"In the third year of King Belshazzar's reign, I, Daniel, had a vision, after the one that had already appeared to me." - Daniel 8:1
This was a hard one. The chapter ends with Daniel telling us that this vision left him exhausted and physically ill. He confessed that this vision was beyond understanding. If Daniel couldn't understand it (And he had the help of the angel Gabriel to explain it to him), then what hope is there for us to understand this vision? Nevertheless, this is the Word of God which is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that we may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16).
So, with a spirit of humility, let us proceed with caution and see what the Lord has for us.
When: When did Daniel have this vision? In 550 B.C. "...the 3rd year of King Belshazzar's reign." (This is important!)
Where: Susa
Daniel was spiritually transported to a place that would eventually become the capital of the Persian Empire located 230 miles directly East of Babylon, 150 miles North of the Persian Gulf, in what is today known as Kuwait. It was the home of Esther in 460 B.C., and the home of Nehemiah in 445 B.C.. But in 550 B.C., it was NOTHING!
What: What did Daniel see?
1. A Ram
"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. I watched the ram as he charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and none could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great." - Daniel 8:3-4
There is no mystery as to what this Ram represented. The angel Gabriel informs Daniel in verse 20 that the Ram represents the kings of Media and Persia. (In Daniel's vision in ch. 7, The Medes and Persians were represented by a lopsided Bear.)
Ammianus Marcellinus writes, "On all the rulers of Persia or the Medo-Persian Empire...they bore a ram, or the head of a ram, on some part of their garments or some part of their armor. Especially when they went to battle."
A. The Long Horn: Media
Media was already a major power in the world in Daniel’s lifetime. Media had helped the Babylonian Empire conquer Assyria in 612 BC.
Media was a pretty big horn.
B. The Little Horn that became Longer Later: Persia
Persia was relatively insignificant (a little horn). Persia was a very small country lying to the south out in the middle of nowhere in a wilderness. But Cyrus was a Persian, and he was a genius. He came into power in 549 B.C. Eventually, Cyrus conquered Media - and made Persia the greatest of the two. And so when the two were combined, with Persia being the greatest, though it started smaller, he established the Medo-Persian Empire.
Daniel 8:4 "I saw the ram pushing westward and northward and southward"
With an army of 2 million men, Persia mercilessly rammed their enemies, expanding their empire. Persia went west, and took Syria, Asia Minor, and Babylonia. Persia then pushed north, and took Armenia and all the region around the Caspian Sea. Persia pushed south, and took Egypt and Ethiopia.
When Cyrus set up the Medo-Persian Empire, he was a absolute tyrant. In just ten years, from 549 to 539, Cyrus conquered the world.
2. A Goat
As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. He came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at him in great rage. I saw him attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering his two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against him; the goat knocked him to the ground and trampled on him, and none could rescue the ram from his power. - Daniel 8:5-7
Once again, there is no mystery here. The angel Gabriel explains in verse 21, "The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king." In ch. 7, Greece is represented by a four headed leopard with wings. Owen Bourgaize writes, "The goat is often used as a symbol of Macedonia, a founding state of the Grecian empire"
A. A Unicorn (or, more likely, a Rhino): Alexander The Great
In 336 B.C., Alexander the Great became King. By 323 B.C., he had conquered the world.
Alexander was 21 years old when he became king in 336 B.C. after his father's murder. He was educated under Aristotle. He was brilliant. He was a military genius. Maybe the greatest military genius of all of human history.
In 334, two years after he became king, he marshalled an army of 35,000 troops and started an attack on the Medes and the Persians. Alexander crossed the Hellespont. And as soon as he crossed the Hellespont, he left Greece, and he entered the Medo-Persian Empire. Not far away was a place called the Granicus River. And he crossed the Granicus River, and when he got to the other side, he found a massive Persian army waiting for him, far outnumbering his own troops. But historians believed that the hatred of Greek culture for the primitive eastern attitudes of the Medes and the Persians had been so fomented by this incredible leader, Alexander, that his troops were practically fighting on an unnatural level. And as they confronted the Persians, they literally devastated them.
He never came home again. That attack led him to the borders of India. He conquered the world so fast. Babylon was his. Susa was his. Persepolis was his, the treasury of the Medo-Persian Empire. Ecbatana, the summer royal seat of the Medes was his. Every city...was his, from Europe and North Africa clear to the borders of India. Darius was murdered, and Alexander sat on the throne. He conquered Bactria, which is now known as Afghanistan.
On his sweep east, he slaughtered multitudes of people. He wiped out the whole population of some cities...
JOSEPHUS: The Jewish writer, Josephus, shares a fascinating incident about Alexander. As Alexander and his army approached Jerusalem, he was planning to destroy the city. Remember the city had just been rebuilt about a hundred years earlier by Ezra and Nehemiah. There was only the basic building of the second Temple constructed by Zerubabbel. Josephus writes that while Alexander was considering destroying the city, the High Priest went out with a scroll of Daniel 8 and explained to him that he and his army (the goat) were destined by the God of the Hebrews to conquer the Ram (the Persians). The account says Alexander was so impressed that instead of destroying the city, he enriched it and then bypassed it on his way to capture and control Egypt.
HIS DEATH: In June of 323 BC at 33 years of age, he came to the city of Babylon, got involved in a drunken orgy one night and died. Perhaps choking on his own vomit.
B. Four Other Horns
"The goat became very great, but at the height of his power his large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven." - Daniel 8:8
Alexander died young and unexpectedly. He had no heirs. So his generals divided up the world. After 22 years of infighting, around 300 B.C., four Generals emerged:
1. Cassander - took Greece
2. Lysimachus - took Asia Minor (Modern day Turkey)
3. Ptolemy - took Egypt & Ethiopia
4. Seleucus - took Babylon & Assyria (Modern day Syria)
(Israel became a buffer for many years between the Ptolemy Dynasty and Seleucus Dynasty)
And Daniel saw all of this in 550 B.C.
What else did Daniel see?
C. Another Horn: Antiocus Epiphanes (175 B.C. to 164 B.C.)
"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." - Daniel 7:9
Many scholars believe this other horn is Antiocus Epiphanes. His story is recorded in 1 Maccabees.
Daniel speaks of a little horn that rises from littleness. That's very significant, because this Antiochus had absolutely no claim to the throne.
He took the throne by treachery. So he rose out of insignificance and became the eighth ruler of the Seleucus dynasty.
He was extremely Greek, and began to impose the Greek culture on the Palestinians. He sought to destroy the religion of the Jews. (It was a threat to Greek Culture.)
Antiochus was a wicked and vicious ruler. He hated the Jews and they hated him. He demanded crowds of people honour him by crying out "Epiphanes"ยจ whenever he would pass by. Instead, the Jews had nicknamed him "Antiochus Epimanes" (Epimanes means "maniac") So they shouted "Epimanes" when he passed by and that drove him even madder.
What did this other horn do?
"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. It set itself up to be as great as the Prince of the host; it took away the daily sacrifice from him, and the place of his sanctuary was brought low. Because of rebellion, the host [of the saints] and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground." - Daniel 8:10-12
a. It reached the host of the heavens (I don't know what that means)
b. It threw some of the starry host down to the earth (This is a spiritual battle)
c. It set itself up to be as great as the Prince of the host (This is Blasphemy! He attacks God's people. He attacks God. He attacks the worship of God. He attacks the temple of God.
d. It took away the daily sacrifice from him
e. The sanctuary was brought low
Some of the terrible atrocities attributed to Antiochus include:
• He outlawed circumcision
• He outlawed the Sabbath observance
• He halted the temple sacrifices in 167 B.C.
• He made it a criminal offense for anyone to possess or read the Jewish scriptures.
• He slaughtered 80,000 Jews on a single occasion
• He sold 40,000 more into slavery
• He plundered the temple
• He dedicated the temple to his idols
• He forced pork down the throats of the priests
• He said, "From now on, the only thing you're allowed to worship here is Zeus, Bacchus, Saturn, etc."
• He established prostitution in the temple chambers, and they became brothels
But the vilest thing he did from a Jewish standpoint was to set up an image of Zeus in the Jewish Temple (this statue had a strange resemblance to Antiochus). He ordered the Jews to worship that image.
And, horror of horrors, he personally sacrificed a pig on the sacred altar and sprinkled its blood and guts all around the holy place, and then repeated this every month. In doing this, he defiled the temple. It was an "abomination that causes desolation." That means the faithful Jews left, or deserted the Temple, so it was desolate.
Finally, Judas Maccabees and his sons rose in revolt and led the people of Israel to retake Jerusalem, cleansed the sanctuary and restored the offerings. The rededication of the Temple on December 14, 164 B.C. is the reason our Jewish friends celebrate Hanukkah each December.
Gabriel tells Daniel:
“In the latter part of their reign, when rebels have become completely wicked, a stern-faced king, a master of intrigue, will arise. 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 the mighty men and the holy people. 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." - Daniel 8:23-25
f. He will be a master of intrigue (smooth talking)
g. He will be empowered
h. He will be destructive (Viciously, ruthlessly, systematically)
i. He will be successful (WHY???)
j. He will cause deceit to prosper
k. He will be destroyed
Gabriel's description sounds much like the description of the "Man of Lawlessness" that Paul describes in 2 Thessalonians 2. Could Antiocus be the AntiChrist? No. Antiocus has already come and gone by the time Paul warns about the coming of the man of Lawlessness.
Gabriel tells Daniel in verse 18, "...understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.” And again, in verse 19, He says, “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."
This vision concerns the Time of the End. Was Antiocus the end? No. Christ had not even come yet.
And Notice: In Daniel 7, the AntiChrist comes from the forth beast (Rome), not the third beast (as he does in ch 8)
So... the prophecy of Daniel 8 has a double fulfillment (like Matthew 24, which simultaneously discusses the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and the end of the world).
So... Antiocus is a prototype of the AntiChrist (a fulfilment that foreshadows something else). Whatever Antiocus was - the AntiChrist will be worse)
• He will be a master of intrigue. (Attractive, enticing)
• He will be empowered (2 Thess 2:9 says, "The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan...")
• He will cause deceit to prosper (2 Thess 2:9 says, "The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing.)
• He will be destroyed (2 Thess 2:8 says, "the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.")
WHY?
Why does God allow this at all?
I believe a key verse in Daniel 8 is verse 12: "Because of rebellion, It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground."
Truth was thrown to the ground.
By who? By the AntiChrist? No.
By us! By our rebellion. By our Apostacy. By abandoning what we once stood for (“Apo”: No, “Stasis”: Stand).
We have thrown truth to the ground. By our wickedness, we have suppressed the truth. Many "Christians" show contempt for the truth. We are living in rebellion to God (See Daniel 8:13, 23; 2 Thessalonians 2:3)
The Purpose Of The AntiChrist:
Notice: 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 "For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness."
Who sends the delusion? God sends it. How can this be? How can a loving God send such a terrible thing? Answer: Romans 1:18 says, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness" Just like when God raised up the Assyrians to destroy Israel in his wrath... just like God raised up the Babylonians to defeat Judah in his wrath. God will raised up an AntiChrist to destroy all who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
How Important Is Truth?
Thessalonians 2:10 says, "They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved".
The Truth: God’s Word is Truth
Jesus says He is the Truth (John 14:6)
Jesus’ teachings are truth (John 8:31-32)
The Truth is what will set us free!
2 Thessalonians 2:13 says, "God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth."
What is the antidote to the AntiChrist? The Truth!
The Destruction of the AntiChrist:
Daniel 8:25 says, "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."
2 Thessalonians 2:8 says, "And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming."
The Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth (which I believe to mean the Word of God - see 2 Timothy 3:16)
What Is Our Hope:
God's Word is Truth. God's Word is Life. We must live by God's Word.
Romans 1:17 says, "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
The righteous will live by faith. Not faith in faith. But faith in Christ. Faith in His Word. Faith in the Truth (Jesus is the Truth)
Revelation 3:10 says, "Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth."
As we strive to keep His commands, he will keep our souls safe from the AntiChrist.
