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CHAPTER TWO

Jews in the Lions' Den

The book of Daniel is a unique piece of literature among Old Testament books. Its high degree of imagery and symbolism often leaves the casual reader puzzled. Mainstream futuristic interpreter take advantage of Daniel's imagery to contend the book outlines the course of world history and a future tribulation period. This chapter will demonstrate that the book of Daniel was composed during the Maccabean era - a critical period in Jewish history. The Jews of this era were in the midst of persecution by a heathen king. It was to this crisis that Daniel's author responded. Although the methods used by Daniel's author may be unfamiliar to the modern reader, a careful analysis will reveal his message has nothing to say of a future tribulation period.

A Time of Crisis

Christians are generally introduced to the book of Daniel at a young age. The story of Daniel in the Lion's Den is a favorite among children's Bible stories. In this tale, Daniel is compelled not to pray to anyone except King Darius for a period of thirty days. However Daniel ignored the king's decree and faithfully prayed to God as usual. As a result, he was thrown into a den of lions. But as a dedicated servant of God, Daniel was miraculously spared.

When the book of Daniel was written this story had an immediate and vital present application. The Jewish people were under persecution by the Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 B.C.). Antiochus forced Greek culture and religious beliefs on the Jews. He demanded Jews to abandon their religion, and even went so far as to outlaw Judaism. Antiochus also imposed a death penalty for anyone caught with a copy of the sacred scriptures. Like Daniel, the Jews were faced with a great dilemma. Either they give up Judaism and conform to the kings wishes, or risk death and remain loyal to God.

To this dilemma, the author of Daniel responded. He blended together stories of faith (Daniel 1-6), such as Daniel in the Lion's Den, complemented by a series visions depicting the imminent triumph of God's kingdom (Daniel 7-12). The author's purpose was to inspire fellow Jews to stand firm in their faith and resist pagan ways. The stories of Daniel's adventures in Babylon parallel the crisis at hand. Daniel and his companions serve as role models to Jews undergoing persecution. Daniel's visions teach that faithful perseverance will be shortly rewarded. The visions encourage faith by indicating history is fast coming to an end, and God's kingdom of righteous Jews will be realized shortly.

The Visions of Daniel

Unfortunately, the author's important message of faith and perseverance has been pushed aside by futuristic interpreters claiming Daniel is primarily a book of end time events. The five visions of Daniel are the texts cited by futurists as setting forth the events of world history and a future tribulation period. As illustrated in the previous chapter, futurists link texts throughout the Bible to Daniel's visions to formulate the tribulation theory. These visions are briefly introduced as follows.

Chapter 2 - Nebuchadnezzar's Dream Image -- King Nebuchadnezzar has a frightful dream of an image composed of four metals. His wise men fail to interpret the dream. Daniel is summoned and interprets the king's dream to be about future kingdoms on the earth.

Chapter 7 - The Four Wild Beasts -- Daniel has a vision of four beasts that are interpreted by the angel Gabriel to symbolize four kingdoms. Daniel is curious about the fourth beast which has ten horns. He is especially disturbed by a little horn that comes up among the ten horns.

Chapter 8 - The Ram and the Goat -- Daniel has a vision of a goat with a great horn battling a two-horned ram. The goat wins. The angel Gabriel interprets the horns of the ram as representing the kings of Media and Persia. The goat is Greece and its successors. Also, in the latter stages of the Greek Empire, an evil king shall arise.

Chapter 9 - The Seventy Weeks -- Daniel is studying Jeremiah's prophecy of the 70-year captivity and praying for forgiveness of his peoples' sins. The angel Gabriel comes to Daniel and reinterprets Jeremiah's prophecy as seventy weeks of years, or 490 years.

Chapters 10-12 - Kings of the North and South -- Daniel has a vision that largely entails the wars between the kings of the north and south. Daniel also details the rise and reign of a vile king in the north that persecutes the Jews.

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