Daniel Chapter 8a - The Truth About The Torso Series

Daniel – Chapter 8a

Chapter 8 Outline

I. The Miracle of the Vision (8:1-14)

a. The Period (8:1)

b. The Place (8:2)

c. The Participants (8:3-14)

1. A Ram (8:3-4)

2. A Goat (8:5-8)

3. A Horn (8:9-12)

4. A Saint (8:13-14)

II. The Messengers of the Vision (8:15-18)

a. Man (8:15-16)

b. Angel (8:17-18)

III. The Meaning of the Vision (8:20-25)

a. Medo-Persia (8:20)

b. Greece (8:21-25)

1. Alexander The Great (8:21)

2. The Four Generals (8:22)

3. Antiochus IV Epiphanes (8:23-25)

IV. The Man of the Vision (8:26-27)

a. The Commandment (8:26)

b. The Concern (8:27)

Message

Just as Daniel 7 gave us much more information about the fourth kingdom, the prophecy in chapter 8 gives us much more information about the second and third kingdoms. Therefore chapter 8 could be entitled “The Truth about the Torso!”

For Daniel, this was one of his most troubling visions, even after the angel Gabriel explained it to him. Notice Daniel’s reaction in verse 27, And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.

However, for us, standing on the other side of this prophecy, it’s one of the easiest for us to comprehend. What Daniel prophesied in chapter 8 was future for him, but much of it is history for us and we have ample historical evidence of the exact fulfilment of this vision. This chapter is one of the best places in the Bible to compare history and prophecy.

This message should demonstrate to you the absolute reliability and infallibility of the Word of God. When we see things predicted in the Bible that have already come true, it gives us great assurance that those things yet to happen will also come true.

At the beginning of this study we looked briefly at the fact that Daniel was written in two languages. In Chapters 1:1–2:4 and from chapters 8-12, Daniel wrote in Hebrew. These deal in particular with God’s program with Israel.

These chapters are concerned with the fall of Jerusalem, with the beginning of the Babylonian captivity, the changing fortunes of the Jews down through the centuries, with events concerning Jerusalem and the temple. They are particularly

Concerned with the coming Antichrist, the archenemy of the Jews, and how he will posses Jerusalem, pollute the temple, and persecute the Jews.

From Chapters 2:5 – 7:28 Daniel wrote in Aramaic, a Gentile language; these chapters relate specifically to Gentile world empires.

Therefore, beginning with chapter 8, we not only have a change of language but also a change of viewpoint and emphasis. From now on everything written by Daniel will be seen from the perspective of the Hebrew people.

It is so important to see the different applications of these two sections. God has nothing to say about the course of the church of this dispensation. He is giving us the truth both in regard to Judah and Israel and to the Gentiles.

People today have miss applied prophetic portions of Scripture to meet their own viewpoint. We can apply a simple principle when dealing with God’s Word, when in the prophetic books we read of Judah, or Zion, or Jerusalem, we are not to apply this to the church. Zion means Zion, Judah means Judah, Jerusalem means Jerusalem and Israel means Israel.

I. The Miracle of the Vision (8:1-14)

a. The Time (8:1)

Two years has passed since Daniel had the vision of the four beasts, he has had plenty of time to digest that information. King Belshazzar’s third year was 551 B.C. so this vision came to Daniel before that fateful night of drunkenness and blasphemy described in chapter 5.

b. The Place (8:2)

Shushan was a city about 200 miles southeast of Babylon and at this time it wasn’t too important to the Babylonians. Eventually it became the capital city of the Persian Empire.

Nehemiah 1:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachalaih. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year as I was in Shushan the palace,

Esther 1:2 That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,

Elam was in the mountainous region of Western Asia. One of its earliest kings is found in Genesis 14:1 And it came to pass in the days of …. Cherdorlaomer king of Elam. We do not know if Elam was part of the Babylonian Empire but we know for sure that it was part of the Persian Empire. It’s capital city was Shushan.

Two rivers flowed to the south and east of the city and were joined by a large, man-made canal called the Eulaeus (the Ulai of Daniel’s vision).