7.0-  Daniel Prays for His People

In Daniel 9 verses 1 through 19 we read:

“1 Darius the Mede, who was the son of Xerxes, ruled over the kingdom of Babylonia. 2 In the first year of his reign I was studying the sacred books and thinking about the seventy years that Jerusalem would be in ruins, according to what the Lord had told the prophet Jeremiah. 3 And I prayed earnestly to the Lord God, pleading with him, fasting, wearing sackcloth, and sitting in ashes.

4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed the sins of my people.

I said, “Lord God, you are great, and we honor you. You are faithful to your covenant and show constant love to those who love you and do what you command.

5 “We have sinned, we have been evil, we have done wrong. We have rejected what you commanded us to do and have turned away from what you showed us was right. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our rulers, our ancestors, and our whole nation. 7 You, Lord, always do what is right, but we have always brought disgrace on ourselves. This is true of all of us who live in Judea and in Jerusalem and of all the Israelites whom you scattered in countries near and far because they were unfaithful to you. 8 Our kings, our rulers, and our ancestors have acted shamefully and sinned against you, Lord. 9 You are merciful and forgiving, although we have rebelled against you. 10 We did not listen to you, O Lord our God, when you told us to live according to the laws which you gave us through your servants the prophets. 11 All Israel broke your laws and refused to listen to what you said. We sinned against you, and so you brought on us the curses that are written in the Law of Moses, your servant. 12 You did what you said you would do to us and our rulers. You punished Jerusalem more severely than any other city on earth, 13 giving us all the punishment described in the Law of Moses. But even now, O Lord our God, we have not tried to please you by turning from our sins or by following your truth. 14 You, O Lord our God, were prepared to punish us, and you did, because you always do what is right, and we did not listen to you.

 15 “O Lord our God, you showed your power by bringing your people out of Egypt, and your power is still remembered. We have sinned; we have done wrong. 16 You have defended us in the past, so do not be angry with Jerusalem any longer. It is your city, your sacred hill.  All the people in the neighboring countries look down on Jerusalem and on your people because of our sins and the evil our ancestors did. 17 O God, hear my prayer and pleading. Restore your Temple, which has been destroyed; restore it so that everyone will know that you are God. 18 Listen to us, O God; look at us and see the trouble we are in and the suffering of the city that bears your name. We are praying to you because you are merciful, not because we have done right. 19 Lord, hear us. Lord, forgive us. Lord, listen to us, and act! In order that everyone will know that you are God, do not delay! This city and these people are yours.”

6.3- Discussion of Daniel 8 verses 24-27.

>>> Verse 24: “Not by his own power”; this is because the dragon gives him the power. See Rev. 13 verse 2: “The beast looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear's feet and a mouth like a lion's mouth. The dragon gave the beast his own power, his throne, and his vast authority”.  Note: Also we are capable of being strong in the power of our Lord and not in our own power. See Ephesians 6 verse 10: “Finally, build up your strength in union with the Lord and by means of his mighty power”. What Satan is for the godless to their destruction, is God for his people to their salvation.

>>> Verse 25: It says here that because he is sneaky, he will succeed in his devious ways. In Revelation 6 verse 2 it says: “I looked, and there was a white horse. Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown. He rode out as a conqueror to conquer”.  This shows the false peace: a white horse coming from the same stable as the other three horses bringing wars and destruction. A white horse gives the impression to be peaceful……But suddenly the truth is revealed. See also 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 3: “When people say, “Everything is quiet and safe, “then suddenly destruction will hit them! It will come as suddenly as the pains that come upon a woman in labor, and people will not escape”.

… But he will but he will be destroyed without the use of any human power. See 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 8: “Then the Wicked One will be revealed, but when the Lord Jesus comes, He will kill him with the breath from his mouth and destroy him with His dazzling presence”. Also see Dan. 2 verse 44: “At the time of those rulers the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never end. It will never be conquered, but will completely destroy all those empires and then last forever”, Dan. 7: 26, 27, Rev. 17 verse 14: “They will fight against the Lamb; but the Lamb, together with his called, chosen, and faithful followers, will defeat them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings” and more texts in the bible that refer to this such as: Rev. 19: 11-16, Psalms 2, Zech. 14: 5.

>>> Verse 26: Extra attention is given to the vision about the evening and morning sacrifices. For Daniel this time is still far away because it says: “…because it will be a long time before it does come true”. However for us it is thought to be very near.

>>> Verse 27: The depression of Daniel is very understandable, because it concerns his own people. 

6.2- Discussion of Daniel 8 verses 17- 23

>>> Verses 17-19: These verses talk about fear in the presence of the vision, which had to do not only with the ram and the goat, but primarily with the end of the world. The real understanding of the vision is not related to the temporary kingdoms of the ram and the goat, but to the end times, as it says in verse 19: “I am showing you what the result of God's anger will be. The vision refers to the time of the end”. The cause of the anger of God over all sin and, ungodliness are as mentioned in the following verses:

a) - verse 9: wars of the antichrist.

b) - verses10-12: rejection of any relation with the true God.

      (Ungodliness and occultism).

c) - verses 12 and 13: Desecration of the sanctuary.

d) – verse 12: People sinned instead of offering the proper daily

       sacrifices.

e) – verse 12: True religion was thrown to the ground. The lie is

       believed. See Rom. 1 verse 25: “They exchange the truth about

      God for a lie; they worship and serve what God has created

      instead of the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever”

f) – verse 24: He will cause terrible destruction….. on God's own

      people. Destruction in all aspects such as the environment, but

      also related to a degradation of the human values such as

      moral and ethics

g) – verse 25: It says: “He will even defy the greatest King of all” He

       will even compete against Jesus Christ. See also 1 John 2

       verse 18: “My children, the end is near! You were told that the

       Enemy of Christ would come; and now many enemies of Christ

       have already appeared, and so we know that the end is near”.

       But all these causes of the anger of God are at the same time

       the reason his downfall. See 2 Thessalonians 2

       verses 4 and 8: “He will oppose every so-called god or object of

       worship and will put himself above them all. He will even go in

       and sit down in God's Temple and claim to be God…… Then

       the Wicked One will be revealed, but when the Lord Jesus

       comes, he will kill him with the breath from his mouth and

       destroy him with his dazzling presence”.

>>> Verses 20-23: This is the same as what was mentioned before under verses 4-9.  See the discussion under the verses 4-9 before. 

6.1- Discussion of Daniel 8 verses 15-16

>>> Verse 15: To serve the human beings, God sends His angels. See also Hebrews 1 verse 14: “What are the angels, then? They are spirits who serve God and are sent by him to help those who are to receive salvation”. These angels come also in the form of human beings. See for example Hebrews 13 verse 2: “Remember to welcome strangers in your homes. There were some who did that and welcomed angels without knowing it”. And many more places in the bible, such as: Gen. 18: 1-3, 22, Gen. 19: 1-3, Gen.28: 12, 1Kings 19: 5-7, 2 Kings 6: 16, 17, Dan. 9: 21, Dan. 12: 5-7…. Sometimes also the Lord Himself comes to us in the form of an angel: See Genesis 18 verses1and 2: “The Lord appeared to Abraham at the sacred trees of Mamre. As Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day,   he looked up and saw three men standing there”.  (Other examples of this we can find in Gen. 32:1, 2, Jos. 5: 13-15…and more). This is because He has made us after His image, and therefore there exists certain equality. See John 4 verse 24: “God is Spirit, and only by the power of his Spirit can people worship him as he really is”. And also 1 John 3 verse 2: “My dear friends, we are now God's children, but it is not yet clear what we shall become. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is”. Therefore: God wants to relate to us not as a man with his servant, but as a man with his wife, as partners. The relation is based on equality.

>>> Verse 16: A voice was heard to tell Gabriel to explain the meaning of what Daniel saw. This appearance, the Lord Himself,  was of a higher rank than Gabriel to who He gives the order for the benefit of Daniel. This is because angels are lower in ranking than God’s children. See also, in Hebrews 1 verse 14: “What are the angels, then? They are spirits who serve God and are sent by him to help those who are to receive salvation”, and 1 Cor. 6 verse 3: “¿Do you not know that we shall judge the angels?” 

And to us, similarly as to Daniel, God gives it us to understand the meaning of the vision. To have it explained to us is not necessary, because the explanation is given here already by the Angel Gabriel. 

6.0- The Angel Gabriel Explains the Vision

In Daniel 8 verses 15 through 27 we read:

15 I was trying to understand what the vision meant, when suddenly someone was standing in front of me. 16  I heard a voice call out over the Ulai River, “Gabriel, explain to him the meaning of what he saw.” 17 Gabriel came and stood beside me, and I was so terrified that I fell to the ground.

He said to me, “Mortal man, understand the meaning. The vision has to do with the end of the world.” 18 While he was talking, I fell to the ground unconscious. But he took hold of me, raised me to my feet, 19 and said,

 “I am showing you what the result of God's anger will be. The vision refers to the time of the end.

20 “The ram you saw that had two horns represents the kingdoms of Media and Persia. 21 The goat represents the kingdom of Greece, and the prominent horn between his eyes is the first king. 22 The four horns that came up when the first horn was broken represent the four kingdoms into which that nation will be divided and which will not be as strong as the first kingdom.

23 “When the end of those kingdoms is near and they have become so wicked that they must be punished, there will be a stubborn, vicious, and deceitful king. 24 He will grow strong—but not by his own power. He will cause terrible destruction and be successful in everything he does. He will bring destruction on powerful men and on God's own people. 25 Because he is cunning, he will succeed in his deceitful ways. He will be proud of himself and destroy many people without warning. He will even defy the greatest King of all, but he will be destroyed without the use of any human power. 26 This vision about the evening and morning sacrifices which has been explained to you will come true. But keep it secret now, because it will be a long time before it does come true.”

27 I was depressed and ill for several days. Then I got up and went back to the work that the king had assigned to me, but I was puzzled by the vision and could not understand it.

5.3- Discussion of Daniel 8, verses 10- 14

>>> Verse 10: He also attacked “the army of heaven, the stars themselves”. See also Rev. 12 verse 4: “With his tail he dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth” Similar words are used in many other biblical texts, such as for example: Isaiah 13 verse10:” Light will disappear from the stars in the sky; the dawning sun will turn dark, and the moon will lose its glow”, Ez.32 verse 7: “I will cover the whole sky and every star with thick clouds, so that the sun and moon will stop shining”, Matthew 24 verse 29: “Right after those days of suffering, the sun will become dark, and the moon will no longer shine. The stars will fall,

and the powers in the sky will be shaken”, and also Luke 21:25. All this indicates the terrific power of the antichrist and all that is related to him. These are the powers of the heavens, worldly leaders, and also idols. The detail that it threw some of them to the ground and trampled on them could very well refer to the people of God: Jews and Christians.

>>> Verse 11 and 12: In the year 170 BC, the high priest Onias III was removed from his position. Onias III was a faithful Jew and was the image of the Great High Priest. See Daniel 11 verse 22: “Anyone who opposes him, even God's High Priest, will be swept away and wiped out”. After this the temple was desecrated, and a swine was offered in the holy place. This will happen in the future again.

See Matthew 24 verse 15: “You will see ‘The Awful Horror’ of which the prophet Daniel spoke. It will be standing in the holy place.” (And also 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4, Rev.  13:4, 12-15).

>>> Verses 13, 14: The angels, (saints), wonder how long these things that were seen in the vision will continue. See also Rev. 6 verses 9 and 10: “…..I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed because they had proclaimed God's word and had been faithful in their witnessing. They shouted in a loud voice, “Almighty Lord, holy and true! How long will it be until you judge the people on earth and punish them for killing us?”

The time that people sinned instead of offering the proper daily sacrifices (see verse 12) was 2300 evenings and mornings, as we see in verse 14. In other words: 1150 days. This is 110 days less than the 1260 days, or three and a half years, described in Daniel 9 verse 27, which will be discussed later. Here I will only mention the reduction of the three and a half years by 110 days as mentioned by Jesus in Mathew 24 verse 22: “But God has already reduced the number of days; had he not done so, nobody would survive. For the sake of his chosen people, however, God will reduce the days”. 

5.2- Discussion of Daniel 8, verses 5-9

>>> Verse 5: The goat (Leopard in Daniel 7 verse 6), is the symbol of Greece (Aegea is the metaphorical use of "goat”, from there the name “Aegean sea”). It was moving so fast that his feet didn't touch the ground…. This is how Alexander the Great conquered the world: Very fast, in13 years.  

>>> Verses 6 and 7: In 332 BC, Alexander the Great defeats the Medes and the Persians.

>>> Verse 8: Alexander the Great died in 323 BC, when he was 33 years old and his kingdom was divided among his 4 generals as follows:

 To the west: Greece with Macedonia under Cassander.

To the north: Turkey and Asia Minor, under Lysimachus/Antigonus.

To the east: with Syria under Seleucus.

To the south: Egypt and Palestine, under Ptolomy, until 198 BC.

>>> Verse 9: From one of these four parts of the Greek empire (Syria?) will come the “little horn”, the coming antichrist, who will become powerful in Egypt, Iraq, Iran and the Promised land.

See also Daniel 11 verses 16 and 41: “The Syrian invader will do with them as he pleases, without opposition. He will stand in the Promised Land and have it completely in his power……  He will even invade the Promised Land and kill tens of thousands…..”