Jesus names Daniel a prophet of God (Matthew 24:15). Carried from Jerusalem to Babylon as a youth, Daniel was educated among the Chaldeans yet remained steadfast to the law of Moses (Daniel 1). His life displays conviction under pressure, prayer in exile, and confidence in the sovereignty of God. This lesson introduces Daniel’s world, his formation, his faith, and why his book is crucial for disciples living in a secular age.

Daniel 2 shows heaven ruling earth. Nebuchadnezzar’s sleepless fear meets Daniel’s prayer, praise, and revelation. A towering statue—gold to iron and clay—traces empires’ rise and ruin until a stone “cut without hands” shatters them. Here we learn: human wisdom fails, God reveals, Christ’s kingdom endures, and exiles witness with courage.

Daniel 3 confronts empire, idolatry, and courage. Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image demands worship; three exiles refuse. The furnace roars, yet God walks with them in the fire and brings them out unharmed. Here we learn steadfast obedience, fearless witness, and the supremacy of the Most High over counterfeit gods—then and now.

Daniel 4 is Nebuchadnezzar’s own testimony. A complacent emperor receives a warning dream, ignores mercy’s counsel, and is humbled like a beast until he looks up. Then God restores him, and the tyrant becomes a worshiper. This story shows how the Most High lovingly brings proud hearts to repentance today.

On Babylon’s wildest night, Belshazzar lifts sacred cups, mocks heaven, and a hand carves fire across plaster. Panic replaces pride. Daniel enters, gifts refused, truth delivered: “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN.” Before dawn, a throne is empty. This chapter invites us to honor holiness, humble ourselves, and respond today with urgency.

Empires shift, laws harden, and jealous rivals scheme—but one elderly servant keeps praying with his window open. Daniel 6 isn’t mainly about lions; it is about loyalty. In a new regime and an old den, God vindicates steady devotion and turns private faithfulness into public testimony that blesses nations today.

Daniel 7 opens in Belshazzar’s first year. Night winds lash the sea of nations; four beasts rise in sequence—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Above their roar, the Ancient of Days sits, and the Son of Man receives everlasting dominion. This vision steadies saints by revealing who truly rules history now.

Daniel 8 records a precise, angel interpreted vision set in Belshazzar’s third year at Shushan. A ram and a he goat symbolize Medo Persia and Greece, including Alexander and the Seleucid crisis. The chapter measures desecration and cleansing of the sanctuary, revealing God’s sovereignty over empires, worship, and appointed times.

In Darius’s first year over the Chaldeans, an aged Daniel opens the scroll of Jeremiah, counts the seventy years, and turns to God with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. His prayer confesses national guilt, acknowledges righteous judgment, and pleads for mercy, restoration, and the shining of God’s face upon Jerusalem again.

Daniel 9:20–27 records God’s answer to a praying exile. Gabriel reveals “seventy sevens”: a divinely measured span culminating in Messiah’s atoning work, the confirmation of a new covenant, and the decreed end of temple sacrifices. This message strengthens faith, corrects errors, and calls us to covenant obedience under Christ today.

Daniel 10 opens the Bible’s final vision to an aged exile who fasted, mourned, and prayed for Israel. By the Tigris, heaven unveils that prayer moves angels, empires answer Providence, and God strengthens His beloved to hear hard truth. This chapter prepares us to trust Christ’s rule over history today.

Daniel 11 opens the heart of one grand vision spanning chapters 10–12. From Persia to Greece and Rome, empires rise and fall while God refines His people amid conflict. This chapter steadies faith: history is governed, holiness is forged, and the stage is set for Christ’s universal covenant of grace.

Daniel 12 concludes the single vision begun in chapter 10, fixing Israel’s ‘latter days’ within history rather than speculation. It frames Michael’s intervention, unparalleled tribulation, the cessation of sacrifice, and sealed timelines, culminating in Jerusalem’s destruction and the Mosaic order’s termination—clarified by Christ’s Olivet discourse and corroborated by first-century events.