“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
Daniel 8 is arguably the greatest, most amazing, and most insightful prophetic chapter of the entire Bible. Just like in Chapter 7, God uses imagery to awaken our imagination. Daniel’s visions and dreams talk about an animal with a horn to signify a kingdom that overtakes another kingdom. Imagine a horned animal, like a rhino, chasing a cat. Who’s going to win? The animal with the horn.
In this chapter, we go back in time, once again to the time of King Belshazzar, who was king in Daniel 5 when Babylon was overthrown by the Medo-Persians. Daniel is living in Babylon, and he gets a vision that the nation would be toppled before it happens. He sees Susa a few hundred miles away, which would eventually become the capital of the Persian Empire.
In this vision, Daniel sees a ram with two horns, which was the Medo-Persian Empire, and one horn is bigger than the other because Persia would eventually absorb the Mede Empire. This signified Medo-Persia rising up to conquer Babylon. Later in the chapter, Daniel needs to have his vision interpreted. Though he interprets dreams for other people, he also needs help interpreting his own dreams and visions. Have you ever read the Bible and thought, “I don’t get it”? Don’t feel bad. God speaks to Daniel, and Daniel still needs help understanding God. So, God sent him an angel named Gabriel. Just like God sent Gabriel to Daniel, He sends you the Holy Spirit to help you understand His will and plan for you. The Holy Spirit shows up to help you understand Scripture in a way that He doesn’t show up to help you understand a movie.
You might be asking, “Why does God care so much about the Persian Empire?” God’s people were in Babylon for 70 years, 700 miles away from home, before they were allowed to go home as a punishment for not upholding God’s laws. But it would be the Persian Empire that would release them to return home. His people needed to get home to re-open the Temple so the Word of God could be preached and lead the way for Jesus to come. The entire Bible, and all of human history, is about Jesus.
We will continue to dissect this incredible chapter in tomorrow’s devo.
What parts of the Bible are hard for you to understand? Pray and ask the Holy Spirit for a greater level of insight and understanding with those parts.
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