Daniel 8:1-27: Daniel's Vision of the Ram and the Goat

Rev. John Lukomski, co-host of Wrestling with the Basics on KFUO Radio, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Daniel 8. Find Wrestling with the Basics at kfuo.org/WrestlingWithTheBasics. Two years have passed since Daniel’s vision in our last chapter. Whereas in the previous vision, each of the four beasts represented Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, respectively, now the vision is of two animals: a ram and a goat. Thankfully Gabriel interprets the vision for Daniel. The ram is Medo-Persia and the goat is Greece. 200 years before Alexander the Great’s conquests and 350 years before Antiochus IV’s persecutions, Daniel sees it all. Does this vision give us comfort or concern for the future? Mysterious dreams carry a foreboding warning. A disembodied hand writes a cryptic message on the wall. Visions of beasts predict the falling of great kingdoms. And an apocalyptic prophecy foretells the end of time. Thy Strong Word now opens up the Book of Daniel and delves into the life of one of God’s prophets exiled in a Babylon. He speaks truth to power in a way that proclaims the providence and power of God. Daniel’s writings also leave for us visions of the Antichrist and God’s ultimate redemption of his people.