Daniel: What God Can Do - A Book Review

There are few books better suited to Halloween then Daniel with its giant statues, near misses with furnaces and lions, strange beasts, mysterious angels and cryptic prophecies.  

All that mystery leads us to sometimes ignore the end of the book for the more comprehensible beginning.  But getting clarity and application out of mystery is what Stafford North excels at.  

I was privileged last fall to audit a master's level class he taught on the book of Revelation.  It was fantastic.  My favorite part was his flannel graph illustrations.  They made the structure of the book so plain.  So when my husband signed up for classes this quarter and I saw that not only was Dr. North teaching Daniel but he had a new book coming out on the subject, I knew I'd be stealing my love's school books again.  

Daniel: What God Can Do turned out to be everything I hoped for.  Although it was intended to be a book either for an adult Bible class or for a minister preaching through Daniel, it has wonderful resources for any Bible student.  The writing was clear and nontechnical.  It was chockfull of charts that made the detailed prophecies accessible.  And Dr. North took a straight forward approach to the application that could easily be shared with a child or a non-Christian.

Take for example Daniel 10.  Dr. North begins his study by paraphrasing the information in the chapter.  Then speaking about how God called Daniel, "a man of high esteem" (Daniel 10:11) he says this: 

God keeps up with His people and knows them.  He knows us, He cares about us, and is aware of whether we are trying to do right.  Though none of us will likely match Daniel for obedience, we can believe that God knows when we do right and is pleased...Understanding that God knows us individually should motivate us to honor Him.  The most powerful force in the universe knows us. (pg 111)

These encouraging applications are sprinkled throughout the book. 

 So if you have long been baffled by the book of Daniel (why was the angel delayed by the Prince of Persia?), if your appetite has been whetted by our study of Daniel's life, if you are looking for an understandable and encouraging book, I hope you will consider this wonderful little book on Daniel. 

Helene

If I have intrigued you into reading the book, or better yet ordering them for your adult Bible class, let's talk about how to get them!  Of course you can click on the link to his publisher above but you could also order them from him directly.  Send me an email and I'll get you all hooked up!