Those following the two-year Bible reading plan with me will begin reading the book of Daniel tomorrow, October 16. (Link to the Two-Year Bible Reading Plan Bookmarks)

One of the most colorful prophets in the Bible is Daniel. We learn many of his accounts as children, though the later chapters are more difficult to understand as they appear to address events that are still in the future as end times. Daniel served under four consecutive kings of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar, King Belshazzar, King Darius, and King Cyrus.

The events we will read about in the book of Daniel include:

• Daniel was one of the many Israelites in exile who were selected to be groomed in the best of the Babylonian culture.
• Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a huge statue.
• Daniel and his two friends refused to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue of himself and were thrown into a furnace of fire.
• Nebuchadnezzar’s pride caused him to become mentally ill and to act like an animal eating grass.
• King Belshazzar watched handwriting on the wall during his great banquet. Was killed later that night.
• Daniel refused to pray to the new King Darius and was thrown into the den of lions.

Chapters 7-12 tell of Daniel’s visions concerning future events including many that are still in the future.

The image above comes from the Free Bible Images website. There are several story sets with images that are based on the book of Daniel. They are excellent resources to use with children and adults. This is one of them: https://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/daniel-feast/