Daniel, The Rise and Fall of Empires: What Four Ancient Kingdoms Reveal About Every Empire Since (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798186821625)

Every empire believes it will last forever. Daniel says otherwise - and shows exactly how the story ends. From Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a statue with feet of iron and clay, to the writing on the wall at Belshazzar's feast, to visions of beasts rising from the sea, the book of Daniel traces the same pattern across four ancient kingdoms: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome.

This book walks through Daniel's visions chapter by chapter - the statue and the stone, a king humbled into the field and restored, a kingdom weighed and found wanting in a single night, four beasts from the sea, the ram and the goat, and the long, detailed prophecy of the kings of the north and south. It closes by asking the question every generation eventually has to face: does the same pattern of empire seeking total control over its people still show up today - and if so, where?

A reign was described differently from the very first chapter - not competing with the others, but ending the whole pattern. That kingdom still stands.