Daniel 8:1 - Meaning and Application

Here is, first, the date of this vision (Daniel 8:1). It came in the third year of Belshazzar’s reign, which many count as his last year. For that reason, this chapter should come, in order of time, before the fifth chapter. God was showing Daniel the fall of other kingdoms that would come later, so he would not be shocked by Babylon’s fall, which was now close at hand.

Daniel says, “The vision appeared to me, even to me, Daniel.” He is stressing that this was no rumor or secondhand report. He himself saw it, and he speaks with full confidence about its truth. This vision also reminded him of the earlier vision he had in the first year of Belshazzar’s reign, which he mentions because the two visions explain and confirm each other and point to many of the same events. That earlier vision seems to have come in a dream, while this one came when he was awake.

Here is, second, the scene of the vision. It was set in Shushan, the royal city of the kings of Persia, by the river Ulai, which ran around the city. Shushan was in the province of Elam, the part of Persia nearest Babylon. Daniel was not there in body, since he was still in Babylon as a captive and serving under Belshazzar. But he was there in vision, as Ezekiel, while captive in Babylon, was often taken in the Spirit to the land of Israel. The soul can be free even when the body is in chains, because when we are bound, the Spirit of the Lord is not bound. Since the vision concerned that country, Daniel was made to feel as if he were there.

Here is, third, the vision itself and how it unfolded. First, he saw a ram with two horns (Daniel 8:3). This was the second world power, the kingdoms of Media and Persia, which were like the two horns. The horns were high, but the one that came up later was higher than the first. So the later one became greater than the earlier one. In this way, Persia, which rose later under Cyrus, became more important than Media.

Then Daniel saw this ram pushing in every direction with its horns (Daniel 8:4), westward toward Babylon, Syria, Greece, and Asia Minor, northward toward the Lydians, Armenians, and Scythians, and southward toward Arabia, Ethiopia, and Egypt. The Persian empire at one time or another made attempts on all these nations to enlarge its rule. At last it became so strong that no beast could stand before it. Though a ram is usually weak compared with beasts of prey, this one became so powerful that nothing could resist it. No one could escape it or deliver out of its hand. The kings of Persia did what they wanted, succeeded in their campaigns, ruled with unchecked power at home, and became great. They thought themselves great because they did whatever they pleased, but true greatness is shown in doing good.

Next, Daniel saw this ram defeated by a he-goat. As he watched the ram and wondered how such a weak animal could become so powerful, a he-goat came (Daniel 8:5). This was Alexander the Great, son of Philip, king of Macedonia. He came from the west, from Greece, which lay west of Persia. He moved with astonishing speed, so that it seemed he did not even touch the ground. He seems almost to fly rather than run. Or the meaning may be that no one met him with resistance. This he-goat had a notable horn between its eyes, like a single great horn. Alexander had strength and knew he had it. He saw himself as a match for all his neighbors.

Alexander pushed his conquests forward so quickly and so fiercely that none of the kingdoms he attacked had courage to stand against him or slow his advance. In six years he made himself master of most of the world then known. He rightly bears the name of a notable horn, because his name still lives in history as one of the most famous military commanders the world has ever known. His victories still draw the attention of thoughtful readers.

This he-goat came against the ram with two horns (Daniel 8:6). Alexander and his army attacked Persia with only about 30,000 foot soldiers and 5,000 horsemen. He rushed at the ram to catch him before he could learn what was happening, in the fury of his power. He came close to the ram.

Alexander came against Darius Codomannus, the Persian emperor, in great anger (Daniel 8:7). He drove his war against Darius with the greatest violence. Darius brought huge numbers into the field, but he lacked skill, so he was no match for Alexander. Alexander overcame him every time they met, struck him down, and stamped on him. Some think these three expressions point to the three famous battles at Granicus, Issus, and Arbela. By the last battle, Darius was completely defeated, with about 600,000 men killed. In that way Alexander became the absolute master of the Persian empire and broke its two horns, the kingdoms of Media and Persia.

The ram, which had destroyed all before him (Daniel 8:4), is now destroyed himself. Darius cannot stand before Alexander, and he has no allies to rescue him. Those kingdoms that abuse power when they have it, and use it to do whatever wrong they please, should expect that power to be taken from them in the end, and that they will be treated as they treated others (Isaiah 33:1).

Daniel then saw the he-goat made very great, but the great horn that had done all this damage was broken (Daniel 8:8). Alexander was about twenty years old when he began his wars. By about twenty-six, he had conquered Darius and taken control of the whole Persian empire. But when he was about thirty-two or thirty-three, while still strong and at the height of his power, he was broken.

He did not die in battle, in a noble death, but from drunken excess, or, as some think, by poison. He also left no living son to enjoy what he had worked for all his life. Instead, he left a lasting example of how empty worldly splendor and power are, and how unable they are to make a person happy.

Daniel then saw the kingdom split into four parts. The one great horn was replaced by four notable horns, which were Alexander the Great’s four generals, to whom he left his empire. He had conquered so much that when it was divided among four men, each received enough for a kingdom. These four horns pointed toward the four winds of heaven. They match the four heads of the leopard in Daniel 7:6. They were the kingdoms of Syria and Egypt, Asia, and Greece. Syria lay to the east, Greece to the west, Asia Minor to the north, and Egypt to the south. Those who pile up wealth do not know who will end up with it, or whose it will be in the end.

Daniel also saw a little horn that grew into a great persecutor of God’s people. This was the main point of the vision, as is shown later in Daniel 11:30 and following. All agree that this was Antiochus Epiphanes, who called himself “the glorious one,” though others called him Antiochus Epimanes, meaning Antiochus the mad. He is called a little horn, as in Daniel 7:8, because he began in a low and despised position. Others stood between him and the throne, and he had a servile spirit. He had nothing princely about him, and for some time he had been a hostage and prisoner in Rome. He escaped from there, and though he was the younger brother and his older brother was still alive, he gained the kingdom.

He became very powerful toward the south, when he seized Egypt, and toward the east, when he invaded Persia and Armenia. But what matters most here is the harm he did to the Jewish people. They are not named outright, because prophecy should not be too plain. Yet they are described clearly enough that anyone familiar with Scripture language could know who was meant. God may also have allowed the Jews to hear this ahead of time, so they could prepare themselves and their children for those painful trials.

He set himself against the pleasant land, the land of Israel. It was called pleasant because it was the glory of all lands, fruitful and full of the good things of life. Even more, it was pleasant because God’s presence was there, along with his revelations and holy commands. It was Mount Zion, beautiful in its setting and the joy of the whole earth (Psalm 48:2). The land was pleasant above all because the Messiah was to be born there, the one who would be the comfort and glory of his people Israel. We have reason to count a place pleasant if it is holy, if God dwells there, and if we can meet with him there. Surely, it is good to be here.

He also fought against the host of heaven, meaning the people of God, the church, which is the kingdom of heaven on earth in its present struggle. The saints are called a heavenly host because they are born from above, are citizens of heaven, and, by God’s grace, do his will in some measure as the angels do. This may also refer to the priests and Levites, who served in the tabernacle and fought the good fight in that service. Antiochus set himself against them and grew great in opposition to them, openly defying them.

He cast some of the host, that is, some of the stars of heaven, down to the ground and trampled on them. He either forced some of the most faithful and most visible leaders in church and state to give in to idolatry, or he put them to death. He got them into his power and then crushed them, as he did with the good old Eleazar and the seven brothers, whom he tortured to death because they would not eat pork (2 Macc. 6:7). He boasted in this as if he were insulting heaven itself and setting his throne above the stars of God (Isaiah 14:13).

He even magnified himself against the prince of the host. He set himself against the high priest, Onias, whom he stripped of his office. More deeply, he set himself against God himself, Israel’s King of old, who reigns forever, Zion’s King, who leads his own army in battle. Antiochus lifted himself up against him, as Pharaoh did when he said, “Who is the Lord?” Those who persecute God’s people are persecuting God himself.

He took away the daily sacrifice. Antiochus stopped the morning and evening lamb, which God had commanded to be offered each day on his altar for his honor. No doubt he also stopped the other sacrifices, but the daily sacrifice is named because the loss of it was the greatest. In that offering, they kept up their regular fellowship with God. God’s people think of their daily sacrifices, their morning and evening times of worship, as the most necessary part of life and the sweetest comfort of the day, and they would not part with them for anything.

He cast down the place of God’s sanctuary. He did not burn the temple or tear it down completely, but he brought it low by profaning it. He turned it into the temple of Jupiter Olympius and set up his image there. He also cast truth down to the ground. He trampled on the book of the law, that word of truth, tore it, burned it, and tried to destroy it completely so it would be lost and forgotten forever. These were the schemes of that wicked prince. He carried them out, and, strangely enough, he seemed to succeed.

He went very far and seemed to have almost wiped out that holy religion which God’s own power had planted. Yet no one should think he had won against God or that God could not stop him. The matter is explained here to show the truth clearly. He could not have done this unless God had allowed it. He would have had no power against Israel unless it had been given from above. God placed that power in his hand and gave him an army against the daily sacrifice. God’s providence put the sword into his hand, so he could crush everything before him. We should recognize God’s hand in all the plans and successes of the church’s enemies against the church. They are only a rod in God’s hand.

God would not have allowed it unless his people had provoked him by their sins. It happened because of transgression, because of Israel’s sin, as a correction for it. That is why Antiochus was used to bring them so much trouble. When the pleasant land and all its pleasant things are laid waste, we must admit that sin is the cause of all that destruction.

Who gave Jacob up to the plunderers? Was it not the Lord, against whom we sinned? (Isaiah 42:24). After the exile, when the Jews had been cured of idol worship, their great sin was showing contempt for holy things and treating God’s worship as worthless. They despised the service of God, offered torn and lame animals, and acted as if the Lord’s table were unworthy of honor (Malachi 1:7-8; Malachi 2:1, 8). So God sent Antiochus to take away the daily sacrifice and to cast down the place of his sanctuary.

It is right for God to take away the privileges of his house from those who despise and profane them. He can also teach people the value of his worship by withholding it from them, if they would not learn its worth while they enjoyed it.

Daniel also learned that this calamity had a fixed limit. The vision did not say when it would begin, because God wanted his people always ready, but it did say how long it would last. When they no longer had prophets to tell them the length of their trouble (Psalm 74:9), this prophecy would still give them hope of rescue at the proper time.

The question is asked in Daniel 8:13. One holy angel was speaking about it, and another holy angel joined in. They asked, in effect, “How long will this trouble last?” The angels are called saints, or holy ones, because they are set apart to God (Daniel 4:13; Jude 1:14). They care about the church’s welfare, and they inquire about it. If they are so concerned about its earthly rescue, they must be even more eager to understand the great salvation through Christ (1 Peter 1:12).

The question was asked of Palmoni, the one who spoke. Some think this was a higher angel who understood more than the others. Others think it was the eternal Word, the Son of God. The name seems to mean “the one who numbers secrets,” or “the wonderful numberer.” Christ was still, in a sense, the hidden one. As Samson’s parents were told, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is secret?” (Judges 13:18). If we want to know the mind of God, we must come to Jesus Christ. He was in the Father’s heart, and in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, hidden not from us, but for us.

The question itself was, “How long will the vision about the daily sacrifice last? How long will the stopping of it continue? How long will the pleasant land be made miserable by this harsh command? How long will the transgression that causes desolation, the image of Jupiter, stand in the temple? How long will the sanctuary and the host, the holy place and the holy people who serve there, be trampled underfoot?” The angels cared about the peace of the church on earth and wanted to see an end to its ruin. They asked for Daniel’s sake, knowing he wanted to know how long the suffering would last. The question also assumed that it would not last forever. The rod of the wicked may fall on the lot of the righteous, but it will not stay there forever. Christ took comfort in his sufferings with this thought: “The things concerning me have an end” (Luke 22:37). So the church may also take comfort in her troubles.

It is also good to know how long trouble will last, so we can make wise preparations. The answer is given in Daniel 8:14. Christ teaches the holy angels, for they are fellow servants, but here the answer is given to Daniel because the question was asked for his sake. God sometimes gives great blessings to his people in answer to the prayers and questions of others on their behalf.

Christ assures Daniel that the trouble will end. It will continue for 2,300 days, and no longer. The phrase can mean evening-morning sacrifices, or full natural days. Some understand it as 2,300 evenings and mornings, which would be 1,150 days. That fits fairly well with the time when the daily sacrifice was stopped. Others take it as 2,300 full days, which is about six years, three months, and eighteen days. That also matches the time from the beginning of the people’s defection, under Menelaus the high priest, to the cleansing of the sanctuary and the restoration of worship (1 Maccabees 4:52). God keeps track of the time of his people’s suffering, because he is touched by their pain (Revelation 2:10).

He also assures Daniel that better days will come after that. Then the sanctuary will be cleansed. The cleansing of the sanctuary is always a hopeful sign. When people begin to be reformed, relief usually follows soon after. God may allow his sanctuary to be profaned for a time to correct his people, but for his own honor he will see that it is cleansed in due time. Christ died to cleanse his church, and he will cleanse it fully until he presents it to himself without blame.