Brief Overview
The two books of Daniel and Revelation are related in a unique way. Both John’s first vision (Revelation 1:12-20) and Daniel’s last vision (Daniel 10-12) are divine scenes where both describe the risen Christ’s vision.
I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Revelation 1:18
Daniel outlines the four great monarchies that would persecute God’s people, but he goes beyond the fourth kingdom (Rome) in his last vision. This is precisely where the prophecies of Revelation begin. A resurrected Rome (deadly wound healed) and its spiritual persecution becomes the high point of the chiastic chain of last-day events in Revelations 13 and 14.
Below is an illustrative chart to compare the closing scenes of Daniel’s vision and the beginning of the vision John.
| Daniel 10:5-12 | Revelation 1: 12-18 |
| A certain man | One like a son of man |
| Clothed in Linen | Clothe in a robe reaching to the feet |
| Girded with a belt of pure gold | Girded with a golden girdle |
| His eyes were like torches of fire | His eyes were like a flame of fire |
| His feet like polished bronze | His feet like burnished bronze |
| His voice was like a roaring multitude | His voice like the sound of many waters |
| No strength, face to the ground | John falls at his feet as dead |
| Hand touches Daniel | Hand laid on John |
| “Fear Not!” | “Fear Not” |
Repeat and Expand
God’s merciful principle of “repeat and expand” works within each book and together to prepare them for things they are “not able to bear,” for the time is near.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. John 16:12
