DANIEL 8:15-27 A GLIMPSE OF THE END

Written by , Rector of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia
 

¹⁵ While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there before me stood one who looked like a man. ¹⁶ And I heard a man’s voice from the Ulai calling, “Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of the vision.”
¹⁷ As he came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate. “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.” ¹⁸ While he was speaking to me, I was in a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me and raised me to my feet.
¹⁹ He said: “I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end. ²⁰ The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. ²¹ The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king. ²² The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power.
²³ “In the latter part of their reign, when rebels have become completely wicked, a stern-faced king, a master of intrigue, will arise. ²⁴ He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the mighty men and the holy people. ²⁵ He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power.
²⁶ “The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given you is true, but seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.”
²⁷ I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for several days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was appalled by the vision; it was beyond understanding.

In the prophesy of Isaiah, passages that attend to the God’s servant apply to the prophet, the nation of Israel, the Christ and the Church. Truth applies at different times and circumstances to those who are in that role at that particular time. The truth never changes, but the individual or group through which it is mediated varies throughout the history of God’s people.

Although we cannot know the time of the end, the return of Christ and the final judgment, God does give us glimpses of how it will be using images from our experience that we can understand. So, Daniel’s vision is cast in the imagery of pre-Christian Middle Eastern imperial conquest. Alexander the Great and Antiochus IV Epiphanes fit the vision, but were not the end. Yet they provide us with the prophetic pattern for the end times. What we can know is that the human struggle for ultimate power and dominion will end with one who vanquishes all human powers and then takes on God. This one will sorely test the faith of the believers by prospering in his wickedness. The result will be that all men will know that no human can prevail against this one. “Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power;” the Lord will bring him to eternal perdition and the world will know the power of God.

On my own, O Lord, I do not seem to have the power to defeat the evil that is in me let alone the cosmic powers that are aligned against you. May my distress about evil in the world begin with that which is in my heart. I yield to you and the power of your Spirit, knowing that you will deliver me and establish your kingdom in me. Empower me with a holy perseverance and a Job-like patience as you workout your will for me and the world in which I live. Amen.

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