Publisher's Synopsis
In these first few books of Daniel, we hear of a young boy taken from his homeland of Judea by the power and might of a somewhat shrewd, ruthless, and idolatrous King Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Ancient Babylon. This ancient Babylonian military superpower spanned across the Fertile Crescent from the Persian Gulf near Ur in the East, to Egypt in the West. With the fall of Jerusalem, we see King Nebuchadnezzar bring some of the young nobles, intellectuals, and royalty of ancient Israel as advisors into his court in Ur.
Through the first five chapters of Daniel, we see how God watches over Daniel and his fellow Hebrew people, despite his being enslaved in Babylon. Not only do we see God's protection over Israel, we see Almighty God in His sovereignty transform the hearts of individuals like King Nebuchadnezzar himself, through the prophetic voice of the Prophet Daniel. During the first five chapters we will see Daniel's geographical movement from the Kingdom of Israel, carried into captivity in Babylon, promoted into prominence in Babylon, and then onto the kingdom which overthrows Babylon, Persia. In these first five chapters of Daniel, we will see the outline of God's sovereign plan of salvation, not only to bring back the Hebrew people to Jerusalem, but will begin to see imagery of how Almighty God Himself will one day bring His beloved family back into His presence from exile by the power of His very own "outstretched arm".
