1. When did Daniel have this second vision? Dan. 8:1. Note 1.
2. To what place was Daniel taken in this vision? Verse 2. Note 2.
3. Repeat verse 3. What was symbolized by this ram? Verse 20. What by the two horns, and by the higher one coming up last? Note 3.
4. Repeat verse 4. In what direction was the Medo-Persian empire to extend its conquests? To what position did the ram attain?
5. Repeat verse 5. Of what was this goat a symbol? Verse 21, first clause. What was symbolized by the great horn between his eyes? Verse 21, last clause. Who was the first king of Grecia?—Alexander the Great.
6. Repeat verse 6. What was the attitude of this goat toward the ram? What did he do to the two horns of the ram?
7. Repeat verse 8. To what position did the goat attain as compared to that of the ram? What happened to the great horn between the eyes of the goat? When was this great horn broken? Note 4. What came up after this notable horn was broken? What was symbolized by the breaking of the great horn and four others coming up in its place? Verse 22. Note 5.
8. Repeat verse 9. What did the prophet behold as coming forth from one of the four horns of the goat? To what position did this little horn power attain? Repeat the comparative greatness of the powers represented by the ram, the goat, and the little horn. In what directions were the conquests of the little horn power?
9. What characteristic is given of this little horn power by which it may be identified? Verse 25.
10. What power, in the person of its rulers, stood up against "the Prince of princes," Jesus Christ?—Rome. Acts 4:27.
11. What subject is introduced in this vision, in addition to the ram, the goat, and little horn? Verse 14. In response to what conversation was this symbol of the 2,300 days called forth? Verse 13.
12. As Daniel sought for the meaning of this vision, who appeared to him? Verse 15.
13. What commission did the angel Gabriel then receive? Verse 16. Who then gave to Daniel the interpretation of the ram, the he goat, and the little horn?
14. What does Daniel say of his understanding of the vision? Verse 27. What part of the vision had not been fully explained to him? What is the vision of the 2,300 days called? See margin of verse 14. What assurance did Gabriel give Daniel concerning "the vision of the evening and the morning"? Verse 26.
15. Had Gabriel then fully completed his commission to make Daniel understand the vision? Why did he not do so in chapter 8? See verse 27, first clause. What would Daniel therefore confidently expect?—Another visit from Gabriel.
NOTES.
1. This vision having been given to Daniel in the third year of the reign of Belshazzar, that being the year when Babylon was overthrown, it must have been about B. C. 538.
2. Prophets in heavenly vision are often taken to places where the scenes opened up to them are to occur, so that they are living amid the very events predicted by them, even tho those events may be thousands of years in the future.
3. The two horns on the ram symbolize the union of the two nations, the Medes and Persians. The higher coming up last signifies the fact that in a few years the Persian became the leading element in the kingdom.
4. It is a fact noted in history that Alexander died in a drunken debauch, at the age of thirty-two years, and at a time when his kingdom was in the very height of its glory and greatness. Thus the kingdom represented by this horn was broken "when he was strong."
5. While Alexander lived he made no provision as to who would succeed him in his kingdom. About twenty years after his death it was divided among his four strongest generals. The student should note carefully the following division of Alexander's kingdom, as it will have an important bearing upon the events studied in a future lesson in this series. Lysimachus had that portion lying to the north of Palestine, including Thrace, Bithynia, and some smaller provinces of Asia Minor. Ptolemy took that portion to the south, including Egypt, Libya, Arabia, and Palestine. Seleucus took the east,—Syria and all the country to the river Indus. Cassander had Macedon and Greece, lying to the west. Carefully note these divisions, as given in "Great Empires of the Bible."
