Jehovah's Word Is Alive-Highlights From the Book of Daniel

What Do Daniel's Visions Reveal?
               (Daniel 7:1-12:13)

When Daniel receives his first dream vision in 553 B.C.E., he is in his 70's.  Daniel beholds four huge beasts that portray a succession of world powers from his day to ours.  In a vision of a scene in heaven, he sees "someone like a son of man" given "indefinitely lasting rulership."  (Daniel 7:13, 14) Two  years later, Daniel has a vision that involves Medo-Persia, Greece, and an entity that becomes "a king fierce in countenance." -Daniel 8:23.

The year is now 539 B.C.E. Babylon has fallen, and Darius the Mede has become ruler over the kingdom of the Chaldeans.  Daniel prays to Jehovah  about the restoration of his homeland.  While he is still praying, Jehovah sends the angel Gabriel to make Daniel  "have insight with understanding" about the coming of the Messiah.  (Daniel 9:20-25) Time moves  on to 536/535 B.C.E. A remnant has returned to Jerusalem.  But there is opposition to the temple-building work.  This becomes a source of anxiety to Daniel.  He makes it a matter of prayer, and Jehovah sends an angel of high rank to Daniel.  After Strengthening and encouraging Daniel, the angel relates the prophecy that outlines a struggle for supremacy between the king of the north and the king of the south.  The conflict between the two kings stretches from the time when the kingdom of Alexander the Great is divided among his four generals to the time when the Great Prince, Michael, "will stand  up." -Daniel 12:1.

Next time: Jehovah 'Blesses Those Fearing Him'

Watchtower, 2007