DANIEL 8

THE RAM AND THE HE-GOAT 1

“In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first. And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.” Daniel 8:1, 2.

Two years have elapsed since Daniel's previous vision. Daniel was now an old man. He had been in captivity a total of about fifty-five years; and as he was probably around sixteen or eighteen years of age when brought to Babylon, he would now be well over seventy. His vision about the four beasts in chapter 7 came to him while he was in bed, but this vision occurred while he was awake and in the palace.

"Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. Daniel 8:3.

"I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great." Daniel 8:4.

It was the third year of Belshazzar and Babylon had not yet fallen but so soon was that going to happen that it isn’t mentioned in this vision like it was in the last one. Daniel sees a great ram with one of its horns higher than the other one. It is pushing with its horns west, north and south and nothing could stand before it. These are the directions Medo-Persia did go.

This ram is Medo Persia as we look back in chapter 7 we see that the bear raised up on one side; so this ram had 2 horns and one was higher than the other. This was to show that the Persian part of the empire was stronger than the Medes, their partners. Like a cruel bully, the Medo-Persian ram charged "westward, northward and southward,” in that very order. (THE 3 RIBS)

Now here is something interesting; in the vision of the four beasts Daniel was shown the nations and what they would do to the world. But this vision is different; it is to show what the nations will do to God’s people and his truth. We know this because the animals and symbols in this new vision are all from the sanctuary. Rams and Goats are certainly found in the sanctuary services.

“And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.” Daniel 8:5.

"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." Daniel 8:6.

"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." Daniel 8:7.

There was the ram, who had conquered everything, standing there so proud. Then all at once came a he-goat with one big horn between his eyes, he went so fast he didn’t touch the ground. (Remember the leopard with the four wings?)

He ran right into the ram and knocked him down. He broke off his horns and stamped on him. That ram could do no more. Now this he-goat was the Greeks and the one big horn represented Alexander the Great the leader who swiftly conquered the world. It is interesting that the Greeks did use a goat as one of their symbols just like Babylon did use a winged lion.

It seems Alexander the Great was aware of the prophecy of Daniel. Here is a Ram and one-horned goat united, symbolizing the Persian and Macedonian kingdoms on A gem in the Florentine collection, perhaps carved for Alexander the Great.

"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." Daniel 8:8.

Now we see that rough goat standing so powerful and proud, but something happens, while he is strong, the big horn is broken off and four horns come up instead. Now we would not expect that to happen when the goat is strong, but remember Alexander the Great died just after he had conquered the world.

His four Generals divided the empire between them, as he had no adult son to rule after him. Actually his descendents were later murdered so they could not claim the throne. The four horns like the four heads on the leopard, represented the four generals of Alexander the Great, which took over the kingdom following Alexander’s death just after he had conquered the entire world. These were: Cassander, who had Greece and its area; Lysimachus, who had Asia-minor; Ptolemy, who had Egypt; and Seleucus, who had Syria and Babylon.

At first there were many more generals fighting over the throne; but it boiled down to four. Much later, in the time of their descendents, there were only two left.