Daniel 8 - Daniel's Vision of the Ram & Goat

by Katrina

LINK: Daniel 8

BACKGROUND
Here Daniel returns to writing in Hebrew (remember he switched to Aramaic in chapter two), which indicates that this and the following chapters will pertain primarily to Israel rather than to the Gentiles. He dates this vision as the third year of Belshazzar's reign over Babylon - probably 551 B.C. - and makes it clear that it came after the vision in chapter seven.

The ram in this vision represents Medo-Persia. The two horns represent Media and Persia. The first horn was Media, a powerful kingdom, and the second horn was Persia, which became powerful later and then dominated Media. This ram butted toward the west, north, and south. Likewise, Medo-Persia conquered nations primarily in those directions - Babylon, Syria, and Asia Minor to the west; Armenia and the area around the Caspian Sea to the north; and Egypt and Ethiopia to the south. The Medo-Persian army overwhelmed one kingdom after another until it became the largest empire up to that point in history.

The male goat coming from the west represented Greece, which was west of Medo-Persia. It ran so swiftly across the earth that its feet didn't touch the ground. This is Alexander the Great who conquered the ancient world with tremendous speed.

The goat had a great horn between its eyes, which represented the first great king of Greece, also Alexander the Great. The fact that it was between the eyes may represent his unusual intelligence. Alexander attacked the Medo-Persian Empire with great fury and trampled it.

After it became powerful, the goat's horn was broken, and four other horns rose up. Alexander the Great died at the young age of 32 in 323 B.C. Four of his generals divided the kingdom among themselves. (1) Ptolemy - Egypt, Cyreme, Cyprus, Palestine, and several cities along the coast of Asia Minor. (2) Seleucus - Syria, Babylonia, southern Asia Minor, and the Iranian Plateau. (3) Lysimachus - Thrace and western Asia Minor. (4) Cassander - Macedonia and Greece proper.

A fifth horn then emerged out of one of the four horns. It was little at first, then grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land. The "Beautiful Land" refers to Israel. This horn represents a significant king who would come to power in one of the four divisions of the Grecian Empire. He would rise to power through intrigue. This king would be Antiochus IV (Epiphanes). Antiochus was not a rightful heir to the throne. He used bribery and flattery to become king. Once he was king, he was very heavy-handed and tried to force new religious practices on the Jews and forbid the keeping of the Law. He threw down and trampled some of the stars. This represents persecution and killing of Jews. We know from history that Antiochus Epiphanes was very cruel to the Jews and desecrated the temple. In the vision, Daniel learned that this would last 2300 days. That is less than 6.5 years. Antiochus persecuted the Jews and desecrated the Temple from 171 to 165 B.C.

According to Gabriel, the little horn would stand against the Prince of princes. Antiochus did stand against God when he plundered and defiled the Temple and had the Temple rededicated to the worship of Zeus. He also replaced the Jewish sacrifices with the sacrifice of pigs. He even had coins minted with the inscription "Antiochus Theos Epiphanes" which means "Antiochus God Made Manifest." He certainly considered himself superior (vs. 25).

Gabriel indicated that this man would be destroyed, but not by human power. So no human would put him to death. There are a few different accounts of his death - he died of great grief when his military began to be defeated, or he died of epilepsy, madness, or disease. Although we don't have a definite account of his death, none of these involved human agency. God judged him Himself.

Gabriel instructed Daniel to seal up the vision (NASB says to keep it secret). This wasn't a command to hide it but to shut it up, or preserve, it. He was to record the vision in written form so it could be preserved for future generations. This was because it dealt with future events. Antiochus's abuse of Israel didn't begin until 380 years after Daniel received this vision.

Daniel was distressed by how long God was planning to continue to chasten Israel and the severity of the events in Israel and the Temple. He was so wiped out emotionally that he fainted and was ill for several days. And although Gabriel had interpreted the vision for him, he still didn't fully understand its implications and continued to ponder the vision.

PRAYER
Lord, you hold the hearts of kings in your hand and make them do whatever you will. You are sovereign over the nations. You know all that you have planned throughout history and will bring it all about. You certainly are the Most High God, all-powerful and ruler over all. We praise you!