Dan 8:27 | KingComments | STEP | If we had to give this vision a name, we could call it ‘the vision of the ram and the male goat’. God’s Spirit does not call this vision with that name. At the end of the vision the Spirit of God calls it “the vision of the evenings and the mornings”. We think it is about the battle between the Greeks and the Medes and Persians. But God’s Spirit says that in reality it is about the time when God’s sacrifice, repeated twice a day, is denied Him. It “is true”. We need not doubt it. This is about the daily burnt offering. That speaks of the Lord Jesus in His work on the cross that was accomplished for God. Christ has glorified God perfectly and in everything. God wants us to tell Him what the Lord Jesus meant to Him on the cross. We often think about what the Lord Jesus did for us, what the consequences of His work are for us. But how often do we think about what His sacrifice means to God? Daniel must keep the vision secret. It is not only important for the immediate future in connection with the coming of the Greek empire and in particular the small horn (Antiochus Epiphanes). What it lastly is all about is the time of the end. Then what this vision has shown will find its fulfilment in the great tribulation, when enemies will oppress both from the outside and from within God’s people. The (religious) main enemy inside is the antichrist. The (political) enemy from outside comes from the north, Syria, supported by the enemy from the far north, Russia. When Daniel has seen the vision and heard the interpretation, he is exhausted. He is sick of it because it all touched him deeply. For us it’s a bit different. It need not make us sick or even surprise us that there are world rulers who want to have nothing to do with God and persecute His people ( ). What should touch us is how the believers are doing spiritually. Do we have an eye for the fact that there are spiritual powers that are gaining entrance among God’s people to draw this people away from bringing daily sacrifices to God? False brothers try to sneak in and undermine our faith ( ). If a spirit of legalism gets a grip on the believers, it means the end of bringing sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving to God. That this can happen should make us sick. Because of everything that came down on Daniel, he is sick for a few days. He had to call in sick to the king. We see here that prophets are not machines that receive a message mechanically and deliver it onto the people. Prophets are holy men of God who are driven by the Holy Spirit ( ). They have not understood everything that has been told to them and have examined it carefully. Much has remained a mystery to them too, but they believed what is said: “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that [would come] to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look” ( ). With Daniel we see that every vision has worked a deep soul exercise with him. It has brought him to fasting and reading the Word of God. The same is necessary for us. We cannot grow in the grace and knowledge of God’s Word if we do not pray and if there are no soul exercises. In the next chapter we will see another wonderful example of this. The question for us is also: How does the Lord’s teaching about future events affect us?

‏ Daniel 8:27

The Effect on Daniel

If we had to give this vision a name, we could call it ‘the vision of the ram and the male goat’. God’s Spirit does not call this vision with that name. At the end of the vision the Spirit of God calls it “the vision of the evenings and the mornings”. We think it is about the battle between the Greeks and the Medes and Persians. But God’s Spirit says that in reality it is about the time when God’s sacrifice, repeated twice a day, is denied Him. It “is true”. We need not doubt it.

This is about the daily burnt offering. That speaks of the Lord Jesus in His work on the cross that was accomplished for God. Christ has glorified God perfectly and in everything. God wants us to tell Him what the Lord Jesus meant to Him on the cross. We often think about what the Lord Jesus did for us, what the consequences of His work are for us. But how often do we think about what His sacrifice means to God?

Daniel must keep the vision secret. It is not only important for the immediate future in connection with the coming of the Greek empire and in particular the small horn (Antiochus Epiphanes). What it lastly is all about is the time of the end. Then what this vision has shown will find its fulfilment in the great tribulation, when enemies will oppress both from the outside and from within God’s people. The (religious) main enemy inside is the antichrist. The (political) enemy from outside comes from the north, Syria, supported by the enemy from the far north, Russia.

When Daniel has seen the vision and heard the interpretation, he is exhausted. He is sick of it because it all touched him deeply. For us it’s a bit different. It need not make us sick or even surprise us that there are world rulers who want to have nothing to do with God and persecute His people (1Pet 4:12).

What should touch us is how the believers are doing spiritually. Do we have an eye for the fact that there are spiritual powers that are gaining entrance among God’s people to draw this people away from bringing daily sacrifices to God? False brothers try to sneak in and undermine our faith (Gal 2:4-5). If a spirit of legalism gets a grip on the believers, it means the end of bringing sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving to God. That this can happen should make us sick.

Because of everything that came down on Daniel, he is sick for a few days. He had to call in sick to the king. We see here that prophets are not machines that receive a message mechanically and deliver it onto the people. Prophets are holy men of God who are driven by the Holy Spirit (2Pet 1:21). They have not understood everything that has been told to them and have examined it carefully. Much has remained a mystery to them too, but they believed what is said: “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that [would come] to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look” (1Pet 1:10-12).

With Daniel we see that every vision has worked a deep soul exercise with him. It has brought him to fasting and reading the Word of God. The same is necessary for us. We cannot grow in the grace and knowledge of God’s Word if we do not pray and if there are no soul exercises. In the next chapter we will see another wonderful example of this. The question for us is also: How does the Lord’s teaching about future events affect us?