Life of Daniel

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The Life of Daniel Story

The Faith of Daniel Bible Stories

This Bible Character study is is our SON-derful Life of Daniel story journey taking an in-depth look into the Faith of Daniel Bible stories which reveal truth as to bring forth understanding and peace within, as well as bringing a smile to the lips and heart.

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The Book of Daniel

Chapter 1

The Faith of Daniel Bible Stories

We are going to talk about a terrible time in the Jewish people's lives. In about 587 B.C., God allowed the king of Babylon (Iraq) named Nebuchadnezzar to overtake Jerusalem and to even destroy the Temple. The reason God allowed this was because the Jewish people were not in obedience to God. The prophet Jeremiah warned them as well as other prophets but they would not heed. So, God allowed them to become enslaved by the Babylonians.

During the captivity, the king of Babylon told his people that he wanted all of the children of the Jewish people that appeared to be unblemished, skillful and wise to be brought to Babylon to be taught the Babylonian speech and ways. Of these children was a special child named Daniel. There were also three friends of his named Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego.

The king ordered that these Jewish children were to eat a certain type of foods that would make them big and strong. However, Daniel and his friends were liked by the keeper of Daniel and his friends and Daniel told him that Daniel and his friends could not eat the food and wine of the Babylonians because it would defile them.

The keeper of the children feared the king would know that Daniel was not eating the food because his appearance would be weak. But, Daniel said "give us 10 days of only water and fruit and I will prove to you that we will be as strong looking as the others that eat the Babylonian diet" ... Of course, after the 10 days was over they looked stronger than the others.

These four children were given knowledge and skill from God. He gave Daniel the ability to understand and interpret dreams just as he had given Joseph in the book of Genesis. This would come in handy in Daniel's future ... After a set amount of time, the king of Babylon called in all the Jewish children that were brought to Babylon. He found Daniel and his friends to be the best of the crop.

He found them to be 10 times wiser than all his magicians and his advisors around him. Daniel and his friends were imprisoned leaving Daniel in captivity until God soon intervenes, or had He already? Be sure continue to see what happens next ...

The Book of Daniel

Chapter 2

The Life of Daniel Story - Dreams

The Faith of Daniel Bible Stories on Friends

Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. When he awoke, he had all his wise men, advisors and astrologers come to him and he asked them to tell him what his dream was and what it meant. They all pondered on his request and asked him to tell them what he dreamed and they would try and interpret it.

Nebuchadnezzar said no, he wanted them to tell him what the dream was as well as what it meant. They could not ... Nebuchadnezzar ordered all of them killed as well as the Jewish children which included Daniel and his friends because he was so upset that he could not find the meaning of the dream.

When Daniel heard of this he asked for a little time to ask God what the dream was and what it meant ... God did give him the dream and the interpretation of the dream. Daniel thanked God and headed out to talk to Nebuchadnezzar. He told him that only God could reveal the dream and had. He began to reveal the dream.

Daniel told king Nebuchadnezzar that the dream the king had was of a great statue with a gold head, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron and feet of iron and clay. Then, a stone cut without hands would hit the feet of the statue and all the parts were destroyed together Verse 35.

Daniel went further and interpreted the dream for the king just after this which you can read in Verses 36-45 ... He says that Nebuchadnezzar's empire Babylon was the gold head in the dream. That after him another empire would arise Medo Persia which is the silver part of the statue and after that the next empire (Greece) which is the brass would conquer and after that the 4th empire would be (Rome) which was the iron. Verses 38-40 (Note: These are the countries that did become the major power, one after another just as Daniel predicted.)

Daniel then said that the last empire, which was made of iron and clay would be a divided kingdom and would be part strong and part broken. They shall not cleave to one another. In the days of this empire, God will destroy it and set up an everlasting Kingdom. Verses 41-45.

Now we know that God has not destroyed this part iron and part clay kingdom as of yet, because God has not set up His everlasting kingdom, YET. Therefore, this part iron and clay, 10 unit (10 toes) empire, is in our future and you will find out that it is the coming Empire of Antichrist.

Back to our journey ... Of course, king Nebuchadnezzar was shocked that Daniel was able to not only tell him his dream but to interpret it. he fell to the ground and worshiped Daniel. he said I now know that Daniel's God is the only true God. The king made Daniel a great man in the kingdom (Just as Pharaoh did for Joseph when he interpreted the dream Pharaoh had) Daniel asked that his 3 friends Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego become rulers as well and it was granted.

The Book of Daniel

Chapter 3

The Life of Daniel Story of Pals

The Faith of Daniel Bible Stories - Nebuchadnezzar

Daniel has just interpreted a dream of Nebuchadnezzar with the gift from God he has. Nebuchadnezzar made him a ruler in the kingdom. Years have passed and Nebuchadnezzar has decided to make a golden statue of himself and that everybody was to drop to their knees, bow and worship the statue when they heard the music sound off.

There came certain men that told the king that the 3 friends of Daniel ... Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego refused to bow and worship the statue and suggested that those who would not should be thrown into a fiery furnace. He had them brought before them and asked why. They told him that God would not like it and would save them from any punishment that may be given for not worshiping the image.

The king was very angry and commanded that the fire be turned up seven times as hot as usual. He then ordered the strongest men that he had to bind the 3 men and toss them into the fire. As they threw the 3 men into the fire, the men that threw these three men in ... Were burned up due the intensity of the heat of the fire.

As Nebuchadnezzar watched the three men fall into the furnace he stood up amazed and asked his advisors that stood by "Did we not cast three men into the fire" They answered him, Yes. He said, Then why do I see four men walking around in the middle of the fire and no harm is coming unto them? He also said a strange thing ... He said that the form of the fourth person was that of the Son of God ...

Isn't that awesome? The Bible calls Angels the sons of God, so one may assume it was an Angel of the Lord, or, that it was Jesus pre-incarnate or maybe or the Holy Spirit. Of a certainty, it was a divine being, sent by God. Do you think the people that were watching weren't freaking out?

Nebuchadnezzar commanded the three to come out of the fire and they did and their hair was not even singed. Then Nebuchadnezzar said, Blessed be the God of Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego who sent His Angel to protect his servants. He also said that any person who ever said anything bad against this God was to be cut in pieces.

Despite the brevity of this absolutely awesome Daniel Furnace into the fire Bible study on the fiery furnace Bible story, it clearly reveals that ... As usual, God was there for his servants and will be there for you as well when you fall into the fire by way of trials and tribulation that all Christians endure. Awesome huh? Make sure you come back and see what happens next ...

The Book of Daniel

Chapter 4

The Life of Daniel Story of Fire

The Faith of Daniel Bible Stories of Hope

As we ponder upon Daniel's three friends were just saved from a fiery death by an Angel of God. Nebuchadnezzar is making yet another announcement praising God and reminding the people about how Daniel was able to interpret a dream he had. He then begins to tell of yet another dream he has had ...

In his dream he saw a great tall tree that reached unto Heaven. The leaves were fair and the fruit fed everyone. The beasts of the field could take refuge in the shade of this tree. In his dream a holy watcher came down from Heaven. This holy one cried out to cut down the great tree, cut off the branches shake off the leaves and scatter the fruit.

But, he said to leave the stump of his roots in the earth even with a band of iron and brass and let the grass be wet with the dew of heaven and let his portion be with the beasts of the earth. Let his heart be changed from a man's to that of a beast and let seven times pass over him. This matter was the decree of the watchers and holy ones. This was commanded so that all may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men.

He asks Daniel to interpret the dream for him ... Within one hour Daniel came troubled and revealed the dream's interpretation. He said YOU are the tree Nebuchadnezzar. Thou art grown and become strong. Thy greatness has grown unto Heaven. God has said that you shall be driven from men and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts for seven years. The stump shall stay for now as your kingdom will continue after you. Then shall you know that God rules ... Not man. Daniel told him to stop sinning and to show mercy to the poor.

Twelve months passed, Nebuchadnezzar was walking around his palace and said Is not Babylon the greatest and was it not built by me and my great power? While he was speaking these words a voice from Heaven said O King Nebuchadnezzar to thee it is spoken. The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men. And thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: They shall make thee to eat grass as oxen and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will.

With the same hour these thing occurred to Nebuchadnezzar. Soon his hairs were like eagle's feathers and his nails were like claws. At the end of the seven years, Nebuchadnezzar looked up to Heaven and his understanding returned to him. He blessed and praised the most High. he knew that all the inhabitants of the earth are as nothing. That God is the one who runs the show.

At the same time Nebuchadnezzar regained his kingdom and had more honor than before because he now knew Truth. He served God the rest of his days ... His last spoken words were that he who walks in pride ... God is able to put down.

Our Nebuchadnezzar's dream bible study on Daniel vision and Daniel interpretation of the dream reveals that we should beware pride in our Christian walk lest we be brought down to size by the Lord. Tell pride to take a ride. Here are two studies to help you accomplish this:

The Book of Daniel

Chapter 5

The Life of Daniel Story - The Hand

The Faith of Daniel Bible Stories of Writing on the Wall

Where does the saying "Read the writing on the wall," come from? Well, perhaps it's from this Bible story.

The kingdom of Babylon was passed down to Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar's son. One day Belshazzar was partying with his friends, worshiping strange gods and drinking wine. He had an idea to impress them by serving his guests with God's vessels that his dad stole from the temple in Jerusalem. You could think of those vessels as God's good china.

God, on the other hand, didn't think this was such a hot idea, being that they were worshiping other gods and all. So in that same hour the fingers of a man's hand (God's) wrote a message on the wall of the king's palace where they were having their good old time.

Understandably, when Belshazzar saw this, he was so shaken that his knees were knocking. He called for all the fortune tellers, stargazers and scholars of Babylon and offered a reward to whoever could discern the message. But, nobody could. So he called in his personal group of "wise" men but they couldn't tell him what it meant either. Then his wife said, don't worry, there's this guy named Daniel who has the Spirit, wisdom, light and understanding of God, he can tell you what it means. He did the same thing for Nebuchadnezzar.

They brought in Daniel and the king offered him great gifts to interpret the writing. Daniel said, keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. (See, Daniel knew that the credit always goes to God for the interpretation of things of this nature.)

Daniel explained that God gave Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom and fame. And for all the magnificence that God gave to him, all people respected him. He killed whoever he wished to, and whoever he wished, he kept alive. Everyone's success or failure was in his control. But when he became arrogant and his pride overtook him, God took away his fame and glory and he was driven from the people and his mind was changed to be like that of a beast. He lived in the wild and ate grass like oxen. He lived like an animal until he learned that God rules over all and it is in His power to elect whoever He wants to be important. The humbling of Nebuchadnezzar took seven years.

Daniel's interpretation continues as he tells Belshazzar that even though he knew all this, he had not humbled his heart either, but had put himself above God and brought the things of God's temple that was in Jerusalem in while he and his filthy friends drank out of them while praising false lifeless gods. But the God whose hand his own breath (life) was in ... Belshazzar had not glorified.

That was when the hand was sent from Him and He wrote this thing, Daniel explained. This is what it means: God has numbered (put an end to) your kingdom. (Numbered, as in "your days are numbered") You have been judged and have been found unworthy. And your kingdom will be divided and given to the Medes and the Persians. Well, imagine that in today's world. A country like (Iraq) Babylon, and the king (Sadaam Huessein) Belshazzar, hearing that his country is going to be split up like a candy bar and given to (Iran and Syria or Turkey) the Medes and the Persians. Oh my!

Belshazzar was astonished. So Belshazzar ordered that Daniel should be the next ruler in Babylon. That night, old Belshazzar was killed and sure enough, Darius the Median, took over the kingdom.

It's funny how we go through years of our lives, using phrases like "the writing on the wall" without knowing where they originated. We need to obey and respect God and all that is His. Now that Babylon is under the rule of Darius, what's in store for Daniel next? We will find out.

The Book of Daniel

Chapter 6

The Life of Daniel Story - Gifts

The Faith of Daniel Bible Stories of Captivity

Keep in mind that the times that Daniel was living in, was when the people of Israel were in captivity. This was a time of sorrow for most of the Hebrews, because they longed for their homeland, their freedom and if any of you have ever had the feeling that God was hiding His face from you because of something you had done ... Then just imagine the children of Israel, for 70 years, praying to enter into His good Graces once more.

Now, we've learned that Daniel, having been blessed with the gift of the Holy Spirit to interpret dreams, escaped quite a life of hardship. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took a liking to Daniel because he interpreted troubling dreams of his, and promoted Daniel to a position of great honor among the Chaldean people.

When Belshazzar died, the new king, Darius, chose one hundred twenty princes to set over the entire kingdom. Over the princes were three presidents that they accounted to. Daniel's reputation was so favorable that Darius chose him to be the highest ranking of these three presidents, which you can imagine made all the others, both princes and presidents, burn with jealousy.

They conspired to discredit Daniel but they couldn't find any faults with him, so they decided that the only thing they could find against him was concerning the law of his God. They requested of the king, that he make a decree, that whoever ask anything of any God or man for thirty days, except the king, was to be cast into the den of lions.

In those days, royal decisions were not overturned. Once a decree was signed by the king, it was not and could not be altered. King Darius, unaware of the wickedness that his royal subjects were devising, signed the decree.

When Daniel heard about the new law, he went into his house and the window that faced Jerusalem was open in his room. And just as he always did before, Daniel knelt down three times a day to pray and give thanks to God.

According to their plan, the princes and presidents spied on Daniel, and found him praying and asking God for blessings. They eagerly reported their discovery to the king, who was very angry with himself for signing the decree, but could not overrule it, according to the law. So Darius determined within himself to find a way to save Daniel, and until the sun went down, he intently tried to figure a way, but it was of no use. The men who accused Daniel reminded the king that the law of the Medes and Persians is that no law that the king establishes may be changed.

The king had no choice, so he told them to take Daniel and throw him into the lion's den. But because the king was fond of Daniel, he said to him, Your God, who you are faithful to, will save you. They rolled a stone over the opening of the cave to seal it, and the king spent a sleepless night in worry about Daniel.

Early in the morning, Darius hurried to the lion's den. Calling out Daniel's name, he asked, Was your God able to save you from the lions? Daniel replied, My God has sent His angel and has shut the lions' mouths so they haven't hurt me, because He knows that I am innocent, and even you know I have done nothing wrong.

The king was very happy, and ordered that Daniel be taken out of the den ... It was a miracle from God, Daniel hadn't a scratch on him. The king then commanded that Daniel's accusers, their wives and their children be thrown to the lions, and the lions devoured them.

King Darius then wrote a new decree:

I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for He is the living God, and steadfast for ever, and His Kingdom shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivers and rescues, and He works miracles in Heaven and on Earth. He has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

So Daniel continued to prosper during the reign of Darius, and during the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

Remember Daniel's gift of interpreting dreams? Come on back soon, and find out what happens when Daniel himself has a very interesting dream ...

The Prophet Daniel in the lions' den Bible story reveals that God was with Daniel and that the Daniel and the lions' den story shares how we should trust in God despite the apparent danger around us. God will be there when we need Him. He is always right on time.

The Book of Daniel

Chapter 7

The Life of Daniel Story - Visions

The Faith of Daniel Bible Stories of Interpretation

In our study of the book of Daniel, Chapter 7 is not in chronological order, as it takes place in the first year of the reign of king Belshazzar. As you may recall, Chapter 6, the story about Daniel in the lion's den, took place during the reign of king Darius, the successor of king Belshazzar, so obviously the events of Chapter 7 took place before the events of Chapter 6.

What is a dream? What is a vision? Where do dreams and visions come from?

Let's take a look at what the Bible says:

In modern English ... God speaks to us once, even twice, and because of one reason or another, we don't perceive His message. He may communicate to us through the Word, another Christian, His still small voice, a sudden breeze, or even a thunderbolt, but many times we fail to recognize God's leading in our lives. So when we sleep, when our pride, our own will, and/or our flesh doesn't prevent us, God opens our understanding and sends His message via a dream.

What's the difference between a dream and a vision? A vision can be part of a dream. A dream of course takes place while you are asleep, or in a state of unconsciousness. A vision can take place while you are awake. The word vision, of course means to see, but it also means to understand. To envision something, means you can imagine it. Notice the root word of imagine is image. An image is something you can see, but to imagine is to picture something, without it actually being a tangible object.

In other words, a vision is a spiritual understanding or foresight of something. A vision can take place in either a conscious or an unconscious state, but dreams only occur in the unconscious realm. A vision can feel like a dream, for example, you may have experienced something that is commonly known as daydreaming, where you actually feel like you're someplace else, and you lose awareness of all that is going on around you, even though your eyes are open and you are not asleep.

Have you ever been driving home from somewhere and when you pull up in the driveway, you can't remember much of the drive? A vision is similar to this "daydreaming" phenomena that we have all experienced, except for the fact that in a vision, the events that you experience while you are in this spiritual realm, are messages from God. A dream doesn't always include a vision or a message from God. Solomon said:

In plain talk ... If there is something important that has been weighing on your mind at your job ... That may cause you to dream about work. Or maybe you watched a scary movie before going to sleep ... That may cause you to have fretful dreams. When something affects you deeply, chances are, you may dream about it, and your dream may or may not be a message from God.

You may recall having a dream about yourself or someone you know, and then some time in the future your dream, or part of it, comes to pass. Did you ever consider that your dream was a message from God? Now, I want you to put yourself in Daniel's shoes for a moment, because his dream is one that affects the future of all mankind. Can you imagine?

Daniel said that in his dream, he saw a terrible tempest upon the sea with the winds of Heaven coming from all directions. Then four great beasts came up out of the water, each one different from the other.

• The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. The wings were plucked and it was lifted up from the Earth, and stood on it's feet like a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
• The second was like a bear. It raised itself up on one side, and it had three ribs between its teeth, and they said to it, Arise, and devour much flesh.
• The third was like a leopard. It had four heads and four wings on its back and it was given power.
• The fourth was a beast was different than the other three. This beast had iron teeth and ten horns. It was very dreadful and terrible and strong. It destroyed the others and stamped the residue with its feet.

In the Book of Revelation, Antichrist's empire is compared to the same beasts ...

Life of Daniel Story - World Powers

The Faith of Daniel Bible Stories of the Little Horn

In the last part of Daniel's dream, another smaller horn came up from among the ten horns and it plucked up three of the ten horns. This little horn had eyes like a man and spoke great things.

Whew ... How could anyone (who didn't have the gift of interpreting dreams) ever figure out the message from a dream like this? You'll see in a short while that the Lord provided Daniel with an interpretation, but that wasn't the end of the dream yet.

Daniel watched until the thrones were cast down (a throne is the seat of a deity or devil). This is also mentioned by John in his vision in the Book of Revelation:

In other words, Satan and his angels were evicted from Heaven:

Next, Daniel saw the Ancient of days ... God ... On His throne, and the Books were opened for the Great White Throne Judgment. Next in his vision, the beast was destroyed, and the rest of the beasts had their power taken away.

Lastly, Daniel saw Jesus in the clouds of Heaven, and brought before God, who gave Him power and glory and an everlasting Kingdom, and all people should serve Him.

As you can imagine, this vision was a frightening experience for Daniel. For one thing, Daniel lived in Old Testament times, before Jesus first visit, so he really knew nothing compared to what we know today of Jesus' life, death and resurrection, not to mention all that we are fortunate to have of the Gospels and the other New Testament writings that teach of the End Times, the Millennium and the New Heaven and New Earth. Taking all this into consideration, you can appreciate Daniel's perplexity when he wrote:

I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.

Ever have that feeling, when something is so worrisome to you that you actually feel sick? It sounds like that's what Daniel is describing. It may have even been easier for Daniel to interpret Nebuchadnezzar's dream than his own, because he didn't experience the horror of the king's dream firsthand. Not to worry though, the Lord sent help.

The next thing that Daniel wrote was that he approached "one of them that stood by," and asked him the Truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. This obviously was a messenger from God, sent to explain the meaning of the dream to Daniel.

The four beasts are four kings, which shall arise, but the saints of God shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever. Daniel wanted to know more details about this fourth beast because the horn that came up out of the ten horns that were in his head, made war with the saints and prevailed until God came and gave them the kingdom.

It was explained to Daniel that the fourth beast will be the fourth kingdom on Earth, which will be different than all kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, tread it down, and destroy it. The ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings or leaders that will arise and another will rise after them. He will be different from the first and he will subdue three kings.

He will speak terrible words against God (blasphemy), and will persecute the saints, and change times and laws, and they shall be given into his hand for 3½ years. But justice will prevail and the saints will take away his power and destroy it once and for all. Then the kingdom will be given to the saints of God and all will serve Him.

That was the end of Daniel's vision. Do ya think this kind of dream would shake ya up a bit? Here's what Daniel said about it: Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.

No doubt!

Take a look with me at a little more of what we read earlier from Revelation:

The dragon is Satan, and the beast is Antichrist. The Antichrist empire has 10 parts (the ten horns of the beast in Daniel's dream).

The Life of Daniel Story - Antichrist

The Faith of Daniel Bible Stories - End Times

If you're a little confused, stay tuned, because Daniel had another vision that we'll learn about in Chapter 11 that will explain this even further, but for now, take a look at the similarities between Nebuchadnezzar's dream from Chapter 2, Daniel's dream, and John's vision from Revelation:

Pretty interesting, yes? We'll be expanding this chart even more in the study of Chapter 11! Until then, be sure to come back to find out what happens next in the life of Daniel the Prophet. I'll give you a little hint ... Daniel has another vision!

Click the link below to learn more of Daniel's vision:

The Book of Daniel

Chapter 8

The Life of Daniel Story - Seer

The Faith of Daniel Bible Stories of Prophecy

The events of this chapter happened two years after Daniel's dream that we studied in Chapter 7, but it is still before the lion's den incident.

Daniel is a Prophet of God ... An Israelite, captive in Babylon, although he has been well favored by the two kings that he has served under, Nebuchadnezzar and his son Belshazzar, because of his incredible gift of interpreting dreams and visions.

Daniel refers to the incident you're about to read about, as a vision. In this vision, Daniel was in the palace at Shushan, which was the capital of Persia at that time, in the ancient city of Elam, by the river of Ulai. Today, this would be somewhere in the southwestern area of Iran.

In Daniel's vision, he saw a ram, standing in front of the river, with two tall horns, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. The ram was pushing westward, northward and southward. No beasts dared challenge him and nobody could be saved from him. He did whatever he wished and became very strong.

Then an he-goat came from the west carried through the air, and the goat had a prominent horn between his eyes. He charged at the ram in great fury and power and attacked, breaking his two horns, leaving the ram no strength to remain standing. The goat threw him to the ground and stamped on him, and nobody could save the ram from the goat.

When the he-goat became strong, his great horn was broken and instead of it, there came four horns from the four winds of Heaven, and out of one of them came a little horn, which became very strong, toward the south, the east, and toward the pleasant land. It became very powerful, opposing the host of Heaven, and some of the host and the stars, it threw down to the ground, and trampled on them.

He esteemed himself equal to the prince of the host, and he took the daily sacrifice away and the temple was pillaged. The he-goat accomplished and prospered much.

Then Daniel heard a holy one say, How long will this last? And another Angel answered, Two thousand and three hundred days, then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.

While Daniel tried to understand the meaning of the vision, the Angel Gabriel appeared to him, and a voice from the banks of the river called to him and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. As he approached Daniel, it terrified him and he fell on his face, but Gabriel said, Understand that the vision will be at the time of the end.

Daniel then fell into a deep sleep with his face toward the ground but Gabriel set him upright and explained the vision.

The ram, having the two horns are the kings of Media and Persia, an empire growing to the north, south and west, and the he-goat is the king of Greece, west of the Medo-Persian Empire. The great horn between his eyes is the first king, then there will be four after him which will not be of his bloodline, but will come from different places.

Then there will arise a fierce king, clever with trickery. He will exercise great power, derived from the devil, and he will cause great destruction, and will prosper and destroy the strong and the saints. He will magnify himself in his heart and by his craftiness, in a time of peace, he will destroy many. He will also stand up against the Prince of princes, but he will be destroyed without even being touched.

Gabriel continued, The vision of the times that you've seen is true, but keep it to yourself, because it won't happen for a long time. Daniel fainted and was sick for days, then got up and returned to his work for the king. The vision astonished him, but he really didn't understand it.

We've probably all heard it said that history repeats itself. Well, There is a very interesting thing about this vision of Daniel's. You see, it happened already, just as Daniel prophesied, and the book of Revelation indicates, as well as the Angel Gabriel explained, that it will happen during the End Times.

Let's take a look at that period in history, when these things already came to pass for just a moment, shall we? There was indeed a king from Greece that took over the Medo-Persian empire. You've probably heard of him before, he was known as Alexander the Great.

You can investigate this in history books if you like, and you'll find that Alexander's kingdom was not passed down to his heirs at his death, but rather, it fell among many ... But particularly, it was divided into four kingdoms. To the west of Alexander's kingdom, became the Roman domain, the area that the Bible refers to as Macedonia was ruled by Antigonus, the area formerly known as Asia was taken over by Seleucus, and Egypt was conquered by Ptolemy.

By and by out of Greece there came along the little horn, whose name was Antiochus Epiphanes. In addition to his tyrannical ruling of every place he conquered, he reigned terror on Israel for three and a half years, pillaged the temple, took away the daily sacrifice and built an idol on God's altar. He made the Jewish people build temples, set up idols in every city, offer swine to them every day, and forsake the worship of God. Anyone who didn't obey him was threatened to be punished. He murdered many, burned the city, took thousands and thousands captive and appointed guards to make sure the Jewish people did as he commanded.

Now, remember that in Daniel's vision, Gabriel told him that he (the little horn) would be destroyed without even being touched. It just so happened that Antiochus Epiphanes, in his pursuit to terrorize yet more people in Persia, was challenged by them, driven away and lost much of his army in the conflict.

At the same time, the Jewish people began to strengthen themselves against Antiochus by opposing his commanders in Judea, and when he was told of the defeat, coupled with the beating he took in Persia, it literally drove him mad, and he died of insanity, admitting just before his death that he was being punished for the misery that he had brought upon the Jewish people.

The Life of Daniel Story Summary

The Faith of Daniel Bible Stories Continue

Daniel always believed in and trusted in God, even when the odds were obviously against him. Oh, what faith! We should strive to obtain and maintain the faith of Daniel despite the potential pitfalls and lurking lures that we may encounter along our Christian path in these chaotic and CON-cerning times.

Also never forget what we learned from the faith of Daniel Bible stories concerning the reaction of Daniel during times of trouble. He prayed ... Effective Prayer truly works. Don't be scared. Be prayer prepared.

If you think all of this is interesting ... Just you wait!!! Have you ever had a recurring dream? If so, you're not the only one! Daniel had another vision concerning this very same thing that we'll be studying when we get to Chapter 11, and you'll find out how this prophecy also refers to the events that will happen in the End Times, so be sure to come back soon and we'll enjoy more of God's word together.

Click the link below to learn more of Daniel's vision:

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