Was Daniel a type of John the Revelator?  I did a web search on the topic and only had a couple of obtuse hits.  I then searched for similarities between the two men.

Five centuries apart, they wrote parallel and complementary end times prophecies that give us fascinating and frightening glimpses into the future.  http://www.crosswalk.com

God sent a very special messenger to comfort Daniel.  He sent His own Son (Daniel 10)…In the book of Revelation, the apostle John saw the resurrected Jesus on the island of Patmos. http://www.firstbaptistnc.com

John and Daniel were the only two men who were entrusted with such incredible revelation and also called “beloved” of God…John, like Daniel, was given a long life and allowed to die of “natural” causes as opposed to dying as a martyr. http://www.spiritandtruth.org

The Old Testament counterpart to the apostle John, God calls both men “beloved.” (Oh Daniel, thou man, greatly beloved. Dan 10:11)

Daniel had a commitment to integrity, devotion to the Lord, and unwavering faith make him a biblical hero worth studying. http://www.crosswalk.com

The legend was that John was preaching the gospel when he went into the vat of boiling oil and when he came out unscathed. http://www.persecutionblog.com

“Daniel was prone to fainting spells, breathlessness, and weakness.“ http://www.crosswalk.com When John saw the Son of Man, he fell on his face as if dead.  Rev 1:17

Daniel was twice visited by God’s archangel. “Most commonly known as the angel who appeared to Mary in the New Testament to announce the coming Messiah, we first read about Gabriel in Daniel 8:16. His first recorded biblical assignment was to help Daniel interpret a puzzling vision.”  http://www.crosswalk.com Angels traveled down from heaven to Daniel as messengers/interpreters.  In John’s case, he traveled up to them for the messages—and witnessed the entire angelic host in all its grandeur—in its heavenly dwelling place.

“Daniel was an octogenarian when he was thrown into the lion’s den. The chronology of Daniel’s life shows that he had been a faithful government servant for more than 70 years. During a regime change, his exemplary resume caught the eye of the incoming King Darius, who appointed him as one of three national governors.” http://www.crosswalk.com In a natural sense, Daniel was promoted early in life; then he was promoted late in life.  In a supernatural sense, John was promoted early in life, and then he received a huge supernatural promotion later on, probably in his eighties  He was brought into the Son of Man’s inner circle as teenager.  And as an octogenarian, he was brought much higher—into the entirety of His Kingdom.  The Book of Revelation, in fact, starts out, This is the revelation of/about Jesus Christ.  John received a major promotion in his level of understanding about Who Jesus really is.

Both men had a deep reverence for God.

• Daniel’s prayers gave God all the Glory
• Both the Gospel of John and Revelation gave God all the Glory

Both men were willing to die for Him.

• Daniel was willing to go in the Lion’s Den for God
• John was willing to go into a vat of boiling oil for God

Both men understood that they were heirs of Abraham according to the promise

• Daniel seemed to have a NT relationship with God—understood that God could and would bless him.  He found his strength in God, and knew that God would give him wisdom.
• The Apostle John fell on his face before Jesus during the transfiguration and yet wasn’t afraid to lean on Him during the Last Supper.

Both men were told to withhold certain precious knowledge that they had been given:

• Daniel was told not to reveal a vision that he had been given until the very end. Daniel 8:26
  • Then he was told to seal up his writings.  But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge. Daniel 12:3,4
• John was told not to reveal certain words that he had heard. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.” Revelation 10:4
  • But he was told not to seal up his writing.  Rev 22:10

Side bar:  We never heard/received clarification about what the thunders said.  But did Daniel seal up the vision and the scroll?  Jewish Study Bible Comment on Daniel 8:26:  The command to keep the vision a secret emphasizes that it was supposedly received by Daniel centuries earlier; but was not known until the “time of the end.”  And comment on Daniel 12:3,4: It is possible that the failure of the end to come prompted two successive adjustments (to the value of days remaining ‘til the end given in v. 11; superseded by another value in v. 12? Or two separate milestones?).  

So the Jewish people think that the Book of Daniel was written after most of the “supposedly received” prophecies had been fulfilled (~150 v. 600 B.C.) Additionally any remaining prophecies were false, because the world obviously did not end when the specified number of days had elapsed.  Bottom line, the Book of Daniel has been buried in the poetry section of the Hebrew Bible for centuries—a secret, hidden in plain sight. 😊  At a certain point it will be “unsealed,” when the blindness that has happened to Israel is lifted (Rom 11:25).

Similar to a Different Degree:

• What was revealed to John was orders-of-magnitude greater that what was revealed to Daniel.  In John’s case, veils were removed.
• Daniel had glimpses of things that would happen in the future.  John saw the whole shootin’ match.
• Daniel was given about 50 prophecies, with 40 of them fulfilled thus far.  John was also given about 50 prophecies and (subject to pre-, mid-, or post-trib beliefs) they have yet to be fulfilled.
• Daniel saw the Glorified Jesus in a peaceful posture.  John saw the Son of Man and Son of God, incomparably empowered, performing mighty exploits in His ultimate triumph over evil.

Progressive revelation is exemplified in these two men of God and the books that they wrote:  Jesus is our peace and comfort in the storm.  But He’s also the One Who fights our battles and gives us absolute victory.  May we all receive a major promotion in our level of understanding about Who Jesus really is.