Be Ready (Dan. 8)

Remember that Daniel was longing for the end of the exile and the restoration of Jerusalem! While Daniel does not fully understand what is going on, he clearly sees that all of this is going to take a long time! When you are hoping for a quick and speedy end of all the difficulties you face it may seem rather discouraging to hear that it will still be a long time yet!

What is Daniel 8 doing? Daniel 8 is speaking to those who were trying to live out their faith "under circumstances that would make it more and more difficult to do so. They had to count on the sovereignty of God to sustain them generation by generation, crisis by crisis. They also had to trust the power of God to control the flow of world empires as they rose and fell." (Walton in Davis, 107)

And while Daniel 8 is speaking of one particular king – and one particular episode in Israel’s history – the principles remain true in every age.