Daniel
Chapter
8
{Note:
RBT says the language of Chapter 8 is back in Hebrew (instead of the
Chaldean of the previous chapters). The subject matter changes.
Daniel will discuss now the history of the Jews.}
{Chapter
8: Rise of the Persian Empire (circa 550 BC with Cyrus the Great) to
its fall - circa 330 BC}
{The
Rise and fall of Alexander's Macedonian Empire and the Seleucid
Empire (aka Syria) The Ram and the Goat}
{Verses
1-14: Vision of the Ram/'He-Goat'}
1~~In
the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar {546BC}
a
vision appeared unto me, even unto me, Daniel,
after
that which appeared unto me at the first.
{meaning this is the second vision of a series of visions}
{Note: In 549 BC, king Nabonidus retired. His Chaldean empire was going down so he moved to a resort town in Arabia. Belshazzar reigned about 10 years when the Persians took Babylon.}
{Place
Daniel had the Vision}
2~~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
{see also Susa and Shush in present day Iran}
and
I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.
{Note: At this time Shushan is the capital of the Persian empire - the Ram empire. And, at this time, it is not a powerful empire. It was the hometown of Nehemiah and where the book of Esther took place. It was 150 miles east of Babylon - north of the Persian gulf. Darius I had a glamorous palace here. Elam is famous for high mountains, one famous river Ulai (present day Kerkh) and the plain of Khuzestan. These Persians are not Semitic - they are an Indo-European people (the Elamites were Semitic but were defeated by the Persians) - the Kurds today are representative descendents of these people.}
{Verses
3-4: Vision of the Ram - the Summary of the Vision}
3a~~Then
I {Daniel} lifted up my eyes, and saw,
and,
behold, there stood before the river {Ulai/Kerkh}
a
ram which had 'two horns'.
{Note: The first horn was the Medes. The second horn represented their cousins - the Persians - tall blond, blue-eyed peoples. Persian kings took off their crowns and put on a golden ram's head studded with jewels when they were ahead of their army preparing for battle. So, the ram represents the Persian king in front of his army.}
3b~~And
the two horns were high . . .
but
one was higher than the other.
And the higher came up last {rise of Cyrus the Great}.
{Note: Means the Persians dominate their cousins the Medes because of the house of Achaememes. Cyrus came from this family. Cyrus conquered the Medes, the Greeks, the Chaldeans, and the Mongolians (Masa-Jetti sp) - the big four empires of the area of the day.}
4a~~
I saw the ram pushing westward {Lydians 546 BC},
and
northward {Medes 549 BC},
and
southward {Chaldeans 539 BC}.
{Note: These are the areas of the compass of the conquests of Cyrus - he did not conquer to his east at all. All of these nations were involved in demon possession. Cyrus was a believer.}
4b~~'So
that'/'with the result that'
no
animals/beasts might stand before him,
neither
was there any that could deliver out of his hand
but
he {prophetical description of Cyrus}
did
according to his will,
and
became great.
{Now
the Details - (Hebrew style is summary first, then details)}
5a~~And
as I was considering, behold,
an
he-goat {Greeks under Alexander the Great}
came
from the west
on
the face of the whole earth,
and
touched not the ground.
{idiom for 'so rapid a conquest he seemed to float'}
5b~~And
the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
{Alexander
the Great is the notable horn - and Daniel wrote this is
546 BC Alexander conquered about 200 years later around 334 BC}
{Alexander's
Conquest of Persia}
6~~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.
7a~~And
I saw him come close unto the ram,
and
he was 'moved with'/'motivated by'
choler/anger
against him,
and
smote the ram, and broke his two horns.
{Note:
Alexander's father Phillip II had instilled in Alexander his hatred
for the Persians. Later in his life, Alexander grew to respect these
blond haired warriors and encouraged his people to intermarry with
the Persians.}
7b~~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.
{Note:
It took Alexander about 4 years to conquer Persia. Alexander started
out with an army of about 40,000 men against 4 million Persians - who
are also great fighters and very brave and well trained. But on
Alexander's side was his newly invented artillery weapons - catapults
that could send large rocks half a mile!}
{Alexander
the Great's Empire gets divided}
8a~~Therefore
the he-goat {Alexander} grew very great.
{Note:
Says he was great - as most objective historians agree - but does
not say he was 'saved'. As far as we know Alexander was a genius yet
an unbeliever (same can be said about Julius Caesar).}
8b~~And
when he was strong,
{He had peaked - Alexander could go no higher}
the
great horn was broken
{Death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC at the age of 33}
and
instead of it {Alexander's empire - the horn}
came
up four notable ones
toward
the four winds of heaven.
{Note:
When Alexander was dieing they asked him who should take over. He
said 'the strongest'. His family was whipped out and 4 of his
generals eventually controlled the majority of his empire. See Daniel 7:6b.}
{Now
we follow Seleucus (with a reference to Ptolemy) - Antiochus Epiphanes}
9a~~And
out of one of them {Seleucus}
came
forth a little horn,
{this is the brother of Seleucus IV Antiochus Epiphanes}.
{Note:
Seleucus lived until 281 BC when Ptolemy murdered him at a military
re-union. His son Antiochus I (aka Soter - means Savior). Finally
Antiochus III was important. He was a great conqueror and retook most
of the original empire. Anyway . . . Seleucus I 's son was Antiochus
I , who sired Antiochus II, who sired Seleucus II, who sired Seleucus
III, who sired Antiochus III, and who sired Seleucus IV (financial
genius) . He has 2 sons Demetrius and Antiochus - who then had an
uncle also named Antiochus (brother of Seleucus IV). He is the
villain known as Antiochus Epiphanes (means manifested one) - the
Jews called him Antiochus Epiminies - (means mad man) - a paramenasia
(pun). }
9b~~Which
{horn - Antiochus Epiphanes} grew exceeding great,
toward
the south {to conquest Egypt 169 BC},
and
toward the east,
{Antiochus defeated the Persian
then now called Parthian empire under Mithradates}
and
toward the pleasant land
{Palestine - leading to Jewish fight for freedom}.
{Note: The 'Pleasant land' was a reference to Palestine. He attempted to Hellenize the Jews - and a Hellenistic Party was created - a "Liberal" evil organization - December 25 167BC - Antiochus hit them with a Hellenistic policy - he but a gold statue of Antiochus in the temple - the abomination of desolation - they ripped aside the veil to the Holy of Holies and put it there - and killed all the priests who objected - and brought in pigs and killed them with pig blood and priest blood all over the temple - the people protested so they killed 1000 Jewish Children in the temple and mixed the pig blood and Jewish blood - the Maccabean Revolt started and it was not a revolution but a fight for freedom. This victory lead to the 'Feast of Lights' - lasting 8 days - aka Hanukkah.}
10~~And
it {little horn/ Antiochus} grew great,
even
to the army of heaven
and
it cast down some of the army/host
{RBT says this refers to the Jewish soldiers who died in the fight
for freedom above - many were believers and in heaven}
and
of the stars to the ground,
{RBT says this refers to the thousands of innocents who were
murdered on December 25 167BC leading to the fight for
freedom}
and
stamped upon them.
{referring to Antiochus' prohibition of Jewish traditions - no
keeping the Sabbath, put the abomination of desolation in the
Holy of Holies etc.}
11~~Yes,
he magnified himself
even
to the Prince of the army/host,
{reference to Jesus Christ - desecrating the temple was a direct
affront to God - he had his image in the temple and started calling
himself 'Theo Epiphanes' - 'God Manifest' a very direct affront to
Jesus Christ - THE God Manifest!}
and
through him {Antiochus Epiphanes}
the
daily sacrifice was taken away,
{which taught Jesus Christ before the canon was complete}
and
the place of His sanctuary was cast down.
{defaming of the temple}
12~~And
an army/host was given him
{the army of the Seleucids}
against
the daily sacrifice
by
reason of transgression,
{Jewish apostasy lead to some of the problems they faced -
the infiltration of Hellenism being accepted by some}
and
it {the little horn}
cast
down Doctrine/Truth to the ground;
{referring to the doctrine revealed in the Levitical sacrifice}
and
it practiced, and prospered.
{referring to the success of the Hellenistic policy of Antiochus}
{RBT
says is a Dialogue between a Couple of Angels}
13~~Then
I heard one saint speaking,
and
another saint said unto that certain saint which spoke,
"How
long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice,
and
the transgression of desolation,
to
give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?"
{how long will the temple be desecrated this way?}
{RBT
says Angel now Talks to Daniel}
14~~And
he said unto me,
"Unto
two thousand and three hundred days . . .
then
shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
{Note:
It was cleansed on December 25 164 BC. To work backwards, we go back
2300 days - 6 years 3 months and 20 days - to 170 BC is when all the
trouble began. The time is given in days because believers are to
live one day at a time.}
{Verses
15-25: Interpretation of Vision of the Ram/'He-Goat'}
{Daniel
meets the Archangel Gabriel}
15~~And
it came to pass,
when
I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision,
and
sought for the meaning, then, behold,
there
stood before me 'as the appearance of a man'
{Gabriel - the protector and teacher of the Jews}.
{Note:
RBT says that angels have bodies of light. When all lights are on,
they are invisible. When they want to be seen by man, they switch off
certain lights and have the appearance of man. They travel the speed
of light.}
16~~And
I heard a Man's voice
{this is God commanding Gabriel to interpret for Daniel}
between
the banks of Ulai, which called, and said,
"Gabriel,
make this man to understand the vision."
17~~So
he {the archangel Gabriel}
came
near where I stood
and
when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face.
But
he said unto me,
"Understand,
O son of man
{Daniel - title of a prophet} . . .
for
at the time of the end shall be the vision."
18~~Now
as he was speaking with me,
I
was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground
but
he touched me, and set me upright.
19~~And
he {Gabriel} said,
"Behold,
I will make you know
what
shall be in the last end of the indignation . . .
{this is now the Tribulation - there is a relationship between
the 2300 days and the length of the Tribulation}
for
at the time appointed the end shall be.
{Note:
In the last half of the Tribulation, once again the Jews will be
fighting for their freedom.}
20~~The
ram which you saw having two horns
are
the kings of Media and Persia.
21~~And
the rough goat is the king of Grecia {Alexander}.
And
the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
22~~Now
that being broken,
whereas
four stood up for it
{4 generals who took over},
four
kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation,
but
not in his power.
{Tribulation
Foreshadowed by Antiochus Epiphanes}
23~~And
in the latter time of their kingdom {Tribulation},
when
the transgressors are come to the full,
a
king of fierce countenance,
{the Beast Dictator of the Revived Roman Empire}
and
understanding 'dark sentences'/'black mysteries',
{he will be deep into the doctrines of Satan -
II Thessalonians 2:7-12}
shall
stand up.
24~~And
his power {The Gentile Beast Dictator}
shall
be mighty,
but
not by his own power
{referring to delegated authority from Satan - Prince of the Earth}.
And
he shall destroy amazingly,
and
shall prosper, and practice,
and
shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
{believers and the Jews of the Tribulation will be the main
recipients of his evil deeds and wrath}
25a~~
And through his policy also
he
shall cause craft to prosper in his hand
and
he shall magnify himself in 'his heart'/'own right lobe',
and
by peace/prosperity shall destroy many.
{Note:
RBT says that here the Beast Dictator will 'promise the people World
Peace' (sound familiar?). And once lulled into a sense of
contentment, he will destroy them.}
25b~~He
shall also stand up
against
the Prince of Princes {Jesus Christ}
but
he shall be broken without hand.
{Verses
26-27: Daniel's Personal Conclusion on Vision of the Ram/'He-Goat'}
26~~And
the vision of the evening and the morning
which
was told is true/doctrine.
Therefore
shut you up the vision . . .
{means to write it down and tie it up for posterity - this is a part
of the canon of Scriptures}
for
it shall be for many days."
27a~~And
I Daniel fainted
and
was sick certain days.
{he knew the Persian empire was also going down}
27b~~Afterward
I rose up, and did the king's business
and
I was amazed at the vision, but no one understood it.
{no one was interested in doctrine for Daniel to tell it to}
{Note: Daniel was upset, but he continued doing his job 'as unto the Lord'.}
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