A Foundation for Understanding Prophecy

No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.—2 Peter 1:20

James Parkinson

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The Book of Daniel presents many symbolic and narrative visions of prophecy, which set the stage for several of the visions in Revelation.1: Notable among Daniel’s visions are the smiting of Nebuchadnezzar’s image (chapter 2), the four beasts (chapter 7), and the ram and the he-goat (chapter 8). The interpretations given are further corroborated by many artifacts of antiquity and archaeology.

In Daniel 8 a two-horned ram from the east is identified with the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, while the he-goat and its great horn signify the kingdom of Greece (Hebrew Javan, or Ionia) and its first great king (Alexander). Persian and Macedonian coins of the time show how each empire used a particular animal to represent itself (even as nations do today. 2