Unbreakable Worship

Daniel 8. Pg. 745

Introduction

Sooner or later, tyrannical regimes come to the realization that God’s people are standing in the way of their goals

I am not saying that Christians are the only ones who hate tyranny or try to put a stop to it

But all throughout history, we have seen kings, states, governments, and empires battle against Christians because Christians often tend to be the last hold out against their complete domination

This was true of Rome in the first, second, and third centuries AD.

Christians, unlike other peoples of the empire, refused to worship the genius of Caesar, so they were fed to the beasts

It was true during the middle ages as Islam took over large swaths of Christian territory,

They had to exterminate and subjugate those Christians who would not recant their faith so that they would not be a threat to Islamic rule

It was true during the reign of terror in France.

Christians by the tens of thousands were guillotined because they could not take the Republican vow, which demanded a greater loyalty to the Republic than to God

In Maoist China, being a Christian was synonymous with being an enemy of the state.

Many more examples could be given,

But in each of these tyrannical regimes, Christians were seen as a threat to the tyrant because Christians refused to worship the tyrant as ultimate

And if the tyrant is not acknowledged as ultimate, then he must be dependent upon, and accountable to a higher power

The state that does not acknowledge God as king will invariable seek to destroy true religion

Either through persecution or much more subtle and devious means

They are after our worship

Why?

Because our worship is a declaration of their impotence and their rebellion against the One to whom they are called to give an account

Worship is warfare. It is spiritual warfare, but it is not merely spiritual, it is, as we will see in our text this evening, political and it is cosmological

Read Daniel 8

Thesis: The Kingdoms of Men Seek to destroy the Worship of God, but God Will Always be Worshipped

Interpretation

Lessons

Narration

We read here that in the third year of Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel was given a vision

This was not a dream as he had in chapter 7, but some sort of spiritual vision from God

He says that he was in Susa, a future capitol of Persia, on the banks of the Ulai canal

It is not likely that he was there physically, but that he was transported there in his vision, similar to how Ezekiel was transported to the banks of the Kebar River in one of his visions.

The Ram

First he sees a ram rise up

It had two great horns, one higher than the other

And it charged Westward, Southward, and Northward

Nothing could stand before him and he became very great

The Goat

Then Daniel saw a goat rise up from the West

He charged toward the East with such speed that his hooves didn’t even touch the ground

Oddly, the goat had only one horn, right between its eyes

The goat came against the Ram, broke its horns, and stamped him under his hooves

Then the goat became very powerful yet at the height of his power, the one horn was broken off and was replaced by four horns growing toward all the corners of the earth

The Little Horn

Out of one of these four horns a little horn grew

It grew exceedingly great, toward the south and toward the east and toward the glorious land

It waged war against heaven and grew so great that it threw down some of the host and the stars of heaven and trampled them down

Then, the worship of God was given over to this little horn for 2300 evenings and mornings

The Interpretation

After seeing these magnificent things, Daniel hears a voice telling an angel to make him understand the vision

So the angel interprets the vision for Daniel leaving him somewhat bewildered and confused.

The Ram and the Goat

Once again, like in chapter 7, we have two different animals representing two different kingdoms of the world

Thankfully, things are not quite so obscure in this vision as they were in the last chapter

In fact, with our knowledge of history, it is plain who the beasts represent

Gabriel

The imagery given makes them obvious, but besides this, the Archangel Gabriel explicitly tells Daniel who these kingdoms are

This is the first mention of Gabriel we see in the scriptures, he is a powerful angelic being who is a herald of God

He is, of course, the same angel who came to Mary to inform her that she would be the mother of God

The Ram (Medo-Persia)

Daniel 8:20 “As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia.”

Two horns, one higher than the other. The lower is the Medes, the higher is the Persians who held more power in this league

Cyrus the Great conquered his grandfather, Astyages, king of Media, and united the nations

Once they were united, Cyrus went on to conquer almost the entirety of the ANE

The Goat (Greece)

Daniel 8:21 “And the goat is the king of Greece. And the great horn between his eyes is the first king.”

One Great Horn

Alexander the Great

Alexander’s father, Philip of Macedonia had united Macedonia and subjugated all the Greek city states.

After his death, Alexander came to power at the age of 20.

Alexander determined to invade the great empire to the east to satisfy the centuries long grudge that the Greeks held against the Persians for twice invading their homeland

He crossed the Hellespont and after 3 successive battles he broke the Persian Empire beyond recovery.

In the second battle, the battle of Issus, it was said that Darius commanded 110,000 troops to Alexander’s mere 35,000

Even so, Alexander decimated the Persian Ram, broke his horns, and stamped him with his hooves and Hellenized the World

But when the goat had reached its greatest strength, after he had conquered all the way to the India, Alexander became sick and died at the age of 33

The horn was broken off

Four Horns to Rise up After the Great Horn

Daniel 8:22 “As for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his nation, but not with his power.”

These are the kingdoms that arose out of Alexander’s fractured kingdom

Seleucia, Ptolemaic Egypt, Pergamon, Macedon

A Little Horn To Arise out of the Four Horns

The great men and great kingdoms contained in this prophecy are well known and were great indeed

Cyrus, Alexander, Persia, Greece

Yet they all have very little screenplay in the prophecy

The little horn however is the main character, the star of the show

But it is somewhat more difficult to ascertain who exactly the horn is to represent

He grows out of one of the big horns, that is, one of the four Grecian kingdoms

v. 9 It grows to the South, the East, and the Glorious Land (Jerusalem)

This is his geographical domain

It goes to war against God

v. 25 he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes

These princes, we will later see in chapter 10, are angelic beings placed over nations

God is the prince over these princes

v. 11 It became even as great as the Prince of hosts

That is, it exalted itself to be as great as God

v. 25 says that in his own mind he will become great

The horn has some measure of success in its heavenly battle

v. 10 And some of the host and some of the stars it threw down to the ground and trampled on them

These hosts and stars are a reference to angelic spiritual powers

It will beat down the saints of God

v. 24 he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints.

v. 12-13 it will temporarily take control of the worship of God

The regular burnt offerings and the sanctuary will be given over to him

The Little Horn’s Identity

Many see in this little horn a clear prophecy of the antichrist who is to come at the end of the world

And while I think that the horn is a foreshadowing of this antichrist, even an antichrist, I do not think it is the end times antichrist

The little horn is none other than Antiochus IV Epiphanes

I know many of you are thinking, “yes of course, how could I have not seen this?”

Antiochus

Antiochus IV Epiphanes was the king of the Seleucid Empire in Syria, a descendent of one of Alexander’s generals

He reigned about 170 years before the birth of Christ, during the intertestamental period

During his lifetime he waged war against the Parthians, Armenians, and Bactrians to his East, conquering some of their lands, and Ptolemaic Egypt to the South, conquering some of their lands, including that glorious land, Jerusalem

Thus he grew to the East, South, and toward the glorious land

Indeed he did become a great king in his own day, but not nearly so great as he was in his own mind

He named himself Theos Antiochus Epiphanes (Antiochus, God Manifest)

A king of bold face v. 23

After he took control of Jerusalem he subjugated the people cruelly

He deposed the high priest and set up his own high priest who would work to Hellenize the Jews and make them forsake their God

When the Jews tried to reinstate the old high priest, Antiochus took it as rebellion.

He assaulted Jerusalem, and slaughtered 40,000 of its inhabitants in 3 days

He ordered the cessation of all Jewish sacrifices in the temple and within it he erected a statue of Zeus, to which he sacrificed a pig

Antiochus was a disastrous Tyrant

He waged war against God and His people

He set Himself up against God

He tried to force the cultural conversion of God’s people, slaughtered them by the thousands, and attempted to overthrow true worship

Why did Daniel Receive a Vision of this man?

Daniel received the vision just a few years before Cyrus rose to power, overthrew the Babylonians, and decreed that all Jews were free to return to their homeland

That is, in just a few years, the exile would end

Indeed, Not only did Cyrus end the exile, he also paid for the rebuilding of the temple and the walls of Jerusalem.

Daniel received the vision so that he would know that, even though the Jews would return home and the temple worship would be reinstituted, the exile was not yet over.

This theme comes out very clearly in the next chapter

Israel may go back home, but they will continue to be oppressed by their enemies, and their worship will be threatened until their King should come who could protect them

And this King is Christ

Lessons

Several lessons to learn, all having to do with God’s providential control of nations

Raging Nations are used by God to Establish His Kingdom

Both the Ram and the Goat had important roles to play in God’s purposes

Persia

It was Cyrus the great, king of Persia, who allowed the exiles to return home from captivity

Thus taking possession again of that region from which the Messiah would come

Indeed, Cyrus is prophesied 100 years before his birth and is himself called a messiah by none other than the Prophet Isaiah

Greece

Alexander the Great, Greece, and all four splinter kingdoms were also used by God to further His purposes in the world

Alexander was a student of Aristotle. No doubt his studies under this great philosopher caused him to desire the Hellenization of the whole world

So he conquered. Everything.

And for centuries after his death, the Greek culture was spread abroad and took root, transforming other cultures and bringing civilization to many

More importantly, it introduced a common language and a common way of thinking which united the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian cultures

This common language is the language in which the NT was written, This common way of thinking is apparent in the writing and evangelism of Paul and many theologians and teachers of the early church

The Hellenization of the world tilled the soil so that the seeds of the gospel could be planted and take root.

Do not lose hope when you see the nations rage

Both Persia and Greece are seen as raging nations in Dan. 2, 7, and 8

Yes they are wicked, yes they will be judged, but they are also playing right into God’s hands

They are mere tools in His hands, furthering His good designs

And so the raging nations today will be used by God to bless His people and glorify His name

God’s People will Face State Sanctioned Persecutions

We saw this in Ch. 3 when Nebuchadnezzar forced the worship of his idol under pain of death

Antiochus’ Policy of Hellenization

He would not tolerate a local religion undermining his cultural ambitions

He wanted a Greek World and he wanted complete obedience and he didn’t care one bit about religious exemptions and the freedom to peaceably assemble or tolerance or any other modern western sensibilities

He didn’t care about those things because no body cares about those things.

The only people who really care about those things are Christians and those still influenced by Western Christian Civilization

We mentioned earlier Islam, Communism, The Roman Empire, the French Revolution. This behavior is far more common than religious tolerance

Wherever Christians do not hold political power, they should expect state sanctioned persecution

Geo-Politics are Cosmological in Scope

We will examine this in greater detail in Chapter 10

But it is interesting the way in which Antiochus’ rise and behavior and persecution of the Jews is couched in cosmological terms in ch. 8

vv. 10-11 It grew great, even to the host of heaven. And some of the host and some of the stars it threw down to the ground and trampled on them. 11 It became great, even as great as the Prince of the host.

In this vision, the veil is being drawn back and we are able to see the spiritual realities

All throughout Daniel we see that the rise and fall of nations, the behavior of Kings, the treatment of God’s people by political entities, it is not just mundane temporal and physical

Rather, these things have great spiritual significance as well.

There is a great spiritual and cosmological battle being fought between the forces of heaven and the forces of Hell, between the World and the Church, between God and Satan

Nations and kingdoms are caught up in the middle of it and are major players in the war

We tend to think that politics and statecraft is totally devoid of any spiritual significance at all, its just something we do in this life to get along with one another and it has no more importance than that.

But even politics is spiritual in nature

This truth is especially striking to me given the fact that we live in a society in which we all have some political power and some say over what our nation does

And this year is an election year

We have a choice between one party that is for all manner of evil and wickedness and debauchery, and another party that isn’t really for it, but is ok with it as long as the economy is good and we can win some elections

Politics is not the mission of the church

It is not as vital to who we are and our calling as missions and worship, and evangelism, and raising families, but politics will have an effect on all of those things

So we ought to be thoughtful about our own nation and our place in it

And we ought to leverage our influence to see that our nation honors the Lord rather than rage against Him

The Persecution of the Saints will Not Last

As horrible and treacherous and murderous as Antiochus was, his reign of terror did not last and the worship of YHWH could not be eradicated

vv. 13-14 For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?” 14 And he said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.”

According to the calculations, the 2,300 evenings and mornings is either literally 6 years or 3.5 years

Daniel could be assured that the Jews would not always face such tribulation

And so can we. No tribulation that the church undergoes will last forever, and in that we can take heart

Whatever the future may bring in our own land, if it is religious persecution, it may outlast us, but it will not last forever

Because the worship of God is eternal.

Christ protects all who trust in Him.

We may go through the fire of persecution, but it will only serve to burn away from us that which is unworthy of heaven

All Who Rebel Against God will be Destroyed

Antiochus had a measure of success in his holy war against the Prince of princes

He removed the daily sacrifices from Him

In v. 10 he threw down some of the stars of the host

In v. 12 he became as great as the Prince of the host, at least in his own mind

But evil always has a way of overstepping itself

Antiochus massacred God’s people by the tens of thousands

He Profaned the worship of the True and Living God

He robbed God of His worship

But in the end, he was destroyed, the temple was restored, and the people of God were liberated

v. 25 says, And he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but by no human hand.

And this is exactly what happened. He did not die in battle or by assassination, as is often the case with kings.

He died of a fever.

This is a pattern we see ad nauseum in the scriptures and in history

We saw it in Pharaoh, in Israel’s wicked kings, in Nebuchadnezzar, in Antiochus, in the Caesars, and in any number of tyrants who think to set themselves up against God

They each of them have perished

But the kingdom of God remains, because it is a kingdom that cannot be shaken

And we, its citizens, will always be protected by Christ, our king