Daniel 8 opens with another vision given to Daniel—one that is different in setting and imagery from the vision recorded in chapter 7. In Daniel 7, the prophet saw four great beasts rising from the sea. In Daniel 8, he sees a ram, a goat, and a terrifying little horn. The vision is filled with symbols, violence, and mystery. Yet beneath the symbolism stands a reassuring truth: God rules over history, kingdoms, rulers, and religious powers.

Now Daniel's vision takes us somewhere entirely different. We are no longer looking into a furnace. We are looking into heaven itself. And there, seated upon a throne of fire, is the Ancient of Days. Before Him stands an innumerable multitude. The court is seated. The books are opened. The kingdoms of this world are judged. And then Daniel sees something astonishing: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven.”Daniel

Ezekiel showed us a God whose holiness cannot be ignored and whose glory cannot be contained. Now we turn to Daniel. The setting changes dramatically. We leave Jerusalem and its ruined temple and come to Babylon, where God's people are living in exile. But the change of setting does not mean that God has abandoned His people. Quite the opposite. In Ezekiel, we watched the glory of God depart from Jerusalem. In Daniel, we discover that God has not departed from His peo