That brings us to Chapter Eight, which records a vision the LORD gave Daniel only two years later.

Transcription

1 Lesson 8 Daniel 8:1-27 About 551 BC In lesson 7 we saw the account of the vision of world history that the LORD had given Daniel about fourteen years before the fall of Babylon. In that vision we saw the four empires prophesied in Nebuchadnezzar s vision of the giant statue in Daniel 2. In that vision, the four empires were portrayed as four great beasts that came out of the sea and stood upon the land of Israel. They were a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a beast with ten horns. From the last beast, there came a little horn that uprooted three of the ten horns. We saw from history that the first three beasts spoke of the Empires of Babylon, Persia, and Greece. The last beast spoke of the Roman Empire, and the little horn spoke of the personality also known in scripture as the beast, the anti-christ, and the man of sin. Most of all, we saw that in spite of all the opposition and persecution at the end times, eventually, the LORD will fulfill all His covenants with His people. That brings us to Chapter Eight, which records a vision the LORD gave Daniel only two years later. Daniel 8:1 In the third year of King Belshazzar s reign, I, Daniel, had a vision, after the one that had already appeared to me. As with the previous vision, at the time of this vision in 551 BC, Daniel had been out of power for quite a few years, having lost out when Nebuchadnezzar s son and heir Evil-Merodach had been assassinated. He was in his early seventies. Daniel 8:2 In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa in the province of Elam; in the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal. It was about ten years later that Cyrus of Persia conquered Susa from the Elamites and had 1 / 13

2 decided to make it the capital of his growing Empire. Daniel 8:3 I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two horns, standing beside the canal, and the horns were long. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later. This ram clearly represents Persia. The two horns of different lengths are like the bear of Daniel 7:5 which also represented Media-Persia. The two horns stood for Media and Persia. Media had been a power first, but after Cyrus (who was Persian on his father s side, but Median on his mother s side) became King, Persia became dominant. Daniel 8:4 I watched the ram as he charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and none could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great. Media-Persia already held the lands of the east to the Indus River. Its conquests were to the west, north, and south. Daniel 8:5 As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. The goat from the west was like the leopard of the previous vision. It conquered with amazing speed. It symbolized Greece. The prominent horn was Alexander. Daniel 8:6-7 He came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at him in great rage. I saw him attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering his two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against him; the goat knocked him to the ground and trampled on him, and none could rescue the ram from his power. There were three great battles: 2 / 13

3 The first was at Granicus in May, 334 BC on the far western border of the Persian Empire. Alexander s forces outnumbered the Persian army by about two to one (50,000 to 25,000), and much of the Persian army was made up of Greek mercenaries. The second great battle was seven months later at Issus on November 5, 333 BC near the modern border of Turkey and Syria. In this battle the Persians outnumbered Alexander s forces by about two and a half to one (40,000 to 100,000). The third great battle was almost two years later at Gaugamela October 1, 331 BC near the Tigris River east of Mosul in modern-day northern Iraq. In this battle the Persians outnumbered Alexander s forces by about five to one (47,000 to 220,000). Daniel 8:8a The goat became very great, but at the height of his power his large horn was broken off, This describes the early death of Alexander in 323 BC after conquering all the former Persian provinces all the way to the Indus River. Daniel 8:8b and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward by means of [a] the four winds of heaven. 3 / 13

4 This refers to the breaking up of the Greek Empire among the four generals that we saw in the previous vision about the four heads of the leopard. They were Ptolemy I Soter I, who took the rule of Egypt, Seleucus Nicator I, who ruled the eastern part of the Empire, from Babylon to western India, Lysimachus who ruled Thrace, western Asia Minor and Macedon, and Antipater who ruled over much of Greece. Daniel 8:9 Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land. The one of them refers to Seleucus. His descendants became the rulers of the territory north of Judah and Jerusalem. The ruler (horn) that came out of him was named Antiochus IV Epiphanes. He was the seventh generation from Seleucus who had reigned that Empire and reigned from 175 to 164 BC. During his reign, he controlled Judah among his lands. He took it into his mind to destroy the worship of the LORD in the Temple and to destroy the Jews. Daniel 8:10 It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them. The host of the heavens is the angelic armies. Later in Daniel 10:12-13 we will see evidence of the unseen warfare going on between the angelic armies of God and the demonic armies of Satan. In this case, it seems that the wickedness of Antiochus Epiphanes is said to cause a defeat for the angelic armies of God. We find out what this defeat was in the next verse. This gives us a rare insight into the ministry the LORD allows His elect angels to have in human affairs. Daniel 8:11a It set itself up to be as great as the Prince of the host; The Prince of the host is Jesus Christ. This refers to the image of Him in the vision of two years earlier (Daniel 7:13) where He was described as one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. There the clouds referred to the angels in white riding on white horses. Ironically this same Jesus is also called the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). 4 / 13

5 Daniel 8:11b it took away the daily sacrifice from him, and the place of his sanctuary was brought low. So like Satan himself Antiochus Epiphanes set himself to oppose the commands of God. Remember that at the time of this vision there was no sanctuary in existence, so this was also a prophecy of the rebuilding of the Temple. Daniel 8:12 Because of rebellion, the host [of the saints] and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground. The description of the event when it was historically fulfilled is given by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews, Book XII, Chapter 5, Paragraph 4: Now it came to pass, after two years, in the hundred forty and fifth year (167 BC), on the twenty-fifth day of that month which is by us called Kislev (roughly comparable to December), and by the Macedonians Apelleus, in the hundred and fifty-third Olympiad, that the king (Antiochus Epiphanes) came up to Jerusalem, and, pretending peace, he got possession of the city by treachery; at which time he spared not so much as those that admitted him into it, on account of the riches that lay in the temple; but, led by his covetous inclination, (for he saw there was in it a great deal of gold, and many ornaments that had been dedicated to it of very great value,) and in order to plunder its wealth, he ventured to break the league he had made. So he left the temple bare, and took away the golden candlesticks, and the golden altar [of incense], and table [of shew-bread], and the altar [of burnt-offering]; and did not abstain from even the veils, which were made of fine linen and scarlet. He also emptied it of its secret treasures, and left nothing at all remaining; and by this means cast the Jews into great lamentation, for he forbade them to offer those daily sacrifices which they used to offer to God, according to the law. And when he had pillaged the whole city, some of the inhabitants he slew, and some he carried captive, together with their wives and children, so that the multitude of those captives that were taken alive amounted to about ten thousand. He also burnt down the finest buildings; and when he had overthrown the city walls, he built a citadel in the lower part of the city, for the place was high, and overlooked the temple; on which account he fortified it with high walls and towers, and put into it a garrison of Macedonians. However, in that citadel dwelt the impious and wicked part of the [Jewish] multitude, from whom it proved that the citizens suffered many and sore calamities. And when the king had built an idol altar upon God's altar, he slew swine upon it, 5 / 13

6 and so offered a sacrifice neither according to the law, nor the Jewish religious worship in that country. He also compelled them to forsake the worship which they paid their own God and to adore those whom he took to be gods; and made them build temples, and raise idol altars in every city and village, and offer swine upon them every day. He also commanded them not to circumcise their sons, and threatened to punish any that should be found to have transgressed his injunction. He also appointed overseers, who should compel them to do what he commanded. And indeed many Jews there were who complied with the king's commands, either voluntarily, or out of fear of the penalty that was denounced. But the best men, and those of the noblest souls, did not regard him, but did pay a greater respect to the customs of their country than concern as to the punishment which he threatened to the disobedient; on which account they every day underwent great miseries and bitter torments; for they were whipped with rods, and their bodies were torn to pieces, and were crucified, while they were still alive, and breathed. They also strangled those women and their sons whom they had circumcised, as the king had appointed, hanging their sons about their necks as they were upon the crosses. And if there were any sacred book of the law found, it was destroyed, and those with whom they were found miserably perished also. Daniel 8:13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled--the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, and the surrender of the sanctuary and of the host that will be trampled underfoot? The question is asked so that the answer will be given to Daniel. Daniel 8:14 He said to me, It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated. This part of the prophecy was fulfilled after the defiling of the Temple. Josephus also gives us the record in Antiquities, Book 12, Chapter 7, Paragraph 6: When therefore the generals of Antiochus's armies had been beaten so often, Judas (Maccabeus) assembled the people together, and told them, that after these many victories which God had given them, they ought to go up to Jerusalem, and purify the temple, and offer the appointed sacrifices. But as soon as he, with the whole multitude, was come to Jerusalem, and found the temple deserted, and its gates burnt down, and plants growing in the temple of their own accord, on account of its desertion, he and those that were with him began to lament, 6 / 13

7 and were quite confounded at the sight of the temple; so he chose out some of his soldiers, and gave them order to fight against those guards that were in the citadel, until he should have purified the temple. When therefore he had carefully purged it, and had brought in new vessels, the candlestick, the table [of shew-bread], and the altar [of incense], which were made of gold, he hung up the veils at the gates, and added doors to them. He also took down the altar [of burnt-offering], and built a new one of stones that he gathered together, and not of such as were hewn with iron tools. So on the five and twentieth day of the month Kislev, which the Macedonians call Apellieus, they lighted the lamps that were on the candlestick, and offered incense upon the altar [of incense], and laid the loaves upon the table [of shew-bread], and offered burnt-offerings upon the new altar [of burnt-offering]. Now it so fell out, that these things were done on the very same day on which their Divine worship had fallen off, and was reduced to a profane and common use, after three years' time; for so it was, that the temple was made desolate by Antiochus, and so continued for three years. This desolation happened to the temple in the hundred forty and fifth year, on the twenty-fifth day of the month Apellieus, and on the hundred fifty and third Olympiad: but it was dedicated anew, on the same day, the twenty-fifth of the month Apellieus, on the hundred and forty-eighth year, and on the hundred and fifty-fourth Olympiad. And this desolation came to pass according to the prophecy of Daniel, which was given four hundred and eight years before; for he declared that the Macedonians would dissolve that worship [for some time]. Now according to Josephus, it was exactly three years later on the Jewish calendar that this happened. This would seem to create a problem. The prophecy in Daniel said there would be 2300 evening and morning sacrifices missed. Since there are two every day, this amounts to 1150 days. The 2300 refers to the number of sacrifices which were missed, one in the morning, one in the evening. Josephus account says that it was rededicated on the 25 th of Kislev three years to the day later, which would not seem to be equal to 1150 days. However, it does exactly equal 39 lunar months of 29.5 days. Considering that the Jewish calendar usually added a thirteenth month every three years, and occasionally two, the obvious explanation is this. Even before his final desecration of the Temple Antiochus must have had the High Priest, who he had appointed suspend the addition of the thirteen month for a few years to try to destroy the observance of the Jewish festivals. When the Jews rebelled against Antiochus after the desecration, they must have tried to correct their religious calendar by adding a 13 th month for three years straight. This makes the prophecy in Daniel and Josephus account agree perfectly. It should be noted that this restoration of the Temple is what is celebrated on Jewish Festival of Hanukah, which is celebrated on the 25 th of Kislev, very close to the date we celebrate Christmas. 7 / 13

8 Daniel 8:15 While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there before me stood one who looked like a man. This was information that Daniel had no way of understanding. At this time there appeared before him a being that looked like a man. Daniel 8:16 And I heard a man s voice from the Ulai [b] calling, Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of the vision. Here we are introduced to one of the two angels who are given names in scripture. Gabriel was the angel that God later sent to Zechariah and Mary (Luke 1) to announce the upcoming birth of Jesus. The name Gabriel means warrior of God or man of God. Daniel 8:17 As he came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate. Son of man, he said to me, understand that the vision concerns the time of the end course of time. The Hebrew word which the NIV translates the end of here is 6q {qetz} which can be translated end, limit, boundary, but here should be understood as course of time. It is translated just that way in Genesis 4:3. [c] This is clearly not talking about the end of time, since time never ends. It is also not talking about the end of a time. That would be the Tribulation. That involves a horn from the last beast that follows Greece. Daniel 8:18-19 While he was speaking to me, I was in a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me and raised me to my feet. He said: I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end course of time. 8 / 13

9 Interestingly, Gabriel describes human history as the time of wrath. The Hebrew word used here ם ע ז { zah' am} is usually used to describe God s anger or indignation. Daniel 8:20 The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. The nations represented in the vision are identified for Daniel. Eleven years before the fall of Babylon, Daniel was told that Media Persia would overthrow Babylon. Daniel 8:21 The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king. This identifies the next conquering empire as Greece. Alexander the Great conquered Persia in 334 BC. Daniel 8:22 The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power. From the Greek Empire established by Alexander would come the four kingdoms of the Greek generals who succeeded him. They would all be weaker than Alexander s empire. Daniel 8:23 In the latter part of their reign, when rebels have become completely wicked, a stern-faced king, a master of intrigue, will arise. The kingdom of the Seleucids in Syria lasted from the death of Alexander in 323 BC until 63 BC when the Romans finally put an end to it. The kingdom of the Ptolemies in Egypt effectively came to an end when Julius Caesar installed Cleopatra on the throne of Egypt in 47 BC. Antiochus Epiphanes therefore arose in the latter part of their reign about 160 years after the beginning and 100 years before the end of their reign. 9 / 13

10 Daniel 8:24 He 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. This seems to be an indication that Antiochus Epiphanes was demon possessed. Daniel 8:25 He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power. This is the record of Josephus about his end in Antiquities, Book 12, Chapter 9, Paragraph 1: When this concern about these affairs was added to the former, he (Antiochus) was confounded, and by the anxiety he was in fell into a distemper, which, as it lasted a great while, and as his pains increased upon him, so he at length perceived he should die in a little time; so he called his friends to him, and told them that his distemper was severe upon him; and confessed withal, that this calamity was sent upon him for the miseries he had brought upon the Jewish nation, while he plundered their temple, and condemned their God; and when he had said this, he gave up the ghost. Daniel 8:26 The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given you is true, but seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future. The fulfillment of the 2300 evening and morning sacrifices would be fulfilled, but not for almost four hundred years. Daniel 8:27a I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for several days. Then I got up and went about the king s business. This indicates that Daniel was still employed in the government, although the fact that / 13

11 years later (Chapter 5) Belshazzar had never heard of him indicates he did not occupy a prominent position under Belshazzar. Daniel 8:27a I was appalled by the vision; it was beyond understanding I was astounded at the vision, and there was none to explain it. [d] Like most prophecy, much of it was for later generations to understand. This chapter of Daniel played a large part in the later acceptance of the Jews by Alexander the Great as recorded in Josephus Antiquities, Book XI, Chapter 8, parts of Paragraphs 3, 4, and 5: So Alexander came into Syria, and took Damascus; and when he had obtained Sidon, he besieged Tyre, when he sent an epistle to the Jewish high priest, to send him some auxiliaries, and to supply his army with provisions; and that what presents he formerly sent to Darius, he would now send to him, and choose the friendship of the Macedonians, and that he should never repent of so doing. But the high priest answered the messengers that he had given his oath to Darius not to bear arms against him; and he said that he would not transgress this while Darius was in the land of the living. Upon hearing this answer, Alexander was very angry; and though he determined not to leave Tyre, which was just ready to be taken, yet as soon as he had taken it, he threatened that he would make an expedition against the Jewish high priest, and through him teach all men to whom they must keep their oaths.--- Now Alexander, when he had taken Gaza, made haste to go up to Jerusalem; and Jaddua the high priest, [e] when he heard that, was in an agony, and under terror, as not knowing how he should meet the Macedonians, since the king was displeased at his foregoing disobedience. He therefore ordained that the people should make supplications, and should join with him in offering sacrifice to God, whom he besought to protect that nation, and to deliver them from the perils that were coming upon them; whereupon God warned him in a dream, which came upon him after he had offered sacrifice, that he should take courage, and adorn the city, and open the gates; that the rest should appear in white garments, but that he and the priests should meet the king in the habits proper to their order, without the dread of any ill consequences, which the providence of God would prevent. Upon which, when he rose from his sleep, he greatly rejoiced, and declared to all the warning he had received from God. According to which dream he acted entirely, and so waited for the coming of the king. 11 / 13

12 And when he understood that he was not far from the city, he went out in procession, with the priests and the multitude of the citizens. The procession was venerable, and the manner of it different from that of other nations. It reached to a place called Sapha, which name, translated into Greek, signifies a prospect, for you have thence a prospect both of Jerusalem and of the temple. And when the Phoenicians and the Chaldeans that followed him thought they should have liberty to plunder the city, and torment the high priest to death, which the king's displeasure fairly promised them, the very reverse of it happened; for Alexander, when he saw the multitude at a distance, in white garments, while the priests stood clothed with fine linen, and the high priest in purple and scarlet clothing, with his mitre on his head, having the golden plate whereon the name of God was engraved, he approached by himself, and adored that name, and first saluted the high priest. The Jews also did all together, with one voice, salute Alexander, and encompass him about; whereupon the kings of Syria and the rest were surprised at what Alexander had done, and supposed him disordered in his mind. However, Parmenio alone went up to him, and asked him how it came to pass that, when all others adored him, he should adore the high priest of the Jews? To whom he replied, I did not adore him, but that God who hath honored him with his high priesthood; for I saw this very person in a dream, in this very habit, when I was at Dios in Macedonia, who, when I was considering with myself how I might obtain the dominion of Asia, exhorted me to make no delay, but boldly to pass over the sea thither, for that he would conduct my army, and would give me the dominion over the Persians; whence it is that, having seen no other in that habit, and now seeing this person in it, and remembering that vision, and the exhortation which I had in my dream, I believe that I bring this army under the Divine conduct, and shall therewith conquer Darius, and destroy the power of the Persians, and that all things will succeed according to what is in my own mind. And when he had said this to Parmenio, and had given the high priest his right hand, the priests ran along by him, and he came into the city. And when he went up into the temple, he offered sacrifice to God, according to the high priest's direction, and magnificently treated both the high priest and the priests. And when the Book of Daniel was showed him wherein Daniel declared that one of the Greeks should destroy the empire of the Persians, he supposed that himself was the person intended. And as he was then glad, he dismissed the multitude for the present; but the next day he called them to him, and bid them ask what favors they pleased of him; whereupon the high priest desired that they might enjoy the laws of their forefathers, and might pay no tribute on the seventh year. He granted all they desired. And when they entreated him that he would permit the Jews in Babylon and Media to enjoy their own laws also, he willingly promised to do hereafter what they desired. And when he said to the multitude, that if any of them would enlist themselves in his army, on this condition, that they should continue under the laws of their forefathers, and live according to them, he was willing to take them with him, many were ready to accompany him in his wars. [a] The preposition here is ל {le} which can mean toward, but can also mean by means of. I think this is the meaning here as the four winds seem to speak of the LORD s control over history. 12 / 13

13 [b] The Ulai canal outside of Susa, where Daniel was in his vision (verse 2). [c] Genesis 4:3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. [d] I have inserted the New American Standard translation which is in basic agreement with most of the other versions, and I believe is more accurate. [e] This High Priest Jaddua who welcomed Alexander into Jerusalem in 332 BC was the last High Priest listed in the Old Testament scripture in Nehemiah 12:10-11 Jeshua (the High Priest who came back with Zerubbel) was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim the father of Eliashib, Eliashib the father of Joiada, Joiada the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan the father of Jaddua. This indicates that Nehemiah, the last book written in the Old Testament, was written well into the middle of the three hundreds BC. 13 / 13