Scripture Reading: Daniel 8:1-27.
Memory Verse: Revelation 14:7.
1. Daniel’s vision starts with a ram with two horns (Daniel 8:1-4). What does this ram represent? Daniel 8:20.
2. Next, Daniel saw a goat with a big horn in Daniel 8:5. What does this mean? Daniel 8:21-22.
3. Then “a little horn” sprouts up in Daniel 8:9. What power does it represent? Luke 2:1, John 19:15.
4. What time prophecy is introduced in the vision? Daniel 8:14.
Note: Remember, in Bible prophecy one prophetic day equals one literal year (Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6).
5. What happens at the end of the 2300 prophetic days? Daniel 8:14.
6. In Daniel 9, Daniel is given another time prophecy. How is this time prophecy related to the 2300 days? Daniel 9:21-27.
Answer: Fifteen years later, Daniel is told the starting point of the 2300 prophetic days! God sends the angel Gabriel again so the prophet can “understand the vision.” Which vision? Go back to Daniel 8. The word “vision” is translated from one of two Hebrew words. Hazon refers to the entire vision (for example, vv. 1-3) while mareh refers specifically to the 2300 days, “the mareh of the evenings and mornings” (v. 26). Now jump back to Daniel 9:23 and look up the original word used for “vision” – it’s mareh. Gabriel then explains the mareh by giving another time prophecy, called the 70 week, or the 490 day, prophecy. In the original Hebrew, the word “determined” means divided, cut off, or marked out. From what time period is the 70 weeks marked out? None other than the time prophecy given in the mareh – the 2300 days! The angel then tells Daniel to start counting from a certain event (v. 25); in other words, the angel gives a start date for both the 70 weeks and the 2300 days. This is the information needed to explain the mareh! Without this date, both prophecies lose their significance.
7. When is the start date of the 70 week and 2300 day prophecies? Daniel 9:25.
Note: The Jews’ holy city had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC (2 Kings 25:1-10). History tells us that it was in the reign of the next ruling kingdom, Medo-Persia, that Jerusalem was rebuilt. Although there had been two previous efforts, it was Persian King Artaxerxes who, in 457 BC, issued the decisive decree that resulted in Jerusalem’s complete restoration (Ezra 6:14, Ezra 7:7, 11-26.).
8. What other important events are revealed from the start date of the 70 week prophecy? Daniel 9:25-27.
9. What happened at the end of the 70 week prophecy Daniel 9:24.
Note: Daniel was a Jew (Daniel 1:3, 6.). Gabriel was referring to the Jews and Jerusalem. Recall that the Jews made a covenant with God to be His “special treasure,” His chosen people representing His character to the world (Exodus 19:5.). Sadly, despite God’s many mercies, they did not fulfill that role. In Daniel’s day, their rebellion against God resulted in their captivity and exile under Babylon and Persia. Yet the 70 week prophecy revealed that God was still giving the children of Israel another chance- a 490 year opportunity to point the world to the coming Messiah. Even after the Jews ended up crucifying Him (Acts 4:8-10), God gave them three and a half more years to repent in accordance with the 490 years allotted to them. But in AD 34, the end of the 70 prophetic weeks, the Jewish high court heard Stephen present Jesus as the Messiah, but they “stopped their ears” and ordered Stephen to be stoned (Acts 7:52-60). In this act, the nation of Israel failed in its role as God’s chosen people. The privilege of being God’s chosen people was then expanded to all on Earth who believe in the name of Jesus, the “nation” of spiritual Israel (Romans 2:28-29, Galatians 3:29, 1 Peter 2:9). As Christ foretold, “The kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits thereof.” (Matthew 21:43). However, the Bible also makes it clear that the door of salvation is always open to any Jewish individual (Romans 11:1-36).