The God Who Steadies and Arms

We took a few weeks off from our series through the book of Daniel to focus on Holy Week—Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Resurrection Morning.

The last two Sundays have focused on the very familiar, and this is a good thing. It’s good and it’s so important to reflect upon and rehearse the familiar stories of Jesus’ crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection. I love the familiar; I love the familiar, life-altering, world-changing, amazing news that the perfect, spotless Son of God came to save sinners like me.

We’ve spent the last few weeks swimming in the familiar. This week as we get back to Daniel, we wade into the exceedingly unfamiliar, the exceptionally odd. Daniel chapter 8 is just plain strange; and it’s difficult to understand.

As we work through this chapter, we might think: “What in the world does this have for us as God’s people today? Why did the Lord see fit to fill an entire chapter of Daniel with this? What’s the point? Why didn’t Barrett stop preaching through Daniel when he got to the end of Chapter 6?”

This chapter, as we dive into it, as odd as it is will give us two important reminders. There are some good reasons why Daniel 8 has been preserved for us.

>Here in Daniel 8, Daniel foretells the rise of a relatively obscure king from a split-off of the Greek empire who will wreak havoc on Israel.

Doesn’t that sound directly applicable to your life in 21st-Century America? “Thanks, Daniel!”

Why an entire chapter covering this? Because it’s important for God’s people to know and prepare for what they will have to face, not only near the end, but also along the way.

If you have your Bible (and I hope you do) please turn with me to Daniel Chapter 8, and follow along as we dive into this weird and incredible chapter of God’s Holy Word:

Daniel 8:1–8 NIV

1 In the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, had a vision, after the one that had already appeared to me. 2 In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa in the province of Elam; in the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal. 3 I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two horns, standing beside the canal, and the horns were long. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later. 4 I watched the ram as it charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against it, and none could rescue from its power. It did as it pleased and became great. 5 As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between its eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. 6 It came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at it in great rage. 7 I saw it attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering its two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against it; the goat knocked it to the ground and trampled on it, and none could rescue the ram from its power. 8 The goat became very great, but at the height of its power the large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven.

Daniel 8:15–22 NIV

15 While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there before me stood one who looked like a man. 16 And I heard a man’s voice from the Ulai calling, “Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of the vision.” 17 As he came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate. “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.” 18 While he was speaking to me, I was in a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me and raised me to my feet. 19 He said: “I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end. 20 The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king. 22 The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power.

God steadies His people (vv. 1-8, 15-22)

This vision takes place two years after the vision Daniel had in chapter 7; this vision takes place in the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, that is about 550 years before Jesus.

If you remember back 3 and 4 weeks ago, as we looked at Daniel 7, we saw four really strange animals coming up out of the sea: a lion with the wings of an eagle, a bear with some ribs in its mouth, a leopard with birds’ wings and four heads, and a fourth beast with large iron teeth.

The temptation for most in reading Daniel 7 is to try to identify who the beasts represent. And some people work really hard to do this. Study Bible notes (which, by the way, aren’t inspired or all-knowing) often say this animal is this kingdom or that animal represents the kingdom of _____________.

What we decided as we studied Daniel 7 was this: we don’t know. The text doesn’t tell us what the animals represent other than four kings that will rise from the earth. Daniel 7 is deep, allusive, imaginative, abstract.

Daniel 8, on the other hand, is clear and concrete. Daniel 8 is explicit in its explanation.

“The interpreting angel” (in verses 15-22) makes the meaning of this vision clear. Here in Daniel 8, the text tells us who the ram represents and who the goat represents. We don’t have to guess. We don’t have to have someone help us figure it out. We don’t have to hope the notes in our study Bibles overstep and tell us something the text doesn’t.

The Bible here interprets the Bible.

Daniel 8:20–22 NIV

20 The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king. 22 The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power.

As we look back through history, all of this makes perfect sense. The two-horned ram represents the kings of Media and Persia, one of the horns longer than the other, signifying that one is stronger than the other, just as the Persians were stronger and more dominant than the Medes.

The Media-Persian kingdom is unstoppable…that is, until it’s stopped by a shaggy goat who crosses the whole earth without touching the ground. The Medes and Persians are conquered by the Greeks.

The large horn between the eyes of the goat, represents the king of Ancient Greece, the Basileus of Macedon, or, if you prefer, Alexander the Great.

Alexander the Great conquered virtually the whole of the known world by age 33 (this makes me really stop and evaluate my life; I’m 33 and I haven’t conquered anything…)

Alexander the Great conquered the known world by the time he was 33...and then he died.

And his kingdom was divided among his four generals—Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy.

Just as God hath said:

Daniel 8:8 NIV

8 The goat became very great, but at the height of its power the large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven.

Daniel 8:22 NIV

22 The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power.

All of this tells us something. Daniel saw this in a vision—and this vision was given him by God in order that it might steady him.

This tell us that no matter how great and menacing an empire may appear to be, it is simply an actor in a play written by someone else. It plays out the role assigned to it by God on the revolving stage of world history, and then, when it has finished its lines, it slinks off into the wings.

The rise and fall of these real, historical nations, foretold centuries ahead of time by the Lord through His prophets reminds us clearly Who is directing the course of history.

The message of this vision is good news to generations of saints who suffer at the hands of earthly kingdoms—be it the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, or present-day persecutors.

“These empires that to human eyes looked so powerful, that seemed to have no weakness, no Achilles’ heel, no chinks in their armor, were actually merely sheep and goats whose destiny lay in the hands of the Divine Shepherd—the Lord Himself.” - Iain Duguid

Do you grasp the steadying impact of all this?

Daniel has this vision, it tells accurately the who and the what that are to come, and it reveals that they will all eventually come to nothing; they are not in control, they are not all-powerful, they are not everlasting.

If the Lord’s holy people watched all this come to pass, experienced the brutality of these pagan kings and the havoc they wreaked without any knowledge that their end was coming, it would be unsettling and un-steadying to say the least.

The Lord steadies His people even in what is an extended period of history. Verse 4, for instance, spans nearly two hundred years. There’s a lot of time packed into the verses describing the ram and the goat.

Daniel doesn’t know how much time, but it’s clearly a long and turbulent ride.

This is where the people of God live; this history is their address. We might as well hunker-down, strap-in, and prepare for a wild ride. God doesn’t promise smooth sailing, but His Word is sure and His presence is steadying.

We don’t have to know every detail of the future; we need to live as if He holds the future. We need to live as if He holds us safely and securely in the palm of His mighty right hand.

The Lord steadies His people to walk through the course of history.

You know what it is to be steadied, either by someone or something. You start to fall, but you catch yourself by grabbing a railing; you trip and stumble, but before you hit the ground somebody reaches out and takes hold of you.

Some of you walk with a cane, not necessarily because you require it for each step, but because it steadies you.

We know the song lyrics, “Lean on me, when you’re not strong, and I’ll be your friend, I’ll help you carry on.” Our friends and loved ones steady us through various trials and circumstances.

We are all in need of steadying from time to time, aren’t we?

Christians are those who readily admit their need for God at every turn; Christians are those who admit how incredibly weak they are. Christians are those who say: God steadies us each and every moment of each and every day. He steadies us, upholds us, carries us along.

The message of Daniel’s vision is this: this scary world which is out of your control is never beyond His control. The One who raises up world conquerors and then consigns them to the pages of ancient history books is the same One who controls your personal story as well.

If you belong to Christ, the whole world revolves in the Hand of the One who cares for you far more deeply than you can begin to imagine.

Nothing, nothing, nothing in the present or the future or at any point in between can ever separate you from His love (Romans 8:38-39).

Let that steady you.

God arms His people (vv. 9-19, 23-26)

No, this doesn’t mean God is going to outfit you with a handgun or a switchblade, no, no.

But if you belong to Him through faith in Jesus Christ, He is going to arm you with the truth, with some knowledge of the future, with a partial understanding of what’s to come.

Now, it’s not a total or complete knowledge of the future or a full-understanding of what’s to come; but He does give us what we need to face the crises of history.

And there are a lot of crises in this life. We face crisis after crisis. And this is to be expected. Jesus promised as much.

John 16:33 NIV

33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

In Daniel’s vision, after the one-horned goat’s kingdom had split into four parts, another little horn emerged from one of these kingdoms and expanded its realm toward the south, the east, and toward the Beautiful Land (that is, Israel).

Daniel 8:8–14 NIV

8 The goat became very great, but at the height of its power the large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven. 9 Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land. 10 It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them. 11 It set itself up to be as great as the commander of the army of the Lord; it took away the daily sacrifice from the Lord, and his sanctuary was thrown down. 12 Because of rebellion, the Lord’s people and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground. 13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, “How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled—the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, the surrender of the sanctuary and the trampling underfoot of the Lord’s people?” 14 He said to me, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated.”

Daniel 8:23–27 NIV

23 “In the latter part of their reign, when rebels have become completely wicked, a fierce-looking king, a master of intrigue, will arise. 24 He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy those who are mighty, the holy people. 25 He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power. 26 “The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given you is true, but seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.” 27 I, Daniel, was worn out. I lay exhausted for several days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was appalled by the vision; it was beyond understanding.

If you thought the ram and the goat sounded powerful or scary, wait until you get a load of the little horn—he’s one bad mamma-jamma.

This one rose from small, obscure beginnings. But that soon changes. This one becomes great and powerful and exceedingly evil. This one opposes God, eradicates the worship of God, and crushes the people of God.

Based on what we know from the text that the ram is Media-Persia and the goat is Greece, this one who came from one of the four horns is considered by every scholar and historian to be Antiochus IV, aka: “Antiochus Epiphanes”.

>Antiochus, whose nickname “Epiphanes” means “God made manifest” (in other words, Antiochus thought himself to be and was thought to be a god), was the king of the Seleucid empire, one of the four kingdoms that followed Alexander the Great’s former territory.

Antiochus seized the throne out of turn. He was a tyrant who tried to unify his kingdom by forcing all of his subjects to adopt Greek cultural and religious practices.

He banned circumcision, brought an end to sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem, deliberately defiled the temple by making pork rinds on the altar, and placing an object sacred to Zeus in the Holy of Holies. He burned copies of the Scriptures and slaughtered those who remained true to their faith in God.

In Antiochus Epiphanes’ short reign, he executed thousands upon thousands of Jews.

Antiochus Ephiphanes is as historical as he is evil. What’s more, the Antichrist that is to come will act very much like him. Antiochus Epiphanes prefigures the man of lawlessness (2 Thessalonians) and the antichrist (Revelation).

Remember what God is trying to accomplish through this vision given to Daniel—God is arming His people for what they are going to have to face.

By describing this one we know now to be Antiochus Epiphanes, He’s preparing His people for the worst.

And then, by giving Daniel a position to eavesdrop on the angelic conversation, and hearing the answer to the question, “How long?”, Daniel knows the worst won’t last forever.

The Lord has already set the number of days. But why 2,300 days? It’s a period just shy of 7 years. And symbolically speaking (all of this is to be taken symbolically, not literally)—symbolically speaking, 7 years is a full period, a complete period.

So a period just shy of 7 years means a significant but limited period of suffering.

God’s people are not immune to suffering and persecution. We will not be raptured out of this world and kept from suffering. We will suffer, we will be persecuted, we will face trials and tribulations, but not forever.

If you belong to God through faith in Jesus Christ, He is going to arm you with the truth, with some knowledge of the future, with a partial understanding of what’s to come.

Is it not the kindness of the Lord to prepare His people for the extreme trouble they will have to endure?

The fact that we know what awaits us makes all the difference.

This is why doctors and nurses give their patients a heads-up, letting them know that the needle about to stick them is going to pinch or sting or burn.

Knowing what awaits makes a huge difference.

I read an article several years ago about a foreign country who implemented a rather interesting death penalty procedure. They’d give the person about to be executed 3 options:

Death by firing squad

Death by hanging

Or they could choose to walk through a black door and face whatever might be on the other side.

In all the years they offered these options, no one ever chose the third option; no one ever chose to walk through that door to the unknown. No one chose that door, which is unfortunate, because that door led to freedom. That door took them outside the prison.

In all the years they offered these options, no one chose the unknown. Because knowing is better than not knowing.

If the Lord left us without knowing anything, if the Lord didn’t arm us with knowledge, if the Lord didn’t let us in on the fact that we would suffer, that we would face tragedy and sorrow, that we would be persecuted; if the Lord didn’t let us know what would happen, then when we came up against persecution or hatred or suffering or struggle, we might just lose heart altogether.

But the Lord, in His good and gracious providence, saw fit to arm His people—to forearm them with the knowledge that they would absolutely suffer, that we would, in this world, have much trouble.

The Lord, in His good and gracious providence, saw fit to arm His people with the knowledge that suffering and persecution and trouble would not be the last word.

Through this vision given to Daniel, God intends to steady and arm His people to walk through the course of history and to face all the crises of history.

Like Daniel and his fellow exiles, we live in a difficult world.

We have to learn to count on the sovereignty of God to sustain us, day after day, year after year, crisis by crisis.

We have to trust the power of God to control the flow of human history.

What we face as God’s people today is not nearly as intense or as scary as what other Christians faced in generations past or what Christians on the other side of the world face today. We don’t have it nearly as bad, at least not yet.

What’s more, we don’t have to wonder about what God’s answer to all this untold evil might be. We are armed with the knowledge that Jesus has come to vanquish every foe, to crush death to death, to put evil in its place. And we know that He’s coming again to set the world at rights and make all things sad come untrue.

Jesus is the One who steadies us as we walk through this dark world. We are steadied by the knowledge that He loves us, that He currently sits at God’s right hand interceding on our behalf, and that He is for us.

And if He is for us, who can be against us?!?!