Bible

Understanding

Made Easy

Daniel

I. CHAPTER ONE

(I) Daniel chapter 1 is in the historical, Biblical time period after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had subdued Judah and taken captive the people in the time of Jehoiakim, king of Judah.
Thus, this is the first captivity of the Jewish people under the Babylonians.
Remember, they were conquered and taken into captivity later on in Bible history during the reigns of the next kings of Judah, which were Jehoiachin and Zedekiah.
So in Daniel’s time, we are talking about the first phase of the Babylonian captivity of which Daniel was already a captive person in Babylon.
Within this captivity was four Jewish boys named Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
They were given the following Babylonian names, respectively: Belteshazzar (i.e. Daniel), Shadrach (i.e. Hananiah), Meshach (Mishael), and Abed-nego (Azariah).
They decided that they were not going to sin by eating the food of King Nebuchadnezzar, because they were going to follow God’s commands of eating only foods approved by the Law of Moses.
So, they asked for pulse (i.e. vegetables) for 10 days to prove that they could go without the king’s food and they proved to be healthier than the others that ate of Nebuchadnezzar’s food.
This is only one example for the modern-day Christian that we do not need the devil’s handouts of sinful things for us to survive.
Instead, God will supply all of our needs (James 1:17; Philippians 4:19).
It is also a good example to modern-day Christians that we are to fear God and not man even if it is arguably the most powerful king on the face of the earth at the time-Nebuchadnezzar (Matthew 10:28)!
Also in Daniel chapter 1, God gave Daniel the ability to understand visions and dreams, which would come in handy later on in his life in a major way

II. CHAPTER TWO (Part 1)

In chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and wanted the interpretation. He threatened his astrologers, magicians, and other so called wise men (as people thought they were) that if they did not give him the interpretation, then he would kill them.
Nebuchadnezzar was a cruel man indeed!
On the other hand, if the person would correctly give the interpretation, then he would receive riches, material things, and
honor in the kingdom.
The wise men that were presented before the king told Nebuchadnezzar that there was no man alive that could interpret his dream.
As a result of his anger, Nebuchadnezzar ordered that all the wise men in the Babylonian kingdom be put to death.
This was a big problem, because Daniel was a wise man in the kingdom!
He would be also marked for death!
Daniel begged of the king for more time in order to find the interpretation of the dream.
What is interesting for Daniel is that he ran to other godly people in the names of Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, and his other friends.
They obviously had a good ole fashioned prayer meeting requesting that God would spare Daniel’s life and the lives of the other wise men in the kingdom.
They also prayed that God would reveal the secret of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream so that these people could be saved.
Although a single Christian’s prayers are powerful enough to move God to deliver him/her (James 5:16), it is never a bad idea to have other godly people intercede as well.
This was common in the first century Christian church as an example for the modern-day church of Christ.
For example, the church prayed for Peter, when he was in prison and God caused an angel to release Peter from that prison (Acts 12:1).
If anyone has a problem in the modern-day church with formal or informal prayer meetings, then they need to consult the Scriptures, because this is something God encourages and not discourages!

III. CHAPTER TWO (Part 2)

Continuing on with Daniel chapter 2, God gave the interpretation of the dream to Daniel, which resulted in his deliverance from death and the wise men of Babylon were spared as well.
As all Christians should do, Daniel immediately thanked and praised God for the blessing of the interpretation of the dream!
Remember, Christians are always to give thanks and praise unto God in the good and bad times of life (Acts 16:25; 1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Another good part about Daniel that we should imitate as Christians is that he gave God credit for the interpretation of the dream and not himself.
No Christian alive can take the credit for what God does.
If so, then we are arrogant, because all blessings come from God (James 1:17).

IV. CHAPTER TWO (Part 3)

Moving forward, Daniel 2 is one of the most important chapters in the Bible, because it foretells the coming of the kingdom of God, which is the church of Christ (Romans 16:16).
Remember, the church and kingdom of God are the same thing, as the Colossian church was shown in the Scriptures (Colossians 1:13; Ephesians 5:23).
Nebuchadnezzar had seen a statue in his dream with the following characteristics:
A head of gold: This symbolized the Babylonian kingdom that God put in power on the earth. Daniel shows Nebuchadnezzar that God was the One that made the king and his empire mighty (Daniel 2:36-38).
Chest and arms that were silver: The second kingdom would not be as grand as Babylon, but it will rise up and replace Babylon as the dominant kingdom (Daniel 2:32, 39). Of course, we know this to be the Medo-Persians, because they defeated the Babylonians later on in history and released the Jews from their Babylonian captivity to return to their homeland. We know that the Jewish migration home from Babylon occurred in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah,which we studied earlier.
Stomach and thighs of brass: The King James Version says that they were brass, but in the Hebrew, the word “nechash” (Strong’s number 5174) means copper or bronze (Brown, Driver, & Briggs, 2001) (Daniel 2:32, 39). This is the Greek kingdom that was a world power before the Romans came into power.
Legs of iron and feet of iron mixed with clay: This is the Roman kingdom that was in power during the times of Jesus Christ in the flesh that occurred hundreds of years after these writings in Daniel (Daniel 2:33, 40-43). In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, he saw this statue being destroyed by a stone not cut out by hands. This stone is the church that Jesus would establish hundreds of years after Daniel’s life.

V. CHAPTER TWO (Part 4)

Daniel 2:44-45 are some of the most important verses that a Christian will read in his/her entire life that will bring inspiration, hope, and joy to his/her soul!
It reads, “44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.”
Now, these verses tell us that in the days of these kingdoms, the great kingdom would be set up.
Surely, God started fulfilling this prophecy from Daniel in the days of Jesus Christ on the earth, because Jesus said that the kingdom of God would come before all of the audience that He was literally speaking to would die (Mark 9:1).
This kingdom came to being in Acts 2, when people were actually added to the church of Christ (Acts 2:38-41, 47; Romans 16:16).
As demonstrated earlier, the Bible uses the words “church” and “kingdom” interchangeably and this surely proves that God always tells the truth, because the kingdom church surely came during the kingdom of the Romans on earth (Colossians 1:13; Ephesians 5:23)!
Furthermore, the kingdom of God would last forever unlike these powerful kingdoms of the past mentioned by Daniel.
Historically, we know that Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome have all faded away as world powers, but the church remains and will forever remain.
Nothing can destroy the church even though there is always trouble on the inside created by Satan and trouble from the outside created by Satan (Revelation 1-3).
Nonetheless, he can never prevail in destroying the church, because God won’t let him!
Unfortunately, all kingdoms of the earth will be broken at one point by the Second Coming of Jesus, because He is going to judge all mankind and assign them to either eternal joy in the kingdom of God or eternal misery in the lake of fire with the devil and his demons (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:12-15).
Thus, when King Jesus comes back again, there will be only one kingdom left standing, which is His kingdom church forever (Romans 16:16).

VI. CHAPTER TWO (Part 5)

Lastly, after interpreting the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel was given gifts from the king and put in charge over the whole province of Babylon in the seat of authority.
He was also put in charge over all the wise men of Babylon.
In fact, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were also made rulers over the providence of Babylon under Daniel.
Daniel obviously showed love for his friends.
The church is to do the same for each other.
We are to look out for each other’s welfare and give out of our own prosperity to our brothers in need (1 Corinthians 16:1-2).

VII. CHAPTER THREE (PART 1)

In Daniel 3, unfortunately, King Nebuchadnezzar set up a golden statue for the people of his kingdom to worship.
When the designated musical instruments were played, the people of Babylon were commanded to bow down and worship the golden statue.
This was automatically a sin for any Jewish person, because the very first of the Ten Commandments of the Law of Moses was that the Jewish people should have no God, but our Father God (Exodus 20).
Thus, this is something that Daniel and the Jewish people in Babylonian captivity could not comply with.
Remember, God wants Christians to be law-abiding citizens, but the only time we disobey the government is when they command us to do things contrary to the Bible (Romans 13; Acts 5).
Thus, we will see Daniel and the pious Jews of Babylon refusing to comply with the King’s orders as an example and inspiration for us Christians to defy evil laws of the government where they are contradictory to God’s Word.
Idolatry is a sin nowadays for Christians, which means that if we bow down to false gods in the form of statues, then we are sinning in the sight of God.
This also means that if we, as Christians, begin to love material things in a greedy way, then we are also committing idolatry, because we are putting material gain and things above God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; 1 Timothy 6:10).

VIII. CHAPTER THREE (PART 2)

In Daniel 3, unfortunately, King Nebuchadnezzar set up a golden statue for the people of his kingdom to worship.
When the designated musical instruments were played, the people of Babylon were commanded to bow down and worship the golden statue.
This was automatically a sin for any Jewish person, because the very first of the Ten Commandments of the Law of Moses was that the Jewish people should have no God, but our Father God (Exodus 20).
Thus, this is something that Daniel and the Jewish people in Babylonian captivity could not comply with.
Remember, God wants Christians to be law-abiding citizens, but the only time we disobey the government is when they command us to do things contrary to the Bible (Romans 13; Acts 5).
Thus, we will see Daniel and the pious Jews of Babylon refusing to comply with the King’s orders as an example and inspiration for us Christians today to defy evil laws of the government where they are contradictory to God’s Word.
Idolatry is a sin nowadays for Christians, which means that if we bow down to false gods in the form of statues, then we are sinning in the sight of God.
This also means that if we, as Christians, begin to love material things in a greedy way, then we are also committing idolatry.
This is because we are putting material gain and things above God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; 1 Timothy 6:10).

IX. CHAPTER THREE (PART 3)

Returning to Daniel chapter 3, it is a shame, but the Babylonian government declared that whoever did not obey by falling down to worship the golden statue, would be immediately thrown into the burning fiery furnace (Daniel 3:6).
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were taken before King Nebuchadnezzar, because they would not bow to the golden statue. This author believes that it is good to step away from his own explanation and let the Word of God speak for itself in Daniel 3:14-20.
It reads according to the New International Version, “14 and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? 15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” 19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual 20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace.”

X. CHAPTER THREE (PART 4)

Daniel 3:14-20 shows us that through faith, the three Jewish men were able to claim that regardless of what happened to them, they were not going to disobey God by worshipping this golden statue.
Their attitude was that if God delivers them or not from the fiery furnace does not matter.
What matters is pleasing God over self-preservation!
What a testament of faith as an example of the type of faith that all Christians should have!
There are times where God will deliver from trials and tribulations and there are times where he will not (Hebrews 11:32-38).
In fact, God is building an enduring Christian character in us, if what troubles us does not kill us (James 1:2-4).
In other words, through our suffering, He makes us stronger Christians.
In fact, sometimes Christians’ enemies actually take Christian lives away from them (Acts 7; 12:1-2).
Thus, Jesus tells all Christians that no matter what you and I suffer, we must stay faithfully, obedient to God to the end of our lives to be saved despite the hardships that we suffer along the way (Luke 9:23; Revelation 2:10; Matthew 7:21).
The real and true faith in God is to confidently say, “No matter what happens to me in life will not take me from my love of God,” as Paul taught us (Romans 8:38-39).
Remember, Christians, we are not out to save the body.
We are out to save our souls in the end (Matthew 10:28).
Remember that true Christianity is filled with hardship and joy, but it will end in everlasting joy with no more pain, sorrow, death, or suffering when Jesus comes back again (Revelation 21:4).
Remember, the body is only dirt, but the soul is priceless unto God shown by Him giving the only currency that could purchase and save it being the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ (Genesis 2:7; John 3:16; Acts 20:28; Revelation 1:5; 1 John 2:2; 4:10; Acts 4:12; Romans 5:9-10; Matthew 16:26).
Christian, please be more concerned with saving the soul and not the body as an imitator of God, Himself!
As a last point regarding this fiery furnace, this ordeal was used as an example to us as God has the ability to deliver us from anything, but He has a choice as to whether He will do so our not (1 John 5:14).
If He chooses to do so, then there is nothing that you and I won’t be delivered from!
Even in death, there is deliverance by God, because there is no more suffering for the Christian child of God after this earthly life (Revelation 21:4).

XI. CHAPTER THREE (PART 5)

Getting back to Daniel 3, the men that took Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to the fiery furnace were killed, because the heat was so hot.
These three Jewish men were thrown into this destructive, hot, fiery furnace, but Nebuchadnezzar saw a fourth person in the fiery furnace like the Son of God!
Nebuchadnezzar saw the three men and the fourth Person walking around unbound in the fiery furnace and unharmed.
Remember, the three men were thrown into the furnace bound but are now loosed from their restraints!
God decided to deliver the three men from certain death as He can do for all Christians if it is His Will!
This author will not settle the debate as to whether the Son of God seen in the fiery furnace was merely an angel (Dehoff, 1989) or a rare Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ, Himself (Gill, n.d.).
There is a strong case that could be presented for either position!
Nonetheless, the point is that God was there in the midst of that fiery furnace as He is always by the side of all faithful Christians at every moment (Matthew 28:18-20).
The good part about God delivering these three men from the fiery furnace is that it caused Nebuchadnezzar to first praise this God of the Jews!
This is the goal of the Christian life. Our Christian goal is to live in such faith and obedience to God that we cause the rest of the world to praise Him after they witness our good, Christian behavior (Matthew 5:16).
Furthermore, Nebuchadnezzar ruled that no one in the Babylonian kingdom could utter a negative word about our God without suffering the penalty of death!

XII. CHAPTER FOUR

In Daniel 4, Daniel was blessed to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a great tree in the midst of the earth that had birds within it and animals underneath.
An angelic being came and commanded that the tree would be cut down to a stump and its roots.
The angel declared that a beast’s mind be given to the stump instead of a man’s mind and that the dew of heaven would fall down on the stump.
Daniel revealed that the stump was Nebuchadnezzar and the dream’s interpretation was that Nebuchadnezzar would be cut down.
This cutting down ended up being fulfilled in the rest of Daniel chapter 4 where God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to be driven from his kingdom to live outside with the animals.
Evidently, God allowed this to happen to the king, because the king did not give God the glory for making Nebuchadnezzar king and giving him such a vast and powerful empire.
God had to humble Nebuchadnezzar by making him go insane and being driven into the fields to literally eat grass like an animal.
After Nebuchadnezzar came back to a sound mind, he acknowledged that God is God and gave the Lord the glory for the king’s accomplishments instead of himself this time.
As constantly mentioned in this study, Christians must give God the glory, because without Him, we can do nothing!

XIII. CHAPTER FIVE

Daniel chapter 5 jumps ahead in time to Belshazzar.
Belshazzar was the last king of Babylon (Easton, n.d.).
Belshazzar was having a drunken party and had the thought to drink out of the cups of the Jewish Temple which were brought to Babylon during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign as king years earlier.
They used these holy cups of the Temple and praised false gods in the process.
This was a great insult to God and God took it personally.
Miraculously, a hand wrote on the wall and made Belshazzar very afraid.
The Babylonian wise men could not interpret the writing on the wall.
The queen suggested that Daniel be brought in to interpret the writing and he was summoned to the gathering.
Daniel reminds Belshazzar that God made Nebuchadnezzar powerful and God humbled Nebuchadnezzar for his pride as Daniel 4 told us.
Belshazzar knew the story of how God humbled Nebuchadnezzar, causing Nebuchadnezzar to praise the true God instead of idols, and still Belshazzar had no fear of God.
Obviously, Belshazzar never gave glory to God, but instead glorified the false gods of the land and he would surely pay for this.
The writing on the wall told Belshazzar that God had judged him and that the Medes and Persians would conquer Babylon.
Belshazzar was also killed that day.
Knowing that God is sovereign from the testimony of Nebuchadnezzar did not stop Belshazzar from worshipping false gods.
Belshazzar was without excuse and God judged him accordingly (Daniel 4-5).

XIV. CHAPTER SIX

In Daniel 6, we come to the Medes and Persians having the most powerful empire of Daniel’s time.
Remember, the Babylonians were defeated by these Medes and Persians back in Daniel 5.
Obviously, Daniel was made a great official in the kingdom of the Medes and Persians (also known as the Medo-Persian Empire or Persian Empire).
Other government officials became jealous of him and wanted to get rid of him.
So they tricked Darius, the king, into signing a decree stating that no one could make a request of a god or man within the next thirty days except to King Darius.
Daniel was caught praying to the God of heaven and these government officials told the king and had Daniel thrown in the lions’ den as punishment.
King Darius did not want anything to happen to Daniel, but the law of his empire was that a decree could not be taken away once it was put in effect by the king.
God sent an angel to the den that stopped the lions from attacking Daniel, because of his faith in the Lord!
The king had Daniel released from the den!
Again, God can deliver if it is His will

XV. CHAPTER SEVEN (Part One)

Before Daniel 7 is summarized, Bible student, please keep in mind that the book of Daniel is not in chronological order either.
Daniel 7 actually happened before Daniel 6.
Daniel 6 is during the Medo-Persian Empire and Daniel 7 is during the Babylonian Empire.
This chapter talks about the prophetic dream of Daniel exposing four world dominant kingdoms of the earth.
In order to understand Daniel chapter 7, we must remember Daniel 3.
Remember the golden image set up by Nebuchadnezzar made up of several different metals and clay?
That image was speaking of the four great empires that would emerge to rule over the world, being Babylon, the Medo-Persians, Greece, and Rome (Dehoff, 1989)!
Daniel chapter 7 is nothing, but an elaboration of Daniel chapter 3!
Thus, in Daniel 7, Daniel saw four beasts.
The first beast resembled a lion, which was the Babylonian kingdom of which Daniel was currently held as a captive in Daniel 7.
The second beast resembled a bear, which stands for the Medo-Persian Empire.
The next beast resembled a leopard and represents the Greek Empire of later days after Daniel.
The last beast, with ten horns, did not have a comparison to a known earthly animal, but it represents the Romans that would rule during Jesus’ day hundreds of years after the death of Daniel.
This beast had iron teeth, which represents the Romans just like Nebuchadnezzar’s statue had iron legs and feet of iron and clay.
Thus, the two dreams are identical in Daniel 3 and 7.

XVI. CHAPTER SEVEN (Part Two)

Also in Daniel 7, Daniel saw a vision of the “Ancient of Days.”
This is obviously a reference to God.
Now, no man has seen God so what Daniel saw was a representation of Him (John 1:18; 1 John 4:12).
The only way that man has ever really seen God is by seeing His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the exact representation of the Father (Hebrews 1:1-3; John 14:8-11).
But the Father, Himself, has never been seen by man on earth.
We see the “Ancient of Days” handing over power and dominion to His representative, which would be Jesus Christ later in Bible history (Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Timothy 6:15).
Thus, Daniel foretold the coming of Jesus Christ as King and His kingdom church lasting forever (Matthew 16:16-18; Acts 2:38-41, 47; Colossians 1:1-18).
Power was taken from the first three beasts (i.e. world kingdoms) and the fourth beast was destroyed, but the everlasting kingdom church was foretold to last forever!
All praises to God!

XVII. CHAPTER EIGHT

In Daniel 8, a powerful vision was given to the Prophet Daniel.
He saw a ram and a goat fighting.
The goat defeated the ram.
The ram represented the Medo-Persian Empire that had not even come into power yet, because this vision happened when Belshazzar was the king of Babylon and Babylon was the dominant world empire at the time of Daniel 8.
Nonetheless, the goat was Greece, which would be the next dominant world empire after the Medo-Persians.
What is interesting to note is that the angel, Gabriel, interprets the vision for Daniel.
There are not many angels mentioned by name, but Gabriel was the angel that told Zacharias that Elizabeth would bear John the Baptist and this angel also told Mary that she would have
the Son of God, Jesus Christ (Luke 1:19-38).
Scripture does not tell us much about the function of angels in the present day of the Christian era, which is today, but we do know that they are sent to help the Christians here on earth (Hebrews 1:13-14).
Also, we know that they are not to be worshipped even though some pray to the angels today in error and against the Scriptures (Revelation 22:8-9).

IX. CHAPTER NINE (PART 1)

Daniel 9 is an important chapter.
Before explaining this chapter, let us again consider the context.
The Word of God came to Daniel while a captive in Babylon in Daniel 8, but in chapter 9, Daniel is a part of the Medo-Persian Empire.
Thus, we have jumped ahead in time in chapter 9.
What is interesting is that Daniel referred to Jeremiah’s prophecy of the 70-year reign of the Babylonians.
This is significant, because it also confirms how we received the modern-day Bible.
The Word of God makes it plain by its own admission that it came from God.
Thus, by Daniel referring to the prophecy of Jeremiah, this proves that the book of Jeremiah is authentically the Word of God.
He also refers to the Law of Moses, which is the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
Thus, Daniel authenticates these books of the Bible as well.
Jesus did the same thing.
His own Words gave proof that the Old Testament of the Bible came from God, Himself (Matthew 7:12; Luke 16:29, 31; Acts 28:23).
Thus, the Scripture is true that tells us that ALL Scripture comes from God (2 Timothy 3:16; Acts 17:10-11).
This means that all of the Old and New Testament Scriptures are the work of God, Himself, and given by God even though the pen of men recorded it.
This is important, because there are some very false teachings which claim that some books of the Bible are authentic and others are not.
One must take the entire Bible or none of it.
One cannot degrade the Word of God and expect to be saved!

X. CHAPTER NINE (PART 2)

Returning to Daniel 9, Daniel prays to God confessing that the Jews had brought on their own suffering due to their sins against God.
Daniel asks for God’s forgiveness and His anger being turned away from the Jews not because they were righteous, but as an act of mercy!
This is how even the Christian gets forgiveness of sins today.
We, as Christians, repent of our sins and pray for God’s forgiveness, not because we are righteous, but because we are humble enough to admit that we need mercy (1 John 1:8; 2 Corinthians 7:10; Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9).
Suddenly, the angel, Gabriel, appeared to Daniel.
Daniel 9:24 is absolutely essential to the Christian faith.
Seventy-weeks will be required before the sins of the Jews would be forgiven and reconciliation with God would take place.
This means 490 years would expire before Jesus Christ would show up on the earth and die for the sins of His people (Hebrews 1:1-3; 10:4, 12; John 1:29) (Dehoff, 1989).
The 490 years is calculated because there are seven days in a week and multiplying this by seventy, then we get 490 years.
We know that the weeks are actually years, because the rest of the chapter speaks of the Messiah, which is Jesus Christ that lived hundreds of years after Daniel.
Remember, not until Jesus died on the cross did any one in the Old Testament or New Testament (which is now) receive the forgiveness of sins, because the animal sacrifices for sin in the Old Testament were only symbolic of the slaying of Jesus being the true Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29; Hebrews 10:1). No one, past, present, or future received the forgiveness of their sins until Jesus died on the cross of Calvary.
Even the Old Testament Jews, including Moses, Aaron, Jacob, Elijah, Elisha, and other famous Bible names were not forgiven until Jesus died (Hebrews 9:15).
Remember, Daniel was praying for the forgiveness of His people and God was responding that this would happen, but it would not happen for 490 years when their and our Messiah, Jesus, would die.
We won’t get into the math regarding Daniel 9:25-26, but the main point is that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would be killed.
Furthermore, Jerusalem would be destroyed again after it was rebuilt, which obviously happened in 70 A.D. by the Romans and commonly documented in our history books (Daniel 9:26-27).
Lastly, Daniel 9:27 shows us that the Messiah, which is Jesus, would bring in the New Testament of the Bible as the covenant that all men must believe and obey to be saved.

X. CHAPTER TEN

In Daniel 10, a messenger from God was sent to tell this prophet about things of the future.
There is debate as to whether this messenger was a mere angel or an appearance of Jesus in Old Testament times.
This debate does not have to be settled here, but there is a strong possibility that this was Jesus in the Old Testament before He became flesh and dwelt among men in the way that we know it (John 1:1-3, 14).
This author is not 100% sure, but it was worth mentioning nonetheless (Revelation 1:5-20) (Torrey, 1880).

XI. CHAPTER ELEVEN

In Daniel 11, the Lord blessed the Prophet Daniel to see the events of the Medo-Persian kingdom before they happened (Daniel 11:1-3).
He then saw Alexander the Great rise to power in the Grecian Empire that would become the world dominant empire after the Medo-Persians (Daniel 11:4).

XII. CHAPTER TWELVE

Lastly, Daniel 12 teaches us some amazing things before the New Testament was written hundreds of years later.
Daniel reveals information to mankind about the final resurrection day of all men.
The Holy Spirit, through Daniel, shows us that the righteous will go on to everlasting life, but the wicked will go on to shame and everlasting contempt.
Obviously, we know that all the dead shall rise and the righteous will go to everlasting life, but the wicked to damnation, which we commonly call “hell” (John 5:28-29).
The Holy Spirit lets us know that many shall be purified (Daniel 12:10).
This is obviously a reference to the blood of Jesus washing away the sins of God’s people, which results in peace with God for the faithfully, obedient Christians (Romans 5:9-10; Acts 22:16; Revelation 1:5; 2:10).