With the exception of Daniel in the lions’ den and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the furnace, much of the book of Daniel is difficult to understand. Many even shy away from it because of it’s difficulty. Michael Whitworth, in The Derision of Heaven, says that there is a great message in Daniel, even without understanding every detail.

Daniel lived during a time of exile, and how he obeyed God while in another land is an example to us today. Though we have not experienced a literal exile, Christians are getting pushed to the fringe of society. It is not hard to see a parallel between the values of Israel being scorned during Daniel’s lifetime and how Christianity is being put down today.

Whitworth does not claim to decipher all the prophecies in Daniel, but he does offer possible meanings to many of them. He says that too much time and effort have been put into looking for the exact meanings and that we have lost sight of the big picture: God loves and protects His people, even when they are persecuted.

He covers each chapter and what we can glean from the scriptures contained in them. He is careful to not say one interpretation is right and others are wrong. He instead opts to say that must be careful to not miss the forest for the trees.

I found a lot of of helpful information in The Derision of Heaven. Though I still don’t comprehend everything in Daniel, I do have a better understanding of it, and don’t have the dread of reading it. The humor Whitworth uses keeps the book lively.

I received a free copy from the publisher as part of the BookCrash Program in exchange for this review.