In The Chronology and Eschatology of Daniel, I explore in detail the chronology and prophetic symbols of the Book of Daniel, which mostly appear in the second half of the book (chapters 7-12). This article complements that one by serving as a commentary on the more straightforward narratives of chapters 1-6.

Each section below is meant to be read after you review the corresponding chapter in Daniel.

Chapter 1

There are a couple possible explanations for why Daniel and his friends refused to eat the king’s food (1:8): 

• It contained components that were forbidden to Israel by God’s Law, such as pork. This is possible.
• It may have been offered to false gods. This is probable, especially for the wine, as wine was not forbidden under God’s Law.
• Daniel and his friends may have been under a Nazirite vow, which would prevent them from drinking wine. Possible, but the fact that the text draws explicit attention to the wine being the king’s wine suggests to me that it had more to do with the wine being offered to false gods.
• Daniel may have been refusing fellowship with Nebuchadnezzar. I find this an unlikely explanation, as Jeremiah 27:6 states that Nebuchadnezzar was authorized by God to rule the world, and Daniel did not refuse to serve or help Nebuchadnezzar in any way elsewhere in the book of Daniel.

The motivation of Daniel and his friends in this story parallels that in the story of the fiery furnace: In chapter 2, Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that God has instituted a (symbolic) great image of a man to rule the world, of which Nebuchadnezzar is the head, and then in chapter 3 Nebuchadnezzar sets up a literal great image of a man for all his officials to worship, which Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego refuse to do. They do this because, while Daniel and his friends respected the role God gave the Gentile empires, they refused to worship the empire or partake in its spiritual vices.

Note: when Daniel and his friends were brought in to serve (1:18-21), or at least when they were promoted to rulers of Babylon (2:48-49), they were likely able to arrange for normal food (not just vegetables and water) that would not defile them.

Chapter 2

Nebuchadnezzar’s challenge to the Chaldeans in 2:5 is actually very shrewd. It is the same impulse we have when we meet a psychic: “You’re a psychic? OK, what number am I thinking of?” He must have suspected he was being played by these supernatural “experts” in 2:4 and that they would just make up something plausible in situations like these. So he demanded they show real supernatural powers, and in so doing he humiliated them and exposed them for what they really were.

This humiliation gave Daniel and his friends the chance to show Nebuchadnezzar that with the God of Israel alone there is true supernatural power. This was similar to Elijah humiliating the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18:20-40 by demanding they show a supernatural sign to justify their cultish worship of a false god.

The story of Daniel interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2 is the first of three that leads to Nebuchadnezzar’s conversion. Note that Nebuchadnezzar first had to realize that the wisdom of all other religions is worthless, which led to a nihilistic moment where he rejected the entire idea of wisdom (when he sought to wipe out all the wise men in 2:12), only for Daniel to show him that Yahweh worship is special and provides a wisdom different from all others.

A few notes:

• In 2:11, the Chaldeans point out the issue of the disconnect between man and supernatural power being due to “gods not dwelling with flesh.” This obviously points forward to the incarnation of Jesus, who solved the problem by being God dwelling with us in the flesh (John 1:14).
• The narrative of chapter 2 is an obvious parallel to the story of Joseph, with a Hebrew/Jew explaining the dream of a king and then being promoted to ruler of the kingdom, second only to the king himself.
• In this chapter, Daniel halts the slaughter of the wise men (2:24), then is promoted to be their chief administrator (2:48). During Nebuchadnezzar’s rule at least, he would therefore have most likely had their firm loyalty as their leader.

Chapter 3

As a not-yet-converted pagan, Nebuchadnezzar sought to make the promise of God from chapter 2 (of him being the gold head of a long-lasting world-spanning empire) about himself and his gods. Hence, he set up a gold image (as tall as an eight-story building) and forced all his officials to bow down to it.

There was an element of loyalty and focus of purpose in this command. Nebuchadnezzar was essentially saying, “This kingdom is for the benefit of my gods, with me as the head and the earthly visible ruler, and you all will worship them and me and will serve me with religious fervor.”

In this chapter, only Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego are thrown into the fiery furnace for refusing the king’s command. It is inconceivable that Daniel would have worshipped the gold image, so the fact that he was not accused was most likely because the accusers thought him too highly favored by Nebuchadnezzar to target (a caution ignored by Daniel’s accusers in the story of the Lion’s Den in chapter 6, to their destruction). The desire of the Chaldeans (who all reported up to Daniel’s friends, per 2:49) to “rat out” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego probably had to do with the three men keeping the corrupt ruling class honest in their dealings.

Note that unlike Word of Faith theologians, Daniel’s friends did not believe their faith made them invincible from harm. They couldn’t be sure God would choose to deliver them, but they believed He could, and regardless of whether He did, they would do the right thing.

This refusal of Daniel’s three friends to obey Nebuchadnezzar’s command was a direct affront to the king’s pride, self-worship, and sense of supreme authority, which is why he was so enraged and why he condemned them to a more severe burning and was willing, in his urgency and impatience, to sacrifice the lives of the men who threw Daniel’s friends into the fire.

Regarding the fourth man in the fire (3:25), a “Christophany” is a manifestation or appearance of the Son of God in the Bible before his physical incarnation as Jesus Christ. The appearance of this fourth man is almost certainly a Christophany.

Consider that the word “Angel” in 3:28 is the Aramaic version of the Hebrew word for “angel” that appears throughout the Old Testament. While this can refer to any divine messenger (or even a human messenger), it is often used to describe other Christophanies. In fact, the phrase “The Angel of the Lord” is probably always used to refer to a pre-incarnate Word of God (for example, in Judges 13:21-22, when Samson’s father realizes he has seen “the Angel of the Lord,” he thinks he and his wife will die because they “have seen God”).

While Nebuchadnezzar has not yet converted by the end of this chapter, he now recognizes God as a parallel authority to himself, in that he recognizes that someone could reasonably disobey him in order to serve God (3:28). Hence, he commands everyone in his kingdom to refrain from insulting the God of Israel, lest they incur His wrath (3:29). This is therefore the second of three milestones on his path to salvation.

Chapter 4

In Esther 1:1, we see that by the third year of Darius the Great, Persia ruled over 127 provinces, from India to Ethiopia. This empire encompassed parts of Europe, Africa, and multiple sections of Asia. Thus, while Cyrus may have enlarged the empire beyond what it was under Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian empire in Nebuchadnezzar’s day would still have had dominion over a substantial number of nations.

Therefore, when Nebuchadnezzar sent the letter of Daniel 4 to all the nations he controlled, telling them about his conversion and his humble submission to Yahweh, he was performing a globally impacting evangelistic work. An entire generation of Gentiles would have read this letter and been inspired or intrigued by the submission of their supreme leader to Israel’s God.

As for how he converted, Nebuchadnezzar was a very prideful man in his youth, as we have previously seen, which was reinforced by his high level of power and political success. It therefore took a rather extreme punishment to break his pride, as described in chapter 4.

Note that the imagery of the king of Babylon being a giant tree in which creatures find shelter (4:20-22) resembles the parable of the mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32; Mark 4:30-32; Luke 13:18-19), in which Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a large tree in which the birds of the air find shelter. This similarity represents the way the kingdom of God ushered in by Jesus takes over the role previously played by the metal kingdoms in the dream of Daniel 2.

Daniel’s concern for Nebuchadnezzar’s welfare in 4:19 also shows that the Jews were not supposed to hate the Gentiles who ruled over them. The Gentile takeover of Israel was both a just punishment for Israel’s wickedness and a system in which God created the opportunity for significantly increased evangelism amongst the nations. While Daniel and his friends refused to compromise their faith, as long as that was respected, they could serve, honor, and even befriend their Gentile rulers.

Concerning the way Nebuchadnezzar fell from power, God does not allow others to share His glory. When Nebuchadnezzar took credit for the world empire God had established (4:30), God had to act. Because God chose Nebuchadnezzar for salvation, instead of destruction like Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:23), God instituted an extreme form of discipline capable of breaking Nebuchadnezzar’s pride.

Nebuchadnezzar’s restoration (4:34-36) finished the third and final stage of his progression to salvation. Now, there is a common misconception amongst Christians that Gentiles in the Old Testament couldn’t be saved and go to Heaven. This, however, is not supported by Scripture.

Instead, Gentiles did not have the presence of God amongst them like the Israelites did. Nonetheless, the Gentiles could be blessed so long as they blessed Israel (Genesis 12:3). We know from Luke 11:31-32 that the Queen of Sheba and the men of Ninevah went to Heaven at the judgment. We also know Melchizedek went to Heaven (Hebrews 7:1-3). There are many more examples of Gentiles who were clearly saved, such as Hiram of Tyre.

The one thing all those saved Gentiles had in common is that they blessed the Hebrews/Israelites/Jews. Nebuchadnezzar was already on this path through his support of Daniel and his friends, and by the end of chapter 4, he is directly blessing God (4:37).

Note: Cyrus the Great (AKA Darius the Mede) and Darius the Great were likewise so favorable to the Jews that it is reasonable to conclude that they were saved as well (consider that God said He would reveal himself to Cyrus, His “anointed,” in Isaiah 45:1-7).

Chapter 5

There could be hardly anything more disrespectful to God than for someone to not only dare to drink from His holy temple vessels, but to praise false gods while doing so (5:1-4). This explains why Belshazzar’s destruction was so swift.

Obviously, the esteem in which Daniel was held in Nebuchadnezzar’s day had dissipated since the death of Nebuchadnezzar, as Belshazzar had never even heard of him (5:10-12). However, Daniel, ever humble, did his job (for both God and Babylon) without seeking reward (5:17). Still, he was returned to a high political office (5:29), no doubt because God wanted him in a position of power when Cyrus took over. In the next chapter we see Daniel distinguishing himself amongst the high-level officials in Cyrus’ sight.

Amazingly, Belshazzar recognized that Daniel had correctly interpreted the writing and rewarded him accordingly, but he still did not repent (Daniel 5:30). Even though this kind of behavior is baffling, we see it all throughout Scripture – for example, the people of Jericho recognized God’s power and deliverance of Israel (Joshua 2:8-11), but they still didn’t repent and submit to God’s will.

Note: Daniel was clothed in purple (5:29) because at the time, purple dye was very expensive to produce (it had to be extracted from a large quantity of sea snails), so it was generally worn only by the wealthiest elite, including royalty.

Chapter 6

Note: The use of the title “Darius the Mede” for Cyrus the Great in this section of Daniel is probably because “Darius” literally means “he who holds firm the good,” and Daniel was trying to portray Cyrus as positively as possible.

This chapter illustrates clearly that when you attempt to murder a righteous man by using his love of God’s Law against him, it isn’t going to go well for you.

The high-ranking officials who conspired against Daniel attempted to trick Cyrus into unwittingly killing his most faithful and helpful official (6:11-13). Thus, these men were traitors to the cause of God and Cyrus his anointed (Isaiah 45:1), and so God conspired to kill them instead. As Psalm 35:8 says, “Let his net that he has hidden catch himself; into that very destruction let him fall.”

In signing the decree to forbid petitioning any god or man besides himself (6:6-9), Cyrus probably thought he was preventing insurrection or civil chaos in some way, especially at the beginning of his reign, per the guidance of all his governors and satraps (besides Daniel). He obviously did not understand that he was outlawing Yahweh worship, judging by his reaction when he realized the implications of the decree in 6:14.

The idea of the laws of the Medes and Persians being irrevocable even by the Persian emperor (6:15) also appears in Esther 8, where Darius the Great could not stop the edict to kill all the Jews, but he could write another edict allowing them to defend themselves. Haman is therefore another example of a wicked official tricking a Persian king into passing a law to kill Jews without realizing what he is doing.

Also, while the laws of the Medes and Persians were so supreme that even the emperor himself couldn’t override them, God could, and He did so by saving Daniel from the lions (6:22). In this way, God led Cyrus to recognize Him as the one true living God and the highest authority in the world (6:25-27).

Note: After the wicked officials were all cast into the lion’s den and killed (6:24), Daniel was undoubtedly able to appoint officials who were righteous and faithful in their service. This would have strengthened the position of the Jews within the Persian empire throughout the remainder of Cyrus the Great’s reign and possibly had residual effects even up to the reign of Darius the Great, who then refreshed this strengthening by intentionally promoting Jewish officials like Mordecai and Nehemiah.