The Vision Is True!

Days after turning seventeen, in 1963, Laura Welch was enjoying a drive with a friend, on the way to a drive-in movie. While listening to the radio and chatting with her friend, she made a mistake. The road was pitch black, so Laura missed the stop sign and drove her sedan into an intersection, where she collided with another vehicle driven by her boyfriend, Michael Douglas (also 17). Laura and her passenger received minor injuries, but Douglas was thrown from his car and suffered a fatal broken neck. Laura was devastated, knowing she was to blame.

She was not charged in the accident, yet lost her faith in God as a result. Many years passed until she was able to date again. Laura did renew her faith, and therein found true resilience to begin life anew. Eventually, she married a man from a wealthy family. However, his alcohol consumption became a problem. When another drunken weekend made it appear his drinking habits would not change, her husband finally woke up, knowing he needed to quit drinking. He vowed to never drink again for the sake of his family and to stop living selfishly, while recognizing the importance of an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Today, both Laura and her husband, former President George W. Bush, regard what seemed to be a never-ending struggle as significantly altering their marriage, family, and political career. Laura’s life changed years prior to her husband on an ordinary day in 1963, that would be the worst day of her life.

Everyone has experienced a terrible day.  As opposed to having a crisis or tragedy result in loss of faith, it is God’s will to use every moment for the good of those who love Him, “to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28).

Daniel 8 is an encouragement, because the prophecy contained there teaches to trust God when life becomes difficult, for the simple reason that He is sovereign over all things. No matter how challenging life becomes and regardless of how long one must persevere, the Lord God is sovereign and will bring deliverance in His perfect timing. He can transform difficulties into blessings (cf. Gen 50:20). God can be trusted absolutely!

Daniel learned in a greater capacity what it means to trust God, as the result of a vision received “in the third year of the reign of Belshazzar” (Dan 8:1-2). The chapter is divided easily into two primary sections: the reception of the vision (vv. 1-14) and the interpretation (vv. 15-27). The vision itself can be divided into three parts: the ram, the goat, and the little horn (with the interpretation having the same corresponding sections). The vision and interpretation can be a wonderful encouragement when experiencing a bad day.

THE RECEPTION OF THE VISION
(Dan 8:1-14) The vision recorded in Daniel 8 was a revelation that occurred two years after the vision of chapter 7, and the book of Daniel now changes from Aramaic to Hebrew. Historically, the vision of Daniel 8 was received prior to the events recorded in chapter 5. As he retold the vision, Daniel said he saw a ram standing in front of the Ulai Canal (8:1-4), a river near the city of Susa (known as Eulaeus in later classical writings).

Suddenly, a male goat appeared from the west, and was moving so swiftly that it appeared not to touch the ground; “and the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes” (v. 5). The goat “was enraged” with the ram, struck it and “shattered his two horns” (vv. 6-7). The ram lacked the strength “to withstand him,” and was destroyed since there was none to provide rescue (v. 7).

“Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly,” but when it became “mighty,” the conspicuous horn “was broken.” In place of the one horn, four others emerged and moved “toward the four winds of heaven” (v. 8). From one of the four conspicuous horns, there emerged “a rather small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land” (v. 9). That activity would lead to Syria geographically and historically. The little horn continued to grow and “caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth” (v. 10). The horn magnified himself to equality with God, by removing the regular sacrifice (vv. 11-12).

The prophecy is not beyond comprehension as it concerns Antiochus IV, called Epiphanes, the eighth king over the Seleucid Empire from 175 to 164 BC. Not only is Bible prophecy meaningful for those seeing it realized, but also for those who anticipate its fulfillment. Although it is not the inspired Word of God, the Apocryphal books of Maccabees record the historical details of Antiochus’ exploits against the Jewish people, when truth was indeed flung “to the ground” (1 Macc 1:56-57). Truth always suffers when politics is more important than the Bible.

Not only did Antiochus remove the regular sacrifice from the Jewish people, but also from God Himself (Dan 8:11). First Maccabees 1:21-22 records how he “arrogantly entered the sanctuary and took the golden altar, the lampstand for the light, and all its utensils. He took also the table for the bread of the Presence, the cups for drink offerings, the bowls, the golden censers, the curtain, the crowns, and the gold decoration on the front of the temple; he stripped it all off.”

And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the towns of Judah; he directed them to follow customs strange to the land, to forbid burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings in the sanctuary, to profane sabbaths and festivals, to defile the sanctuary and the priests, to build altars and sacred precincts and shrines for idols, to sacrifice swine and other unclean animals, and to leave their sons uncircumcised. They were to make themselves abominable by everything unclean and profane, so that they would forget the law and change all the ordinances [vv. 44-49].

God delivered His people to a wicked individual “on account of transgression” (Dan 8:12). Antiochus was God’s judgment on His people for their apostasy. Israel endured a familiar experience, having been previously banished to the pagan empires of Assyria and Babylon. One of the evils to which God’s people succumbed, was to secularize their faith by aligning themselves “with the nations” surrounding them (1 Macc 1:11-15). People can typically endure difficult circumstances, if they know how long they must do so. God does not always say when the challenges of life will cease, though He did in regard to the evil of Antiochus’ empire (Dan 8:13-14). Nevertheless, one can learn from Daniel that God is sovereign, and He is always working everything for the good of His people.

THE INTERPRETATION OF THE VISION
(Dan 8:15-27) God wants readers of Scripture to understand His revealed prophecies (vv. 15-20), and also have that message affect one’s manner of living, as opposed to regarding any aspect of biblical truth as enigmatic and unknowable. Daniel’s vision concerned the “time of the end” (vv. 17, 19). The book of Daniel was written in approximately 530 BC (shortly after the defeat of Babylon by the Medes and the Persians). Yet verses 1-14 were fulfilled in the second century BC, during the time of the Medo-Persian and Greek Empires (vv. 20-21). There is no greater objective proof of the authority and inspiration of the Bible than fulfilled prophecy. Whether or not a person has faith in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior, he or she has to reckon with the objective evidence of fulfilled prophecy.

The same expression, “time of the end” occurs in Daniel 12:4, where the coming of Messiah to rule and to reign is the time of fulfillment. Consequently, it is best to understand that Daniel 8:1-14 was fulfilled historically in Antiochus Epiphanes, yet in varying manner prefigures the Beast of Revelation, who will likewise seek to destroy the biblical faith (cf. Rev 13; 14:9-13). Antiochus is the Antichrist of the Old Testament, who foreshadows a future Gentile world ruler of the end times.

The ram’s identity is said to represent “the kings of Media and Persia,” while the goat “represents the kingdom of Greece” (vv. 20-21). “The large horn” was Alexander the Great, and the four horns were (historically) the four generals who divided his empire among them (v. 22). How one understands the “time of the end” in verse 19 will determine interpretation of Daniel 8:23-25. Antiochus was “insolent and skilled in intrigue” (v. 23d), and nearly all the descriptions relate to him (cf. 1 Macc 6:8-13). The fact that more is to be fulfilled is evident by the words, “in the latter period of their rule” (v. 23a), which refers to the later period of the four Greek successors to Alexander. It will occur “when the transgressors have run their course” (v. 23b), so the passage has both a near (with Antiochus) and far fulfillment (a final world dictator who will have dominion) (cf. 2 Thess 2:1-10; Rev 12−13).

Daniel was given a vision of God’s plan for the entire world, which resulted in him being “exhausted and sick for days,” even feeling “astounded” (v. 27). God certainly wants His prophetic Word to impact the lives of His people. Knowing there is a coming Beast who will rule the world, who will destroy many through his deceptive schemes and even oppose God Himself (vv. 24-25), should compel God’s people to regard the prophetic Word with utmost seriousness, and to proclaim to the world the accurate prophecies that God has revealed in Scripture. Daniel was told the vision “is true” (Dan 8:26b), and resumed his normal duties (v. 27b). Although the prophecy was to be sealed (v. 26c), the book of Revelation would commend the one who reads and understands it (cf. Rev 1:3; 22:10). Scripture encourages perseverance, knowing that God is sovereign and His purposes will succeed!

Midnight Call - 11/2024