Year 2, Week 24, Day 1 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 24, Day 1

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Daniel 7-8.

Today’s reading continues in the Book of Daniel. Daniel and some of his friends, and many others from Judah were taken into Babylonian captivity during the first wave of deportations somewhere around 605 BC. Daniel’s prophetic ministry continued for about seventy years as his last known prophecy was given in about 536 BC. The episodes of Daniel and his friends fill Daniel 1-6. Daniel 7-12 are primarily visions that the LORD granted to Daniel in exile, visions that had both imminent and distant fulfillments. Today’s reading of Daniel 7-8 record events that happen before the events recorded in Daniel 5. Daniel 7 records a dream that Daniel had in about 550 BC, the first year that Belshazzar was king of Babylon: "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another” (Daniel 7:2-3). This dream of Daniel has parallel significance with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream that Daniel interpreted in Daniel 2. Daniel 8 records a vision that Daniel had in about 548 BC, the third year that Belshazzar was king of Babylon: “I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram standing on the bank of the canal. It had two horns, and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. No beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great” (Daniel 8:3-4). The vision of a ram was followed by a vision of a goat: “As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. And the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. He came to the ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing on the bank of the canal, and he ran at him in his powerful wrath” (Daniel 8:5-6).

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was the explanation that what Daniel received through his dream and vision was insight concerning the end of time: “But he said to me, “Understand, O son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end” (Daniel 8:17b). This explanation in reference to his vision was a word of explanation from the angel Gabriel. In other words, what Daniel was being told in reference to the two-horned ram and the male goat would have ultimate fulfillment way into the distant future (even if there were levels of a nearer fulfillment). The dream that Daniel had in Daniel 7, while it was not explicitly stated to be in reference to the end of time, implies such as it pertains to the temporary nature of kingdoms of men and nations, which rise and fall, in contrast to the permanence of the kingdom of God: “As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom” (Daniel 7:21-22). Daniel’s dream, while having some aspects of a nearer fulfillment, provides a fuller perspective on the final reign of God through His people: “And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him” (Daniel 7:27).

As Daniel records the experience and significance of his dream and vision, he also describes his response to the meaning of what he saw. As Daniel awoke from his dream, he felt anxious and alarmed: "As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me” (Daniel 7:15). After Daniel received the explanation of his dream, he was still deeply unsettled: “Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart” (Daniel 7:28). Then, as Daniel was given his vision, he was sickened by what he heard: “And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king’s business, but I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it” (Daniel 8:27). While Daniel grasped the explanation of his vision, on one level; he was appalled by the explanation, and thus, on another level, the vision did not make sense to him. It seems likely that Daniel may have been appalled over the fact that the LORD’s people would face acute suffering at the hands of a ungodly ruler: “His power shall be great—but not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great. Without warning he shall destroy many” (Daniel 8:24-25a).

But while Daniel was greatly troubled by all that he was learning, he was also given great reason for hope. The LORD controlled the future. Thus, kingdoms of men would come and go, but the LORD’s kingdom would remain: “These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever” (Daniel 7:17-18). And the LORD’s control of the future means that the One described as the Ancient of Days would assume His throne: “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire…I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:9,13-14). The Apostle John uses this same language in Revelation of Jesus Christ.

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe