The Book of Daniel | The future of the gentile reign and the jewish remnant
Listener's Guide | Session 11 | Daniel 8 | Dr. Randy White
The Circumstances of the vision | Daniel 8:1-2
Chapter 8 records a vision received in 553BC, under the last King of Babylon.
With Daniel 8, the book begins again in the Hebrew, signifying that what will be seen is not a revelation about the times of the Gentiles, but rather about the rescue of the remnant of Israel.
Verse 1 --
me, even unto me, Daniel - It seems that the Lord foresaw that the authorship of the book would be questioned by the rationalists, and so the Spirit had Daniel emphasize his authorship.
after that which appeared - Presumably after the vision of the four beasts in Daniel 7.
Verse 2 -- river of Ulai - *Elwell, Walter A., and Barry J. Beitzel. Baker encyclopedia of the Bible 1988 : 2114. *
The vision | Daniel 8:3-12
Verse 3 --
This ram is unequivocally defined in v. 20 as the kings of Media and Persia.
…- While not certain, this could be a reference to Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Great of Persia.
Verse 4 --
The Medes and Persians were located to the west of Babylon (in modern day Iran) and pushed the borders of the kingdom farther west, north, and south than the Babylonian reach.
no beasts might stand - As chapter 7 referred to the four kingdoms as beasts, it appears that this passage collectively uses the term beasts for all kingdoms.
Verse 5 --
an he goat - Verse 21 unequivocally defines this goat as the Kingdom of Greece.
a notable horn - The notable horn is the first king of the Grecian empire, thus Alexander the Great.
Verse 8 -- … - This perfectly describes the death of Alexander and the four-fold division of the Kingdom to his generals.
Verse 10 - Likely a reference to the satanic influence on the Antichrist.
Compare Isaiah 14:13 and Revelation 12:3-4.
The host of heaven is a phrase used 19 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, and is most often very clearly a reference to the planets, stars, etc., though there are a few passages when the term could be interpreted to be either people or angels, but these same passages can be interpreted to be planets, etc. It seems best to see hosts of heaven as objects of the universe.
Verse 11 --
he magnified himself - Note that the pronoun has changed from it to he, giving further definition to the horn.
… - The Hebrew reads from him not by him.
The daily *sacrifice *and the place of his sanctuary were both taken from the prince of the host. **Though the identity of the taker is not expressly stated, the little horn is the only viable option.
Verse 12 -- … - The host here is not to be confused with the host of heaven in v. 10, but rather refers to an army. Because of transgression, the little horn (v. 9) is allowed to take an army to stop the daily sacrifice.
The duration | Daniel 8:13-14
Verse 13 - Daniel now eaves drops on a conversation between two saints, or holy ones, possibly angels.
Verse 14 - This time period has been interpreted in about as many ways as there are commentaries.
The Seventh Day Adventists used this to argue that the Lord would return in 1844 (2300 years after the desecration of the temple by Antiochus, in 167BC.)
In the end, no interpretation is perfectly satisfactory, but the best appears to be to consider this as fully fulfilled in Antiochus, who removed the regular priesthood in 171BC and died in 164BC, the entire time the Temple being desecrated to some degree, even though the sacrifices were not fully halted until 167BC. If this is the correct interpretation, then there is no need to align this time period with the seven years of tribulation seen in Daniel 9.
The Angelic Insight | Daniel 8:15-19
Verse 16 - This is the first mention of an angel by name in the Bible.
Verse 17 -- the time of the end - This gives indication that there is interpretation of the vision beyond Antiochus Epiphanes.
Verse 19 -- end of the indignation
Here one must deal with an interpretive matter. Is this indignation the current one, being the Babylonian exile? or is it the end of all four kingdoms, taking place just before the Ancient of Days gives the kingdom to the Son of Man?
There are three passages which speak of the indignation coming to an end, Dan. 8:19, Dan. 11:36, and Isaiah 10:25.
Both Dan. 11:36 and Isaiah 10:25 are clearly in reference to the end of days.
In a practical sense, the indignation against Israel is the entire times of the Gentiles.
The Interpretation of the Vision | Daniel 8:20-27Verses 23-25 - While this is fulfilled in Antiochus Epiphanes, it is believed by most that Antiochus was a type of the Antichrist to come.
