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Daniel describes his vision (many believe Jesus is the person who is talking):
5 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:
6 His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
7 And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.
8 Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.
9 Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground.
10 And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.
1 1And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
14 Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.
15 And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb.
16 And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.
17 For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me.
18 Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me,
Quoting: Anonymous Coward 48603675 Here is a pretty good commentary explaining the verses above: – In his advanced years, Daniel was still in the company of other men. They were not allowed to see the vision, but the thing they did experience was scary enough. They quickly exited the scene and left Daniel alone. – Daniel lost any vitality that he had. The Message reads: "I went weak in the knees, the blood drained from my face." - At this point in the story, there is little by way of encouragement to offer his Jewish brethren, some of whom had already returned to Jerusalem. Others would be following. – Getting a message from a heavenly being was not trivial. Some people today report messages from the Lord that arrive with less fanfare than the TV news. Those proported messages are not like this model. ncbible.org/resources/danielcomm10.html Daniel 10 I'm skipping through most of this because we are dealing with the antichrist. Since Daniel 10 sets the entire vision I'll post a few verses - notice once again it is for the latter days (end times): 12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. 14 Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days. --------------------- – Daniel DID understand why the messenger came. - This angel, whom we take to be Gabriel, had to go fight with the wicked angel-prince of Persia and as soon as that struggle was won, another wicked angel-prince would appear on behalf of Greece. 21) But I will tell thee that which is inscribed in the writing of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me against these, but Michael your prince. – The Book of the Future was about to be opened and the future angelic wars revealed.- Gabriel had only one ally and that was Michael, the godly angel-prince of Israel. If you want to read a traditional view Daniel chapter 11 you can find one here: ncbible.org/resources/Danielcomm11.html However, I am going to focus on an alternative view that the antichist in chapter 11 is not antiochus epiphanes. To do that I will skip chapter 11 for the time being and concentrate on chapter 12. I'll start with the premise this is taking place in end times or "our time". Great Article here on Daniel 12. Not sure if we agree on Chapter 11, but I'm posting this because it is my thoughts exactly. After all, why reinvent the wheel, when it's already been done :) bible-truth.org/Daniel12.html excerpt: Daniel 12:1-13 God has definite future plans for the nation of Israel and the chastening that they will endure is to "try them, purge them and make them white" meaning pure. (Daniel 11:35) This last chapter of the Book of Daniel addresses Israel during the period of testing and purifying in the seven years before the coming of the Messiah. God is giving Israel the sure hope that in the end they would be saved and God's promises to them fulfilled. As Chapter 11 explains for a period their future would be dark because they refused to obey and put their trust in the Lord and accept the Messiah. Satan's counterfeit, the Antichrist, will deceive them and thus bring on them a terrible time of unprecedented persecution. God, however assures Daniel that in the end they would be restored and have peace in the kingdom set up by the Messiah. The Lord explains to Daniel that "at that time," clearly meaning the events of Daniel 11:35-45, Israel's protector angel Michael, shall "stand up." This is God's appointed time to allow Michael, "the great prince which standeth for thy people, to begin to aggressively protect and defend Israel against the Devil. During the events of the preceding verses, the Antichrist will cause the greatest persecution that Israel has ever endured which includes 2000 years of oppression and the Holocaust of WWII under the Nazis. Jeremiah 30:7 refers to this terrible times as "Jacob's trouble." "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it" ( Jer. 30:7). The events recorded in Chapter 12 begin after the Antichrist desecrates the Temple and seeks destroy Israel and wipe them from the face of the earth. Jesus spoke of this period in Matthew 24:21-22 saying "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." This parallels the statement of Daniel 12:1, "there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation." Zechariah foretold this time warning that two thirds of the Jews would be killed, "And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God" (Zechariah 13:8-9 ). God will not allow His chosen people to be destroyed and He will keep His promises to them. Therefore, God sends Michael to protect Israel during this time when they are threaten with annihilation to preserve them. Michael preserves one third of the ruminant of the Jews, who will survive the Great Tribulation and go into the Millennium kingdom and repopulate the earth. Daniel 12:1 explains, "and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." Revelation 12:6 also explains that Israel would be protected for 1260 days. (Also see Rev. 12:14, 13:5f) Note that this passage clearly teaches that only those who names are found written in the book are saved. The Jews are not assured of salvation based solely on their nationality, but like all men, their salvation is dependent on their belief and receiving Jesus as the Savior and Christ. It seems tragic that only one third of Israel is saved, but that means that for the first time in history millions of Jews will accept that Jesus is the Messiah and will in repentance turn to Him for their salvation. The Jewish Virtual Library estimates the world population to be 14,596,000 Jews. If the population remains the same when the Tribulation begins, that means an estimated five millions Jews would be saved. 1 These Jews living in the seven year Tribulation, along with probably millions of Gentiles, will understand the prophecies about the end time and will reject the Antichrist and refuse the "mark of the Beast." (See Rev. 13:17, 14:11, 16:2, 19:20, 20:4) Most of the world, however, will be deceived and under pressure receive the mark and worship the Antichrist and thus be condemned for all eternity.
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