Daniel

by Douglas J. Simpson

Publisher:

Randall House

, 2000

Overview

The book of Daniel clearly reveals the triumphant story of believers who were faithful to God. The inspiration of studying the lives of believers who successfully followed God is itself a sufficient reason for studying the book of Daniel. Yet, this book also has strong prophetic components that aids in understanding many other prophetic portions of Scripture. Since Biblical prophecy is such a debatable subject, a word about the approach taken in this book to the prophetic passages of Daniel seems in order.

Even though the writer has strong personal commitments to one of the millennial positions, he has not made any attempt to argue for the correctness of his own specific interpretation of the prophecies of Daniel. This approach was taken so that all views could be briefly treated. The reader will need to diligently study the A-, Post-, and Premillennial viewpoints before he will feel satisfied about which of these views is fundamentally correct and, therefore, the one he should personally accept.

Contents

Top Highlights

“She injected the fact that Belshazzar’s father (there was no Aramaic word for grandfather), Nebuchadnezzar, had been assisted with a similar problem by a man named Daniel.” (Page 45)

“Looking upon this national scene in addition to analyzing his own spiritual needs, Daniel decided to completely devote himself to mourning. His concern was not a superficial one lasting for only a few minutes, but it lasted for three weeks. Daniel’s behavior is to be sharply distinguished from both religious formalism and pagan asceticism. It was a decision. He intelligently chose to earnestly express his sorrow before God. Neither was Daniel plagued by the false notion that God had to respond to his requests because he was fasting and praying. He knew fasting and prayer were not gimmicks to trap the blessings of God.” (Page 84)

“Yet in both cases jealousy and hatred were key factors. Religion was a major area of concern in both episodes, too.” (Page 48)

“Through the month-long observance, they wanted everyone to recognize the gods who were supposedly responsible for the authority of Darius, and they also wanted Darius to be seen as a type of mediator between the gods and ordinary men.” (Page 51)

“If you think back through the Book of Daniel, you will soon recognize that Daniel 6 is similar to another chapter, Daniel 3. Chapter three describes the plotting of the Chaldeans to get rid of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In this chapter we see that some of the rulers of Babylon sought to eliminate an elderly statesman, Daniel.” (Page 48)

Product Details

• Title: Daniel
• Author: Douglas J. Simpson
• Series: Clear Study Series
• Publisher: Randall House
• Publication Date: 1977
• Pages: 116

About Douglas J. Simpson

Dr. Douglas J. Simpson is uniquely qualified to write this analytical study of the Book of Daniel. He earned the B.A. degree from Free Will Baptist Bible College, Nashville, Tennessee, in 1962; the M.A. and Ph. D. from Bob Jones University, Greenville, South Carolina in 1963, 1965; the M. Ed., from Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 1967; and, another Ph. D. at the University of Oklahoma in 1970. Dr. Simpson's graduate concentrations were about equally divided in the areas of the history and philosophy.