1. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, orders some of the young Israelite men to enter into the king’s service where they will be trained for three years in the language and literature of Babylon. These men included Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

2. Nebuchadnezzar has a dream and orders the astrologers of Babylon to interpret it or they will be cut to pieces. When they say that this is too difficult and that only gods can reveal dreams the king orders the astrologer’s execution. Learning this, Daniel asks for time to interpret the dream, and that night has a vision. Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that in his dream there was a huge statue made of different metals. He saw a rock strike its feet, the statue crumble and blow away, and then the rock that hit it grew into a mountain. Daniel says that each metal part of the statue symbolizes a different future kingdom, and the mountain symbolizes the one kingdom that will endure forever. The king praises Daniel for his interpretation, lavishes gifts on him, and places him in charge of the kingdom’s wise men.

3. Nebuchadnezzar builds a statue twenty-seven meters high on the plain of Dura and commands his people to worship it or they will be ‘thrown into a furnace’. When Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah do not bow down to the statue they are brought before the king. They tell the king that they will not worship the king’s idol, and if the king throws them into the furnace their God will save them. Nebuchadnezzar makes the furnace seven times hotter, gets the strongest of his soldiers to tie them up, and has Hananiah, Mishael, and Axariah thrown into the furnace. Looking into the fire, instead of seeing three bound men, the king sees four men unbound; the fourth is God. When Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah are taken from the fire their clothes are not burnt and their hair is not singed. Nebuchadnezzar praises the God of the Jews.

4. Nebuchadnezzar describes another dream for Daniel. In his dream Nebuchadnezzar sees a giant tree that touches the sky, which shelters and feeds many animals. Then a messenger comes who tells Nebuchadnezzar to cut down the tree but leave the stump. Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that the king is the tree, the messenger is from God, that God will cut Nebuchadnezzar down, and that Nebuchadnezzar will live with donkeys and eat grass like cattle. As the stump of the tree remains, however, God will restore Nebuchadnezzar to his throne when he humbles himself, renounces his sin, and acknowledges God. Then, all this comes literally true!

5. Nebuchadnezzar’s son, King Belshazzar, takes over the throne. When Belshazzar has a banquet, he calls for the gold and silver goblets taken from the temple at Jerusalem when it was seized, and those present drink from them. Suddenly a disembodied human hand appears and writes on the wall. Belshazzar asks his astrologers what the writing means but none can tell him. Daniel tells Belshazzar that while his father was a powerful king, he humbled himself and was restored, but that he (Belshazzar) has not humbled himself before God. Daniel says that the writing numbers the days of Belshazzar. Belshazzar is murdered that same night.

6. Darius takes over from Belshazzar. Daniel is appointed as one of his three governors, and distinguishes himself in the role. Some administrators who are jealous of Daniel try to find evidence of his corruption or incompetence. Unable to do so, they convince King Darius to decree that any person worshipping anyone but the king should be thrown into a lion’s den. Daniel prays to his God, as is his custom, Darius regrets his decree but doesn’t rescind it, and Daniel is thrown to the lions. The next morning the kings finds Daniel still in the den but unscathed. Daniel explains that God sent an angel who sealed the mouths of the lions, and Daniel is lifted from the den. The men who convinced Darius to issue the decree are thrown to the lions and are eaten. Darius rescinds the decree and praises Daniel’s God. The stories from chapters one to six are literary fiction constructed to inspire the Jews to keep their faith.

7. Daniel has a vision of four beasts rising from the sea. The first beast is a lion with the wings of an eagle; the second beast looks like a bear, has three ribs sticking out from between its teeth, and is told to ‘eat your fill of flesh’; the third looks like a leopard but has four heads and four wings; while the fourth beast has iron teeth and ten horns, and devours its victims. As Daniel is thinking about the horns, one of the horns appears before him with eyes and a ‘boastful mouth’. Then Daniel has a vision of God as a man dressed in white sitting on a throne of fire with tens of thousands of people before Him, waiting for judgment. The first three beasts are stripped of their power, while the ten-horned beast is thrown into a fire (presumably by God). The vision continues with a ‘son of man’ arriving from the clouds into the presence of God, and given authority over all nations. Daniel approaches one of the assembled throng and is told the meaning of the vision. The four beasts represent four kingdoms, the last of which will devour the whole earth, and its ten horns represent ten kings. Daniel is told that when God’s court sits, God will destroy the fourth beast and hand power to his saints.

8. In the next vision, Daniel sees a ram with two long horns, standing beside the Ulai Canal. The ram has dominion over all other animals. Then a goat, who traverses the whole world without touching the ground, charges the ram, and takes the ram’s position of dominance The goat’s horn, however, breaks off in the melee, but in its place grow four new horns. Standing beside Daniel is a man who calls out ‘Gabriel, interpret this man’s vision’. Gabriel (presumably) then informs Daniel that the vision concerns the end of time. In the latter days of the four kingdoms, represented by the four horns, a powerful and stern-faced king will rise, but not through his own power. He will cause enormous devastation but will be destroyed himself when he stands against the ‘Prince of princes’.

9. While Daniel is praying to God, confessing the sins of Israel and asking forgiveness, Gabriel comes to him in a vision. Gabriel tells him that from the time of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One comes, there will be ‘seven sevens, and sixty-two sevens’, and then the Anointed One will then be ‘cut off’ and ‘have nothing’. Then the people of this ‘ruler’ (presumably the Anointed One) will destroy Jerusalem and the end will come like a flood. Then war will rage, the Anointed One will put an end to sacrifice, and then ‘set up an abomination’ that will ‘cause desolation’ until the end. Your guess is as good as mine. There is no clarity here whatsoever. It reads as if it has been edited and re-edited until it is meaningless.

10-12. A messenger from God tells Daniel of alliances, wars, the rise and fall of kingdoms, rebellions, sieges, and political intrigue. The messenger says that a king will arise that will show no regard for the gods of his fathers but will wage war with the help of a ‘foreign god’. Then the messenger says that ‘Michael, the great prince’ will arise, deliver the Jews and wake the dead. Some will be woken to everlasting life and some to everlasting contempt. A time frame is given for this ‘end-time’ which is 1,290 days from the time that ‘daily sacrifice is abolished’.One thousand two-hundred and ninety days is between three and four years.

When you treat these stories as literary fiction you can enjoy them for what they are. Confuse them with reality, however, and they become a sad delusion. The ‘end time' prophesies are contradictory, messy, and unintelligible.