Daniel tells mankind how its history will develop and reach its final destination

In chapter 7 Daniel gets a frightening vision himself. He sees four terrifying animals which appear one after the other. He is also given the interpretation of the vision: the four animals represent four world-powers. Viewed from the context of the same kind of visions in the Bible-book Revelation and in the second chapter of Daniel the four animals which appear one after the other certainly represent the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh world-powers which will appear after the annihilation of the third world-power Babylonia. Read how the four world-powers act as enemies towards God’s saints, but also read how JHWH hands over all power to these saints at the end of time.

Chapter 8 also shows us a vision which Daniel received himself. We see a fight between a goat with one horn between its eyes and a ram which has two horns. The goat with the one horn wins the fight. After this four smaller horns appear out of the one horn. The angel Gabriel also explains the vision. The ram with the two horns represents the fourth world power Medo-Persia. The goat with the one horn represents the fifth world-power in human history: Greece.

The vision got its visible fulfillment when the Greek king Alexander the Great conquered the entire world of those days in one great military campaign between 334 and 330 B.C. During this military campaign he also defeated the Medes and the Persians and put an end to their world dominion.

As regards the four small horns which appeared out of the one horn which represented Greece: after the death of Alexander the Great, the Greek empire fell apart into four smaller empires.

In chapter 9 we read how, shortly after the Medes and Persians had captured Babylon in 539 B.C., Daniel concludes from a study of the Bible-book of Jeremiah that the period of 70 years during which Israel would lie waste and deserted is approaching its end. He realizes that it will not be long before the Jewish exiles who want to will be allowed to return to their homeland. He prays to JHWH and tells his God how deeply he is ware of the fact that the catastrophe that hit his people is their own fault. Then he is approached by the angel Gabriel. Gabriel shows him a vision of the future in which the sins of the Jewish people will be forgiven, Jerusalem will be rebuilt and the promised Messiah will come to them (read Daniel 9:25)

In the verses 26 to 30 Gabriel looks even further into the future and describes the death of the Messiah, another destruction of Jerusalem, a war over the holy land and in general a picture of catastrophes which will take place in the distant future and which will precede the establishment of God’s eternal kingdom in the hands of His Son Jesus Christ.

The chapters 10 and 11 were written by Daniel in the year 536 B.C. shortly after the Jews who wanted to, had returned to their country. Daniel himself has remained behind in Babylon and is again shown a vision by an angel. The vision is evidently future world history which God revealed to Daniel well in advance. We read how the fourth world-power, Medo-Persia, will eventually be attacked by Greece. A tremendous conqueror (obviously Alexander the Great) will beat the Medes and the Persians and he himself will become the king of the fifth world-power in human history. After his death his empire will fall apart into four parts (something that really happened). Within these four empires especially the northern empire and the southern empire will have a great influence on the course of human history. They start a global conflict which will continue from one century to another. It will only end in the last days when JHWH will establish His eternal kingdom with His son as the eternal king.

The global conflict mentioned will cause a lot of misery on the earth. Wars, a lot of destruction and blasphemy. During the last days the conflict will make life on the earth practically impossible: world history ends with a period of deadly anxiety.

But the vision has a very positive end. Read chapter 12. As soon as JHWH will have ended that final period of great anxiety, the earth will witness the start of a new and glorious period: the era of the Kingdom of God. The dead will live again (see verse 2), the wise ones and the righteous ones will shine like the stars and everybody will posses a thorough knowledge of God and God’s intentions with the earth and with man (see the verses 3 and 4).

Highly interesting is verse 8, where Daniel admits that he has nicely written down everything he heard from the angel, but that he does not understand the things he has seen.

In the verses 9 and 10 the angel tells him that actually the visions are not meant for Daniel. There will come a time when sensible and wise people will understand his texts.

Very beautiful is the very last sentence of the last of the four great Jewish prophets. This last sentence was spoken by the angel in his last conversation with Daniel. When he was already very old and no doubt felt his end approaching.

The last words of the angel to Daniel were: as regards you yourself, you will reach the end of your life and you will rest, but you will rise again and achieve your final end at the close of the present days. See verse 13.