Daniel was written to encourage those Jews living in exile in Babylonia. Though their past had been filled with much heartbreak and pain, and though they faced certain difficulty in the future, Daniel’s vision gave the Jews numerous reasons for hope: (1) it revealed God as the sovereign Lord who controls the universe; (2) it showed that God had a program for His people Israel during and after a long period of Gentile domination; (3) it served as a reminder that persecution and suffering will not