Daniel: The Most High Rules the Kingdoms of Men

The book of Daniel contains many mysteries that have baffled interpreters for generations. And sadly, some readers get so distracted by the mysteries that they miss or ignore the book’s plain message, which couldn’t be any clearer.

A brief list of the book’s most repeated words is highly suggestive (this list excludes names, such as Daniel, or common grammatical words such as “then” or “not”):

• king (189 times in ESV)
• all (60 times)
• kingdom (57 times)
• great/greatness (54 times)
• time (49 times)

Not only is “king” the most repeated word, but “kingdom” is repeated far more frequently in Daniel than any other book of the Bible.

The vocabulary leads us to expect Daniel to be a book about kings and their kingdoms. It is about times of greatness, and who will rule “all.” But how does the book go about making its argument?

Literary Markers

Daniel divides evenly according to genre. Chapters 1-6 consist of deliverance narratives, and chapters 7-12 consist of visions and their explanation. Most commentaries will point out, additionally, that in Daniel 2:7, the language of the original text shifts from Hebrew to Aramaic. It then shifts back to Hebrew in Daniel 8:1, and remains Hebrew until the book’s end.

So we could divide the book by genre:

• Six narratives – Daniel 1-6
• Four visions – Daniel 7-12

Or we could divide it by language

• Hebrew introduction – Daniel 1
• Aramaic body – Daniel 2-7
• Hebrew conclusion – Daniel 8-12

Due to the structural clues that unite Daniel 2-7 (see below), I will follow the second paradigm in the walkthrough.

Part 1 Walkthrough

The opening verses of the book set up the main idea that will be developed throughout:

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ² And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god.

Daniel 1:1-2 (ESV)

Although the narrator tells us that Nebuchadnezzar comes to Jerusalem and besieges it, notice who is the subject of the second sentence. The narrator clearly identifies the chief actor behind all that transpires in this siege and deportation: The Lord gave.

Compare this with the parallel account of the same events in 2 Chronicles:

⁶ Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. ⁷ Nebuchadnezzar also carried part of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his palace in Babylon.

2 Chronicles 36:6-7

The contrast shows us that Daniel wants us to know who is really in charge of the movements and battles of human kings. There is a king in heaven who watches and determines who will reign and who will fall.

In the rest of Daniel 1, we become acquainted with three young men who understand this fact very well. They remain unfazed by what is happening around them, because they aim to serve their King of Heaven, who can give or take away their health and muscles, wisdom and insight, power and position, whenever he pleases. Such faith causes them to stand out from the best Babylon has to offer. They are better than any in this world’s kingdom (Dan 1:20). And Daniel will last not only through the current king’s reign, but even through the current empire’s existence and into the next (Dan 1:21).

Part 2 Walkthrough

The next 6 chapters tell a masterful story about the world’s kingdoms, both present and future:

• Interpreting a dream about four kingdoms – Dan 2
  • Rescuing the faithful from martyrdom – Dan 3
    • Interpreting the king’s dream, resulting in repentance – Dan 4
    • Interpreting the king’s vision, with no repentance – Dan 5
  • Rescuing the faithful from martyrdom – Dan 6
• Interpreting a dream about four kingdoms – Dan 7

God wants Daniel’s audience to know that they will have to endure great persecution under four human kingdoms (Dan 2, 7). But they must know that the King of Heaven rules over all. He will undermine the four human kingdoms when he establishes his eternal kingdom. And he will establish that kingdom by establishing his own people, as represented by one like a son of man (Dan 7:13-14, 27).

Those who believe these things and trust the King of Heaven set themselves up for all sorts of jealous outrage from those who refuse to believe (Dan 3, 6). But trusting in the King of Heaven means that fire and lions are no real threats. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego understand this whil they are young. Daniel perseveres in such faith, even when he is old—old enough to pick a fight over it with his younger opponents (Dan 6:10).

And this powerful, persevering faith in the King of Heaven makes God’s people tremendously valuable to the kings of the earth (Dan 4, 5). They can be trusted to know the truth and speak the truth. They care not for reputation or fickle standards of propriety. They can speak with clarity and boldness, seeking the human king’s repentance and trust in the divine King. Chapter 4 especially beats the drum of this theme (there is a king in heaven who rules over earthly kings) over and over and over again (Dan 4:3, 17, 25, 32, 34-35; also Dan 5:21). This is the main point at the center of this section of Aramaic chapters.

Part 3 Walkthrough

The remaining visions are quite dramatic and would make for terrific cinema. As long as we pay attention to the meaning given to them in the text.

The vision of Daniel 8 takes place by a canal, revealing the coming kingdoms of Media/Persia (Dan 8:20) and Greece (Dan 8:21). It goes on to describe the four-way split of Greece’s fallen kingdom, and the king who will arise to rule one of the pieces and persecute God’s people. History would come to know these events through Alexander the Great and Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

The vision of Daniel 9 takes place right after Daniel’s lengthy prayer of repentance. He knows the Scriptures, and that the time of Babylonian exile has come to an end. So he begs God to forgive his people and return them to their land. (Daniel 1:21 and Daniel 6 tell us that Daniel was present as a trusted advisor at Cyrus’s right hand. He would have advised the king to issue his decree to let the Jews return and rebuild—Ezra 1:1-4.) And right when Daniel wants to believe that this is the end of waiting and suffering for God’s people, the angel Gabriel shows up to tell him that there is still a long way to go. The exile was not simply about 70 years in Babylon; it is now going to last for seventy “sevens” until the Messiah comes (Dan 9:24-27). They will need to watch and wait for him patiently.

While the vision of Daniel 8 went into more detail on the kingdoms of Persia and Greece, the vision of Daniel 10-12 (by a river) now goes into tremendous detail on the fallout of Greece’s demise, and how the warring factions surrounding Israel (“the Beautiful Land”) will import political turmoil and military conflict to God’s chosen nation. This vision details how they’ll know when the prophecies of this book finally reach fulfillment. If they track each alliance, betrayal, battle, and succession, they will recognize the end of their seventy “sevens” of exile. I suspect that the fulfillment of the many political details of Daniel 11 is partially what led the “magi from the east” to begin looking for portents in the heavens to signal the birth of the divine king of kings (the “one born king of the Jews”), about whom Daniel had spoken (Matt 2:1-2).

The vision closes (Dan 12) with a breathtaking word picture of the resurrection of God’s people after generations of agony (Dan 12:1-4) and the certification of the promises spoken to them (Dan 12:5-13). Such hopes inspire God’s people to remain faithful at any cost—but only when they know their King sits far above those puny human kings who run around pretending to be in charge.

Conclusion

We haven’t solved every mystery in this magnificent book of narrative and prophecy. But of one thing we can be certain: His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation. And, of course, that he has given everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, to the Son of Man who has ascended to his right hand.

Interpretive Outline

1. God’s faithful people in exile learn to trust the King above who rules over kings below – Daniel 1
2. Narratives and prophecies to inspire faith in God as king here and now – Daniel 2-7
   • Four kingdoms coming before God establishes everlasting kingdom – Dan 2
     • Deliverance available; God can change king’s heart – Dan 3
       • God judges the king through conversion – Dan 4
       • God judges the king through destruction – Dan 5
     • Deliverance available; God can prepare king’s heart – Dan 6
   • Four kingdoms coming before God establishes everlasting kingdom – Dan 7
3. Visions to inspire faith in God as king in the days to come – Daniel 8-12
   • Canal vision about coming events – Dan 8
     • Expectations for the end of exile – Dan 9
   • River vision about coming events – Dan 10-12

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This post is part of a series of interpretive overviews of the books of the Bible.