Daniel 8.5-A Male Goat with a Conspicuous Horn Came From the West Over the Surface of the Whole Earth Without Touching the Ground
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday July 24, 2013
Daniel: Daniel 8:5-A Male Goat with a Conspicuous Horn Came From the West Over the Surface of the Whole Earth Without Touching the Ground
Lesson # 233
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 8:1.
Daniel 8:1 During the third year of the reign of Belshazzar, the king, a vision appeared to me, I, Daniel after the one appearing to me previously. 2 Indeed, I was staring because of this vision. Specifically, I myself was in a trance like state staring as I myself was in Susa, the citadel, which was in the province of Elam. Furthermore, I was staring because of this vision as I myself was beside the Ulai Canal. 3 Then, I lifted up my eyes and then I was staring as behold a ram was standing in front of the canal with it possessing two horns. Furthermore, the two horns were long. However, one was longer than the other with the longer one growing up last. 4 I saw this ram continually butting westward as well as northward and in addition southward as all the beasts could by no means stand in front of it. Furthermore, none could deliver out from its power so that it acted according to its desire. Indeed, it became great. (Author’s translation)
Daniel 8:5 While I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. (NASB95)
This verse marks the next event that took place after the events recorded in verse 4, which records Daniel telling the reader he saw a vision of a two-horned ram.
“I was observing” indicates that was in a Daniel trance like state thinking about the vision of the two-horned ram in the sense of concentrating upon it and paying attention to details regarding it in order to arrive at the meaning of the vision when a vision of a ram appeared from the west.
In the Hebrew, “a male goat” is saying that this male-goat was ruler over the goats.
Daniel 8:5 Then, I myself was in a trance like state as behold a male-goat who is ruler over the goats, was traveling from the west over the earth’s surface. In fact, it was not touching the earth’s surface. Also, this male-goat had a conspicuous horn between its eyes. (My translation)
After seeing the vision of a two-horned ram, Daniel informs the reader that a male-goat appeared to him in the vision.
He describes this ram as ruler over the goats and it was traveling from the west over the surface of the earth but it was not touching the earth’s surface and also possessed a conspicuous horn between its eyes.
In Daniel 8:21, the elect angel Gabriel interprets this male-goat as being the kingdom of Greece and the conspicuous horn refers to the first king of the kingdom of Greece.
Therefore, this male goat corresponds to the third beast in Daniel’s vision in chapter seven, which also corresponds to the bronze belly and thighs of Nebuchadnezzar’s image in Daniel chapter two.
As we noted in our study of the third beast in chapter seven, the leopard perfectly characterized the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great since this animal was noted for its speed and cunning in attacking its prey, which characterized Alexander the Great’s conquests that were without precedent in the ancient world.
The four wings on this leopard emphasizes a speed beyond its capacity, which characterized Alexander the Great’s lightening fast conquest of the civilized world from Macedonia to Africa and eastward to India.
The four heads depict the four-fold division of Alexander’s empire after his death between four of his generals (Daniel 8:8, 22).
The fact that governmental dominion was given to this kingdom indicates that it did not achieve its conquests by ordinary means but that it achieved its rapid success because of the God of Israel.
This would indicate that Alexander was truly a man of destiny and that God gave him his rapid success so that the world was at his feet by the age of 32.
In Daniel 2:39, Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that after his kingdom there will arise another kingdom which will be inferior to his kingdom.
Since Daniel told the king at the end of Daniel 2:38 that he was the head of gold of the statue in his dream, this second kingdom is represented by the silver arms and chest of the statue.
History records that this part of the statue represented the Medo-Persian Empire.
In the second statement that appears in Daniel 2:39, Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that after the second empire, there will be a third kingdom of bronze, which will rule the earth.
This description makes clear that the second empire is represented by the silver arms and chest of the statue and that the third empire is represented by the bronze belly and thighs of the statue.
The bronze belly and thighs of the statue represent Alexander the Great’s Greek Empire since history records that this empire conquered Medo-Persia between 334 and 330 B.C. and absorbed it into its empire.
This is portrayed in Daniel chapter 8.
Since the metals of the statue in Daniel chapter two decreased in value but increased in strength, the bronze belly and thighs of the statue indicate that the character of authority in rulership of Alexander’s Greece was inferior to Media-Persia and Babylon and yet superior to Rome, which is the fourth kingdom.
However, its power or strength was superior to Media-Persia and Babylon and inferior only to Rome.
In Daniel 8:5, Daniel describes this male-goat as traveling from the west over the earth’s surface and was in fact not touching the ground.
This corresponds to the description of the third beast in chapter seven which is described as a leopard possessing four wings.
Both descriptions in Daniel 8:5 and Daniel 7:6 symbolize the speed beyond its capacity which Alexander’s army possessed in conquering the nations of the earth.
Daniel 8:5 says that this male-goat came from the west which means that in relation to Media-Persia, which resided in the east in relation to Israel, the kingdom of Greece led by Alexander was located west of Media-Persia.
The conspicuous horn of this male-goat which appears in Daniel 8:5 is a symbolic reference to Alexander the Great since he was the first ruler of the Greek Empire and not his father, Philip.
Though his father Philip II of Macedonia had united all the Greek city-states except Sparta, Alexander is considered Greece’s first king.
Alexander the Great began to rule in 336 B.C. and he defeated the Persians and conquered many nations while at the same time spreading Greek culture and language throughout these territories.
He attempted to follow the Babylonian example, but this led to gross immorality and early death in 323 B.C. at the age of thirty-three.
When Daniel received this vision of the male-goat with the conspicuous horn between its eyes, he was living in the sixth century B.C.
God was prophesying through the vision that the Greek Empire would become a super power overthrowing the Medo-Persian Empire.
In the sixth century B.C., Greece was an insignificant nation or small group of tribes loosely connected to each other.
Therefore, this teaches us that God is sovereign and omnipotent in the sense that He can bring to pass anything He desires.
This teaches that God’s Word is powerful (Hebrews 4:12) and is watching over His Word to perform it according to Jeremiah 1:12.
The application for us here in the church age is that if God’s Word is powerful enough to raise up an insignificant nation and make it a superpower and world-wide empire as was the case with Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece, His Word is certainly able to handle all of our problems and adversities in life.