Daniel.
God reigns over the empires. Faithfulness in exile, and the visions of kingdoms rising and falling before the kingdom of God.
Who wrote Daniel?
Traditionally Daniel himself; critical scholarship dates the final form to the 2nd c. BC Maccabean crisis.
Who was it written for?
Jews under foreign empires — first Babylon and Persia, eventually Greek Seleucid rule.
Structure
- Stories of faithfulness (1–6): fiery furnace, lion's den, writing on the wall
- Apocalyptic visions (7–12): four beasts, the Son of Man, the seventy weeks
Key verses
Why Daniel matters
Daniel teaches faithfulness when you're a minority under a hostile power — the test the early church inherited and which much of the modern global church inherits again. Chapter 7's vision of "one like a son of man" is the title Jesus uses for himself more than any other. Revelation's symbolic structure draws directly on Daniel.
Related tools
Read the book, then test it.
Kerygma's trivia rounds cover Daniel in the Major Prophets stream — once you've sat with the overview, the questions go deeper into the text. Free for seven days.
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