Daniel Is One of God’s Greatest Champions
Ezekiel 14:12-14, The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: 13 “Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. 14 Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,” says the Lord God.

Daniel Is One of God’s Most Loved Men
Daniel 9:21, “While I was speaking in prayer, ... Gabriel ... being caused to fly swiftly ... talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand ... for you are greatly beloved.” Daniel 10:11, “And he said to me, O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you.

The Purpose of the Book of Daniel
Daniel 10:14 Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come. ... 19 And he said, O man greatly beloved, fear not!”


Daniel 1 – Miracle of the Food

8 Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's dainties ... 11Then said Daniel to the steward … let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. … 13 Then let our countenances be looked upon ... And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer, and they were fatter in flesh, than all the youths that did eat of the king's dainties.


Daniel 2 – The Four Metals


Gold, Silver, Brass, Iron, Iron/Clay
2 And ... Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams ... 27 Daniel answered before the king, ... 31 Thou, O king, sawest, and, behold, a great image. 32 Its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass, 33 its legs of iron, its feet part of iron, and part of clay.

The Stone and the Mountain
34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon its feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away ... and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. …

Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome
37 Thou, O king, art king of kings, … thou art the head of gold. 39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee; and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that crusheth all these, shall it break in pieces and crush.

Ten Kings and The Messianic Kingdom
… 42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. … 44 And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed ... but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 

Daniel 3 – Miracle of the Fiery Furnace

12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. ... 19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury … 20 And he commanded certain mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. … 24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste: he spake and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. 25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods. …Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came forth out of the midst of the fire.


Daniel 4 – Nebuchadnezzar Changed Into a Beast

Daniel 4:33-34. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hair was grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. 34 And at the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth for ever; for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation.


Daniel 6 – The Miracle of the Lions’ Den

Daniel 6:14-22. Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to rescue him. … Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. …Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting; … Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came near unto the den to Daniel, he cried with a lamentable voice; the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, and they have not hurt me; forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.


Daniel 7 – The Four Beasts

Lion
Dan7:1-4.  Daniel had a dream … and, behold … four great beasts came up from the sea … The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings ... and a man's heart was given to it.

Bear
Dan7:5. And, behold, another beast, a second, like to a bear; and it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire . The Medes had originally been the dominant Iranian group in the region. ... Cyrus the Great rose in rebellion against the Median Empire ... creating the first Persian empire. Cyrus the Great utilized his tactical genius ... to ... incorporate into the Persian Empire the neighbouring Lydian [Asia Minor/Turkey] and ... Babylonian empires, also leading the way for his successor ... to ... defeat the Egyptian Kingdom.

Leopard
Dan7:6. After this I beheld, and, lo, another, like a leopard, which had upon its back four wings of a bird; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

(The Hellenistic World after the defeat of Antigonus at the Battle of Ipsus in 301BC) The Hellenistic period is the period ... between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire as signified by the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the subsequent conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt in 30 BC. When Alexander the Great died (June 10, 323 BC), he left behind a huge empire. By about 281 BC, the situation had stabilised, resulting in four major domains: The Antigonid, ... Ptolemaic, ... Seleucid, ... and ... Attalid [kingdoms]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellenistic_period

The Fourth Beast
Dan7:7. After this I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, a fourth beast, terrible and powerful, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it;

Ten Horns and A Little Horn
Dan7:7-8. And it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.

The Shekinah Judgment
Dan7:9-10. I beheld till thrones were placed, and one that was ancient of days did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and the wheels thereof burning fire. ¹⁰ A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousands of thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

Judgment of the Four Beasts
Dan7:11-12. I beheld at that time because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given to be burned with fire. ¹² And as for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

The Messiah and the Messianic Kingdom
Dan7:13-18. I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. ¹⁴ And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. ... ¹⁸ But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

The Horn
Dan7:19-22. Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, ... ²⁰ and concerning the ten horns ... and the other horn which came up, and before which three fell, even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake great things, whose look was more stout than its fellows. ²¹ I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; ²² until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

The 3 ½ Years
Dan7:23-25. Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth ... ²⁴ And as for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise: and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the former, and he shall put down three kings. ²⁵ And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time. [A year, and two years, and a half a year = 3.5 years]

The Judgment and Messianic Kingdom
Dan7:26. But the judgment shall be set, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. ²⁷ And the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High: his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.


Daniel 8 – The Ram, the Goat, and the Little Horn

The Ram and the Goat
Dan8:1-8. A vision appeared unto me, ... there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. ... ⁴ no beasts could stand before him ... ⁵ And ... a he-goat came from the west over the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. ⁶ And he came to the ram that had the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and ran upon him in the fury of his power. ^... and brake his two horns; ... and trampled upon him; ... ⁸ and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up four notable horns toward the four winds of heaven.

The Little Horn
Dan8:9-12. And out of one of them came forth a little horn ... ¹⁰ And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled upon them. ¹¹ Yea, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the host; and it took away from him the continual burnt-offering, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. ¹² And the host was given over to it together with the continual burnt-offering through transgression; and it cast down truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered.

The 2300 Evenings and Mornings
Dan8:13-14. Then I heard ... How long shall be the vision concerning the continual burnt-offering, and the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? ¹⁴ And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

Persia, Greece, Alexander and His Generals
Dan8:16-22. And ... Gabriel ... said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation; for it belongeth to the appointed time of the end. ²⁰ The ram ... that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia. ²¹ And the rough he-goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. ²² And as for that which was broken, in the place whereof four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power.

The Little Horn Is a Fierce King
Dan8:23-25. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. ²⁴ And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do his pleasure; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people. ²⁵ ... and in their security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.