And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel;
The date and place are fixed as the twenty-fourth day of the first month, when Daniel stood by the side of the great river Hiddekel. Hiddekel is the Tigris, one of the great rivers of Shinar, and Daniel was there as a captive in Babylon. This came a few years after Gabriel had given him instruction, when he was seeking further light and wisdom from God.
Before the vision he spent three full weeks in mourning, fasting and afflicting his soul. He abstained from pleasant food, meat and wine, while praying most earnestly in tears with confession and humiliation. His prayer was heard and was not in vain. The verse introduces the answer, in which God made known His mind and will directly to him through the coming of ministering angels and a heavenly messenger with the Son of God. This forms the setting for the vision that follows and for the heavenly conflict connected with his earnest prayer.
The revelation belongs to the prophecies of Daniel 7-12 concerning mysteries of ages to come. It shows what would transpire in the latter and last days, giving light for future ages reaching to the present time. Even Daniel did not fully understand it. The visions associated with the Hiddekel and the Ulai rivers were given especially for the last days and are now in process of fulfillment, and all the events they foretold will soon come to pass.
The date and place are fixed as the twenty-fourth day of the first month, when Daniel stood by the side of the great river Hiddekel. Hiddekel is the Tigris, one of the great rivers of Shinar, and Daniel was there as a captive in Babylon. This came a few years after Gabriel had given him instruction, when he was seeking further light and wisdom from God.
Before the vision he spent three full weeks in mourning, fasting and afflicting his soul. He abstained from pleasant food, meat and wine, while praying most earnestly in tears with confession and humiliation. His prayer was heard and was not in vain. The verse introduces the answer, in which God made known His mind and will directly to him through the coming of ministering angels and a heavenly messenger with the Son of God. This forms the setting for the vision that follows and for the heavenly conflict connected with his earnest prayer.
The revelation belongs to the prophecies of Daniel 7-12 concerning mysteries of ages to come. It shows what would transpire in the latter and last days, giving light for future ages reaching to the present time. Even Daniel did not fully understand it. The visions associated with the Hiddekel and the Ulai rivers were given especially for the last days and are now in process of fulfillment, and all the events they foretold will soon come to pass.