About the Book of Daniel

The events in the book of Daniel happened about 600 years before Jesus was born.
God's special people, the Israelites, did not obey God well. So he punished them. He let Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, win against the Israelites who lived in Judah and its big city, Jerusalem. We call those Israelites ‘Jews’. Nebuchadnezzar took away almost all the Jews to live in Babylon. We call that the exile. Daniel became a very important officer in the government of Babylon.
The first part of the book (Daniel 1-6) tells us about things that happened to Daniel and his friends while they lived in Babylon. Many times the people of Babylon tried to make them turn against God. They wanted them to worship idols or to worship the king. The people in Babylon even tried to kill Daniel and his friends because they would only worship the true God. But Daniel and his friends knew that idols are not really gods. So they continued to worship the Lord God.
The second part of the book (Daniel 7-12) tells about Daniel's visions. They were special dreams that God gave to Daniel. God showed Daniel what would happen in future years. Some things that Daniel saw in his dreams have already happened. Other things that God told Daniel in his dreams have not yet happened. But God will do all the things that he has promised.