Daniel
Chapter 8
Vs.1 Daniel has another vision.
Daniel sees a ram (male sheep). The ram had 2 long horns. It was standing by a river. One of the horns was longer than the other. The longer horn was newer it began to grow after the other one did.
The ram hit everything with its head and pushed it out of the way. It pushed to the west, north, and south.
No one could stop it. It did as it wanted and it became very powerful.
Then suddenly a male goat came from the west. The goat had one big horn between its eyes.
He came so fast his feet did not touch the ground. He came at the ram. He hit it and broke both of its horns.
Now the ram had no power. The goat pushed it down and walked on it.
The goat became very powerful. When it was the most powerful—-its one large horn was broken off. In its place 4 horns grew. Each horn was pointing in a different direction—north, south, east, west.
From one of these 4 horns another small horn grew. This small horn grew and grew until it was very powerful. Its power reached to the south, the east and to the “pleasant land” meaning Israel.
Its power was so great it reached to the heavens and it had a battle with the heavenly army of angels. It threw some of the ones in the heavenly army to the ground. It threw some of the stars to the ground. It walked on them both.
This little horn went again the King/ Commander/Leader of heaven’s armies.
The little horn stopped the sacrifices that were made every day at the temple. It destroyed the temple.
The army of heaven was stopped from destroying the little horn for its sin.
The things happening in the temple became more and more sinful and not holy.
Truth was no more believed in. Lies were believed.
The horn was able to succeed in everything it did.
Then Daniel heard someone ask the question, “How long will this little horn be allowed to do all these bad things?”
The answer was: “It will be allowed for 2300 evenings and mornings. Then the temple will be put back the right way.”
(The Jewish calendar is measured not by the sun but by the moon. Our calendar and days are the rising of the sun and setting of the sun—-solar. The Jewish calendar of long ago was the rising of the moon and setting of the moon.
This makes the number of days in a year a few less days in a year.
But the time is about 7 years.)
Vs. 15 Daniel was trying to understand what he saw in this vision. Daniel saw a person who looked like a man, and he heard a voice say : “Gabriel, tell Daniel what the vision means.” Gabriel is one of the highest angels in heaven. He often brings messages to people on earth.
Gabriel came near to Daniel. This made Daniel so afraid to have this powerful angel so close. Daniel fell down to the ground.
Gabriel told Daniel that the things that he saw are about things that will happen at the time of the end. The “end” meaning the end of our world and governments——the way the world and people live on earth. A new kind of earth will come next.
While the angel was speaking, Daniel fainted with his face to the ground.
Gabriel touched Daniel and helped him stand up. Gabriel said, I am here to tell you about what will happen at the end in a time called the time of “wrath” or God’s anger.
Gabriel said The ram is the Medes-Persians. The goat is Greece. The Greece kingdom will be broken up into 4 parts. None of those kingdoms will be as great as the first one.
At the end of their time to rule, sin will be very great and strong. Another king will come to power. He will deceive. (Fool people.)
This king will become very powerful, but not because of his own power.
He will destroy much. People will be surprised and shocked at what he does.
He will destroy powerful leaders. He will destroy the holy people.
He will trick people deceive them then suddenly destroy them.
He will make war/battle with the Prince of princes (Christ).
He will be broken—-not by man’s power—-by a higher power.
His power will last 2300 evenings and mornings.
These things will not happen for a very long time . Do not tell anyone about it.
Vs. 27 Daniel was so afraid and amazed that he got sick. He was sick for several days. Then he got up and did his work. But he could not understand all that he had seen.
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The book of Daniel was written about 600 years before Christ was born. It has been 2015 years since Christ was born. That is 2615 years ago that Daniel saw these things in a vision.
For 2615 years people have been talking about what all this means. Some of the kingdoms talked about have come on earth and are over with and gone.
The Medes-Persians kingdom was after the Babylon kingdom. After it came the kingdom of Greece.
We have history books that tell what happened. Alexander the Great became the one big horn of the goat. He was a strong king and a man of war.
He came into the Middle East countries fast. Just like the goat he came so fast his feet did not touch the ground. Alexander came to be a king and he became powerful and won over many lands fast.
When he was the most powerful and young he died. His kingdom was divided into 4 parts:
one part was in Greece,
one was in Turkey, and the southern parts of Russia
one took over Syria, Iran, Iraq and over Israel,
one was in the top part of Africa that was Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia.
The little horn that came up is a king that came up during the time after the Greece kingdom was divided.
This king was a “type or kind of” the Anti Christ.
The first king named Antiochus a Greek king over the Syria, Iraq, Iran, area.
He had a son, named, Antiochus Epiphanes. It was this son who did bad things to the Jews.
This second Antiochus stopped the Jews from doing their sacrifices in the temple. He stopped them from worshipping God.
He took a pig into the Jewish temple and put it on the altar. The Jewish people were told by God not to eat pig meat. So this was an awful thing for the Jews. This king even made them eat the pig meat.
He also made the Jews to bow down to his idols.
Of course, some of the Jews would not do it. They were killed.
Finally, one Jewish man fought against them and killed some of Antiochus’ soldiers. That Jewish man had to go hide in a cave for years.
Later that Jewish man’s sons came back and fought against the soldiers and won the city back for the Jews.
In the Bible, some of the prophecy has two times that it will happen. This prophecy of the little horn was fulfilled once already in the king of Antiochus Epiphanes.
This little horn will be fulfilled in another king later. There will be another king that will rise up in the future that will also be against the Jews.
And this king that will come will fight against Christ. This king will have a power in him that is not of himself but given by Satan. This king will be destroyed by a power t hat is not man’s power but a higher power Christ’s power.
This king will be the real Anti Christ. Antiochus was a “type or kind” of Anti Christ. The next one coming will be the real one.
In Daniel’s vision, it said that this king would fight the armies of heaven. Vs. 10 That he would cast (throw) down some of the host of heaven. And throw some of the stars to the ground.
I looked at what some Bible teachers wrote about this verse. Some do not explain it at all. Some think that is means the same as Chp. 8 :24 when it talks about the “mighty and holy people” meaning the people who follow Christ.
The Anti Christ will kill Christians and Jews.
Satan will enter into the Anti Christ.
In the past, Satan did take part of God’s angels into sin and they were rebels with Satan. And they did fall with Satan.
I guess we are not sure what vs. 10 means.
The Anti Christ will fight with Christ. In the end, the Anti Christ will have a big battle called Armageddon. Many countries will join with him to fight against Israel.
Just when it looks like Israel will be defeated Christ will come from heaven and save them. The AntiChrist will be killed and he will be thrown into hell.