Daniel 8

God Gave Daniel this vision during the third year of the reign of Belshazzar.

1 In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.

2 And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.

3 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns:and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.

4 I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.

5 And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

6 And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.

7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.

8 Thereforethe he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.

9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east,and toward the pleasant land.

10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.

11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of the sanctuary was cast down.

12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.

13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?

14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

15 And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.

16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.

17 So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.

18 Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.

19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.

20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.

21 And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.

23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fiercecountenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.

24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.

25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

26 And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.

27 And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.

King Belshazzar was soon to be defeated by Cyrus the Great, ruler of Medo-Persia. Medo-Persia is the "ram which had two horns" (verses 3-4, 20). Since Daniel seen this vision during Belshazzar's rule, this prophesy was fulfilled not long after Daniel was given the vision.

The kingdom of Babylon under the Chaldean Dynasty lasted from 626-538 B.C. (Rogers).

In 556 B.C., Nabonidus had become King of Babylon. In 553 B.C., he established a camp in the desert, near the southern frontier of his kingdom, and made his son Belshazzar co-regent (co-ruler) (550 B.C.), putting him in charge as commander of the army. Belshazzar, now commander of the army, was also in charge of Babylonia by 549 B.C., and was referred to as king of Babylonia.

The ram is the kingdom of Medo-Persia. The two horns are Cyrus the Great and Darius the Mede.

In 549 B.C., Cyrus II, also known as Cyrus the Great, defeated the Medes. Darius the Mede was the ruler of the Median Empire, now under Cyrus the Great. This empire was known as the Achaemenid Empire (Sampson).

In 539 B.C., Cyrus the Great and Darius the Mede defeated the Babylonian Empire which was under the command of Belshazzar.

The Medo-Persian Empire lasted from 539-333 B.C. The reign of Cyrus was from 559-530 B.C.

The goat is the kingdom of Greece. The one horn is Alexander the Great, ruler of Greece.

The Grecian Empire defeated the Persian Empire in 333 B.C. It's ruler, Alexander the Great, reigned from 336-323 B.C.

After Alexander the Great, the Grecian Empire had become divided: "but not in his power" (v. 22). Breaking into four kingdoms ruled by Alexander the Great's generals, it was known as the Diadochi (Romm).

Ruler of Egypt from 323-283 B.C. Founder of Ptolemic Kingdom and Ptolemaic Dynasty In 305/4 B.C., took the title of King

Cassander was son of Antipater, Macedonian general of Alexander the Great. Ruled from 397-319 B.C. Founded the Antipatrid Dynasty. Declared himself king of Macedon in 302 B.C. His Dynasty was overthrown in 294 B.C. by the Antigonid Dynasty, led by Alexander the Great's General Antigonus.

Reigned from 305-281 B.C. Established the Seleucid Dynasty and the Seleucid Empire. At it's greatest, this Empire included Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, Turkmenistan, and Pamir.

The little horn is Seleucus I, first ruler of the Seleucid Dynasty. This Dynasty continued up to the rule of Antiochus IV Epiphanes before it began further fulfillment. Antiochus IV Epiphanes also ruled the Levant which included the "pleasant land" (verse 9). The pleasant land was the holy land of Israel.

In 167 B.C., Antiochus IV Epiphanes issued a decree in Judea forbidding Jewish religious practice. Thus began the Jewish Maccabean Revolt (Harrington). It was during his time that the next "abomination of desolation" or "transgression of desolation" occurred. (The first abomination began at the time of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon when he destroyed the temple and took the Jews captive.)

"Two thousand and three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" (v. 14-26):

Daniel was told that, from the time during the third year of the reign of Belshazzar in 546 B.C., when he was given this vision, to the time of the restoration of the temple would be 2300 evenings and mornings of days.

[("cleanse" verse 14 from Hebrew tsadaq: to make right, cleanse, do justice, be turned to righteousness") (Strong 6663). This "cleansing" happened in the restoration of the Temple and sanctuary.]

In 539 B.C., more than 6 years later, Cyrus took control of Babylon and the vision began to be fulfilled.

Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to the Holy Land and gave orders for the rebuilding of the Temple and the sanctuary.

1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

3 Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.

4 And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.

Construction of the Temple began in 539 B.C. (Finkel), and was officially finished in 516 B.C. Dedication took place in 515 B.C.

We can learn from King Cyrus and King Nebuchadnezzar that not all the leaders of these worldly empires (Dan. 2) were necessarily bad.

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Finkel, Irving. The Cyrus Cylinder: The King of Persia's Proclamation from Ancient Babylon. I.B. Taurus & Company, Limited, 2013.

Harrington, Daniel J. The Maccabean Revolt: Anatomy of a Biblical Revolution. Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2009.

Joannes, Francis, and Antonia Nevill. The Age of Empires: Mesopotamia in the First Millenium B.C. Edinburgh University Press, 2005.

Rogers, Robert Williams. The History of the Chaldean Empire. CreateSpace Publishing, 2014.

Romm, James. Ghost on the Throne: The Death of Alexander the Great and the Bloody Fight for His Empire. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. 2011.

Sampson, Gareth. The Defeat of Rome: Crassus, Carrhae, and the Invasion of the East. Pen & Sword Books Limited, 2008.

Strong, James. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Hendrickson Publishers, Incorporated, 2009.