Reflection Paper on

The Book of Daniel

(Chapters 1-12)

Mission and Evangelism

PTS COLLEGE & ADVANCED STUDIES

SUBMITTED TO DR. TIMOTHY PARK

BY
YOUR NAME: Ever D. Galanida
STUDENT NO.

INTRODUCTION
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 The book is named after the person whose life story and prophecies it records. The name
“Daniel”means “God is my Judge”. This book contains twelve chapters. The story is set right
after the Babylon’s first attack on Jerusalem.

They have plundered the city and its temple and taken a wave of Israelites into exile.
Among them were four men from the royal family of David. Daniel, who’s later named
Belteshazzar, and his three friends, who are known by their Babylonian names: Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego.

This book tells of the struggles to maintain hope in the land of their conquerors. The
book’s design seems pretty simple at first: chapters one through six contains stories about Daniel
and his friends in Babylon; while chapters seven through twelve contain the vision of Daniel
about the future.

BODY

The book of Daniel falls into two distinct halves. The first portion (chs. 1-6) is a narrative
of the challenges faced by Daniel and his three friends (commonly known by their Babylonian
names) at the Babylonian court. All four were exiled as young men but maintained a faithful
witness to the Lord in spite of persecution. They were miraculously delivered from death in a
fury furnace and in a lion’s den. In many respects, their behavior models Jeremiah’s counsel to
the exiles in Jer. 29 to seek the peace of the city to which they had been exiled while waiting for
the Lord to bring them home again.

The latter part of the book (chs. 7-12) is apocalyptic, that is, it is a heavenly revelation of
the end of the present age of conflict and its replacement with the final, eschatological age of
peace, a transformation that is depicted in a strange and mysterious imagery.

Both parts of the book have a goal of comforting and exhorting the faithful, however, and
the message of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in the second chapter is essentially the same as that of
Daniel’s apocalyptic vision in chapter 7. Both portions speak to those undergoing trials and
persecution and seek to give them hope that their present sufferings, however terrible, will not be
in vain. God is the powerful sovereign ruler of all things, and He is able to rescue His saints from
trials – or through trials – so human faithfulness to God will have its eventual reward.

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 Chapter one introduces the basic attention of the first half of the book. Daniel and his
friends are really wise and capable. And they are recruited to serve in the royal palace of
Babylon. But they are pressured to give up their Jewish identity by living and eating like
Babylonians and violating the Jewish food laws found in the Torah. So, they refused and chose
faithfulness to the Torah which put them in danger. Yet, God delivered them and they ended up
being elevated by the king of Babylon.

In chapter two, the king of Babylon had a dream and turned out only Daniel could
interpret this dream. It was about a huge statue made of four types of metal which symbolizes a
sequence of kingdoms and the head was Babylon. But then a huge rock came flying in and it
shattered the statue and it became a huge mountain. Now this dream was the first of many
symbolic visions in the book.

This one introduced the basic story line of them all. Daniel said that the statue
represented a train of human kingdoms following from Babylon and that they would all fill
God’s world with violence. But one day, God’s kingdom would come and would confront and
humble the arrogant kingdoms of this world, and fill the world with healing justice of God’s
reign and rule.

After this, chapter three tells the famous story of Daniel’s three friends who refused to
bow down and worship a huge idol statue, which like the statue in chapter two; it represents the
king in his imperial power. So the friends were persecuted and are thrown in a fiery furnace. But
God delivered them from death and they were exalted by the king who now acknowledged their
God is the trye one.

After this came a pair of stories about two Babylonian kings, the father Nebuchadnezzar
and then his son, Belshazzar. They were both filled with pride because of their imperial power.
And so, God warned them both through dreams and their visions, which also just like in chapter
two, only Daniel was able to interpret. He said that both King are to humble themselves before
God and both of them arrogantly resisted.

So, Nebuchadnezzar was stricken with madness and became like a beast in the field.
Then, he humbled himself before God and his humanity returned to him. He was even restored as

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a king. This was in contrast with his son Belshazzar who did not humble himself before God and
he was assassinated that night.

While in chapter six, the time when Daniel was being persecuted when he refused to pray
and worship the king as a god. And so like the friends, he was sentenced to death and thereby
thrown into a lion’s den. But God delivered him from the beast, and like his friends before, the
king exalted Daniel and praised his God.

While in chapter seven, as the center of the book where all its themes come together. It
was another dream that Daniel encountered. Ironically, he could not understand that dream until
an angelic messenger explained it to him. He saw a series of four beasts: the one like a lion, then
like a bear, then one like a winged leopard. Each of these was symbolizing an arrogant kingdom.
And last of all was a super beast as identified as a really evil empire. It has lots of horns – a
common symbol for kings in the Old Testament. And there was one specific horn who was an
image of an arrogant king who exalted himself above God, and persecuted God’s people.

They were symbolized by a figure called the “Son of Man” who is an image for both
God’s covenant people but also for their King from the line of David. And then all of the sudden,
God, the Ancient of Days, came and set up His throne. He destroyed the super beast and He
exalted the Son of Man on the clouds where He came up to sit at God’s right hand, sharing God’s
rule over the nations.

We could look back and see all of these stories in the first half fit together. These were
the three stories of faithfulness despite persecution. These were meant to offer hope to God-
suffering people among the nations. Yet they suffered because human kingdoms had rebelled
against God and became beasts. And so these visions encourage patience that God’s people are
to wait for him who would bring His kingdom and rule over the world and vindicate his suffering
people.

In chapter eight, Daniel had another vision about the final two beasts of chapter seven.
But this time it was symbolized by a ram that we were told was an image of the empire of the
Medes and Persians. And then by a goat who was an image of ancient Greece. And out of the
goat came a whole bunch of horns. One of these symbolized the evil king from chaper seven. As

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told, he would attack Jerusalem and exalt himself above God and defile the temple with idols.
However in the end, he will be destroyed by God who will exalt His people and His kingdom.

In chapter nine, Daniel was puzzled, especially as to when all of these visions are going
to take place. So he consulted the scroll of the prophet Jeremiah where God said that Israel’s
exile would only last seventy years. So for Daniel the seventy years is almost up and so he asked
God to fulfill His promise soon. But an angel came and informed him that Israel’s sins and
rebellion had continued and so their time of exile and oppression would continue on seven times
longer that Jeremiah envisioned. Daniel was deeply disturbed by this and he had one final vision.

In the remaining chapters, there written the same sequence of kingdoms. It was Persia
and then Greece, and then followed by lesser kings all leading up to the final king of the north;
who will invade Jerusalem, set up idols in the temple and exalt himself above God. But then all
of a sudden, this king comes to ruin.

The book of Daniel has been designed to offer hope to all future generations of God’s
people. This is why Jesus could use imagery of Daniel to describe and confront the oppressive
leaders he confronted in Jerusalem. This is why the visionary John who wrote Revelation could
adapt Daniel’s visions and apply them to Rome of his day and also all future oppressive empires.

So the point of Daniel is that all generations of readers could find here a pattern and a
promise. It is a pattern that human beings and their kingdoms become violent beasts when they
glorify their own power; when they redefine right and wrong and don’t acknowledge God as
their true and rightful king. But Daniel also held out a promise that one day God will confront
the Beast. He will rescue His world and His people by bringing His kingdom over all nations.
And so for every generation, this book speaks a message of hope that should motivate
faithfulness

CONCLUSION

The mechanism of mission applied in this story is set on involuntary going and
afterwards analyzed the missionary intent that God entrusted in them though they had moved
from their comfort zone and were dwelling in a foreign land. Yet, Daniel and his friends remain
faithful in the midst of this new paradigmatic shift that has changed ther lives.

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 Daniel and his friends develop new perspective to adapt on the culture and some practices
especially language of the foreign land. However, they never forget their faith in God and the
laws of God. They are properly and carefully following the norms and regulations of this new
land without faithfully disobeying the laws and commands of their God. They never
compromised their faith with the riches and prosperity they receive. They remain faithful which
elevated their status. Because of their faithfulness and conviction of their faith, God blessed them
and even the people around them. In fact, the king has showed mercy upon them and even
acknowledged the sovereign God.

I learn so much from the missionary journey of Daniel which strengthens my faith in
God. Everything really is part of God’s masterpiece in orchestrating the events of history.
Further, that God would use people and situations to alter them and manifest His sovereignty.
More so, I found out that the mission in every ministry is supervised by our Creator-King who is
always in complete control and faithfully blesses His people.

Indeed, the book of Daniel is the most wide-ranging prophetic revelation of the Old
Testament, giving the only entire interpretation of world history from Babylon to the second
arrival of Christ and correlating to history. Also, Daniel offers the crucial point to the general
understanding of prophecy which is indispensable to the interpretation of the book of Revelation.
Its disclosure of the power and supremacy of God has conveyed reassurance that God will
accomplish His sovereign purposes in time and eternity.

To conclude, it is crystal clear that one must be faithful upon administering the Word of
God, thus expounding the Scriptures for there is power in God’s Word. In order to fully direct
and accomplish the job, one must be subject to two essential conditions: holiness and humility.
In the aspect of holiness, it is deemed necessary to endeavor and embody purity and holiness of
God as His instrument fulfilling God’s instructions and works upon us. In the aspect of humility,
it was emphasized by Paul in his teaching that God’s power is revealed through human weakness
and God’s wisdom through human folly. It is clear that being able to humbling ourselves before
God, the Giver of ultimate power and wisdom is a gracious manifestation of His power. Just like
in Daniel’s time, his humility and holy endeavors gain favors upon him.

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 To put our confidence upon God as the object and subject of our faith is the foundation of
Christianity. This is to set aside our worldly wisdom and power, and ascribe the glory due to God
alone. The servants are the agents of God. By which, God uses to elicit faith. Meaning, the glory
is not due to the agent through whom the work is done, but to the Lord who does His work by
His own power. In accomplishing the missionary journey, it takes faith and hope upon God who
works according to his throne of Grace.

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