Go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Daniel 8 as we continue our journey through the Old Testament prophets. This morning, rather than read the entire passage all at once at the beginning, we’ll deal with our passage section by section. As always, the first thing that we want to do is to put this passage in its proper context, and fortunately Daniel does that in the first two verses of the chapter.
BACKGROUND
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 capital, which is in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision, and I was at the Ulai canal.
This is the second of four visions that come directly to Daniel. This vision occurs about two years after the one that we looked at last week in chapter 7. Chronologically this vision occurs prior to the events recorded in Daniel 5 and 6.
In his vision Daniel, who is physically present in Babylon, is transported to the city of Susa, which is also known as Shushan. Although at the time of Daniel’s vision, Susa is only a minor, insignificant city, it will later become a leading city in the Persian Empire and the location for the king’s palace as we see in the accounts in both Nehemiah and Esther.
There is one more important observation that we need to make before we proceed. You’ll remember that from the second half of Daniel 2:4 through the end of chapter 7, the Book of Daniel is written in Aramaic because the material there primarily deals with the Gentile nations. But here at the beginning of chapter 8, the writing returns to Hebrew because the rest of the book is primarily concerned with the Jews. Although, as we’ll see in a moment, the prophecies still deal with the Gentile nations who will rule over the Jews, the focus changes from those nations themselves to the injustices that the Jews will experience under this rule.
With this background in mind, we are now ready to look at Daniel’s vision.
THE RAM (vv. 3-4, 20)
Let’s begin by reading the account of the vision:
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.
There is absolutely no doubt which Gentile kingdom is represented by the ram, because when Gabriel, the angel comes and gives Daniel the interpretation of the dream, he clearly identifies the ram:
20 As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia.
• Media-Persia
The ram represents the Medo-Persian Empire, the same empire pictured by the arms and chest of gold in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2 and the beast that looked like a bear in Daniel’s vision in chapter 7. Although it was normal for a ram to have two horns, there is something curious about the horns on this ram. One horn came up later than the other, but it grew and became higher than the other. You’ll remember from last week, that horns in the Bible are often used as pictures of power and the picture of these two horns describes exactly what happened in this divided empire where the Medes initially were stronger, but the Persians, who came to power later, became the dominant power.
Daniel also sees the ram charging to the west, north and south, which would be consistent with the three major conquests of this empire that were also pictured by the three ribs in the mouth of the beast in Daniel 7 – Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt.
THE MALE GOAT (vv. 5-8, 21-22)
Here’s what Daniel saw next in his vision:
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.
Again, the male goat is easy to identify because Gabriel gives Daniel the interpretation:
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.
• Greece
The male goat represents Greece, the same empire pictured by the belly and thighs of bronze in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in chapter 2 and the beast that looked like a leopard with wings in Daniel’ vision in chapter 7.
This particular goat is quite unusual because it only has one horn, but Gabriel makes it clear that this horn represents the first king of Greece, which we know to be Alexander the Great. The description of the goat coming from the west across the face of the earth without touching the ground is a very accurate description of the swiftness with which Alexander not only conquered the Medes and Persians, but much of the known world at that time. And the picture of the goat being enraged against the ram and trampling him because no one could rescue the ram is also an accurate picture of Alexander’s quick and relatively easy conquest of the Medo-Persian Empire.
At the pinnacle of Greece’s power under Alexander, Alexander became impatient because there were no more lands to conquer and so he spiraled downward into alive of alcoholism. He died in Babylon at the age of 32, as pictured by the breaking of the great horn in Daniel’s vision. Since there was no apparent successor to Alexander, various factions attempted to take power over the next 40 years or so until the Empire was finally divided among four of his generals, exactly as Daniel had seen four horns arise after the breaking of the great horn.
The empire was divided as follows:
o Cassander ruled over Macedonia and Greece
o Lysimachus ruled over Thrace and Asia Minor
o Ptolemy ruled over Egypt
o Seleucus ruled over Syria and the vast territory to the east.
The last two generals – Ptolemy and Seleucus - are the ones that become most significant to the Jews who are situated right between these two kingdoms and become the focus of a series of battles over Palestine between these two generals and their successors. In about 198 BC, the Seleucids, under Antiochus III finally gain control of Palestine with the help of the Jews and they remained in control until the Romans conquered them in 63 BC.
THE LITTLE HORN (vv. 9-14)
Daniel’s vision continues with a description of what occurs under the Seleucid control of Palestine and the Jews:
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. 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.”
Once again, Daniel is given an interpretation of this part of his vision, but this time, the interpretation is not nearly so clear:
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.”
This is not the first time that we have seen a “little horn”. Last week, when we examined chapter 7, we also saw a “little horn”, so the obvious question that arises is: Are both of these references to a “little horn” referring to the same person? At first glance, they don’t seem to be related. The horn that arises in chapter 7 comes out of the Roman Empire, more particularly the “revived” Roman Empire that will exist at the return of Jesus. But the little horn here in chapter 8 comes out of the Greek empire.
However, before we make any final conclusions, we need to look at some other information that Daniel is given in the process of Gabriel providing him with the interpretation of his vision. Let’s go back to verse 15:
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.
You will note that Gabriel twice indicates that the vision concerns “the time of the end”. As we’ve noted when we’ve come across that and other similar phrases in the past, that is a reference to the end times and the return of the Messiah, Jesus. Gabriel also speaks of the “latter end of the indignation.” The indignation that he is speaking of here is God’s indignation against sin and the resulting judgment upon that sin. Again this indicates that the vision deals with the end times and Jesus returning to this earth as judge.
But it is also clear that this vision deals with events that would take place near the end of the kingdom represented by the male goat – Greece. So once again, just as we have seen consistently throughout the prophets, there is both a near-term and far term fulfillment of this vision – especially as it relates to the little horn:
• Near-term: Antiochus Epiphanes
There is little doubt that the near-term fulfillment of the little horn is found in the person of Antiochus Epiphanes. The events of his reign are chronicled in a number of historical records, including the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus and the book of 1 Maccabees. Some of you may familiar with that book, which is part of the Apocrypha. Although it was never accepted as part of the canon, or Bible, it is a useful resource for studying the history of this time period. Daniels’ vision in chapter 11, which we won’t be looking at in our study, also pictures many of these events hundreds of years before they occur. Because it is crucial that we understand the character of Antiochus Epiphanes, for some reasons that will become apparent shortly, let me take a few minutes to describe some significant events in his reign.
After the defeat of his father, Antiochus III, Antiochus Epiphanes was sent to Rome as a hostage. Upon his release, he seized the throne by force and began to rule in 175 BC. During his time in Rome, Antiochus had become convinced of the need to Hellenize the people by incorporating elements of the Greek culture into their lives. And upon his return to Syria, that effort was specifically aimed at the Jews.
So in 174 BC, Jason, the brother of the high priest Onias III, offered to help Antiochus Hellenize the Jews and gave Antiochus a large bribe in order to be appointed high priest in place of his brother. Under Jason’s leadership, a gymnasium was constructed nest to the Temple and hosted the Greek athletic games there, complete with sacrifices to the pagan gods. Because the games were held in the nude, many Jews were convinced of the need to undergo a reverse circumcision and to otherwise adopt Greek ways.
Three years later, another Jew named Menelaus, offered Antiochus another bribe and became the high priest with the blessing of Antiochus. This was the first time since the rebuilding of the Temple under Persian rule that the high priest was not from the tribe of Levi and had not even been a priest. During his tenure, the Temple became a place of ecumenical worship incorporating elements from the Greek worship of pagan gods.
In 168 BC, Antiochus attempted to invade Egypt, bankrolled to a large extent by the bribe money he had received from Jason and Menelaus. But he was met by a Roman envoy who ordered him to withdraw or face the Roman army. When Antiochus said that he would consult with his war council, the Roman envoy drew a circle in the sand around Antiochus and told his that if he stepped outside the circle without agreeing to leave Egypt, he would be at war with Rome. This is where we get our phrase “drawing a line in the sand.”
Completely humiliated and outraged, Antiochus passed through Jerusalem on his way back to Syria and killed 40,000 Jews and sold another 40,000 into slavery. He sacked the Temple and robbed it of all its treasure. An image of Zeus was set up permanently in the Temple and all items of Jewish worship were removed. Pigs were sacrificed in the Temple with their blood being sprinkled on the altar in the Holy of Holies.
Antiochus even took on the title Antiochus Theos Epiphanes, which means “god manifest”, something that no other Hellenistic king had ever done.
Under the leadership of Judas Maccabeus, a guerilla army of traditional Jews who opposed the Hellenizing of their religion eventually were able to enter Jerusalem, retake the Temple and cleanse it. The rededication of the Temple is memorialized by the Jewish Feast of Dedication, also known as Hanukah.
Before we leave the topic of Antiochus, let me briefly address the 2,300 evenings and mornings in verse 14. Commentators have come up will all kinds of explanations for this time period. For instance, Seventh Day Adventists used this to predict the return of Jesus in 1843 and then again in 1844 by equating the 2,300 evenings and mornings to 2,300 years. But the most likely explanation is that the 2,300 evenings and mornings describe the period of a little over seven years from the time Menelaus became high priest and defiled the Temple worship until the Maccabees regained control of the Temple and cleansed it.
Every part of Daniel’s vision, with the exception of one phrase, describes very accurately the reign of Antiochus. But in verse 25, we have these words:
And he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes…
The “Prince of princes” is obviously a reference to Jesus and Antiochus obviously never rose up against Jesus. Therefore, there must also be a far-term fulfillment of this prophecy which is still to come in the future. And Antiochus is a type, or a picture, of what the person who exists at the return of Jesus will be like. And in the far-term fulfillment of this prophecy, we find that the little horn is indeed the same little horn that we saw in chapter 7:
• Far-term: Antichrist
The dual fulfillment of this prophecy is really helpful to us in understanding how the Antichrist is going to operate, because the Antiochus is a picture of the nature of the Antichrist. So let’s see if we can’t identify some…
o Common characteristics of Antiochus and the Antichrist:
Masters of deceit
Although, as we’ll see in a moment, both Antiochus and the Antichrist use their power and might, their greatest weapon is that of deceit and cunning. Antiochus was able to use his cunning to deceive people like Jason and Menelaus to cooperate with him in order to achieve his political goals. He knew that he wouldn’t be successful if he just tried to get the Jews to abandon their religion and their customs altogether, so he persuaded them to gradually assimilate the Greek religion, customs and ways into their lives.
When the Antichrist comes on the scene, he is going to use similar tactics. But even before that occurs, the Bible is clear that there will be many antichrists and false christs who will use the tool of deceit in order to try and draw us away from God:
and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
1 John 4:3 (ESV)
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.
2 John 1:7 (ESV)
Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
Matthew 24:23, 24 (ESV)
Ruthless
Antiochus was certainly ruthless, murdering 40,000 Jews in just one day. And the Antichrist will be no less ruthless. As we look at the descriptions of the actions of the Antichrist in the Book of Revelation. That’s why, in 2 Thessalonians, Paul calls him “the son of destruction.”
Although I’m not sure that He specifically was speaking of the Antichrist, Jesus certainly described his nature when He spoke these words:
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…
John 10:10 (ESV)
Both of these first two characteristics actually stem directly from the third:
Empowered by Satan
In verse 24, we read these words:
His power shall be great—but not by his own power.
Although both Antiochus and the Antichrist have great power, that power is derived from another source, and that can be none other than Satan himself. This is quite obvious in the case of the Antichrist. When we get to the Book of Revelation, it will be apparent that the he derives his power from Satan.
But, based on Daniel’s vision, and the words of Gabriel, it is clear that Antiochus also was empowered by Satan. That would certainly explain his rage against the Jews as well as his use of deceit and cunning. Listen to how Jesus describes the evil one:
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 8:44 (ESV)
In that verse, we find that Satan is both ruthless – a murderer from the beginning – as well as cunning and deceitful – a liar and the father of lies. And so we would expect that those he empowers would also exhibit those same traits.
Although there are many principles that we could draw from this passage, I want to focus on just one this morning. The group Casting Crowns recently released a song titled “Slow Fade”. Here is the chorus to that song:
It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade
It occurs to me that one of Satan’s most effective tools is the “slow fade”. In our journey with Jesus, most of us don’t get derailed all at once by some major event. But it’s that slow fade where we begin to mix in a bunch of other stuff right alongside the truth of God that eventually, over a period of time leads us astray.
I’m reminded of the well-known story of the Devil walking along with one of his cohorts. They saw a man ahead of them pick up something shiny. "What did he find?" asked the cohort. "A piece of the truth," the Devil replied. "Doesn't it bother you that he found a piece of the truth?" asked the cohort. "No," said the Devil, "I will see to it that he makes a religion out of it."
So let’s see if we can’t determine…
HOW TO AVOID THE ‘SLOW FADE”
1. Seek understanding in the right place
This first step is demonstrated by Daniel in verse 15:
When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it.
Based on his previous experiences, Daniel immediately recognized that this vision had come from God. So he went right to the source when he sought to understand it. We certainly don’t have enough here in the passage to determine exactly how Daniel did that, but based on what we know about his character from the rest of the book it’s pretty safe to assume that he was in prayer before God.
But perhaps what is even more instructive for us is what he didn’t do. We know that Babylon was famous for its wise men and Daniel certainly could have sought them out. Daniel was also a learned man and he could have turned to his books for answers. I’m sure the local library or Barnes and Noble probably had a whole self-help section with books on how to interpret ones dreams. And then there were the other religious leaders there in Babylon. With the multitude of gods, there were certainly a lot of options there. After all, Daniel didn’t have to completely rely upon any of these sources. He could just use them to supplement what he already knew about his God. Certainly there couldn’t be any harm in that.
But Daniel understood from a very young age the danger of that kind of seemingly insignificant compromise. As a teenager, he had refused to eat the king’s food. And later, under the reign of the Medes, he would refuse to follow the king’s edict not to pray to God, as he had always done.
It is so easy to succumb to the “slow fade” by allowing our understanding to be shaped, even to just a small degree, by the wrong sources. We’re surrounded by radio, television, movies, newspapers, books, music and people who are all want to shape and influence our understanding. And if we’re not careful, they will gradually replace God’s Word little by little as our standard for understanding. That leads us to our second step:
2. Take God’s Word seriously
When Gabriel came to bring him the interpretation of his vision, Daniel was frightened and fell on his face. This is quite similar to John’s reaction to the vision he is given. In Revelation 22, we see him on his face before the angel who has spoken to him about his vision.
If there is one thing that we can learn from the book of Daniel, it is that Daniel took God’s word seriously. He was never flippant or casual in his approach to or his handling of God’s Word. Just as we saw a couple of weeks ago with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Daniel knew what he believed, but even more importantly he believed what he knew.
Because of the proliferation of printed Bibles in our culture today, there is often a tendency on our part to just take the Bible for granted. I’m not sure that we truly understand these words that Paul wrote to a young pastor named Timothy:
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16, 17 (ESV)
Do you really believe that? Do you believe that every single word on these pages was breathed by God and they are profitable to equip you for every good work? The answer to that question lies in how you treat God’s Word. Because if you really believe those things then you will take God’s Word seriously and do everything in your power to apply all of His Word in your life.
But if you don’t really believe these words are true, then it becomes pretty easy to just pick and choose the parts of His Word that you like and ignore or evenly openly oppose the rest. But the danger in doing that is that you will almost certainly fall prey to the “slow fade”. You’ll be just like Jason and Menelaus. You won’t completely give up your worship of God – you’ll just mix in a whole lot of other stuff with it. And it won’t take long until your relationship with God just fades away.
There is one final step:
3. Occupy until Jesus returns
Daniel demonstrates this principle for us in the last verse of this chapter:
27 And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king's business, but I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it.
Although Daniel was perplexed and even became physically ill as a result of what he saw, we see that Daniel got right back to the task that God had given him – serving the king. Even though it was now quite clear to Daniel that the king he served – Belshazzar – wasn’t going to remain in power for long, Daniel was faithful to just keep on serving God right there where God had placed him.
Sometimes the uncertainty of the future is an invitation to begin to engage in the “slow fade”. Jesus was certainly concerned about that with His disciples. Just before He entered Jerusalem for the last time, He knew that many of His followers were expecting Him to usher in His kingdom immediately and that once He ascended to the Father and didn’t return immediately many of them would be tempted to slowly fall away. So He told them the parable of the ten minas. Most of us are somewhat familiar with this parable, which is similar to the parable of the talents. But perhaps because of our familiarity, we often pass over the beginning words of the parable:
He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ Luke 19:13 (ESV)
Jesus is clearly picturing the fact that he is going to receive a kingdom and then return in the future. And what are his subjects to do while they are waiting? “Engage in business” until he returns. The KJV translates that same phrase “Occupy till I come.” The idea is that while we’re waiting for the return of Jesus we are to actively engage in serving Jesus wherever he has placed us. The purpose of prophecy is to encourage us to engage in the king’s business, not ignore it or be idle.
The old adage that “an idle mind is the devil’s playground” is certainly applicable here. When were busy serving Jesus we’re much less likely to succumb to the “slow fade”.
Let’s make sure that we avoid the “slow fade” by seeking understanding in the right place, taking God’s Word seriously and by occupying until Jesus returns.
