Reading Instructions for Chapter 8

 

Of all six vision chapters of Daniel, the hidden verse structure of chapter 8 is probably the simplest. In fact, it is so easy to understand, it's hard to believe no Christian or Hebrew Bible scholar has never unsealed this particular chapter of Daniel before. It seems that not only is the Holy Spirit inspiring me to unseal Daniel at this time but also that He must have actively thwarted all previous attempts at unsealing Daniel. I am grateful to God that He has chosen me as His successful sleuth of these end times.

 

In order to understand the prophecies contained in Daniel's chapter number 8, you must rearrange the verses as follows: the first 13 verses must be printed in normal fashion at the left and the last 13 verses  printed next to them on the right in reverse order thus forming a simple chiasm. Verse number 14 forms a bridge or hinge verse at the bottom between each set of 13 verses. You cannot understand this hidden verse structure or the prophecy derived from it by simply looking at the verses as printed in your Bibles.

 

On the attached pdf file, I have emphasized Daniel's hidden structure by means of color coding, underlining of pertinent words and adding spaces between associated verse groupings. These changes are not meant to alter the prophetic meaning but only to reveal the underlying structure.  (That is not to say that this underlying structure does not have its own prophetic significance) Now, you can unravel Daniel's sealed up mystery yourself by downloading the file and joining the two printed sheets at their middle.

 

Daniel verifies this hidden chiastic structure by repeating certain words and phrases and by changing the subject matter of the verses he wants to set apart. In verses 1 and 27, the first and the last verses of chapter 8, Daniel uses the word "vision" once and in verses 2 and 26, he uses the word "vision" twice. This verifies that the first two verses of Daniel 8 are related to the last two verses and must be placed opposite each other and in reverse, chiastic order. 

 

However, since 27 verses also could have been expressed as a chiasm by dividing them into three 9 verse sections, Daniel also must associate the bottom 3 verses on each side, that is, verses 11, 12 and 13 with verses 15, 16 and 17. He accomplishes this by again repeating certain word patterns.  In verses 11 and 12, he uses a word sequence of  "strength and continual sacrifice" while in verse 13 he reverses that pattern to "continual sacrifice and strength". In verses 17 and 16 there is an identical type of sequence between the words "man and vision" which is reversed in verse 15 to "vision and man".

 

The resulting chasm is further differentiated by subject matter. Verses 1 and 2 on the top left and 26 and 27 on the top right side of the chiasm are the opening and closing verses of the chapter. Then the subject matter changes and the six verses, 3 through 8, on the left describe a battle between a ram and a goat while the next five verses, 9 through 13, describe the antichrist. Verse 14 at the bottom, as I said before, is a hinge or bridge verse. Corresponding to that verse pattern, we find 6 verses on the right, 20-25, which repeat references to the war between the ram and the goat (3 verses) and also repeat a description of the antichrist (3 verses) and five verses, 15-19, which again change the subject matter by describing a conversation between Daniel and the angel. 

 

Thus, Daniel's chiasm reveals the following secret structure: 4 verses at the top (2+2) followed by 6 verses on the left and 6 verses on the right followed by 5 verses on the lower left and 5 verses on the lower right followed by the lone verse number 14 at the bottom. The numbers 4 followed by 6 followed by 5 repeats a familiar pattern in Daniel which prophesies that Barack Obama and the United States will be succeeded and defeated by the Antichrist who in turn will be succeeded and defeated by Mary's rosary. The single verse at the bottom indicates that all previous human constructs will be followed by the singular reign of Jesus during the one thousand years of peace.

 

Another familiar end times numerical expression of the antichrist is found in the pair of two marked off verses at the top and the pair of three marked off verses at the bottom. The numbers 2 succeeded by 3 yields the fraction 2/3 or the decimal .666. It's not surprising to find this numerical reference to the antichrist here since Daniel's vision in chapter 8 is primarily about the abomination of desolation as perpetrated by the antichrist on the holy martyrs.