The first six chapters of Daniel are narrative history; the following six are a type of biblical writing called apocalyptic prophecy. There are some keys to understanding apocalyptic prophecy in the Bible. First, apocalyptic writing isn’t an attempt to give us some hidden meaning that only the clever or spiritual can understand; apocalyptic writing is intended as Biblical mystery. In fact, the entire New Testament’s ideas on mystery, revelation, and fulfillment of prophecy come from what God reveals to Daniel in Daniel 7 specifically, and also in Daniel 8-12. Daniel 7 sets the stage for how Jesus speaks about Himself and His return, for how John writes about the end times in Revelation, and about how the Jewish people understood the end times. Apocalyptic books are not given for us to sleuth out some new mysterious truth on our own but to know that God is in control and that He reveals exactly what He wants us to understand in the current age and keeps the rest a mystery until its proper time. The goal of apocalyptic prophecy is to give us hope, but to also make us humble before God and to drive us to pray in our helplessness to change the future. So, let’s get into the details and history as best we can of these amazing chapters of Scripture!
