Daniel's Prophecy In Daniel 8 - Part 2 -

Daniel’s prophecy in Daniel 8 is a vision given to the prophet Daniel during the reign of King Belshazzar. It features symbolic imagery of a ram and a goat.

The chapter emphasizes God’s control over history. And ends with a message that the vision is for the “time of the end,” signaling both immediate fulfillment, and future fulfillment in the end times.

In Part 1 of Daniel’s Prophecy in Daniel 8 we looked at the first 8 verses of Daniel’s vision. Daniel saw a ram with 2 horns, 1 longer than the other. And then he saw a goat with a large horn defeat the ram.

In Part 2 we will continue to study Daniel’s prophecy in Daniel 8, and the implications in the past, and in the coming end times.

Daniel’s Prophecy in Daniel 8

The Smaller Horns of The Goat

Daniel 8:9-12 “From one of these horns a little horn emerged and grew extensively toward the south and the east and toward the Beautiful Land. It grew as high as the host of heaven, and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the earth, and trampled them. It magnified itself, even to the Prince of the host; it removed His daily sacrifice and overthrew the place of His sanctuary. And in the rebellion,the host and the daily sacrifice were given over to the horn, and it flung truth to the ground and prospered in whatever it did.

Daniel 8:13-14 “Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, “How long until the fulfillment of the vision of the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, and the surrender of the sanctuary and of the host to be trampled?” He said to me, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be properly restored.”

This is a continuation of Daniel’s prophetic vision of a goat in Daniel 8:5-8. After the “large horn” of the goat was broken, which represents first king of the Greek Empire Alexander the Great, there were 4 smaller horns that arose.

One of the little horns, or kings, emerged and grew extensively toward the south and east, and toward Israel (“the Beautiful Land”). This part of Daniel’s prophecy and vision has a dual meaning, one in the past and one in the coming end times.

The “little horn” in Daniel 8:9 would turn out to be Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Seleucid Empire. By taking the epitaph Epiphanes (“God Manifest”), Antiochus claimed to be a god, Zeus incarnate. In the time between the return of Jewish exiles from Babylon, and the rise of the Roman Empire, the land of Judea was caught between two ruling powers. The Seleucid Empire of Syria in the north, and Ptolemaic Egypt in the south. These kingdoms, both successors of Alexander the Great’s broken empire, warred with each other for more than a century while the Jewish nation sat at the crossroads. (An account of these kingdoms to the north and south of Israel, can be found in Daniel 11.)

Antiochus persecuted the Jews in Israel, and plundered the Jerusalem Temple. He carried off the sacred vessels and riches of the Temple to help finance his military campaigns. Antiochus also killed many innocent people, and brutally enforced his cultural and religious policies on the Jewish population. A time of great tribulation occurred as traditional practices such as circumcision were outlawed. And sacred scriptures were burned. Violators of his rule were brutally punished or killed.

Daniel’s Prophecy in Daniel 8

Future Meaning Of Daniel’s Prophecy

Verses in Daniel 8:9-12 also have the meaning of taking place in the future. Specifically in the coming end times. Jesus Himself talked about the end times and the “abomination that causes desolation” in Matthew 24:15

Matthew 24:15-25 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time.”

Jesus is revealing the truth about the coming end times and the Antichrist. And about the coming Tribulation. And Jesus also details how a great number of people will be deceived by the evil one.

Daniel’s Prophecy in Daniel 8

Gabriel Interprets Daniel’s Vision

Daniel 8:15-19 “While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. And I heard the voice of a man calling from between the banks of the Ulai: “Gabriel, explain the vision to this man.” As he came near to where I stood, I was terrified and fell facedown. “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.” While he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me, helped me to my feet, and said, “Behold, I will make known to you what will happen in the latter time of wrath, because it concerns the appointed time of the end.”

As Daniel was contemplating the prophetic vision he saw, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to help Daniel understand what he saw. As with all prophecy and visions, only God can give the revelation of the truth.

Daniel’s Prophecy in Daniel 8

Gabriel Reveals More Details

Daniel 8:20-22 “The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. The shaggy goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king. The four horns that replaced the broken one represent four kingdoms that will rise from that nation, but will not have the same power”

Daniel 8:23-25 “In the latter part of their reign, when the rebellion has reached its full measure, an insolent king, skilled in intrigue, will come to the throne. His power will be great, but it will not be his own. He will cause terrible destruction and succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the mighty men along with the holy people. Through his craft and by his hand, he will cause deceit to prosper, and in his own mind he will make himself great. In a time of peace he will destroy many, and he will even stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be broken off, but not by human hands.”

Daniel 8:26-27 “The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been spoken is true. Now you must seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.” I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was confounded by the vision; it was beyond understanding.”

As previously shown, Daniel 8:20-22 details the ram and goat with the large horn that Daniel saw. And the 4 horns that replaced the large horn (Alexander the Great) on the goat.

In Daniel 8:23-25 Gabriel reveals more about one of the small horns, “an insolent king”, that took power after the large horn was broken. The first meaning of this horn or king was Antiochus. “He will even stand against the Prince of princes” means that he tried to come against Jesus. The second meaning of this revelation is the Antichrist, who is to come in the end times. He too will try to defeat the “Prince of princes”, Jesus and His people.

But by reading and studying the book of Revelation we know what the ultimate outcome will be. Praise God that He will ultimately defeat His enemy and all that follow him.

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