Daniel's vision of future kingdoms Thru the Bible: Daniel 8 This vision, though using different imagry than the last in chapter 7, are largely dealing with the same kingdoms. The players are the Medo-Persian Empire, the Grecian Empire, Antiochus Epiphanes & the antichrist. The big takeaways are that God is THE ONE who places whomever He wants into positions of national power and He does it to advance His plans and purposes in the earth. This He clearly and unambiguously claims. The desecration and resulting desolation of the temple which was to be perpetrated by Antiochus Epiphanes shares MANY things in common with the greater and worse attrocities of the antichrist during towards the end of the first half of the 7 years leading to the Great Tribulation. All of this left Daniel reeling and not a little sick to his stomach. His love for God and zeal for His kingdom was rooted in the Israeli nation and so seeing the future of Israel as one in perpetual captivity was something very difficult to reconcile which we will see in his prayers and petitions to God going forward in this pivotal book! Blessings!