OK, my wife asked me when I was going to do the bit about the goat and the ram from  Daniel 7-8. I was not planning to write about this after I reached the end of what I wrote previously for this passage about the first of Daniel’s two visions in this passage, but since my wife wanted me to write this, I will take the time to do so.

This vision was given in order to give hope to those who faithfully worshiped God in the 2nd Century B.C. (and a little before that).  Actually, it is more than that.  To understand what to make of it, we need to understand the context of the time (some of which continued into the time of Christ).  Those who succeeded Alexander the Great attempted to Greek culture and religion into the areas over which they had control.  Over all, they did so with great success.  Part of their success came from incorporating pieces of the cultures and religions of the people over which they ruled into their own religion and culture.  There was another side to this, they also encouraged those who continued to follow other belief systems to incorporate pieces of their belief system into that other belief system.  Eventually, however, they lost patience with those who failed to enter into their belief system and chose to fully impose it.  This prophecy is a warning to those who incorporated practices from the Greek culture and religion into their worship of God.  Compromising with non-believers on your principals, beliefs, and practices will never be enough.  Eventually, they will demand that you make a complete break from worshiping God.  Then you will have to choose one or the other.