Tonight we enter into chapter 8 in the book of Daniel. At this point in history, Israel had lost everything and were exiled into Babylon. God knew that His people needed some kind of encouragement. So, from this point on, chapters 8 through 12, the Scripture was originally written in Hebrew. That signifies that it is speaking specifically to the Israeli people of that day.
I am going to cover a lot of actual history that you don't see in the Scriptures this evening. This is just to show you that the vision that Daniel received at this point has already occurred.
What we will see in this chapter is a clear picture of ruler's denying the Lord and trampling people underfoot, both believers and unbelievers. Down through history, many rulers have been tyrants driven by a fierce craving for more power or territory. In some instances, the rulers have been filled with prejudice, a bitter hatred against a particular race or nation. As we look at these visions that Daniel was given, we need to picture the horrors of war with the catastrophic injuries and death inflicted upon people as well as the cruel oppression, subjection, and suffering of the survivors. These are the very focus of Daniel's vision, in particular pertaining to God's people.
Daniel 8:1-2. Daniel received this vision in the third year of Belshazzar's reign, which was probably 550 B.C. In his vision, Daniel saw himself at the fortress of Susa or Shushan standing by the Ulai River, a canal that had been built to provide water for the fortress city.
Susa was about 200 miles east of Babylon and 150 miles north of the Persian gulf. Even though the city was the capital of Elam, it wasn't that important to Babylon. Later it will become one of the royal cities of the Persian empire. From a biblical perspective, Esther and Nehemiah were prominent citizens of Susa.
In the vision, Daniel saw a large, powerful ram, which represented Medo-Persia. We know that because we are told that in verse 20. (Read.) Daniel noticed two significant features about the ram. First, the ram had two long horns, but one horn was longer than the other even though it started to grow later than the first. This refers to the fact that Persia was initially less powerful than Media. But under the leadership of Cyrus, Persia eventually conquered Media and united the two nations to become the great Medo-Persian empire.
Second, the ram was unstoppable as it charged west, north, and south. In it's terrorizing charge west, the ferocious ram conquered Babylon, Syria, and Asia minor. It even invaded certain areas of Greece. To the north, this ram, which is Persia, conquered several other areas. Moving southward, Cyrus and his successors conquered Egypt and Ethiopia. No nation was able to withstand the powerful and cruel attack of Medo-Persia. This terrifying beast did as it pleased and became the largest empire up until that time in human history.
Daniel 8:5-8. Suddenly, Daniel saw in his vision a swift, angry goat with one very prominent and large horn. This angry goat represented Greece and Alexander the great. Daniel described five features of the goat. First, the goat (Alexander the Great) came from the West, swiftly crossing the entire Earth without even touching the ground.
Second, the goat was filled with rage as he attacked the two-horned ram which was Medo-Persia. Within two years of succeeding his father as king, Alexander launched his fierce attack against the Persian empire. Apparently, Alexander's rage against the Persians came about because of the raids that the Persians had formally made into Greece.
Third, the angry goat attacked the ram with intense power. When the goat struck the ram that had two horns, it represented Alexander's destroying both Media and Persia, trampling the empire into the ground. Medo-Persia was completely helpless before the raging Alexander the Great. And no other power on Earth could save the Persian empire from the mighty power of the young Greek conqueror.
Fourth, Greece became a great empire under Alexander the great, conquering most of the known world of that day. But due to his success, he became increasingly prideful and arrogant, even exalting himself as a god. He either pretended to be or actually thought himself to be a god, because he required the soldiers in various districts of his empire to bow and worship him as a god. Worshiping rulers was a custom in some of the Oriental Nations he conquered, but the great battalions of his own troops rebelled against that policy.
At the height of Grecian power, the large horn of the goat was broken off. That means that Alexander the Great died due to a sudden fever at the age of 33. After his death, various leaders of Greece made attempts to hold the empire together but were unsuccessful. As scripture says, the large horn of the goat was replaced by four prominent horns. This simply means that four prominent military commanders divided the empire among themselves. You might remember us discussing that in chapter 7.
In all of this, God was using both Greece and Rome to prepare the way for the coming of His Son Jesus Christ into the world. As Alexander conquered nation after nation, he was able to spread the culture and language of Greece throughout the world. The common Grecian language is the language of the New Testament. After the fall of Greece, the Roman empire ruled the world with an iron fist, helping to enforce peace and freedom of travel as well as an openness to other cultures, ideas, philosophies, and religions. As the Scripture says, the Lord was preparing the world for the fullness of time, the day when He would send His Son into the world. Galatians 4:45. When Jesus came, it was far easier to carry the message of the Gospel to the world due to the common language of Greek, the peace and freedom of travel, and the sharing of ideas that were enforced by Rome.
In his vision, Daniel saw a little horn arise from one of the horns or divisions of the Grecian empire. This little horn represented a guy named Antiochus Epiphanes, who ruled Syria at that time. He was one of the most despicable, savage leaders in history. In fact, Daniel saw the terrifying evil and suffering that this tyrant would inflict upon so many people, in particular upon those who truly trusted the Lord. So, Daniel describes the shocking details about Antiochus Epiphanes. These details are pretty difficult to understand as we read verses 9 through 12 but let's look at them one at a time.
Daniel 8:9. Antiochus Epiphanes grew in power through military conquest. Although he had a small beginning, he became a powerful force through aggression and the domination of conquered nations. He invaded many nations including Egypt, Parthea, Persia, Armenia, and Palestine. These were the nations that Daniel refers to as the beautiful or glorious or pleasant land. Daniel calls the land of Israel beautiful because it was his homeland as well as the land God promised to Abraham and his descendants. Antiochus Epiphanes despised the land of Israel and the Jews.
Daniel 8:10. Antiochus Epiphanes persecuted the Jews, in particular those who were true believers and followers of the Lord. Daniel describes the believers as the host of heaven. The phrase starry hosts probably refers to the leaders among the believers. Even though Antiochus persecuted all the Jews, his focus was especially upon the people who trusted and followed the Lord. We are told that Antiochus actually trampled on the Jews, indicating that the persecution was ruthless, bloody, and devastating. Over the years he slaughtered thousands of Jews. Most of the Jewish men were slaughtered by Assyrian troops, and the women and children were taken as slaves.
Daniel 8:11. Antiochus Epiphanes exalted himself to be equal with God. He chose the name Epiphanies because it means illustrious manifestation. In doing so, he was claiming to be an illustrious manifestation of the gods that he worshiped. He even had his image and the word theos, meaning God, impressed on the coins that were minted during the years of his rule. He essentially claimed to be as great as the prince of the host, which is a reference to the Lord Himself.
His aim was to abolish the Jewish religion. He did that by suppressing their worship of the Lord. He also plundered the Temple of its sacred furniture, articles, and treasure. And he also forbade them to practice their religious rituals and ceremonies. He did not allow them to be circumcised. He required them to worship the false Greek gods. He demanded that they give their first allegiance to him. He desecrated the sanctuary of the temple by building an altar of Zeus and sacrificing a pig on it, an act that was to become known as the abomination of desolation. This is mentioned in the following chapters of Daniel as well as in the books of Matthew and in Mark.
Daniel 8:12. Antiochus Epiphanes oppressed the Jewish people as allowed by God because of the Jewish peoples’ horrible rebellion and sins. The Lord was actually using Antiochus to discipline His sinful people. Many of them had turned away from Him and were worshiping the false gods of Greece. If you read the historical accounts of first and second Maccabees in the Roman Catholic Bible you will see this fact is history. Because the people had given themselves over to the so-called Greek gods, the Lord gave them over to the Greek tyrant. Antiochus Epiphanes’ intention was to turn Israel into a Greek society and culture.
Antiochus Epiphany suppressed the truth. He tried to get rid of God's law, His Holy Word. Scripture says that he literally threw truth to the ground, attempting to stamp the truth of the Jewish scriptures into the ground. He actually had the law of Moses, the books of the Old testament that were in existent at that time, torn to pieces and burned up. No doubt, he knew that the Holy Scriptures were the foundation of the people's beliefs. So, if he had any hope of converting the Jews to Greek culture, he knew that he must completely eliminate the Scriptures, God's holy word.
Daniel 8:13-14. Daniel suddenly saw in the vision 2 heavenly beings. One of the beings or angels asked the other how long the oppression of the little horn would last. How long could the people expect the desecration of the temple in their persecution to continue? As long as the desecration and persecution continued, there would be no daily sacrifice within the temple. The false worship within the temple which was the abomination that causes desolation, would continue to defile the holy worship center dedicated to the Lord.
When the angel asked this question to the other it was asked for Daniel's benefit, so he could record it for the benefit and encouragement of the future generations of believers. But for the Jews in particular who would be suffering persecution under Antiochus, or for that matter, under any tyrant, this prophecy would clearly show that the Lord put restrictions upon all tyrants and their persecution of his people.
In response, the other Angel immediately answered that the duration of the persecution would be 2300 evenings and mornings. This either means 2300 24-hour days or about 6 1/3 years or 150 evenings and 150 mornings which is 3 years and 55 days. Commentators hold both positions and Scripture is unclear as to which interpretation is correct. But both positions fit in perfectly with the prophecy, and neither violates the word of God.
This is where we will stop for this evening. As you see, this can really get deep and almost be confusing but it is actual history that has already occurred.
The thought for us today is that true believers will be persecuted. And isn't it true that when any person seeks to obey God's commandments or to live righteously and godly, we will be opposed by the wicked of this earth? The righteous life of the believer exposes the wicked behavior of the unbeliever. So, the wicked will stand against the person who truly seeks to follow the Lord. That is kind of the overall theme of verses 1-14 in chapter 8.
