Book of Daniel - Study

Chapter 8

In this chapter Daniel is given the vision of the "RAM" and "HE-GOAT ". It occurred in the "third year" of the reign of Belshazzar, 538 B.C., or two years after the previous Vision of the Four Wild Beasts. It occurred in the same year as the "Fall of Babylon," and probably before its "Fall," and its purpose was to inform Daniel what Empires were to succeed the Babylonian, and to further trace the Little Horn, for it is worthy of note that while the prophecies of Isaiah relate mainly to the "Christ," the Visions of Daniel are for the purpose of unveiling the Anti-Christ.


Our study gives us some insight to the Ram & the He Goat...

The Ram - (Dan. 8:3,4)
The Ram is seen as a great conquering kingdom. It is identified in (Dan. 8:20) as Media-Persia. The two horns, different in size, are obviously representative of Darius and Cyrus. - Remember from Daniel's viewpoint this is prophecy.

The Ram attacks West, North, and South.

The He-Goat - (Dan. 8:5-7)
The Goat is given the ability to defeat the Ram. The Goat defined in (Dan. 8:21). Of course this is what happened historically. The great horn between his eyes would be Alexander the Great, who became King of Greece when but 20 years of age, 336 B.C. Two years later in (334 B.C.), in goat-like fashion, he leaped the hellespont and with an army of 30,000 infantry and 5,000 calvary he defeated a Persian force on the banks of the Granicus. By a swift advance eastward the, following year, 333 B.C., defeated at Issus a Persian army of 600,000 men, commanded by a Persian king, Darius.

After minor conquests in Phoenicia and Egypt he returned to Syria, where on the banks of the Tigris River he defeated an enormous army lead by Darius. This is known as the Battle of Arbela, 331 B.C.. From 330 to 337 B.C., Alexander was engaged in subjugating the outlying provinces of the Persian Empire. Later he returned to Babylon, where at the climax of his glory, he died of marsh fever and drunkenness in June, 323 B.C. when he was 33 years old.

The Four Horns - (Dan. 8:8)
After the death of Alexander there was dissension as to who should be his successor, which ended, as the prophecy foretold, in four of his Generals dividing the territory of the Empire among themselves. Gassander took Greece, Lysimachus took Asia Minor, Selecius took Syria, Ptolemy took Egypt. These four kingdoms were in time absorbed in the "Fourth World Wide Empire," the Roman. The last to lose its identity was Egypt in 30 B.C..

The Little Horn - (Dan. 8:9)
Daniel give us a progressive look at the Anti-Christ and his kingdom. Each time we learn a few more characteristics. The little horn of (Dan. 8) is the same personality as the little horn in (Dan. 7). They are both one in the same, and consequently the king over the 10 toed kingdom of (Dan. 2).

Note:
The Little Horn is actually coming out of one of these other four horns. If you were to look at the map you would see that by the process of elimination all of the countries except Syria are eliminated (Dan. 8:9). If that is the case we have the Anti-Christ coming out of Assyria. Judas Iscariot was from the town of Kerioth, which was in Moab, which was in Assyria. Interestingly the Anti-Christ is referred to as the Assyrian in (Isa. 10:5-6; 14:24-25; 30:27-33). See also: (Jer. 48:25,41).

The "Pleasant Land" refers to Palestine.


These chapters of Daniel really begin to give us more identity to the Anti Christ, Satan. There are several chapters to cross reference for his identity throughout the Old and New Testaments. Several that I thought were helpful were those that affirmed the visions of Daniel here in chapter 8.

Daniel 8:10 - "It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them."

Daniel 8:24 - "He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy those who are mighty, the holy people."

Revelation 13:2 - "The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority."

There were other verses that had me cross-reference more characteristics of the Anti-Christ. One giving definition to his sin and casting him down to earth. It is found in Ezekiel 28:11-19.

Ezekiel 28:11-19 - "The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

“‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.’”


Then these verses really made me go and read more about Satan and his sin against God.

Daniel 8:10 reads - "It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them."

Verses from Revelation 12:3-4 Revealed to me that the dragon (Satan) was laying in waiting to devour a child from it's mother the moment it was born.

Revelation 12:3-4 - "Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born."

I went back and read the entire chapter of Revelation 12. This chapter symbolizes conflict between God and Satan. The woman gave birth to Christ. The dragon, Satan, sought to destroy Christ, but his attempts were unsuccessful. Chapter 12 describes for us a heavenly battle that took place between Satan with his demons and God's angels. The result was Satan's defeat.

Life is so short. The Bible says that we must be prepared to meet God at all times. We never know when we walk out the front doors of our home, or step into our car, or simply open our eyes to a new day, what lies ahead for us.

Job 14:5 from the New King James Version of the Bible reminds me of this "Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass."

Millions of people on earth are walking around physically alive, but spiritually dead. When your eyes and ears become awakened to the cries of others, you hear those who say they are empty and lost. They are separated from the source of life and like a lamp which is unattached they are dark and lifeless. The lamp may be very expensive, it may have a beautiful shade which draws attention but has no light without being plugged into the source of energy. Jesus said, "I am the life..."

The book of Daniel and the book of Revelation is a beautiful but often frightening account of the great battle for spiritual supremacy. I pray that you will be sure to not take your situation, your days for granted. Ask God to keep you aware of Satan's attacks. Depend on God for your strength and victory for each day!

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 - "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

In Him,
Mama Barb