DANIEL 8 - THE VISION OF THE RAM AND THE GOAT
This vision took place two years after the vision of the four beasts. It enlarges on the understanding of the future already given, but with a different emphasis. In the first place the language in which it is written changes from Aramaic to Hebrew. This is significant since the theme of the vision focuses particularly on God’s covenant people while the previous vision had more to do with the world empires.
The other emphasis is on the end of the age, drawing upon the characters who lived two thousand or more years before as forerunners of those who would figure in the end days. There are many instances in Scripture of this "prophetic leap". At the beginning of his ministry in the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus read from Isaiah’s prophecy (61:1,2), "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor ..." But he stopped reading at the words "to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour", saying, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." But the prophecy does not end there : Isaiah continues where Jesus stopped, "and the day of vengeance of our God." Why was this? Isaiah had brought together the first and second comings of the Messiah in one verse but we know through history that almost 2,000 years have passed since his first coming. This same principle applies to Daniel’s prophecy. He tells us first of:
THE RAM
This animal had two high horns, the second of which was slower in growing but was higher than the first. Daniel was not left in any doubt as what the ram meant in historical terms: he was told that the horns represented "the kings of Media and Persia" (21). Natural history programmes on television have made us familiar with wild animals, especially the male species, vigorously defending their territory. This ram, however, did not stop at that - he butted his way west and north and south. The Persians had come from the east, and as the prophet indicated, conquered huge areas, right into Europe and Africa. It seemed that nothing could stop its growth, but like all worldly empires, its rise gave way to its fall, symbolized in the vision by:
THE GOAT
This animal came from the west with a great rush, its feet not touching the ground. This was a remarkable foretelling of coming events. The goat is often used as a symbol of Macedonia, a founding state of the Grecian empire. The goat had a prominent horn between its eyes, which was identified by the interpreter of Daniel’s vision as the first king of Greece (21). Alexander the Great, as he became known, won victory after victory over the Persians, attacking at breathtaking speed in a brilliant series of battles from 334 BC on. The empire of the ram seemed completely helpless. The vision recounts how its horns were broken off, and the body of the ram was trampled on the ground. It recalls the words of Scripture, "Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword" (Mat 26:52).
Alexander went on as far as India in the conquest of the world of his day. The vision tells us that "the goat became very great, but that at the height of his power his large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up" (8). History records that Alexander, worn out by his efforts, contracted a fever which he did not have the strength to shake off, and died at the early age of 32. There is a parable here of the frailty of the human being. It is possible to over-extend ourselves, even in the best of causes. We can put everything we have got into our job, our service, then something snaps - like that great horn in the vision - and it is all over. It points to the uncertainty of this earthly life and pilgrimage. We cannot take a day for granted.
Alexander’s empire was divided up between four of his generals. The spotlight of the vision now turns on one of these kingdoms, as we hear of:
THE RISE OF THE LITTLE HORN
It is described as little because from the beginning of its career there was nothing great or noble about it, although it became very powerful indeed (9). The policies of this personality were described by Daniel’s interpreter as deceit and cunning. He is spoken of as a far more dangerous enemy of God’s purposes than ever was Alexander because his target was the people of God. The Jews, not for the first or the last time, were to be involved in a life-and-death struggle for survival as a people who worshipped God as had been revealed to them.
The little horn was undoubtedly one of the kings of the Grecian empire, Antiochus Epiphanes. In about the year 170 BC his kingdom, which was based in the region of Turkey and Armenia, expanded towards the south and east, as Daniel put it, "towards the Beautiful Land" (9). Once established there, he devoted himself to the destruction of everything the Jewish religion stood for. It was an all-out onslaught against God himself. He was setting himself against "the Prince of princes" (11, 25), none other than the God of Israel. He did so by going to the heart of the Jewish religion by abolishing the daily sacrifice, the religious festivals and Sabbath observance. The climax came when Antiochus placed an armed guard in the temple area, desecrating the sanctuary itself. He tried to introduce the worship of the Greek god Zeus. Anyone who stood in his way was ruthlessly persecuted and many were the martyrs who would not forsake the God of Israel.
There seemed to be no end to this wickedness. Daniel said "It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground". Nothing could happen without the permission of the Almighty and it was by his permissive will that Antiochus had been allowed to continue in his blasphemous course. Why did God allow this to happen? Daniel tells us that it was "because of rebellion" (12). It was because of national iniquity that the Jewish nation was suffering under such an oppressor. The lessons of the exile of the nation to Babylon due to the withdrawal of God’s blessing and protection had not been learnt. A well-deserved retribution had come upon them for their guilt.
Daniel tells us that he overheard two angels in conversation. One asked,"How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled?" (13). He was relieved to hear that the time was limited. It was only for a restricted period that God would permit the sacrifices to be halted. The victory of wrong over right has been the source of perplexity to many of God’s saints through the ages, until they realize that there is a divine hand - although unseen - holding everything in restraint. Nothing can happen but by God’s will and to achieve some purpose which in his divine wisdom he had planned. The "why’s and wherefore’s" are beyond our understanding, and sometimes we can only trust where we cannot see.
"How long will (the sanctuary) be trampled under foot?" was the cry. The answer came direct to Daniel,"It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings, then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated" (13). If the period refers to days, then it is between 6 and 7 years, the actual period of the intense persecution of the Jews by Antiochus. One thing is made perfectly clear - that evil will not always prevail. Wickedness may have its day, but the God of truth and righteousness will be the final conqueror.
Sinful men may seem to triumph, truth be trampled under foot, but God has set a time limit to their activities. When the time limit set by a patient and long-suffering God is elapsed, the end of their era comes abruptly. Hitler persecuted the Jews and what happened to him? Soviet Russia persecuted both Jews and Christians, no doubt allowed in the purposes of God, but in the fullness of time the seeds of its own destruction caused it to collapse. If we believe in God, we must also believe that there is some meaning in human history, even though we may not see it at the time. The things that happen are bound to be ordered and controlled because God’s purposes will be fulfilled - history can be said to be "His-story". At times we may be perplexed but we must follow Daniel’s example as the strange vision passed before his eyes and look for understanding from the Lord of history. He did this and learned of:
THE TIME OF THE END
The angel Gabriel came to his assistance (17). Daniel was plainly terrified at this angelic visitation and promptly swooned but was gently raised to his feet by Gabriel who had come as his teacher. "Understand", he said, "that the vision concerns the time of the end." Gabriel was explaining that the vision belonged to the end of the age. The vision concerned Antiochus but far more than this petty tyrant. Antiochus was but a partial fulfillment of what still lies in the future. The same demonic powers that entered into Antiochus would ally themselves with a great many earthly rulers, some religious and others not, who would persecute the people of God down the centuries.
The great value of Daniel’s vision to us today is that we are being warned that the same kind of thing can happen in our own time. It happened in the time of the early church. There was fierce persecution; Christians were scattered. We can hardly blame the people who lived through those days for believing that history could not last much longer and that Christ must return soon. The apostle Paul had to rebuke the Christians in Thessalonica for leaving their jobs in the expectation that the Lord’s return was imminent. We must be on our guard, ready to discern the signs of the times.
In the previous chapter of the vision of the beast-kingdoms, out of the ten horns of the fourth beast sprang a little horn which caused havoc among the other horns. But his greatest wickedness was "to speak against the Most High and oppress his saints" (7:25). The little horn of chapter 8 seems to be the identical person. This sinister personality will arise out of the turmoil of the nations. In a last desperate attempt to spoil all that God has done, he will be the ring-leader in the final rebellion against God’s will.
Antiochus in his evil work of desecrating the temple sanctuary and causing even sacrifice to cease was a sign and symbol of what is to come at the end. The same spirit that possessed Antiochus is the same spirit that will inspire the final Antichrist in the last days. He will attempt to dethrone God himself. This is the Antichrist. The faithful remnant of Israel in the second century before Christ were being attacked by a typical Antichrist even before Christ came in the flesh. History would repeat itself many times before the complete fulfillment of this prophecy and the final Antichrist comes.
All the forces of evil will come together with this person, the Antichrist, in a final struggle against the truth and power of God and those who are true to the Lord. Daniel prophesied that this embodiment of evil "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" (24,25). This, of course, ties in with the apocalyptic teaching of Jesus. Such will be the terror of those days that "men will faint from fear, apprehensive of what is coming on the world" (Luke 21:26).
Jesus warned his disciples that "the time of the end" (17), the subject of this vision, would be characterized by false prophets, "Many will come in my name, claiming, ’I am the Christ’, and will deceive many" (Matt 24:5). They would hear "of wars and rumors of wars" (6); there would be tremendous persecution with the result that "many will turn away from the faith" (10). It seems to be a story of unrelieved gloom - but wait, Daniel’s vision is not quite finished.
The little horn of the goat, the Antichrist, would make a fatal error. "He will stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power" (25). The audacity of the Antichrist carried him beyond the limit of God’s long-suffering. His forerunner, Antiochus, died suddenly of some mental disorder, and the Jews of his time attributed it to the hand of God. The ultimate evil one, the Antichrist, will be similarly doomed. No one can lift himself up against God and get away with it. The mills of God may grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small. In his own appointed time the Almighty will intervene.
In an earlier chapter Nebuchadnezzar’s mighty image was suddenly crushed by a stone cut without hands (2:27). We know it is Jesus who will accomplish this judgement. Exactly how and when, we leave in God’s hands. The vision was ended and Daniel was instructed "to seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future" (26). It is true, the vision was partially fulfilled in the days of Antiochus, but a full understanding of its significance is reserved until the end of the age. It is presumptuous on our part to be more specific. But one thing we can be sure of is that in the words of Paul, "the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overcome with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendour of his coming" (1 Thess 2:9).
The vision was over but it left Daniel completely exhausted. The tension of the out of the world experience was too much for his body, mind and spirit as he entered into the suffering that was to overtake the people of God down the centuries. As a true servant of the Lord, he identified himself with his future fellow-believers. He could no longer remain content with the superficial well-being of a senior statesmen in the Babylonian kingdom. He had to take on some of the burden of sympathy for the future victims of what history would bring.
It took Daniel some days to recover from his experience, but he could never be the same again. He tells us, "Then I got up and went about the king’s business" (27). What an example to us: he is always ready for action and always for a purpose. The great spiritual experience he had received did not prevent him from faithfully carrying out his mundane duties. We know that our Lord will come, but until that day comes, it is our duty to "tarry", to fulfill our obligations, temporal and spiritual, effectively and efficiently. Like Daniel, we too, must be about "the king’s business" (27) and our king is the King of Kings.
