Daniel chapter eight. I will be reading the entire chapter. In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, a vision appeared to me. Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first. And I saw in the vision, and when I saw, I was in Susa, the citadel, which is in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision, and I was at the Ulai Canal. I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram standing on the bank of the canal. It had two horns, and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. No beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great. As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west, across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground. And the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. He came to the ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing on the bank of the canal, and he ran at him in his powerful wrath. I saw him come close to the ram, and he was enraged against him and struck the ram and broke his two horns. And the ram had no power to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled on him. And there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power. Then the goat became exceedingly great. But when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven. Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land. It grew great even to the host of heaven, and some of the host and some of the stars had threw down to the ground and trampled on them. It became great, even as great as the prince of the host, and the regular burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. And a host will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression, and it will throw truth to the ground, and it will act and prosper. Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot? And he said to me, for twenty-three hundred evenings and mornings, then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state. When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. And I heard a man's voice between the banks of the Ulai, and it called, Gabriel, make this man understand the vision. So he came near where I stood, and when he came, I was frightened and fell on my face. But he said to me, understand, O son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end. And when he had spoken to me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. But he touched me and made me stand up. He said, behold, I will make known to you what shall be at the latter end of the indignation, for it refers to the appointed time of the end. As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia. And the goat is the king of Greece. And the great horn between his eyes is the first king. As for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his nation, but not with his power. And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, A king of bold face, one who understands riddles, shall arise. His power shall be great, but not by his own power. And he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. By his cunning, he shall make deceit prosper under his hand. And in his own mind, he shall become great. Without warning, he shall destroy many. and he shall even rise up against the prince of princes, and he shall be broken, but by no human hand. The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been told is true, but seal up the vision, for it refers to many days from now. And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king's business, but I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it. One of the most difficult aspects of the Christian life is the clash between hope and reality. Although the Christian has great hope of the future, we still have to live and deal with the reality of the present. This is where Daniel chapters seven and eight clash. What we have in chapter seven is a hopeful look to the future reign of the son of man and the saints who have been united to him. While in chapter eight, we're given a good dose of reality. I believe that in America we have been so bombarded with false prophecies of the second coming of Christ, which include exact dates and times of His so-called return, that we are constantly asking ourselves, is this it? Is this the end? Is this a new sign? Is the current war in the Middle East, or the war in Ukraine, the war to end all wars? If you search YouTube, you'll find at least three new candidates for the Antichrist. There is always a new book telling us how the end will be soon. But unlike the modern day super apostles with their extraordinary foresight, that's sarcasm by the way, after the last vision given to Daniel, he was absolutely confused. He would have asked himself, What does all this mean? Remember, he didn't get the fact that the vision of the beast who are judged by the ancient of days and the kingdom of the son of man was meant to give him hope and to encourage him to keep pressing on in the faith. But instead, his thoughts greatly alarmed him. His color changed, yet he kept the matter to himself. what would have bothered me, and I'm sure it bothered him, would have been the question as to when. When will all this happen? Two years would go by under King Belshazzar, and I'm sure this would have been going through his mind the whole time. But then he was given another vision. And in this vision, he gets somewhat of an answer to the question when. And it is an answer we're not used to today, especially from televangelists and popular Christian authors. In fact, it is a similar answer that Jesus gave his own panicky and anxious disciples. And once Daniel received this answer, his response was ironic. It was an answer and response that I believe we need to hear today in our so-called Christian culture, and I use those terms loosely, that is marked by panic. But all throughout scripture, we are told not to panic and not to fear. Daniel chapter eight shows us how we are to live by faith when we are under the pressure of living in a fallen world, in fallen bodies, surrounded by other fallen people who hate the gospel of Jesus. What ought to be our response, and how do we press forward? So we begin chapter eight with another vision. It is the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, and in his vision, Daniel is in a specific location in Susa, the citadel, which is in the province of Elam at the Ulay Canal. This is east of Babylon, which we know as modern-day Iran, near the border of Iraq. So chapter eight begins by letting us know that the vision he had in chapter seven is different than this vision. This vision is more specific. It will be more detailed and narrow in its focus. The vision in chapter seven was more universal, timeless, using mysterious symbolic imagery, while in chapter eight, will zero in on a specific place in a specific time in history, and the symbolic imagery will be interpreted for us in more detail. And with this detail, we will be able to identify historical characters and kingdoms spoken of here. In his vision, Daniel saw a ram with two high horns, but one higher than the other. The higher horn came up last. The ram charged west, north, and south, and there was no one who could stop him. He did as he pleased, and he became great. But then appeared a male goat who charged at the ram in his powerful wrath. He came from the west, floating in the air with one horn that stood out. The goat battled the ram, broke his two horns, and beat him to the point that the ram could no longer stand. So the goat trampled on him and no one could rescue him. And so the goat grew in power. But his great horn was broken and four other horns came up to replace the one horn pointing in all four directions, presumably north, south, east, and west. Now you're probably asking, what does all this mean? That is exactly what Daniel was thinking. And as he sought to understand the vision, it says, behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. And I heard a man's voice between the banks of the Uli, and it called, Gabriel, make this man understand the vision. One could only wonder who this man may be and whether the voice was his or of another, but all we know is that this voice of a man had authority over the angel. And the angel Gabriel came over to where Daniel was standing, and after Daniel fell on his face twice, presumably out of fear, the angel made him stand up and revealed the identities of the ram and the goat. The ram with the two horns represented the Medo-Persian Empire. Persia was greater and a larger nation than Media, so this explains why one horn was higher than the other. And the goat was the king, or better, the kingdom of Greece. And the horn of the goat represented the first king. This horn was later broken into four pieces which represent the four kingdoms that arose from the king's nation but without the king's power. We're at an advantage because we can look back and identify the first king and the four kingdoms that arose from him. It is most likely speaking of Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great was known for toppling the Persian Empire and he ruled pretty much the entire world at that time. But at the age of 33, he died and he left his empire to be split among four of his generals. Now, the reason why we can attach historical characters to this vision and not so much the vision of chapter seven is because the angel specifically identified who was who. But we still see the same pattern. It is the same pattern that has occurred ever since. Kingdoms represented by animals, one animal rising up, conquering another after another after another. They all rise to dominance, yet they all fall, and they're all replaced. The ram seemed untouchable until the goat appeared on the scene, and they all seemed fierce and stronger than the one before. But were they really? Well, no, they weren't. No matter how great a kingdom may seem, they soon fall, and they are replaced. Remember, they're just beasts. They're only animals. And they rule under God's watch. Although there's no vision of the Ancient of Days on his throne, nor the Son of Man as we saw in chapter seven, yet that scene remains in the background of this text and the rest of the book of Daniel. God is the author of history. That is why history is important. You wanna know God more, you get to know his providence in the writing of history. In fact, this vision prophesied what would occur in accurate detail hundreds of years before it happened. This text tells us that God is still on his throne and he is the great shepherd of the sheep, goats, and whatever animal or beast that presents itself. God, is great. He is the great shepherd. He is the one who is in ultimate control, not these pesky little animals, not these kingdoms, nor these kings. So whatever kingdom under whoever's rule that the people of God find themselves, God is still greater and He is in ultimate control. God is the one who put them there and God is the one who will take them down. Even the evil and wicked kings, He put them there. Kingdoms rise and fall, and in the end, there is only one kingdom that will remain forever. Christians will go on suffering in this world. We will face many fierce beasts, metaphorically speaking, but God remains God. and he will reign forever. And unlike these kings and kingdoms, our king cares for his sheep, and through Christ, nothing can separate us from him, not even death. This should bring great comfort for every believer who suffers under the rule of rams and goats. And by the way, the pattern seems to trend toward the worse, because there was one horn that was broken off from the four horns. a little horn at the latter end of their kingdom toward the south east, and he had sights toward the glorious land. He is speaking of Jerusalem. He grew exceedingly great in these areas. He took over the land of Jerusalem, fought against the people of God, and he even tried to battle heaven. It says he threw down some of the hosts, the stars and the angels, and trampled on them. He grew even as great as the prince of the host, speaking of God himself, or so he thought. He took away the burnt offering, the sacrifices in the temple, and the place of God's sanctuary was overthrown by him. God's people were given over to the horn because of their sin. The truth was thrown to the ground, and this horn prospered. The angel Gabriel would interpret this little horn to represent a king of bold face, speaking of someone who is absolutely and completely wicked, and he would understand riddles. His power shall be great, but not by his own power, rather by the power of Satan. And he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. Again, from our standpoint, we can look back in history and easily identify the little horn as Antiochus IV Epiphanes. He was the king of the Seleucid Empire, which was one of the four kingdoms that arose from Alexander the Great's kingdom. He was a Greek tyrant. whose ascension to the throne involved usurping the authority of his young nephew, who was the rightful heir. But because of his young age, Antiochus declared himself as king. He was known for trying to unify his empire by forcing the people to adopt Greek cultural and religious practices. And speaking of religious practices, his title Epiphanes means God made manifest. So at that point, that put him at odds with the one true God. He would eventually persecute the Jews in Judea because they wouldn't go along with his program. And as the vision prophesied, he got rid of sacrifices in the temple in Jerusalem in 167 BC and replaced them with his own sacrifices. That is the burning of pig's flesh on the altar and dedicating idols devoted to Zeus and the Holy of Holies. He defiled the temple, and not only that, he threw the truth to the ground by burning copies of the holy scriptures and putting to death anyone who remained faithful to the one true God. In all these ways, he sought to challenge the God of heaven. But there was an end to his reign. And notice how it was accurately prophesied. It says that in the vision, an angel asked another angel, how long will all this last? And the angel turned to Daniel and said, for 2,300 evenings and mornings, then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state. That is six years he would reign terror over Judea. And it so happened that in 170 BC, the high priest, Onias III, was assassinated by another high priest who favored the Seleucid Empire. There began Antiochus' oppression of the Jews, removing and replacing sacrifices and the worship of false gods. But then in 164 BC, six years later, after the Maccabean revolt led by Judas Maccabeus, the Jews recaptured Jerusalem, cleansed and rededicated the temple. Again, notice the accuracy of this prophecy. The angel was telling Daniel that no matter how great this king would become, his kingdom will fall. And this would happen hundreds of years after Daniel died. He said, by his cunning, he shall make the sea prosper under his hand, and in his own mind, he shall become great. Without warning, he shall destroy many, and he shall even rise up against the prince of princes, and he shall be broken, but by no human hand. Antiochus' kingdom would fall under the mighty hand of God. One, by the Maccabean Revolt, and secondly, he would die a very mysterious death in the same year the temple was rededicated. Now, there are a couple of important points that stand out as you read this text. Although there are wars and rumors of wars, what stands out is that this is a spiritual battle before it is physical. It's a spiritual battle. Remember, this little horn, this tyrant, was at war against heaven. Behind the scene of every persecutor of God's people, there is a spiritual war going on. Paul said, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places where it is unseen. We are not to judge the state of the world or question God's sovereignty because of what we see going on in the world. God is winning. God is winning, even when it seems that we're losing. Also, what stands out was that it was the sin of God's people that led God to give them over to this little horn. Now, that is not to say that he won't raise up enemies against us when we don't sin against him. Well, no, we see that in 2 Chronicles 20 and Ezekiel 38. But in this case, God expresses his power in that he is the one who raised up these empires, and it was to discipline his own people. So this was not so much about the transgression of this tyrant, Antiochus, who oppressed God's people and desecrated the temple, as it was about the transgression of God's people. We see this in chapter nine, when Daniel goes to pray for his people and their repentance. So while we have the good news of God's deliverance, there is also the bad news of the transgressions of his people. So let us not miss that point. This text should not only lead us to look around the world and say to all the bad rulers out there, be careful, God is going to get you. That may be true, and it's a good warning, but this should also lead us to look within ourselves. Because whoever is in power is there because God wants them to be for his purposes, and it shouldn't matter to us as much as our own spiritual battle. How are you doing in that arena? When I go for pastoral visits, my concern is not so much the current state of our nation. That's not the, conversation I'm looking to have. My concern is usually the current state of your soul. How are you doing spiritually? Are you gaining victory over sin? Are you spiritually depressed in some way? Have you been listening and feeding on God's word? See, I think as long as we have our freedoms, our cushy lifestyle, no persecution, we hardly find the need to get down on our knees to pray. We hardly find the need to fight against our own sinful desires and turn to Christ for forgiveness. We hardly find the need to submit all our cares and struggles to God as long as who we like is governing the country as if this is the end, as if this is the kingdom of God. But we know it's not the end. This is basically what the angel wanted to tell Daniel. He is calling him and he is calling all of us to continue in faithfulness. He wanted to tell Daniel two important things. This tyrant, the little horn, will only persecute God's people for six years. So there is a limit to everyone's power. But there is no limit to God's power and his sovereignty. Also, he wanted to tell Daniel that all this will not be fulfilled for a very long time. See, the major difference between chapter seven and chapter eight is that chapter seven was a bird's eye view of the history of the world until the end, when the saints will inherit the kingdom of God. And chapter 8 was revealing history in the more immediate future at the time, even though it wasn't so immediate for Daniel. It would span for the next 400 years, give or take, from 548 BC to 164 BC. This is why the angel told Daniel, the vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been told is true, but seal up the vision, that is, keep it safe, guard it within your heart, for it refers to many days from now. In other words, it's going to be a while before all this happens, and Daniel, you will not see all of it. In fact, he will die before all this will happen. See, we're not used to hearing that today. We often hear of teachers and preachers trying to figure out the exact time and date of Christ's return. But isn't this similar to how Jesus revealed the end times to his disciples? He said, there'll be wars and rumors of wars, nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom, famines and natural disasters, but the end is not yet. In other words, you won't see it in your lifetime. You will go through persecution. They will be false prophets. The world will be filled with hatred. By the way, he never mentions a rapture of God's people before things get really bad. In fact, they will get worse, and the people of God will be in the midst of it. And also, the gospel will go forth to all nations before the end comes. Like our kids love to ask, Are we there yet? I have no idea. Every time Jesus was asked about the exact time of his return, he basically said, it's not for you to know times and seasons. You may not see it in your lifetime. It may be many days from now, or it may not be. But the important truths you need to hold on to is that one, God is sovereign, and two, he is faithful to his people. So how does this text help us in our current situation? Well, this text helps to reveal to us the pattern of life in a fallen world. When persecution comes down on the church, it doesn't always mean that God is disciplining us, but this reveals the way the world is and will be until the end. And we have an enemy who is behind all other human enemies, and that is Satan. He still assaults us with fiery darts. He surrounds us with temptations, calling us to lust or to idolatry. And we still happen to fall for his devices and schemes. Even as Christians, our lives are wrought with failures and shortcomings. You would think that God would just hand us over to him by now. But God is faithful. God is faithful, even when it seems like we have been given over. He made a way that we wouldn't be given over indefinitely. Even though we know that no one can touch God or take him on in a battle, yet he allowed for his son to be touched, tortured, and killed in the most horrific way possible. And although it was done by human hands, many tyrants and corrupt leaders, he came to his own and his own people did not receive him, yet Satan was behind this attack. And on that day, it was as if the host of heaven and the stars of the sky were thrown down to the ground because it was a dark day, the darkest day in history as Satan sought to put out the light and become as great as the prince of the host. And remember, it was God's people who put Jesus on the cross. It was because of their sin. They listened to the devil. It was an expression of the rebellion of Satan. And before we start having self-righteous thoughts, that wouldn't have been me. Yes, it would. Yes, it would. We were all standing there chanting, crucify him, crucify him. Not understanding that this was the sacrifice of all sacrifice and would indeed put an end to the sacrificial system in the temple. Once and for all. It was a once for all sacrifice. For what? For those who put him on the cross. See what Satan intended for evil was for our good. God overthrew him through the cross of Christ. Satan tried to put out the light, but from that sacrifice, the light could not be stamped out. It shined even brighter. It is through the cross of Christ that we now have victory over the enemy, Satan. This was proven three days later when Christ rose from the dead. And in place of the temple in Jerusalem, we are now living stones, one temple. of the people of God, both Jew and Gentile alike. If you have placed your faith in Jesus and what he has done on your behalf, Satan has no claim on you. He can't touch you. Let us be reminded of that, even when we face the troubles of this world, even in the face of death. So the question is now, how will we respond to the rams, goats, and horns in our lives? Notice how Daniel responded to this vision. He responded in three ways. First, notice he was overcome, appalled, and sick for several days. See, what I don't want anyone to hear me say is that we are to be indifferent to the world, that we are to be okay with the way things are in the world, or we are to be okay with our own personal trials, or we're to just accept the prospects of persecution. That is not what I'm saying. Daniel got physically sick at the thought of God's people being destroyed by the little horn. He was even appalled at the coming judgment of unbelievers. Ask yourself, how often are we so cold toward the world? See, as Christians, we tend to isolate ourselves so that we can make our own little heaven on earth, separate from everyone else, all the bad people out there. But this should remind us that the end is not yet. We're still witnesses to a world that is dying and lost. And most importantly, Daniel empathized and identified with his own people. Similar to when Jesus wept over Jerusalem, Daniel saw himself as united to his people. So if his people suffer, he suffered. Paul said if one member suffers, all suffer together. Reminds me of our union with Christ. He suffered and died for us, and Paul said that we died with him, so that we might live with him. And right now, as high priest, Jesus continues to sympathize with your weaknesses, and he intercedes for you. See, this is similar to what's going on with Daniel here. But secondly, We do have to come to terms with reality. Listen to what Daniel did after he was sick for several days. He said, then I got up and went about the king's business. Not his own business. He went about King Belshazzar's business. He wasn't driven to despair. He didn't remain there, and again, he didn't isolate himself from the wicked king, Belshazzar. He continued in his calling in which he was called, so long as he honored God. Paul gave the Corinthians similar advice when the question came up about what they should do after they were converted. He said, only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him. Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called because now he lives to God, not for himself. In other words, he said, go about your business. What else was Daniel to do? He had to go about his business. God was in control and he had been assigned to serve Babylon. Many believers today are trying to escape, quote-unquote, evil, and they think they can accomplish this by moving to another part of the country, only to find out that they're still in Babylon. Now, thankfully, you have the freedom to move wherever you want. That's not the point. Just remember, wherever you go, sin follows. When the Lord calls us to come out of Babylon, He is not saying, move to a different location. What he is saying is, do not take part in Babylon's sins. Yet we are still called to do what God has called us to do and to do it well as a witness to the world wherever we are. Because our labors in this world are not meaningless because of the end. We need to have the end in view. Yes, the world may end tomorrow, but we still have business today that the King of Kings has called us to. And thirdly, again, to reiterate the point that he didn't just accept the fact that God's people would be under the rule of tyrants, he was indeed appalled by the vision. But he also confessed that it was beyond his understanding. And Daniel was God's prophet. He was given the gift of interpreting visions. But there will be things, even in scripture, that is beyond our understanding, and that's okay. Peter confessed that some of what Paul wrote was difficult to understand. We have the advantage because we live on the other side of God's revelation. We know much about the history that transpired after this vision. We have the gospels and the book of Revelation, which helps to clarify much of what we read in the Old Testament. And we know about Jesus and how he fulfilled all of this. how he fulfilled all of what is written, both in the old and the new. So we will end there, but remember these three points of how Daniel responded, because we will pick it back up again next time. First, he was sickened, yet he went about his business, and third, he admitted he didn't understand it. So let us look to our Savior now, who gives us understanding, amen.