Daniel 8: 1-8 HCSB
1 In the third year of King Belshazzar's reign, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me earlier. 2 I saw the vision, and as I watched, I was in the fortress city of Susa, in the province of Elam. I saw in the vision that I was beside the Ulai Canal. 3 I looked up, and there was a ram standing beside the canal. He had two horns. The two horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one came up last. 4 I saw the ram charging to the west, the north, and the south. No animal could stand against him, and there was no rescue from his power. He did whatever he wanted and became great. 5 As I was observing, a male goat appeared, coming from the west across the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground. The goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. 6 He came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and rushed at him with savage fury. 7 I saw him approaching the ram, and infuriated with him, he struck the ram, shattering his two horns, and the ram was not strong enough to stand against him. The goat threw him to the ground and trampled him, and there was no one to rescue the ram from his power. 8 Then the male goat became very great, but when he became powerful, the large horn was shattered. Four conspicuous horns came up in its place, [pointing] toward the four winds of heaven.
Two years after the first, Daniel has another vision of future events that matches very closely to what we know historically happened in the Persian and Greek Kingdoms Just before the Coming of Christ. Daniel is transported in the vision to Susa, which in his time was not an important city, But after the death of Cyrus will become the capital of the kingdom of Persia until they are overtaken by Greece. The ram is the Medo-Persian empire, with the lesser horn being the Medes and the bigger horn being Persia, which becomes more powerful over the years as the Mede kingdom fades. The goat is the kingdom of Greece under Alexander the great. the four horns represent the Greek kingdom splitting under four rulers after Alexanders death.
Daniel 8: 9-14
9 From one of them a little horn emerged and grew extensively toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land. 10 It grew as high as the heavenly host, made some of the stars and some of the host fall to the earth, and trampled them. 11 It made itself great, even up to the Prince of the host; it removed His daily sacrifice and overthrew the place of His sanctuary. 12 Because of rebellion, a host, together with the daily sacrifice, will be given over. The horn will throw truth to the ground and will be successful in whatever it does. 13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the speaker, "How long will [the events of] this vision last-the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and of the host to be trampled?" 14 He said to me, "For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be restored."
This little horn is not the one refferd to in Chapter 7, that one is a ruler in the fourth kingdom, were as this is a refferce to events that will happen in the third kingdom. This prophecy matches detail for detail the events of the reign of the Greek emperor Antiochus and the Macabean revolt in the second century B.C. "Toward the south east and beautiful land", Antiochus re-conquers Egypt in the south and Persia in the east, as well as Judea, the homeland of the Jewish people. his war against the heavenly host refers to his opposition and defeat of the Jewish people and Jewish priests. His removal of daily sacrifice is actually recorded in the apocyphal books of Maccabees 1 and 2, which though not considered scripture by protestants are believed to be historically accurate. "2,300 evenings and mornings" 61\2 years. Antiochus stopped the sacrifices in 171 B.C., and the Maccabean revolt starts 3 1/2 years later and lasts till Antiochus death in 165 B.C.
Daniel 8: 15-27 HCSB
15 While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there stood before me someone who appeared to be a man. 16 I heard a human voice calling from the middle of the Ulai: "Gabriel, explain the vision to this man." 17 So he approached where I was standing; when he came near, I was terrified and fell face down. "Son of man," he said to me, "understand that the vision refers to the time of the end." 18 While he was speaking to me, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face [to the ground]. Then he touched me, made me stand up, 19 and said, "I am here to tell you what will happen at the conclusion of the time of wrath, because it refers to the appointed time of the end. 20 The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The shaggy goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king. 22 The four horns that took the place of the shattered horn represent four kingdoms. They will rise from that nation, but without its power. 23 Near the end of their kingdoms, when the rebels have reached the full measure of their sin, an insolent king, skilled in intrigue, will come to the throne. 24 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 powerful along with the holy people. 25 He will cause deceit to prosper through his cunning and by his influence, and in his own mind he will make himself great. In [a time of] peace, he will destroy many; he will even stand against the Prince of princes. But he will be shattered, not by human hands. 26 The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been told is true. Now you must seal up the vision because it refers to many days [in the future]." 27 I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for days. Then I got up and went about the king's business. I was greatly disturbed by the vision and could not understand it.
Daniel 8: 15-27 HCSB
15 While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there stood before me someone who appeared to be a man. 16 I heard a human voice calling from the middle of the Ulai: "Gabriel, explain the vision to this man." 17 So he approached where I was standing; when he came near, I was terrified and fell face down. "Son of man," he said to me, "understand that the vision refers to the time of the end." 18 While he was speaking to me, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face [to the ground]. Then he touched me, made me stand up, 19 and said, "I am here to tell you what will happen at the conclusion of the time of wrath, because it refers to the appointed time of the end. 20 The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The shaggy goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king. 22 The four horns that took the place of the shattered horn represent four kingdoms. They will rise from that nation, but without its power. 23 Near the end of their kingdoms, when the rebels have reached the full measure of their sin, an insolent king, skilled in intrigue, will come to the throne. 24 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 powerful along with the holy people. 25 He will cause deceit to prosper through his cunning and by his influence, and in his own mind he will make himself great. In [a time of] peace, he will destroy many; he will even stand against the Prince of princes. But he will be shattered, not by human hands. 26 The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been told is true. Now you must seal up the vision because it refers to many days [in the future]." 27 I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for days. Then I got up and went about the king's business. I was greatly disturbed by the vision and could not understand it.
This is the first appearance of the angel Gabriel in the bible, who is one of only two angels angels who are mentioned by name, the other being the archangel Michael. He explains the prophecy in detail, which matches the history of the region for the next four hundred years. The extreme accuracy of these prophecies has caused most secular scholars to claim that book of Daniel was actually written just after the events of Anitiochus reign. This, however, still does not explain the prophecies of the fourth kingdom, which match up to Roman history. Fragments of the book found with the dead sea scrolls pre-date Antiochus reign, and were already considered cannon by the Qumran community who hid the dead sea scrolls, which make this late date of writing impossible.
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