Daniel’s Vision of the Ram & the Goat

Transcript

GR1910
2/15/2015
Daniel’s Vision of the Ram and the Goat
Daniel 8:1-27
Gil Rugh

We are going to Daniel, chapter 8 in your Bibles, Daniel and the eighth chapter. Every chapter in Daniel has its unique place as every chapter in the Bible does. In the context in the book of Daniel we have a change take place in the book of Daniel. If you remember back in Daniel chapter 2, verse 4 we moved from Hebrew to Aramaic and now with chapter 8 we are going back to Hebrew. So the section basically encompassing chapters 2 through 7 written in Aramaic and usually we would look at the book of Daniel in the context of those chapters encompassing more the nations of the world and then we will begin to see more on Israel specifically for the rest of Daniel’s prophecy.

When you come to chapter 8 remember those earlier chapters we covered some history. Now we are back in time because you will note chapter 8 as was also true in chapter 7, chapter 7 began in the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon. Chapter 8 begins in the third year of the reign of Belshazzar but if you remember time-wise in chapter 5 Babylon fell and Belshazzar was killed so don’t get confused. You had something of what happened in the historical events. Now we have a revelation given to Daniel that took place for example in chapter 8 back while Belshazzar was still king and a very key chapter.

Why don’t we put up chart A if you would, Steve? And this will give you a little bit of the context before we start. Here we had chapter 2, the coming empires in the form of the man, the statue and the different empires as you move down from the head of gold with Babylon, the chest and arms of silver. Here you have what the kingdoms represented; Medo-Persia, the belly, the legs of iron.

Then in chapter 7 we had this same information with different images, different symbols, the wild animals but still starting with Babylon and then Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome. I wanted you to note here there is additional information given as we move along. Here we are told the third empire would be symbolized by the bronze. Here you got information, it would be like a leopard. Here you got information on Medo-Persia. These two empires will come up in chapter 8 as you see. Now we don’t deal with Babylon in chapter 8. We don’t deal with the fourth empire, Rome nor is the kingdom mentioned in chapter 8.

So what the Spirit of God is doing is taking these two empires and bringing them up and really the focus will be on this empire. You will see here in the Medo-Persian Empire the bear raised up on one side remember symbolizing that Persia becomes the dominant element in this wedded empire of the Meads and the Persians.

In chapter 8 we are going to see it is a ram with two horns as the symbol. One horn higher than the other symbolizing the dominance of Persia in this combined empire. In chapter 7 Greece here was symbolized by the bronze you had it with the leopard with four wings. That becomes key. We are going to see it will be here as well when we get here. It’s not on this chart but the four wings remember symbolized the speed with which Alexander moved his armies in accomplishing his conquests. That will come out when we get over here where the animal does not touch the ground it moves so fast.

Then you will have four heads because the empire is going to be short in the context of Alexander’s ruling over a united empire and he will die and be replaced. His empire will be replaced among four general so you have that symbolized with four heads in chapter 7. Here it is going to have four horns replacing the one horn. Alexander as we will see will be the one dominant horn. Then it is going to be replaced by four horns. Then there will be further information of a little horn that will come out of the four horns and that will continue. But you see the context is similar even though it is expanded as you move through but the empires are the same. Here we are only going to focus on two empires, the Medo-Persian Empire and the Greek Empire and this one is the most important. In fact information that happens here is so important that we are going to get more information on the situation here particularly the little horn. When we get to chapter 11 and it can become confusing because here we had a little horn in Rome in chapter 7. Here we have a little horn coming out of Greece. So we have to be careful. Just because they are both little horns they are not the same little horn because we are going to have one come out of Rome, we are going to have one come out of Greece. This horn out of Rome will come out of the ten horns on the head of the beast, the final form of the Roman Empire, ten kings or kingdoms that are rated together, remember then the little horn comes out and out of that revived Roman Empire. Here the little horn will come out of the divisions from the Greek Empire. So if we are careful in following there will be similarities and there is emphasis on the little horn that is going to come out of the Greek Empire because in many ways he prefigures so we may say it is a type of the coming final little horn at the end of Israel’s history; so just a little bit to prepare you before we look into the details.

Let’s look at chapter 8 and read the opening verses. We have some slides we will be following in a moment. “In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king a vision appeared to me.” You have to remember because in prior history back in chapter 6 we had the Medo-Persians have already conquered the Babylonians so we are moving back in time now. Daniel is telling us about the vision he had in the third year of the reign of Belshazzar and that is helpful because we are around 550 B.C. when Daniel is given that vision. About 550 B. C. remember Babylon fell in 539 B.C. So around 550 Daniel is given this vision. We can talk about Daniel’s age. Remember Daniel was carried captive to Babylon in the first captivity under Nebuchadnezzar. That was 605 B.C. So Daniel had been in Babylon for 50 years, 55 years. How old was he when he went in? We guessed around 15 so we get an idea he would be around 70 now so he’s an elderly man. His life and ministry is not over and as we have mentioned he is not only getting revelation from God of being God’s representative there, remember he is in the service of the king. Now he was trained remember back in chapter 1 for special service in the context of the king’s household if you will, his administrative household. So when you get to the end of chapter 8, verse 27 this vision drains Daniel. “And I Daniel was exhausted and sick for days. Then I got up and carried on the king’s business.” We are reminded, much like many of you. You will get up and go to work tomorrow. Daniel had to get up. He went to bed. He was exhausted, he was sick. I can’t do my job right now. Daniel is home sick in bed; the draining effect of evidently of his vision but then he had to get up and get about what you would call his secular job, doing the king’s business. That’s a reminder of the place he has and a reminder. We think well oh boy, all that Daniel is doing is going around getting visions, having God unfold these great things. Understand, for 55 years he’s been in this land which to him as a Jew is a foreign land. He’s going to live and die here but he is faithful to God. He was faithful back when he was just a teenager, carted to Babylon. Here he is an old man of 70 years and God is still bringing His truth to him. He is a stalwart for God identified as we have seen in other places of Scripture as one of the unique men, stand out but he is a man who has to go about secular responsibilities but that in no way keeps him from being the man of God that can be so used of God.

Back in verse 1: “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.” And he’s had previous visions back in chapter 7 he had one in the first year of Belshazzar. So two years later he has a vision. “I look in the vision, and it came about while I was looking, that 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.”

Now you are familiar with Susa because you are familiar with the Old Testament. Esther was made queen at Susa, context of the Persian rule. Nehemiah lived in Susa. Susa was the winter palace of the Persian kings. It’s 220 miles east of Babylon and it’s about 150 miles north of the Persian Gulf so you get yourself oriented a little bit. Now there is some question here. Was Daniel there physically? He had probably been there as part of his duties on the king’s business but it seems more probable here that he’s carried here in a vision and things are going on. It was about this year, 550 that the Persians conquered the Meads which were larger and if you will, a bigger empire than the Persians but the Persians overwhelmed them so it became the Medo-Persian Empire. Now the Persians then will become the dominant element so it may have been in the context of seeing events taking place that God chose to reveal to Daniel some events that are of particular significance that are going to carry us down to a tragedy in Israel’s history of great significance.

Verse 3: “I lifted up 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.” So the ram represents the Medo-Persian Empire; the two horns the two parts. It had two horns. One was longer than the other but it didn’t start out that way. The longer one came up last so he sees these horns and one outgrows the other. Like I said when it started around 550 I believe it was, the Persians conquered the Median Empire and absorbed it so it becomes the Medo-Persian Empire but Persia becomes the dominant empire so sometimes we refer to it as the Persian Empire because Persia rises to become the dominant element.

The clarity here in detail of what God gives is amazing as He unfolds we are still in the Babylonian Empire. This is 550. Babylon won’t fall until 539 but events are on the horizon with the Persians taking on the Medes. A reminder, God is sovereign. Remember the theme of the book of Daniel, The Most High God Rules in the Realm of Mankind. This is not just an event that now, how’s this going to change everything? We might be wondering how it will change anything but in the plan of God it changes nothing. This is the plan of God.

Verse 4: “I saw the ram butting westward, northward, southward. No other beast could stand before him nor was there anyone to rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and magnified himself.” So the dominance of Persia becoming the most powerful empire of the time and it would overwhelm the Babylonian Empire and become the dominant empire and no one could stand before the power of the Persians; so a mighty empire.

We have another animal come on the scene. Verse 5: “While I was observing, behold I male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground.” Now remember we said in chapter 7 Greece was pictured as a leopard with four wings; the four wings indicating the speed of the conquest that would take place under Alexander. Here the picture if of a male goat coming from west, going over the surface of the whole earth and he is not touching the ground. You know this is a good example of Road Runner in the cartoon. You know how his legs go but they don’t touch the ground, he just goes. That’s the picture here. I don’t know that the cartoonist got it from here but it’s the same picture. You know this thing is going so fast it doesn’t even touch the ground. You know like we have a picture of a car speeding, going so fast the wheels aren’t on the ground. That is Alexander, the speed with which he could move his armies.

The goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes, one horn. We will look at some slides in a moment. It represents Alexander. It’s not going to be so difficult because an angel is going to interpret it for Daniel when we get over to verse 20: “The ram which you saw with two horns represents the kings of Media-Persia.” You know, it’s not so difficult. You just read further and you don’t have to say, “I wonder what this does?” Daniel asked and the angel would tell him. “He came to the ram that had the two horns, this goat with the one conspicuous horn which had been standing in front of the canal and rushed at him in his mighty wrath. 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. 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.” And then verse 9 “out of these four horns comes a little horn.”

Alright, why don’t you pick up slide one just as a little review here? Daniel saw the vision in 550 which is the third year and the vision overwhelmed and sickened him and we already looked at verse 27. There is a physical impact of being a recipient of such a strong powerful vision. This wasn’t just something Daniel saw and said okay, I will write that down as the Spirit directs me. I mean this involved him and what has it done? He is exhausted and not feeling well so he is bedridden for several days before he can get up and go about, if I can call it that, his secular job. But you understand when you represent the Lord who rules over all wherever you are you’re prime job is, you’re representing Him. Daniel had an important position. In one sense he was in the king’s service but in the other what was really important about Daniel he was in the Lord’s service and a reminder. If I didn’t just have this secular job I could be involved in the Lord’s work. Why do you think the Lord put you in that job? Is He not sovereign? Remarkable, the Lord who rules the empires has the same detailed concern and plan for our personal lives and He places us where He wants to use us.

So, go to slide two and you see Daniel stood on the banks of the canal and he saw in the city of Susa a ram with two horns and the one horn higher than the other so they just pictured a ram here. These two horns since they used just a ram they couldn’t find one with a big horn and a little horn, I guess but in the picture you get the idea it wasn’t the normal ram because the one horn is bigger than the other and it comes up. He sees it coming up later, growing later to be the dominant horn and this horn as we saw in verse 4 on this ram, this ram is charging everywhere and everywhere he goes he crushes like the Persian armies did.

Then slide three. A male goat approached from the distant west and hovering above the ground having a horn between his eyes and so you have here a one-horned goat. He charged at the ram, shattered the ram, crushed it and the goat became great. There was animosity between the Greeks and the Persians that went back because when the Persians were in power they had twice invaded Greece and brought havoc and destruction and the Greeks were bitter toward the Persians. In fact when Alexander’s father was murdered, Philip of Macedon, he was planning an invasion of Persia. That would have to be carried out by his son since his death occurred, but that animosity there. So you see the ferocity of Greece, the goat in trampling the ram, shattering him. The end of verse 7: “hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to rescue.” I mean Greece is the power to be and Persia is completely crushed. We had the male goat in verse 8 and you have at the bottom here, it became great but soon its own horn was broken. Four horns took its place.

Alexander comes to power. I will give you some dates here. Alexander was born in 356 B.C. I don’t have that on a slide I believe. He was the son of Philip of Macedon. The Macedonians and Philip of Macedon was a conqueror in his own right. He united Macedonia into Greece and formed the basis for the Greek Empire. You will note this goat comes out of the west and remember Greece is to the west. We will have a map of that in a little bit but it’s coming charging into the Persian Empire which is primarily to the east. Again, as God unfolds the detail and everything as He said.

Well, Alexander succeeded his father in 336 B.C. He was 20 years old. His father was murdered so it was left to Alexander. You think 20 years old and you are going to assume the leadership of what is a mini empire, if you will, just the beginning of an empire. Two years later, at 22 years of age he launches an attack against the Persians and the amazing thing, within three years he completely conquered the Medo-Persian Empire. So he launches his attack when he was 22. By the time he is 25 for all intents and purposes the Persian Empire is over. It has been totally crushed and defeated, now Alexander moves on, traveling east, conquering basically most of the known world. A commentator said when he died he had conquered one and half million square miles of territory, amassed a great empire. The problem was he got sick and he came back from the east to Babylon and we don’t know what it was, some kind of severe fever perhaps, malaria but at any rate he dies in Babylon at 32 years of age. Remarkable the things about him, as his power grew, his empire increased he began to require people in the provinces to worship him as a god. That caused some unrest among the Greek soldiers and so on.

Interesting how men move toward this. I was watching a program this week on the History channel about Caligula, Gaius Caligula and the same thing. You know as he got power, more power he wanted to be worshipped as a god, where men go and we are going to see that in the little horn that is coming in a moment but there is no doubt Alexander was a brilliant general. You think by the time he is 32 he has conquered the known world. The story is told, maybe as much fable as truth, but he cried because there was nothing else to conquer. But the reality was he had conquered most of the known world. So he retreats to Babylon and the god, small “g” dies. Not much of a god, huh? He got sick and died but he died. So his empire then will be divided and it will be divided among his four generals.

Let’s pick up in Daniel and read on a little bit. Verse 9: “Out of them” (remember, these four conspicuous horns, the end of verse 8) “out of one of them came forth a rather small horn.” Now it’s important to make this connection so you don’t confuse this with the little horn of chapter 7 that came up from the ten horns of the Roman Empire, displaced three of them. This horn comes out from among the four. He was one of the four. I will say something about that in a moment and then grows great “toward the south, toward the east, toward the Beautiful Land” referring toward the Palestine. “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. Magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host; and it removed the regular sacrifice form Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down. 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. 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?” And he said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be restored.” Daniel seeing the vision, wonderful but you know if we just read that here, what’s the interpretation? “I sought to understand it.” So there is one standing like a man. “I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai.” Remember, that’s where he was at the end of verse 2, the canal, the Ulai Canal so he sees the man.

So he called out and said, this man called out, perhaps the pre-incarnate Son of God because He gives instructions to Gabriel. I believe this is the first time we have an angel named in the Old Testament. There are only two named in the whole Bible as you aware, Gabriel and Michael. Gabriel gives this man an understanding of the vision. “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 applies to the time of the end.”

So you have an angel here giving explanation. He refers to Daniel as the Son of man, favorite name for Ezekiel, the book of Ezekiel, a reminder of their humanity. They had limitations to come with that but the angel touches Daniel, “made me stand upright and 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.”

Then you get this summary which really focuses on this little horn. “The ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia. And the shaggy goal represents the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king. And the broken horn and the four horns that arose in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation.” So you see here a horn representing a kingdom as we have talked about when we were in chapter 7. It’s explained here. This goat represents Greece, the large horn, the first king of Greece, a king and a kingdom. Alexander is the kingdom if you will the person. That he is the king ruling it. Then after Alexander that horn is broken. He dies. Four horns will arise which represent four kingdoms which will arise in his place but not with his power. You don’t have a united kingdom anymore. I mean Alexander is king when he is 20. He doesn’t conquer the Persians until he is 25 and he will be dead at 32 so it’s a short lived united kingdom but four generals will divide it up and establish four kingdoms as we will see in a moment.

“In the latter period of their rule,” verse 23. You ought to note that time line when it talks about the time of the end at the end of verse 17. In the end of verse 19 “it pertains to the appointed time of the end.” Some say “Well that must be then carrying us all the way to the end of the end where the little horn of chapter 7 was.” But he identifies it. It’s in the latter period of their rule, those four kings and kingdoms. So we are talking about a king who will arise at the end of this divided Greek kingdom. It’s not the end of the end if you will like this little horn in chapter 7. Some of these things if we aren’t careful we’ll get confused. It’s in the latter period of their rule. So he tells me what the time of the end and the time of the end at the end of verse 17 and verse 19 is. It’s the end of these four kings, kingdom. “When the transgressors have run their course, a king will arise” and he describes that king.

Alright let me see if I have another chart or two. Well let’s run through these, pick up with number 4 if you would Steve and it just summarizes a little horn arose from one of the four horns and it grows to heaven where it tramples some of the stars. We will talk about that meaning in a moment; cancels the burnt offering. The sanctuary is desecrated; the host of heaven comes under his destruction as well. Daniel heard two holy ones discussing how long this would be. We have 2,300 mornings and evenings.

Go to number 5 because this reviews some of what we are doing. Two horns, Medo-Persia, Cyrus the Great, Persia becomes greater than the empire of the Medes. A comparison made most of the military campaigns of this kingdom were to the west, the north and the south.

Go on to the next one. So you know the Persians are coming from the east going west. Alexander is going to come from the west and go east. The male goat rushing from the west without touching the ground was Alexander the Great. His swift conquest of the known world is legendary. There you have the conquering of Persia and then his death in 323.

And then go to number 7 and you will get the map here and you will see some people get confused and this is going on today because of what is going on in the Muslim world. Some people, reading some are talking about well Babylon here so that’s why they say Rome can’t be the last empire because Babylon is the center. Babylon is not the center. Babylon has a place even in future prophecy. Judah here, Israel, is always the center. That’s why it’s referred to as the Beautiful Land in verse 9 here so it doesn’t matter how far east they go, how far west. In one sense everything centers here. Greece now you can see God moving the empires of the world west. He does so with Greece and Greece will be followed by Rome but in all this this is the center. It doesn’t matter how out of balance it might get either direction this is the center of the world in the context of God’s dealing with nations. It’s Israel.

So that’s why we talk about Persia came from the east and went west. Greece comes from the west and goes east because Greece has to crush the Persians and bring an end to their empire. So Alexander will come out here but then with his illness he retreats back to Babylon where he died.

Okay. Go to the 8th slide if you would and that will just tell you something about the division under Alexander. When Alexander died he had two sons. They were both quickly murdered. Remember there was already trouble for Alexander because he wanted to be honored as a god and the Greeks and his soldiers they were not happy with that and they were not looking to have one of Alexander’s young sons come to the throne. So the simplest way to do that is you execute any potential contenders for the throne before they have a chance and you end up with this division and there is 40 years of warfare that go on but you end up with four divisions. These two become crucial, Egypt and Syria because Israel is most important and Israel is going to be cut because Egypt, you know Palestine in between Egypt and Assyria we still have, you know we turn on the map. What is going on over there today? What do we talk about? Syria.

I mentioned a couple weeks ago on the weekend of the Omaha paper there was a big full page map showing the terror all spreading out to all parts of the world from Syria. It is just interesting to see.

So there is this going on. The Ptolemies have Egypt. That’s the General Ptolemy so the family descends. You have the Seleucids here, Syria. This is where in verse 9 out of one of them, one of the four kingdoms that Alexander resided in comes a little horn and this is where Antiochus Epiphanies the fourth will come from, out of Syria. And he will be at the end. You know it said down in verse 23, “In the latter period of their rule” because what will have put a stop to him trying to expand his conquest even down into Egypt is going to be the intervention of the next empire, Rome.

So he is clear here when he talks about the time of the end. When we deal with this final little horn coming out of one of the four horns or four kingdoms that divided up the Greek Empire you get to the end where the Greek Empire is coming to a conclusion and we will say more about that in a moment and it will become even more of an issue in chapter 11. What happens when Antiochus Epiphanies attempts to expand his control he controls Palestine. He wants to control down into Egypt. Some of you are familiar with the story. He moves his armies down into Egypt. The Ptolemies appeal to Rome for help and now you know what you have done. You’ve brought the fox into the hen house. You have invited Rome to come in and defend Egypt. Rome doesn’t look out for anybody but itself. So the Roman fleet comes into Alexandria. Antiochus Epiphanies IV has brought his armies down into Egypt and Roman commander meets Antiochus Epiphanies and he hands him and to the account this comes from first and second Maccabees which are apocryphal books about 200 years before Christ and there is some accurate history particularly in first Maccabees but these accounts are told and Antiochus comes down and is going to act like he wants to be a friend to the Romans because he can’t deal with them. He puts out his hand to shake hands with the commander and the commander just puts the decree of Rome in his hand, tells him he can read it. Antiochus says he will take and you know he either goes back or fights Rome and then he draws a circle with the stick in the sand around Antiochus and tells him you have until you leave the circle to give me your answer. Antiochus has no choice. He can’t take on Rome.

By this time, I mean he’s just a commander here. You have the empire of iron, that indiscriminately fierce beast of chapter 7. You are now standing before it. Antiochus takes the hit to his pride but gets to continue to be king of Assyria but now the next empire is on the scene and has moved into Egypt and will begin its domination and we’re at the end, so to speak, of the Greek Empire.

Alright, so you have those four generals, the four areas. Those we are most concerned about in Scripture are right here because what happens here, Palestine is in place and Antiochus Epiphanies, this last little horn, you see some of what he will do in verses 9 and following. Verse 10: “He grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the ground.” Obviously we are not talking about little stars here. I think what we are talking about in verse 10 are Jewish leaders. They are the hosts in effect representing heaven because the Jews are God’s people. They are under judgment. They are under condemnation but judgment hasn’t finally come on them and will not come until their rejection of the Messiah. So he comes to the host of heaven, Jewish leaders are killed by him, stars fall to the earth, the judgment. I think when he talks about the commander of the host or the prince of the host in verse 11 he is probably talking about the high priest and the high priest Onias III was the proper high priest but Antiochus had appointed his own so Antiochus’s choice for high priest murders Onias the high priest and he’s deposed, no longer high priest and thus Antiochus’s man becomes the place. The place of his sanctuary was thrown down. He brings destruction on the place. He did this a number of times.

What happened is, he had come through. He had killed many Jews, did many destructive things but when he is confronted by the Roman commander in Egypt and has the humiliation of having to withdraw from Egypt he comes back into Palestine, into Israel and he wreaks havoc. He kills 80,000 Jews. He desecrates the temple. It’s a terrible time for Israel, bringing destruction. This will come out more in chapter 11 but he does everything he can, sacrifices a pig on the altar, set up a statue of Zeus to be worshipped in the temple. He’s called Antiochus Epiphanies; four horns that replace Alexander, Seleucus, so that was the empire that had Syria. One of Alexander’s generals and then you have vile little horn was Antiochus Epiphanies IV, 175 to 164 B.C., the eighth ruler of that empire. Some put it 164. Some put it 163 because 164 the rebellion is able to restore the temple but he will be empowered in 163.

I wanted to talk about his name, he’s Antiochus Epiphanies IV. It’s a coin, you know they minted coins. You know they didn’t have universal currency so Antiochus Epiphanies minted coins and on them you have King Antiochus Epiphanies which means god manifest and like Alexander, sometime before him wanted to be honored as a god. The Jews called him Antiochus Epiphanies, Antiochus the madman, but his coins declare that he was god manifest.

So you get something of the situation the Jews are in and that’s why I say he becomes a pre-figuring or a type of the coming final little horn who will set himself up in the temple declaring himself to be god and the only object of worship. You have if you will a mini version because the final little horn will be doing this on a world wide scale. Antiochus Epiphanies can only do it in the little realm that he controls but that includes Israel in the temple area where he can desecrate the temple with the sacrifice of a pig on the altar. That happened in 167 B.C. and then the setting up of the status of Zeus which was delayed and so wasn’t exactly carried out as wanted.

So you see what happens with Judas Maccabeus. The Maccabean revolt in 164 was able to drive the Syrians out and take control of their temple, cleanse the temple. The Feast of Hanukah is still celebrated and that it what is being celebrated when the desecrations of Antiochus Epiphanies were undone, if you will, the temple could be rededicated, purified, rededicated to God. The Feast of Hanukah, Feast of Lights is still celebrated today. So you get the overview.

Alright, let’s come back and look at the Scripture and see what it says as we move through the rest of this. I mentioned the latter times and the explanations given. This king will be “insolent,” the end of verse 23, skilled in intrigue. You are going to see similarities with the little horn. That is why the Scripture gives some attention to him because of the devastating impact he has on Israel and the Jews in his time and he becomes somewhat of a type or a pre-figuring of the final anti-Christ. “His power will be mighty, but not by his own power, he will destroy to an extraordinary degree and prosper and perform his will; he will destroy mighty men and the holy people.” It’s a devastating time. “Through his shrewdness he will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; and he will magnify himself I his heart, and he will destroy many while they are at east. He will even oppose the Prince of princes but he will be broken without human agency.” He suffers a death sort of like Alexander. It doesn’t take a human being to intervene.

“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.” Now Daniel had all this stuff. He had to keep it in his head. He writes it down but it is far in the future. You know Daniel 8 is one of the reasons that liberal scholars, if they call them that, readers of Daniel believe that Daniel was written sometime around 169 B.C. They cannot accept and believe the detailed prophecies of chapter 8 could have been written by Daniel in 550 B.C. when they are not going to take place until down around you know, 170 B.C. Who else but God could tell the future? But I mean what kind of God do you serve if He doesn’t control the future? But you know even we waiver. We look at what’s going on in the world and think things are out of control. You end up talking to the television when the news is on, try to tell them, “What are you thinking, what do you think you are doing?” Well, they are not in charge. They are doing what they want to do. What they want to do in their sinful rebellion against the Holy God is what He has planned for them to do.

One other thing I ought to mention is those 2,300 evenings and mornings. There is discussion whether that should be 2,300 days or 2,300 sacrifices, 1,150 days. There are good men on both sides. Most commentators believe it is 2,300 days because when you talk about the sacrifices you usually talk about the morning and evening sacrifice. When you talk about days you usually talk about evenings and mornings because the Jewish day will start at evening and so it seems here the evening and morning, probably 2,300 days beginning when Antiochus Epiphanies will be about six years started his destructions with the murder of Onias III, the high priest and down until the time when the temple is restored under Judas Maccabeus. If it’s just the sacrifices it is limiting it to when he desecrated the temple, the period of time there. So both are a possibility but I think the position that these are days is stronger.

And you are familiar with Seven Day Adventists; this is where they got the idea. They took it as 2,300 years so they first said that Christ would come in 1844 and 1843. Then they said well since He didn’t come to earth what He really did was present His blood in the heavenly temple at that time. That’s where you get some of that Seven Day Adventists doctrine since they are rather prominent influence here came from a misunderstanding and misinterpreting of Scripture.

Alright we see that God is in control again and now we are going to come to chapter 9 and we are going to get into the 70 weeks of Daniel and things that carry us to the ultimate end of these Gentiles times and what that will mean for Israel.

Let’s pray together. Thank You Lord for Your grace. Lord how good it is for us to be reminded, You are a sovereign God, the God who directs in the very details of our lives as we are reminded this evening, Your grace is sufficient for us and day by day we experience Your grace. We are confident that You are directing our steps. You are unfolding Your will for us. You control the activity and destiny of nations, terrorists seemingly randomly roaming the world but each one in his appointed place in Your plan, at Your time. There are no accidents. There is no confusion. Lord we rest secure in that. You are the God who reigns in the realm of mankind. Lord our confidence is that, our assurance is that and we thank You for setting us in the world at this time at various places, even in this city to be a testimony of Your grace and Your power and the coming again of Your Son, we pray in His name, amen.