They have invaded us! They have conquered us, stolen from our temple, and captured thousands of our people! Those must have been just a few of the thoughts of some of the Israelites who watched Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army march through the streets of Jerusalem after they had defeated Pharaoh Neco and his Egyptian army.
Nebuchadnezzar and his army had come to conquer and control the land of Judah. Now he came to humiliate their King Jehoiakim by making him a slave and stealing from the holy temple. Before Nebuchadnezzar left Judah, he made Jehoiakim a puppet governor to control the land Nebuchadnezzar now claimed as his own. The once proud nation under King David and King Solomon was now in the control of the Babylonian Empire.
The book of Daniel starts at this historical event and sweeps us into the future. We will watch God use a young man to point kings, sorcerers, magicians, and astrologers to Himself. We are quickly introduced to the metallic statue which illustrates the rise and fall of great world empires. As dreams and visions continue to unfold throughout Daniel, we start to understand God's future predictions for us. We will see explicit prophecies about nations and a prophecy that predicts the time of Jesus' death. This is a book in which God has clearly spoken. He has spoken! You may be interested in visiting the Daniel Q&A archive.