Last Updated:
01/09/2012 03:40
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Two years after Daniel’s vision in chapter 7, he is shown another vision that covers
the
history of Alexander the Great’s conquests over Medo-Persia some 300 years
in Daniel’s future and what happens
to Alexander’s kingdom when he dies. It shows the historic split of
Alexander’s kingdom upon his death and the subsequent rise of a
ruler from the Syrian Seleucid Empire, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who
is a foreshadow of the future man of sin, the
antichrist.
Daniel
8
1-2: In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared
unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the
first. And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was
at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a
vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.
3-4: Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold,
there stood before the river a ram which had two horns:
and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the
higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and
southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any
that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and
became great.
5-8: And as I was considering, behold, an he goat
came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the
ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
And he
came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the
river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come close
unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram,
and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before
him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there
was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. Therefore the he goat waxed very great:
and when
he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable
ones toward the four winds of heaven. [His
four generals split the kingdom]
9-12: And out of one of them came forth a
little horn,
which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the
east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down
some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.
Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the
daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of the sanctuary was cast
down. And an host was given him
against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down
the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.
13-14: Then I heard one saint speaking, and another
saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the
vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of
desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under
foot? And he said unto me, Unto two
thousand and three hundred days ; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
- An examination of
history and scripture to show the fulfillment of this prophecy ending
with what is celebrated today as
Chanukkah.
[Prophecy gone over again to explain symbols]
15-19: 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 thee know what shall be
in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end
shall be.
20-22: The ram which thou sawest having two horns are
the kings of Media and Persia. 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, whereas four stood up
for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his
power.
23-25: 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 practise, and
shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause
craft [H4820
deceit]
to prosper in his
hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace
[H7962
Security] shall
destroy many: [Daniel
11:21] he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he
shall be broken without hand.
[Closing]
26-27:
And the vision of the evening and the
morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou 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.
“The ram represents the Medo-Persian Empire. The longer horn that
grew up later was the Persian side. The Medes were originally the
dominant force but Cyrus quickly turned things around so that the
Persians overwhelmed the Medes and claimed the Empire through shrewd
political maneuvering.”
“The goat, representing the Greek Empire (also known as the
Macedonian Empire) under Alexander, moved so fast it literally flew eastward.
Alexander conquered the known world in just 11 years. The Persian king Xerxes
had built a huge army numbering 2 million men whom he had trained for four
years. Yet Alexander’s small army decimated the powerful Persian might with
ferocity and innovative military tactics. The Persians were powerless to stand
against the Greeks. Alexander died at the height of his power, of a sudden
fever following a drunken party in Babylon at the age of 33. There were rumors
that he was actually poisoned by Cassander, one of his generals. He was
eventually succeeded by his four key generals
Daniel 8:8 who divided the kingdom among them after 22 years
of infighting, murder, bribery and political chicanery.”
“In 330BC, Jaddua the high priest showed Alexander the
Great Daniel chapter 8. Alexander was so impressed as he saw his
military conquest of Persia laid out before him in a 200-year-old
account that he not only spared the city but granted the Jews many
concessions.”
I believe the vision of the ram and goat in Daniel 8 is clearly
laying out history, in the future for Daniel, but for us verifiable in
looking back at both Bible prophecy and history. This is one of those
prophesies that validates the Truth of the Bible.
The story of Chanukkah begins in the reign of
Alexander the Great. Alexander conquered Syria, Egypt and Palestine, but
allowed the lands under his control to continue observing their own
religions and retain a certain degree of autonomy. Under this relatively
benevolent rule, many Jews assimilated much of Hellenistic culture,
adopting the language, the customs and the dress of the Greeks, in much
the same way that Jews in America today blend into the secular American
society.
More than a century later, a successor of
Alexander, Antiochus IV was in control of the region. He began to
oppress the Jews severely, placing a Hellenistic priest in the Temple,
massacring Jews, prohibiting the practice of the Jewish religion, and
desecrating the Temple by requiring the sacrifice of pigs (a non-kosher
animal) on the altar. -Link
I believe this was a foreshadow of the same kind of war on
religious fundamentalism based on generalizing that any religion which doesn’t
conform to common standards is an “enemy of the state” on a world-wide level.
This could be implemented through the
Alliance
of Civilizations. With Antiochus, he attempted to get rid of Judaism
just like it will be in the end-times with the war on religious
fundamentalism. What I mean by fundamentalism is unwavering belief based on
the core writings of whatever religion.
We’re already seeing this kind of animosity being built up against
fundamentalist believers by the mainstream media, Hollywood and
politics. If one is unwilling to adjust their beliefs to be more
inclusive, thereby diluting and destroying the original belief, then
they are considered unreasonable and eventually will be labeled as
dangerous. Fundamentalist Islam has been one key in demonstrating how
religious fundamentalism can be dangerous, it’s just another few steps
to applying generalizations for an ignorant society to grab hold of and
run with.
If
Daniel 8:25 is actually talking about Antiochus IV, then as an
antichrist himself and operating under the same spirit, I would expect the
latter days antichrist to act much the same way, deceitful and ruthless in the
end.
“During the latter part of the Seleucid
dynasty, Antiochus III was succeeded by his son Seleucus IV
Philopator (187-175 BC). In order to collect tributes, Seleucus IV
sent his tax collector, Heliodorus, to rob the Jerusalem temple,
however, Heliodorus engineered a conspiracy against Seleucus IV,
killed him, and assumed interim Syrian leadership
Shortly before the death of Seleucus IV,
his son Demetrius was sent to Rome, in a hostage trade for Antiochus
IV, brother of Seleucus IV, who was previously captured by the
Romans in a war with Antiochus III. Upon release from Rome,
Antiochus IV traveled to Athens and secretly negotiated with the
Romans, for the Seleucid throne. He convinced the Romans to keep
Demetrius, the rightful heir to the throne in Rome, as a permanent
hostage, in return for monetary tributes. As a part of the deal, the
king of Pergamus, who was given a portion of the kingdom of
Antiochus III by the Romans for assisting them in war against the
Seleucid dynasty, expelled Heliodorus by force and placed Antiochus
IV on the throne.
With the stoic face of a master poker
player, and with his trickery, lies, and charlatanism, Antiochus IV
Epiphanes finagled his way into control as ruler of the powerful
kingdom of Syria and reigned from 175 BC to 164 BC. Taken for a mad
man, Antiochus IV stole from the palace treasury and Jewish temples,
rambled around in Roman officer disguise, and drank and caroused
with people of the lowest rank.
In 170 BC, with relative ease, Antiochus IV
attacked and overtook the Egyptian army, and then, he defeated the
Egyptian navy. At one point, capable of destroying the commanders of
the Egyptian army and masses of the population, Antiochus IV spared
them and befriended several Egyptian cities in a blatant gesture of
sycophancy, with the hope of persuading the young Egyptian king
Ptolemy VI Philometer, who became his captured ward, to politically
assist in the battle against the young king’s brother who headed the
remainder of the uncaptured Egyptian forces stationed in the city of
Alexandria.
Having risen to power after Seleucus IV,
who was known for his consideration toward the Jews offering them
many freedoms, Antiochus IV was absolutely ruthless in his treatment
of the Jews, committing unfathomable abuse of the Jews. He deposed
Onias the High-Priest and sold the priesthood to Jason, the younger
brother of Onias for 440 talents of silver. Onias was subsequently
killed by Andronicus, deputy to Antiochus IV in Antioch. In two
incredible acts of viciousness, Antiochus IV became known throughout
all future Jewish history for blatantly killing an old priest,
Eleazar, on the torture wheel because he would not eat pork, and,
for methodically dismembering to death, seven sons in the presence
of their mother, and then the mother, for not eating pork sacrificed
to Zeus Jupiter. Once while Antiochus IV was away at battle in
Egypt, a false rumor spread that he was dead, sending Judea into
revolt. Angered at his disloyal Jewish subjects, Antiochus IV
returned to Jerusalem with his vast army and he indiscriminately
killed 80,000 Jews from young to old, and sold another 40,000 Jews
into slavery. He was a very evil human being.
As recorded in the Second Book of
Maccabees, Chapter 9, God struck Antiochus IV down with an incurable
pain in his bowels. Arrogantly acting as though unfazed by his
illness, Antiochus IV was riding in a chariot when he fell out and
his body was racked throughout. Living for a brief period, his body
became so infected that flesh fell off his bones and produced an
intolerable stench. Humbled by God, Antiochus IV died without
dignity.” -
Link
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