CHAPTER 8 Oct. 30 
A Further Vision of a Ram and a Goat 
In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, even to me, I Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first. 2I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai. 3Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. 4I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward; and no beasts could stand before him, neither was there any who could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself. 5As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west over the surface of the whole land, and didn’t touch the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. 6He came to the ram that had the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and ran on him in the fury of his power. 7I saw him come close to the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and struck the ram, and broke his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him; but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled on him; and there was none who could deliver the ram out of his hand. 8The male goat magnified himself exceedingly: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and in the place of it there came up four notable horns toward the four winds of the sky. 9Out of one of them came forth a little horn, which grew exceedingly great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious land. 10It grew great, even to the army of Heaven; and some of the army and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled on them. 11Yes, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the army; and it took away from him the continual burnt offering, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. 12The army was given over to it along with the continual burnt offering on account of disobedience; and it cast down the truth to the ground, and it did according to its will and prospered. 13Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who spoke, How long shall be the vision concerning the continual burnt offering, and the abomination that makes desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the army to be trodden under foot? 14He said to me, To two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. 15It happened when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. 16I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. 17So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was frightened, and fell on my face: but he said to me, Understand, son of man; for the vision concerns the time of the end. 18Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me upright. 19He said, See, I will make you know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation; for it concerns the appointed time of the end. 20The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia. 21The rough male goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 22As for that which was broken, in the place where four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power. 23In the latter time of their kingdom, when the wicked have come to the full, a king of fierce appearance and understanding mysteries shall stand up. 24His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; he shall be very destructive, and shall prosper and do his own will; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people. 25Through his policy he shall cause deceit to prosper; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in their security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without human hand. 26The vision of the evenings and mornings which has been told is true: but seal up the vision; for it belongs to many days to come. 27I Daniel, fainted, and was sick for some days; then I rose up, and did the king’s business: and I wondered at the vision, but none understood it.

Commentary

8:1 There are few Bible characters who use their own name so much- but Daniel is always calling himself “I, Daniel” (7:28; 8:1,15,27; 9:2; 10:2,7; 12:5). His self-perception was very clearly that he was a Hebrew, and a witness to God’s justice / judgment. Daniel has much to teach the man or woman caught up in the corporate life, the engrossing pull of business, education or social contact. His self-perception was that he was not of his surrounding world, even though those around him wanted to see him as one of them. And further, God Himself frequently addresses Daniel by his name- “Daniel”. Daniel realized that this was how God perceived him; and he wished to perceive himself as God perceived him. And he didn’t show one face to the world, and one to God. He openly showed himself to the world as he perceived himself, and he perceived himself as God perceived him. We too should show no shadow self to this world, no appearance; but the person whom we essentially are, and whom God perceives us as being. His children, His witnesses, His people.  
8:15 Daniel sought to understand the meaning of a vision; but two verses earlier, an Angel had asked another Angel for understanding of the same vision. Here surely we have the practical meaning, in Angelic terms, of God knowing our prayers and arranging the answers before we even ask them. Perhaps it was Daniel’s guardian Angel who asked a more senior Angel for the interpretation of the vision, knowing Daniel was going to be asking for it. Yet it was the second Angel who actually gave the answer to Daniel (:14). Verse 16 describes the one Angel standing at the Ulai river calling out: “Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision”. Yet at this time, Daniel himself was in vision at the Ulai river (:2). His guardian Angel was there, right in front of him. And He had foreknown Daniel’s feelings and arranged for another Angel to respond to them... and so the second Angel (Gabriel) also comes near where Daniel was standing (:17). His guardian Angel had literally called Gabriel to come over to Daniel... And all this kind of thing is going on for you and me hourly in the court of Heaven!