Daniel 8: The Ram and The Goat

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Amen. Please remain standing and turn in your Bibles once again to the book of Daniel, Daniel the eighth chapter, and we'll pick up our reading where Jake left off.

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He left off at verse 14. We'll pick up our reading at verse 15.

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Here now the inspired word of God. When I, Daniel, had seen the vision,

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I sought to understand it. And behold, standing before me was one who looked like a man.

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And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Eulai. And he called out and said, Gabriel, give this man an understanding of the vision.

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So he came near to where I was standing. And when he came, I was frightened and fell on my face.

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But he said to me, son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end.

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And while he was talking with me, I sank into a deep sleep with my face to the ground.

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And he touched me and made me stand upright. He said, behold,

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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.

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The ram, which you saw with two horns, represents the kings of Media and Persia.

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The shaggy goat represents the kingdom of Greece. And the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

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The broken horn and the four horns that arose in its place represent four kingdoms, which will arise from his nation, although not with his power.

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In the latter period of their rule, when transgressors have run their course, a king will rise, insolent and skilled in intrigue.

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His power will be mighty, but not by his own power. And he will destroy to an extraordinary degree and prosper and perform his will.

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He will destroy mighty men and the holy people. And through his shrewdness, he will cause deceit to succeed by his influence.

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And he will magnify himself in his heart. And he will destroy many while they are at ease.

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He will even oppose the prince of princes. But he will be broken without human agency.

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The vision of the evenings and the mornings, which has been told, is true. But keep the vision secret, for it pertains to many days in the future.

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Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for days. Then I got up again and carried on the king's business.

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But I was astounded at the vision, and there was none to explain it. Let's pray.

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Father, once again, as we prepare to look into your word, our prayer is simple.

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Open our eyes, our ears, and our hearts to see, hear, and understand what you are saying to your church this morning.

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That, Father, that we would understand it, and that, Father, that your church would be built up and edified, that the saints would be encouraged, that sinners would be saved, that you would receive glory, and that the name of Jesus Christ would be exalted.

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It's to that end that we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Please be seated.

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I want to ask you a question. What does the phrase, the turn of the century, mean to you?

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And looking at the wide range of ages in this congregation, I suspect that if we were to ask that, that we would have different answers from different people.

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For the younger members of the congregation, there's only one immediate response, and that would be the turn of the century going to 2001, also the turn of the millennium.

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But for someone of my age and older, 39 or so. Oh, all right, 40.

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But for someone of my age or older who was born in the 1940s, we would need a clarification because when

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I was young, the turn of the century meant from 1899 to 1900.

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But now we've experienced another turn of the century. So the term, you can't just take it at face value.

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It needs qualification. And for example, I speak of the 1950s as the recent past because I grew up in the 50s.

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To the young people who are here, that's like ancient history. So the exact same question posed to two different people can change the whole meaning of the question.

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Let me give you one more example. Two veterans sitting, talking about their experiences in the war.

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Which war did they mean? Well, that depends on their age. For example, if they're 30 years, somewhere around 30, it would probably mean the

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Afghan War. If they're 50 years old or something, it would be the first Gulf War.

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If they're 70 to 80 years old, more than likely it would be Vietnam. Any older than that, then they're hard to find these days, could be the

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Korean War or possibly even World War II. But do you get my point?

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The same words can take on different meaning depending on who says them, to whom they are spoken, and the circumstances involved in the conversation.

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And as true as that is in general conversation, it's even more crucial to understand when we come to the scriptures and especially to prophecy.

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Far too often the words of scripture are taken out of their grammatical and historical context and transported thousands of years in time and across cultural boundaries.

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And the results can be disastrous. The meaning of important scripture is lost.

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The doctrine of inspiration can be compromised. And the critics of Christianity are needlessly giving, provided with ammunition against the church.

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And the faith of many are weakened by such exegesis. The prophecies of the book of Daniel are often subject to this very error.

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That's why we have been painstakingly working our way through the text, so that we don't fall into that error ourselves.

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So with that in mind, we come now to the eighth chapter and another vision given to Daniel.

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Let's look at the first verse, which gives us the timing of the prophecy.

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In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar, the king, a vision appeared to me,

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Daniel, subsequent to the one which appeared to me previously. Notice the vision is given to Daniel two years after the first vision.

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And it's the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar. Now we also know that Daniel has kept that first vision to himself.

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The last verse of chapter 7. At this point the revelation ended. As for me,

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Daniel, my thoughts were greatly alarming me. My face grew pale, but I kept the matter to myself.

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But now he has another vision. And his introduction to it is interesting.

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Look at the wording again of verse 1. The third year of the reign of Belshazzar, a vision appeared to me,

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Daniel, subsequent to the one which appeared to me previously. It almost sounds like a redundancy, but he's making a point.

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He wants us to understand that this is a different vision than the previous one, but it's connected to the previous one.

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And that will become more obvious as we move along. The second verse tells us the location of the vision, which again is a little surprising and shows the miraculous location and the miraculous giving of this vision.

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Look at verse 2. I looked in the vision and while I was looking I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam.

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And I looked in the vision and I myself was besides the Ulai Canal.

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Now you may say, well what's so strange about that? Well remember this is the second, the third year of the reign of Belshazzar.

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That means that Babylon is still ruling and what he's described is the capital city of Persia.

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So God has miraculously put him forward in time to see what was going to take place.

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So what does this mean? Well let me backtrack a little bit.

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None of the visions that are given in throughout the whole book of Daniel, not just the ones that we've seen so far, are a complete view of the end of the

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Old Covenant and the beginning of the New. Not one of them starts and very methodically works through.

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It's not the way prophecy works, not the way the visions are given. Each one gives a certain perspective.

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The vision of Daniel 2, for example, was given to the king of Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar.

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And it very simply is an overview of the history of the Old Covenant up from the time of Babylon up to the ministry of Jesus Christ bringing in the

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New Covenant. That's the time scope of that first vision in Daniel chapter 2.

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Remember the statue representing those four empires who will rule concluding with the

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Roman Empire. Now remember this is not the end of time that it's referring to, but the end of the

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Old Covenant age. And during that period of time, the kingdom of heaven will come to earth like this stone, the stone not cut with hands.

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And it shattered the statue and grows to fill the whole earth. Now that vision is crucial to understanding the visions that follow.

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That message was for the whole world. How do we know that?

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Because it was given to the king of the world, to Nebuchadnezzar. Remember the words of Daniel when he revealed the meaning to the king in Daniel 2 .29.

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But as for you, O king, while on your bed and your thoughts turn to what would take place in the future, and he who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place.

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Remember that's an interesting turn of events where a prophecy is given to not a member of the covenant community, but it was given to the political leader.

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And what was the significance of that? Why was it given to him?

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Well, for several reasons. One, it was designed to humble him because he realized in the vision that his kingdom was not forever.

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And did it accomplish its mission? Oh yes, it did. Then in chapter 5, we see the handwriting on the wall pronouncing judgment on Babylon for failing to keep the word of the

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Lord as Nebuchadnezzar proclaimed. Remember Nebuchadnezzar praised and worshipped the

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God and commanded that everybody worship him. But they failed.

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And so the handwriting on the wall pronounced judgment upon Belshazzar and the whole kingdom of Babylon.

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So what do we see as a result of that? The silver empire assumes control of the world just as the vision of Nebuchadnezzar had proclaimed.

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Then Daniel 6, though it contains no vision, has a very important message in it.

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Even as the enemies of God come against Daniel, and conspire to get rid of him,

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God miraculously preserves him in the lion's den, causing

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Darius the Mede to praise God and issue a proclamation to protect God's people.

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Do you see how this has had worldwide political impact? Then last week we saw in chapter 7 a change.

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The visions no longer are to the rulers, to the state, to the political entities, but they're now given to the church for its edification.

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And we saw how what occurs in the earthly realm is directly related to what's happening in heaven.

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And in this vision, the regime changes are now seen as they impact the people of God directly.

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The centerpiece of the vision is the Ancient of Days seated on his throne and giving the

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Son of Man, obviously Jesus Christ, his kingdom for his obedience for his earthly ministry.

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His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom that will never pass away. And we saw how this takes place while the fourth beast rules, that is during the reign of the

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Roman Empire under the Caesars. We saw how this vision of the four beasts paralleled the vision of chapter 2 with the multi -metal statue.

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We also saw that when the new covenant comes to earth and begins to grow, it comes through spiritual warfare and the suffering of the saints, not through political maneuvers.

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We saw how the political powers within Rome and their Jewish sympathizers came against those early saints and even appeared to overpower them for a season, for a while.

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And from our unique perspective now 2 ,000 years later, we can see how these visions all came to reality with striking precision.

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That brings us to the eighth chapter and the new vision for Daniel. This vision is another little piece of the puzzle that we can easily be fit into the larger scope of the other visions, but it does add some extremely important pieces to the mystery of the coming of the new covenant.

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Look again at verse 3. Then I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold a ram which had two horns was standing in front of the canal.

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Now the two horns were long, but one was longer than the other, with the longer one coming up last.

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The obvious first question is, who is this ram? Daniel, too, was intrigued because he asked that very question.

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In verse 15, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it, and behold, standing before me was one that looked like a man.

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And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of the Uli, and he called out and said, Gabriel, give this man an understanding of the vision.

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Now most scholars agree that the one who looked like a man was a pre -incarnate Christophany, a pre -incarnate

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Christ, who instructs Gabriel to speak. And this is an easy one.

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Who is the ram? Well, verse 20. The ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.

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The first horn represents Media, because that was the primary one, and the second was

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Persia in that order. One empire, but two parts. That's why it's called the Media -Persian

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Empire. Persia became the dominant force within the empire, but it remained one empire.

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And the vision continues in verse 4. I saw the ram budding westward, northward, and southward, and no other beast could stand before him, nor was there anyone to rescue from his power.

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But he did as he pleased and magnified himself. That is a perfect picture of the empire that conquered

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Babylon. The Medes and the Persians came against everyone with fierceness, and even

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Belshazzar couldn't stay the forces of this powerful empire.

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But the vision continues in verse 5. While I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground, and the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes.

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Now who is the goat? Well, once again, we need not speculate, as Gabriel provides the inspired answer in verse 21.

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The shaggy goat represents the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

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Notice, the large horn is clearly Alexander the Great, the first king of Greece.

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Notice that the goat is moving quickly without touching the ground, and that reflects what we know from, even from our history, that Alexander conquered empires at a rate that was extremely quick.

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He just, and he would overcome armies greater than his in numbers by his military prowess.

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And he comes against the empire of the Medes and the Persians, which is detailed in verses 6 and 7.

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He came up to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath.

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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.

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So he hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to rescue the ram from his power.

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Our history books tell us that's exactly what happened when the meeting, when the

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Greek Empire conquered the Medes and the Persians. They were no match for Alexander.

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And then we see what happens, verse 8, the male goat magnified himself exceedingly.

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There again you have a description of Alexander. But as soon as he was mighty, the large horn was broken, and in his place that came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.

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Now this too is a fact of history. When he was at the height of his fame and boasting,

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Alexander the Great died at age 32, very quickly, very suddenly. And he was succeeded by his top four generals.

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But Greece was never as powerful under those kings as they were under Alexander.

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However, during this time the Greek culture was accepted by virtually the whole known world.

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Virtually every culture in that time frame became Hellenistic to one degree or another.

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Greek became one of the most dominant languages in the known world. The mythology of Greece's influence was shown in every culture.

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And this is true even of Rome, who would later conquer Greece a couple centuries later.

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But from one of those horns, a king, a small horn came up, verses 9 and 10.

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Out of one of them came forth a rather small horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the beautiful land.

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It grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth.

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And it trampled them down. This horn, as we see, specifically impacts the land of Israel.

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How do we know that? Because Israel is what is termed in Scripture numerous times as the beautiful land.

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In fact, whenever you're reading the Old Testament, if you see an allusion to the land, 99 times out of a hundred, it's talking about the land of Israel, not land in general.

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Special connotation to Israel. And especially when it's wonderful or beautiful or some such adjective, it's always the land of Israel.

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And it says the host of heaven. Now that can either be angelic beings or the religious leaders. In this context, it's the religious system of Israel.

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It means that the horn set itself against the true worship of God.

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That's what it means when it says it came up against the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to earth and trampled them down.

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It even magnified itself to be commander of the host. And it removed the regular sacrifice from him.

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And the place of the sanctuary was thrown down. And on account of transgression, the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice.

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And it will fling truth to the ground and confirm, perform its will and prosper.

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The horn magnifies itself to be equal with God. The horn profaned the sacrifice to render it useless.

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It was through the horn that truth was cast down. Truth was no longer found in the religious worship.

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The interference of the horn into the religious affairs of the beautiful land caused it to become an abomination.

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Now we know that temple worship was so profaned that by the time of Christ, he twice cleansed the temple.

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And remember what he called it. He says, you have made the house of prayer become a den of thieves.

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And he wiped them out. And this had begun years before Jesus came on the scene.

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It began in the latter days of the Hellenistic period, leading into the rule of Rome.

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So then, who is this little horn who had so much power and so much influence, both in the rule of Greece and in the rule of Rome?

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Many good reformed scholars believe it to be Antiochus Epiphanes. And I understand why, and I cannot categorically say it wasn't him.

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And for many good reasons. Antiochus mixed Jewish worship with the

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Greek culture that included worship of Zeus in coming from the temple.

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And he did exalt himself to be equal with not just the God, but all the other gods, the

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Pantheon. So he is certainly a worthy candidate. But I'm just a little concerned about some of the time text.

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It seems to me that he's a little bit early in the time. Now, while Gabriel doesn't identify this horn as clearly as he does the ram and the goats, there are certain facts that can be used to help identify who this is.

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Look at verses 17 to 19. So he came there to where I was standing.

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And when he came, I was frightened. This is Gabriel. I was frightened.

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I fell on my face, but he said to me, son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end.

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Keep that phrase in mind. Now, while he was talking with me, I sank into a deep sleep with my face to the ground, but he touched me and made me stand upright.

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He said, behold, I'm going to let you know that what will occur at the final period of the indignation, for it pertains to the appointed time of the end.

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So the question that must be asked is, what does this phrase, the time of the end, mean?

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Remember, all of the visions so far encompass the four kingdom rule up to the end of the old covenant age and leading into the inauguration of the new covenant, symbolized by that stone growing into the kingdom of God.

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Now, those who favor Antiochus would say that the time of indignation would be the end of Greek rule.

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But it seems to me that to be consistent with the time of the end would mean the same since all these visions are connected.

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And one of the major purposes of the visions is to offer comfort, encouragement, and support for the saints under the captivity by these four successive kingdoms.

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We see that as the visions prophesy that there will be a day when the captivity is over and the kingdom of God will reign supreme.

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And that will begin when the old covenant ends. But here's an important point.

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Thus far, none of these visions foretell of the final judgment.

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Not so far. The only portray the beginning of the new covenant kingdom, which ends simultaneously with the end of the old covenant.

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And that takes place during the rule of the fourth kingdom, the Roman Empire. And I must make a brief comment that one school of theology teaches that these events take place during a restored

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Roman Empire, which is still in the future. And let me simply say that I don't believe that can be supported by these visions, which are clear on the time text and give no reference to a destruction of that kingdom and a restored one coming in.

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But let's return to the little horn. As much as said is said about him in the visions, let's see if there's anything that will lead to his identity.

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Well, in the vision, we've already learned that something's about this little horn.

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He waged war with the religious leaders of Israel. He magnified himself to be equal with God. He stopped the regular sacrifice.

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And verse 12, on account of the 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.

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The religious leaders, being corrupted already, are turned over to the little horn.

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Truth is no longer residing in the temple. The question is then asked in verse 13, how long will the vision about the regular sacrifice apply?

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Well, the transgression causes horror, so as to allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled.

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Now remember, by the time of Christ, the temple was a den of thieves.

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There was no true sacrifice, no true worship taking place, and ultimately it was to be destroyed completely.

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But now the holy ones are discussing and asking, how long will it be for the true sacrifice to be restored?

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And you come up with a figure for 2300 evenings and mornings, then the holy place will properly be restored.

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The exact figure, 2300, is significant because it's in round numbers and that means that it is a fixed time.

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A lot of calculations have been done as to what exactly the 2300, when it will start.

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I don't know when it will start, but I know when it will end. When will that be? True temple worship will only be restored when

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Christ is crucified, resurrected, and enters the temple not made with hands.

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That was absolutely necessary. Remember, even the priesthood was corrupted.

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And Jesus Christ, we're taught in Hebrews, that he enters the temple not made with hands.

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Does that sound familiar, that phrase? Same as chapter 2, when the stone is not cut with hands.

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We learn more about this little horn as the vision continues.

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In verse 22, we are reminded that after Alexander dies, the Greek empire has four rulers and they will not be as great as Alexander.

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Verses 23 to 25 gives a further description of the little horn. Now this is, we really need to pay attention to what it's saying if we want to identify the horn.

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Verse 23, in the latter period of their rule, that's the latter period of the four kings, when the transgressors have run their course, a king will arise insolent and skilled in intrigue.

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That's the little horn. This certainly could be Antiochus, but it could also describe another king.

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Look at verse 24. His power will be mighty, but not by his own power.

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In other words, he's like somewhat of a puppet, and he will destroy to an extraordinary degree and prosper and perform his will.

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He will destroy mighty men and the holy people. Again, a worthy description of Antiochus.

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I have to give him that. His power was not from his own, but from the kings of Greece.

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Look at verse 25. And through his shrewdness, he will cause deceit to succeed by his influence, and he will magnify himself in his heart, and he will destroy many while they are at ease.

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He will even oppose the prince of princes, but he will be broken without human agency.

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Now, here's where I start to have a little problem with the identity of Antiochus. There's a difference.

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Opposing the prince of princes could be taken figuratively, but the wording,

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I believe, suggests a more direct opposition, and he will be broken without human agency doesn't seem to fit

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Antiochus. Antiochus died almost 200 years before Christ, not during the

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Roman rule, nor the earthly ministry of Jesus. So, let me offer another possibility.

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Could the king who arises be Herod the Great, and then his line of Herods who came after him, who were equally as corrupt?

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First, the description fits Herod to a T. Verse 23 says, the little king, the little horn, or the king rose in the latter period of the

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Greek rule. Herod came to power right around the end of the Greek rule, at the beginning of the Roman rule.

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Roman rule over Greece was slow, methodical, so it's hard to pinpoint exactly when one ended and one began.

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Even the Pantheon of Greek gods were just given Roman names, so it was an easy transition from Greek to Rome.

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Let me read again. Verse 25, and through his shrewdness, not political power, but shrewdness, he will cause deceit to succeed by his influence.

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He will magnify himself in his heart. He will destroy many while they are at ease, and he will even oppose the

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Prince of Princes, but he will be broken without human agency. A couple of questions.

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Did Herod oppose the Prince of Princes? From the time he heard of his birth, he sought to kill him, killed all those babies because he was trying to kill the

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Prince of Princes. Herod Antipas, his successor, had

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John the Baptist beheaded. James was martyred by Herod Agrippa, and then do you remember how

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Herod Agrippa died? Let me read it in Acts chapter 12. On an appointed day,

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Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them.

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The people kept trying, crying out, the voice of a God, not of a man, and immediately an angel of the

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Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.

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Does that fit? But he will be broken without human agency. So perhaps you can see why

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I remain undecided exactly. Antiochus has a lot going for him, but I think

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Herod fits just a little bit better. But I want to emphasize, whether it was

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Antiochus or whether it was Herod the Great doesn't change the prophecy one bit.

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Look at verse 26. The vision of the mornings, which has been told, is true.

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But keep the vision secret, for it pertains to many days in the future.

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From the time Daniel is given the vision, it is still many days, in fact, several centuries, in fact, that the old covenant is superseded by the new.

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Remember the vision was not for the whole world, but for the people of God. One little other piece of symbolism which is worthy to mention.

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Notice that up until this point the beasts were carnivores, animals of prey, lions, leopards, bears.

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Notice now it's a ram and a male goat. Does that ring a bell?

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Those are sacrificial animals, which would indicate that the prophecy is meant for the people of God, not for the political leaders who were like to classify themselves as lions.

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But both of those animals had very significant sacrifices. Remember what this vision, it's not for the whole world any longer.

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It's for the people of God. It's for you. It's for me. But in that time period, it was given to encourage them, to comfort them, to give them hope that even though they have been taken captive by the enemies of God, God has not abandoned them.

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And one day in their future, the Messiah would come and set the captives free from bondage to sin.

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And he would establish a new covenant with them, one that could never be broken.

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And just as Paul said, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

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That's the purpose of this vision. Daniel was given his vision specifically for the people of God in his age.

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But the visions are also meant for our edification these not only centuries but millennia later.

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For seeing how God was faithful to his promises in the past encourages us in the present.

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The church of Jesus Christ will be vindicated by God at the end of time.

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The suffering and the hardship that the church endures will be rewarded.

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And even as Paul notes in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, all these things in the past have served as an example to us in the new covenant.

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So Christian, have faith. Don't lose hope in tough times.

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When things look the worst, God is faithful and will give you the faith to endure to the end.

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And if you're here today and you're not a believer in Jesus Christ, I would just simply urge you to repent of your sin.

39:14

Bow the knee to Jesus Christ. Repent of your sin and be saved.