There are many prophecies about the coming of Jesus in the Old Testament and undoubtedly one of the most important is found in the Book of Daniel. Do you know this biblical book?
All about Book of Daniel
Christians have in the New Testament the basis of our faith, with the teachings of Jesus Christ as the central axis of our life. However, we maintain the Old Testament as a valid book for our beliefs. What is the reason?
First, the Old Testament is also the Word of God. The Bible was written in very remote times, guided by the same Christian God. However, they were the first to write about it: it is the origin of our religion.
In this great set of biblical books prior to Jesus, we find very valid teachings for life and a few prophecies that indicated how the arrival of Jesus Christ on Earth would be; all of them accurately fulfilled years later.
Today we will look at the prophecies of the Book of Daniel, and we will analyze in depth this precious book that has so much to tell.
Watch the video below to introduce you to the subject!
The prophet Daniel
In order to understand the Book of Daniel, it is necessary to understand the biblical character and also the context in which he lived, since there are many references in the book that cannot be understood in any other way.
You have to place this story around the 6th century B.C. 6th century B.C.in the final years of the Old Testament, that is, long after King David and therefore long after the time of Moses.
We are talking about a fairly mature Jewish people, who had already had numerous prophets and the books on which they based their faith were almost complete. However, they remained away from God, bringing many catastrophes to their territory.
One of these catastrophes was the invasion of the kingdom of Judah by the Babylonian empire of Nebuchadnezzar II. Nebuchadnezzar II. With it, Jerusalem was destroyed, and the temple also disappeared; something fundamental for the Jews.
Many of the inhabitants of these territories went exiled to Babylon. Although, it was not a difficult time for everyone. Some were able to climb the ladder in their new destination and reach the highest positions in the empire.
Daniel was part of this group, being chosen by King Nebuchadnezzar to be educated in the court. There he lived with other young Hebrew men, while maintained their faith and their Jewish and their Jewish customs without turning away from God.
This is how he spent his whole life, in which different episodes took place, which are told in the form of an autobiography in the Book of Daniel. For this reason, you will get to know Daniel’s life much better by reading his own book.
Meaning of Daniel in the Bible
Daniel is a very popular name nowadays, and you should know that, apart from being a beautiful name, it is one of the oldest names in the world known and has a very deep meaning given by its Hebrew origin.
The word Daniel can be separated in Hebrew as “Dan-i-el”, which literally means: “God is my judge.”. This meaning is closely linked to the history of the biblical character, since it was God who helped him and saved him from the false justice exercised by the despot monarchs with whom he lived.
The feminine version of the name is Daniela and means the same as the masculine. So, if you want to have a deeply Christian name to give your children or to recommend to anyone you love, Daniel and Daniela are options to consider.
Daniel’s Chronology
In today’s article, we are not going to delve so much into the events that occurred in the Book of Daniel but rather on its prophecies. If you want to know more about Daniel in general, feel free to visit this article!
But don’t worry, we will now give you a summary of Daniel. The exact chronology of the events, to give you an idea of what happened. In addition, you will be able to see the structure of the book in broad strokes.
Daniel 1: Context of Daniel
We find ourselves in Daniel chapter 1which begins in the Bible just after Ezekiel; closing the group of books of major prophets.
Here, Daniel makes an introduction to his introduction to his character and the context that surrounds him; so that by reading the book you have an idea of the historical period in which the events take place and who the relevant characters are.
Daniel 2, Daniel 3 and Daniel 4: Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel
The first chapters after the introduction, tell the story in the time of King Nebuchadnezzar II, who conquered Jerusalem and chose Daniel to serve in the court.
During the first chapter, Daniel interprets a dream of Nebuchadnezzar dream of Nebuchadnezzar which consisted of a statue of different materials, signifying the constant change in the empires of the world; but the eternity of the kingdom of God.
In the second, the king orders to throw into the fire three Jews who refused to prostrate themselves before a statue he had built. However, these survive the fire thanks to the Lord without taking any damage.
Finally, the last chapter, concerning Nebuchadnezzar, deals with an episode of the king’s madness. madness of the king induced by God. The Lord made him become a beast and graze in the field for seven weeks until the king, at last, recognized him as the true God.
Daniel 5 and Daniel 6: The fall of the empire
Daniel survived several kings, until he reached the last king of the Babylonian empire: Belshazzar. During a banquet, a woman appeared writing on the wall that no one understood; except for Daniel.
This inscription signified the end of the empire And so it happened that very night. The troops of the Persian king Cyrus II the Great entered Babylon and the Jews were liberated. However, the process of returning to his homeland was much slower.
During the reign of a later Persian king, Darius; a law was written that did not allow people to pray to God. Daniel defaults and is thrown into the lion’s den from which he emerges uninjured.
Daniel 7-11: Prophecies and visions
The last part of the Book of Daniel is devoted to different visions of different visions that he had throughout his life, especially in the last part of his life. In the following section, we will take a closer look at his most important prophecies and which of them have been fulfilled and which have not.
Prophecies of Daniel
As we have told you, the Book of Daniel is full of prophecies of full of prophecies and visions that need to be properly interpreted. Now, let’s take a closer look at them and see what they mean.
Vision of the four beasts
Daniel’s first vision occurs in Daniel 7where he explains that he sees four beasts coming out of the sea fighting each other. These represent four distinct kingdoms that battle each other for supremacy in the world.
Lion and eagle symbolize the Babylonian empire of Nebuchadnezzar and the bear symbolizes the Medo-Persian empire that ended the Babylonian empire and liberated the Jews. The third animal, a leopard, represents the Greek empire of Alexander the Great with four heads because at his death it was divided into four parts.
Finally, the Roman Empire, a fierce and fearsome beast that lasts much longer than the other three. However, it is also destroyed by the power of God, whose government is eternal and immutable.
Daniel speaks of the coming of the son of man a title given to Jesus on many occasions in the Gospels. Daniel does not fail in his prophecy and does so with amazing accuracy, thank God.
Vision of the ram and the goat
In the next chapter, we again have a vision about the succession of empires. In this case, the ram with two horns represents the Medo-Persian empire, one horn being the Medes and the other the Persians.
They are not equal, for the Persians had much more power than the Medes. However, this ram was attacked by a billy goat with a very prominent horn. This great horn represents Alexander the Great and the goat his empire.
When the big horn is broken, i.e., Alexander dies, it is replaced by four smaller horns symbolizing the division of the empire as it happened in reality.
From one of these new horns, a smaller horn comes out, which would correspond to the Syrian king Antiochus IV who also ruled over Israel. Some 2300 days after this, the temple in Jerusalem was purified.
“And he said, ‘Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed'”. (Daniel 8:14 NKJV 1960)
After the vision, the archangel Gabriel to help you interpret it. The most amazing thing about all this is that it all came true exactly and now history is as we know it.
Seventy Weeks Prophecy
“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks; the street and the wall shall be built again in troublous times.” (Daniel 9:25 NKJV1960)
This is the best known prophecy of Daniel. It happens while he is praying, and the archangel Gabriel appears to him again to tell him when he would be the Messiah’s arrival.
They talk about 69 weeks from a decree to restore and build Jerusalem. There are many interpretations as to when the countdown begins, but you should know that we are not talking about the weeks we know today.
At that time, week meant a group of seven years, so it is a period of 483 years. The dates agree if one takes as the beginning the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Nehemiah and some point in the life of Jesus by another.
Again, we see how the Book of Daniel accurately predicts the future and we see how the Messiah is Our Lord Jesus. It also predicts that Jesus will die executed and the temple again destroyed.
Vision of a man in the river
The last vision Daniel’s main theme is the struggle between the archangel Michael and Satan. In the vision, Michael appears and talks to Daniel, explaining everything that happened.
Michael speaks of the Prince of Persia had delayed him 21 days, the Prince of Persia being Satan, for the word prince in ancient times was only used to designate angels and, as you know, Satan was an evil angel.
However, Michael won and came to the Land to help Daniel and the people of Israel. Thus, Michael acts as a protective angel of the people, saving them from all the evil kings who want to destroy them.
God is the king of kings a being superior to anything earthly and who cannot be defeated.
The Book of Daniel, full movie for free
These have been the prophecies and everything you need to know about the Bible’s Book of Daniel. We hope you were surprised by the accuracy of these prophecies and how, thanks to them, we were able to recognize the Messiah when He came to save us.
God’s power is infinite, and so is his love. Thank you for reading this article and keep reading other articles!