Chapter 8 records another vision. It was in the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, about 558 B.C. when Daniel experienced his second vision. He was at his hometown of Susa (Shushan) which was the Capitol of the Providence of Elam. He was standing beside the Ulai (Eulaeus) River. There he saw a ram with two long horns standing on the bank of the river. As he watched, one horn began to grow so that it was longer than the other. The ram butted everything out of its way and no one could stand against it. It did as it pleased, and became very great.
While Daniel was wondering what this could mean, a buck goat appeared from the west with one very large horn between its eyes and ran furiously at the two-horned ram. They came head to head and the buck broke off both of the two horns on the ram so that it was helpless so the buck goat knocked him down and trampled him.
The buck goat then became both proud and powerful. Suddenly, at the height of its power, his horn was broken and in its place, grew four good-sized horns, pointing in four directions. One of these horns grew very slowly at first but soon became very strong and attacked the two on the south and east, representing the land of Israel and the people of God. He even challenged the Commander of the Army of Heaven. The Army of Heaven was restrained from destroying him and as a result, truth and righteousness perished and evil triumphed and prospered.
Then Daniel heard two angels talking to each other. One of them asked, "How long will this evil be allowed to prosper?" and the other answered, "Twenty three hundred days."
As Daniel was trying to understand this vision, suddenly an image that looked like a man stood before him, and a voice from across the river called to the image and said, "Gabriel, tell Daniel the meaning of his dream." He told Daniel that the vision related to the "end time". The ram with the two horns represented the Kingdoms of the Medes and the Persians. The buck goat with the single horn represented the first King of Greece. When the horn was broken off and four grew in its place this represented the death of the king and the four kingdoms that arose out of the Kingdom of Greece. These kingdoms would have very little power. But out of one of these would come a king with great power, he would even rise up against the Prince of Peace. God would restrain his judgment against this king for a time but eventually righteousness would triumph over evil. It is believed that the king spoken of here was a Syrian King named Antiochus who was allowed to rule southern Asia Minor by Alexander the Great in the 2nd. or 3rd. century B.C. He was known for persecuting the Jews. He eventually died of a terrible disease.
The twenty three hundred days are literally the length of his reign but Daniel was told not to tell anyone of his vision because none of these things would happen for a long time. The vision caused Daniel to be sick for several days for he was greatly distressed and did not understand it.
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