Daniel 8

Recap

Daniel and the 4 beasts

Lions, Bears and Leopards OH MY!

God gives Daniel his first vision depicting the succession of kingdoms to come after Babylonian rule but one stumps him and makes him anxious. The Little Horn shouting great things, blaspheming God and persecuting His people.

That was all in the 1st year of King Belshazzar’s reign. Daniel now finds himself in the Royal city of Susa by the Ulai canal and he his “About the Kings Business” when God gives him another vision.

This one also involves strange beasts but now it’s a ram and a goat.

Let’s get started in our passage for today.

The Vision

Daniel 8:1–4 ESV

1 In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first. 2 And I saw in the vision; and when I saw, I was in Susa the citadel, which is in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision, and I was at the Ulai canal. 3 I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram standing on the bank of the canal. It had two horns, and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. 4 I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. No beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.

Like the last vision Daniel was given there is a lot of symbolism built in to what he’s seeing.

Can you imagine, you’re at work, walking along and all of a sudden you see something extraordinary and completely out of place? A Ram with high horns charging up one side and down the other. I can just picture it like in the movies where people are seeing things that no one else can see. Here’s this ram running to the west, then to the north and still again to the south. This is so much more than a big horn sheep butting heads with other lesser rams. This is the dominant force of the day. No other beast can stand before him, in other words this Ram was mightier than all the rest. This, if we look back at chapter 7 and see the symbolism in the bear that was lifted up on one side, will help reveal to us that this again is the Medo-Persian empire.

It wasn’t a stretch to use a ram to represent the Medo-Persian Empire. “Ammianus Marcellinus, a fourth century historian, states that the Persian ruler bore the head of a ram as he stood at the head of his army.” (Wood)

“The ram was the national emblem of Persia, a ram being stamped on Persian coins as well as on the headdress of Persian emperors.” (Strauss)

The Medo-Persians did more to conquer territories than they did people. IT was more an exertion of power to gain land that it was a conquest to conquer other kingdoms of people. They battled against the Scythians to the north, the Greeks to the west, and the Egyptians to the south.

Daniel 8:5–8 ESV

5 As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. And the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. 6 He came to the ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing on the bank of the canal, and he ran at him in his powerful wrath. 7 I saw him come close to the ram, and he was enraged against him and struck the ram and broke his two horns. And the ram had no power to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled on him. And there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power. 8 Then the goat became exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.

Daniel now sees a male goat from the west. The picture here is that this goat is moving so swiftly that its just flying above the ground! Here in the ESV the horn between his eyes is described as a “conspicuous” horn which didn’t really make sense to me so, as I did a word study on what that meant the best understanding I could come to was it was ‘Notable’ .

Notable : Remarkable; worthy of notice; memorable; observable; distinguished or noted.

The Goat obviously attacks the Ram and breaks his horns off. The Goat conquers the ram and trampled on him and there was no one to rescue the ram. This goat goes on to become exceedingly great but the horn breaks off and instead 4 other notable horns come up from the 4 winds of heaven. The Goat, we will come to find out, is the Greek empire.

From ancient history we know this wasn’t a strange symbol. The goat was a common representation of the Greek Empire. “Newton very properly observes that, two hundred years before the time of Daniel, they were called, the goats’ people.” (Clarke).

History shows us that the Greeks, under the leadership of Alexander the Great, defeated Persian armies in Macedonia in 333 BC. This marks the fall of the Medo-Persian Empire and the rise of the Grecian Empire.

As we discussed last week, this notable horn, or mighty ruler, Alexander the great conquered a vast expanse of the world in only 12 years but his life was cut short and succeeded by 4 rulers. Those four rulers even though they came out of the same empire didn’t necessarily work together as a combined force. This is what Daniel means when he writes, “instead of it there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven”. They went their different directions and ruled independently instead of interdependently.

This was because Alexander did not divide the empire among his four generals himself. His four leading generals divided it among themselves by force after his death. The four generals were:

Cassander, ruling over Greece and its region.

Lysimachus, ruling over Asia Minor.

Seleucus, ruling over Syria and Israel’s land.

Ptolemy, ruling over Egypt.

The greatness of Alexander’s Empire was not only in its vast dominion but also in its cultural power. Alexander the Great was determined to spread Greek civilization, culture, and language across every land he conquered. This is what caused the Hebrew Old Testament to be translated into the greek language, or the Septuagint.

As God guided history, He used Alexander’s passion to spread Greek culture to prepare the world for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because of Alexander’s influence, koine(common) Greek became the common language of the civilized world — and the language of the New Testament.

The Little Horn

Daniel 8:9–12 ESV

9 Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land. 10 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. And the regular burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. 12 And a host will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression, and it will throw truth to the ground, and it will act and prosper.

This was fulfilled in one of the four successors to Alexander the Great. Since the dominion of this horn was extended toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land, we can identify the historical fulfillment of this little horn in Antiochus IV Epiphanes who ruled over Syria and Israel’s land under the Seleucid dynasty.

It’s always important to remember when reading prophecy, that at times there are both short term fulfillments and longterm fulfillments. This part of the vision is best understood under that premise.

Lets look at the life of Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

i. He exerted his dominion toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land or, the land of Israel.

ii. He murdered other rulers and persecuted the people of Israel who are seen in other parts of scripture described as(the host and some of the stars to the ground) in Genesis and Exodus.

iii. He blasphemed God and commanded idolatrous worship directed towards himself (exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host).

iv. He put a stop to temple sacrifices in Jerusalem (by him the daily sacrifices were taken away).

v. He desecrated the temple (the place of His sanctuary was cast down).

vi. He opposed God and still seemed to prosper (he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered).

Antiochus was an infamous persecutor of the Jewish people. He wanted them to submit to Greek culture and customs and was more than willing to use murder and violence to compel them.

Antiochus’s persecution of the Jews came to a head in December of 168 B.C. when he returned in defeat from Alexandria. He ordered his generals to seize Jerusalem on a Sabbath. There he set up an idol of Zeus and desecrated the altar by an offering of swine and sprinkling the pig’s juices in the sanctuary. Sacrifices stopped because the temple was desecrated.

Verse 12 was fulfilled through the actions of the Jewish leaders.

Daniel 8:12 ESV

12 And a host will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression, and it will throw truth to the ground, and it will act and prosper.

Listen to what David Guzik says.

The first attack of Antiochus against the Jews of this time was to settle a rivalry for the office of high priest. A pious high priest, Onias III, was removed from office and was replaced with his brother Jason because Jason bribed Antiochus. Then in 172 B.C. another brother (Menelaus) gave Antiochus an even bigger bribe and replaced Jason. A year later Menelaus started selling many of the temple’s gold utensils to raise money to pay off the bribe. Onias III rebuked him, and Menelaus had him murdered. Meanwhile, Jason gathered armies and fought against Menelaus to regain the office of High Priest. Antiochus Epiphanes came in to Jerusalem in 171 B.C. to defend the man who paid him a bigger bribe to be the High Priest. (Guzik)

This is why “a host will be given over to it, the little horn, and will end the regular burnt offering because of their sin and the little horn will throw truth to the ground and will prosper in its actions.” Because of the greed for power of the jewish leaders of that day.

Daniel 8:13–14 ESV

13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, “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.”

Here Daniel hears an angel speaking to another angel, asking how long from the timeline from the end of the burnt offering to the temple’s restoration. It’s like the two angles were discussing what to tell Daniel next. The answer? 2300 mornings and evenings.

As with any prophecy that includes numbers there is always multiple opinions about what it means. It is very important, anytime we come to God’s word, and attempt to understand it, that we properly interpret what we read based on the pattern in scripture. Here we know that this is prophecy, which contains symbolism, even though all scripture is meant to be taken literally. In that statement I want to clarify that in the word literal there are two types. Literal and figurative literal. Understanding what the bible is literally saying through the imagery, metaphor, and symbolism.

When we see numbers we have to look at what is meaning numbered or measured. Here it says 2,300 Evenings and mornings. Does that phrase evenings and mornings sound familiar? I believe these angels are literally talking about 2300 literal 24 hour days.

Genesis 1:5 ESV

5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

We must remember that in Hebrew culture their day started at sundown, so, there was evening, all the dark hours, and there was morning, one day. So, what significance does this have in the story of Daniel and more importantly in the end times prophecy for us? Remember I talked about a short term fulfillment of prophecy and a longterm fulfillment? As we look at history I believe the best explanation is that this is 2300 days till the temple is “restored to its rightful state.”

As we look at history, 2300 days is almost 7 years. From the time that Antiochus Epiphanes started to persecute and attempt to conquer Jerusalem to the day the Maccabean tribulation ended was almost 7 years. There is no decisive start date of when this campaign against Jerusalem started but we know it was somewhere in 171 BC and the Maccabean tribulation ended December 25th 165 BC.

Proper understanding of what is meant by these numbers is so important that it goes really bad when it’s done wrong. I found this in a commentary.

A popular and tragic interpretation of this passage took one year for every day, and William Miller used 2,300 “year-days” to calculate that Jesus would return in 1844 (2,300 years after Cyrus issued the decree to rebuild the temple). His movement ended up giving birth to the Seventh-Day Adventists, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and several other movements. (Guzik)

We can know that Miller and other “year-day” theories are wrong because this passage was fulfilled before the time of Jesus. Jesus recognized that the temple was properly cleansed and rededicated when He attended the Feast of Dedication, commemorating the cleansing and rededication of the temple after the desecration brought by Antiochus Epiphanes (John 10:22). (also David Guzik)

This amazingly specific prophecy was written some 350 years before the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. Great prophetic fulfillment like this demonstrates that God not only knows the future, He also guides the future.

Vision Interpreted

Daniel 8:15–19 ESV

15 When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. 16 And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, and it called, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” 17 So he came near where I stood. And when he came, I was frightened and fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, O son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end.” 18 And when he had spoken to me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. But he touched me and made me stand up. 19 He said, “Behold, I will make known to you what shall be at the latter end of the indignation, for it refers to the appointed time of the end.

Daniel is still standing on the banks of the Ulai canal when he hears someone tell ‘one having the appearance of a man’ who ends up being the angel Gabriel to interpret the vision for Daniel.

His explanation at first simply says, “this vision is for the time of the end.” So, this is where the longterm fulfillment comes in. Again, proper interpretation of scripture would prompt us to look at the words and phrases used. “Time of the end” “At the latter end of the indignation”, these are both associated with the end of the age as is spoken of in Matthew 24. This is talking about the end of all things, the 70th week of Daniel, known as the tribulation, where the anti Christ comes after the church is raptured.

Daniel 8:20–22 ESV

20 As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 And the goat is the king of Greece. And the great horn between his eyes is the first king. 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.

This is clearly what we talked about earlier. The first king is Alexander the Great and the 4 kingdoms are the 4 rulers that rose up in his place but didn’t rule in unity but individually lead each of their own regions separately.

Daniel 8:23–26 ESV

23 And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise. 24 His power shall be great—but not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. 25 By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great. Without warning he shall destroy many. And he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but by no human hand. 26 The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been told is true, but seal up the vision, for it refers to many days from now.”

The interesting thing about this part of the interpretation is that it perfectly describes both Antiochus Epiphanies and the coming Anti-Christ.

They will both be great but not by their own power. Both were and will be empowered by Satan and allowed by God.

Antiochus Epiphanes looked like a total success. The coming Antichrist will look like a complete winner until God topples his reign.

Antiochus Epiphanes not only destroyed his enemies, but also harshly persecuted the people of God. The coming Antichrist will also destroy and persecute.

Both the rule of Antiochus Epiphanes in the past and of the Antichrist in the future are marked by deceit.

2 Thessalonians 2:9–10 ESV

9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

He shall exalt himself in his heart: The coins of Antiochus Epiphanes were inscribed with this title: THEOS EPIPHANIES meaning, “God manifest.” The coming Antichrist will also exalt himself:

2 Thessalonians 2:4 ESV

4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

He shall even rise against the Prince of princes: Antiochus Epiphanes hated the people of God and fought against them, but it was because he really hated God. The same will be true of the coming Antichrist, who will hate the Jews because he hates God.

Broken without human means: History tells us that Antiochus Epiphanes died of disease, not by the hand of man. In a similar way no man will defeat the coming Antichrist, but the hand of Jesus will strike him down (Revelation 19:20).

Revelation 19:20 ESV

20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

Therefore seal up the vision: Daniel must do this because in his day the vision referred to a period far distant in its ultimate fulfillment. For us, the time is near (Revelation 1:3) and the book is unsealed (Revelation 22:10).

Revelation 1:3 ESV

3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

Revelation 22:10 ESV

10 And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.

As we reflect on what it means to have the very word of God unsealed and revealed to us, we eagerly anticipate the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ! Until then we wait. How do we wait. I think Peter summed it up well.

1 Peter 4:7–11 ESV

7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

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