Daniel 8: The Kingdom of Greece

Daniel 8: The Kingdom of Greece

v1-v2: Introduction 

This chapter's vision happened during the 3rd year of Belshazzar's reign. Daniel saw himself at the Ulai Canal near the city of Susa. Susa was also mentioned in Esther and Nehemiah as a place where some of the Jewish exiles were staying.  

Susa was located at the foot of the Zagros Mountains near the bank of the Karkheh Kūr (Choaspes) River in the Khuzistan region of modern-day Iran. The distance between Susa and Babylon was 2860 kilometers.  As the distance is very far, it appears that Daniel has been there before, as he recognised where the place was.  

In the first half, Daniel describe his vision. On the second half, Daniel saw someone who looked like a man, asking Gabriel (the angel) to explain the vision to him. (v15-16). This person than looked like a man is likely to be the pre-incarnate Christ. (See Q&A regarding Pre-incarnate Christ)

When Gabriel came near to Daniel, he fell down and lied flat due to fear, and he passed out until Gabriel woke him up. Gabriel said to him that this vision concerns the time of the end. He said: “I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end." (v19)

Since both halves describes the same subject, I will consolidate what was said about Daniel's vision.

v3-v4; v20 - The Ram 

Daniel saw a ram with two horns beside the canal, and one of horns were longer but the other one grew up later. It charges to the west, north and south and no animals can stand against it. The ram did what pleased it and became powerful. 

Gabriel explained that the ram represent Media and Persia (also known as the Achaemenid Empire). In hind sight, we know that the ram was the national emblem of Persia, and the ram was stamped on Persian coins as well as on the headdress of Persian emperors.” (Strauss). The ram had a stronger horn, that represented Persia as it was larger and stronger. The shorter one represents Media. The Mede-Persia empire conquered nations in the North, West, and South, but they didn't make progress to the East.  

v5-8; v21-22 - The Goat

Daniel then saw a goat with a horn between it's eyes came from the west without touching the ground, a charged at the ram in great rage. The ram's horns were shattered, and was knocked down and trampled by the goat. The goat became very great but at the height of its power, the large horn was broken off. And in it's place four prominent horns grew up.  (v5-7)\

Gabriel said that the goat represents the king of Greece. and the large horn represents it's first king. The four horns that represent the four kingdoms that emerge from the Greece kingdom but will not have the same power. (v21-v22)

We also know from history that Goat was a common representation of Greece (also known as the Macedonian Empire or the Hellenistic Empire.) The Greek empire came from the west of the previous empire. and rose with great speed ("without touching the ground" v5) The large horn represent Alexander the Great who was the greatest conqueror in those times, and he died at a young age of 32, in 323 BC.  Alexander was a Greek king of Macedon, a region in northern Greece. 

The four horns that came after Alexander were his four general. Alexander did try to plan for his descendants to take his throne, but constant fighting took away their lives. As such, the general fought with each other until they divided Greece into 4 different kingdoms (See Q&A). 

v9-12; v23-25 - The Small Horn of the Goat

Daniel saw that out from one of the Goat's horns came another small horn, but it grew in power to the south and the east and towards the "beautiful land" (or "glorious land",  i.e. Israel. Ref: Ezekiel 20:6; Dan 11:16, 41) It grew until it reached the host of the heavens and threw some of the starry host down to earth and trampled on them. It set itself to be like the commander of the army of the Lord, and took away the daily sacrifice and threw down the Lord's sanctuary. 

The vision about the host and stars (v10) are symbols used in the Old Testament for angels, kings and leaders, or the people of God at large. (Genesis 12:3 and 15:5; Exo 12:41)

Gabriel added that a fierce king (the small horn) will arise from one of the four kingdom and will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause devastation and succeed in his whatever he does. He will destroy the holy people. (v23-v24)

From history, we know that one of Alexandra general, Seleucus I Nicator, controls Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia, including Israel. His great-grandson, Antiochus IV Epiphanes was identified as this "little horn" based on his actions are exactly like what Daniel saw. "Epiphanes"  was a title he gave himself, meaning, “illustrious” and alluding to deity. The ancient Jews twisted his name into “Epimanes” meaning, “madman.”

Antiochus IV Epiphanes committed a terrible act of sacrilege against the temple of the Jews in Jerusalem. He invaded the city in 168 BC and erected a statue of the Greek god Zeus in the temple. He also sacrificed a pig on the altar of incense, which was an abomination to the Jewish faith. He outlawed Jewish worship practice and tried to force the Jews to adopt Hellenistic culture and religion. His actions provoked a revolt led by the Maccabees, a group of Jewish rebels who fought to restore Jewish independence and worship.

This event was also prophesied in the Book of Daniel as the “abomination that causes desolation” (Daniel 11:31; 12:11). It is commemorated by the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, which celebrates the rededication of the temple after the Maccabees’ victory

Gabriel continued to say that "When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power." (v25) 

"Prince of princes" probably refer to Jesus Christ. But how can Antiochus stand against Christ, since Jesus was not born yet. The answer is that though most of this prophecy was fulfilled in Antiochus, it also has a later fulfillment in the Antichrist, referring to the time of the end. Antiochus Epiphanes is sometimes called the “Antichrist of the Old Testament.” He prefigures the Antichrist of the end times. Just as Antiochus hated God, the Antichrist will also hate God and his Son, Jesus Christ. 

v13-14; v26 - When the vision will be fulfilled. 

At the ending of his vision, Daniel heard a holy one ask a question to another holy one: "“How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled—the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, the surrender of the sanctuary and the trampling underfoot of the Lord’s people?”  The answer came was "It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated.”   (v13=14)

The question here is asking how long will the daily sacrifice stops until the time the temple is reconsecrated. There are two ways to interpret the "2,300 evenings and mornings".  One is to say there are 2300 calendar days. Another way is to say that "morning and evenings" totaled 2300 times - which means that only 1150 calendrer days will go by. 

A commentary said this: 

"Either understanding is possible, but it is more likely that this means 2,300 days. The date when the temple was cleansed is well established as December 25, 165 B.C. If we count back 2,300 days from then, we come to the year when Antiochus Epiphanes began his persecution in earnest (171 B.C.).

However, if we take it to mean 1,150 days it can refer to the time the temple was actually desecrated. This, in fact, was the time of the Maccabean tribulation, 168-165 B.C., at the end of which the sanctuary was ‘cleansed’ by Judas Maccabeus. (2 Maccabees 10:1-5).”  (enduringword.com)

Gabriel asked Daniel to "seal up the vision", for it concerns the distant future. This "future" refers to 380 years from the vision until Antiochus desecrate the temple. 

v27 - Daniel did not full understanding of the vision

Daniel was worn out after the vision, and slept for several days to regain his energy and to start working on the king's business. He admitted that the vision was beyond understanding. 

What Daniel said was true, even if the vision happens to us. If we were told that China will take over USA as the most powerful nation in 50 years, we may be able to understand it. Just like Daniel understands that Mede-Persia kingdom will defeat Babylon, since they were in the midst of attacking Babylon. 

However, if we are told that a nation that we have not heard of will take over China over 300 years later, we would be confused. We have no knowledge of the this nation, just like Daniel does not have knowledge of Greece and the Roman Empire. We won't even be able to understand the technology used at that time. 

But we understand Daniel's vision as we have a hindsight of the ancient history that fits Daniel's vision to the tee. If this is not enough to convince people that there is a God who knows the future, and have control over all nations and people, then I don't know what will. 

Q&A

1. Who/What is the Pre-incarnate Christ? 

Pre-incarnate Christ is the term used to describe the existence of Christ before his incarnation as Jesus of Nazareth. Christ is the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, who was with God the Father and the Holy Spirit from the beginning. 

Christ was involved in the creation of the world (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2), and he appeared to some people in the Old Testament in various forms, such as the angel of the Lord, the Word of God, or Melchizedek (Genesis 16:7-13; Exodus 3:2-6; Judges 13:3-23; Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 7:1-3)

Christ’s pre-incarnate state ended when he became flesh and dwelt among us as a human being. He sacrificed Himself on the cross for us, and was raised again on the 3rd day. His human body changed to another type of body, a glorious body, that can pass through close doors (John 20:26) and be at different places at the same time. For example, some have argued that the appearance of Jesus to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) and the appearance of Jesus to the other disciples in Jerusalem (Luke 24:36-49) happened on the same day.

The Bible promised that his disciples will also one day receive the same glorious body as Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:49)

2.  Who are the "Four Horns" that replaced Alexandra the great? 

The four generals of Alexander the Great who divided his empire into four kingdoms after his death were:

Ptolemy I Soter, who ruled over Egypt and founded the Ptolemaic dynasty.

Seleucus I Nicator, who ruled over Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia and founded the Seleucid dynasty. This is where Antiochus IV Epiphanes came from. 

Cassander, who ruled over Macedonia and Greece and founded the Antipatrid dynasty.

Lysimachus, who ruled over Thrace, Asia Minor, and parts of India and founded the Lysimachid dynasty.

These four generals, also known as the Diadochi, fought each other for supremacy over Alexander’s vast empire for several decades until they established their own stable realms.  

3. How did the Greece Kingdom help in spreading the Gospel? 

Greece spread their culture and language, so that it was still being used during the time of the Roman Kingdom. As a result the New Testament was written in Greek and the gospel spread fast as the language was known to all the civilized world. 

3. Did Alexandra conquered Israel? 

There is an unconfirmed story about Alexandra intention to conquer Israel. This story is recorded by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in his book Jewish Antiquities1. According to Josephus, Alexander the Great besieged Tyre and then sent a letter to the Jewish high priest, asking him to send troops and supplies. The high priest refused, saying that he had sworn loyalty to the Persian king Darius. Alexander was angry and vowed to punish the Jews after he conquered Tyre and Gaza.

However, when Alexander approached Jerusalem, he was met by the high priest and a procession of priests and elders, dressed in white and purple robes. Alexander was awed by the sight and greeted the high priest with reverence. He explained that he had seen a vision of the high priest in a dream, before he began his campaign against the Persians, and that he was assured of success by the God of the Jews.

The high priest then showed Alexander the prophecies of Daniel, which predicted that a Greek king would destroy the Persian empire. Alexander was pleased and offered sacrifices to the God of the Jews in the temple. He also granted the Jews the right to live according to their own laws and exempted them from paying tribute in the seventh year. He also invited some of the Jews to join his army and gave them the same privileges as the Macedonians.