The Key to the Interpretation - Part Two
Sooner or later God's people are going to have to make up their minds about who they want to believe.
In our previous post we discovered that some would have us believe that Daniel's prophecies reach only to events which took place in the second century B.C. and have no connection at all with our day.
Others pretend that Daniel's prophecy skips over more than 20 centuries of time and predicts an 'antichirst' still yet to appear on the world stage.
Ignored in all of this are the words of our Savior. Jesus foretold that the temple and sanctuary of the first century would be thrown down so that not one stone would be left upon another. In saying this, Jesus identified the 'little horn' of Daniel 8 - the horn by which the sanctuary would be 'cast down'.
If any mystery remains in how to properly interpret these prophecies it is not because we do not have the proper 'key' to understand them. No, the real mystery is why so many of God's people absolutely refuse to believe the key that we have been given.
If Jesus is correct, and the little horn of Daniel 8:11 is the Roman power which destroyed the Jewish temple and sanctuary in the first century, then those who try to apply Daniel 8:11 to the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes are WRONG. Furthermore, if Jesus is correct, then those who would have us to believe that this 'little horn' represents some power still to arise in the future are equally WRONG.
But further complicating all of this in the minds of many is the fact that this 'little horn' first appears in Daniel Chapter 7. In that chapter Daniel sees a vision of four beasts. The last beast has ten horns - a 'little horn' rises among them and uproots three of the ten horns.
So the first time we are told of this 'little horn' is in Daniel Chapter 7, and then in the very next chapter we are told of this 'little horn' once again. By refusing to believe what Jesus said about the little horn of Daniel 8 - that it would cast down the Jewish temple of the first century - commentators are forced to deal with Daniel Chapters 7 and 8 in any number of creative ways.
First are those who argue that the 'little horn' of Chapter 7 must be the same as that of Chapter 8 - a logical conclusion; however the gymnastics they resort to to support this conclusion are anything but logical.
For example, some will say that the 'little horns' of Chapters 7 and 8 BOTH represent Antiochus Epiphanes. But this argument simply stretches all credibility. Daniel 7:27 states that the destruction of this 'little horn' brings in a time when the 'kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.' Hardly something that appears to have taken place in the second century B.C.!
Others say that neither of these 'little horns' represent Antiochus because both predict an 'antichirst' still to come.
As we stated at the beginning of this article, sooner or later God's people are going to have to decide who to believe.
Now notice. The 'little horn' of Daniel 7 comes out of the fourth beast. In Daniel 7:23 we are specifically told that 'the fourth beast shall be the FOURTH KINGDOM on earth'. Since the destruction of this 'fourth kingdom' is that which brings in the everlasting kingdom of Christ, we can safely dispose of the lame notion that the 'little horn' of Daniel 7 is the Selecuid kingdom of Antiochus Epiphanes.
The four kingdoms of Daniel 7 are:
1) Babylon
2) Medo-Persia
3) Greece
4) Rome
Therefore the power rising as a little horn out of the fourth kingdom is ROMAN. It doesn't get much easier than that. The 'little horn' of Daniel 7 is ROMAN, and the 'little horn' of Daniel 8 is ROMAN.
Ok, now here comes the tricky part...
In Daniel Chapter 8 we have a vision concerning a Ram and a He-Goat. To make matters as short and as simple as possible:
1) The Ram is the Medo-Persian Empire
2) The He-Goat is the Grecian Empire
3) The 'great horn' on the He-Goat represents the unified empire under Alexander the Great
4) The four horns which come up in place of the great horn are the divisions into which Alexander's empire was divided when he died.
5) The four divisions are Asia, Syria, Egypt, and Macedonia.
6) A 'little horn' arises out of one of these four and becomes the power which 'casts down' the sanctuary.
Friends, who are we going to believe? Jesus taught us that the power which casts down the sanctuary in Daniel 8:11 is that power which would destroy the Jewish temple in the first century - that is, the ROMAN power.
Almost NO ONE believes him!
Why? Because they think he must be mistaken.
The power in Daniel 8 - the little horn that casts down the sanctuary must be either Asian, Syrian, Egyptian, or Macedonian, doesn't it? The little horn is said to rise from one of these does it not? So then the power of Daniel 8 surely cannot be the power Jesus was speaking of when he predicted the stones of the temple being thrown down by the Romans, right?
WRONG!
Careful attention to the text, belief in the words of Jesus, and a little lesson in history and geography solves this riddle without question.
First of all, what exactly is a 'little horn'? A 'little horn' is a 'horn' or a power of SMALL BEGINNINGS.
Second, notice Daniel 8:9:
Dan 8:9 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.
Ok, so a little history is in order.
It is true that Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria severely harassed the Jews and profaned their temple and worship in 168 B.C.
But the text of Daniel 8 is not a description of this. As we noted, Antiochus never 'cast down' the sanctuary, nor did he 'destroy the mighty and holy people' (Dan 8:24). In fact, by 165 B.C the Jews successfully revolted against this tyrant and rededicated the temple. The fact is, the deeds of this king simply do not fit the description of the 'little horn' of Daniel chapter 8.
Sooner or later you're going to have to decide who to believe!
What many students of God's word do not know is that the very year Antiochus desecrated the Jewish temple (168 B.C.) the ROMANS (then a horn of small beginnings) conquered Macedonia - ONE OF THE FOUR DIVISIONS OF ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE.
From that point, and out of Macedonia the ROMANS would WAX GREAT toward the south, toward the east, and towards the pleasant land (the land of Israel). Notice:
- Macedonia is taken by the Romans in 168 B.C.
- By 100 B.C they have almost half of Asia
- By 65 B.C. all of Asia is under Roman control
- By 63 B.C. Israel is under Roman control
- In 70 A.D. the Roman armies destroy Jerusalem and cast down the temple and sanctuary.
The prophecy of Daniel 8 could not have been more exact. Out of one of the divisions of the Grecian Empire (Macedonia) came forth a 'little horn' (a horn of small beginnings) which WAXED GREAT toward the east, towards the south, and towards Israel. (Macedonia lies northwest of Israel). By this power (the Roman) the sanctuary was cast down and the temple was destroyed just as Jesus had predicted.
Those who say that the 'little horn' of Daniel 8 is Aniochus Epiphanes are WRONG. Those who say that this 'little horn' is a future Antichirst are WRONG. There is no confusion or difficulty in these passages if we simply believe the words of our Savior.
In part three of this series we'll compare further the descriptions of the 'little horn' in Daniel chapters 7 and 8, and in doing so unlock one of the greatest mysteries in all Bible prophecy.
In our previous post we discovered that some would have us believe that Daniel's prophecies reach only to events which took place in the second century B.C. and have no connection at all with our day.
Others pretend that Daniel's prophecy skips over more than 20 centuries of time and predicts an 'antichirst' still yet to appear on the world stage.
Ignored in all of this are the words of our Savior. Jesus foretold that the temple and sanctuary of the first century would be thrown down so that not one stone would be left upon another. In saying this, Jesus identified the 'little horn' of Daniel 8 - the horn by which the sanctuary would be 'cast down'.
If any mystery remains in how to properly interpret these prophecies it is not because we do not have the proper 'key' to understand them. No, the real mystery is why so many of God's people absolutely refuse to believe the key that we have been given.
If Jesus is correct, and the little horn of Daniel 8:11 is the Roman power which destroyed the Jewish temple and sanctuary in the first century, then those who try to apply Daniel 8:11 to the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes are WRONG. Furthermore, if Jesus is correct, then those who would have us to believe that this 'little horn' represents some power still to arise in the future are equally WRONG.
But further complicating all of this in the minds of many is the fact that this 'little horn' first appears in Daniel Chapter 7. In that chapter Daniel sees a vision of four beasts. The last beast has ten horns - a 'little horn' rises among them and uproots three of the ten horns.
So the first time we are told of this 'little horn' is in Daniel Chapter 7, and then in the very next chapter we are told of this 'little horn' once again. By refusing to believe what Jesus said about the little horn of Daniel 8 - that it would cast down the Jewish temple of the first century - commentators are forced to deal with Daniel Chapters 7 and 8 in any number of creative ways.
First are those who argue that the 'little horn' of Chapter 7 must be the same as that of Chapter 8 - a logical conclusion; however the gymnastics they resort to to support this conclusion are anything but logical.
For example, some will say that the 'little horns' of Chapters 7 and 8 BOTH represent Antiochus Epiphanes. But this argument simply stretches all credibility. Daniel 7:27 states that the destruction of this 'little horn' brings in a time when the 'kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.' Hardly something that appears to have taken place in the second century B.C.!
Others say that neither of these 'little horns' represent Antiochus because both predict an 'antichirst' still to come.
As we stated at the beginning of this article, sooner or later God's people are going to have to decide who to believe.
Now notice. The 'little horn' of Daniel 7 comes out of the fourth beast. In Daniel 7:23 we are specifically told that 'the fourth beast shall be the FOURTH KINGDOM on earth'. Since the destruction of this 'fourth kingdom' is that which brings in the everlasting kingdom of Christ, we can safely dispose of the lame notion that the 'little horn' of Daniel 7 is the Selecuid kingdom of Antiochus Epiphanes.
The four kingdoms of Daniel 7 are:
1) Babylon
2) Medo-Persia
3) Greece
4) Rome
Therefore the power rising as a little horn out of the fourth kingdom is ROMAN. It doesn't get much easier than that. The 'little horn' of Daniel 7 is ROMAN, and the 'little horn' of Daniel 8 is ROMAN.
Ok, now here comes the tricky part...
In Daniel Chapter 8 we have a vision concerning a Ram and a He-Goat. To make matters as short and as simple as possible:
1) The Ram is the Medo-Persian Empire
2) The He-Goat is the Grecian Empire
3) The 'great horn' on the He-Goat represents the unified empire under Alexander the Great
4) The four horns which come up in place of the great horn are the divisions into which Alexander's empire was divided when he died.
5) The four divisions are Asia, Syria, Egypt, and Macedonia.
6) A 'little horn' arises out of one of these four and becomes the power which 'casts down' the sanctuary.
Friends, who are we going to believe? Jesus taught us that the power which casts down the sanctuary in Daniel 8:11 is that power which would destroy the Jewish temple in the first century - that is, the ROMAN power.
Almost NO ONE believes him!
Why? Because they think he must be mistaken.
The power in Daniel 8 - the little horn that casts down the sanctuary must be either Asian, Syrian, Egyptian, or Macedonian, doesn't it? The little horn is said to rise from one of these does it not? So then the power of Daniel 8 surely cannot be the power Jesus was speaking of when he predicted the stones of the temple being thrown down by the Romans, right?
WRONG!
Careful attention to the text, belief in the words of Jesus, and a little lesson in history and geography solves this riddle without question.
First of all, what exactly is a 'little horn'? A 'little horn' is a 'horn' or a power of SMALL BEGINNINGS.
Second, notice Daniel 8:9:
Dan 8:9 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.
Ok, so a little history is in order.
It is true that Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria severely harassed the Jews and profaned their temple and worship in 168 B.C.
But the text of Daniel 8 is not a description of this. As we noted, Antiochus never 'cast down' the sanctuary, nor did he 'destroy the mighty and holy people' (Dan 8:24). In fact, by 165 B.C the Jews successfully revolted against this tyrant and rededicated the temple. The fact is, the deeds of this king simply do not fit the description of the 'little horn' of Daniel chapter 8.
Sooner or later you're going to have to decide who to believe!
What many students of God's word do not know is that the very year Antiochus desecrated the Jewish temple (168 B.C.) the ROMANS (then a horn of small beginnings) conquered Macedonia - ONE OF THE FOUR DIVISIONS OF ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE.
From that point, and out of Macedonia the ROMANS would WAX GREAT toward the south, toward the east, and towards the pleasant land (the land of Israel). Notice:
- Macedonia is taken by the Romans in 168 B.C.
- By 100 B.C they have almost half of Asia
- By 65 B.C. all of Asia is under Roman control
- By 63 B.C. Israel is under Roman control
- In 70 A.D. the Roman armies destroy Jerusalem and cast down the temple and sanctuary.
The prophecy of Daniel 8 could not have been more exact. Out of one of the divisions of the Grecian Empire (Macedonia) came forth a 'little horn' (a horn of small beginnings) which WAXED GREAT toward the east, towards the south, and towards Israel. (Macedonia lies northwest of Israel). By this power (the Roman) the sanctuary was cast down and the temple was destroyed just as Jesus had predicted.
Those who say that the 'little horn' of Daniel 8 is Aniochus Epiphanes are WRONG. Those who say that this 'little horn' is a future Antichirst are WRONG. There is no confusion or difficulty in these passages if we simply believe the words of our Savior.
In part three of this series we'll compare further the descriptions of the 'little horn' in Daniel chapters 7 and 8, and in doing so unlock one of the greatest mysteries in all Bible prophecy.
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