Let’s approach Chapter 8 as a history lesson. History from a Biblical perspective, through the lens of God. History is nothing more than His Story played out through the generations. History is not just about Kings and Kingdoms, but also God’s carefully detailed plan for humanity, your life- your story!

STATEMENT: His Story and Your Story do merge! They merge at the cross of Jesus.

During the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, saw another vision, following the one that had already appeared to me. ² In this vision I was at the fortress of Susa, in the province of Elam, standing beside the Ulai River. (vv 1-2)

• In this vision, Daniel finds himself 200 miles of East of Babylon. In a city known as Susa or Shushan. That city did not exist while Daniel is having this vision but will later on be the future capital of Persian.
• This would also be the home of another Bible character that most of you are very familiar with: Queen Esther

³ As I looked up, I saw a ram with two long horns standing beside the river. One of the horns was longer than the other, even though it had grown later than the other one. ⁴ The ram butted everything out of his way to the west, to the north, and to the south, and no one could stand against him or help his victims. He did as he pleased and became very great. (vv 3-4)

• Again we don’t have to rattle our brains as the interpretation is given in verse 20: “The two-horned ram represents the kings of Media and Persia.”
• One longer than the other simply means Persia was stronger than Media
• The Medo-Persian Empire would expand from Egypt, to Turkey, all the way to India.

⁵ While I was watching, suddenly a male goat appeared from the west, crossing the land so swiftly that he didn’t even touch the ground. This goat, which had one very large horn between its eyes, ⁶ headed toward the two-horned ram that I had seen standing beside the river, rushing at him in a rage. ⁷ The goat charged furiously at the ram and struck him, breaking off both his horns. Now the ram was helpless, and the goat knocked him down and trampled him. No one could rescue the ram from the goat’s power.

• Again we don’t have to rattle our brains as the interpretation is given in verse 21: “The shaggy male goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king of the Greek Empire”
• Let me remind you that Daniel is having this vision 200 years before they happened. 2 historical characters mentioned here King of Greece and King of the Greek Empire.
• Just a little more historical depth here: The King of Greece was Philip II of Macedonia. Powerful warrior. He was the father of Alexander The Great. King Philip hired the smartest person on the planet of the time: Aristotle (student of Plato, who was a student of Socrates).
• King Philip was murdered as he was planning on invading Persia
• At the age of 20, his son Alexander succeeded him
• 18 months later, Alexander launched an attack against the mighty Persian empire and within 3 short years he conquered entire Medo-Persian empire and most of the known world. His empire encompassed 1.5 million square miles.

⁸ The goat became very powerful. But at the height of his power, his large horn was broken off. In the large horn’s place grew four prominent horns pointing in the four directions of the earth.

• At the pinnacle of his success, Alexander The Great believed that he was a descendant of the Greek God Zeus and required all of his provinces to worship him as a god.
• Only a few years later, at the age of 32, Alexander contracted a terrible fever and died.
• The large horn was broken off and was replaced by 4 horns pointing in 4 directions
• 4 horns represent 4 generals to whom was divided the Greek empire. In Daniel’s vision in chapter 7 they were represented by the 4 leopard heads. (Ptolemy, Cassander, Seleucus, Antigonus)

Through Daniel’s predictive vision and by studying history, we have witnessed the fall of 2 major empires that have accomplished great things. Great movies have been made this!

HERE’S WHAT I WANT YOU TO GET: There’s nothing wrong with doing great things. The real test is who gets glory for the great things.

• The point of our being here on earth is for God to use us for His greatness
• Alexander The Great would have been greater had he seen himself smaller
• Oral Roberts mom would remind him frequently: “If you see yourself small in your own eyes, you will accomplish great things for God”
• Oral Roberts accomplished great things for God because God received all the glory!
• Throughout history God will always remain sovereign, in charge of everything!
• God used the conquests of Alexander The Great to pave the way for the Gospel to spread in a common language: Koine Greek.

⁹ Then from one of the prominent horns came a small horn whose power grew very great. It extended toward the south and the east and toward the glorious land of Israel. ¹⁰ Its power reached to the heavens, where it attacked the heavenly army, throwing some of the heavenly beings and some of the stars to the ground and trampling them. ¹¹ It even challenged the Commander of heaven’s army by canceling the daily sacrifices offered to him and by destroying his Temple. ¹² The army of heaven was restrained from responding to this rebellion. So the daily sacrifice was halted, and truth was overthrown. The horn succeeded in everything it did.

• Just like in Daniel’s vision in chapter 7 we see that little horn again. Remember we identified it as the antichrist. Here in Chapter 8 there’s a parallel between the coming antichrist and another historical king by the name of Antiochus IV.
• King Antiochus gave himself the title: Epiphanes. Epiphanes means “God Manifest” or “The Glorious one”.  That’s where we get the word epiphany. Now who was this guy?
• Antiochus IV came into power in 175 BC after murdering his brother and took over the Seleucid dynasty: Mesopotamia, Syria, and of course Israel.
• By the time Antiochus seized power over Israel, many of those who were in exile had returned back home to Israel and had rebuilt the temple.
• Antiochus would order the slaughter of tens of thousands of Jews. He would burn the holy writings. He would desecrate the temple by killing a pig and placing it in the temple. He would boil a pig and smear the broth on the walls of the temple.
• Antiochus will persecute the Jews and desecrate the temple for 2300 (evenings and nights) After that the temple had to be cleansed for 8 days and rededicated to God. That’s why the Jews celebrates Hanukkah every year as the Feast of Dedication.
• Antiochus was a foreshadow of the antichrist who is to come in our time.
• In verses 23-25: says that he was the master of intrigue, the master of deception. He will become arrogant and destroy God’s people. He will succeed not because of human power but because he will be empowered by satan himself.
• Do you catch the resemblance here with the antichrist?

Have you ever asked yourself the question: Why did God spend that much time through the Book of Daniel to bring relevance to the past and to focus our attention on the future? HERE’S THE ANSWER: God is not trying to hold back on us! He wants us to be prepared for the future not by ignoring the past but by learning from the past.

• “The more you know about the past, the more you are prepared for the future” – Theodore Roosevelt
• “The further back you can look, the further forward you can see”- Sir Winston Churchill

Speaking of past and future:

• Do you have a past? Yes! We all do!
• Do you have a future? Yes! It’s called eternity. It’s either eternity with God (Heaven) or eternity absent from God (Hell)
• Does your past determine when you will spend eternity? Absolutely NOT!
• However, what you do today, here and now, can decide your eternity. It begins at the cross!

Since we are talking about eschatology, I want to draw your attention to a timeline: (Picture)

NOTE: I am aware of the many interpretations of eschatology. Concerning end-times, there are some issues that are spine issues. They are fundamental to the Christian belief. Others are rib issues– not so fundamental to our Christian belief.  We can respectfully have different views.

Here a spine issue: Jesus is coming back FOR US HIS CHURCH (RAPTURE).

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. ¹⁷ Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be CAUGHT UP IN THE CLOUDS TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR. Then we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17 NLT)

Another spine issue: Jesus is coming back WITH US HIS CHURCH (2ND COMING).

¹¹ Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. ITS RIDER WAS NAMED FAITHFUL AND TRUE, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. ¹² His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. ¹³ HE WORE A ROBE DIPPED IN BLOOD, and his title was the WORD OF GOD. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. ¹⁵ From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. ¹⁶ ON HIS ROBE AT HIS THIGH WAS WRITTEN THIS TITLE: KING OF ALL KINGS AND LORD OF ALL LORDS. (Revelation 19:11-16 NLT)

• Church, we are coming back along with Christ and His angelic army to destroy the antichrist and his armies. The battle is known as the battle of Armageddon. We will capture the antichrist and cast him in the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20)

Let me throw you a rib. Here’s a rib issue: Is the rapture of the church before or after the tribulation? Maybe you’ve heard of the terms Pre-Trib (Before tribulation), Post-Trib (After Tribulation) and Mid-Trib (In the middle of Tribulation)

It’s a rib issue because it is not a fundamental Christian belief issue.

For what it’s worth, here’s my personal opinion. I personally believe the rapture of the church will happen before the tribulation when the antichrist or the man of sin is revealed. The church will be spared from the tribulation.

Jesus describes this day to “the days of Noah” and “the days of Lot” (Luke 17: 26, 28). Here’s the Truth on which I stand: In both cases, the “righteous” were removed thus escaping the tribulation.

CONCLUSION:

• What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?