Daniel’s Visions and Victory: Hope in Chapters 7–12

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Daniel receives terrifying visions of future chaos and conflict, but through them comes God's reassuring message that He remains in control. These apocalyptic chapters reveal how God's sovereignty and eternal kingdom will ultimately prevail over every earthly power.

• Daniel 7 presents four beasts representing world empires, culminating in a heavenly courtroom where "one like a son of man" receives an everlasting kingdom
• Jesus later identifies himself as this "Son of Man," claiming the divine authority described in Daniel's vision
• Daniel 8 depicts a ram (Medo-Persia) conquered by a goat (Greece), with a destructive horn that desecrates the temple
• In Daniel 9, Daniel's heartfelt prayer receives the mysterious "seventy sevens" prophecy pointing to the Messiah
• The final vision (chapters 10-12) reveals future conflicts and ends with one of the Old Testament's clearest promises of resurrection
• These visions consistently affirm that despite appearances, God's purposes will not fail and His kingdom will outlast every empire

Share this episode with a friend who's starting their journey with the Bible too. Keep reading, keep seeking, and keep growing in your faith.

RELATED EPISODES

A Beginner’s Guide to Apocalyptic Literature

Quiet Courage, Lasting Impact: Lessons from Daniel 11-6

SOURCES:

• Barnes, A. (1853). Notes on the Old Testament: Daniel. London: Blackie & Son.
• Ireland, B. (2012). Daniel: Keeping faith when the heat is on (Study Guide) (L. Andres, Ed.). Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys Publishing.
• Longman, T. III. (2020). How to read Daniel. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press.
• MacArthur, J. (Ed.). (1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (Electronic ed.). Nashville, TN: Word Publishing.
• Nelson, T. (n.d.). The NIV, Open Bible: Complete Reference System (p. 5595) [Kindle edition]. Function.
• Widder, W. L. (2016). Daniel (T. Longman III, Ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. (The Story of God Bible Commentaryseries).

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Note: All scripture references are from the NIV translation unless otherwise indicated.

Episode Transcript

Jacqui (00:12):
Greetings listeners.
Have you ever looked at thenews or your own life and
thought what is even happeningright now?
That's how Daniel must havefelt.
In chapters 7 through 12, hesees terrifying visions of the
future, full of chaos andconflict, but in the middle of

(00:34):
it all, god sends him a messageof comfort I'm still here, I'm
still in control.
I'm still in control.
That's what we're exploringtoday.
Well, welcome everyone.

(00:55):
I'm your host, Jacqui Adewole,and this is the Bible Basics
Podcast, where, weekly, we breakdown the basics of the Bible
into understandable, bite-sizedchunks.
Let's start by setting thestage chunks.
Let's start by setting thestage Last time.
In part one, we met Daniel, thefaithful exile from Jerusalem,
now working in Babylon's royalcourts.

(01:16):
But in chapter seven, the toneof the book changes completely.
Daniel is no longer in a royalcourt.
He's caught up in a vision.
What comes next isn't a recordof daily events.
It's spiritual truth toldthrough powerful and sometimes

(01:37):
strange symbols.
From chapters 7 through 12,daniel receives a series of
vivid visions.
They don't follow a neattimeline.
They bounce between past,present and future, sometimes
all in one scene, but there'sone clear thread running through

(01:59):
them all God is still in chargeand his kingdom will outlast
every other empire.
Each of the four visions in thesecond half of Daniel stands on
its own.
They tell their own version ofthe future, but they do overlap.
For example, both Daniel 7 and8 describe a sequence of world

(02:23):
empires and 8 describe asequence of world empires, while
Daniel 9 zooms in on Israel'sfuture and hints at the coming
anointed one.
Chapters 10 through 12 offer asweeping detailed look at
political turmoil and spiritualwarfare, some of it tied to
Daniel's time and some pointingfar beyond.

(02:45):
Not every vision goes all theway to the end of history, but
together they build a layeredpicture of what's to come.
Just a note if you listened topart one, you might remember
that the book of Daniel switcheslanguages, moving from Hebrew
to Aramaic in chapters 2 through7, then back to Hebrew in

(03:09):
chapter 8.
Scholars have offered differenttheories for this bilingual
structure, as we discussed inthat episode.
It might simply reflectDaniel's own background.
He was educated in both Hebrewand Aramaic, so the writing may
reflect his world.
It could also mirror a shift infocus.

(03:31):
The Aramaic section deals withthe rise and fall of world
empires, while these finalHebrew chapters focus in on the
future of God's people underthose empires.
Let's get started with chapterseven.
Picture this the sea ischurning Out of the waves, four

(03:55):
terrifying beasts rise, eachmore bizarre than the last A
lion with wings, a bear withribs in its teeth, a leopard
with four heads.
And then, something worse, abeast with iron teeth, ten horns
and eyes like a man.

(04:15):
Daniel's first vision is wild,but it's not random.
These beasts are widelyunderstood to represent Babylon,
medo-persia, greece and Rome.
These are powerful kingdomsthat will rise and fall on the
earth.
Suddenly, the scene changes.

(04:38):
The chaos of beasts give way toa courtroom in heaven.
God himself appears, called theAncient of Days.
He's seated on the throne offire, surrounded by millions of
heavenly beings.
Judgment begins, the beasts arestripped of their power, and
then Daniel sees someone elsequote one like a son of man.

(05:04):
That's in chapter 7, verse 13.
He approaches the throne.
He's not a beast, he lookshuman and he's given glory,
authority and an everlastingkingdom.
That's in chapter 7, verse 14.
This is the climax of thevision and it's a turning point

(05:24):
in the Bible.
Jesus later quotes this exactvision in Matthew 26, verse 64,
calling himself the quote son ofman unquote.
That's not just a humble title,it's a direct reference to

Daniel 7 (05:42):
13.
Title it's a direct referenceto Daniel 7:13.
Jesus was claiming to be theone who receives eternal rule
from the ancients of days.
That's why Daniel 7 isconsidered a cornerstone of
apocalyptic literature, notbecause it's about predicting
the future in detail, butbecause it pulls back the

(06:05):
curtain.
It shows us what's really goingon behind the rise and fall of
empires.
It tells us that, no matter howdark things get, god is still
on the throne and his kingdom,through the Son of man, will
never end.

(06:25):
The vision ends with thishope-filled promise Quote then
the sovereignty, power andgreatness of all the kingdoms
under heaven will be handed overto the holy people of the Most
High and his kingdom will be aneverlasting kingdom.

(06:47):
That's chapter 7, verse 27.
Now in Daniel 8, the prophetsees another vision, this time
in the city of Susa.
He watches as a ram with twohorns charges across the land,
symbolizing the Medo-PersianEmpire.

(07:07):
Then suddenly a goat with asingle, sharp horn rushes in
from the west and strikes theram down.
Theologians believe that goatis Greece and its large horn
represents Alexander the Great.
But the big horn breaks off andfour smaller horns grow in its

(07:28):
place, mirroring the fourgenerals who divided Alexander's
empire.
Then comes a small but fiercehorn, widely linked to Antiochus
Epiphanes, a ruler who woulddesecrate the Jewish temple and
persecute God's people.

(07:49):
Daniel overhears two holy onesspeaking.
One asks how long would thisvision last?
The reply 2,300 evenings andmornings.
Then the sanctuary will bereconsecrated.
That's chapter 8, verse 14.

(08:09):
This connects with thehistorical rededication of the
temple that's celebrated duringHanukkah.
Daniel is shaken, feelingoverwhelmed.
Then the angel Gabriel appears,sent to help him understand.
He explains the vision, pointstoward the time of the end, and

(08:33):
though this evil ruler will risequote he will be destroyed, not
by human power.
That's chapter 8, verse 25.
So the message persecution maycome, but it has an end the
sanctuary, god's holy place thatwas defiled.

(08:54):
It'll be restored.
Daniel 9 opens not with a visionbut with a prayer.
Daniel recounts the words ofthe prophet Jeremiah, who had
said the exile would last 70years.
Deeply burdened, daniel turnsto God with fasting and

(09:16):
confession, realizing that timeis almost up.
Daniel doesn't just sit backand wait, he prays, he fasts,
puts on sackcloth and ashes andpours out one of the most
heartfelt prayers in all ofScripture.
That's chapter 9, verses 4through 19.

(09:38):
So what does Daniel actually askfor?
Well, he confesses the sins ofIsrael again and again and
pleads with God to show mercy.
Specifically, he asked God toturn away his anger, to forgive
his people, to restore Jerusalemand the temple, which lie in

(09:59):
ruins and, above all, to act forthe sake of his name.
He cries out Lord, listen, lord, forgive, lord, hear and act
For your sake, my God, do notdelay, because your city and

(10:20):
your people.
And while Daniel is stillpraying, before he even finishes
, gabriel shows up with ananswer.
But the answer goes beyond justthe return from exile.
Gabriel reveals somethingbigger, a long-term plan for

(10:41):
God's people and God's city.
Here's what Gabriel says willhappen during that period.
There are three points that arerelated to sin, and that's
first the end of rebellion, theend of sin and the atonement of
the wicked.
The other three points arerelated to righteousness the

(11:04):
bringing in of everlastingrighteousness, the sealing up of
vision and prophecy and theanointing of the most holy place
.
Then, in verse 25, the angelgoes on to say quote from the
time the word goes out torestore and rebuild Jerusalem,

(11:25):
until the anointed one, theMessiah, comes, there will be
seven sevens and 62 sevens.
Unquote that timeline, the mathand the exact fulfillment,
scholars debate.
Some see it pointing exactly tothe coming of Christ, others

(11:49):
connected to events surroundingJerusalem's destruction in 70 AD
.
Still others think it haslayers, both near and far future
.
But here's the heart of it Godis not winging it.
He has a plan and it leads toredemption.

(12:10):
Daniel's final vision stretchesacross chapters 10 through 12,
and it's the longest, mostintense one yet.
It begins in chapter 10.
Daniel has been mourning andfasting for three weeks when a
radiant figure appears beforehim, so dazzling that Daniel

(12:33):
falls to the ground in fear.
This figure is described asbeing dressed in linen, with a
belt of gold, a face likelightning, eyes like flames and
a voice like a roaring crowd.
This kind of description showsup in other parts of the Bible
too, like in Ezekiel 1 orRevelation 1, where heavenly or

(12:57):
divine messengers appear inoverwhelming glory.
Then comes the message.
In chapters 11 and 12,.
An angel tells Daniel about along series of future conflicts.
These include kings fightingfor power, fragile alliances,

(13:19):
betrayals and wars.
Many scholars believe thissection describes real
historical struggles betweenancient empires, especially two
that ruled after Alexander theGreat, one based in Egypt called
the Ptolemies and one based inSyria, called the Seleucids.

(13:40):
These kingdoms battled forcontrol of the land where God's
people lived.
One of the rulers, antiochusEpiphanes, would brutally
persecute the Jews and desecratethe temple.
But then the focus zooms out.
The vision shifts to somethingmuch bigger the end of time.

(14:04):
Daniel hears about a time ofgreat distress, worse than
anything before.
But then comes hope.
The angel says quote multitudeswho sleep in the dust of the
earth will awake, some toeverlasting life, others to
shame and everlasting contempt.

(14:27):
That's Daniel, chapter 12, verse2.
This is one of the clearestmentions of resurrection in the
Old Testament, and it's followedby a beautiful promise.
Quote those who are wise willshine like the brightness of the
heavens, and those who leadmany to righteousness like the
stars, forever and ever.

(14:49):
That's chapter 12, verse 3.
Like any of us might, danielwants to know how long will it
be before all this happens?
The answer a mysterious one.
The answer a mysterious oneTime, times and half a time, and

(15:10):
that phrase is ofteninterpreted as three and a half
years.
Then two more time frames aregiven 1,290 days from the time
the temple is desecrated and1,335 days, with a blessing for
those who wait until the end.
These numbers are debated andunclear, but the bigger message

(15:35):
is not.
Even if we don't fullyunderstand it, god's plan leads
toward justice and restoration.
The vision ends with peace.
Quote go your way until the end, you will rest, and then, at
the end of days, you will riseto receive your allotted

(15:57):
inheritance.
Unquote.
That's Daniel, chapter 12,verse 13.
This final promise to Daniel ofresurrection, rest and reward
is the same hope offered to allwho remain faithful Even when
life feels uncertain, even whenevil seems to win, reminds us

(16:22):
God sees, god knows, and hispurposes will not fail.
As we close this series on thebook of Daniel, we step back and
see the bigger picture.
The book has two parts.
The first six chapters areepisodes from Daniel's life,
faithful living in a foreignland, and the last six are

(16:45):
visions of the.
At first glance, they may seemlike two different books, but
they carry the same message, onethat speaks straight to anyone
trying to hold on to their faithin a culture that pushes
against us.

(17:06):
Here's what Daniel wants us toknow.
Yes, the world can be terrifying, yes, evil can look like it's
winning, but God is still incontrol and in the end he will
win.
And more than that, you canthrive right where you are, even

(17:28):
in exile, even under pressure,even when faith feels lonely.
That's the gift of this book.
Its purpose isn't just topredict the future, it's to
comfort God's people in themiddle of the mess.
He says yes, it's real, but Godis more real.

(17:52):
Stay faithful even now.
Join me next time when we'llmeet another prophet who also
lived in exile Ezekiel.
When we'll meet another prophetwho also lived in exile Ezekiel
.
It's strange, powerful anddeeply moving.
Thanks for listening to BibleBasics Podcast.

(18:13):
If this episode helped youunderstand the power of
apocalyptic writing in Daniel,share it with a friend who's
starting their journey with theBible too.
Until next time, keep reading,keep seeking and keep growing in

(18:34):
your faith.