A Ram and a Goat

 

A Ram and a Goat
Daniel 8
 
Daniel chapter 8 is one of the most remarkable chapters in all the Bible. It is a great proof for the inspiration of the Bible because what we have here is in the realm of predictive prophecy. Last time I talked about the prophecies in the Bible. Prophecy is predicting future events with absolute accuracy.
 
In chapter 8 of the book of Daniel God gave a vision to Daniel. In this vision he sees future events and he sees them with absolute accuracy. This is one of the reasons, by the way, that the book of Daniel has been so attacked by the critics of the Bible. 
 
The critics of the Bible read the book of Daniel and recognize that if it is, as it purports to be, the Word of God, then what Daniel is doing is making predictions about future events with absolute accuracy. Mere men cannot write what we have here. Daniel did not have the wisdom or the skill to write what we have in these verses of chapter 8. He is inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. God is giving to Daniel visions of events and world powers that will extend beyond his own day.
 
There are two main divisions of the book of Daniel. We need to keep this in mind at all times. The first 6 chapters of the book of Daniel hang together and they are primarily narrative in nature. They are the personal experiences and accounts of the life of Daniel and his three Hebrew friends. There is some exception to that as we'll notice in just a moment. But the first half has to do with personal narrative.
 
Beginning in chapter 7 and going to the end of the book of Daniel, we find ourselves in the area specifically of prophecy. There is some narrative here. There is some personal account given of Daniel, but primarily you have predictions about future events.
 
God gave to Daniel in these chapters, a series of visions and revelations of the world powers that would come from the day of Babylon all the way to the end of the age, just before the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
We've already had two visions in this connection.  The first vision is in chapter 2. In this chapter God gave to Daniel a vision of a great statue. In Daniel 2, verse 31, it tells about that great statue. In verse 32 it tells us that the statue is made of different kinds of material. There was a head made out of gold. There was the breast and the arms made of silver. The belly and the thighs were of brass. His legs were of iron and his feet were part iron and part clay.   In verses 38 and following, God specifically says to Daniel that this image is a revelation of world powers. 
 
There was first of all Babylon, the head of gold. Second of all was Medo-Persia, the breast and arms of silver. Number three was the belly and thighs of brass. That was the kingdom of Greece. Number four, the legs of iron was the Roman Empire. Then the toes, part of iron and part of clay, are the revival of the Roman Empire. 
 
Then God gives to Daniel that magnificent revelation of the stone in verse 35. The stone cut out of the mountain that came and toppled the great image. This is a reminder that one of these days Jesus Christ is going to come again, and He will establish His kingdom on this earth.
 
In the seventh chapter God gave him another vision about these same world powers, but He does it in this chapter under the figures or the pictures of animals. Beginning in verse 3 it says, "And four great beasts came up from the sea." Then he names those animals. In verse 4 he talks about the lion. That was Babylon. In verse 5 he talks about the bear. That was Medo-Persia. In verse 6 he talks about the leopard. That was Greece. In verse 7 he talks about a fourth beast that was so dreadful he couldn't even describe it. That's a reference to the Roman Empire.
 
God has already given to Daniel these magnificent, unbelievable, amazing prophecies. In Daniel 8 the Spirit of God just reaches in to those four world empires and pulls out the second one and the third one and gives us a specific detailed revelation about the Medo-Persian Empire and about the Greek Empire. That's what we're going to study about in this eighth chapter. It is an amazing, astonishing chapter.
 
I.       The Setting of the Vision
 
God gives a vision to Daniel and the opening two verses tell us about the setting. There is one thing that is not apparent in any English translation. In the original text of the book of Hebrew there is something that is not anywhere in the Bible that I know. You have two different languages that are used to write this prophecy of Daniel.
 
For instance, in the first chapter it starts off being written in Hebrew. Then in the second chapter, the fourth verse, it switches over to Aramaic, which was primarily the language of the Gentile. In the eighth chapter, in the Bible text of the original languages, it switches back to Hebrew. From there to the end of the book of Daniel, what Daniel puts down is written in Hebrew.
 
You say, "Preacher, what's that all about?" I think this means that God now is going to get very specific about how these world powers are going to impact His chosen people, the nation of Israel. So He writes in the Hebrew language. We have the setting of the language.
 
There is also the setting of the location. Daniel, all of these years, has been in Babylon. When he was just a young person he was picked up from where he lived and was carried off to the nation of Babylon. He was specially trained for service in the nation. All of these years he has been the Prime Minister of Babylon. But now you see God has revealed to Daniel that Babylon is going to pass off the scene of world powers.
 
The next world power is going to be the Medo-Persian Empire. Notice the change of location. In verse 2 he says that he saw a vision and that he was in Shushan, in the palace. Shushan was the winter capital of the Persian kings. Evidently in a vision God picks Daniel up carries him to that capital of the Persian Empire. It is where Esther was. It is where Nehemiah was. It is about 200 miles southeast of the city of Babylon. It was about 120 miles north of the Sea of the Persian Gulf. He is carried there to this capital. Why? 
]Because God is going to zero in on the Medo-Persian Empire and the empire that is going to come after them. That's the setting of the vision.
 
II.     The Substance of the Vision.
 
God begins to give to Daniel some specific details about these two world powers. When Daniel wrote these things, they were not even in existence and were far beyond what men knew and recognized.
 
For instance, first of all in verse 3 he said, "I saw a ram."   What is the meaning or interpretation of the ram? Interestingly enough, we are not left to speculate. We are told specifically. 
 
In verse 20 of this chapter we are told just exactly what the ram represents. 
 
verse 20
 
We know exactly what the ram represents. It represents the kingdoms of the Medes and the Persians. It is given to us under the figure of a ram. 
 
The ram was the emblem of the Medo-Persian Empire (they all drove Dodge pick-ups). Actually, when the ruler of the Persians went out to battle, he wore a ram's head. It says that ram had two horns and one was higher than the other. We know that is exactly true. We know that Persia was stronger than Media in this coalition of this world power of Media and Persia.
 
In verse 4 it says that the ram pushes westward, northward and southward. 
 
If you get out your history books about this particular period of history, you will discover that is exactly how the Persian Empire expanded. It moved westward into Libya. It moved northward into Asia Minor. It moved southward into Egypt. It is exactly what secular history tells us took place. This empire of Persia was like a lumbering ram. It was a ram that conquered everything in its way. It conquered the kingdom of Babylon. The first identity of the ram is the Medo-Persian Empire.
 
Secondly in verse 5, Daniel sees a goat. We're not left in doubt about the meaning of that goat. In verse 21 of the eighth chapter we're told specifically. 
 
Verse 21
 
This is the next power God lets Daniel see. It is the kingdom of Greece. The kingdom of Greece is identified by a goat. It is interesting to know that when Daniel was given this vision, the Grecian Empire was not even in existence. 
 
Grecian Formula for men had to wait to come into existence for the Grecian Empire. 
 
Greece, at this particular time in history, was just a coalition of independent city states. Did you know that the capital of Greece eventually would be Aegea, which means goat? Did you know that Greece is located on the Aegean Sea which means the goat sea? The national emblem of the Greek Empire became a goat, and yet God revealed all of this to Daniel, His prophet, before any of it came into existence.
 
 
It says on this goat that there was a notable horn, a conspicuous horn. We're told just exactly what that horn represents in verse 21. The great horn between his eyes is the first king. We know exactly who the first king of the Greek Empire was. It was none other than Alexander the Great. 
 
He was an amazing man in many, many ways. We have here a specific prophecy about Alexander the Great. We are told that he would attack the Medo-Persian Empire. This such a remarkable prophecy that when Alexander the Great in his exploits in assuming world power for the Grecian Empire came to the city of Jerusalem (this is in history), he was getting ready to invade and destroy this city of Jerusalem.
 
The high priest came out from the city of Jerusalem with the scroll of this very book and this very chapter of Daniel. He showed Alexander the Great the very verse of scripture that we are studying now. He showed him that God had predicted in His Word his existence. So impressed and so amazed by it was Alexander the Great that he changed his plans and he spared the city of Jerusalem.
 
Now we know something about the history of Alexander the Great. In verses 6 through 8 we know all that is exactly true. 
 
We also know something about the movement of the Greek Empire in verse 5. It says that the goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth. This was a change in world power. World power had always moved from the east to the west. Now there is the prediction that it will move from the west to the east. 
That is exactly what happened when Alexander led his Grecian forces against the kingdom of Persia. We are told in verse 5 that this goat did not touch the ground. This means that they had swiftness and mighty power in movement. That is exactly characteristic of the Greek Empire. They were swift in their movement. They were tremendously powerful in their movement.
 
Notice what the Bible says will happen to this first king. 
 
verse 8
 
At the height of his power the prediction is made here that the Greek king, Alexander the Great, will be broken and we know that happened. It happened in June of 223 BC. Alexander was in Babylon at the time. He had conquered the known world at that time. So far as he knew there were no other worlds to conquer. 
 
Alexander was a drinker, and that weakened his defenses. History tells us that while in Babylon, he became very, very ill with marsh fever. Isn't it something? Here was a man who was a brilliant general. A man who could conquer the nations of the world, and yet he could not conquer his own vices. He could not conquer his own intemperance. 
 
And just exactly as Daniel predicts, the kingdom of Alexander, his Grecian Empire, is going to be divided up into four notable parts. We can pick up our history book, and we read the history of the Greek Empire. We read that after Alexander the Great died, they took his empire and divided it among four of his generals. 
These generals are Seleucus, Ptolemy, Lysimachus, and Cassander. That is exactly what scripture says.
 
I want you to see not only the identity of the ram and the goat, but I want you to see the hostility of the little horn. This gets so amazing. 
 
verse 9
 
It is important to keep in mind that concerning Bible prophecy, sometimes there is an immediate fulfillment, and sometimes there is an ultimate fulfillment of prophecy. That is exactly what you find in this little horn. 
 
There is a leader who arose out of this Greek Empire that had been divided four ways. He came out of Syria. It says that he waxed exceeding great, in verse 9, toward the south. That is Egypt. Toward the east is Babylon. Toward the pleasant land. That's the Holy Land. That's Jerusalem. 
 
We know just exactly who that person is in secular history. We know his name. His name was Antiochus Epiphanes IV. He was quite a character. He was an interesting man. He's one of the cruelest, most vicious leaders the world has ever known. In fact, he wanted to be worshipped as a God on the coins that he minted for his empire. He had it minted "Antiochus God Manifest." 
 
Here's what I want you to really focus in on about him. He had an unimaginable hatred for the Jewish people. That's why the Bible says he is moving toward the pleasant land. All of this came to pass. He moved south into Egypt, east into Babylon. But he also moved on the pleasant land. 
verse 10-14
 
Let me unravel that and summarize it for you. Here's what those verses predicted and here is exactly what took place in secular history.
 
Antiochus Epiphanes moved on Jerusalem. He hated the Jewish people. In fact, he slaughtered 80,000 of them at one time. He hauled 40,000 of them away into captivity. The brutality and violence that we witness in that part of the world today is just the same thing that's been going on for centuries over there.  
 
This man Antiochus Epiphanes moved on Jerusalem, and he hated the Jews and their sanctuary. He hated their sanctuary so much that he went into the very Temple, into the Holy of Holies where the Mercy Seat was, and he moved it all out of the way and constructed in it an altar to Zeus. 
 
But that wasn't enough for him. Then he took a hog and he slaughtered that hog on the altar. But that wasn't enough. He took the juices and blood of that hog, and he smeared it all over the Temple and its grounds. At that time no Jew on the earth would enter into the Temple or would put a foot on the sacred Temple grounds. It was an awful, awful time.
 
We have stories that are almost too horrible to tell. For instance, there were two Jewish women who defied Antiochus Epiphanes. He took their sons and slaughtered them and wrapped them around their necks and drove them through the streets of Jerusalem. 
 
 
There was another Jewish woman who had seven sons. He took those seven sons of that poor Jewish woman and burned them to death on frying pans just before he put out her eyes. He was an awful man. It was an awful period of time.
 
There was a group of priests among the Jews who just had all they could stand of it. They rebelled. They were known as the Maccabean priests, the Maccabees.
 
The Apocrypha, that is apocryphal books between the Old Testament and New Testament were written by the Maccabees. 
 
While they are not accepted as a part of the inspired scripture, they do give us history of that time. We're given the story of the Maccabees and their resistance and rebellion against Antiochus Epiphanes. Finally the time came that they re-conquered the Temple area and Judas Maccabees went into the Temple, and just exactly like it says in verse 14, the sanctuary was cleansed.
 
How many days do you think it was from the time Antiochus Epiphanes profaned the Temple until the time it was cleansed under Judas Maccabees? Would you be interested to know it was 2300 days to the day? Just exactly like God predicted in verse 14.
 
The Bible is an absolutely astonishing book. If you are ever running low on ignorance, I would encourage you to find a person doesn't believe the Bible, bore about a quarter of an inch from the top of his skull and you'll hit a gusher! It's an astonishing thing.
 
III.    The Scope of the Vision.
 
But God also reveals to Daniel that this vision is going to have broader fulfillment than just what was fulfilled under Antiochus Epiphanes. 
 
verse 15
 
Who is this man?
 
Verse 16-17
 
He's saying to Daniel that the meaning of this vision is going to be in such a scope that it's going to go all the way to the time of the end. 
 
verse 23
 
Here we are told about the personality of this coming king in the end time. He's going to be a king of fierce features. He's going to have supernatural powers of intelligence. 
 
It tells us about his power in verse 24. This is someone whose power is going to be energized by none other than the devil himself. Revelation 13 relates this. Are you getting the meaning now?
 
Verse 24
 
We are also told he will hate the Jews 
 
Verse 25
 
He will use methods of deceit. He will use deception and he will use peace. 
 
What this means is that this future end-time ruler is going to use peace as a deceptive strategy. That is exactly what the communists did. In fact, one communist leader said one time, "Peace treaties are camouflage for war preparations."
 
There's going to be a ruler in the end time. He hates the Jewish people and yet he is going to make "peace" with those Jewish people.   It will be a policy of domination and conquest. We'll read and study about that in the ninth chapter of Daniel. You know who we're talking now. We're talking about the antichrist. This is a prediction about the antichrist.
 
Notice what it says in the middle of verse 25, "He shall also stand up against the Prince of princes." Who is that? Jesus. He's the King of King, the Lord of Lords. The Prince of Princes. He'll stand up against the Prince of Princes but he shall be broken without human means. That means he will be supernaturally destroyed. 
 
The antichrist is going to get so smart and he's going to be so victorious and powerful that finally, he's going to make his mistake. The mistake he's going to make is he's going to finally decide to charge heaven itself. He's going to finally decide to take on the Prince of Princes, none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. When he takes on Jesus, it's all over.
 
I heard about a farmer who had a bull. It was a pretty obnoxious bull, a pretty bold bull. One day this bull decided that it would get on the railroad tracks and take on the train coming down the tracks. Here comes the engine down the tracks and that old bull just charged that train engine. 
 
Sometime later on the farmer had a shovel out on the track and was shoveling up the remains of his old bull. The farmer said, "Well, I admire his courage, but I sure do question his common sense." 
 
I don't even admire the antichrist's common sense. Because anytime you take on Jesus, you're going to lose. You think you're going to defy Jesus Christ? You think you're going to rebel against the Lord Jesus Christ? You're going to lose. You're charging a train. You can't win that battle.  
 
It'll all be over for the antichrist. 
 
Notice verse 26
 
What he's saying is this is all true and we know it is. Abd one of these days it will happen.
 
Verse 27
 
In other words, so overwhelming was it that it actually made him physically sick. You can only imagine. 
 
But that wasn't the end of it for Daniel. Daniel had work to do and he said, "I went about the king's business."
 
Why do we study Bible prophecy? Is it so that we can go out and impress people by how much we know about Bible prophecy? 
 
In Luke 19 Jesus told a parable. He told about a noble man who was going off to a far country and one day would come back. He gave his servants responsibility. 
Then he said to them, "Occupy until I come." The word "occupy" literally means do business for me until I get back.
 
Everything God predicts in His Bible is going to come to pass one of these days. Between now and then we've got business to do. We've got to tell people about Jesus. We've got to get as many people saved as we can possibly win to the Lord. I want you and me to take this Word of God and use it as a challenge to do business for Jesus until He comes.
 
Let's bow our head and pray.