Summary of the Book of Daniel
The Book of Daniel
Summary by Alex Ampleman
This is how the book of Daniel began:
Jehoiakim, king of Judah, wanted Israelites of royal blood, young men who were handsome, intelligent, wise, quick to learn, and prudent in judgement to take their place in the palace. Among these were the men of Judah: Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. (Shadrack by Louis Armstrong) They were given wine and food to eat and drink, but Daniel proposed they would be healthier if given fruits and vegetables instead and so it was true. God gave knowledge and proficiency to these four men and when brought in front of the king they were the best seen so they went into the service of the king.
In Nebuchadnezzar's second year of reign he had a dream, which he could not shake. He said to the man who could tell him his dream and the meaning of it he would give gifts and honor. Through God Daniel knew the dream and its meaning: Nebuchadnezzar is the king of kings and after his kingdom two inferior kingdoms will come, and then another that will be as strong as iron, but it will crash to pieces. Because of his revelation Daniel was made the administrator to Babylon and under his order the other three men from Judah also became administrators to Babylon.
As in the king's dream, a statue was built and all who did not worship it were to be cast into a furnace. Some Chaldeans accused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego of not worshipping the statue. They wouldn't worship the statue of Nebuchadnezzar so he threw them into the furnace, but an angel came into the furnace and blew out the fire in it and so the men weren't even singed. After seeing this Nebuchadnezzar decreed that all must worship their God instead of his statue.
Then Nebuchadnezzar had another dream about a large tree. The meaning told by God through Daniel was that Nebuchadnezzar would rule over everything, but he that he would be cast out with oxen to eat grass for seven years until he acknowledged that God ruled every man, not him. And so it happened and afterwards Nebuchadnezzar praised God.
King Belshazzar, son of Nebuchadnezzar, took the gold and silver from God's temple in Jerusalem and worshipped his gods of gold. Then there appeared a human hand that wrote something on the wall that he could not decipher. Daniel deciphered the writing and it said that God had ended his kingdom and that it would be divided into two kingdoms and given to the Medes and the Persians.
Daniel was so trustworthy that Darius, successor to Belshazzar, wanted to give him the whole kingdom. To stop Daniel from gaining the kingdom from Darius his fellow supervisors decreed that no one should petition to God in the next forty days besides the king otherwise they would be put into the lion's den. Daniel refused to follow the decree and was found petitioning to God. Though Darius had tried to save Daniel, he could not take the back the decree. While Daniel was in the lion's den the angel of the Lord came and held the mouths of the lions closed so Daniel could not be harmed and so he was later released from the lion's den.
During the reign of Belshezzar Daniel had a dream with our beasts emerging from four winds. The four beasts represented four kingdoms that would arise and only holy men of God would receive kingship in it. The fourth beast was different from the others and it meant that the last kingdom would be different.
Daniel then saw a vision in which a ram became very powerful and then was beaten by a ram with four horns. It meant that the Medes and Persians would become powerful, be taken over by Greece, and then four kingdoms would be issued from it.
While trying to understand the Scriptures, Daniel petitioned to God to ask forgiveness of the people and the angel Gabriel came to him. She told him for seventy weeks there would be sin and then justice will come after that period and a holy one would anointed, and then Jerusalem would be rebuilt and later a leader would destroy it again.
During the rule of Cyrus it was revealed to Daniel that a great war was to come. Then Daniel saw a man with white linen and then the God's messenger told him about the kings to come and about the war in the future.
There lived a man named Joakim who was the richest of the Jews who married a woman named Susanna. Each year two elders were elected and the ones presently elected frequently visited Joakim's house and had a lust for Susanna so they made her lay with them one day when she was bathing alone in her garden. She refused to do it so they tried to kill her by accusing her of having an affair with another man that day while she was alone. To help innocent Susanna God sent Daniel to the court and he declared that they couldn't accuse her without evidence. Daniel took both of the men aside and asked them questions to prove she was guilty. Daniel found out that they had committed perjury and they were put to death instead of Susanna.
The king and all the people worshipped an idol named Bel, which they gave numerous amounts of food to and then they thought it ate the food every night. To deceive the king and the people one man and his family built a trap door and ate the food each night. Daniel showed the king the man's footsteps and he then knew that the idol was false. Then Daniel blew up a dragon idol that the king and the people worshipped to shoe them it was false.
After seeing all the idols being taken away, the people thought that the king had become a Jew under Daniel's influence so they tried to kill him. They became so violent that the king had to put Daniel in the lion's den. At this time a prophet named Habakkuk was baking some bread. God took Habakkuk and his bread and told him to give it to Daniel because he had not eaten in seven days. On the same day the king went to mourn Daniel's death and found him alive. He then took him out of the den and put those who had tried to kill Daniel in the den and they were devoured instantly.