Daniel was a devout Jew who served in the Babylonian court. God gave him the ability to interpret the dreams of Babylonian rulers. Their dreams portended the end of Babylonian domination. When the Babylonians dared to use the sacred vessels of the temple at a banquet, a hand appeared and wrote a message on a wall. Daniel disclosed that it was a message of judgment. Because Daniel refused to pray to the king as if to a god, he was placed in a den of lions, but God preserved his life. Daniel’s final visions depicted the rise and fall of empires and the ultimate victory of God.