August 3, 2023 - Daniel 8-12

Daniel saw a vision of a ram and a goat. In that vision, he reports, “I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. No beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great” (8:4). Then, a goat that got the better of the ram, and “the goat became exceedingly great” (8:8). Then, there was a little horn, and “it became great” (Dan. 8:11 ESV). All these, however, meet their end. Daniel’s God rules over them and has his way with them. Contrasted with their ultimate failures and destruction, Daniel understands the Lord to rule and, so, he prayed: “I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes” (9:3). Israel, who had rejected the Lord and was suffering through seventy years of exile, with Daniel, must look to the Lord for help. And when they trust in the Lord, he informs the people, through Daniel, “At that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever” (12:1-3). The victory will be his, and it will be ours!

For all the saints who from their labors rest,

who Thee by faith before the world confessed;

Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

Then there breaks a still more glorious day:

the saints triumphant rise in bright array;

the King of glory passes on His way.

Alleluia, Alleluia! -- William Walsham How (1864)