Now I thought about starting with the last verse today, “I was appalled at the vision it is beyond understanding.” And make this a very short sermon by simply saying “It is beyond understanding,” and walk away. But not only does that say this piece of God’s word is not worth our time, and we cannot get anything out of it, I think it also misunderstands that verse. What I think was “beyond understanding” was that God would lead history this way. It is a history of persecution for Gods people. I think the question for Daniel is that it was beyond understanding that history would have to be led this way. Sometimes the way history goes is beyond understanding. I think if someone saw the vision of the murder of 6 million innocent Jews before it happened, we would also say it is beyond understanding, why God would let it happen.
Now there are other parts which Daniel also maybe did not understand, but we know from this chapter the main things were explained to him. So yes there will be parts we can’t know for sure, but we pray that God may make plain what we must learn. God had it written down for us today so that we might learn he is the God of history.
Another thing that we have to understand about this chapter, is that the anticipation and waiting time leading up to the coming of the messiah, who we know as Jesus, was extremely important. These chapters tell us about that time. We know that there was a time of silence between the last prophet, and the coming of the messiah, but this does not mean God was silent; in fact he was speaking about these times. Quite clearly. And in real time history he was fulfilling what had been spoken through this prophet Daniel.
The time between the last prophet and Jesus, was a time of a battle for faith, of near extermination of Gods people, of wicked rule, of abuse, of amazing perseverance, and faithfulness. There were times when it seemed like there was nothing left, evil was allowed to rule temporarily in God’s house, the temple. This was GODS HOUSE! I think sometimes in our day we look back at the temple as just some building, that did not have any meaning in the time, except to show and point us toward Christ. Yes it was meant to point us to Christ, but for those people this is where God dwelt. In that time this is where people went to meet with God. If your faith was for real the temple was the real deal. The place where heaven met with earth.
In this vision this temple is shut down by someone described in almost satanic terms. No wonder Daniel is appalled. Access to God was in a sense temporarily stopped. Any man of God would be crushed if he had to look upon such a thing. But before we get ahead of ourselves let’s look at this vision in verse 1-14 and its interpretation in verse 15-16, before drawing out some implications.
In the sovereignty of God prepare for some tough times.
- Vision
- Interpretation
- Implications.
Vision (1-14)
Daniel receives another vision in this chapter.
In verse 1-4 we read that he is standing beside a waterway in a city. And he looks up and there is this massive ram with two very long horns. Both were long but one was longer than the other, even though it grew later. And this Ram just goes throughout the earth, does whatever it wants, and destroys everything in every direction. He comes from the east. Nothing can stand before this two horned ram. He became great.
And in verse 5-8 it goes on. Now Daniel sees this and starts thinking about this, but he is not given a whole lot of time to think, because suddenly this Goat appears. It’s like, BOOM, there he is. He comes from the west. This goat has one big horn, and covers the ground so fast that he looks like he is flying. And he meets the Ram with the two horns, and just levels it. It means, lays it flat, and decimates it, trampling all over this ram.
The Bible says, “The two horns of the ram were shattered, and it was powerless before the fury of this goat. No one could rescue the ram from this goat with the one horn.” The ram had become great as we read in verse 4, but this goat became VERY GREAT as we read in verse 8. But just at the height of its power the horn was broken, and in its place came four other horns, from the four winds of heaven, or you might say four corners of the earth.
We then read in verse 9-12 that out of one of the horns grows a little horn which started small and grew in power and moved south and east toward the beautiful land. Beautiful Land. I love that name for a land which God has blessed, where he dwells it is beautiful. It reminds us of Psalm 48 where it speaks of Jerusalem and says, “It is beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth.” But the joy of the whole earth was to be taken over by this horn. This horn comes right into God holy place, and stops all sacrifices.
Then there is what is called a holy one, maybe an angel, in verse 13 cries out after seeing the joy of all the earth being defiled, and seeing the sacrifices stopped, and this king doing whatever he wants without consequence. Seeing this the angel cries out “HOW LONG!?” We read, “How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled – the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, and the surrender of the sanctuary and of the host that will be trampled underfoot.” Hear this angel or holy one in his vision asking a question about how long he will have control of the holy place, and how long the host will be trampled underfoot. Then another holy one says, “2300 evenings and mornings, then the sanctuary will be consecrated.” This would be would be 1150 days or about three and half years.
So once again Daniel is standing there trying to understand all of this now just like he was standing there understanding the ram in the beginning, and he heard someone telling Gabriel the messenger of God to tell Daniel the meaning of the vision. If you are confused at this point, no worries. Daniel was trying to understand it too as we read in verse 15, and probably not completely getting it because someone that looks like a son of man comes and tells an angel to tell Daniel the meaning of the vision. Which brings us to the interpretation of all of this.
Interpretation (17-25)
In the presence of an angel Daniel is just terrified and falls flat on his face. Angels are not some cute little creatures. When we meet them in scripture they are awesome, terrifying beings that cause even strong men that have been through a tremendous amount, like Daniel, to just fall flat on their face. And this angel says in verse 17, “Understand that the vision concerns the time of the end,” and also we have in verse 19, “I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end.”
So here Daniel gets a heads up and we get a hint too, this is about the time of the end, and then we also read in verse 26, “Seal up the vision for it concerns the distant future.” So we know that this vision is going to stretch quite a few years beyond Daniel’s time. The time of the end is a time that is still a way out – and these signs are leading up to that time. And it does not look pretty.
The angel tells him that the two-horned ram represents the kings of Media and Persia. Persia being the longer stronger horn. The Persian Empire was powerful, and no one could stand before it. It marched at times with armies of 250,000 men. This empire lasted about 200 years till 330BC. The Persians were loved because generally they allowed conquered nations to keep their faith and kings. They just had to submit to the king of Persia, and so he was called the king of kings. In other words as the Bible says he became great.
The angel only gives one verse to this in verse 20, and then goes on to say in verse 21, that the “shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king.” So the vision is about the Median and Persian kings just getting leveled by this king from Greece. And this is exactly what happened.
What happened is that out of nowhere came a goat with a horn. It’s called Alexander the Great. He is still considered by many to be the greatest military genius to have ever lived. In ten years he took over the world. The Vision explains this as “crossing the whole earth without touching the ground.” He believed he was the savior of the world. He believed he was descended from the Gods. The empire he created was the largest to date in history. He smashed the Persian empire. The final battle was between him and Darius III, who was so confident he would defeat this little army from the west he took his family along to watch, and brought tremendous wealth along too.
Well long story short, the Bible is always true in its predictions, regardless of army sizes, so Darius was going to lose this one no matter what. After Alexander built an empire bigger than any before or after, he lost it all. AS the bible says in verse, “He became very great, but at the height of his power his large horn was broken off.” And that is exactly what happened; again the Bible said it would happen so it had to happen. Are you seeing how we are reading Gods story even as we study history? I don’t care how long history still has to go, God has written all of it, and has every one of his children’s names written in a book, so they don’t ever get lost in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation. We have to learn to hold onto the promises of God. If God says it will happen it will happen. We have to hold onto the historical reality of God’s word.
For as we go on we see that, just as the Bible said, his kingdom was split up between many generals, but after the dust settles, which took about 15 years, there were four. This is where we read in v. 8 or 22 of chapter 8.
Then we focus in on one of those generals from what is called the Seleucids Empire. This is the little horn that grows out of the big horn. We read about him verse 23, “In the latter part of their reign (the reign of the Seleucids) when the rebels have become completely wicked.” The time when this man arose was a time in which the Jews were not exactly exemplary. The high priest hood was a mess. We read about some of this in Maccabees,
“The high-priesthood was exposed to sale. Good Onias was ejected for a sum of money, to make room for wicked Jason; and Jason again was supplanted for a greater sum of money, by a worse man, if possible, than himself, his brother Menelaus; and the golden vessels of the temple were sold, to pay for the sacrilegious purchase. At the same time, the customs of the heathen nations were introduced among the Jews; the youth were trained up and exercised after the manner of the Greeks; the people, apostatized from the true religion, and even the priests.”
In some way God was going to use intense suffering and persecution to purify his people and this is what happens as we go on…
Verse 23 goes on, “a stern-faced king, a master of intrigue will arise.” This is most likely Antiochus Epiphanes, this is how he is described by others. He came toward the end of the Seleucids empire. He fits this passage like a glove.
He starts small but he grows. He bribed his way into power, while the real heir was actually in Rome. He wanted to expand the empire into Egypt, but they went to Rome for help. And Rome came and told him to back off. He left that meeting humiliated and took it out on his way back home in Jerusalem. This is where he sets himself over God. For the believers in this time, Jerusalem was the center of the world, because this is from where God rules.
He rules this place with what is called a reign of terror. In verse 23 we see the interpretation to verse 10. The hosts of heaven or the starry hosts are the people of God. In Daniel 12:3 we also read believers will shine like stars. So this guy makes war with God’s people. It was a time of intense persecution. In one assault alone 40,000 Jews were killed in three days. Some think it was 100,000 Jews that were killed in his three year reign of terror.
He told his men to desecrate the temple. To put up idols in God’s house. He made them adopt the culture of the Greeks. They tore up books of the law and burned them, in other words as verse 12 says “He cast truth to the ground.” If you were circumcised you were killed. He forbids burnt sacrifices. He told them to defile the priests, and the temple. The temple was trashed. The worship of God was trashed. And above all this he forced the people to sacrifice a pig on the altar of God. This reign lasts about 3 and half years or about 2300 mornings and evenings.
The hatred of Satan is intense beloved. It is a burning and pure hatred. And it hates all that is holy and Godly. Because that is who stood behind all this, as we read in later chapters in Daniel. This war is bigger than just some stern faced guy, and the Jews. The man took his stand against the prince of princes as Satan rebelled against God at the beginning. He was trying his hardest to make sure the seed of the woman would not even come. That Jesus would not come. This is the battle of light and darkness. Good and evil. God and Satan.
This all was shown before the time of the end. Satan knew the time of the end is coming, and the closer the end comes the more vicious and cruel he becomes. He is like a cornered dog. And the end did come in Jesus Christ.
Yes, the end has come, church the victory has happened. Jesus IS KING!. The end is here, you are living in the time of the end. All that had to be done is done. All that will be yours is yours already in Christ. This is the time of the final harvest. The king already reigns! So when Daniel talks about the end in this chapter he is talking first about the coming and work of Jesus Christ, both in his life on earth, and today. Satan knew that if there was no righteous remnant alive there would be no messiah. But God protects his own. Although he looks like he is winning he is picking a fight with the wrong people. You don’t mess with the church. For in the end Satan will be cut off just like this man, as we read in verse 25, “Not by human power.”
Antiochus, that persecutor of Gods people, that satanic man was not killed by human hands. He died of a terrible disease, as we read in ancient records,, “But the all-seeing Lord, the God of Israel, struck him an incurable and unseen blow. As soon as he ceased speaking he was seized with a pain in his bowels for which there was no relief and with sharp internal tortures – and that very justly, for he had tortured the bowels of others with many and strange inflictions.
So what do we do with all this?
Implications
Number 1: Again like I told you at that beginning of this book and we have heard throughout. God controls human events. He is sovereign over them, and this should be a comfort to Gods people in the hardest of times. It allows us to call out along with Gods people of every age, HOW LONG O LORD?!
The church has gone through some unbelievably painful times of tribulation in the past, and we cannot think we are immune. It is no wonder the Angel cried out in verse 13, “How Long!” It is the cry of Psalm 13, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?” It is the cry of the prophet Habakkuk, “How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save?” It is the cry of the saints under the altar in revelation, “They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?"
You hear this cry throughout scripture! And this is our cry still! How long O Lord, before you come to judge the living and the dead!” HOW long o lord before faith becomes sight! How long will the wicked prosper in the land!
You see this battle would not stop here where the vision ends… but it continues and it foreshadows the greater battle, which is why these and similar ideas come back again and again after Daniel! In Thessalonians we read of a similar man, called the man of lawlessness who will “oppose and exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in Gods temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” Sound familiar? Satan’s tactics don’t change even though he is defeated now in Christ. He still wants to destroy all worship wherever possible. He wants to get into the church and set himself up as God.
Revelation gives us very similar imagery of what is yet to happen. And we see a similar event taking place right before the temple is destroyed. There 70 Roman soldiers entered the temple, (defiling it according to Jewish Law), tore down Jewish ornaments, and raised instead the pagan symbols and Roman standards.
So you see a pattern from Nebuchadnezzar plundering the temple, to Belshazzar using the cups to drink wine at his party, to Antiochus Epiphanes setting up an abomination of desolation in the temple to the destruction of the temple.
The wicked will seek to stamp out the true worship of God and replace it with the worship of some unworthy wreck. They will persecute those who do not bow down just as Daniel and his three friends were persecuted. Dear church as we read these chapters let us not be surprised at the durability and breadth of evil around us. The heart of man is wicked beyond comparison, who can know it?
But in the end, the efforts of all the wicked will come to nothing, not because of human effort, but because they are fighting God. Even if they kill the righteous, they will succeed neither in making their abominations into God nor in keeping the righteous dead, as we will see. They are chaff. The wind will drive them away. Suddenly the seed of the serpent will be crushed. The pattern in Daniel reflects all of Scripture.
The pattern will continue as we see prophesied in the NT, as history weaves its long tapestry, and it will culminate in a final shackling of power . The beast will die. And his body burned, and the ancient of Days will come to sit and reign once and for all, totally and completely.
This prophecy is amazing in its detail, and scary at times. But this would have given Israel amazing hope. In the God of history. It would help them to persevere, to not be surprised by the wickedness and evil in the world, and finally the last implication comes from, verse 27, “Then I got up and went about the kings business.”
He carries on. God has got history in his hand. Daniel carries on with the king’s business. This cosmic picture gives Daniel the strength to persevere in ordinary life, being faithful. Carry on, be faithful, and know that He is coming. Amen.