Daniel 8- Explanation

“And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision. Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright. And he said, Behold, I will make you know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be. [2] The ram which you saw having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. [3] And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, just as four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. [4] And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. [s] And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut you up the vision; for it shall be for many days. And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.” (v15-27)

Notice that this is a vision during the day, not a dream at night. It takes place during the third year of King Belshazzar. In chapter five we read that he was the last king of Babylon. The phrase, “handwriting on the wall,” comes from that story of the king’s last night of rule before being conquered by the Persians. Because it was so late in his reign, this is probably the reason the vision starts with the second empire instead of the first.

How do we know the ram represents the second empire? First, the ram has a horn higher than the other. This parallels the bear with one side higher than the other. Second, the ram is conquered by the goat which in is then overturned by the great horn. That brings us to end of empires. Third, the ram is named. It is Persia (same as Medo-Persia). Therefore, the ram is not Babylon and cannot be the first empire. Persia was the second because it conquered the first, Babylon.

Now look at the goat. It conquers the ram, so it is the third kingdom. It also breaks into four horns, just like the leopard in chapter 7 that had 4 wings. Our hunch is confirmed when we are told that the goat is Greece—the conqueror of Persia. Parallels are key to keeping the three prophecies straight, because they help us with the fourth empire which partially breaks the parallelism.

Out of one of the areas of the Greek empire a small nation arises that then becomes the fourth great empire. It is not merely a horn (power, ruler) in the third kingdom, but it is the fourth kingdom itself, because we are told, “he shall be broken without hand.” This parallels the feet of the statue which were smashed by the stone “cut out without hand.” In other words, God’s kingdom conquers the great horn. Therefore, the great horn is the fourth empire. It is not the little horn in the fourth beast of chapter 7. Neither is it a little horn in the third empire—Greece. It is an “exceeding great” horn that persists until God removes it and the sanctuary is cleansed.

Look again at the interpretation. The great horn rises at “the latter time” when “the transgressors are come to the full.” When the Greek empire no longer helps to advance the freedom and truth of the gospel, then it is no longer protected. The next empire is permitted to conquer it.

Once again, we see much more space devoted to this fourth kingdom than to the earlier ones. So in all respects except one, all parallels remain in place. What is different is that this empire is no described in two phases. There is no separate united and divided phases. There is just the fourth kingdom. Therefore, everything described must apply to both phases. And when we get into the next chapter, we will indeed see that this is the case. Opposing the prince and host of heaven, casting down the truth and sanctuary, and the other features described in this chapter, apply to both.

Now look at the empire chart and see if it makes sense why the great horn and dark king are repeated.

The other parallel, and difference, involves the sanctuary. It parallels the judgment in the sanctuary in chapter 7, but the interpretation does not interpret it! In all three prophetic explanations, this is the only exception. Chapter 9 will fix that, but for now we need to realize that the great horn opposes God and His people until the sanctuary is cleansed, which is paralleled in the explanation by “broken without hand.” So both the cleansing of the sanctuary and the return of Christ are key to the demise of the great horn. Therefore, those two events are connected to each other.

Also, we will see that both the earthly and heavenly sactuaries are involved because both the united and divided phases of the fourth empire are involved.