Daniel by James Rochford (2017)

Daniel refuses to conform to the Babylonian culture around him, despite an uncertain future. God empowered Daniel's firm commitment to His will and causes Daniel to outlast the massive empire around him.

The worldview of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is put to the test by the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. In the face of death, they took a stand on God's Word and power, without placing any conditions on God. God blessed their example by saving them when they were about to die for their faith.

Two Babylonian kings, who receive the same types of revelation from God, react differently to the call to repentance. Just as in our lives, it is humility before God that results in repentance. And from an egocentric, evil king, we learn that no one is past being able to be saved by God.

Daniel is faced with yet another opportunity for compromise. Yet despite the imminent danger, Daniel gives thanks to and petitions God for help. Daniel's challenge to us is: Will you compromise in the face of persecution, or will you stand for Christ in faith?

Daniel interprets King Nebuchadnezzar's dream, laying out a prophecy which predicts the rule of World Empires centuries in advance.

In Daniel's prophetic vision in chapter seven we get a picture of the antichrist. He is going to come and rule for seven years on earth. During this time he will: be the single world ruler, be a powerful speaker, control the worlds finances, and persecute the people of God. He will gain his power by leading through misinformation and claiming to be God himself. The antichrist can come in any generation and will be identified by the number, "666". Believers can be comforted in knowing that God is ultimately in control and will one day return.

Only God can tell us the future before it even happens. In Daniel we see God prophesy Antiochus Epiphanes IV as a foreshadowing of the end times antichrist. God validates who He is and gives undeniable evidence through prophecy. In Isaiah, we see God predict a historically unique event; the Jewish nation being regathered and put back in the land if Israel.

The prophet, Daniel, makes a miraculous prediction of when the Messiah will come "to put an end to sin." This amazing prophecy was fulfilled in the person of Christ, hundreds of years after it was made, as he died just when Daniel predicted.

What of the final seventieth week of Daniel's seventy weeks prophesy? This final week foretells a final world war, massive and deadly, during which Christ must return to intervene.

Daniel's final chapter speaks both of "everlasting life" and "shame and everlasting contempt." Several reasons are presented about why we can be confident in an afterlife. Popular misconceptions of Hell and God's judgment are clarified.