Daniel 8.1-Daniel Receives a Vision From God During the Third Year of Belshazzar's Reign
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday June 27, 2013
Daniel: Daniel 8:1-Daniel Receives a Vision From God During the Third Year of Belshazzar’s Reign
Lesson # 229
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 8:1.
Daniel 8:1 In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king a vision appeared to me, Daniel, subsequent to the one which appeared to me previously. (NASB95)
“A vision” is the masculine singular form of the noun ḥā·zôn (חָזוֹן) (khaw-zone´), which denotes that Daniel received revelation from God in which extrasensory audiovisual experiences, which were revelatory in character, were perceived by him.
God communicated with him in a vision what would transpire in the future on planet earth and specifically what would take place with regards to the empires of Media-Persia and Greece.
“Subsequent to the one which appeared to me previously” indicates that this vision which appeared to Daniel during the third year of Belshazzar occurred “after” the vision during the first year of Belshazzar’s reign which is recorded in Daniel chapter 7.
Daniel 8:1 During the third year of the reign of Belshazzar, the king, a vision appeared to me, I, Daniel after the one appearing to me previously. (My translation)
In Daniel 8:1, Daniel informs the reader that he received a vision from God during the third year of Belshazzar’s reign which took place prior to the first one he received during the first year of this king’s reign, which is recorded in Daniel chapter 7.
For the second time during the reign of Belshazzar, God gave Daniel information about future events which would take place on planet earth which would be related to his people, the Jews.
God was once again giving Daniel information about world-empires.
In the first year of Belshazzar’s reign, Daniel received a vision regarding four great world-empires, which history tells us are Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece and Rome as well as the final form of the Roman Empire which will occur during the Seventieth Week of Daniel.
This first revelation also contained information regarding a wicked ruler who will be the leader of the final form of the Roman Empire during Daniel’s Seventieth Week, namely the Antichrist.
Lastly, this vision informed Daniel that God would establish His kingdom on earth through the Son of Man, which Jesus Christ interpreted as being a reference to Himself.
This kingdom would be eternal and indestructible and would destroy the Antichrist and the Revived Form of the Roman Empire.
However here in Daniel chapter 8, Daniel receives revelation from God with regards to two of these Gentile world-powers, namely Media-Persia and Greece.
The latter is emphasized and the kings which it would produce.
One of these kings, Antiochus Epiphanes would persecute the Jewish people and he would foreshadow the Antichrist.
Therefore, in Daniel 8:1, Daniel is telling the reader that God gave him revelation with regards to His future plans.
This vision makes clear that Daniel was a prophet of God since he meets the criteria found with regards to prophets in Numbers 12:6.
Daniel chapter 8 records the second of four great prophetic revelations, which Daniel received from God.
In Daniel chapter seven, he received prophetic revelation from God during the first year of Belshazzar’s reign as co-regent with his father Nabonidus.
This would be the year 553 B.C.
This dream took place 14 years prior to his experience in the lions’ den.
He was 68 years of age in 553 B.C. since he was taken captive about the age of 16 or 17 which was 52 years earlier in 605 B.C.
This revelation Daniel received from God as recorded in chapter seven also took place before the events of Daniel chapter five, which took place in 539 B.C.
Thus, this revelation in chapter seven took place 14 years prior to the fall of Babylon.
In chapter eight, he received his second great prophetic revelation from God in 551 B.C. during the third year of the reign of Belshazzar.
Then, chapter 9 records Daniel receiving his third great prophetic revelation during the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus in 539 B.C.
Lastly, chapter ten records Daniel receiving the fourth and final great prophetic revelation from God in 536 B.C. during the third year of the reign of Cyrus king of Persia.
So Daniel 8:1 records that during the third year of Belshazzar’s co-regency with his father in 551 B.C. Daniel received prophetic revelation from God in a dream, which the rest of the chapter reveals was concerning the future of planet earth.
Specifically, it emphasizes the empires of Media-Persia and Greece.
Like the prophetic revelation that Nebuchadnezzar received in chapter two and the one Daniel received in chapter seven, this prophetic revelation which Daniel received from God concerned itself with the Times of the Gentiles.
This period of time began in 605 B.C. with Nebuchadnezzar’s first invasion of Jerusalem and will end with the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.
Like the vision Daniel received during the first year of Belshazzar’s reign, this vision during the third year of this king’s reign was a supernatural revelation to communicate a truth to him, not seen as a sensory perception.
Visions were often a revelation of the future plans of God, which could involve either judgment or blessing.
This vision during the third year of Belshazzar’s reign like the one during the first year of his reign was revelation from God the Holy Spirit with regards to the Father’s will for planet earth.
Unlike chapter seven, Daniel does not tell the reader that he was in a trance like state when he receives this vision during the third year of Belshazzar’s reign.
Chapter 8 does not tell us if he was in an altered state of consciousness while God revealed what would take place in the future with regards to planet earth.
Like the vision in chapter seven, this vision in chapter eight, was symbolic as indicated by the fact that Medo-Persia is represented by a ram with two horns with one horn shorter than the other while Greece is represented by a goat with a conspicuous horn which represents Alexander the Great.
Like the vision in chapter seven, this one in chapter eight is an oracle of assurance since Daniel and the faithful Jewish remnant are being assured that God is sovereign over these empires.
Like the revelation in chapter seven, this revelation in chapter eight was designed to direct Daniel, the Jews and the Gentiles to submit to God’s will and to teach them and the reader that God is sovereign over all the nations and every world-empire that appears in history.