What are some lessons from the Book of Daniel?

from the old testament

• The book of Daniel was written to explain to both the Jews who had been alive when Babylon captured them and the many Israelites who had been born in captivity, who had never seen Israel, that everything that was happening to God’s people was under God’s sovereign control. This started with the actual captivity. Though Nebuchadnezzar was the captor, Daniel says, “the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand” (Daniel 1:2a).
• Daniel was also showing that the time of captivity was  prearranged, indicating how they had been there for seventy years as God promised (9:2; cf. Jeremiah 25:11). He explained that, also as promised, God was delivering them through king, Cyrus (Daniel 1:21; 6:28; cf. Isaiah 44:28; 45:1).
• God, as both Captor and Deliverer, sets the theme for the rest of the book: everything is under God’s control. Specifically, Daniel focused on how God rules over every kingdom. This is evident in how Daniel structured his book, dividing it between historical kingdoms (ch 1–6) and future kingdoms (ch 8–12), with God’s eternal kingdom in the center (ch 7). All kingdoms, past, present, and future, are controlled by God and are leading towards His kingdom.
• The book of Daniel shows that God raises up kings and kingdoms as He wills (Daniel 2:21, 4:17, 5:21). Daniel illustrates how kings and kingdoms only exist for as long as God keeps them, and He brings them down at will (see 4:31–32; 5:26–28; 7:26–27).
• In the first half of the book, king Nebuchadnezzar features prominently (ch 1–4) as Daniel’s historical example of a powerful and wicked king under God’s control. Through God’s work in Nebuchadnezzar’s life, Daniel showed that all kings, even a future evil ruler (7:8; 11:36), are under God’s control. No political system or party operates outside God’s control. God uses rulers for His greater plan.
• God’s plan moves history to a time when there will no longer be evil kingdoms, that “one like a Son of Man” will arrive (Daniel 7:13), destroy all evil systems (2:44), bring an eternal kingdom (7:14), and reign eternally righteous (7:27). Most of the future kingdoms prophesied in the second half of Daniel have already come (Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome), but the final evil kingdom and the final righteous one are still ahead. Daniel helps reorient us to trust in God, who is always working in history, no matter who is in power.
• While Daniel’s immediate context was about deliverance through Cyrus, he also pointed toward a final deliverance through the Messiah, the “Prince” in Daniel 9:25. That Individual as Jesus, but though we have received spiritual salvation through Him, from Daniel we learn that there will be a final and decisive end to history (i.e. Daniel 12:1). After that time, even the dead will be raised to either participate in everlasting life or everlasting contempt and shame (12:2–3).

from the new testament

• Daniel prophesied about “one like the Son of Man,” a title Jesus regularly used to refer to Himself, such as in Matthew 26:64 and Mark 14:61–62.
• Jesus’ arrival also marked the arrival of God’s kingdom, which is why He said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15; cf. Luke 17:20–21).
• Jesus, then, is the “one like a Son of Man” who is King. While the final kingdom has not yet arrived in full force because evil kingdoms still exist, after the final, evil ruler comes (see, for example, 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4), Jesus will return to judge (Revelation 19:11–21, 20:11–15; cf. John 5:28–29). It is at that time that Daniel 7 will be fulfilled; the final, eternal kingdom will come, and the final, eternally righteous King will rule.

implications for today

Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, we can all agree on one thing: Human government is imperfect and even wicked. Whether that’s heinous crimes like sanctioning the death of the unborn to more subtle ones like turning a blind eye to petty theft, no government has ever been perfect.

This includes ancient Israel, a nation that God had chosen as His people. God punished them through Babylon—a pagan, evil nation that had no respect for the true God of heaven. But through them, God showed that all kingdoms, no matter how large, exist only if (and for how long) He desires.

Through every nation, God is working out His plan to establish His kingdom. That kingdom first publicly appeared when its king, Jesus, arrived (Mark 1:15), and will come into full force on Earth the next time Jesus returns (Daniel 2:44). As Daniel showed, at that point God will forever destroy

evil governments.

Think about your government and all it is doing. Then realize that God is allowing them to do what they are doing for His purposes. God has proved throughout history that He remains firmly in charge. The wicked governments of today will be the asterisks in tomorrow’s history books.

Even as you turn on the news and hear the latest evil your (or another) government has caused, look forward with hope to Jesus’ return. He will surely come, and He will surely and eternally reign.