I’m always looking for a way to get out of work. Lately, a global pandemic has proven an excellent excuse for me to close up shop by noon to put my feet up while I indulge in existential worry and consider rearranging my indoor plants. Maybe you like to give up a little on your kingdom work, too, when the future looks bleak. But let’s consider that our callings remain vitally important in spite of whatever germs, climates, powers, or terrifying bugs may be buzzing around us.
Biblical prophecy usually has at least two applications: one specific interpretation and one related, general, big-picture meaning. Sometimes the specific meaning of the prophecy is revealed soon after the prophecy, and sometimes thousands of years elapse before the meaning is clear. Looking back, some of these prophecies look really obvious, like: “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). But at the time of Isaiah’s prophecy, an immaculate conception didn’t make any earthly sense. The prophet often doesn’t get to enjoy an understanding of the prophecy. Here, Daniel is given a very specific vision and an interpretation. But he still could not understand it.
Daniel sees a vision of judgment for sin. He sees an angry ram and a violent goat and absurdly large horns. He sees the result of sin running rampant in a civilization. And he asks, just as we might ask, “How long?” (Daniel 8:13). How long will this last? And the “holy one” answers with a finite number. In this case it is 2,300 days (v.14), but notice the number is a real, countable number. The big picture is that sin is sometimes allowed to flourish—but not forever.
The whole ordeal appalls and overwhelms Daniel. Understandably. But here’s the part we should really notice in particular: He “got up and went about the king’s business” (Daniel 8:27). The scary news didn’t make Daniel give up. The confusing and difficult revelations did not prevent him from holding on to what he did know, what he did understand. He took a minute, and then he went back to work. He got on his feet and did the good work the Lord had called him to. He engaged in the culture and continued doing his faithful work.
Even when we feel afraid, even when we look to the future and dread wells up in our hearts, we know the most essential truth: God is on the throne. This is His creation and we, the Church, are His Bride. The angel tells Daniel, “Son of man… understand that the vision refers to the time of the end” (Daniel 8:17). The “end” will come. The suffering in the world is limited and finite. But we never need to fear the end. Remember how Christ spoke to His disciples of the end times, saying, “Be courageous! I have conquered the world” (John 16:33).
Though we may, like Daniel, be “overcome and lay sick for days” (v.27) when we look at the state of the world, and wonder how it can all possibly come to good, we are called to remember that God is busy at work. Therefore, we can rise like Daniel, and go about the business that God has set before us. We can be of good courage, knowing that the end of the story is not the triumph of wickedness, but the victory of Christ. Truly, we are more than conquerors in Christ who rules and reigns forever. So take heart, and go about your kingdom work.
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43 thoughts on "The Vision of a Ram and a Goat"
Love that line of thinking Erin!
I am confused by the timing of these chapters. Does anyone know if this is the same Belshazzar from the handwriting on the wall? If it is, they seem out-of-order. What I mean is, in Daniel 5, “That very night Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans was killed,…” Then we have Darius for chapter 6 but, in chapter 7 King Belshazzar is in his first year of reign and in chapter 8, his third. Then in chapter 9 we go back to Darius (the same Darius or different?). If they are presented out-of-order, then God has a reason, and I am wondering what it is. If it is different people, the leadership would have been constantly changing.
When you think about Daniel’s life, he lived under the human leadership of Nebuchadnezzar for most of it. A powerful, volatile leader who seemed to operate at extremes. Then, Belshazzar, and Darius. Nebuchadnezzar frightened me. Belshazzar sickened me, and with Darius, I breathed a sigh of relief.
Yet while Daniel’s life had to be impacted by these men on a day to day basis…his service to his LORD, God, did not alter. He lived where he was, in whatever situation he found himself, with integrity. So, when he has this vision and it disturbs him to the point that he is sick for days…that is a pretty big deal. Then, although he was greatly disturbed, and could not understand, he got up and went about the king’s business again…the day to day.
When things disturb me to the point I am sick of heart, soul, or body – what is my response? Do I stop and spend some time allowing the LORD to heal and work in me, or do I immediately plow through? When the time has come to get up and trust, moving forward in the daily He has for me, do I obey? We all face those same choices daily. I feel like they are more pronounced right now in our world. Between COVID and politics there are times I just want to crawl back under the covers and hide out for a while. Sometimes, that is exactly what I need to do. Sometimes, the drawing away and resting for a somewhat extended period in the arms of my Father is necessary. Other times He pulls the covers off and reminds me that there is a world out there that He means for me to be in.
Not adding to the chaos, instead shinning His Light.
Thank you LORD, for such a time as this. You have been faithful and all-powerful in every part of the past. You will be faithful and all-powerful in the future. And today…you are faithful and all-powerful. Thank you for holding me, even as you pull the covers back and guide me, “for such a time as this.” Amen.
Angie I have the same questions about the timeline! The timeline in the study book lays it all out, but it doesn’t explain why the book is not in order or how Belshazzar is the king in this passage yet he supposedly died 4 years earlier. I just try to move past my questions and ask God what I am to learn from these stories.
Remember the Bible isn’t in chronological order. We got this ladies….keep reading and studying and God shows us how it all plays out.
What great encouragement to start the week! Last week I felt really discouraged at my clinical because I’m starting to have more responsibility with my patients, but sometimes the treatment sessions didn’t go too well or my supervisor had to jump in to help me. While this is a learning experience, I think I had to shift my perspective a bit that working with the brain injury population wasn’t going to be as easy as working with kids as I did in my last clinical. Even when things don’t go as planned or I mess up and need to ask for help, I know God has called me to this very hospital working with these very patients. This is my Kingdom work. Lord, may I go about this week being reminded that it’s not about me, but about Your light shining through me! May you give me a servant’s heart but also some extra humility to recognize that I’m still just a student and to ask for help when necessary. Amen!
So exciting! I am so thankful for your spirit through these trying times!!
My sister is also in the high-risk group who worships from home. She too has been sadly disappointed in how few people he reached out to her even through a text or phone call.
Ok, we’ve been “sick for some days” but now it’s time to get up and be about the Lord’s buisness. It may look very different now, post-COVID, but it still needs to be a priority. Lord, show us how to be your hands and serve in this new terrain and time.
Daniel did not let this frightening and confusing vision paralyze him. Though greatly disturbed, Daniel got up and went about the king’s business. He did what needed to be done, what he could do.
In these last eight months (and counting) we the church have been challenged to go about the Father’s business in a manner much different than ever before. Churches have closed their doors and opened online services. Many outreach ministries ceased temporarily as the church tried to pivot to creative ways to maintain some of them. When some churches reopened, it was with masks and space maintained between family groups. Other churches have reopened with minimal precautions. Children and youth ministries at most were curtailed. Zoom groups were set up. Discipleship and teaching packets were created and made available for outdoor pickup. Services were held in parking lots and drive-in theaters.
Covid created a frightening image and churches responded in various ways. I’m one who falls into the high risk category and so I’m mostly homebound. It has been challenging to both try to stay connected and see who tries to connect to me. I’ve been pleasantly surprised as well as terribly disappointed. I’ve personally had to “rethink” church as my husband and I worship online only. A congregation of two is very different! This is a season of change and yet we remain called to be about our Father’s business within this unique circumstance. The church may never be as it was. Perhaps the church will now be more comfortable and confident outside its building than ever before. Perhaps there is a rising of prayer warriors who, out of necessity, have grown in number and strength and power from their own homes, not church prayer meetings. Perhaps there are more well worn Bibles because folks have had to search the Scriptures for themselves and not merely look up on a screen. Home church takes on new meaning.
The outlook for Covid is still a question mark. Some doubt the relevancy of the church. Some wonder if it is an “essential business.” For many it remains their life source and their greatest hope. Whatever the opinions swirling around, we are to keep the troubling vision, whether it’s covid or the end times, in mind and move forward doing what we’ve been called to do. We know Victory is right now and in our future. Let’s tell others as best we can, however we can, whenever we can. Let us be the church, wherever. The church’s address is not down the street. It is the same as our own. And it is where we are. It goes where we go. The church is on the move. How exciting is that?!
Thank you so much for sharing this. I haven’t been part of the SRT community for very long but it’s a blessing to read the thoughts and truth God puts on your heart. I appreciate you sharing a bit about your experience through this year and how you’ve echoed the challenge to continue about the work God has for us. Praying you feel an outpouring of love and strength today as a new week begins. ❤️
Amen! Please help us to heed this teaching and walk by faith and not by sight!