Daniel 8
1. In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me, Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.
2. And I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in Shushan the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai.
3. Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.
4. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; and no beasts could stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.
Daniel is seeing a vision of the coming of the Media-Persian Empire. The higher horn is Persia who even through they were combined with the kingdom of Media, the Persian empire was always more powerful. The Media Empire existed as separate nations at the same time. Until Cyrus the great combined the two empires. We are coming to the time when the Babylonian Empire only had 13 more years to exist. The Babylonian Empire because of the prophecy of chapter seven were not the super power they were under Nabopollasar, and Nebuchadnezzar. Remember their wings were to be torn off which represented their great world power. Then under God’s plan the new Media-Persian Empire became the new great world power.
5. And as I was considering, behold, a he-goat came from the west over the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
6. And he came to the ram that had the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and ran upon him in the fury of his power.
5. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him; but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled upon him; and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.
6. And the he-goat magnified himself exceedingly: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up four notable horns toward the four winds of heaven.
Alexander the great is the Goat with the single horn between his eyes symbol of him ruling alone. The ram having his two horns broken tells that the Media-Persia empire would lose its power, and that none would be able to stand against Alexander the Great. The great horn being broken is symbol of Alexander the Great dying. The four notable horns were his generals who divided his kingdom into 4 parts, thus toward the four winds of heaven.
9. And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious land.
10. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled upon them.
11. Yea, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the host; and it took away from him the continual burnt-offering, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
12. And the host was given over to it together with the continual burnt-offering through transgression; and it cast down truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered.
These verses are speaking of the ruler Antichus Epiphanes. Who was one of them, as the verse states a Greek. If you read the Maccabees, and Josepheus you will see that he for three and one half years killed a lot of Jews, and forbade them to practice Judaism. He even went so far as to erect an altar to his gods in the Holy of Holies in the temple and sacrificed a hog on the altar, defiling the temple.
13. Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said unto that certain one who spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the continual burnt-offering, and the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
14. And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
15. And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.
16. And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.
17. So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was affrighted, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man; for the vision belongeth to the time of the end.
18. Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me upright.
19. And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation; for it belongeth to the appointed time of the end.
20. The ram which thou sawest, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.
21. And the rough he-goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
22. And as for that which was broken, in the place whereof four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power.
23. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
24. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do his pleasure; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people.
25. And through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in their security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
26. And the vision of the evenings and mornings which hath been told is true: but shut thou up the vision; for it belongeth to many days to come.
27. And I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick certain days; then I rose up, and did the king’s business: and I wondered at the vision, but none understood it.
The little horn mentioned here, is different then the one in chapter 7. The one in chapter 7 is Titus, the general who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70. The little horn in verse 9 is Antichus Epiphanes who ruled from 167 BC until 160 BC. He was a very evil man who according to the Maccabees and history, and fulfilled these scriptures. He went to war against Egypt, and was turned back by the Romans. Then while returning to Syria, he attacked Israel. He went into the temple, into the holy of holies and built a statue unto Zuses where the Ark of the Covenant belongs. Also he killed anyone who quoted or read the Torah. Macabee 1 chapter lays out every thing this monster did to the Jews. He stopped sacrifices to God, forbid the children to be circumcised, read the Macbees they are not evil fake books of the Catholic Bible they existed long before the Catholic Bible. They are Jewish history books, which tell us what happened in the so called 400 years of silence between Malachi, and Matthew. You will see what I am saying about this man Antichus. How he is this horn and how he fulfills these scriptures.
