Fake fortune tellers exposed
After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon captured Jehoiakim (the third-to-last king of Judah), the four smartest aristocratic young men in Judah were brought to Babylon to be Nebuchadnezzar’s advisers. Their names were Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, and Daniel, but king Nebuchadnezzar renamed them Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Belteshazzar. (Apparently one of those new names wasn’t so catchy.)
Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream about a big statue being smashed by a rock, which then became a huge mountain. He decided to see if his magicians could tell him what it meant. To make sure they were really capable of interpreting it, instead of telling them what he had dreamed about, he demanded that they tell him first. The magicians said that was impossible; only a god could do that. Since they couldn’t read his mind, the king decided to have all the wise men in Babylon killed for being frauds.
But the king’s wise adviser Daniel said that wouldn’t be necessary, because his God could help him do what the king demanded. Daniel described the dream and said it was a prediction about the kingdoms that would come after Nebuchadnezzar’s. The king was very impressed, and he promoted Daniel and his friends to high positions.
Daniel obeys the king
After he had a dream about a huge statue, Nebuchadnezzar decided to make a huge statue. He decreed that everyone had to worship the statue or die. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship it, so the king had them tied up and thrown into a furnace. Daniel didn’t get thrown into the furnace, so apparently he was willing to worship the king’s idol.
God sent an angel to protect Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and they came out of the furnace unharmed. The king was very impressed, and he promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to high positions.
God continues to communicate badly
Later, Nebuchadnezzar had another troubling dream, where an angel had a huge tree cut down and then announced that someone was going to think he was a wild animal for seven years. The king wanted to know what it meant, so first he asked his fraudulent magicians, for some reason. And then since they failed to help him, again, he consulted Daniel.
After the king needlessly described his dream to Daniel, Daniel needlessly informed the king that the king had dreamed about an angel having a huge tree cut down and then announcing that someone was going to think he was a wild animal for seven years. Daniel explained that this meant that Nebuchadnezzar was going to think he was a wild animal for seven years. Then God made Nebuchadnezzar think he was a wild animal for seven years.
A few Babylonian kings later, after Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Judah and exiled the Jews to Babylon, King Belshazzar saw the hand of God write something on the wall that he couldn’t read. He showed it to his wise men and magicians, and none of them could read it either, even though one of them was Daniel. Then the queen suggested asking Daniel. Daniel said the writing meant that God was about to give Belshazzar’s kingdom to the Medes and Persians. The king was very impressed, and he promoted Daniel to a high position.
Daniel’s friends obey the king
Then Belshazzar died, and Babylon was taken over by Darius the fictional Mede. King Darius appointed Daniel to a high position, and was considering putting him in charge of the whole kingdom. But Daniel’s fellow rulers didn’t like that idea, so in order to get him in trouble, they convinced Darius to decree that anyone who prayed to someone other than Darius in the next 30 days would be thrown into a lions’ den.
After he heard about that decree, smart Daniel ignored it and continued to pray to God three times a day in front of an open window. The other rulers saw him and told the king, and he reluctantly had Daniel thrown into the lions’ den. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didn’t get thrown into the lions’ den, so apparently they were willing to stop praying to God. (Or maybe they were smart enough keep their windows shut. Or maybe they were already dead by that time.)
God sent an angel to protect Daniel, and the next morning the king had him taken out of the lions’ den unharmed. Then the king had Daniel’s enemies thrown into the lions’ den, along with their innocent families, whom God allowed to be killed.
Later in Daniel’s life, Cyrus of Persia took over Babylon. He let some of the Jews go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. And his great-grandson Artaxerxes sent some more Jews back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city wall.
The end.