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:
[kings of Media & Persia]
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
[king of Grecia ~ Alexander the Great]
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.
[the first king] 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:
[Alexander the 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, [Antiochus
IV Epiphanes came from the
Seleucid Empire of Syria] 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.
[First
abomination of desolation]
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 (2300); then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
[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.
It should be recalled that when
Daniel was given this prophecy, Israel was still held in
captivity in Babylon. This prophecy tells the future from
Daniel's perspective but it isn't until now at the time of
the end that it hold much significance as we see prophecy
given through history, often times not understood by those
living in the times or just before them.
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.
I believe this is speaking of
Antiochus IV Epiphanes from above. The context of this
chapter is telling Daniel the time from the end of their
captivity to the restoration of the temple celebrated today
in Judaism as Chanukkah.
[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.
