Daniel 7-9

[wolfpurplemoon]

Daniel has some dreams that he has to get someone else to interpret for him (the angel Gabriel apparently), he sees various beasts that represent kingdoms that will be destroyed or will destroy others and will eventually be sorted out by God. Apparently these visions are of a time a long time from then. The whole thing makes Daniel ill.

Daniel prays to God about how bad his people have been and then Gabriel pops back and says that the people have seventy weeks to mend their ways.

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[zteccc.livejournal.com]

Daniel was a prophet who received his messages in dreams and visions, similar to Ezekiel. Daniel dreams of four beasts and dreams of God on the throne (the wheeled throne that Daniel mentions correlates with the wheeled throne from Ezekiel, although Ezekiel went into greater detail). One of the beasts is slain and the others subjugated. Then a man appeared and was given all authority.
This apocalyptic vision is interpreted by someone in Daniel's dream as four kingdoms that will rise, the fourth attempting to destroy God's people until God comes and the fourth is defeated. The prediction is that 10 kings will answer to an 11th king who will oppose God directly for "a time, two times and half a time" before being defeated. Finally, a great kingdom will arise and God's people will live there under a great king who will rule forever.
This apocalyptic prophecy is generally viewed as a prediction of end times where great powers will consolidate and rule the world. The beast with 10 horns suggests a single worldwide government in 10 regions with a single ruler who is opposed to God. The prophecy states that God will ultimately give victory to his people and then a new kingdom will begin that worships God under the "son of man" (Jesus is referred to using this epithet).

Another vision of a ram and a goat. The angel Gabriel helped Daniel interpret this vision. The vision is interpreted as talking about the fall of the Persian empire and the rise of the Greek empire (possibly under Alexander). Then a greater ruler would rise who would challenge God, but would fail. The vision predicts things happening a long time off (from Daniel's point of view). While the Persians and Greeks are mentioned, there is no mention of who the subsequent kingdoms will be.

Daniel has received the prophecy from Jeremiah that Jerusalem would be desolate for 70 years. Jeremiah would have been dead by this time, however his prophecies would have been spread to the people in Babylon because many people were taken from Jerusalem to Babylon when Jerusalem fell.
Daniel asks God to restore Jerusalem. Gabriel comes and explains that 70 'sevens' (interpreted rarely as weeks, but often as weeks of years or 490 years) will be given to the Jews before their Anointed One comes. The Anointed One will be killed after this period and another king shall eventually come who will bring war and destruction. After a week (again, of years, 7 years), this new king will be defeated by God.

These three chapters deal mostly with the apocalypse, however, it should be noted that the order to reestablish Jerusalem by Artaxerxes, was in 457BC, so 483 years later (7 weeks [of years] + 62 weeks [of years]) would have been 27 AD which would correlate with the Baptism of Jesus. The remaining 1 week [of years] would correlate to the Tribulation.