Daniel had been fasting and praying for three weeks without apparent result. In this vision, the curtain is pulled back a bit and he learns that the manifestation of answers to prayer may involve conflict among spiritual beings.

The bulk of chapter 9 is Daniel's prayer of confession and intercession for his people because he knows the time of exile is drawing to a close. In this he is a model for us as we pray for our own people. At the end of the chapter, Gabriel gives him a vision which stretches from his own time to the end of days.

Daniel's vision of the ram and the goat are prophetic symbols of the Persian and Greek empires. Daniel did not understand the vision until it was explained to him by Gabriel. For us the prophecy of 2,300 evenings and mornings are of particular interest.

With the first 6 chapters of historical background complete, the topic turns to prophecy. This first prophetic chapter describes the four empires that are of interest to Israel and her people.

The final two chapters of the historical narrative sees the end of Babylon as an independent kingdom and the rise of the Medes and the Persians. As a major figure in both Babylon and Persia, Daniel interprets the writing on the wall for Belshazzar and survives an attempted assassination via the lion's den.

When Daniel's friends remained true to character and to God by refusing to worship the state idol, they were thrown into a furnace. Their salvation from that trial was a witness to Nebuchadnezzar who gave glory to God. Nebuchadnezzar's conversion was later complete when God humbled him for a season, by giving him the mind of a beast.

Daniel and his companions were Jewish hostages to Babylon before and during the destruction of the first temple by Nebuchadnezzar. In this first vignette involving adherence to the dietary laws and the interpretation of dreams, Daniels character and favor with God are established.

Solomon wraps up the book by wrapping up a man's life. Returning to the theme that the world is designed so that it cannot be completely figured out, he counsels that one should enjoy its beauties and pleasures with gratitude toward God and with an eye to the eventual audit.

As Solomon can see the end of his days, he is concerned with passing along some of the wisdom that God has given him. Even after a lifetime of sober living, a single act of folly can spoil one's reputation. This and other parables form the bulk of chapters 9 and 10. Living skillfully in the face of uncertainty.

God has put eternity in man's heart, but He has made it impossible to figure out all the reasons for what happens 'under the sun.' So, He has enabled us to realize that this life is not all that there is, but not in such a way that everything that occurs makes sense to us.