“This vision about the 2,300 evenings and mornings is true. But none of these things will happen for a long time, so keep this vision a secret.” Then I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for several days. Afterward I got up and performed my duties for the king, but I was greatly troubled by the vision and could not understand it.” Daniel 8:26-27
Daniel chapter 8 tells us a great deal about the future. Daniel was very upset about the end time judgment. I wonder why we today are not upset about the end time judgment. God gives us these warning about what is about to happen and what do we do about them, nothing. The apostles were heavily influenced by their awareness of the judgment coming in the end times. They lived with an end time view of the world. Their activities in the present were shaped by their acute awareness of the future.
The predations in the book of Daniel that have already been fulfilled should serve as a reminder that the ones yet to be fulfilled will indeed come to pass. And this should impress on us the importance of living every day as if the end was coming tomorrow. If we study and look at the prophecy in the Bible, we should be able to see that we are closer than we have ever been before.
Daniel is a good example for students of prophecy to follow. He asked the Lord for the explanation and allowed the Lord to instruct him. But his investigation into God’s prophecy program wasn’t a matter of satisfying curiosity or trying to appear very knowledgeable before others. He was concerned about his people and the work they had to do on earth. As when I started this bible study, I wrote that I did not feel that I was smart enough to understand some of the prophecy in the Bible. I still feel the same way, but one thing this study has taught me is that I cannot do anything without God’s help.