The spiritual message in the book of Daniel
The spiritual message in the book of prophet Daniel is actually the Gospel of the Old Testament. The Gospels are part of the New Testament because the Gospels were written by the apostles based on events from the life of Jesus Christ that they witnessed or heard from witnesses about what happened. Therefore there are no Gospels in the Old Testament? However, the prophet Daniel described significant events in the life of Messiah Jesus Christ, an incredible six hundred years before they were fulfilled. Thus, some texts of the prophet Daniel represent the gospel written centuries in advance, before these events took place.
The Gospels do not describe all the events of Jesus’ time, but only those most essential from God’s angle. The prophet Daniel describes in the sixth chapter suffering and deliverance, which have incredible overlaps with Jesus’ suffering and resurrection. These parallels are so specific that no one could suffer similarly by accident and be rescued. Also, the fulfillment of some similarities depended on the enemies of Christ and Daniel. They would do everything not to be fulfilled, and instead, they confirmed by their actions that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah based on the writings of the prophet Daniel.
Introduction to the book of Daniel
In the book of the prophet Daniel, Pharaoh Nehaon set king Jehoiakim over Judah and Jerusalem. King Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he began to reign, and he did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God. In the third year of his reign, King Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem and surrounded it, and the Lord gave it to Joachim, and he bound it in two chains of iron and took him to Babylon (2 Chronicles 36: 4-6). And Nebuchadnezzar brought the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon and put them in the house of his god in the treasury.
Then the king said to Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, that the courtiers bring beautiful young men without blemish. They need to be educated and brought to the king’s court to teach them the Chaldean language. Servents give them food and drink; train them for three years. Among them were the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Moreover, he gave them other names, Daniel the name of Belteshazzar, and to Hananiah, of Shadrach, and to Mishael, of Meshach, and Azariah, of Abednego.
Daniel decides not to eat the food and drinks that the emperor eats and drinks. However, he asked for a stew to eat and water to drink. God gave Daniel to find grace and love in that courtier. The courtier said that he is afraid of the emperor, for when the emperor sees their faces worse than the others, he will be guilty. Prophet said to him, look at your servants in ten days, and you will see our faces brighter and more beautiful than those guys who ate the king’s food. Lord gave his four young men knowledge and reason and wisdom, and Lord gave Daniel to understand every dream.
Emperor’s dream
At the end of time, they came before the emperor, and the emperor saw their wisdom and reason is ten times better than all his sorcerers and astrologers in his kingdom. After two years, the king had a dream and became very upset. He calls all his sorcerers and fortune tellers to tell him the meaning of the image in his sleep. But also to inform him what he visualized because he forgot the dream. They persistently asked him to tell them what he had dreamed, but Emperor Nebuchadnezzar said he forgot. He was very angry with all his sorcerers. So he ordered all of them to be put to death and that their houses be set on fire.
The Chaldeans answered him, no man on earth could tell the emperor, what the emperor asks, except for gods who do not live among men. They decide to kill all the wise men of Babylon among them and Daniel and his companions. When Daniel heard the order from the emperor, he went to the emperor and asked him to give him some time because he would tell him what the dream meant.
Daniel went home and told his friends to pray for mercy to the God of Heaven for that secret. God revealed himself to Daniel in the form of a spirit. Daniel blessed the God of Heaven. Young Daniel said the name of the Lord is blessed eternally, for His strength and wisdom. God changes times and hours, appoints and changes kings, and gives wisdom and enlightenment to the wise man. He reveals what is deep in the hidden, knows what is in the darkness, while light dwells with Him.
Daniel reveals the dream
I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter. (Daniel 2:23 KJV)
So the boys prayed and prayed to the Lord, and He gave them an answer. Our prophet came to Arioch, the courtier, and asked him to bring Daniel before the emperor because Daniel wants to tell the emperor what the dream means. The emperor asked Daniel if he could tell what was he dreamed and what that dream meant. The prophet said to the emperor, no one can tell the secrets that the emperor wants, except God in Heaven, who reveals the secrets and informs what will happen until the end of time. Thoughts that come to the king, while he was sleeping, the prophecy that will happen next. One who reveals the secrets has shown you what will happen.
King saw a magnificent figure in a dream, and the light was powerful, and he stood towards him, and the form thereof was terrible. The head of this figure was made of pure gold, the chest and muscles were made of silver, and the belly and thighs were made of copper (iron). The figure was huge in human eyes. And the stone fell without hands, struck the figure, and broke it. Then all the iron, and the earth, and the brass, and the silver, and the gold, were crushed and became like chaff on the threshing ground. The wind carried it away and found a place for it.
Highly Recommended:
Book The Book of Daniel
(The Smart Guide to the Bible Series)
DVD collection: The Book of Daniel
The first spiritual message in the book of Daniel
The first spiritual message in the book of Daniel is also a strong gospel message. These four young men have the opportunity of learning and get a strong educational background. Also, they have access to tables and cafeterias of the capital of the empire. Even though they served the meat and other food that comes from royal estates, the four of them asked their superiors for a simple vegetarian meal. And besides a healthy appetite that all teenagers have, they give up their natural desires for delicious food and choose a simple diet.
They would maintain a sharp mind to understand the instructions of The Holy Spirit in an age of unique significance. Today, at the level of the whole world, we live in one such era. Let the Holy Spirit be your Master day by day. Then, and only then, you will not be able to make a mistake without the Holy Spirit, first reminding you of the revelation. When you hear His voice, listen, do not silence His voice, do not refuse the reminder of God.
Nowadays, a lot of people who don’t know the Word of God and the people who don’t know the one true God think they can interpret dreams. It is fascinating how none of them can presume what the dream was. Therefore, they can only explain the impression once you say what the dream was. On the other hand, Daniel, with his friends told the king what his dream was about and then explained the meaning. This was impossible with the help of God. However, the Bible is full of dreams and their explanations. For example, Joseph had dreams from God.
Daniel explains the dream
Then Daniel said the meaning of the dream: “And you are that golden head. After the king, there will be another kingdom, smaller than his, and then a third kingdom that will rule over all the land. Later the fourth kingdom will be hard as iron that satirizes and breaks everything. And the feet and toes of the potter’s mud will be divided. The iron mixed with the potters barren they will mix with the human seed, but they will not cling to each other as iron cannot unite with the mud.
In the time of those kings, God of Heaven will raise a kingdom, which will never fall apart, and it will crush and abolish all those kingdoms, and it will only stand forever.” GOD IS GREAT AND STRONG, Daniel told the king, what will happen next because the idea is real, and the interpretation is correct. When king Nebuchadnezzar heard this, he fell on his face and bowed to Daniel and said and confessed in his heart: indeed, God is God over the gods and the Lord over the kinds. God is the one who explains all secrets incomprehensible and unknown to anyone and only to whom God wants to share.
And the king gave great gifts to Daniel and made him lord in all Babylon, and chief over all the wise men. Because it is not Daniel’s human wisdom, but God’s wisdom. God gives to the wise and reasonable, and He gave Daniel wisdom and knowledge to explain to the king the meaning of the dream. But Daniel begged the king to remain in his house while his friends are ruling Babylon.
The second spiritual message in the book of Daniel
King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden idol sixty cubits wide and six cubits wide in Babylon. He invited all his leaders to come to avenge the figure. Later he sends the messenger to shouted to all the peoples, all tribes in their languages, with instructions. When people heard the horn and all the musical instruments, they should come and pay homage to the golden figure. And whoever disobeys will be thrown into the burning furnace. So they all came and worshiped the golden statue, except Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And evil men came and reminded the king about his commandment.
Since there are people whom the king had appointed over the affairs of Babylon, and they disobeyed the king’s word, they didn’t respect the gods. The king was a lot angry, and he commanded that the servants bring them to him. After he had examined them, he said that their destiny is the furnace of fire. So King Nebuchadnezzar thought that he could do whatever he wanted. He fancied himself as a god that he had all the power, but he was seriously misled. But the boys said, “our God, whom we serve, He will release us from the burning furnace, and He will deliver us from your hands, king.
Even if God doesn’t deliver us, know that we will not serve your gods, nor will we worship your golden idol.” And the king became even angrier and ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than it is usual. An excellent, encouraging choice was full of faith in almighty God. They BELIEVED, they trusted completely in GOD, thoroughly BELIEVED EVERY HIS WORD. They knew that everything impossible for people is possible to God.
The Son of God
The king ordered the strongest men to tie them up and throw them into the red-hot furnace. He was angry, and he wanted to get rid of them urgently because they refused to bow to him without any fear. These people bound them and threw our three boys into the furnace of fire. However, the flames of fire instantly killed those people who tied boys up and fall into the furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, too, fell amid the burning fiery furnace. Yet king Nebuchadnezzar knew, deep in his soul, that everything is possible to God. He carefully observed every moment and people looked into the furnace (there was probably a window).
The miracle happened with disbelief in his eyes asked his servants, didn’t we throw three people tied to the furnace? He saw four men walking in the middle of the fire as it is nothing, and the fourth as if he were the SON of GOD? Then the king, bewildered, came to the door of the furnace and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of God Almighty, go out and walk, and go out amid the fire.” The people close to the king gathered and saw the boys, and with their own eyes, they couldn’t believe that fire could do nothing to their bodies, nor did the hair on their heads burn, nor did smell of fire cling to them.
The second dream
And the king exalted all three of them in the land of Babylon because there is no other God who can save them from the fire. King Nebuchadnezzar wished to all the nations of his country peace. And the king said that he wants to announce the signs and miracles that God Almighty has done. How big they are, and how mighty His miracles are! His kingdom is eternal, and His power from generation to generation is high!
Later, the king was quiet in his house, and he had a dream scary and disturbing. Then, he requested all the wise men of Babylon to tell him the interpretation of the image. But they could not tell him. And finally came Daniel, called Belshazzar because he knows the Spirit of the Holy Gods, to inform him what he dreamed and what does that dream means.
Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth:
Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.
This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.
(The book of Daniel 4:15-17, KJV)
The third spiritual message in the book of Daniel
The author of the book of Daniel hid the third spiritual message here. Daniel immediately understood the meaning as soon as he heard it. The prophet has been praying for the king for years. It seems like the king had many good character traits and that he was honest in his heart. So the king wanted to respond to God’s love. Daniel and the king were probably spending time together. Therefore Daniel prayed to God, and he saw that God was answering his prayers. However, it was remarkably difficult for him to tell the king the news of that terrible punishment.
The emperor seemed to have a forewarning that something was wrong, so he understood Daniel’s restraint. The Holy Spirit was already speaking to him. Hence, he encouraged Daniel, the prophet, to say everything, without being afraid, of any punishment. Daniel, therefore, sent a private message to the emperor. He assured him of God’s readiness to forgive if he would repent for his sins of pride. Also, for all the other sins inherent in his land. Important fact: Scientists have found Nebuchadnezzar’s bragging records in the ruins of Babylon.
According to archeologists, they found the bricks dug out of the sand with Nebuchadnezzar’s name. The large tree that Nebuchadnezzar saw represents not only the king himself but also the kingdom of Babylon. Today, there are no more the numerous political empires of Babylon; not a stone was left unturned. Yet great spiritual Babylon, prominently depicted in the prophecies of Revelation, remains as an offshoot of the root left in the earth. All the nations of the earth are “intoxicated” by the wine of his false doctrines.
The sin of pride
Thus, king Nebuchadnezzar paid dearly for the price of his pride. Not only he finally acknowledges that all men on earth are nothing to the great and mighty God. That God is a Ruler, and Lord of lords and Lord of Heaven and earth. And that God leads everything, hears everything, knows everything, and no one can hide anywhere without God seeing him. Then as he acknowledged in his heart that God was Ruler and Lord both in heaven and on earth, his mind returned to him. And he regained the kingdom even greater than before. The king then said a proclamation that he praise, glorify, and exalt the King of Heaven, whose deeds are true!
All ways are just, and Who can bring down all living things in the blink of an eye. Pride is a sin that leads us to ruin, and we must always learn from the mistakes of others so that we do not experience bitter and heavy burdens on our shoulders. Pride, as one of the seven deadly sins, is the root of all sin. Sadly, it penetrates every conceivable evil within and throughout society today. No matter the level or the nature of man’s existence or involvement, it is pride that spawns that which undermines all of the people’s good-intended works. And one needs not to be a keen witness to see the accuracy of this.
A strange letter on the wall
King Belshazzar, the son of King Nebuchadnezzar, was not instructed in the experience of his father, made a great feast, and invited all his princes and friends. He drank wine and brought gold and silver vessels, which his father took from the church in Jerusalem to eat and drink. So they got drunk, sang, and praised their golden and silver and wooden and stone gods. Suddenly, human fingers appeared on the wall, writing on the wall, and King Belshazzar, when he saw that face, changed, became very upset, and trembled. When he saw the words, he did not know what they meant, he invited all the astrologers, the fortune-tellers, from Babylon to interpret for him.
And he would reward them richly. But no one knew how to interpret to the king the words written on the wall. The king became even more frightened, suddenly everyone sobered up from the wine. The empress was frightened, but she encourages the emperor, she told him that there is a man. A man in his kingdom who has the Spirit of the Holy God. In the time of his father, everyone knew that this man has reason and wisdom. Hence, only he knows how to interpret it. Nebuchadnezzar brought Daniel with the rest of the captives from Jerusalem.
King Belshazzar asked him to interpret writings on the wall, and he would give him all kinds of gifts. And the king will make him the third lord in his kingdom. Our prophet, filled with God’s wisdom, knowledge, and humility, said that he doesn’t want any gifts. And Daniel reminded him that God had given greatness and glory to his father, and everyone was afraid of him. They killed whenever they wanted, and when they wanted, they humiliated anyone.
Daniel’s interpretation
When Nebuchadnezzar prevailed in his power and thinking that he had absolute power, he has been overthrown from the throne. He has been banished to the forest, and he lived with beasts and feed on the grass until he proclaimed that God rules in Heaven and on earth. Even though the king knew what happened to his grandfather, he did not humble himself. Yet he ascended to the Lord of Heaven, and he took vessels from the house of the Lord. He ate from them and drank and praised his gods’ silver and gold, wood, and stone, who are not gods. Those gods have eyes, but they do not see.
They have ears, but they do not hear, they have mouths, but they do not speak. All have feet, but they do not walk, they have hands but do nothing. Since they are dead, all that is dead is dead motionless. The story he tells about Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar’s grandfather, is not something new for the court. Conscience begins to rebuke Belshazzar as he recalls the well-known events spoken of in the Babylonian Empire. Unfortunately, the people today repeat the mistakes that led to the fall of ancient Babylon. The next great fall of the kingdoms will lead to the appearance of the eternal kingdom of God. There is another spiritual message in the book of Daniel verses 5:25-31.
The hungry lions did not want to eat
Emperor Darius came to the throne and appointed 150 rulers over his empire and appointed Daniel and two others over all of them. To whom the rulers would take care that everything would be good for the emperor and the people. And Daniel, with his wisdom and knowledge, sincerity and humility before the emperor, surpassed all elders. But there is evil everywhere, even today. Evil and jealous people who want to belittle people better than them in any way. But they forget that God sees everything and that every evil returns to the head of the one who does evil.
The elders and the rulers, envious of Daniel who was better than them, looking for any, even the slightest mistake. They wanted to accuse Daniel and tell the emperor. However, they found nothing because Daniel was faithful to God, and the emperor, and his work impeccable and reliable. Then they resorted to cunning and went to the emperor to write a new order. Whoever would pray to any god or man other than the emperor, should be thrown into the lion’s den. And the king obeyed them and wrote a law.
When Daniel found out about the new law, he went home to his room where the windows were open to Jerusalem, fell on his knees, and prayed! He prayed to God for glory and praise three times a day, as he had done before. As soon as the wicked saw him praying to God, they told the king. They didn’t know, or they forget that God is the only living God, who rules both Heaven and earth and the whole universe. He has perfect control over every situation. He warns and reminds people not to do evil. And God’s people are under complete God’s protection.
The fourth spiritual message in the book of Daniel
The fourth spiritual message in the book of Daniel is in the dan with lions. God says, whoever touches you IN THE PUPIL OF MY EYE touches. God wonderfully delivers his people from all dangers. Then they reminded the king of his commandment, which he had forsaken, about lion’s den. Daniel didn’t obey the command, but he prays to God. When the king found out, he was heartbroken because he knew that Daniel was a flawless, honest, honest man. When they brought the prophet, the king said to him, let God you serve to saves you. Darius knew and heard that God does wonderful things.
All that is impossible for men are possible to God, and he was sure that God would protect Daniel in the lion’s den. They threw him into a lion’s den, closed him with a large stone, and sealed him with a ring. The king went to his court sad, because of Daniel, and he did not eat anything, nor he could not sleep all night. In the morning, at dawn, the king quickly ran to the lion’s den and shouted to Daniel in a sad voice. He asked can God deliver you from the lions. Daniel answered, God, sent his angel, and shut the mouth of the lions.
So they couldn’t hurt him. Prophet was found innocent before the king. The king rejoiced when he heard Daniel’s voice and ordered to take him out. No wound was found on his body because he fully believed in his God. Then the king commanded to bring those men who had accused Daniel of envy and malice, and threw them and their wives and children into the pit, and they had not yet fallen to the bottom of the pit the lions tore them apart.