Introduction
III. ISRAEL IN RELATION TO THE GENTILES: GOD’S PROGRAM FOR ISRAEL CHS. 8-12
Two things signal the beginning of a new section in the book here. These two things are: a return to the Hebrew language in the original text (cf. Daniel 1:1 to Daniel 2:3), and an emphasis on the nation Israel. Evidently Daniel wrote the remainder of this book in Hebrew because the revelation in it concerned his people particularly. The Book of Revelation, though written in only one language originally, reveals a similar structure. After an introduction (Revelation 1-3; cf. Daniel 1), a section dealing with worldwide judgments follows (Revelation 4-11; cf. Daniel 2-7). Then the prophecies deal more specifically with Israel (Revelation 12-20; cf. Daniel 8-12).
A. Daniel’s vision of the ram and the goat ch. 8
Chapter 7 recorded the general history of "the times of the Gentiles," from the time Nebuchadnezzar took the Jews into captivity until the Son of Man’s return to the earth. Chapter 8 reveals more detail about the second (Persian) and third (Greek) kingdoms, and especially how they relate to Israel.
"Chap. 8 is the last of the book’s symbolic visions; the succeeding revelations are more verbal than visual and still cryptic but not symbolic." [Note: Goldingay, p. 208.]
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