Daniel 8:1-27

The Men who were Loyal to God

Daniel

Robert Bryce

Chapter 8

v1 In the third year that King Belshazzar ruled Babylon, I, Daniel, had another dream. v2 In my dream, I saw myself in the castle at the city called Susa. Susa is in the district called Elam. I was standing by the stream called Ulai. v3 I looked up and I saw a male sheep by the stream. It had two long *horns. But the longer *horn grew up after the other *horn. v4 I watched the male sheep charging to the west, and to the north, and to the south. He was more powerful than all other animals. Nobody could rescue any of them from him. He did whatever he wanted to do. And he became great.

Verses 1-4 This happened about two years after the dream that we read about in chapter 7. It was the third year of the rule of King Belshazzar.

Daniel had another dream. He was standing by a stream. In the dream, Daniel saw a male sheep. It was standing by the stream. The sheep had two long *horns, but one horn was longer than the other horn. The longer one grew up later. Daniel saw the sheep running to the north, south and west. The sheep was very powerful. He did whatever he wanted to do. It seemed that nobody could stop him.

v5 While I was thinking about this, suddenly a male goat came from the west. He went across the whole earth so quickly that his feet did not even touch the ground. The goat had a very big *horn between his eyes. v6 He came towards the sheep that I had seen. The sheep had two *horns and he was standing by the stream. But the goat was very angry and he charged at the sheep. v7 I saw him attack the sheep because he was so angry with the sheep. He hit the sheep and he broke his two *horns. The sheep had no power against the goat, so the goat knocked the sheep down. And the goat walked over him and killed him. And nobody could rescue the sheep from the goat.

Verses 5-7 Then Daniel saw a male goat with a large *horn. It came from the west and it travelled very quickly. It was very fierce and it attacked the sheep. The sheep was very powerful, but the goat defeated it. The goat was even more powerful. It broke the sheep’s *horns.

v8 The male goat became very great. But when he was greatest, his big *horn broke. Instead, four other large *horns grew up in its place. Each one pointed in a different direction. v9 Out of one of these *horns another little *horn grew. It became powerful towards the south, and towards the east and towards the Beautiful Country. v10 It became so great that it attacked the stars in the sky. They are the army of heaven. It threw some of the stars to the ground and it walked over them. v11 It pretended to be as great as God, who is the leader of heaven’s army. It stopped the gifts that the people offered to God daily. And it ruined God’s house. v12 Because of the people’s evil deeds, the *horn received power over God’s people. So God’s people did not give gifts to God daily any longer. They did evil things instead. The *horn did not allow people to *worship God any longer. It was successful in all that it did.

Verses 8-12 The goat became very great, but his *horn broke. Four *horns replaced the large one.

Then another little *horn grew. It was powerful in the south and the east. It was also powerful in the Beautiful Country. This is the country that God promised to his people, the *Jews. The little *horn became very proud. It even attacked the stars in the sky. This might mean *angels. It thought that it was as great as God is. And it ruined his house. It stopped people giving *sacrifices to God. The *horn encouraged people to be wicked. It did not like the truth and it tried to destroy it. God allowed this, but only for a certain time.

v13 Then I heard two *angels talking. One *angel asked, ‘How long will the things in the dream last? How long will people do evil things instead of giving the daily gifts to God? How long will God allow the *horn to ruin his house? How long will he allow the *horn to walk on his people in order to kill them?’ v14 The other *angel answered, ‘It will last 2300 evenings and mornings. Then they will make God’s house holy again.’

Verses 13-14 In his dream, Daniel heard two *angels talking. One *angel wanted to know how long these bad things would last. He knew that God allowed the little *horn to be powerful. He also knew that one day God would stop the evil *horn.

The other *angel knew the answer. These evil things would only last for 2300 mornings and evenings. This might mean 2300 days. That is about 6 years. It might mean 1150 mornings and 1150 evenings. That is about 3 years.

v15 When I, Daniel, had seen the dream, I tried to understand it. Then someone who seemed like a man appeared in front of me. v16 I heard a man’s voice. It was coming from the stream Ulai. ‘Gabriel, tell this man what the dream means’, the voice said. v17 So Gabriel came near to me. I was very afraid, so I fell down in front of him. But he spoke to me. ‘You are just a man, but you must understand the dream. It is about the end of time.’ v18 While he was speaking to me I was really asleep. So he touched me and he made me stand up. v19 Then he spoke to me again. ‘I will tell you what will happen at the end of time. It will happen because God is angry. The end will be at the time that God has decided.’

Verses 15-27 Daniel saw the dream but he did not understand it. Then he saw someone who seemed like a man. It was the *angel Gabriel. (Gabriel was the *angel who appeared to Zechariah and to Mary. He told them that they would have sons. See Luke 1:19; Luke 1:26.)

Daniel heard a voice from the stream. It ordered Gabriel to tell Daniel what the dream meant. We believe that it was God’s voice. Only God could give a command to an *angel.

Daniel was very scared and he fell down. Gabriel told him that he must understand the dream. He said that it was about the end of time. Then Daniel started to sleep, but Gabriel made him stand up. Gabriel promised to tell Daniel what would happen in the future. God was angry, but only for a certain time. Gabriel would tell Daniel about that time.

v20 The *angel continued to speak. ‘You saw a male sheep with two *horns. These *horns mean the *kingdoms of Media and Persia. v21 The male goat means the *kingdom of Greece. The big *horn between his eyes means the first king. v22 Four *horns grew to replace the broken big *horn. The Greek nation will split into four *kingdoms, but they will not be as powerful as the original Greek nation.’

Verses 20-22 Gabriel told Daniel that the animals meant *kingdoms. The first animal was the male sheep. The first *kingdom would be the *kingdom of Media and Persia. This *kingdom started when king Belshazzar died (Daniel 5:30-31). The first *horn was probably the *Medes. Later the *Persians became stronger. Maybe they were the second *horn.

The male goat meant the *kingdom of Greece. The goat defeated the sheep. The army of Greece defeated the army of Media and Persia. Gabriel said that the big *horn meant the first king. The first king was Alexander the Great. He was very powerful. But he died when he was still young. In Daniel’s dream, the large *horn broke when the goat was very great.

When Alexander died, his *kingdom became four *kingdoms. They were not as powerful. In the dream, four *horns replace the large *horn. Gabriel said that the four *horns meant four *kingdoms that were not as powerful.

v23 The *angel continued, ‘Near the end of their rule, people will be very wicked. Then a very cruel king will appear. He will cheat and he will be very clever. v24 He will be very powerful, but this will not be his own power. He will destroy many things. And he will succeed in everything that he does. He will kill strong leaders and he will even kill God’s people. v25 He will encourage people to cheat and to tell lies. He will think that he is very important. People will think that they are safe. But then he will kill them. He will fight against the Prince of princes. Then he will fail, but no human hand will do this to him.’

Verses 23-25 Then a little *horn grew out of one of the four *horns. It became powerful, even in the country that God had given to his people. It became very proud. It opposed God and it stopped the daily *sacrifices. It made the people do wicked things. It was successful in all that it did.

Gabriel said that this was another king. This was a very cruel king. He cheated and told lies. This king may have been Antiochus Epiphanes. He became king about 170 years before Christ was born. He hated the people who were loyal to God. He changed their laws. He did not allow them to make *sacrifices to God. This lasted for about 6 years. After about 3 years, he ruined God’s house.

Gabriel said that this king had power, but it was not his own power. God allowed him to be cruel, but only for a certain time. Then God ended his life.

In chapter 7, we read about another little *horn. This was also a king. He will come from the fourth *kingdom. He will come at the end of the world. He too will hate God’s people. Then God will kill him. Then God will give the *kingdom to his own people.

Antiochus Epiphanes was also a little *horn who hated God’s people. But he did not come at the end of the world. He came from the third *kingdom and he was king before the time of Jesus. The story of Antiochus Epiphanes shows us what the evil king at the end of the world will be like.

v26 The *angel continued, ‘This is the dream about the evenings and the mornings. And I have told you what it means. It is true, but keep the dream secret. It will be a long time before all this happens.’ v27 After this dream, I, Daniel, was weak. I was sick for many days. Then I got up and I returned to my work for the king. The dream upset me greatly and I could not understand it.

Verses 26-27 Gabriel told Daniel that the dream would come true. But it would be a long time before it happened.

Daniel still did not understand the dream. He was sick for many days. Then he went back to work for the king.

horn ~ a hard bone that sticks out from the heads of some animals. Goats, cows and sheep often have horns. Daniel uses the word ‘horn’ to mean a ruler who is very powerful.
worship ~ to show honour to someone superior; to respect God; to praise and serve God; to tell God that we love him very much; or, to serve and to show honour to a false god.
Jew ~ a person who is from the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a person who believes what Jews believe. It is also a name for people from Judah and Israel.
angel ~ God’s servant in heaven, who brings messages from God.
sacrifice ~ a gift, such as food or an animal; people often gave it as part of their worship of God or of a false god; a gift to God to ask him to forgive us; or to thank him for something.
worship ~ to show honour to someone superior; to respect God; to praise and serve God; to tell God that we love him very much; or, to serve and to show honour to a false god.
kingdom ~ the place or territory or land where a king rules.
Mede ~ a person from Media, a nation at the time of Daniel.
Persian ~ someone or something from a country called Persia in Daniel’s time; it is called Iran today.