8:1 In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first. 2 And I saw in the vision; and when I saw, I was in Susa the citadel, which is in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision, and I was at the Ulai canal. 3 I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram standing on the bank of the canal. It had two horns, and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. 4 I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. No beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.
5 As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. And the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. 6 He came to the ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing on the bank of the canal, and he ran at him in his powerful wrath. 7 I saw him come close to the ram, and he was enraged against him and struck the ram and broke his two horns. And the ram had no power to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled on him. And there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power. 8 Then the goat became exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.
9 Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land. 10 It grew great, even to the host of heaven. And some of the host and some of the stars it threw down to the ground and trampled on them. 11 It became great, even as great as the Prince of the host. And the regular burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. 12 And a host will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression, and it will throw truth to the ground, and it will act and prosper. 13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, “For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?” 14 And he said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.”
15 When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. 16 And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, and it called, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” 17 So he came near where I stood. And when he came, I was frightened and fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, O son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end.”
18 And when he had spoken to me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. But he touched me and made me stand up. 19 He said, “Behold, I will make known to you what shall be at the latter end of the indignation, for it refers to the appointed time of the end. 20 As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 And the goat is the king of Greece. And the great horn between his eyes is the first king. 22 As for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his nation, but not with his power. 23 And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise. 24 His power shall be great—but not by his own power; and he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. 25 By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great. Without warning he shall destroy many. And he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken—but by no human hand. 26 The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been told is true, but seal up the vision, for it refers to many days from now.”
27 And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king’s business, but I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
Two years after the vision of the beasts, Daniel saw another vision. In his vision, he found himself in the Persian palace of Susa in Elam at the Ulai canal. On the bank of the canal, he saw a ram with two horns. Both horns were tall but the one was taller than the other and it had come up second. This ram began charging westward, northward, and southward. The ram became great because nothing could stand up to him and he did as he pleased.
While Daniel considered the ram and what it might mean, a male goat from the west came across the earth without touching the ground. This goat had an oddity, a horn between his eyes. He ran with full anger and hit the ram with all his might and broke its two horns. The ram was unable to stand up to him and was thrown to the ground and trampled. No one could rescue the ram from the goat’s power. Then the goat became great, but when he became strong his horn was broken and in its place came up four horns each aiming in a different direction.
From one of these horns came a little horn and it grew large towards the south, east, and Palestine. It grew large towards heaven and even threw down some of the host and stars of heaven and trampled them on the ground. This horn, which clearly typifies a man becomes so arrogant that he considered himself as high as God almighty (The Prince of the host). Finally, this man is used to bring about God’s judgment against the nation of Israel as it throws truth to the ground and prospers in his actions against God and Israel. Then two heavenly beings ask how long will the period of his vision take and the answer was 2,300 days before the sanctuary is restored for proper worship.
When Daniel sought to understand the vision, he saw God, perhaps Jesus because of the appearance of a man, and He called Gabriel to help Daniel understand the vision. Daniel was so frightened, by being in God’s presence, even if only in a vision, that he fell into a deep sleep which Gabriel woke him from. Gabriel told him that the vision was for “the time of the end” which must refer to the time the prophecy encompasses and not the “end times” because though the little horn very closely resembles the Antichrist, it differs in some significant details.
Gabriel plainly explained that the ram with two horns represented the kings of Media and Persia, and the goat represented the king of Greece, Alexander the Great. The goat moved over the earth without touching the ground indicating the speed with which Alexander was able to conquer the Near East. When Alexander the Great died, Greece was divided and four of his military leaders took power, but not with the same power Alexander had wielded. The little horn turned out to be Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-163 BC) who was the eighth ruler of the Seleucid Greek Empire. Antiochus rose to power despite his nephew being the rightful heir to the throne. He went on to persecute the Jews in Palestine beginning in about 170 BC with the assassination of the high priest Onias III and it ended when the temple was rededicated in December 164 BC (this 6 year period fits 2,300 days), shortly before his death in 163 BC. Antiochus stopped the Jews from following their religious laws (dietary, circumcision, Sabbaths, and feasts) and he stopped temple sacrifices. He desecrated the temple by erecting an idol of Zeus in the temple and offered sacrifices including swine on the altar. Antiochus died naturally, not in battle or by assassination (“not by human hand”).
Daniel was told to seal up the vision because it refers to events many days from when he received it. Sealing it didn’t mean to hide it, but to keep it safe because this prophecy would be an encouragement to the Jews who would know there was an exact length for the persecution they would suffer. Daniel was sick and appalled by the vision and battled to fully understand it. He didn’t have the hindsight of knowing the events that history has revealed to us.
God knows the future. The Bible contains many prophecies that have come to pass. Because of this, we can know that those things that the Bible says are still to come will indeed happen. How is your faith strengthened when you consider the accuracy of how Daniel’s vision played out in history?
Major Stories of the Bible Reading Plan
Aaron Becomes Priest: Leviticus 8