Daniel 8:1-27, The Vision of the Ram and Goat

We come across another little horn in this passage, but it is not the little horn we saw in chapter 7, which came out of the revived Roman empire, the fourth beast of chapter 7, the iron/clay feet of chapter 2. This one comes out of the third kingdom, Greece, and becomes a type of, or partial fulfillment of, the antichrist, who is the little horn of the revived fourth kingdom. It’s complex. Sorry. But it makes for one of Daniel’s most compellingly explicit prophecies that was fulfilled just 167 years before Christ.

^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.

This two-horned beast, a ram, is Medo-Persia, a coalition kingdom whose Persian component is “higher” than the Median component. This kingdom conquered Babylon during Daniel’s time.

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.

But now another beast, a goat, conquers the Medo-Persian empire. In the interpretation that follows we see that this is Greece, under the leadership of Alexander the Great, whose speed of world domination was unparalleled. He came after Daniel had died. Alexander died young and his kingdom was divided among four generals, as Daniel predicted.

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.”

From one of those divisions of the Greek empire, the one that held power over Israel, came a usurper, Antiochus Epiphanes, who challenged Egypt, another part of the Greek empire (the “south” Daniel notes in his vision), and Parthia and Armenia (the “east”). Antiochus sought to eliminate the Jewish religion, taking over the sanctuary of the temple, stopping the morning and evening offerings prescribed by Yahweh, and at one point sacrificing a pig on the altar and setting up a statue of Zeus in the sanctuary. This is growing “even to the host of heaven,” a reference to challenging the angelic beings and Yahweh Himself, who rule over Israel (see The Divine Council). From the time the regular burnt offering ceased until the temple was restored to its “rightful state,” was “2,300 evening and mornings,” that is 1,150 days, or, in Hebrew reckoning, 3 years and 55 days. The sanctuary was restored under the rebellion of the Maccabees in the month Chislev, year 167 B.C.E., which corresponds to our December. Jews celebrate this restoration in the holiday of Hanukkah.

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.”

Daniel is told that the vision is for the “time of the end,” which does not mean the end of the current age or the end times, but to the end of Jewish history before the coming of Messiah. This interpretation is given by Gabriel, one of two named angels who have dealings with Israel, Michael being the other one named.

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.

Here Gabriel makes explicit what the vision means. Further description is given of this arrogant ruler, Antiochus historically, whose coming is a foreshadowing of the antichrist, the beast of Revelation 13, empowered by Satan, bent on destroying God’s people, cunning to the nth degree, challenging even the Son of Man, the Prince of princes, but who will not die by human hands (Antiochus was afflicted with a malady that killed him, the antichrist will be destroyed by the sword of Jesus). Daniel’s experience of the glorious presence of Gabriel leaves him sick for some days. This was a purposeful experience to highlight the horror of these days. Gabriel also appears to Mary (Luke 1:26-38), but not in a form like this that leaves her weak and sick.