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The city of Jerusalem has fallen and the Babylonians have taken the Southern Kingdom of Judah captive. What's next for the people of God? Through prophetic revelation, He reveals His plan for human history, including the restoration of His people. Both Daniel and Ezekiel point to the reign of the Messianic King (Jesus Christ) as the focal point of human history. Through turmoil and suffering, the people of God are restored from captivity and promised a restoration in the land.
Daniel
Author
Daniel, also known as Belteshazzar, as renamed by the Babylonians.
Date
Between 605 to possibly 520 B.C., from the year of the first siege on Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in his first year as King of Babylon into the reign of Darius.
Theme
God’s Anti-Christ Foretold
The anti-Christ will come in the last of four great kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, and lead into Tribulation.
Additional Info
The root of the name Daniel means “to judge.” He was a Jewish nobleman of royal Jewish lineage, advisor to 9 kings in 2 different empires (Babylon and Medo-Persia) and God’s prophet to the exiled Jewish people and the nations over a span of at least 85 years. He experienced the beginning of the exile in 605 B.C. and saw the first 50,000 exiles return to rebuild the temple. Ezekiel mentions him three times as a man of highly recognized faith and wisdom. Half of the book is history and half is prophetic. Half is written in Aramaic (chapters 2-7) and half is in Hebrew (chapters 1, 8-12).
© Dr. Rick Taylor
Ezekiel
Author
Ezekiel, the priest, son of Buzi.
Date
Between July 31, 593 (Ezekiel 1:1-3) and March 26, 571 B.C. (Ezekiel 29:17).
Theme
God’s Future Kingdom
The future kingdom will include a restored land, a new Jerusalem, a new temple, a new redistricting of the land and an eternal promise.
Additional Info
Ezekiel’s name means “God strengthens.” He was meticulous about dating each prophecy and arranging them in chronological order. He was among the exiles from Judah, most likely taken with King Jehoiachin in March 597 B.C. by King Nebuchadnezzar, and he prophesied for 22 years. He was a contemporary of both Jeremiah (in Judah) and Daniel (in Babylon). Throughout his writings, there is an emphasis on the “glory of God.”
© Dr. Rick Taylor
Lamentations
Author
Likely Jeremiah, as credited by early Christian writers the, the Talmud and the superscription in the Septuagint.
Date
Soon after August 15, 586 B.C., when Jerusalem and the temple were burned. Jeremiah likely wrote the poems before he was taken captive to Egypt, not long after the city’s destruction (Jeremiah 43:1-7).
Theme
God’s Faithfulness
God is faithful in the midst of judgment; his faitfulness is sure and new every morning.
Additional Info
Lamentations is the sequel to Jeremiah. It is Jeremiah’s lament (a sorrowful song) after the fall of Jerusalem by the Babylonian hordes. It is written as an acrostic, each chapter starting with the letter “A” and progressing letter by letter through the Hebrew alphabet.
© Dr. Rick Taylor and Bill Parkinson
Resources for Daniel, Ezekiel and Lamentations