It is easy to get bogged down in the details of apocalyptic literature when reading Daniel and miss the important theology of the book. Daniel has several major theological themes which might be overlooked if we focus only on the difficult interpretive problems. What are the Main Themes of Daniel?
The fall of Jerusalem was a profound crisis of faith for the Jewish people. Prior to 586 BC they believed hey were God’s people and God and God was present on Mount Zion. Because of this, the city of Jerusalem would never be destroyed. They might be oppressed by Assyria or Babylon, but God would always rescue them. It was unthinkable the Temple itself could be dismantled, the Temple treasures stolen and placed at the feet of a pagan god in a temple in Babylon.
Beyond the national disaster, the fall of Jerusalem was a spiritual and theological disaster. For the exiles forced to settle in Babylon, it may have appeared God had forsaken his people. God’s judgment was severe, perhaps he has canceled his promises when scattered his people among the nations to love as foreigners and aliens. Perhaps, the gods of the Babylonians were more powerful than the God of Israel? Maybe Yahweh is a cruel and capricious god who goes back on his promises? Perhaps the Jew in exile should switch loyalties and follow the greater gods of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. After all, where had serving Yahweh gotten them, except exiled from their homeland?
The message of Daniel speaks to these issues. Daniel is clear: God has not changed nor has God been defeated by gods of Babylon. He is still fully in charge of the world and he cares deeply for the suffering of his people. Daniel looks forward to a time when God will restore his people and fulfill all of his promises made to Abraham, David, and the Prophets.
First, the main theme of Daniel is God’s Sovereignty. That God is sovereign over the world is a theme found throughout Scripture but it is in the forefront of the book of Daniel. This theme begins in the first few verses of chapter 1. When Nebuchadnezzar captures Jerusalem and takes Daniel and his three friends captive to Babylon, the writer is clear it is the Lord who handed Jehoiakim into the hands of Babylon. It is the Lord who gives favor to Daniel and gives prosperity to the four you exiles. It is the Lord who protects them and gives them advantage over all of the other exiles being trained for service to Babylon. The Lord gives Daniel his special ability to interpret dreams.
This message would be extremely comforting for the Jew living in the post-exilic world, under the Persians, Greeks, Romans, or at any point in their history. After the captivity the Jews thought they were going to return to Jerusalem and God would restore the kingdom to them. That was what the prophets promised! But this restoration did not happen as many expected. The Jewish people went from submission to the Babylonians to the Greeks and later to the Romans. They never realized the ideal of the Davidic kingdom of the Old Testament.
It would be very easy for a Jew to doubt God was truly in charge of world events. How could God allow the Babylonians to destroy the Temple of God in his most holy city Jerusalem! This is the complaint of Habakkuk, who questioned God’s use of the Babylonians to punish Israel. Yet Daniel presents God as raising up the empires and humbling him according to his will.
Second, God cares about the suffering of his people. There are several stories presenting Daniel and his friends in difficult situations where their faith is tested. There is a potential for suffering in the first chapter. Daniel 3 and 6 put the characters to the test in life threatening situations (a fiery furnace and a lion’s den). In each case, God protects them even though they are willing to die than break important boundaries of their faith in God.
After the destruction of Jerusalem, the Jewish people may have thought God no longer cares for his people. He handed them over to the Babylonians and they are “getting what they deserve.” But this is not the attitude of the Lord. He genuinely cares that his people continue to follow his will and his Law even in a new context where it is inconvenient and even dangerous.
To the post exilic Jew, this message is extremely challenging once again, whether that is under the Persians, Greeks, Romans, or at any point in history. One of the reasons Daniel is thought to be written in the Maccabean period is that it fits so well in that context. The Jews were faced with a challenge to their very existence as Antiochus IV Epiphanes sought to impose Hellenism on rebellious Jews.
Some of the problems of the Greek period were simply examples of subtle compromise. Styles of dress, for example, seem trivial to us, but to the Jew they were matters of national significance. Would a young godly man stand up against the trends of the day and not behave like a Greek? Will he turn his back on the traditions and laws of his people? Would a young Jewish man stand up against Antiochus himself, even if it meant his life? Daniel teaches that God honors those that make a stand against the godlessness of their times even in the little things.
This is perhaps the most pertinent message for the twenty-first century Christian. It is fairly easy to be a stealth Christian in America. Just be politically correct and avoid public demonstrations of personal faith. A Christian makes subtle compromises all of the time because they do not seem to mean very much. Obviously few conservative Christians would choose to compromise on the big issues (abortion, for example), but they are quite willing to compromise on speaking the truth, in order to maintain relationships. Worse, many Christians are willing to compromise their faith for political gain.
Because Daniel and his friends did not compromise in what seem to the modern reader like small issues, they were able to stand against the bigger issues. American Christianity might just have that backwards. Shout out loud and angry on one or two big issues and ignore all the rest. For example, people complain about those anti-Christian red cups at Christmas but fail to examine their consumerism, greed, and complete ignorance of the poor and needy the rest of the year.
Despite the clear application to the Jews in their persecutions, Daniel is therefore a critically important book for the present time, in our time of minor “inconveniencing.”
The main theme is the Temple. All four of his beasts had something to do with it. The first Temple was destroyed by Babylon. The second desecrated by Greece and destroyed by Rome. The third is being prevented by Islam. The Dome of the Rock is the abomination of desolation.
Did you forget that Daniel was the Master Magician of Babylon? (Dan. 4;9) That means Chaldean magic, dream divination, and astrology. The Wise Men, the Magi, were disciples of Daniel and the astrology based 70 weeks.
Woodrow Nichols
antinomianuniversalism.com
Just as written in Psalm 103:19, the theme of God’s sovereignty is a strong theme throughout the entire Bible and is found also in Daniel as P. Long makes clear. This theme is especially comforting in my personal life as a young college student who has plenty to be concerned over. The historical context to the book of Daniel gives a full picture to understanding the stress and spiritual life of Jews during the time of exile that is unique and still extremely relevant today.
As I read P. Long’s post I came to the conclusion that the Book of Daniel, definitely at least the first 6 chapters, are as relevant to our spiritual lives today as a lot of the Gospels and Pauline literature. I quote this passage quite a lot but it is truth, that God’s word is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16) and thus all Scripture applies to our life today including Daniel but it is rarely as touched upon as Pauline literature. This is another aspect that I appreciated of P. Long’s blog post, he made application from the book of Daniel perfectly clear, pointing to how we as Christians can relate to Daniel and his companions as we also live in a country where idolatry is vast just as they did. As P. Long calls it, American Christianity as allowed certain aspects of political correctness and American patriotism to seep into our faith. But Daniel lived and boldly stood for God and His commandments in an environment of complete opposition and that can speak truth into our lives as Christians living in America today.
The sovereignty of God has been clearly seen to be one of the main themes in Daniel as well as throughout the bible. But not only that but it has been a common theme throughout my life. As of recently I have seen it through my trip to Ireland. Originally, I was not planning on going to Ireland, but my friend kept pushing me to go, So I decided to look into it. Literally the last day I signed up. So, I went on the trip not really knowing why God wanted me to go. Very quickly I realized God definitely sent me to Ireland for a reason.Through this he deepened my heart for things he cared about and gave me so much peace about the future. He taught me really what his sovereignty was, and helped me realize that I could trust him. I gained a deeper knowledge into what his calling is for my life and a confidence to do just what he calls me to do knowing his hand is with me and guiding me. He is the Lord of all and knows what he is doing. As it says in the above blog post one of the themes is God cares for the suffering of his people. The reason that this personally relates to my life is that though in the future I may suffer now and I may suffer in the future but it is all for the sake of Christ and that suffering is worth it to do the Lord’s calling. I am able to boldly say that God is using that suffering for my good and his glory. He does not just put us through suffering to punish us or hurt us but to grow us into the people he wants us to be. Just as Daniel and his 3 friends had to go through suffering in order to do what the Lord called them to do. In the end we see that God’s hand was with them the whole time and he was using their suffering for his glory and their good. As the word clearly states in Isaiah 46 verse 10 God will accomplish his purposes meaning he is in control and sovereign overall.
American Christianity is a topic that I am extremely passionate about. My passion comes forth in frustration with Luke warm and compromising Christians. When reading about the key themes in the book of Daniel the ESV study guide explains the first key theme in this statement, “It is possible to live a faithful life in exile, surrounded by pagan influences and propaganda if one sets one’s mind to serving the Lord wholeheartedly” (ESV, 1582). While talking about the main theme of Daniel being the Sovereignty of God there should be a desire of faithfulness on the part of God’s people. If God is sovereign then His people should live faithfully and maybe even radically in that comfort. While this is an important idea for the Jews in the time of exile it is also important for the church today.
As Christians, we are supposed to be set apart from the world. Comparing and contrasting morality, ideology, and worldview it would seem like Christians would stick out like a sore thumb. The fact is that most Christians in America do not look any different than the others around them. Why is this? Why do Christians make compromises? Why don’t Christians take their faith more seriously? Why is the American narrative more influential than the biblical narrative? God is sovereign and even if things come to extremes like in Babylon and the lion’s den or the fiery furnace then we should still be willing to stand out in our faith even if it comes to death. While this might sound radical, it shouldn’t be. In America, I think there is a high population of people who would call themselves Christians but do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ and that is one reason why I think Christians are not being faithful in everything. Another reason I think American Christians are not being faithful in everything is because of the stressed importance of the American narrative in their life. This narrative usually casts shadows on the biblical narrative when in reality this should be the other way around. As Dr. Shaw would say, “everything matters.” Even things that might seem like an inconvenience.
The one main lesson learned from the book of Daniel is that God is the only one who deserves worship and honor. Everything that God does is to bring glory to his name. So, when situations such as the capture of Jerusalem take place, it is shown that even in those moments, he is still in control and taking care of those who are faithful to him. It is also times like these were Daniel and his friends learn to rely on God more than before. On multiple occasions, the young men faced death, yet the examples of Daniel and the lions’ den, the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, as well as the fiery furnace show that nothing can happen unless God allows it. They may have ended up with what would have been a terrible fate, but God protected them because they were faithful and still relied on him in their time of need. I’d agree with the article then to say that the book of Daniel is one to show people who are facing small trials now should not shy away thinking that there will be no consequence. In the end, if we do not live out our faith in the smallest of ways, how will we be able to live it out when we are faced with the actual faith-shakers of life. Even though it may seem small to not speak up or think that a little sliding doesn’t matter, we need to stand firm in the belief that we have in God and the power that he has to help us through those times.
Main Themes of Daniel
It is clear that during the exile, a lot of people suffered and a lot of people died, however, God never forgot His people. He kept his promises. When Daniel and his other friends were captured and taken to Babylon, God never forgot them. In fact, God gave Daniel the gift of interpreting dreams and this is what ultimately saved Daniels life. One of the verses that surprises me is the verse Daniel 6:16 “So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”. After Daniel was tossed into the lion’s den, God protected Daniel and the hungry lions did not harm him. Knowing that there is valid evidence in the Bible that God protected Daniel, there is no reason to even think about doubting God promise and power. After seeing that God had protected Daniel, the king basically told his people to respect Daniel’s God.
That is a really interesting verse you picked, Jose. What especially catches my eye is the fact that the king himself wished that God watch over Daniel, as he didn’t want to have to execute Daniel. It almost sounds like the king knew of the provision that God was capable of, especially in Daniel’s life, and wanted nothing less in order to keep his best administrator. Even though the king was powerless to stop Daniel from being thrown into the lions’ den, the king still had hope that Daniel’s God would protect him.
And you’re right, God’s provision is not lacking within the lion’s den, as the lions’ mouths are closed by an angel that God sent in Daniel’s time of need. Daniel explains this in verse 22: “…They have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him, and also before you, o king, I have done no harm” (ESVSB). God was there to support and provide for Daniel in serving Him, even when others conspired to prevent him from doing so. And throughout this entire event, God was glorified–the king, Darius, sent out a decree to all of his empire, stating that all of its inhabitants should worship Daniel’s God, calling Him the “living God.”
When I consider the themes that are stated above, I think that the main point of Daniel is to remind His people that He is never absent–no matter what happens. Of course, after the destruction of the temple, it is easy to see why the people of Judah would think that God had abandoned them. The truth is, however, that even when the circumstances of life seem to argue that God is absent, He is still there working and maintaining His sovereignty. Our perception of the mysterious behavior of God is extremely narrow, and even though He has revealed so much about Himself in the Scriptures, he has not revealed everything. I think our duty is to simply place our faith in what He has already revealed about Himself–and let the circumstances of life have their way. This is a good transition into my second point. As argued in the above article, I do think Daniel is such a great narrative for our contemporary culture. Even though the way the culture operates is obviously different than ours, the same truth applies, namely, that we are surrounded by people who have a different worldview than us. Are we willing to stand up against postmodernism as Daniel stood up against the twisted religion of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 1:8)? I think we should resolve to embody the person of Christ, not merely be nominal Christians.
This is what amazes me about the Bible as a whole. This is how there is no doubt in my mind his word is authoritative and inerrant. How can something written thousands and thousands of years ago be so contemporary and profitable in a time like today? It is incredible. Forget the fact that people are able to craft and create a story that speaks to humanity as whole with similar themes that run throughout time such as love for example, but there is no way someone could have written Daniel on their own as a fictitious story and expect it to be relevant in 2020… This word is inspired by God and it is in-your-face applicable to today. There are many things in Daniel that speak right to the heart of the American Christian or even the Christian who is legitimately suffering for their faith. Regardless of who you are or where you are, the book of Daniel should not be ignored.
Response to Main Themes of Daniel:
As you mentioned, in Daniel 1, even though Nebuchadnezzar took Daniel captive, God’s purpose and plan was over that. God already knew. Another big thing that stood out to me in Daniel 1 is the idea of Daniel and his fast that he participated in. The very fact that basic human biology of Daniel and his friends being “fatter in flesh” (1:15) as a possibility by eating nothing by vegetables, could not be anything but a sovereign work of the Lord. If God made our bodies, he can certainly bless our bodies and cause them to be exactly how he wants them to be at any given moment. He will strengthen us, or he will cause us weakness. God also strengthened their minds—another amazing work—so that they could bring glory to God in their intellect and spirituality.
God’s sovereignty, as your mentioned, is encouragingly still relevant in our society today. Especially with the idea of politics. Similarly, we can know and trust that, in our culture, God’s hand is always moving. There is not one thing that happens which God has not already known.
With God’s caring about the suffering of his people, it is vital that we remember that God is not a God who overlooks. He didn’t overlook Daniel and his friends, so he certainly won’t overlook us. He sees everything—which is a part of him being sovereign. As we are called to walk out our lives in a God-reflecting way, we should also be concerned about the sufferings of God’s people. If he does not overlook them, we shouldn’t, either.
I never really thought about the full implications of the defeat and subsequent destruction of Jerusalem (namely the sacking of the temple); what this catastrophe truly meant to the Israelites. As P. Long makes clear, they had always thought of themselves as God’s chosen people; always being saved by him whenever they were surrounded by their enemies. I can only imagine how helpless the Israelites must have felt when they were exiled from their promised land after their God had failed to deliver them from this fate. Had He been bested? Had He forsaken them?
It can always be difficult to believe that God is with us in times of suffering and hardship. But what Daniel explains is that God hasn’t abandoned his people. In fact, He demonstrates the exact opposite by blessing Daniel and his fellows when they are in the presence of King Nebuchadnezzar. It is such a comfort to know that even when life catches us off-guard, we still have a God that can watch over us and aid us in our circumstances, just as he did for Daniel. This particular aspect of Daniel also reminds me of the book of Job; that even though Job suffered greatly, God had a purpose for Job in his suffering, just as God had a plan for his people in exile.
The biggest thing that stuck out to me in this post was the theme of God’s sovereignty throughout the book of Daniel. I thought about how central the temple was to the faith of the Jewish people. It was where all of their important artifacts were housed and where they believed God’s presence lived. In the modern church, we do not have deep ties like this to any particular location or items. We certainly can get a bit nostalgic with our sense of tradition, but not comparable to the way the Jews viewed the temple. I have to imagine at the time when Daniel spoke about the destruction of the temple (9:26) that this would have been very distressing to the people of Israel. They had already experienced invasion and destruction, and at times I’m sure it was hard for them to continue believing that God was providing for them. This is what makes the stories of Daniel and the other young Jewish men so impactful. When you understand the full context of the world they were living in, being trained up in the Babylonian empire which couldn’t have been more different than the Jewish tradition they were raised in, you can see how much faith, courage, and trust in God they had. Looking back and reading the book of Daniel, we can clearly see God’s provision over them throughout these events. If they had so many factors fighting against them, shouldn’t we be able to have the same trust and faith in God when we live in a much safer world with a culture we’re used to and christian communities to support one another along the way?
God never changes for he is immutable. P. Long mentions in his notes that Daniel is very clear in his message that God has not changed. Through every event that happened in Daniel, God told the people what would happen and he never changed his word and fulfilled each promise. Throughout the story of Daniel, the people of Jerusalem were in exile for 70 years as God has told them until Cyrus became ruler and let them go back home to Jerusalem to rebuild the city. During that time, God never changed and was always there to help them and guide them. He gave his people promises and he will never change his word. Daniel 7:14 says “He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed”. Daniel is telling us that God’s kingdom will always be there and that will never change. He will not take away the kingdom and it will never be destroyed. It is also mentioned in Daniel 2:44 by P. Long that His kingdom will endure forever and will never change. God is all-powerful and wants us to know that he is always there for them and will never change his promises.
All over the Bible it talks about Gods love for his people and how he helps us at all times. We think that because of these verses people will then go out and do everything they can to spread the gospel and share about God, but in reality we still don’t do it. For some people, it is because they are scared, scared of rejection from others, scared of people being angry at them for what they believe, scared of not knowing what to say or what to do. For others, it is because they are choosing not to do anything. As was stated in the original post, “it is fairly easy to be a stealth Christian.” We know we have a greater purpose and yet we chose to stay quiet in political conversations, we don’t witness to a person when we had the perfect opportunity to do so, we don’t physically demonstrate Gods love and what he did for us in our day to day lives, etc. Romans 1:16 says “for I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.” It is so important that we follow the instructions given to us in the Bible because we are a pathway for others to gain eternal life through Christ. Our lives should reflect God and if we don’t act on our faith then others will not be able to learn from us and will not come to know Christ.
The main thing that I took away from reading about daniel is that God is sovereign over all. Even when we are in the hands of our enemies as Daniel was in the hands of Nebachuzzar. As Daniel showed his trust in God in these situations he delivered him. Proverbs 3: 5-6 states that If you trust in God with all your heart and submit to him that he will make your paths straight. We see how Daniel did this he trusted God with all his heart and in the end, God delivered him. Isn’t this so hard in our life though, to trust God with all our hearts? Would we be able to stand the test and trust God at our lowest points as Daniel did? It’s very easy to underestimate the power of God. I think Daniel sets a great example of how to have extreme faith in God, a faith that we can learn about and implement into our own lives. Showing great faith is something that we need more of in our modern culture. In the world we live in today it’s easy to fall into kind of a cruise control mode and to be comfortable, but God calls us to live in great faith. Not just talk the talk but also walk the walk.
The Lord has been at work in the Lives of the people of Israel. During the forty years of wandering in the wilderness in Exodus, it is evident that God was with them. Despite their unfaithfulness toward God, He still provided and continued to take care of them as Joshua led them into the land God had promised. Now as they go into exile, it would be hard to swallow the idea that a good God can let this incident happen to his chosen and beloved people! Through prophets and seers, God warned the Israelites to turn away from their evil ways (2King, 17:13). They continued to disobey his commandments, and out of their disobedience, God’s Judgment came to pass. Although all these things are taking place, P. Long states that God is still fully in charge of the world and he cares deeply for his people! Throughout the book of daniel we see God at work, making sure Daniel and His three other friends are being taken care of as they continue learning and leaning unto the Lord.
As humans It is very hard to see God at work when things are not going our way. That is why It takes another special pair of lenses to be used in order to fully see the writing on the wall (Daniel 5). It is true, the sovereignty of God is evident throughout the book of Daniel. As for the youth in captive their souls are at ease for they know and believe that God is still present with them. Out of their testimonies, God’s presence is known to the people of the Israelites who are in exile.
Main Themes of Daniel
A life of no compromise. This is a motto I have been trying to live by for the past few months and really trying to implement into my life in this new year. What is a life of no compromise? After reading through Daniel more in detail, it seems very similar to the way that Daniel lived his faith out while in training in Babylon. Daniel was unwilling to waiver or compromise on his own faith while in Babylon. He spoke up against the food he was to eat because it did not fall in line with what he knew his diet was. He did not compromise and turn away from God in order to please King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 1). Daniel chapter 3 gives a great example of no compromise. Daniel had such a bold faith in the Lord that he knew even through a firery furnace his Lord would protect him. In Daniel 6, we see that Daniel once again would not compromise on his faith in the Lord, which resulted in a night in the lion’s den. This is the kind of faith and boldness I want to have in my life. I do not want to compromise my faith in the big decisions of life or even in the little decisions. I want Christ to be the forefront of my life. It is easy in our lives to adjust our faith to keep relationships okay or to appease those around us, but this is not the kind of life we are called to. We are called to stand out and stand up for our faith and what we believe. I want my life to reflect the one who created me in everything that I say and do.
While reading this blog post what really stuck out to me was the second main theme that was listed. “God cares about the suffering of his people.” There is always many of people who are going through a tough time and then tend to turn the blame toward God and begin to lose faith due to them thinking he is the one who let this happen to them. But the Lord does care for his creation and he will take care of you. Eventually, with a lot of hard work with living like and for God good things will happen and everything will work out. For example, I once watched a video of a famous TV host named Steve Harvey that I found very interesting. Steve told the story of how he got to where he is today, and it was not an easy task. Steve began saying that he was living in his car and only had 35 dollars to his name. He then prayed and asked God to help him out because he has worked hard for this dream and he wasn’t going anywhere. He then though he heard something from God saying, “Get up and I’ll take you places.” Steve did not really think a whole lot about it and just was going to quit anyway. He then went to the pay phone to call his father but called his answer machine first. It was now he found out Chuck Sutton from the Apollo in New York wanted him to perform at the show this coming Sunday. It was Thursday now, and Steve was super happy but knew he was unable to go due to him only having 35 dollars because he was in Florida. Steve then hung up the phone and began to cry but then wanted to check the date and make sure but then found a new message from another guy that wanted him to perform not too far from where he was for 150 dollars. Steve then called him back and took the spot. He performed that night and did so well the man wanted him to perform the next night for another 150 dollars and he agreed. Steven then called Chuck Sutton back and took the spot he offered and now he had enough money to go to New York and fulfill his dream of being on TV and only became more popular from then on. This just shows that God is Sovereign, he takes care of us and always will. God’s love for us is so much, it is very hard to comprehend. This is one of the main themes that I got from the book of Daniel.
There are a lot of themes that can be drawn out of Daniel. One theme that I see over and over again is how God is always in control. For example, when Nebuchadnezzar thought that he defeated the four men when he though the three boys in the fiery Furness and then turned it up to seven times hotter than its original temperature or when he through Daniel in Lion’s den. Both times the boys came out with no evidence of them even be in the fire because they didn’t smell or look like they have just been in a Furness.
Another theme that I got from reading the first chapter is “identity” don’t let anyone change your identity. The chief got the four boys that fit the King’s description, and then they had to learn the Babylonian language and how they do things. It doesn’t matter if they are the King. God defines you and him alone.
This theme is also applicable to our lives today. Just because we go through the fire that could be turned up seven times hotter, we can still come out of it, not smelling like smoke or any evidence that we went through a rough time.
this is such an important thing to note that we should be less worried about the future, and more focused on who God is and how He has us all right where he wants us. I really liked your point about the points of the book and how God is sovereign over all things. this like you said would have been a comforting thing to the Jewish people who were in exile, and at the same time, we know that this is the same God that we serve. this is the same God that was sovereign over all then and now. this means that we can have faith that no matter what happens in our world, no matter who is in charge of the government, we can still have faith that God is still in control, and sovereign overall. I like how you then talk about how the book of Daniel we see that God is not just there but God is also there to care for his suffering people. He is there to take care of the ones that know Him so close. This is also something that we can also have trust in God if we have faith that God will save us we have no worries that he will protect us even if we die God will still be with us.