Daniel 8 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application
Daniel 8 Bible Study
TIMELINE:
The Book of Daniel opens in the 3rd year of the reign of King Jehoiakim, 606 BC. Daniel was a contemporary of Ezekiel in Babylon. Daniel was taken to Babylon about 14 years before Ezekiel was called by God to be a prophet (Ezekiel 1-2).
Daniel 1:21 informs us Daniel was in the palace of Babylon until the first year of King Cyrus (539 BC).
The vision recorded in Daniel 8 was seen by Daniel in the 3rd year of King Belshazzar of Babylon. Belshazzar’s reign started sometime around 555 BC.
WHAT WE'VE STUDIED SO FAR IN DANIEL:
Daniel 1 – Daniel and his friends are taken to Babylon and educated for 3 years to work in the king’s court. Daniel requests to be exempted from eating the king’s food in order to keep God’s dietary laws.
Daniel 2 – Nebuchadnezzar has a dream about a great image made of 5 different materials. Daniel interprets the dream for him, telling him about an everlasting kingdom that God would set up in the latter days.
Daniel 3 – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s image of gold and were thrown into the fiery furnace. God miraculously saved them from the fire, and Nebuchadnezzar praised God and honored Him throughout the kingdom.
Daniel 4 – Nebuchadnezzar praised God as the Most High and the Eternal King. He recounted how God humbled him by turning him into an animal-like being that lived outside and ate grass like an ox.
Daniel 5 – The city of Babylon falls to the Medes and Persians after Daniel interprets the handwriting on the wall at Belshazzar’s drunken feast.
Daniel 6 – Daniel’s enemies hatch a plot to prevent him from being promoted in the kingdom. Daniel is thrown into a den of lions, but God protects him and keeps the lions from killing him.
Daniel 7 – Daniel had a vision of 4 beasts that represented 4 nations. The Ancient of Days (God) and “one like a son of man” (Jesus) defeated the beasts and established a kingdom that would last forever.
OUTLINE:
THE VISION OF THE RAM AND THE GOAT (8:1-14):
In the 3rd year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a vision.
He saw a ram standing on the bank of the Ulai Canal. The ram had two horns, both were big, but one was bigger than the other. The ram was powerful.
Then Daniel saw a black goat coming out of the west. The goat had a horn between its eyes.
The goat charged at the ram in anger and struck it down, breaking its two horns.
The goat became stronger and stronger until it was “exceedingly great.”
But at the pinnacle of its power, the goat’s horn was broken.
In its place, there arose four lesser horns. And out of one of the four grew another small horn.
This small horn grew in power and became great. It took away the use of the Temple of God, trampled the sanctuary, and participated in “transgression that makes desolate” (8:13).
Daniel was told the little horn would continue this for 2,300 days (about 6.3 years). Afterwards, the sanctuary would be restored.
THE INTERPRETATION OF THE VISION (8:15-27):
A being with the appearance of a man stood near Daniel, his name was Gabriel. Gabriel began to explain the vision to Daniel.
He told Daniel that the vision was “for the time of the end” (8:17). This does not appear to refer to the end of time, but to the end of God’s “indignation” (anger because of wrongdoing), particularly towards the Jewish nation.
According to Gabriel, the ram with 2 horns represented the Medo-Persian Empire.
The goat represented the empire of Greece, and the horn between its eyes was the king of Greece.
The goat’s horn would be broken in the days of its strength, and 4 kings would rise after it, spawning 4 kingdoms of lesser power.
From one of these horns would sprout a smaller horn, representing another king. This king would be powerful, cunning, and wicked. He would persecute God’s saints and kill many people.
This king would succeed for a time, but God would ultimately break his power.
Daniel was told to seal up the vision, including the detail about the 2,300 evenings and morning (8:14), because its fulfillment was still far off.
BIBLE COMPREHENSION:
In the last verse of chapter 8, Daniel made it clear that he did not fully understand the prophecy in the vision.
With the benefit of passing time, most modern interpreters believe a fuller interpretation is now clear.
The ram represents the Medes and Persians who were defeated by the Greek Empire, just as the ram was trampled by the goat.
The great horn of the goat represents Alexander the Great, who defeated the Persians at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC.
But when Alexander was strong, his life ended, dying at the age of 32, with no direct heir to the throne.
The empire was divided into 4 major kingdoms (4 horns).
The little horn who persecuted the saints likely represents Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) who persecuted the Jews and defiled the Temple. He reigned from 175-164 BC, about 375 years after Daniel saw this vision.
