I’m going to begin this study with a few random thoughts. First, the resurgence of anti-Semitism in our world is a reminder that Satan has always had his sights on targeting the Jews for destruction. Ever since the Garden of Eden when God promised that Satan’s “head would be crushed” by Eve’s descendant (Genesis 3:15), Satan has had it out for the Jews. The Jewish nation traces its lineage from Adam and Eve through their son Seth and then through Noah’s son Shem (= Semites) and then through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel). The Bible is full of stories of the persecution of the Jews, and Daniel Chapter 8 tells of another coming period of persecution.

Before I get into that, though, I want to also comment on my upcoming Sunday School lesson (tomorrow) which deals with the resurrection appearances of Jesus. In Luke 24, on the day of His resurrection, Jesus appears twice to two individuals. The two men on the road to Emmaus encountered Jesus on the road and initially didn’t recognize him. Long story short, after explaining to them how his death and resurrection fulfilled the prophetic scriptures, their eyes were opened to recognize him, and then he vanished. They returned to the other disciples to tell them about it and Jesus appeared again to them in a locked room. Even though he had appeared twice to them, they still thought he was a ghost until he provided physical evidence (touching and eating) to demonstrate the reality of his presence.

It is interesting that they had difficulty believing their own eyes because their brain couldn’t accept what they deemed to be impossible – that the dead Jesus was now alive again and unshackled to the limitations of his human body (e.g. he could appear and disappear at will). Because this didn’t fit their conception of reality, their brain tried to invent an alternate explanation (that they were seeing a ghost).

I bring this up because Daniel 8 is one of the “problem” passages that critics use to dismiss the fact that Daniel wrote it himself. Daniel 8 has clear descriptions of events that occurred several hundred years after Daniel’s death, so therefore (critics claim) it can’t possibly have been written by Daniel. Don’t listen to those critics. There is plenty of evidence that Daniel did indeed write this (research it yourself if you want). I’m not going to take time to answer those critics here. Let’s just look at what Daniel wrote.

“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.”

This vision came about two years after the one related in Chapter 7 and discussed in the last two study posts.

“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. 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. 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.“

Similar to the visions recorded in Chapters 2 and 7, Daniel’s vision here relates to coming changes in regional power. He is still under captivity in Babylon, but the Babylonian rule is about to come to an end. Go ahead, though, and read the rest of the vision. Then we’ll look at the interpretation provided by God at the end.

“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. 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. 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. 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.“

“Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land. 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. 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. 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. 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?” And he said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.”

This vision has similar visual elements to the vision in Chapter 7, where there were four kingdoms described (Lion = Babylon, Bear = Medes/Persians, Leopard = Greece, Frightening Beast = Rome and beyond). However this vision only has two kingdom elements: the Ram and the Goat.

“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. And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, and it called, ‘Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.’ 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.’“

There are only two angels that Scripture identifies by name: Gabriel and Michael (both of whom are introduced by and to Daniel). Interestingly, it is also Gabriel who brings the news of Jesus’ coming birth to Mary and Joseph.

“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. 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.

Gabriel references the “end”, and this end is the end of the events contained in the vision.

As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia.

Like the Bear in the Chapter 7 vision, this animal had a bipolar characteristic where one aspect was larger than the other. The Bear had one side that was raised up higher. The ram in this vision had two horns, but one was higher than the other and it came up last. Gabriel identifies this as the Medes (first) and Persians (last). Neither of these powers were dominant yet, but that would change in about 10 years from the time of this vision. While the Babylonian Empire maintained regional dominance for about 80 years, the Medes and Persians would dominate for about 200 years. The “higher” horn was the Persians, most famously represented by Cyrus the Great, who is mentioned in 2 Chronicles, Isaiah, Daniel, and Ezra.

And the goat is the king of Greece. And the great horn between his eyes is the first king.

The goat was charging back and forth, seeming to not even touch the ground – indicating swiftness. The great horn would be Alexander the Great, whose empire rapidly stretched from Greece all the way to India.

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.

When Alexander died, his kingdom was divided into four parts: Macedon and Greece (under Antipater and Cassander), Thrace and Asia Minor (under Lysimachus), Syria (under Seleucus I), and Israel and Egypt (under Ptolemy I).

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. 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. 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.

This description matches Antiochus IV Epiphanes. He was a major persecutor of the Jews. The website My Jewish Learning has the following summary of his actions in Jerusalem: “Antiochus, furious with the [Jewish] rebellion, returned to Jerusalem, slaughtered thousands of people, and reinstalled Menelaus. Once Antiochus departed and heard that a second rebellion had broken out, he outlawed Judaism. Among the now-forbidden practices were the rite of circumcision, the study of Torah, and the keeping of kashrut (Jewish dietary laws). In the Jews’ Holy Temple, he placed a statue of Zeus — the god he believed was manifest in his own royal being — and sacrificed swine on the altar. He stripped the Temple of its sacred vessels, including the seven-branched golden menorah, and stole the silver and gold coin.”

The Maccabean Jews staged a revolt against Antiochus and won back the temple, rededicating it to God and instituting the celebration of Hanukkah.

“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. 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.“

The “2300 evenings and mornings” represents the 1,150 days of missed daily temple sacrifices that occurred between Antiochus IV’s desecration of the Temple alter and the Maccabean rededication of it.

Like Jeremiah before him (and many other prophets), the contents of the vision and especially the knowledge of the future suffering of the Jews was emotionally a very difficult thing for Daniel to bear. Even knowing it lay far into the future, it was nonetheless disturbing to him.

Daniel Chapter 8 is written to the Jews as an encouragement that they will persevere. As we’ll see in further chapters, the story doesn’t end here. The promised Messiah (Jesus) will come and usher in a new covenant. Details on that will be addressed in future studies.