45
D. The Promotion of Daniel, 2:46-49

III. The Fiery Furnace: A Lesson in Faith, 3:1-30

A. The Test of Faith, 3:1-12
B. The Demonstration of Faith, 3:13-18
C. The Vindication of Faith, 3:19-30

IV. Nebuchadnezzar’s Vision of the Great Tree, 4:1-37

A. AHA: This Vision is either narrated by or written by Nebuchadnezzar, 4:1-18 [Daniel 4:4]
B. The Vision Interpreted by Daniel, 4:19-27
C. The Vision Fulfilled by God, 4:28-37

V. Belshazzar’s Feast, 5:1-31

A. Belshazzar’s Contribution to the Feast: Unrestrained Sensualism, 5:1-4
B. God’s Contribution to the Feast: Handwriting on the Wall, 5:5-6
C. Daniel’s Contribution to the Feast: Announcement of Doom, 5:7-29
D. Darius the Mede’s Contribution to the Feast: Destruction of Babylon, 5:30-31

VI. Daniel in the Lions’ Den, 6:1-28

A. The Position of Daniel, 6:1-3
B. The Plot Against Daniel, 6:4-9
C. The Prayer of Daniel, 6:10-11
D. The Prosecution of Daniel, 6:12-17
E. The Protection of Daniel, 6:18-28

VII. Daniel’s Vision of the Four Beasts and the Ancient of Days, 7:1-28

A. Historical Data, 7:1-3
B. The Vision and the Interpretation, 7:4-15
C. The interpretation 7:16-28

 VIII. Daniel’s Vision of the Ram, Goat, and Little Horn, 8:1-27

A. The Vision, 8:1-14
B. The Interpretation, 8:15-27

1. The ram, 8:15-20
2. The goat, 8:21-22
3. The little horn, 8:23-25
4. The effect on Daniel, 8:26-27

IX. Daniel’s Prophecy of Seventy Weeks of 7 Years each, 9:1-27; i.e. the 70 7’s prophecies.
Daniel 9:1-27

A. Historical Data, 9:1-2
B. Daniel’s Prayer, 9:3-19
C. The Prophecy, 9:20-27

X. Daniel’s Prophetic Panoramic view, 10:1- 12:13

A. Daniel’s Vision, 10:1-9
B. Daniel’s Strengthening, 10:10-11:1
C. Prophecies Concerning the Nations, 11:2-45

Daniel 11 will be our next focus. Names will be inserted for the pronouns Daniel uses. Historical secular names will be given to Daniel 11 scripture like “The KING of the north [?]; “a king even greater than [?]”

1. Persia, 11:2
2. Greece, 11:3-4
3. Egypt and Syria, 11:5-20
4. Antiochus Epiphanes, 11:21-35 (nicknamed Epiphmanes which means the insane)
5. Antiochus’s actions parallel those of the End Time Antichrist, 11:36-45

D. Prophecies Concerning Israel; Daniel 12:1-13

JIV Note: per previous comments, the covenants for Israel and the covenants for the New Testament church follow parallel lines but are not all in-common. Quick example: Israel is promised the “Promised Land;” physical property in the Middle East. The church is promised a rapture and Heavenly property.

Ephesians 6:12, 13 "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to [take a] stand." (Emphasis mine)

Discussion: The Book of Daniel discusses the battles between angels, angelic forces, and the necessity to be prepared for great deception and attacks of the prince of darkness. This Old Testament example gives us a better understanding of why Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 to put on the full armor of God; not to fight fellow mankind, but to resist the devil and his fallen legions in spiritual warfare. [review Daniel 10 for these examples].

This prophetic discussion between the angel Michael and Daniel begins in Daniel 10:14 where he tells Daniel… “Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.” [They are talking about Israel and the chosen people, not the church. The “latter days” are the Tribulation i.e., End Time]

Rev. Dr. Jstark
2023 (February)