Summary of Daniel 8:1-14
Daniel describes another vision he has. He saw a ram with two long horns. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later. The ram charged toward the west, north, and south. No animal could stand against it, and none could rescue from its power. It did as it pleased and became great.
Then a goat with a horn between its eyes appeared. It charged the ram, attacked it, and shattered its horns. The ram was powerless to stand against it; the goat knocked it to the ground and trampled on it, and none could rescue the ram from its power. The goat became very great, but at the height of its power, the large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven.
Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power. It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them. It set itself up to be as great as the commander of the army of the Lord; it took away the daily sacrifice from the Lord, and his sanctuary was thrown down. Because of rebellion, the Lord’s people and the daily sacrifice were given to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground.
A holy one asked how long till the vision is fulfilled. It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated.
BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 6, Day 4: Daniel 8:1-14
9) Here, Daniel describes another vision he has. He saw a ram with two long horns. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later. The ram charged toward the west, north, and south. No animal could stand against it, and none could rescue from its power. It did as it pleased and became great. Then a goat with a horn between its eyes appeared. It charged the ram, attacked it, and shattered its horns. The ram was powerless to stand against it; the goat knocked it to the ground and trampled on it, and none could rescue the ram from its power. The goat became very great, but at the height of its power, the large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven.
Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power. It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them. It set itself up to be as great as the commander of the army of the Lord; it took away the daily sacrifice from the Lord, and his sanctuary was thrown down. Because of rebellion, the Lord’s people and the daily sacrifice were given to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground.
In Daniel 7, he saw:
Daniel had a dream/vision of beasts that came up from the sea.
- The first beast was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. Its wings were torn off, and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it.
- The second beast looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’
- The third beast looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.
- The fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.
Another horn appeared and uprooted other horns. The horn had eyes and a mouth that spoke.
Daniel then saw God (the Ancient of Days) on his throne. A river flowed before him he was attended by thousands.
The beast was then slain. The other beasts were stripped of authority.
Then Daniel saw Jesus (the Son of Man). He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom will never be destroyed.
The difference:
The vision in Daniel 7 is a broad overview of four monstrous gentile empires (including Babylon and Rome) rising from the chaotic sea, spanning all of history until the Son of Man’s final judgment.
Daniel 8 is more focused. It uses specific sacrificial animals (a ram and a goat) to detail only the Medo-Persian and Greek empires. Its climax is not the end of the world, but the specific persecution of Israel and the desecration of the Jerusalem Temple.
10) These verses depict a shift from earthly chaos to the ultimate authority of the heavenly court. The “Ancient of Days” (God the Father) takes His seat as the eternal and righteous Judge. The symbols of fire, the white throne, and the opened books signify that a time of final, divine judgment has come. The most arrogant and blasphemous earthly power (the fourth beast) is judged and utterly destroyed, demonstrating God’s absolute sovereignty over all human history.
11) Suffering is temporary and temporal while we are here on Earth. God is in control, and one day, we won’t suffer at all.
This truth raises profound and difficult questions. Hearts might cry out, “If God is good and in control, why must His people suffer at all?” Minds might grapple with the purpose, asking, “Why allow this pain if the end is already determined?” This leads to the most pressing question for those in the midst of trial: “How can I endure until the promised limit is reached?” It forces a struggle between trusting God’s sovereignty and the painful reality of suffering.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 6, Day 4: Daniel 8:1-14
Amazing how Daniel had visions and shared them with all Christians to come, to give us hope that suffering is not forever, and God does win in the end.
End Notes BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 6, Day 4: Daniel 8:1-14
Map of Susa:
The ram represents the Meso-Persian Empire, which is the empire that conquered Babylon. A ram was a symbol of Persia.
The different sizes of the horns represent the different empires. Persia was larger than the Medes and emerged after the Medes.
The male goat is Greece (Daniel 8:21-22).
The Greeks rose from the west suddenly under Alexander the Great. Their enemy was the Persians, whom they often fought and eventually defeated. Alexander died, and his kingdom was divided 4 ways.
Because of Alexander the Great, who spread Greek culture and language everywhere he went, the New Testament was written in Greek.
The little horn was Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who ruled over Syria and Israel’s land under the Seleucid dynasty.
Horns symbolize military power.
We see “the Glorious Land” used for Israel in the Bible Ezekiel 20:6 , Ezekiel 25:9, Daniel 11:16 and 11:41, and in Psalm 48:2.
Antiochus Epiphanes fulfills exactly what these Scriptures say about him.
The host and stars are symbols used in the Old Testament for angels, kings, and leaders, or God’s people (Genesis 15:5, 22:17, 26:4), (Exodus 12:41)
The holy one speaking could be Jesus.
The 2,300 is most likely days. This is prophecy fulfilled as it conclusively happened.
END NOTES SUMMARIZED
Daniel 8:1-14 presents a symbolic vision detailing the transition of power from the Medo-Persian Empire to the Greek Empire, and the subsequent rise of a tyrannical king who persecutes God’s people.
The interpretation of its key elements is as follows:
- The Ram and the Goat: The powerful two-horned ram represents the Medo-Persian Empire. It is violently conquered by a swift, one-horned goat from the west, which symbolizes the Greek Empire under the meteoric conquests of its first king, Alexander the Great (the “prominent horn”).
- The Broken Horn and the Four Horns: The prominent horn breaking off at the height of its power represents Alexander the Great’s sudden death. The four horns that rise in its place symbolize the four successor kingdoms that his generals carved out of his vast empire.
- The “Little Horn”: A small but arrogant horn emerges from one of the four kingdoms. This figure represents the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes. His defining actions are blasphemous arrogance against heaven and a direct assault on the Jewish religion, specifically by stopping the daily sacrifices in the Jerusalem Temple and desecrating the sanctuary.
- The Promise of Restoration: The vision concludes by revealing that this period of desecration is limited. A heavenly voice declares that after 2,300 “evenings and mornings” (a set period of time), the sanctuary will be reconsecrated, offering a firm promise of hope and eventual restoration beyond the intense suffering.
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End Notes BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 6, Day 4: Genesis 9:1-7