It was the strategy of the Babylonians to bring to Babylon the “cream of the crop” of the peoples they conquered the Persians reversed this process by returning the exiles to their homeland. The book closes some seventy years later, with the overthrow of the Babylonians by the Persian empire under Cyrus. The book of Daniel opens against the backdrop of the rise of the Babylonian empire, which had recently toppled the mighty Assyrian empire. This was a tumultuous time in the ancient Near East, and a crucial moment in the life of God’s people. While some scholars have placed the writing of Daniel in the second century BC, there is good reason to believe that Daniel himself is the author of this book and that it was composed in the sixth century BC. (For further background, see the ESV Study Bible, pages 1581–1585 available online at Date and Historical Background From the opening chapter and the story of Daniel’s exile to Babylon, to the closing chapter and its vision of the future, we see how God achieves his victory in the world. For God is the sovereign Lord of history, the one who establishes kingdoms and brings them down. The story of Daniel is about the story of God and his victory in the world. The main lesson of Daniel, then, is not, as is often assumed (and taught!), Dare to be a Daniel! Rather, the main point is this: Dare to trust in Daniel’s God! But the main purpose of Daniel is to reveal to us who God is-his character, his purposes, his way of working in the world for the good of his people. Sure, the book of Daniel tells Daniel’s story-and a fascinating and instructive story it is. But when this happens we can inadvertently lose sight of the fact that this book is ultimately not about Daniel or his three friends, but about God and his victory in the world. Because the human actors and events are so fascinating, we are tempted when studying this book to fix our gaze on the human plane. It’s like Harry Pottermeets Lord of the Rings with a dash of Star Wars thrown in! It has all the makings a great story-memorable characters, cliff-hanger drama, and science fiction–like visions. The book of Daniel is a favorite for Sunday school teachers and students alike.
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God’s Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible.
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