Lesson 1: Daniel the Prophet

All around us we see things happening. Our world is changing, and sometimes those changes leave us confused or wondering if God still cares about us. We wonder if He is still in control, or if He can still protect us. Daniel the prophet answered those questions for us about 3000 years ago. As we study this book, we ask you to pay attention to the details Jesus gave all these thousands of years ago. Believe this: if He knew all these things then, He is still in control today as they are happening exactly as He knew they would.

Technology today is increasing at incredible leaps, and we know that what we see is probably 10 years behind what already exists. We look at some of the things we see around us and the verses where those very things were prophesied.
- Travel throughout the world is increasing – Daniel 12:4
- Satellites are beginning to watch what we do, our cell phone tracks where we go and listens to our conversations – Revelation 13:17
- An asteroid is heading for earth and there is nothing we can do about it – Revelation 8:11
- Diseases like Ebola, drug-resistant malaria, a new flu-like virus, and more are increasing – Revelation 6:8
- Earthquakes and volcanos erupting – Matthew 24:5-8
- World leaders seeking to destroy Israel – Ezekiel 38

There are over 800 prophesies and signs in the Bible about the Second Coming of Jesus, and we already see many of them happening today. Just as Jesus said in Matthew 24:6, “…see that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.”


As we work through the book of Daniel do not become afraid of the things you will read, because Jesus has promised us in many scriptures that He holds us in His hands. We who believe and trust in Him are secure – if our life here on earth ends, we are immediately in His presence for all eternity (2 Corinthians 5:8). You might ask, “what is the point of studying this book of Daniel?” It prepares us for what is coming so, when it comes, we are not scared, but ready! Jesus leaves us here for a little while longer to tell those who do not yet believe in Him that what is happening in our world is part of His plan. History repeats itself, so if we want to know what will happen, we must be students of what Jesus recorded in the Bible.

Daniel 1:1-4 – “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.”

Daniel begins with history, and in our next lesson we will study the history of Israel that is mentioned in these four verses.

*What are you hoping to learn from this study of Daniel?