Daniel 8:6-10

Daniel 8:6

And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.

 

Here we have a description of the power and might of the Macedonian armies under Alexander as it came face to face against the Medo-Persian Empire.  Daniel sees Alexander attack the Medes and Persians by the river.  The first battle was at the Granicus River in 334 B.C. and perhaps this is the river that Daniel is seeing.  The word “fury” carries with it the meaning of “indignation, wrath, or rage.”  The word “power” carries with it the meaning of “force or strength.”

 

Daniel 8:7

And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.

 

Alexander mounted three major campaigns against the Persians under Cyrus and this verse is restating what we read previously that the onslaught of the Macedonian troops were unrestrainable and there was no king or kingdom alive at that time which could help the Persians escape doom.  The word “choler” carries with it the meaning of “anger, wrath, or irascibility.”  In the previous verse we saw the word “fury” associated with Alexander.  The Medes and Persians had finally become so weakened that it was like they were thrown down to the ground and as conquerors do, they humiliate the king.   The word “stamped” carries with it the meaning of being “trampled or tread upon.”   

 

Daniel 8:8

Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.

 

Alexander’s conquests took him as far as Afghanistan and to the borders of India.  His empire became massive and he spread Greek culture and the Greek language replaced Aramaic as the language of education, commerce, and communication between governments.  We have a similar situation today where English has become the international language of commerce.  Then at the height of his power and conquests, he had died of a fever while at a drunken feast at the age of 32 which left the Grecian empire without a central leader.  After his death, the four notable ones were his four trusted generals who then inherited the kingdom in parts.  Ptolemy took Egypt.  Seleucus took Babylon.  Lysymaschus took Thrace.  Cassander took Macedonia.  The kingdom eventually dissolved and many parts of it had received back their independence such as Pergamum, Bithynia, Pontus, Bactria, and Parthia.

 

Daniel 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.

 

This particular verse begins something as a double prophecy.  While the wicked Antiochus Epiphanes IV (175-164 B.C.) fits the physical description of this passage, along with all his hatred and cruelty in defiling the temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar.  On the south his powers stretched to the border of Egypt.  To the east he conquered Armenia and Elymais plus the pleasant land which was Judah.  Psalm 106:24 (KJV)   Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:  However because of what is described in the following verses, we also see that this is a description of Satan who is the driving force behind the hatred of Antiochus.  Especially since the hatred of Judah exists where God had promised a regathering of the people in their own land which had to happen since the Messiah had to be born in Bethlehem and crucified in Jerusalem.

 

Daniel 8:10

And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.

 

Here Daniel is witnessing a war in Heaven.  The little horn has waxed great to the point of rebelling against God.  The host of Heaven are the angels and no human being has the power to go up to Heaven and cause havoc among the angels, especially a pagan king.  What we have here is Satan’s attempt to be like the Most High in self-exaltation and his rebellion where he took one third of the angels with him.  They were cast down to the earth and became demons.

 

Revelation 12:4 (KJV)   And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

 

We see a similar picture in Revelation 12:4 where Satan has taken one third of the angels with him in his rebellion against God and his persecution of the saints of God on earth.  The stars are the born again Christians which Satan cannot have but he can attempted to stamp upon them.  Psalm 147:4 (KJV)   He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.   The stars refer to the believers who will be born again in the Lord Jesus Christ that will be in the spiritual lineage of Abraham.  Genesis 15:5 (KJV)   And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.  He calls them by their name and we respond because we know the voice of the Master.  John 10:3 (KJV)   To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.  The word “stamp” also carries with it the meaning of “oppress or abuse.”  If there is one chief abuser of the brethren it is Satan and his demons and the unbelievers still in his kingdom.

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