Introduction and Overview of the Book of Daniel

Putting the Pieces of the Bible Together
THE COMPLETE BIBLE OVERVIEW
An Introduction and Overview
DANIEL

THE BOOK OF DANIEL
Introduction and Overview
1. The Historical Context of Daniel
2. The Structure of the Book
3. Understanding Daniel’s Visions
and prophecies

1. HISTORICAL CONTEXT
of the book of Daniel

THE 12 MAJOR EVENTS
of the nation of Israel
1. The call of Abraham
2. The birth of Isaac
3. Joseph in Egypt
4. The Exodus
5. Moses gets the Law
6. The conquest of Joshua
7. The Kings of Israel
8. The Kingdom Splits
9. The Assyrian Dispersion
10. The Babylonian Captivity
11. Return to the land
12. The Messiah arrives

Before
the
Patriarchs
The Egyptian Sojourn
The
Patriarchs
Gen. 12-36 Gen. 37-50Gen. 1-11

Before
the
Patriarchs
The
Patriarchs
Gen. 1-11 Gen. 12-36 Gen. 37-50

Conquest
of Joshua
The Cycle and
the Judges
The Kings
Patriarchs

The Kingdom
of David and
Solomon

Israel
The Kingdom Splits
The Cycle and
the Judges
The Kings
(North)
Judah (South)
Persian
Empire

Israel
The Kingdom Splits
The Cycle and
the Judges
The Kings
Assyrian
Dispersion(North)
Judah (South)
Persian
Empire

Israel
The Kingdom Splits
The Cycle and
the Judges
The Kings
Assyrian
Dispersion(North)
Judah (South)
Babylonian Captivity
Persian
Empire

Israel
The Kingdom Splits
The Kings
Assyrian
Dispersion(North)
Judah (South)
Babylonian Captivity
400 years of silence
Return to the Land
Jesus of Nazareth
Persian
Empire

THE 12 MAJOR EVENTS
of the nation of Israel
10. The Babylonian Captivity

The Babylonians, led by king
Nebuchadnezzar overthrow Judah
Jews are deported to Babylon in
three waves (597, 587, 582)
Solomon’s temple is destroyed
and Judah is in captivity in
Babylon for 70 years

579 B.C
1. The First wave: 10,000 leading citizens
are deported first

579 B.C
These were government officials,
noblemen, etc. Daniel and Ezekiel are
among the first wave taken

587-586 B.C
2. The Second wave: The temple and the
palace are destroyed, the general
population is deported to Babylon

582 B.C
3. The Third wave: All the rest (except the
poorest citizens) are deported.

The most significant prophets at the time of
the Babylonian Captivity are Jeremiah,
Ezekiel and Daniel

627 B.C.
JEREMIAH
The Weeping Prophet
Major Themes:
1. Judah’s coming destruction
2. Future restoration and
a new covenant
3. God’s heart for Judah

593 B.C.
EZEKIEL
Prophet, Priest and Babylonian Captive
Major Themes:
1. The fall of Jerusalem due to idolatry
2. The loss and restoration of the land
3. The presence and Spirit of God
among His people

???
DANIEL
The prophet of apocalyptic visions
Major Themes:
1. God’s sovereignty over all nations
2. God’s care for the Jews in Exile
3. The restoration of Israel and
God’s victory over human evil
Between
520-165
B.C.

of the book of Daniel
2. THE STRUCTURE

ABOUT DANIEL
Captured during the first
wave of deportation
3 close friends taken as well
to be “recultured” in Babylon
Daniel’s prophecies are
given in visions, not
oracles
Never called a
“prophet” but to whom
God reveals mysteries
prophet of Apocalyptic Visions
Showed uncompromising
godliness under persecution

THE BOOK OF DANIEL
1
Ch 1-6
From the first
deportation to the end of
the Babylonian Empire
2
Ch 7-12
Present “Court Stories” and Future Apocalyptic Visions
Narrative Apocalyptic Visions
Detailed visions of the
rise and fall of the
empires after Babylon

1
Ch 1-6
God’s sovereignty and
care for His people
during the exile
2
Ch 7-12
Narrative Apocalyptic Visions
God’s sovereignty and
rulership over the
empires of human history

DANIEL
God’s faithful prophet during the exile
Daniel’s friends refuse to bow to Neb.’s idol,
God saves them from the fiery furnace
Daniel and his friends stay faithful to God
amidst Babylonian “reculturing”.
Daniel 1
Nebuchadnezzar has a dream, God gives
Daniel the interpretation
Daniel 2
Daniel 3

God protects Daniel in lion’s den after he
won’t bow to Darius, Darius honors God
Daniel interprets a second dream,
Nebuchadnezzar goes mad, honors God
Daniel 4
Next king Beltshazzar throws an idolatrous
feast, God speaks through Daniel, Babylon
is overthrown by Darius of Persia
Daniel 5
Daniel 6

In the first year of Belshazzar king of
Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of
his head while on his bed. Then he wrote
down the dream, telling the main facts.
7:1
DANIEL

Interpreter of Dreams
DANIEL

God gave Nebuchadnezzar
A DREAM

but he gave Daniel
THE INTERPRETATION

Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in
Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your
servants the dream, and we will give the
interpretation.”
2:4
DANIEL

The king answered and said to the
Chaldeans, “My decision is firm: if you do
not make known the dream to me, and its
interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces,
and your houses shall be made an ash heap.
2:5
DANIEL

The Chaldeans answered the king, and said,
“There is not a man on earth who can tell
the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or
ruler has ever asked such things of any
magician, astrologer, or Chaldean.
2:10
DANIEL

Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before
the king, and said thus to him, “I have found
a man of the captives of Judah, who will
make known to the king the interpretation.”
2:25
DANIEL

Daniel answered in the presence of the
king, and said, “The secret which the king
has demanded, the wise men, the
astrologers, the magicians, and the
soothsayers cannot declare to the king.
2:27
DANIEL

But there is a God in heaven who reveals
secrets, and He has made known to King
Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the
latter days.
2:27
DANIEL

Israel
The Assyrian
Dispersion
Babylonian
Captivity
Judah

The Assyrian
Dispersion
Babylonian
Captivity

The Assyrian
Dispersion
Babylonian
Captivity
Medo-Persian
Empire

Medo-Persian
Empire
Greece
Greece
Rome
539-336 B.C. 336-146 B.C.

Greece
Greece
Rome
146 B.C. - 5th Century A.D.
336-146 B.C.

Head of Gold
Breast and arms of
Silver
Legs of Iron
Belly and thighs  
of Brass
Feet and Toes  
of Iron/ClayImage by Decca Art
Babylon
Medo-Persia
Greece
Rome
Post-Rome
Daniel 2

Head of Gold
Breast and arms of
Silver
Legs of Iron
of Brass
Babylon
Medo-Persia
Greece
Rome

Head of Gold
Breast and arms of
Silver
Legs of Iron
of Brass
Babylon
Medo-Persia
Greece
Rome
Daniel 7

A lion with Eagle’s Wings
A bear with 3 ribs in its mouth
A beast with iron teeth
A leopard with 4 wings on its back
Babylon
Medo-Persia
Greece
Rome
Daniel 7

Introduction and Overview of the Book of Daniel

“I was watching in the night visions, and
behold, one like the Son of Man, coming
with the clouds of heaven! 
He came to the Ancient of Days, and they
brought Him near before Him.
7:13
DANIEL

Then to Him was given dominion and glory
and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and
languages should serve Him.
7:14
DANIEL

His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away, and His
kingdom, the one which shall not be
destroyed.
7:14
DANIEL

Regardless of the current
EARTHLY KINGDOM,

there is an
EVERLASTING KINGDOM

And the high priest stood up in the
midst and asked Jesus, saying, “Do
You answer nothing? What is it these
men testify against You?”
MARK
14:60

But He kept silent and answered
nothing. Again the high priest asked
Him, saying to Him, “Are You the
Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”
MARK
14:61

Jesus said, “I am. And you will see
the Son of Man sitting at the right
hand of the Power, and coming with
the clouds of heaven.”
MARK
14:62

Then the high priest tore his clothes
and said, “What further need do we
have of witnesses?
MARK
14:63

You have heard the blasphemy! What
do you think?” And they all
condemned Him to be deserving  
of death.
MARK
14:64

Part 1: An Introduction
DANIEL’S 70 WEEKS

In the first year of Darius the son of
Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes,
who was made king over the realm of the
Chaldeans—
9:1
DANIEL

In the first year of his reign I, Daniel,
understood by the books the number of
the years specified by the word of the
LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that
He would accomplish seventy years in the
desolations of Jerusalem.
9:2
DANIEL

Nebuchadnezzar
Belshazzar
Darius (Mede)
Cyrus (Persian)

an amazing prayer of
OF REPENTANCE

for his own sin and for the sin of
OF HIS PEOPLE

Then I set my face toward the Lord God to
make request by prayer and supplications,
with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
9:3
DANIEL

And I prayed to the LORD my God, and
made confession, and said, “O Lord, great
and awesome God, who keeps His covenant
and mercy with those who love Him, and
with those who keep His commandments,
9:4
DANIEL

we have sinned and committed iniquity, we
have done wickedly and rebelled, even by
departing from Your precepts and Your
judgments.
9:5
DANIEL

Now while I was speaking, praying, and
confessing my sin and the sin of my people
Israel, and presenting my supplication
before the LORD my God for the holy
mountain of my God,
9:20
DANIEL

yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the
man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the
vision at the beginning, being caused to
fly swiftly, reached me about the time of
the evening offering.
9:20
DANIEL

And he informed me, and talked with
me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now
come forth to give you skill to
understand.
9:23
DANIEL

the astonishing
“70 WEEKS” PROPHECY

The complete scope (70 weeks)
9:25
9:26
9:27
9:24
An interval between week 69 and 70
The 70th and final week (the end times)
69 of the 70 weeks (timeline)

“Seventy weeks are determined for your
people and for your holy city, to finish the
transgression, to make an end of sins,
9:24
DANIEL

to make reconciliation for iniquity, to
bring in everlasting righteousness, to
seal up vision and prophecy, and to
anoint the Most Holy.
9:24
DANIEL

“Know therefore and understand, that
from the going forth of the command to
restore and build Jerusalem,  
until Messiah the Prince
9:25
DANIEL

There shall be seven weeks and sixty-
two weeks; The street shall be built
again, and the wall, Even in
troublesome times.
9:25
DANIEL

So what in the world does
THIS MEAN?

Part 2: The Interpretation
DANIEL’S 70 WEEKS

9:25 69 of the 70 weeks (timeline)
The complete scope (70 weeks)9:24

“Seventy weeks are determined for your
people and for your holy city, to finish the
transgression, to make an end of sins,
9:24
DANIEL
Weeks = Shevu’ah “Sevens”
Week = 7-year period
70 7-year periods
490 years

9:25
DANIEL
Rebuild
Jerusalem

9:25
DANIEL
Rebuild
Jerusalem
Messiah the
Prince

again, and the wall, even in
troublesome times.
9:25
DANIEL
Rebuild
Jerusalem
Messiah the
Prince
7+62 = 69 weeks
483 years
(360 day years)
173,880 days

The Return to the Land
4 Decrees to Rebuild
1) Cyrus 537 B.C Ezra 1:2-4
2) Darius Ezra 6:1-5
3) Artaxerxes 458 B.C Ezra 7:11-26
4) Artaxerxes 445 B.C Neh. 2:5-8
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther

The Return to the Land
4 Decrees to Rebuild
4) Artaxerxes 445 B.C Neh. 2:5-8
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther

again, and the wall, even in
troublesome times.
9:25
DANIEL

March 14, 445 B.C.
Nisan 1, 445 B.C.

March 14, 445 B.C. Greece
173,880 Days
Nisan 1, 445 B.C.

9:25
DANIEL
Messiah the Prince = “mashiach nagid"
Messiah, the Ruler (Leader)

Did Jesus ever specifically
PRESENT HIMSELF

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you;
ZECHARIAH
9:9

He is just and having salvation,  
lowly and riding on a donkey,  
a colt, the foal of a donkey.
ZECHARIAH
9:9

And it came to pass, when He drew
near to Bethphage and Bethany, at
the mountain called Olivet, that He
sent two of His disciples,
LUKE
19:29

saying, “Go into the village opposite
you, where as you enter you will find
a colt tied, on which no one has ever
sat. Loose it and bring it here.
LUKE
19:29

Then they brought him to Jesus. And
they threw their own clothes on the
colt, and they set Jesus on him.
LUKE
19:35

And as He went, many spread their
clothes on the road.
LUKE
19:36

Then, as He was now drawing near
the descent of the Mount of Olives,
the whole multitude of the disciples
began to rejoice…
LUKE
19:37

…and praise God with a loud voice
for all the mighty works they had
seen, saying:
LUKE
19:37

“ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in
the name of the LORD!’ Peace in
heaven and glory in the highest!”
LUKE
19:38

And some of the Pharisees called to
Him from the crowd, “Teacher,
rebuke Your disciples.”
LUKE
19:39

But He answered and said to them,
“I tell you that if these should keep
silent, the stones would immediately
cry out.”
LUKE
19:40

Now as He drew near, He saw the
city and wept over it,
LUKE
19:41

saying, “If you had known, even you,
especially in this your day, the things
that make for your peace! But now
they are hidden from your eyes.
LUKE
19:41

Introduction and Overview of the Book of Daniel

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