Daniel Chapter 8 Verse 1

• So at the end of Chapter 7 we read that the vision greatly troubled Daniel and he kept the matter in his heart. The vision of the four beasts, the lion which coincided perfectly to the head of gold we saw in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Chapter 2. Then the bear, a parallel to the chest and arms of silver from Chapter 2. Then the leopard, which is a perfect pair to the belly and thighs of bronze we saw (and Daniel saw) back in Nebbie’s dream. And finally the dreadful beast, one unlike the others devouring everything in its path…which coincides with the legs of iron and feet of partly iron and partly clay. 

• Two years has passed since then so he has had lots of time to digest that…plenty of time to think it through and with Belshazzar in office when this next vision comes…been there for 2+ years, it must have been obvious to him that the lion, the head of gold, the Babylonian empire…was in trouble. 

• And so this vision comes to Daniel with a bit more of a foundation. For him and for us. This one will be a bit less nebulous, require a bit less explanation than the ones before. Especially because the first half of the chapter is the vision and the second half of the chapter is a detailed interpretation…so no guessing here! 

• Some other points as we get started into this chapter…at this point in the Book of Daniel, Daniel switches back to Hebrew. Chapter 2 verse 5 through Chapter 7, the language that this book is written in is Aramaic. Chapter 1 verse 1 through Chapter 2 verse 4 is in Hebrew and then Chapters 8 – 12 are entirely in Hebrew. Lots of ideas as to why. Some offer the perspective that the previous chapters dealt with the gentiles on a macro, a high level, while the remaining chapters deal primarily with the Jews on a micro level…a focus on them… 

• I’m ok with that. I like a more practical explanation. We know its Daniel. That’s not up for debate. Look there at what we just read, "…a vision appeared to me – to me, Daniel." What else do we know? Well, we know that Nebuchadnezzar had swept Daniel and his homies away to Babylon decades ago…all the way back in Chapter 1. History tells us that the Jews were in captivity for 70 years in Babylon until Cyrus comes into power, the bear, the chest and arms of silver, and allows Jerusalem to be rebuilt…as foretold by the prophet Isaiah…before the name Cyrus was even known, mind you! 

• And so Chapter 1, where is Daniel? Israel. What language does he write in? Hebrew. Chapter 2, first couple of verses. What’s Daniel’s situation? New to Babylon. What language does he write in? Hebrew. Chapter 2 verse 5 through Chapter 7, where is Daniel? Babylon…for a long time. What’s he doing? Ruling the place really…most of the time. Nebuchadnezzar raises him up, Belshazzar tries to make him third ruler in the kingdom…and so what language does he speak to them in? Hebrew? No way! He’s quickly learned the language of Babylon, which was Aramaic. What language does he write in then? You guessed it, Aramaic. 

• Then Chapter 8…he gives us an account of the third year of Belshazzar however it very well could be that Daniel is writing this after Belshazzar has gone and Cyrus is in power…And Cyrus does what? Declares the Jews freedom essentially and so Daniel, now free from the Babylonian captivity would naturally do what? Write in Hebrew…see I have no issue with the language traversing in the Book of Daniel…and I want to persuade you to not have issue either because if we take issue with the dust, we miss the beauty of the sculpture…

Daniel Chapter 8 Verse 2 - 4

• Not going to spend too much time here explaining this as we go because coming soon is the angelic explanation but just take note of a few things as we go along. First, this ram has two horns, one higher than the other…where have we seen this duality in the past where one is a bit higher or greater? Right! The bear which was raised up on one side in Chapter 7 which was a symbol of the Medes and Persians…the huge conglomerate empire of the Medes and Persians yet the Persians were the lead, Cyrus was the man…

• Also coincides with the arms and chest of silver from Chapter 2 right? Maybe one arm was beefy and the other scrawny….! And notice, Daniel says "no animal" could withstand him and so foot stomp here…the nations are likened to animals…let’s continue…

Daniel Chapter 8 Verse 5

• So we have the word "suddenly" which we can take as shortly after the ram appears…just as the Medes and Persians didn’t make it too long, just a couple hundred years (or as Ernest says, "hunnet.") The MALE goat comes without touching the ground…so the idea is very very swiftly…with one notable horn…so it’s a unicorn…moving on! HA…no that means it has one autocratic leader…a "Great" leader one could say…

Daniel Chapter 8 Verses 6 – 8

• So this "great" horn comes at this two horned ram and destroys it but then the goat’s horn is broken and in its place arises four notable horns…pretty obvious now isn’t it? Who this is. What nation this is? This is Alexander the Great…of the nation of the Greeks. The Leopard from Chapter 7, the belly and thighs of bronze from Chapter 2…the nation that would take out the Medes and the Persians but then Alexander the Great would die very young and his great legacy would be split between his four generals…we’ve covered this in its entirety in studies past…

Daniel Chapter 8 Verses 9 – 12

• Sounds like the Anti-Christ doesn’t it? Only one problem, we’re still in the Grecian nation…well the legacy of the Grecian nation per se…the time of the four generals…so who is this? The Anti-Christ…well not the specifically…this is a type of the Anti-Christ…a man that arose from the portion of Alexander the Great’s empire that would become the Syrian people…this is Antiochus Epiphanies…a clear type of the Anti-Christ in the Bible and in the history of the Jews. 

• We’ve also already covered him in detail in our studies past so I will just summarize for tonight. This man rose to power and amassed a huge, ferocious army and began to march and he marched upon Israel and after making treaty with the people he stabbed them in the back…he gained their trust and then betrayed them and he did it in the most heinous possible way…he defiled the temple.  

• He sacks Jerusalem and goes into the temple and puts an end to the daily sacrifices by defiling the alter…slaughtering a pig, sprinkling its blood inside the temple, an unclean animal, and proclaiming himself higher than the God of the Jews…

• Now this gave rise to the Maccabean revolt which would eventually restore Israel but this is a type, a foreshadowing of what will come at the midpoint of the Great Tribulation. When THE Anti-Christ commits the Abomination that causes Desolation…where He does the same thing essentially that Antiochus Epiphanies did... 

• So it’s clear, the vision that is but even so, an angel stands close by Daniel to make this all crystal clear…

Daniel Chapter 8 Verses 13 – 14

• And then a holy one, literally "saint" in the Hebrew, turns to Daniel and says, "this is an A-B conversation so you C your way out!" HA! Not really but notice it’s not Daniel that asks, he overhears. And the time period given is 2,300 days or most literally, 2,300 evenings and mornings. Not quite 7 years. 7 years in the Hebrew calendar would come to 2,520 days. Why bring that up? Because folks get a little twisted here between all of the prophecies and apply this vision to the Great Tribulation but this is specifically showing Daniel a type of the Great Tribulation, a type of the Anti-Christ in Antiochus Epiphanies… 

• The date when the temple was cleansed is well established as December 25, 165 B.C. Its why the Jews celebrate Hanukkah…If we count back 2,300 days from then, we come to the year when Antiochus Epiphanies began his persecution in earnest (171 B.C.). Pretty simple! Now what’s crazy is folks have really gotten these two verses twisted to tragic ends! 

• One interpretation of this passage took one year for every day, and William Miller used 2,300 "year-days" to calculate that Jesus would return in 1844 (2,300 years after Cyrus issued the decree to rebuild the temple). His movement ended up giving birth to the Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and several other movements. What a mess! Context, context, context man…

Daniel Chapter 8 Verses 15 – 25

• What we just read is equally true of both Antiochus and Antichrist. This is an example of a prophetic passage that has both a near and far fulfillment. Antiochus indeed had fierce features, known for his cruelty as will also the Antichrist. Antiochus was filled with the power and presence of Lucifer as he marched upon Israel and desecrated the temple, just as the Antichrist will be and do…contemplating and understanding sinister schemes…being mighty but not by his own power… 

• Antiochus deceived the people to ultimately ravage them…so too, the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 tells us… 

• The coins of Antiochus Epiphanies were inscribed with this title: theos epiphanies meaning, "God manifest." The coming Antichrist will also exalt himself: So that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God, 2 Thessalonians 2:4 says… 

• Both rose against and stood opposite of the Prince of princes and for that reason, they both have a peculiar hatred of the Jewish state and nation. And finally, both will be taken out but not by human means…history tells us that Antiochus died of a mysterious disease and Revelation 19 tells us that Jesus returns and just flicks the Antichrist into perdition…

Daniel Chapter 8 Verses 26 – 27

• Notice, Gabriel says to Daniel, "seal up the vision," as given by the English but in the Hebrew this phrase is quite enigmatic…it’s just plain weird…in Hebrew it is literally, "sealed vision many days." For Daniel, this was troubling, sealed…for us, clear…completely unlocked is it not? Why? Because the time of it all being fulfilled is very near, at the very door man… 

• And Daniel was sick but notice in light of this great revelation…he gets up and serves. It’s not time to check out because we know that at any minute that trumpet will sound…it’s time to check in man! How marred would the name of Daniel be if he was known as a sluggard? It would produce a slur on his prophetic life man, right? And so sick or not, weary or not, old or not because at this time he’s getting on in years…I love what Trapp said, "Let us not neglect the work of the Lord, though less able to perform it. A sick child's service is doubly accepted." 

• I love that picture man…because I am often sick, weary, discouraged…I don’t care…how can I not serve the King man…I am a believer man…let my service not hinder His glory!