Daniel – Chapter 8a
Chapter 8 Outline
I. The Miracle of the Vision (8:1-14)
a. The Period (8:1)
b. The Place (8:2)
c. The Participants (8:3-14)
1. A Ram (8:3-4)
2. A Goat (8:5-8)
3. A Horn (8:9-12)
4. A Saint (8:13-14)
II. The Messengers of the Vision (8:15-18)
a. Man (8:15-16)
b. Angel (8:17-18)
III. The Meaning of the Vision (8:20-25)
a. Medo-Persia (8:20)
b. Greece (8:21-25)
1. Alexander The Great (8:21)
2. The Four Generals (8:22)
3. Antiochus IV Epiphanes (8:23-25)
IV. The Man of the Vision (8:26-27)
a. The Commandment (8:26)
b. The Concern (8:27)
Message
Just as Daniel 7 gave us much more information about the fourth kingdom, the prophecy in chapter 8 gives us much more information about the second and third kingdoms. Therefore chapter 8 could be entitled “The Truth about the Torso!”
For Daniel, this was one of his most troubling visions, even after the angel Gabriel explained it to him. Notice Daniel’s reaction in verse 27, And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.
However, for us, standing on the other side of this prophecy, it’s one of the easiest for us to comprehend. What Daniel prophesied in chapter 8 was future for him, but much of it is history for us and we have ample historical evidence of the exact fulfilment of this vision. This chapter is one of the best places in the Bible to compare history and prophecy.
This message should demonstrate to you the absolute reliability and infallibility of the Word of God. When we see things predicted in the Bible that have already come true, it gives us great assurance that those things yet to happen will also come true.
At the beginning of this study we looked briefly at the fact that Daniel was written in two languages. In Chapters 1:1–2:4 and from chapters 8-12, Daniel wrote in Hebrew. These deal in particular with God’s program with Israel.
These chapters are concerned with the fall of Jerusalem, with the beginning of the Babylonian captivity, the changing fortunes of the Jews down through the centuries, with events concerning Jerusalem and the temple. They are particularly
Concerned with the coming Antichrist, the archenemy of the Jews, and how he will posses Jerusalem, pollute the temple, and persecute the Jews.
From Chapters 2:5 – 7:28 Daniel wrote in Aramaic, a Gentile language; these chapters relate specifically to Gentile world empires.
Therefore, beginning with chapter 8, we not only have a change of language but also a change of viewpoint and emphasis. From now on everything written by Daniel will be seen from the perspective of the Hebrew people.
It is so important to see the different applications of these two sections. God has nothing to say about the course of the church of this dispensation. He is giving us the truth both in regard to Judah and Israel and to the Gentiles.
People today have miss applied prophetic portions of Scripture to meet their own viewpoint. We can apply a simple principle when dealing with God’s Word, when in the prophetic books we read of Judah, or Zion, or Jerusalem, we are not to apply this to the church. Zion means Zion, Judah means Judah, Jerusalem means Jerusalem and Israel means Israel.
I. The Miracle of the Vision (8:1-14)
a. The Time (8:1)
Two years has passed since Daniel had the vision of the four beasts, he has had plenty of time to digest that information. King Belshazzar’s third year was 551 B.C. so this vision came to Daniel before that fateful night of drunkenness and blasphemy described in chapter 5.
b. The Place (8:2)
Shushan was a city about 200 miles southeast of Babylon and at this time it wasn’t too important to the Babylonians. Eventually it became the capital city of the Persian Empire.
Nehemiah 1:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachalaih. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year as I was in Shushan the palace,
Esther 1:2 That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,
Elam was in the mountainous region of Western Asia. One of its earliest kings is found in Genesis 14:1 And it came to pass in the days of …. Cherdorlaomer king of Elam. We do not know if Elam was part of the Babylonian Empire but we know for sure that it was part of the Persian Empire. It’s capital city was Shushan.
Two rivers flowed to the south and east of the city and were joined by a large, man-made canal called the Eulaeus (the Ulai of Daniel’s vision).
As we are not sure if Shushan was part of the Babylonian Empire, it is unlikely that Daniel left Babylon and travelled there. It’s more likely that God transported him to Shushan just as He transported Ezekiel to Jerusalem (Ezekiel 8; 40) and the Apostle John to the wilderness (Revelation 17:3) and to the high mountains (Revelation 21:10)
Since Daniel was about to describe the victory of the Medes and Persians over the Babylonians, God put him into the future capital city of the Persian Empire.
c. The Participants (8:3-14)
1. A Ram (8:3-4)
Verse 3
The Ram was the symbol of Persia, the king did not wear a crown but he wore a ram’s head of gold. The ram had two horns, symbolising the Medo-Persian alliance. The horns were high, showing the great power of this empire. Throughout the Old Testament a horn is a symbol of power.
The two rams horns, however, did not grow evenly as the one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. At the beginning of this alliance the Medes were the stronger of the two, but with the coming of Cyrus, the balance of power was permanently moved to the Persians.
Centuries before Cyrus appeared on the scene, the Prophet Isaiah called him by name Isaiah 44:24 – 45:3
Verse 4
Cyrus and his armies did indeed push westward, and northward, and southward; The Persians came from beyond the Euphrates and were an Eastern power. The river Euphrates is a natural dividing line between east and west, both is Scripture and secular geography.
The Persian conquests were as Daniel had seen in his dream. They conquered westward, taking Babylon, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Asia Minor. They conquered northward, subduing Colchis, Armenia, Iberia and regions around the Caspian Sea. They conquered southward, seizing Israel, Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia.
In the days of its power no country or combinations of countries could withstand the might of the Persian empire. We have already seen, whilst looking at the bear, how the Persians would overcome their enemies by sheer numbers.
2. A Goat (8:5-8)
Verse 5-7
Now Daniel sees Greece as an angry Goat. The goat was a symbol of Macedonia. According to tradition, Caremus, the first Macedonian king, was directed by an oracle to take a goat for a guide and build a city. This he did, following a herd of goats to Edessa, which he made his capital, changing its name to Egaea (the goat city).
This goat runs so swiftly that his feet don’t even touch the ground. The notable horn represents Alexander the great who led the armies of Greece from victory to victory and extended his empire even beyond what Cyrus had achieved with the Persian army.
Two things about the Grecian conquests that astound us to this day are the incredible speed with which Alexander the Great overthrew the Persian Empire he touched not the ground seeming to bound forward in a series of giant leaps. In a mere four years the Persian ram was no more. The other astonishing thing is the youthfulness of the all-conquering Alexander.
Verse 8
The horn was broken, Alexander died in Babylon June 323 B.C. at the age of 33. The story of his death has been told many times, toward the end of May 323 B.C. Alexander was back in Babylon, preparing to invade Arabia, but the country was spared because of his death.
On the evening of May 29, Alexander attended a function held in honour of his admiral, Nearchus. They drank heavily. Then following this he attended another party where, after heavy drinking, someone handed him a large cup of undiluted wine which he saw off in one go – then he cried out in pain.
He was carried off to bed and when he woke in the morning he had a terrible temperature. He ignored it and partied again that day. During the night his fever got worse. He tried over the next few days to conduct business as usual but to no avail. Early on June 10 323 B.C. he died, cut off in his youth and at the pinicle of success, the great horn was broken.
So what happened to his vast empire? The rest of the prophecy also came true. The notable horn was replaced by four notable horns. Cassander took Macedon, Thessaly, and Greece. Lysimachus took Thrace, western Bithynia, Lesser Phrygia, Mysia, and Lydia. Ptolemy took Egypt, Cyrene, and Cyprus. Seleucus took Syria, Babylonia, and Media. These two, Ptolemy and Seleucus became the king of the south and the king of the north in the prophecies of Daniel 11.
The prophecy now moves to the little horn – which we will find out about next week.
