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You may remember that Daniel 2 through 7 was written in Aramaic, the lingua franca of the Fertile Crescent in the time of Daniel. Those chapters focused on Gentile kings and the prophecies were about the times of the Gentiles. Now, Daniel 8 through 12 is written in Hebrew because from here on out, Israel will be the focus. We will see God working through Gentile kings to bring His nation Israel ultimately to Himself, but they will go through severe persecution along the way. This morning we will get a foretaste of that persecution.
DANIEL’S VISION
Daniel 8:1-2, in the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king a vision appeared to me, Daniel, subsequent to the one which appeared to me previously. 2 I looked in the vision, and while I was looking I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam; and I looked in the vision and I myself was beside the Ulai Canal.
Daniel is still in Babylon. This vision comes around 551 BC, about two years later than chapter 7. In just a few more years Cyrus will conquer Babylon in 539 BC. In this vision Daniel sees himself in Susa, about 250 miles to the east of Babylon. Susa will become a royal city under the Persians. French Archeologists found the Hammurabi Code in Susa in 1901. This is where Esther served as queen and Nehemiah served as the king’s cupbearer.
Now God gives Daniel another vision. He isn’t sleeping. This isn’t a dream. He is awake and seeing this vision. It’s like he’s seeing an inspired movie. In the vision he sees himself by this canal in the city. What did he see?
A RAM AND A GOAT
Daniel 8:3-4, Then I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a ram which had two horns was standing in front of the canal. Now the two horns were long, but one was longer than the other, with the longer one coming up last. 4) I saw the ram butting westward, northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand before him nor was there anyone to rescue from his power, but he did as he pleased and magnified himself.
In chapter 7 this beast was a bear raised up on one side. Here this ram has two horns, but one is bigger than the other. This ram is the Medo-Persian Empire which began with Cyrus who went out and conquered the Middle East. He conquered all the way to Asia Minor, Egypt, and Babylon. “How do you know this is Medo-Persia?” you ask. Look at verse 20 – “the king of Media and Persia!” This empire became large and lasted about 200 years until the 330s.
Daniel 8:5-7, While I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. 6 He came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath. 7 I saw him come beside the ram, and he was enraged at him; and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns, and the ram had no strength to withstand him. So he hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to rescue the ram from his power.
In chapter 7 this beast was a leopard with four wings of a bird. Now it’s a goat coming from the west so fast it was like its feet didn’t even touch the ground. That conspicuous horn is none other than Alexander the Great of Macedonia. How do we know? Look at vs. 21 – the kingdom of Greece and its first king! In the spring of 334 BC, 22 year-old Alexander took his army of 35,000 into Asia Minor and marched his phalanx and horsemen eastward, demolishing everything in its path.
Alexander was enraged at the Persians because 200 years earlier they had marched into Greece and burned Athens. So filled with anger and out for revenge, he struck, shattered, hurled, and trampled them. The Persian king at that time was a Darius III, who had no idea how powerful this youngster Alexander was. He made the fatal error of underestimating the power of his enemy. At the great battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC, Alexander’s 50,000 Greeks utterly destroyed Darius’ 500,000 to a million Persians. Alexander sent Darius hightailing it eastward and eventually Darius was killed by one of his own soldiers, Bessos.
A NASTY LITTLE HORN – ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES
Daniel 8:8, Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly. But as soon as he was mighty, the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.
Alexander marched his troops all the way to India, then turned back and made Babylon his capital. There he died from excessive drinking and sickness in 323 BC, was embalmed and taken on a 1000-mile journey back to Egypt, and eventually buried in Alexandria. His empire was divided among at least four generals: Ptolemy took Egypt, Seleucus took Syria, Lysimachus took Asia Minor, and Cassandra took Greece. It’s the Seleucid kingdom that concerns Israel. So the large horn of verse 8 was broken, but in its place came up “four conspicuous horns.”
Daniel 8:9, Out of one of them came forth a rather small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land.
Here we see the nasty little horn, Antiochus Epiphanes. He eventually took over the Seleucid kingdom and began to wreak havoc on the Jews. This crazy man who foreshadows the Antichrist became one of the great enemies of the Jews. The Jews secretly called him Antiochus Epimanes, the Madman. He loved Greek culture and wanted to make everyone else love Greek ways. He aimed his pursuit on the Beautiful Land (Israel) and was determined to Hellenize those Jews whether they liked it or not.
Daniel 8:10-12, It grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down. 11 It even magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host; and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down. 12 And on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper.
Around 170 BC Antiochus Epiphanes began suppressing Jewish worship as God had told them to do. He installed his own apostate priest in Jerusalem. Some of the Jews were open to becoming like Greeks; some weren’t. You’ve got the progressive types open to the Greek ways and the conservative pious Jews, the Hasidim. The Hellenized Jews (open to becoming like Greeks) built a gymnasium where the young men competed in their birthday suits, like the Greeks. The young guys began wearing broad brimmed Greek hats. Some even had their circumcision reversed.
Antiochus Epiphanes ended the daily sacrifices that God required and forbade circumcision on pain of death. Temple sacrifices were stopped, an altar to the Greek god Zeus was set up in the temple, and pigs were offered on this altar. God considered pigs to be unclean. God told his people the Jews never to eat them. So bringing pigs into God’s Temple was called the abomination of desolation. Altars to Zeus were set up in villages and towns all over Judea and citizens were forced to offer sacrifices on them. God’s Scriptures were burned and if you were caught with Scriptures you were executed on the spot. If you were known to love the Law of Moses you’d be executed. God’s food laws were abolished and Jews were forced to eat pig meat. Verse 10 says he caused stars to fall to the ground, speaking of the large number of Jews Antiochus Epiphanes would put to death for their resistance to his authority and draconian laws.
Notice verse 12, he will “fling truth to the ground.” That got my attention. He had absolutely no regard for God. In fact he blatantly opposed God. He thought of himself as a god representing Zeus. Flinging truth to the ground sounds so current to our days. Are we not casting truth to the ground, not only in the culture but in some cases even in churches? There’s a church in Illinois who has a Drag Queen qualified to candidate as a minister. He calls himself Penny Cost. Today those in places of authority and power are trying their best to get us all to accept the culture of moral relevance, hating what God loves and loving what God hates. The progressives who drive the culture see the Bible and Christians as standing in the way of their brave new world. Yes, we are seeing truth flung to the ground.
Some Jews resisted Antiochus’ Hellenizing program to become like Greeks, even to the point of death. This was the time of some of those heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11. One Eleazar, a 90 year-old scribe, was being forced to eat pork. He refused, they tortured him, and he died. Two mothers were brought in for having circumcised their sons. They were publicly shamed and then thrown headlong off a wall. Another mother and seven sons were compelled to eat pig meat. They refused and one by one the sons were tortured, dismembered, and murdered. She was urged to persuade her youngest to save himself. She whispered to her remaining son in Hebrew, “Do not fear this butcher, but prove yourself worthy of your brothers. Accept death, so that in God’s mercy I may get you back again with your brothers.” The mother also accepted death. This is recounted in the book of 2 Maccabees chapter 7, and happened shortly before the Maccabean revolt.
Daniel 8:13-14, Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, “How long will the vision about the regular sacrifice apply, while the transgression causes horror, so as to allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled?” 14 He said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be properly restored.”
Antiochus Epiphanes began his reign of terror against the pious Jews around 170 BC and it ended in 164 BC. The end of this reign of terror began around 167 BC when the Maccabean Revolt broke out. An older priest named Mattathias and his sons lived in Modein, north of Jerusalem. When a weak-willed Jew was preparing to offer a sacrifice on a pagan altar, Mattathias ran forward and killed the Jew and the officer standing by. He pulled down the altar and cried, “Whoever is zealous for the law and supports the covenant follow me!” They began guerilla warfare from the Judean hill country. After Mattathias died, his son Judas known as Maccabaeus which means the “hammer,” became the commander-in-chief. Judas, his brothers, and others zealous for the law of God conducted one of the most glorious campaigns in history against an enemy far greater in number and strength. The 2300 days of verse 14 ended in 164 BC when they cleansed the temple and resumed sacrifices as God required. This became known as Hanukkah, or the Feast of Lights, which Jews celebrate to this day. Tradition says they only had enough oil for the lampstand to burn for one day, but to their amazement the flame continued for eight days.
THE TIME OF THE END
Daniel 8:15-16, When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one who looked like a man. 16 And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, and he called out and said, “Gabriel, give this man an understanding of the vision.”
Once again Daniel is perplexed, like we are, and needs God to help him understand. Calvin thinks the man who called out to Gabriel is Jesus Christ. This is the first time in the Bible that an angel is named. He must be important. Gabriel is the one who appeared to Zachariah and Mary in Luke 1 revealing the coming Messiah.
Daniel 8:17-19, So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was frightened and fell on my face; but he said to me, “Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end.” 18 Now while he was talking with me, I sank into a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me and made me stand upright. 19 He said, “Behold, I am going to let you know what will occur at the final period of the indignation, for it pertains to the appointed time of the end.
When this man approached Daniel, he fell fast asleep! You’re not the first person to fall asleep in a sermon. “Wake up, Daniel, there’s more to learn.”
The “time of the end” in verse 17 and the “appointed time of the end” in verse 18 must be referring to the end of the times of the Gentiles, and so we are clued that this Antiochus Epiphanes foreshadows the coming Antichrist. Dr. Whitcomb says verses 17-26 reach past the dark times of Antiochus Epiphanes to the even worse times for Israel “at the hand of a brilliant, clever, and far more powerful king.”
We have already referred to Daniel 8:20-22, which identifies the ram and the goat.
FORESHADOW OF ANTICHRIST
Daniel 8:23-25, “In the latter period of their rule, When the transgressors have run their course, A king will arise, Insolent and skilled in intrigue. 24 “His power will be mighty, but not by his own power, And he will destroy to an extraordinary degree And prosper and perform his will; He will destroy mighty men and the holy people. 25 “And through his shrewdness He will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; And he will magnify himself in his heart, And he will destroy many while they are at ease. He will even oppose the Prince of princes, But he will be broken without human agency.
Just as Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14 see Satan through the kings of Babylon and Tyre, here you have a continuing description of this maniac Antiochus Epiphanes and you can see the Antichrist through him. John Walvoord notes, “The passage intentionally goes beyond Antiochus to provide prophetic foreshadowing of the final Gentile ruler.” Let’s get a closer look at him.
–He will use lies to accomplish his objectives – insolent and skilled in intrigue.
–He will have great power, but not from himself – Revelation 13:2 says Satan gives the Antichrist his power.
–He will destroy and murder to a huge degree. This will be a reign of terror over the entire globe, like something we cannot imagine. If you don’t submit, you are executed.
–He will seem to be successful, prospering and performing his will.
–He will go after God’s people, both Jews and Gentiles.
–He will be shrewd and use lies and propaganda to accomplish his purposes, much like Goebbels, the minister of propaganda for Hitler, used media, entertainment and edited film to exalt the Nazi party.
–He will be one huge braggart, even opposing Jesus Christ, the Prince of princes. Revelation 17:14 says he and the ten kings will make war on the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer him. God always has the last word.
–He will be destroyed by Jesus Christ, “broken without human agency,” and hurled into the lake of fire. Jesus Christ will bring a glorious deliverance to the oppressed Jews and believing Gentiles.
A TRUE VISION
Daniel 8:26-27, “The vision of the evenings and mornings Which has been told is true; But keep the vision secret, For it pertains to many days in the future.” 27 Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for days. Then I got up again and carried on the king’s business; but I was astounded at the vision, and there was none to explain it.
“Which has been told is true.” In a world of lies and deception and false teaching – God’s revelation is true! Poor Daniel is totally wiped out from learning all this that he knew would be coming to his people. He was exhausted, sick, astounded, and perplexed for days.
But he had to continue going to work. He crawled in sick; he didn’t call in sick. He “got up again and carried on the king’s business.”
SO WHAT?
You might think of what value is all this for my Christian life? Let me give you several applications.
#1 This man represents the hatred this world has toward God, His truth, and His people.
#2 The godly Jews under Antiochus Epiphanes give us an example of incredible courage in the face of persecution. There’s a time God’s people must refuse to bow to the enemies of Christ.
#3 Prophecy always reminds us that our God is in control. He has written the script of human history. He knows the end from the beginning.
#4 God uses evil people to discipline His own people. He always has and He continues doing it today. Perhaps the draconian laws the state seems to want to impose on the church today may be a way God uses to purify His people.
#5 We learn how godless rulers try to force their ideologies on God’s people. We must resist when they oppose God’s truth. Will you be like one of those Greek-loving Jews or a pious Jew who resisted the king?
#6 Flinging truth to the ground is a sermon in itself. Think of the truths being flung to the ground today: the truth of the Bible itself, the truth of creation, the truth of the image of God in man, the truth of two genders, male and female, the truth of marriage between a man and woman, the truth of man’s sinfulness, the truth of the gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. The church is the foundation and support of the truth. Here’s a truth that has been thrown whole heartedly to the ground: that those who refuse to bow their hearts to Jesus Christ in personal repentance and faith are headed for eternal punishment in the lake of fire away from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power. There is a hell to flee. And there is a heaven to gain through Christ alone.
#7 Let us hate what God hates and love what God loves, regardless of the cost.
In 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14, after describing the Antichrist, Paul writes for believers:
13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 14 It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.