The Fury of the Little Horn

God is Sovereign over the rise and fall of empires ()

Explanation: The setting for this vision is the third year of Belshazzar. This is about 2 years later than the vision of chapter seven, and the year would be 551 B.C. God spiritually transports Daniel to the future capital of the Persian Empire at Susa where he witnesses the rise of the Persians in the embodiment of a ram with two (2) horns. Historically, the Medo-Persian Empire became dominant after the Babylonians and reigned from 539 - 332 BC.

Daniel is then shown a very angry and aggressive goat that comes on the scene and destroys the ram (vv. 5-7). The Goat represents the Greeks, and the prominent horn is Alexander the Great. He came to prominence quickly, but died just as fast. After his death, the Greek Empire was divided into four (2) sections with four of his leading generals ruling over respective pieces. (v. 8)

Argument: Daniel receives this vision in 551 BC, hundreds of years before these events came to pass. While Daniel may have seen the Medes on the near horizon, he could not have seen the eventual Persian dominance, and no way he could have predicted Alexander the Great, his untimely death, and the four-fold division of the Greek Empire. The only answer: God is sovereign and He showed Daniel what would take place.

B.N. This is why the liberals attack the book of Daniel. They do not believe in predictive prophecy (because it is supernatural), so they posit a later date for the book in spite of the literary and textual impossibility.

Application: God gave this to His people so that they would still be able to believe He is in control of their story. ( reverts back to Hebrew). In a similar manner, we can trust that God is in control, in spite of world circumstances and the crazy things that take place in our society

In His sovereignty, God will allow His people to face persecution for their sins ()

Explanation: Following the death of Alexander, his generals divide the Empire. The Seleucid dynasty rules over the area of Syria, while the Ptolemy dynasty rules the land of Egypt. Jerusalem is located between these two areas, and the holy city is ruled by each at various times. During a time the Seleucids have dominance over Jerusalem, a ruler by the name of Antiochus IV comes to power and he unleashes a tremendous persecution against the Jews.

Antiochus is the “little horn” (v. 9) and he attempted to totally eradicate Jewish nationalism and conform the Jews to being thoroughly “hellenized” as Greeks. He did this by attacking their greatest form of unity - their religious identity. He forbade circumcision, compromised the priesthood, defiled the temple, and put an end to the sacrificial system. Along the way, he murdered over 40,000 Jews.

Argument: The persecution under Antiochus has the stated cause of the disobedience of God’s own people. In verse 12, God declares His people “will be given over … because of transgression.” Verse 23 also declares that the timing of Antiochus is simultaneous with the time “when the transgressors have reached their limit.” In both verses, the transgressors are the Jews. In spite of God’s judgment on the sinfulness of the Jewish people and the corresponding 70 year exile in Babylon, they still haven’t learned.

Application: While God will ultimately judge sin at the end of the Age, He can and does judge sin in the here and now. When His people are disobedient, He may allow persecution for the purpose of discipline. If He did not spare the Jews for their unfaithfulness, what makes America so special that He will not judge us?

God limited the persecution of His people under Antiochus, and He will limit the persecution of the final antichrist in the future ()

Explanation: Daniel overhears two angels who are discussing how long the persecution under Antiochus will last. The angel declares the time period of defilement will last for 2,300 evenings and mornings. The syntax is somewhat unclear and there are two schools of thought as to how long this period will be.

One group interprets the duration as 1,150 days which is equivalent to 3 years, 2 months. The understanding is based on 1,150 morning sacrifices and 1,150 evening sacrifices. This system dates the starting point (the transgression of desolation) to be the defilement of the temple in 167 BC when Antiochus erects a statue of Zeus in the Temple and slaughters a pig on the altar. The terminus date would be Dec 164 when Judas Maccabeus reconsecrates the altar and the temple.

The other main interpretation is to take the 2,300 days as just that. This yields a duration of six years, 4 months. This system dates the starting point in the fall of 170 B.C. when the faithful high priest was murdered by one of Antiochus’ false priests. The terminus remains the same at 164 B.C. and the dedication of the cleansed temple. (BTW - origin of Hanukkah)

Argument: While there are dedicated scholars on both sides of this particular issue, the main thing is that all are in agreement as to the persecution of the people of God, and that said persecution has a start and a finish, and that the persecution is sovereignly controlled by God. (I personally understand the period to be 6 + years, and think the other view tries to hard to fit the persecution into a 3.5 year time to correspond with the Great Tribulation).

Application: Our main take away should be that God puts limits on the forces of evil, and they are subject to His control. Whenever we undergo difficulties and trials our focus can and should be on the God of our circumstances. We can maintain hope knowing that God is faithful.

Regardless of our level of understanding, the response of faith is to be about the business of the King ()

Explanation: This vision literally put Daniel in the bed. He was “overcome” by what he had witnessed. He was distressed to know that his people still had not learned their lesson. Daniel was shown that the Jews would be unfaithful to the precepts of God during the time of the 3rd empire. He saw that they would be persecuted and killed for their sins, and this knowledge bothered him.

Argument: When we have a response to predictive prophecy, it generally is limited to thoughts of the Rapture. We focus on “the Great Escape” and don’t really consider the effects of God’s judgments, even on God’s people. We certainly do not appear overly concerned about the fate of others.

Daniel, who knew he personally would not be affected by these events of the future, still had empathy. He was personally bothered and distressed. And, it is important to note that Daniel, the recipient of angelic dialogue and supernatural visions did not have mastery; he “did not understand it.” But, even without all the answers Daniel continued to serve. He arose from his bed and went about the King’s business.

Application: That is excellent advice for us. We may never grasp all the intricacies of apocalyptic literature and may never comprehend why God is doing things the way He is. We can and should grasp the big picture: God has a plan for dealing with evil and it involves the Return of Jesus to this earth. We will not know when and we may not know how, but we can serve Him for whatever time we have remaining.