DANIEL - INTRODUCTION
The
Prologue To Revelation
A Bible Study - Commentary by Jim
Melough
Copyright
2000 James Melough
PREFACE
The prophetic character of
the book of Daniel has invested it with a peculiar fascination for readers from all
walks of life, and that it has been equally intriguing to all kinds of writers is
attested by the number of books it has spawned, that profusion
prompting the question, Why another?
The answer is that
there is probably no need for another, except for the fact, that with a few rare
exceptions, books tend to go out of print - even good ones - with the result that the
next generation of readers is denied the opportunity of having easily available to
them material that would be as profitable to them as it was to their predecessors.
The author’s
objective therefore has been, not necessarily to produce a commentary that would be
different from any other, but rather to incorporate into this work the best of what
others have written. Since some of those
books are now out of print, this present work offers the reader, not only the results
of the present author’s studies, but that also of others.
By its very nature
therefore it will supply the reader with the best of what has been written on Daniel,
without his having to consult other books.
It should be
explained, however, that the presentation of that material doesn’t consist in the
verbatim reproduction of what others have said or written.
As with all who study, and listen to the ministry of God’s Word, what the
author has read and listened to over more than fifty years has become so much a part
of his total knowledge that it is impossible to say what is the result of his own
studies and what the result of the labors of others.
He makes no claim to much originality in what is presented in this present
work, but very gratefully acknowledges his deep indebtedness to the oral and written
ministry of many.
In the course of over
forty years of Bible teaching it has been the author’s privilege to have given many
talks on the book of Daniel, and over the years the question was asked with
increasing frequency whether the material was available in written form.
Since the same
question was also being asked relative to similar talks on other books of the Bible,
there began to develop the idea of perhaps producing a small periodical devoted to
just that purpose. This, however,
wasn’t something to be undertaken without careful seeking to know God’s will in
the matter, because a full time Bible teaching ministry involving studies each night
of the week, and speaking engagements every Lord’s day, left little time for such
an undertaking.
The nightly Bible
studies involved a great deal of travel time, and gradually the question began to
present itself whether that time might be better used to bring the material in
written form to a wider audience. The
author continued to seek guidance from God, and believing that “in the multitude of
counsellors there is safety” (Pr 11:14), consulted also with several brethren whom
he felt to be men of wisdom. He didn’t, however, mention the question of the travel time
involved in the Bible studies, and took it, then, as clear guidance from God when one
of those brethren approached him with the suggestion that the travel time might be
more profitably used in writing.
The result was that
the first issue of the magazine GREEN PASTURES went out in July 1986, but
again, as formerly with the Bible studies, the question began to be asked whether the
serialized articles might be made available in book form.
After careful seeking for God’s direction, publication of GREEN PASTURES
was stopped in July 1995, so that the author might devote time to editing and
revising the manuscripts that had developed in the course of preparing material for
the study classes and for the magazine, and now it is his prayer that God may be
pleased to use this study on the book of Daniel, not only to instruct His people, but
to build them up, revive their spirits, and quicken their expectation of the Lord’s
return, for no Spirit-instructed person can doubt that that great event is imminent.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes to take
this opportunity to acknowledge his indebtedness to the goodness of God for having
made production of the book possible. He likewise gratefully acknowledges his deep indebtedness to many
others whose oral and written ministry has furnished no small part of what
constitutes the essence of this present work.
And it would be base
ingratitude were he to omit grateful acknowledgement of the willing sacrifice by his
wife of very much time she has uncomplainingly relinquished over many years so that
the author might devote himself to the Lord’s work, and apart from which sacrifice,
production of this book would have been impossible.
INTRODUCTION
It is doubtful whether
any Bible book has been as violently attacked as Daniel, and for an obvious reason:
as Gaebelein has written, “Prophecy gives the clearest and most conclusive
evidence, that the Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God.... One of the
most powerful answers to infidelity is Prophecy.” And
Peter exhorts, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well
that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn,
and the day star arise in your hearts” (2 Pe 1:19).
Unquestionably Daniel
is the very foundation of prophecy, as Revelation is the capstone, and one doesn’t
have to be a very deep student of the Bible to know that these two books must be
studied together if the full scope of the prophetic Scriptures is going to be
understood. The reader is therefore
urged to study the author’s companion volume on the book of Revelation.
The prophetic
character of the book of Daniel, however, has tended to
obscure the fact that it also contains a considerable amount of practical
teaching, the result being that commentators have tended to focus only on the
prophetic. The present work represents
an attempt to deal with both aspects.
Though the book
doesn’t lend itself easily to a verse by verse exposition, that is the format that
has been used, since it makes reference easy, and appears to be the one preferred by
most Bible students.
Since many others have
already ably defended the historical integrity of the book of Daniel, the author felt
it unnecessary to include another such defence.
As to the duration of
the Babylonian captivity (seventy years), it is to be noted that this was because of
Israel’s failure to obey God’s command relative to the sabbatic year.
The land was to be allowed to lie fallow each seventh year, Le 25:4, but for
four hundred and ninety years, greedy Israel had disobeyed God’s command, and
finally, His patience exhausted, He ensured that the land had rest for the seventy
years during which Israel had rebelliously worked it, Le 26:34-35.
The removal of the scepter from Israel marked the beginning of the times of
the Gentiles, an epoch which has continued to the present, and which will end only
when Christ returns in power and glory to end the Tribulation and inaugurate His
glorious millennial reign. A man cannot
rob God without impoverishing himself.
There is a peculiar
irony in their being carried into Babylon, the home of idolatry, for Israel had
brazenly worshipped the gods of the heathen, but it is significant that since those
years of chastisement in Babylon, she has not been guilty of this particular sin.
It is scarcely
necessary to mention that in the experiences of Daniel and his three companions, God
would have us see the foreshadowing of the experiences of the faithful remnant in the
coming Tribulation era.
We might note also the
parallel between the life of Daniel and that of Joseph: as the one was carried
captive to Babylon, so was the other carried captive to Egypt.
Each in the land of his captivity was tested relative to his loyalty to God;
each was endowed with the ability to interpret dreams through which the mind and will
of God were revealed, and each was eventually promoted to a position of authority
next only to that of the king. The
reason for the parallel becomes clear when we remember that Babylon represents the
world of false religion; and Egypt, the world of business and pleasure.
Together they portray the world in which the believer must live, and in which
his loyalty to God is also tested.
The experiences of
these two godly young men, both of whom are very clearly types of Christ, foreshadows
His experience here on earth. He too
revealed the mind and will of God; His loyalty to God was tested far more severely
than that of any other, and accordingly His promotion has been infinitely higher.
Crowned with glory and honor, having been given a name that is above every
name, He sits on the throne of heaven, at the Father’s right hand. There is, however, one notable difference: Joseph and Daniel were
carried captive against their will: He came willingly down to the scene represented
by Babylon and Egypt, to do His Father’s will.
The record of the
lives of Daniel and Joseph has been preserved to encourage every believer to walk
in their footsteps, for they, like Paul, walked as far as is humanly possible, as did
the Lord. The ultimate reward of their
fidelity reminds us that ours will have a similar recompense: we will reign with
Christ.
With this brief
introduction, then, this book is commended to the reader with the prayer that his
perusal of it may yield the same pleasure and spiritual profit as its preparation has
to the author.
[Daniel 1]
