|
| |
Symbols of Prophecy
by Phil Maxwell February 2005 -
Updated:
Sunday, 13 July 2008 03:23 PM
Shaggy Goat
Dan 8
8:1 In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king a vision appeared to me, Daniel, subsequent to the one which appeared to me previously. 2 And I looked in the vision, and it came about while I was looking, that I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam; and I looked in the vision, and I myself was beside the Ulai Canal. 3 Then I lifted my gaze and looked, and behold, a ram which had two horns was standing in front of the canal. Now the two horns were long, but one was longer than the other, with the longer one coming up last. 4 I saw the ram butting westward, northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand before him, nor was there anyone to rescue from his power; but he did as he pleased and magnified himself.
5 While I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. 6 And he came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath. 7 And I saw him come beside the ram, and he was enraged at him; and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns, and the ram had no strength to withstand him. So he hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to rescue the ram from his power. 8 Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly. But as soon as he was mighty, the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.
9 And out of one of them came forth a rather small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land. 10 And it grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down. 11 It even magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host; and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down. 12 And on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper. 13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, "How long will the vision about the regular sacrifice apply, while the transgression causes horror, so as to allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled?" 14 And he said to me, "For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be properly restored."
15 And it came about when I, Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one who looked like a man. 16 And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, and he called out and said, "Gabriel, give this man an understanding of the vision." 17 So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was frightened and fell on my face; but he said to me, "Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end." 18 Now while he was talking with me, I sank into a deep sleep with my face to the
ground; but he touched me and made me stand upright. 19 And he said, "Behold, I am going to let you know what will occur at the final period of the indignation, for it pertains to the appointed time of the end. 20 "The ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21 "And the shaggy goat represents the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 22 "And the broken horn and the four horns that arose in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation, although not with his power.
23 "And in the latter period of their rule,
When the transgressors have run their course,
A king will arise
Insolent and skilled in intrigue.
24 "And his power will be mighty, but not by his own power,
And he will destroy to an extraordinary degree
And prosper and perform his will;
He will destroy mighty men and the holy people.
25 "And through his shrewdness
He will cause deceit to succeed by his influence;
And he will magnify himself in his heart,
And he will destroy many while they are at ease.
He will even oppose the Prince of princes,
But he will be broken without human agency.
26 "And the vision of the evenings and mornings
Which has been told is true;
But keep the vision secret,
For it pertains to many days in the future."
27 Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for days. Then I got up again and carried on the king's business; but I was astounded at the vision, and there was none to explain it. NASB
One of the most significant elements of this passage is the timing of the people and events that precede the final, horrific chapter of this age. Thus, it provides those who are watching with clues that the sun is setting as the long-awaited "day of the Lord" approaches.
There are four primary characters involved in this vision, all depicted as "horns" representing political leaders of the two animals (a ram and goat) also depicted.
The vision opens with a description of the aggressions of two Persian leaders -- the ram's horns -- which seems to be the spark that begins the uncontrollable fire of end time calamities anticipated by numerous passages throughout the Bible.
The ram represents a high level political entity, like a nation or alliance of nations, that acts independently against other nations or alliances that are powerless in defending themselves from it. The junior of the two horn-leaders is more notable in stature than its senior partner in terms of seniority. Its aggressions go virtually unabated towards the north, south, and west, but -- notably absent -- not towards the east. It increases in power and strength through its aggressions and boastful of the same; a taunting spirit is indicated.
The unabated ascent of the nation/nations represented by the ram and its two notable leaders comes to an end when another nation/alliance (illustrated by a "shaggy goat" with one "notable horn") under one notable leader-horn becomes enraged at the former.
The ram's aggressions obviously cause the "shaggy goat" nation and its leader to be quite enraged at the "ram" and its two notable leaders, who become the object of the goat's vengeful wrath. Judging by the results, it would seem that the two Persian leaders err greatly in underestimating their adversary's might and resolve, resulting in their own demise. The angry goat doesn't just unseat the two horns, it "shatters" them and then unmercifully stomps all over their dominion, the ram.
The nation/nations represented by the shaggy goat dwell across the "face of the whole earth" from the Persian leaders of the ram. It is greatly provoked by an event or events sufficient to justify unrestrained reprisals of epic proportions It is of such great power that even from across "the face of the whole earth" it is able to swiftly and utterly defeat the adversary that no other nation/nations could withstand.
|
