Hello All
It has become obvious to me from reading posts in the various threads that most people see Daniel as a series of loosely or unconnected prophecies. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The King has the Dream in Daniel 2: Daniel interprets the King’s dream but is amazed and puzzled and he does not understand. Over the next many years life is good but Daniel is still puzzled by the four great Kingdoms.
The Book of Daniel is a series of prophecies in which Daniel keeps looking for clarity but finds none. Each new vision is God’s attempt to explain the previous vision. So 8 tries to explain parts of seven 9 tries to explain parts of 8 and 11 and 12 try to explain 9. 8. And 7.
Just look at the over all theme here. He has the dream of Daniel 7: as an answer to his curiosity about the four kingdoms.
But that doesn’t help poor Daniel understand at all in fact the chapter ends with
[28] "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 mind."
You see to Daniel, in his time, Media Persia was a very powerful Empire that he knew very well. So The Bear of Daniel 7: Or the Second Kingdom to rule the land was no mystery to him.
The third Beast from chapter 7: was a mystery though. Daniel wanted to know who this Leopard was that had four heads.
Chapter 8: is the Answer to his question ……………but poor Daniel ……….it seems the answer only served to scare him and mystify him even more. He ends the Chapter with
[27] 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 is appalled rise up against the Saints destroy the Jews and prosper he will even rise up against the Prince of Princes. No wonder he is appalled!
So Now Daniel asks for clarification because he still does not understand. He wants to know when all this will happen when will the Prince of Princes come??????when will be the end of Jerusalem's desolations and punishment…………. as the 70 Years of the prophecy of Jeremiah was almost over. He wanted to know what every Jewish person wanted to know. He wanted to know when the promise to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob be fulfilled. The promise to The House of Judah and the House of Jacob or Joseph / Ephraim.
Jer 33:24: Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them. 25: Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; 26: Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:
So Daniel prays and submits supplication and gets the prophecy of the 70 weeks of years or 490 years. This is chapter 9:
Well once again Daniel is just further confused he needs details of this 490 Years until the Promise is fulfilled. We read in Chapter 10 Daniel once again asking for understanding. Praying and fasting for many days. He is still confounded by the visions he has had. He understands Jerusalem will be slowly built and then destroyed. But How will all this happen. He is still appalled not just one desolation of the Temple BUT MANY DESOLATIONS
Dan 10: 8: Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.
The Answer to Daniel's Question is Chapter 11 and 12 : in Chapter 11: Daniel is given very specific events that span from that time to the Time of the end and the first resurrection. It is laid out as a series of events that start of with sometimes decades in gaps and as it get further from Daniel's time the gaps get larger only dealing with the most important events.
Chapter 12 is a continuation of Chapter 11 in which Daniel is told of all the Time frames that would be in play.
Daniel Still does not get it and is told NO ONE would understand until the last days.
And so ends the book of Daniel.
It is not a series of dissociated visions, it is one after another trying to explain the previous vision.
