DANIEL
Week 23, chapter 8 continued
Last week we started our examination of one of the more difficult chapters in Daniel if not the
entire bible: Daniel Chapter 8. And we won’t nearly get finished with it this week. And perhaps
this is a good time to explain something that you’ve no doubt already noticed: I am teaching
you the bible, not prophecy. And learning the bible is a more challenging task than hearing a
Prophecy teacher (like Hal Lindsay for example) tell you what they think various prophecies
mean and how they’ll play out. Prophecy teachers draw from many passages all over the
bible, and put them in a certain order that they think the passages ought to go, and then draw
on current events to put together and validate their storyline and conclusions. The nature of
what they do (however honorable) involves a great deal of personal speculation. However I’m
neither a Prophet nor a Prophecy teacher. So I’m presenting to you the Book of Daniel as Holy
Scripture, noting that some of Daniel is historical, and some of it is prophetic. At the moment,
we’re in a section of Daniel that deals primarily with prophecy. I’m not going to build a
storyline and add current events to try and explain how all of Daniel’s prophecies are going to
turn out and thus what the End Times will look like, because it’s simply not in the bible. Rather
we’ll generally only go so far as the bible tells us. I will add a little history in the case of
prophecies that have already been fulfilled.
And because what we’re doing together is challenging and complex and probably different
from what you’re used to (in hearing about prophecy) I think the best thing to do is to see if we
can summarize what was presented in the last couple of lessons hopefully in a way that it
makes it easier to remember and to understand. You do want to understand End Times
prophecy, as presented by God’s Word, right? Then understanding the Book of Daniel as best
we can, including this maze and puzzle that is chapter 8 is a key ingredient. But we also have
to accept that not every question will be answered for us, and I want to keep speculation to the
bare minimum.
What makes this chapter 8 so vexing is that we have some new and different symbolism for
already established symbolisms from earlier chapters. The trick is to draw lines between each
of these symbolic elements, determine what they mean, and connect them because what
we’re reading about is prophetic revelation given to us progressively, and thus as we move
along we are give more information that builds upon previously given information. Hopefully
this associated chart will help to put it together.
Let’s begin by re-reading the first 12 verse of Daniel 8.
RE-READ DANIEL 8:1 – 12
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Look at this chart. Notice that what we have up through Daniel chapter 8 is 3 different visions
that we are trying to harmonize. And these 3 different visions are given to us in 3 different
chapters: chapters 2, 7 and 8. The first vision presented to us in the Book of Daniel occurred in
chapter 2, and it was a vision given to King Nebuchadnezzar: the vision of the statue that
consisted of 4 different metals. The head was made of gold, the chest and arms were made of
silver, the trunk and hips were made of bronze and the legs of iron. But another element of the
statue is that it has feet, which are a mixture of iron and clay. And further, a mysterious rock
comes flying out of nowhere to smash the entire statue to smithereens. Since we are reviewing
and summarizing, then here is what King Nebuchadnezzar’s statue is symbolizing.
It is a message from God that in the ensuing years there will be 4 world empires; each empire
(or kingdom) is represented by a particular portion of the statue. These empires are gentile
controlled and administered empires; they are not Hebrew empires. In fact these 4 gentile
empires are set up against Israel and thus against the coming Kingdom of God. The only
representative kingdom on earth that has been, or ever will be, a shadow and pattern of the
Kingdom of God is Israel. And in biblical times Israel lasted as a united kingdom for only about
80 years under David and Solomon. Then upon Solomon’s death, a civil war ensued and the
Kingdom of Israel became split apart into two independent kingdoms: the Kingdoms of Judah
and Israel (later known as Ephraim).
As of the time of Daniel, both Israel and Judah have been sent off into exile for their sins
against the Lord. And their primary sin is idolatry. Israel consisted of 10 Hebrew tribes that
were scattered and became known as the legendary 10 lost tribes of Israel. Israel conquered
by Assyria around 725 B.C. (about 175 years before the time of Daniel), thrown out of the
Promised Land and strewn all over the Asian continent. The period of their exile was to be long
and indefinite, and their re-gathering was prophesied to only finally occur in the End Times.
And, by the way, that re-gathering of the 10 tribes is occurring, right now, in our time. So you
do the math as to where we are in bible and human history. And a word to the wise: perhaps
we all ought to order our lives, and think about our relationship with God, accordingly.
In time, the Babylonians conquered the Assyrians and took over their kingdom. Next the
Babylonians conquered Judah, and exiled them to Babylon. Daniel was part of the original
Jewish exiles. These exiles were not scattered, rather they were taken generally intact, as a
community, and allowed to live together in Babylon as a community of Jews. It was prophesied
that there exile would only last for 70 years and then they’d return to their homeland.
Since we are dealing with the prophetic part of the Book of Daniel, and since the various
visions recounted in the Book are of course future oriented, then naturally the 1
st
gentile empire
of the 4 that is symbolically represented is Babylon because Daniel is living in Babylon.
However the various visions reveal that the Babylonian Empire will, in a rather short time and
during Daniel’s lifetime, be defeated and replaced by another empire.
We learned that Nebuchadnezzar’s dream-statue’s head of gold represents Babylon, and the
silver chest and arms represent the empire that replaces Babylon, which is Media-Persia. The
3
rd
empire in sequence is the one represented by the bronze trunk and hips, and that is
Greece, which conquers the Media-Persian Empire. And the 4
th
empire that is represented by
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the iron legs of the statue is not identified in Daniel. Much time has to pass before history
finally discloses that the legs of iron turned out to be the Roman Empire. Then we get to the
feet of the statue that are made of that strange mixture of iron and clay. And the truth is, as of
now we don’t know who those feet represent because it certainly appears that the empire or
powerful nation depicted by those feet of clay and iron is still future to us who are living in the
first part of the 21
st
century. Nonetheless there is no lack of speculation about it among bible
scholars, pastors and novelists, and there are those prophecy teachers who are certain that
they know who that final kingdom is. They say that the feet of iron and clay is a revived, but
updated, version of the Roman Empire, probably the EU, the European Union. My position is
that this is unlikely, but anything is possible so I can’t entirely discount it. I won’t deal right
now with why I’m skeptical that the feet of iron and clay is a revived Roman Empire, but I will
in time.
So, the 1
st
vision of the future about these coming 4 world empires is given by God to King
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and Daniel interprets it for him (Daniel chapter 2). But later, some
years after Nebuchadnezzar is dead and a few kings of Babylon have come and gone, King
Belshazzar of Babylon sits on the throne. And in the 1
st
year of Belshazzar’s reign, Daniel now
receives his own vision from God. This vision is presented to us in Daniel chapter 7. Although
this is the first vision God has given to Daniel, it is the second vision given to us in the Book of
Daniel (the 1
st
vision in the Book of Daniel was to Nebuchadnezzar).
In Daniel’s first vision, he was shown a series of 4 beasts. The first beast was like a lion (but it
wasn’t a lion). The second beast was like a bear, but it wasn’t a bear. The 3
rd
was like a
leopard, but wasn’t a leopard. And the 4
th
beast was given no animal likeness at all. It was said
that this beast was totally different from the first 3 beasts. And it was the most dangerous, most
violent, most powerful of them all. And it had 10 horns on its head. The 10 horns symbolized
10 kingdoms with their kings. However a little horn sprouted later and it displaced 3 out of the
10 horns. So for a moment there were 11 horns, but then when the little horn gained power,
the surviving horns (kings) numbered 8 (7 of the original horns plus the new little horn that
popped up).
This little horn was said to have a mouth that spoke blasphemy against the Lord. And it had
eyes that symbolize wisdom and enlightenment and an ability to know everything that was
going on around it. It is generally believed that this little horn, a ruler of unprecedented power
and ability, represents the Anti-Christ of the End Times, and so is still future to us (and I agree
with this assessment).
But please notice that in this vision of Daniel chapter 7, there is absolutely no mention of that
final world kingdom that was represented in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream as the feet of iron and
clay. It is simply not addressed in either this vision of Daniel or his next one. To be as clear as I
can make it: the gold head that is Babylon is symbolized in Daniel’s vision as a lion-beast. The
silver arms and chest that is Media-Persia is symbolized in Daniel’s vision as a bear-beast.
The bronze trunk and hips that are Greece is symbolized in Daniel’s vision as a 4-headed
leopard. And the iron legs that are Rome is symbolized in Daniel’s vision as an un-named
beast that has 10 horns on it’s head, but then later a little horn sprouts up and does away with
3 of the original 10 horns.
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Now we move to Daniel chapter 8. This is the second vision that God has given directly to
Daniel, even though this is the 3
rd
vision given to us in the Book of Daniel (Nebuchadnezzar
received the 1
st
vision, then Daniel received the next 2 visions, for a total, thus far, of 3
visions). And, lo and behold, just to confuse us a bit more, we get yet another set of symbols
regarding the identities of these gentile world empires. However in reality, Daniel 8 only deals
with 2 of these empires, and so we’re only given 2 additional symbols: a ram and a goat.
The ram has two horns (symbolizing two kings of two separate kingdoms), and the goat has
one large horn (symbolizing one king presiding over one large kingdom). The ram represents
Media-Persia, and the goat represents Greece who conquers Media-Persia. So to be clear:
Babylon, the 1
st
world kingdom, is not discussed in Daniel chapter 8, Daniel’s 2
nd
personal
vision. And neither is the 4
th
world kingdom, Rome, discussed in Daniel chapter 8. So in
chapter 8 we’re only dealing with 2 of the 4 world empires: Media-Persia and Greece. And
what we learn is that because the ram has one horn that is longer than the other, this means
that one of the two Kingdoms that together form the 2
nd
world empire (Media and Persia) will
be more powerful than the other. And it turns out that Persia was a little more powerful than
Media.
Then next we learn that the goat with one large horn will eventually have that horn broken.
That means that this all-powerful king of Greece would be destroyed. And in place of this 1
large horn, 4 smaller ones would emerge. That is, the Empire of Greece that at one time was
ruled by one immensely powerful man (Alexander the Great) would, upon his death, be sliced
up into 4 governing districts and so ruled by a group of 4 rulers. But then one of those 4 horns
will lose its power to a smaller horn that eventually grows very powerful. And history proved
that when Alexander the Great died, 4 of his generals ruled over the 4 governing districts that
were established. And then in time one of them was replaced by a man of little power (no
doubt this was supernaturally arranged by the God of Israel to achieve His purposes), and this
little horn ruled over Egypt and the Promised Land. He was infamously hostile and cruel to the
Jewish people and eventually desecrated the HolyTemple and dissolved the Priesthood. His
name was Antiochus Epiphanies.
So one more time, and in the order of which these 4 world empires will appear: Babylon is the
golden head of the statue, and is also the lion beast. Media-Persia is the silver arms and chest
of the statue, and is also the bear beast, but then it is also represented by the ram with 2
horns. Greece is the bronze trunk and hips, and also the 4-headed leopard, but then is also
represented by the goat with one large horn. And Rome is the iron legs, and also the un-
named beast with the 10 horns. All four of these gentile kingdoms have come and gone in
history, exactly as prophesied by Daniel. All that is left to be fulfilled is the emergence of the
nation or nations represented by the feet made of iron and clay; and as of today we do not
know who that is even though some say it is a revived Roman Empire. Although this event
must be future to us, it may well be emerging right now, as we speak in the 21
st
century. I must
be candid, however, and tell you that at least one major branch of Christianity believes that
even this empire of the feet of clay and iron has come and gone, so there is no universal
agreement on it. But I must also be equally candid with you that the sole reason this one
branch of Christianity believes this way, is that it MUST be so or most of their doctrines are
proven to be false. So regardless of how history has played out and how impossible is their
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scenario, and how much allegory is required to make it work, they are determined to stick to it.
But such is the nature and danger of dealing with theological doctrines, prophecy, and
especially unfulfilled prophecy.
Then we were face with a troubling question: is the little horn of Daniel’s 4
th
beast (the 4
th
beast
is said to be Rome), the same as the little horn that sprouted on the head of the goat (the goat
is Greece)? I can tell you that many prophecy teachers say that it is. And once it again, it
MUST be so for them or their doctrines fall apart. On its face it cannot be that the two little
horns are the same; not the least of which reason is that they obviously are brought forth from
two different world empires. The little horn with the blasphemous mouth comes riding upon
Daniel’s 4
th
un-named beast; but the little horn that becomes great and rules over Egypt and
the Promised Land comes riding upon the head of the 3
rd
kingdom represented by the goat.
However, I do believe that they symbolize essentially the same thing; it’s just that what these
two little horns do happens twice. One is a foreshadow of the other. The bible establishes a
pattern of a biblical prophecy being fulfilled and then later being fulfilled again but on an even
greater scale.
Let’s talk about that pattern especially as concerns the two separate, but similar, little horns.
First we’re going to have to review a principle that I taught you a several lessons ago
concerning Daniel chapter 2, and that is that the bible (and Daniel) speaks of two distinct and
different “latter days”. And that the latter days aren’t necessarily the same thing as the End
Times. The Hebrew words for latter days are acharit-hayamim; but when lifted out of context
and stood alone the term is only referring to some undefined future time; any future time.
However in the bible, when taken in context, the phrase is in reference to a Messianic
Kingdom. And that is true even if the initial manifestation of a specific “latter days” kingdom
prophecy might not be in Messianic times (such as Jacob prophesying the outcome of the 12
tribes in Genesis 49), but a later manifestation of that same prophecy will involve the Messiah.
As an illustration of this pattern think of the coming of Yeshua around 30 A.D. He
accomplished part of His prophesied mission but not all, before He was executed, arose, and
then ascended to Heaven. But the fulfillment of the remainder of the prophecies concerning
Messiah only happens after His 2
nd
coming that is yet future to us. So they happen in two
distinct stages, many centuries apart.
So here is an important principle concerning biblical prophecies about the latter days: for the
people who were alive before Messiah came the 1
st
time, the latter days, the
acharit-hayamim,wasfuture to them. For them Yeshua’s 1
st
coming would have been “the
latter days” that they were looking forward to. What they didn’t know then was that the “latter
days” would manifest itself more than once and that a 2
nd
manifestation of latter days would
happen far into the future as the Messiah would come again for a 2
nd
appearance.
For us in the 21
st
century Messiah Yeshua’s 1
st
coming is ancient history; it happened 2000
years ago and is something we joyfully look back upon. So for us “the latter days” means
when Yeshua returns to us; it is the anticipation we have for when He comes the 2
nd
time. Thus
in the bible there is a 1
st
“latter days” (Messiah’s first coming) and there is a 2
nd
“latter days”
(Messiah’s prophesied 2
nd
coming). The 1
st
“latter days” has come and gone; the 2
nd
“latter
days” is ahead of us. There are prophecies about each of these latter days, but until Christ
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came and went it was nearly impossible to separate them. Both are fully valid, but as of now
only 1 of them has occurred. And the first one is a shadow and pattern of the second one. As
hard as that might be to grasp hold of, this is a firm biblical principle about how prophecy often
works, and it is probably one that causes the most challenges in dealing with bible prophecy,
and this principle is front and center in dealing with Daniel’s prophecies. And it is also why
we’ll so various interpretations that result in various End-Times theologies.
So in Daniel we have two separate visions both involving little horns; the little horns are similar,
and they both behave in blasphemous ways, and they both are determined to eradicate the
Jewish people and the Jewish ideal. But they aren’t the same horn (the same person), and
(key to our understanding) they don’t appear at same time. The little horn that grows upon the
head of the goat is unequivocally associated in Daniel 8 with the 3
rd
world kingdom of Greece.
The little horn that grows upon Daniel’s strange un-named beast with 10 horns in Daniel 7 is
directly associated with the 4
th
world kingdom of Rome. Therefore there is no way that they can
be the same little horn, even if they have similar attributes and behave in mostly the same way.
So here’s how we put this together: the little horn of Greece (the goat) was from Daniel’s
perspective looking ahead to the 1
st
latter days (the 1
st
coming of Christ), and the little horn of
the 4
th
beast of Daniel 7 was looking ahead even farther to a 2
nd
latter days (the 2
nd
coming of
Christ). Confusing enough for us, but impossible for Daniel to have imagined. It’s no wonder
he called in sick for the next few days after receiving these visions.
Thus history (not the bible) reveals that the little horn that comes from the Greek Empire was
Antiochus Epiphanies. However the other little horn, the one that comes from the Roman
Empire, is still in our future. The common name used today for this little horn is the Anti-Christ
and who that is, history has not yet revealed. And yet, the Roman Empire, that 4
th
world
kingdom from which the little horn that is the Anti-Christ is to be produced, has come and gone.
So how can it be Rome that produces our future little horn, the Anti-Christ? Revelation 13
helps us here. But once again, we have to take the bible for what it says and not take some
passages and ignore others in order to try and validate popular End-Times storyline and
doctrinal agenda. And that is no easy task.
READ REVELATION 13:1 – 8
There can be no reasonable debate; the Book of Revelation is self-evidently speaking about
the 2
nd
latter days. How can I be so sure of that? Because, after all, John wrote this book at
least ½ century after Christ’s death, and so the 1
st
latter days had passed away into history
well before he had his vision. So what John saw in his divine revelation was for a future time;
or as many in his day thought, perhaps their present time. In fact we have many liberal bible
scholars today advocate that John was speaking in coded language about the Roman Empire,
and that Nero was John’s beast and Daniel’s 2
nd
little horn. But these are the same ones that
proclaim that Daniel is a Jewish fraud. And in our time many Christian evangelical prophecy
teachers say that John’s Revelation beast is the same as the 4
th
beast in Daniel’s vision. And
I’m here to tell you that they’re not (at least according to revealed Scripture they’re not). A
plain and careful reading of Daniel’s own words also shows they’re not. How is the 4
th
beast in
Daniel 7 described? As having NO animal likeness, and having 10 horns on ONE head.
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How is the Revelation 13 beast described? As having the likeness of a leopard, AND a bear,
AND a lion. And having 7 heads and 10 horns (or crowns, same symbolism). The thing that
connects this Revelation beast with the Book of Daniel beast is that the Revelation 13 beast is
a hybrid of all 4 beasts in Daniel’s vision: a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a strange un-named
beast with 10 horns. And the total number of heads on all 4 beasts from Daniel’s vision is 7 (1
for the lion, 1 for the bear, 4 for the leopard, and 1 for the un-named beast equals 7), which is
the same number of heads on the Revelation 13 beast if you combine them all.
So the Daniel 7 little horn, the one that is produced by the 4
th
world empire, Rome, seems to
be the future Anti-Christ, and thus it relates to the 2
nd
latter days (the days leading up to the 2
nd
coming of Messiah, His return). And the Revelation 13 beast helps us to see that while the little
horn itself (probably the Anti-Christ) will indeed have some relationship to the former Roman
Empire, the totality of the beast that represents the kingdom or government of the Anti-Christ
will NOT be merely of Rome, so it will likely not be a revived Roman Empire. Rather it will be
formed from remnants of all the past 4 world empires of Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece, and
Rome, because all of their symbols (lion, bear, leopard, and beast with 10 horns) are used in
the make up of John’s Revelation 13 beast.
The little horn from Daniel chapter 8 is directly assigned to the 3
rd
world empire who is Greece
(Daniel 8:21 says: “The shaggy male goat is the king of Greece…” so there’s no guesswork
needed); and that little horn turned out to be Antiochus Epiphanies who did precisely what
Daniel prophesied he would do in Daniel chapter 8:10 – 12. And this of course relates to the 1
st
latter days, (the days leading up to the 1
st
coming of Messiah).
Daniel 8:10-12 CJB
10
It (the little horn) grew so great that it reached the army of heaven; it hurled some of
the army and the stars to the ground and trampled on them.

11
Yes, it even considered itself as great as the prince of the army; the regular burnt
offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was thrown down.

12
Through sin, the army was put in its power, along with the regular burnt offering. It
flung truth on the ground as it acted and prospered.
The key verse, verse 12, is, in the CJB, is an extremely tortured and poor translation. So to get
a better handle on it here is a far better one from the Jewish Publication Society:
JPS
Daniel 8:12 And the host was given over to it (the little horn) together with the
continual burnt-offering through transgression; and it cast down truth to the ground,
and it wrought, and prospered.
In other words, the little horn of Daniel chapter 8 would be given full power over the Jewish
people (called “the host”) and also full power over the Temple and its worship, including the
sacrifices (here called the burnt-offering). And that is exactly what happened, and what
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Epiphanies did, and it is recorded for us in 1
st
Maccabees. We read some of it last week and
I’ll only re-read a few verses so that we can connect the dots.
1
st
Maccabees 1:
10 From these there grew a wicked offshoot, Antiochus Epiphanes son of King
Antiochus; once a hostage in Rome, he became king in the 107th year of the kingdom of
the Greeks.
11
It was then that there emerged from Israel a set of renegades who led many people
astray. 'Come,' they said, 'let us ally ourselves with the gentiles surrounding us, for
since we separated ourselves from them many misfortunes have overtaken us.'
12
This
proposal proved acceptable,
13
and a number of the people eagerly approached the king,
who authorised them to practise the gentiles' observances.
20
After his conquest of Egypt, in the year 143, Antiochus turned about and advanced on
Israel and Jerusalem in massive strength.
21
Insolently breaking into the sanctuary, he
removed the golden altar and the lamp-stand for the light with all its fittings,
22
together
with the table for the loaves of permanent offering, the libation vessels, the cups, the
golden censers, the veil, the crowns, and the golden decoration on the front of the
Temple, which he stripped of everything.
44
The king also sent edicts by messenger to Jerusalem and the towns of Judah,
directing them to adopt customs foreign to the country,
45
banning burnt offerings,
sacrifices and libations from the sanctuary, profaning Sabbaths and feasts,
46
defiling
the sanctuary and everything holy,
47
building altars, shrines and temples for idols,
sacrificing pigs and unclean beasts,
48
leaving their sons uncircumcised, and
prostituting themselves to all kinds of impurity and abomination,
49
so that they should
forget the Law and revoke all observance of it.
50
Anyone not obeying the king's
command was to be put to death.
So as predicted in Daniel 8:10 – 12, the “hosts” (God’s servants on earth, the Jews) were
flung to the ground by this little horn. And the Temple was invaded, taken over, and other gods
were worshipped and sacrifices to those gods began, but the Torah sacrifices to YHWH were
ended. Teaching the Torah also ended, and it was replaced with politically correct doctrines
that the government of the little horn (Epiphanies) ordained; and many Jews who just wanted
to go-along-to-get-along readily accepted all of these perverted things and regarded them as
holy and acceptable to the God of Israel.
Let’s read some more of Daniel chapter 8.
RE-READ DANIEL 8:13, 14
Well, here we enter yet another mysterious and challenging circumstance. In Daniel’s vision
someone described in Hebrew as a echad-qadosh was speaking, and another echad-qadosh
turned to the first and asked a question of him. The CJB correctly (and most literally) translates
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echad-qadosh to holy one (qadosh, holy……echad, one). Many English bible versions
translate echad-qadosh to saints, and then at times goes so far to explain in footnotes, or just
leaves the unmistakable implication, that these “saints” are of course the Church. That is
simply incorrect. There is another Hebrew term that is am-qadosh that basically means holy
people, and it’s probably reasonable to translate that to saints provided we don’t take saints
to mean “church” in every context. Here in Daniel 8 the term is holy ones, and it most
definitely is speaking to some spiritual beings that are part of Daniel’s vision.
The question that one echad-qadosh asks the other is fascinating: how long will the regular
burnt offering and the defiling of the Temple, and the oppression against all those who serve
the God of Israel, be allowed to continue? And the answer that is given is: “2300 evenings and
mornings”. So does this mean 2300 days? Perhaps, but I don’t think so. The subject of
question regards “the regular offerings”. And there were two daily sacrificial offerings to be
made at the Temple without fail. And not surprisingly they were called the morning offering and
the evening offering. So when the response to “how long before the regular offerings are
restored” is that it will be 2300 evenings and mornings, it is speaking of 2300 evening and
morning offerings, not 2300 days. At two offerings per day, that means that for 1150 days the
two-per-day Temple offerings will be outlawed by Epiphanies. And then, at the end of that time,
the Temple will be restored to its rightful state, and the offerings will begin again.
Did that happen? You bet it did. And a special holiday commemoration was established when
the regular morning and evening offerings at the Temple began again: Hanukkah. And we’ll
discuss this restoration of the Temple worship, learn some more about Antiochus Epiphanies,
and continue with Daniel Chapter 8 next time.
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