Daniel 8:1-27

Recurrent Thought

The walk of Faith is actually a life of spiritual warfare. Essential in this warfare is to know one’s identity in Christ and understand God’s eternal purposes.

Yahweh, in revealing himself to humanity has also shown that he is involved in the life of his creation. Some well-meaning people state that God created the natural Laws to keep the earth perpetually in motion but he himself is not personally involved. This is called Deism. Herewith is our convictions. First, because God created us, he therefore, knows us personally. Second, He personally desired to reveal himself to the world. He thus, set a process of setting that revelation in the scriptures. Third, Yahweh is not only involved in our affairs, he also fights for us.

In our text Daniel has a spiritual encounter, where in a vision he is translated and brought into the city of Susa, which became prominent with the rise for the Persians. What is a vision? Visions, in this case is when through the sense of seeing, one experiences a supernatural encounter to the end that they see spiritual realities. Seeing a vision is one major way God speaks to human beings. Visions come in various forms. We have visions where through the eye gate we see video. A trance is a vision where while having an encounter, one is overwhelmed and sees the supernatural realities while they knocked down. Vision is also an experience where one see pictures on one’s mind (Dan. 7:2, 9, 13; such as Ananias seeing a vision in Acts 9:11).  

This is the third year of Belshazzar whose capital city is Babylon. He sees the kingdoms that shall rise after Babylon. In column #4 we see what Daniel sees in Chapter 8

The Little Horn of Daniel 8:9

• He is from the Third Kingdom, the Greek Empire. While the Little Horn from Chapter 7 is from the Fourth Kingdom which is Rome. 
• We also noticed that the Little Horn of Chapter 7 is going to be revealed in the future, Rev. 13:1-7. We affirmed that ancient Roman Empire never spawned off ten kingdoms historically and by this same token, the little horn never appeared in history. It was safe to assume it is futuristically noticing the place of the Ancient of Days judges.
• The Little Horn from Chapter 8 comes from the Greek Empire. We are further told that he only arises out of one for the four succeeding kingdoms from his four Generals.
• In history, there is a King called Antiochus (IV) Epiphanes. He is a king of intrigue. He stopped Temple sacrifices in 167 BC and set up which is what the Jews called the “abomination that causes desolation.”. He built an altar to Zeus, and set it in the temple in Jerusalem. He sacrifice a pig on it. 
• He fought with the People of Israel and did all things humanly possible to hurt them and defile their temple. His desire was to change the worship of Yahweh with that of Zeus
• The leadership of Antiochus IV was so evil and led to the revolt by the Maccabees. The Maccabees was the family of Priests, (led by Judas Maccabeus) who led a resistance against the evil king, Antiochus IV. They fought and defeated this evil man. However, this was miraculously, just as Ch. 8: 25 predicted "... he will be broken, though not by human power." Based on the record from the Maccabees, God struck Antiochus IV he died from a divinely inflicted disease.
• Historical records states that in In 165 BC, the Maccabees freed the Temple and is re-consecrated, ensuring the resumption of sacrifices. Judas Maccabeus and his brothers instituted the festival of Hanukkah to celebrate this event (1 Maccabees 4:59).

This Little Horn and Antichrist

• The Little Horn of Daniel 8:9 is not the Antichrist but his forerunner. He is a Type of the Antichrist (Rev. 13:1-7).  Remember the spirit of antichrist is already at work
• There have been many leaders in the past who have mimicked the life of the Antichrist. People such as Emperor Nero were suspected to be antichrists.

Four Concluding Thoughts

1. Evil Forces, especially, fight those who become aware of God’s Purposes in their Lives,

   • When People come to awareness of their destiny in God, they should also know that evil forces will resist and fight them
   • Being in the will of God does not imply a life without battles
2. Sometimes, the Forces of Evil (Devil) do seem to win (Dan. 8:24-25)
   • Know that the battle does inflict pain on the righteous
   • Know that many times God does not give the reasons why he allows the forces to win some battles. The question, remain an unanswered: Why do the righteous suffer?
3. Yahweh Fights for His Name & Word
   • God does not only direct the Prophetic Calendar, He is also involved in fighting the forces that desire to thwart His Purposes. Book of Revelation reveals that end time judgements are only unleashed when God directs. He is in charge of the who future of humanity
   • Whatever he has stated in his Word, he will defend 
     Psa 138:2  I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. 
4. When you are on God’s Side, You are on the winning side.
   • The Prophesy reveals that the community of Yahweh always wins

Questions for Discussion

1. What is Deism? What is Providence?
2. What are the differences between the Little Horns of Chapters 7 and 8?
3. How do the narration of the end times show that God is fightingfor us?