Understanding Daniel 8. Pt. 1
We saw in Daniel 7:26-27 the eventual destruction of the little horn and the glorious future that God has for all those who were obedient to Him on earth. This will only take place when Jesus returns to this earth to give His reward to each one as we read in Revelation 22:12. My desire is that everyone who reads these words will take time to make everything right with Jesus; accept His gift of pardon and restoration so you will not lose out on the wonderful new earth He has in store for us.
This article will be on the prophecy of Daniel 8. It is very exciting and packed with information that causes even Daniel to be sickened by the vision that he did not quite understand until in chapter 9 when an explanation was given to this beloved prophet.
Beginning chapter 8 we find Daniel was at Shushan, Belshazzar’s palace in Elam (modern day southern Iran); he was by the river of Ulai. While there he had a vision and saw a ram with two horns, one of the horns was taller than the other but the taller came up last. This beast was powerful, and none could withstand it as it pushed westward, northwards, and southwards. It did according to its will and became great. The expression ‘did according to its will’ indicates that that power was a ‘world superpower.’
As Daniel was considering this ram, he next saw a goat come from the west and covered the whole earth and as it did so, it did not touch the ground. The goat had a notable horn between its eyes. This goat utterly defeated the ram and became the next superpower. In the processes of time when the goat was strong and there no other power was that could resist him the notable horn broke, and in its place came up four notable horns towards the four quarters of the earth (north, south, east and west). The next thing Daniel saw was another little horn arising from one of the territories where one of the four horns (the remaining four generals after Alexander died) ruled.
This little horn that arose out of the territory of one of the four horns became a mighty power and persecuted God’s people and polluted God’s sanctuary. This made Daniel sick since it appeared that the return of the Jews to Israel would not take place until an added two thousand and three hundred days, that is prophetically speaking, years. During this distress and confusion there appeared an angel to Daniel in order to explain the symbols of the beasts he saw at the beginning of the chapter. Let us look at these.
In Daniel 8:20 the angel explains that the ram with two horns represented the kings of Media and Persia; the he goat represented the king of Grecia, and the great horn was its first king; when that horn was broken four horns arose in its place, representing the division of the empire. Since the previous great horn did not have a successor to take over the kingdom, the generals fought among themselves and were reduced to just four generals who eventually carved up the empire among themselves. So let us ascertain where we are up to this point in Daniel’s dream.
From Daniel 8:1 we learn that Daniel had this dream when he was working with the Neo-Babylonian empire ruled by Nebuchadnezzar. It was this Nebuchadnezzar who conquered Daniel’s people, the Jews, and took many captives to Babylon, including Daniel himself in 606 BC.[i] The Babylonian king at the time of Daniel’s vision was King Belshazzar the supposed grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. Not long after that vision the city was captured by the Medes and the Persians and the Neo-Babylonian empire fell to Cyrus the Great in 539 BC; and in 331 BC Grecian empire under Alexander the Great defeated the Persians, thus Babylon, one of the greatest empires in history came to its end.[ii] See also the Editors of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Belshazzar.[iii]
Please notice that this is not the first time Daniel sees a vision with Babylon being conquered by the Medes and the Persians, then in turn the Medes and Persians themselves being conquered by the Greeks. Please notice in Daniel chapters 2 and 7 this pageant of world history was the same but under different symbols. [see previous articles, 59 and onwards: https://hangonthebestisyettocome.com/links-to-articles-page-6/#Pastors%20Corner ]. Also note that in chapters 2 and 7 the empires presented there were from the Neo-Babylonian empire to that of imperial Rome and then onwards to a little horn that became strong at the demise of imperial Rome. However the vision in chapter 8 begins with the Persian empire, since obviously, the Babylonian empire had fallen to the Medes and Persians. Each of these historical visions revealed more events than the previous one; and each vision showed how the respective empires impacted God’s people as they sought to spread the good news to the world in which they lived.
These events are known historical events which anyone can read in any encyclopaedia or history book that deals with ancient history.[iv] Note that before modern history had found these past events through archaeology, the Bible had already informed us of their reality. This article maintains that the biblical book of Daniel was written in the 6th century BC. [See Dating Daniel’s book: https://hangonthebestisyettocome.com/links-to-articles-page-6/#Pastors%20Corner]. Many of the names and details of ancient history were actually first mentioned in the Bible, and this was subjected to great scoffing and ridicule until the archaeologist’s spade proved it accurate. In the book, The World of Moses, the author writes, “man has never proved wrong any truth clearly stated in the Bible, but men holding ideas contrary to the Word of God have often had to change their views.”[v]
Let us carefully notice, however, in explaining the sequence of events of the Grecian empire the angel told Daniel that the great horn of the goat would be broken, and in its place, there would arise four other horns. When Alexander died, we know that not long after, the generals fought among themselves until they were reduced to four generals who divided the Grecian empire into four parts, exactly as the prophecy declared.
The four generals were Cassander, who had Greece and the neighbouring countries; next was Lysimachus, who had Asia Minor; then there was Seleucus, who had Syria and Babylon (from which came the famous “Seleucidae” kings; finally there was Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, who had Egypt, and from which came the “Lagidae” or the Ptolemaic dynasty. These four held dominion or kingship over the “four winds of heaven,” (Daniel 8:8).[vi]
Please also notice that in verses 9 of Daniel 8 there arose from one of the countries of the four generals another power or empire, for the following verse says “And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land. Daniel 8:9”. Remembering that ‘horn’ refers to ‘king’ or ‘kingdom’ these verses tell us that another kingdom will supplant the Grecian empire; verses 10 to 12 tell us: “And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground and trampled them. 11 He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. 12 Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered, Daniel 8:10-12. Historically, the power or empire that supplanted Greece was the Roman Empire. And this is in harmony with the prophecies of Daniel 2 and Daniel 7.
During this vision Daniel heard two heavenly beings saying, “How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?” 14 And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed Daniel 8:13-14. As Daniel pondered the meaning of this vision and the conversation of the two heavenly beings the angel Gabriel came to help him understand the vision that was quite disturbing to him.
Our next article will continue from this point. So far, we see the accuracy of God’s word, the Bible. This should give us courage to study our Bible well so we can understand these prophecies of Daniel, for in so doing, they will enable us to see the directions that nations are going, and how God intervenes to save and deliver those who love and obey Him. It is my wish that you, reader, may be among those who delight to obey God.
[i] Smith, Uriah, Daniel and the Revelation, (Washington, DC, MD, Review and Herald Pub. Ass., 1944), 19; Herodotus, Book 1. Sec. 191, Vol. 1. Tr. into English by G. C. Macaulay. London and New York: Publishers: MacMillan and Co. Dan. 8:1;)
[ii] Daniel 8:5-8;
[iii] (Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, October 17, 2008). URL https://www.britannica.com/biography/Belshazzar. Smith, Uriah, Daniel and the Revelation, (Publisher: Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington, DC, MD 21740), 1944, 44-52.
[iv] (One can check Daniel and the Revelation by Uriah Smith; The Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World by George Rawlinson.)
[v] Paul F. Bork, The World of Moses, Nashville, Ten.: Southern Publishing Ass., 1978, p. 51)
[vi] Smith, 155.
Pastor Ron Henderson is a Seventh-day Adventist Pastor. You may reach him at ron.hende@gmail.com if you have any comments or questions.