The Book of Daniel, Daniel’s Second Vision (Continued), Daniel 8:15-27 - Lesson 32

We have studied chapter seven, Daniel’s first vision, where we were introduced to the little horn of the fourth beast.

As we study chapter eight we are learning of another little horn which arises from one of four horns of the third beast, who in our passage is identified as the king of Greece.

This then is a little horn that has already come and gone, but the little horn of chapter seven is yet to come.

I believe God has given us revelation concerning the little horn that has already come in order to help us to know the little horn that is yet to come.

One little horn is past, and one is future as far as we are concerned.

The one that is passed waxed exceeding great toward the south, the east and the pleasant land, the land of Israel.

He was given a time where it appeared he had power over the host of heaven for he was given power over God’s people for it was their sin which brought this about.

It was against the Jews and against Jerusalem that this king poured out his wrath.

Through this king, God gives His people what they deserve, in full measure.

During part of his reign, this wicked "horn" appears to be victorious against God.

The "horn" is granted a period of time to rebel against God and to succeed, not because he is stronger than God, but because his rebellion is a part of the purpose of God.

His reign is divinely purposed and permitted so that God’s indignation may be poured out on a sinful people.

He was the kind as to give himself the status of God, by magnifying himself as God, changing the times and laws by taking away the daily sacrifice, and casting down the place of the sacrifice.

This king thinks himself equal with God, going as far as directly opposing God, casting the truth to the ground.

There is in this picture an incarnation.

This little horn wishes to take on the trappings of God himself.

He seems to change from a man who comes out of one of the four kings of Greece to an incarnation of Satan himself.

He works his work against Israel but in reality, it is against the hosts of heaven and the stars of heaven.

This does not happen because of his greatness but because of the uncontrolled sin that occurred in his day and power was given him to take away the daily sacrifice.

This was allowed by God himself and his practices, we are told, prospered.

Again we fully see our God in control, even control of allowing this horn to play God himself.

This little horn, is a forerunner of our chapter seven little horn, and we are given to know him so that we will know more fully the final little horn who will be present during the Great Tribulation prior to our Lord’s second coming.

The knowledge of him up to this point we have learned from Daniel’s second vision as described in Daniel 8:8-14.

We learn more about the little horn of the third beast in Daniel 8:15-27, as Daniel is given further understanding of this vision by the angel Gabriel.

One important fact we learn from this passage is that the vision concerns the time of the end.

Its timing is told of three times in this chapter.

Verse 17:  Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.

Verse 19:  And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.

Verse 26:  And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.

We already know that this little horn arises during the time of the third beast, a beast which has already come and gone.

So the time of the end referred to should already have come and gone.

We are led to think this way.

There are many ends. For every beginning there is an end.

Peter tells of the prophet Joel speaking of the last days even in Peter’s time when the Spirit was poured out on all people.

There was an end to the Northern kingdom brought about by the Assyrian invasion and Judah had her end times when Jerusalem was sacked by the Babylonians.

End times refer to times of judgment for rebellion against God and that is what Daniel 8 appears to be talking about.

But I also believe that there is a connection to the final end time referred to here, for the little horn of chapter eight is but a type of the Anti-Christ who is revealed in the little horn of chapter seven.

The Anti-Christ of Chapter seven precedes our Lord’s Second coming and it appears that the little horn of chapter eight preceded our Lord’s first coming.
 

So history should provide us with a king who arises at the latter part of the kingdom of Greece who openly rebels against God, who opposes and oppresses his people, and who will be successful for a limited period of time.

This is a king who is a archetype of the coming king of the Great Tribulation whom we know of as the Anti-Christ.

A man called Antiochus (Ant tia kas) Epiphanes meets the criteria of Daniel’s second vision. (By the way, the word epiphany means an appearance or manifestation of a deity)

Antiochus IV Epiphanes was the eighth in a succession of twenty-six kings who ruled from 175—164 BC over the Syrian section of Alexander’s empire.

The name Epiphanes means "God Made Manifest" or the "Illustrious One", both of course self enlarging or self amplifying terms.

It is also recorded that he was called by an altered form of this name, Epimanes (Epi man knees), which means "madman."

This king exemplifies a king yet to come, for he is the greatest prototype of the Antichrist.

Both of these kings are involved in end-time periods of persecution leading up to the first and second comings of Christ.

Lehman Strauss, the Bible commentator, said it this way.

Both of these periods witness the wrath of God being extended to His chosen people. The first of these periods of wrath commenced with the Babylonian captivity and concluded with the atrocities of Antiochus, after which there was deliverance. The second of these periods is yet future. It will commence with the beginning of the seventieth week (Daniel 9:24-27) and conclude with the atrocities of Antichrist, after which there will be deliverance.

Both begin as a little horn.

They both do not come on strong but become a great power from a small beginning.

The little horn of Daniel 8:9 waxed exceedingly great.

The little horn of Daniel seven will speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws.

Both will persecute God’s people.

History records the cruel and violent persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes.

In the spring of 168 BC, the armies of the Syrian king had arrived within four miles of the great city of Alexandria to demand the pharaohs surrender.

But the Egyptians had appealed to Rome for military aid.

A Roman fleet was anchored in the bay and their representative, soon met with the king.

After drawing a circle with his staff around the Syrian king, and forcing him to give an immediate reply, the king with great reluctance accepted the ultimatum to leave Egypt.

This is where the saying "draw a line in the sand" that we still use today comes from.

A humiliated Antiochus was forced to leave Egypt but his vengeance quickly turned upon Jerusalem where he attempted to bring Alexander’s dream of Greek culture to all parts of his kingdom by erasing all that was Jewish.

His mission was to impose Hellenism, carrying out Alexander’s policy of creating an empire united under the culture of Greece.

Apply this to what is happening today where Christian culture of old is being systematically erased.

There is nothing new under the sun, is there?

So in an attempt to erase all that was Jewish, Antiochus killed over eighty thousand men, women, and children and sold forty thousand into slavery.

The holy place was robbed of its treasures and the temple was dedicated to the Greek god, Jupiter Olympus.

The temple was defiled by offering a sow upon the altar and scattering its blood over all the sanctuary and vessels.

He substituted the Jewish feasts with the drunken revelry of Bacchanalia, forcing the Jews to worship Bacchus, the god of pleasure and wine.

The licentious festival of Saturnalia, the worship of Saturn, was also enforced upon the inhabitants.

He forbade the reading of the Holy Scriptures and the tradition of circumcision.

Antiochus killed two mothers who had circumcised their children in defiance of the law, and then had them thrown with their babies from the highest wall in Jerusalem.

It was recorded in the annals of history that this little horn had the tongues of a mother’s seven sons cut out and had each of them roasted alive on a flat iron, thereafter killing the mother.

The Apostle John tells us that this is simply a foretaste of what is to come under the second little horn, the horn of the Great Tribulation for in Revelation 20:4 he records:

Both of these horns blaspheme the God of Heaven.

Antiochus, according to Dan. 8:11, "magnified himself even to the prince of the host"

His pride and arrogance was lifted up in opposition to the very God of heaven.

His blasphemy will typify that of the future Man of Sin who we were told in Dan 7:8, "And, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things"

John, in Rev. 13:1 tells us of the second little horn where upon his heads were the name of blasphemy and in verse 13:6 he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven"

Are we not seeing a glimpse of this beastly character today where the name of Christ is blasphemed all around us?

Both little horns will use peace to achieve their aims.

Speaking of Antiochus IV Epiphanes in verse 25 of Daniel 8:

Antiochus was known to e was deceive by pretending to be on a peaceful mission but thereafter he would then plunder and steal and kill gaining the treasures that he had acquired under the guise of peace.

The latter little horn, the Anti-Christ of Revelation is pictured as the white horse rider in Rev. 6:1:2, who has a bow but no arrows indicating he shall come in peaceably and obtain the kingdom by flatteries as we will learn when we study Daniel 11.

Scripture is full of references to the prince that will come who will lead Israel into signing a peace covenant during the time of the Great Tribulation.

The desecration of the temple and the temple worship by Antiochus IV Epiphanes was a precursor of what is to take place during the time of the second little horn for both desecrate the sanctuary of the temple.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes was hell bent on destroying the Jewish nation, their religion, and their culture.

When Antiochus set up the image of Jupiter in the Holy Place in Jerusalem and desecrated the sanctuary and its holy vessels, he was without knowing it portraying a future defilement of the temple.

Jesus linked this event in Matthew 24:15 when he declared: "When ye therefore shall see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)."

The Jews who live during this period will understand the meaning of this Scripture and flee to the mountains for safety.

Paul referred to this future event in 1 Thessalonians 2:4 when he spoke of this man: "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called god, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."

The Apostle John in the Book of Revelation gives a clear description of the "image of the beast" that the false prophet will set up in the future rebuilt temple in Jerusalem.

Those living in that time of terror will be forced to worship the image of the beast or be killed (Rev. 13:14-15).

Another common thread that both little horns share is that both are Satan come in the flesh.

Jesus had his incarnation and Satan also has his incarnation, once in Antiochus and another in the Anti-Christ.

Daniel’s vision of chapter eight tells us his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power.

He is endued with power for he is Satan Incarnate, a king of fierce countenance and one who is highly intelligent, understanding dark sentences.

The commentator W. A. Criswell, wrote of Antiochus as being demon-possessed and foreshadowed the Antichrist:

First, he is inordinately proud, lifted up, and ambitious. He is Satan through copy. He is Satan through incarnation. He is Satan’s willing instrument. For example, when Antiochus came to reign, he imprinted on his coins, Theos Antiochus, Theos Epiphanes, "Antiochus, God manifest." One need not doubt that such a thing could be, for according to the second chapter of II Thessalonians, this final dictator presents himself as "God manifest," Theos Epiphanes. That same spirit is universal in human story. Ambitious, dictatorial men are like that. That is the spirit of Hitler. It is the spirit of any striving dictator who lifts himself above the mountain heap of prostrate humanity.

Jesus Christ was the seed of the woman but Antiochus was, and the Anti-Christ will be, the seed of the serpent spoken of in: Gen. 3:15. ¹⁵

The Bible commentator, Arthur Pink explains that "the Antichrist, then, will be more than a man, he will be the actual and literal Seed of that Old Serpent, the Devil; as Christ was, according to the flesh, the actual and literal Seed of the woman."⁹

Consequently, as Christ was God incarnate, Antichrist will be Satan incarnate and Antiochus was the prototype of the Anti-Christ who will be revealed in the Great Tribulation.

But from Daniel’s words we can also find comfort for God is in control as to both of the little horns for both shall be broken without hand.

Verse 25:  he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

When we studied the dream of Nebuchadnezzar we learned of the stone made without hand which destroys the whole of the world kingdoms.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes power was broken without the aid of man for he was afflicted by a horrible death, a disease which took him at age 51, while he was on his way to Judea, intending to take vengeance for the defeat of his armies by the Maccabees.

In like manner the stone made without hands shall suddenly strike the counterfeit kingdom of the Anti-Christ.

We see both little horns standing up against the Prince of princes, but both are broken without hand.

And since God is in control both periods end with deliverance.

In spite of the terror and evil that Antiochus exercised against the Jew, in spite of halting the sacrifices and setting up the heathen altar with heathen sacrifices in 164 B.C Judas Maccabeus

restored the sanctuary and sacrificial system.

The ancient nation of Israel was freed by the Maccabees from the brutal regime of the Old Testament Antichrist.

But the modern nation of Israel will be saved from the terrible world system of the New Testament Antichrist by their soon coming Savior and "Deliverer"

Romans. 11:26, And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: