Daniel 8: “Realistic”

Chapter 8, like chapter 7, is highly instructive to us. In these prophecies  of Daniel, we are allowed to see the entire sweep of human history from 605 BC to the end. Essentially, we are allowed to see what only God and angels could possibly know. It is interesting to me that, in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream from chapter 2, he saw that sweep of history as precious metals, starting with the golden head. Isn’t that just like us? We want to think we’re very important, that what matters in life are the things that sparkle. However, what does Daniel see? Beasts. From what the godly man Daniel sees, what do humans become when you give them power? What are their “great” kingdoms? Beasts.

Step back and think about it. In chapter 7, what came up out of the sea? Four beasts (v.3). In v.5, the second beast was told, “Get up and eat your fill of flesh.” In v.7, the fourth beast was “terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left.” In v.8, the little horn arises first by uprooting three other horns, then in v11 we see it “waging war against the saints.”

Violent and destructive. Government without God

Now what do we see in chapter 8? We first see the two horned ram and what is he doing? “Butting to the west and the north and the south.” Note it says in v.4, “He did as he pleased and became great.” Notice the “he became great.” We’ll come back to that. In v.5, the goat with the prominent horn races across the face of the earth and what does he do? “I saw him attack the ram furiously … shattering his two horns, knocked him to the ground and trampled on him” (v.7). If anything, the goat is even more violent than the ram had been. Note again it says, “The goat became very great …” (v.8).

Finally, we see the little horn. It “started small but grew in power.” So we see again, the kingdoms of this world “become great,” They “grow in power.” And what do they do with that “greatness?” What do they do with that “power?” See what the little horn does: “It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them. It set itself up to be as great as the Prince of the host; it took away the daily sacrifice from him, and the place of his sanctuary was brought low … It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground” (vv.10-12).

Government without God is evil. Men without God may, under common grace, manage to do and be some good things, but there lingering under it all is their true nature: evil. As Jesus said, “They are of their father the devil, and the lusts of their father they will do. He is a liar and the father of lies. He was a murderer from the beginning. Like a roaring lion, he roams the earth, looking for someone to devour.”

In the book of Esther, the king and his prime minister agree to slaughter an entire people group of their citizens, then sit down to drink (3:15). Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union reportedly murdered millions of his own people, as did Mao Tse Tung in China. It is reported that as many as fifty million people died under and due to Adolf Hitler.  James said, “Then, after (evil) desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (1:15). So governments become “great” and what does it get “we the people?” Murdered. As governments become great, what do they do? Attack each other. Always fighting. Always killing.

It’s interesting that the only government ever assembled by men who were at least acknowledging God was a government designed to be what? Restrained. The framers of the American Constitution had the Biblical wisdom to know that human government must be restrained. They built their system of “checks and balances” precisely because they knew the only alternative would end up being one form of tyranny or another.

As I have observed before, one problem us older American Christians have is that we got to grow up in a country where we believed the government really was trying to do us good and to protect us. Our government even told us we had rights – the “inalienable rights” of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” For us, it is a very deep heartache to see what our government has become. More and more they suppress those “rights” and we can rest assured, it is only a matter of time before they start killing those of us who don’t buy their lies. That is what we see all down through recorded history and it is precisely the picture Daniel is seeing, even as he is given a vision of what the world would become.

As ugly and dark as it may appear, we Christians, of all people, ought to embrace realistic views of this world. It is right there in our Bibles. Government without God is, has been, and always will be violent, warring, and murderous. It is evil. However, we also know why they’re so evil, why that is the direction all human government heads. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12).

The true problem is not a political party or a few particularly evil people. The problem is spiritual.  The problem of evil human government is simply an expression of the cosmic spiritual battle that is raging in the universe around us. There may be some things we can and should do here on earth. Christians should vote, even if it is obvious the elections are being rigged. Some Christians should pursue careers in government. Even if we know it is a “hive of scum and villainy,” there can still be the Daniels and Esthers, the Josephs and Nehemiahs, those who attain high positions in government and from there sincerely try to do good in this world. However, we of all people need to be the ones praying. We of all people should be the ones living a life of love and a life of truth, so that, even as others suffer under their unjust government, perhaps they can see a difference in us and maybe even “come and ask a reason of the hope that is in you.”

We simply need to be realistic, then live our lives under God even as a very wicked world swirls around us, even as nations rise and fall and one evil person after another becomes “great” only to turn and use that “greatness” to do even more evil.

The good news is that, even in this wicked world, our God is still working “all things together for our good” (Rom.8:28) and the day will come when the “stone cut without hands” (Dan. 2:34) will smash this world’s evil governments and establish His kingdom of righteousness.

Let’s be realistic about what this world truly is even as we know Psalm 33:20-22:

“We wait in hope for the Lord;

He is our help and shield.

In Him our hearts rejoice,

for we trust in His holy name.

May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord,

even as we put our hope in You.”

 

Daniel 8: “Lesson Learned”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹In the third year to the reign of Belshazzar the king, a vision appeared to me – me, Daniel – after the [one which] appeared to me in the beginning. ²And I saw in [the] vision and it was in my seeing and I [was] in Shushan the Citadel which [is] in Elam the province and I saw in [the] vision and I was upon the Canal of Ulai. ³And I lifted up my eyes and I saw and behold, one ram, one standing to the faces of the canal and to it [were] two horns and the two horns [were] high and the one [was] higher from the other and the higher one going up in later. ⁴I saw the ram butting westward and northward and southward and all of animals did not stand to its faces and none ones delivering from its hand and it did according to its desire and became great. ⁵And I was considering and behold, the he-goat of the goats [was] one coming from the west upon the faces of the all of the earth and not [was] one touching in the ground and the he-goat [had a] horn conspicuous between its eyes. ⁶And it came to the ram with the two horns which I had seen standing to the faces of the canal and it ran to it in the rage of its power, ⁷and I saw it reaching beside the ram and it was furious against it and it struck the ram and it shattered the two of its horns and there was not power in the ram to stand to its faces and it cast it to the ground and it trampled it and there was none delivering the ram from its hand. ⁸And the he-goat of the goats became great and when it was mighty the great horn was broken off and four conspicuous [horns] came up instead of it to the four winds of the heavens, ⁹and from one of them came a little horn and it became very great upon the south and upon the east and upon the Beautiful [Land]. ¹⁰And it (f.s.) became great until the host of the heavens and it (f.s.) cast down [to] the earth from the host and from the stars and it (f.s.) trampled them. ¹¹And until the prince of the host he (m.s.) made great and from him was lifted the regular [sacrifice]and he was cast from the place of his sanctuary, ¹²And it (f.s.) was given upon the regular [sacrifice] in rebellion and it (f.s.) cast down truth earthward and it (f.s.) did and it (f.s.) thrived. ¹³And I heard another holy one speaking, and [the] first one [was] saying to a certain one, “Until when [is] the vision of the regular [sacrifice] and the rebellion desolating to give and sanctuary and host trampled?” ¹⁴And he said to me, “Until the evening morning two thousand and three hundred  and [the] sanctuary will be made right.” ¹⁵And it was in my seeing, I, Daniel, the vision, and I was seeking understanding and behold, one standing before me like appearance of a man. ¹⁶And I heard a voice of a man between [the] Ulai and he called and he said, “Gabriel, give understanding of the vision to this [man].” ¹⁷And he came beside my standing and in his coming I was terrified and I fell on my face and he said to me, “Understand, son of man, because the vision [is] to [the] time of [the] end.” ¹⁸And he [was] speaking to me and I was in a deep sleep upon my face earthward and he touched me and he caused me to stand upon my standing. ¹⁹And he said, “Behold, [I am] declaring to you what will be in the last end of the indignation because [it is] to [the] appointed time of [the] end. ²⁰The ram which you saw with the two horns [is] the kingdoms of the Medes and the Persians, ²¹And the shaggy he-goat [is] the king of Yavan (Greece) and the great horn which [was] between its eyes, it (m.s.) [is] the first king. ²²And the one (f.s.) being broken, and four stood up in its place, four kingdoms from the nation will stand up, and not in its power. ²³And in the latter part of their kingdom, when the rebels [are] finished, a king will stand up, strong of faces and one understanding intrigues. ²⁴And his power will be mighty and not in his power and he will destroy astonishingly and he will do and he will destroy mighty ones and people holy ones. ²⁵And upon his cunning, he will cause deceit to prosper in his hand and in his heart he will make great and in peace he will ruin many and upon [the] Prince of princes he will stand and without a hand he will be broken. ²⁶And the vision of the evening and morning which was told, it [is] true, and you, seal up the vision because [it is] to many days.” ²⁷And I, Daniel, was spent and I was sick [for] days and I rose and I did the king’s business, and I was horrified upon the vision and not understanding.

I find chapter 8 similar to chapter 7 in that one really must study the entire chapter as a singular unit. As in chapter 7, the first half relates a vision of Daniel, while, in the last half an angel interprets it for him (and us). So there is no point in spending much time pondering on the first half without first going ahead and hearing what the angel has to say in the last.

Also, like chapter 7, I personally feel like the historical details are, for the most part, so patently obvious, I am not really interested in spending a lot of time recording all of that. If anyone wants to study the historical fulfilment of this chapter, there are literally mountains of commentaries to consult. As Gabriel explains, the two horned ram was to be the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, while the goat was to be Greece. The first king is obviously Alexander the Great and, upon his death, the kingdom was divided amongst his four generals. Out of this divided kingdom came later the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes, who certainly pre-figured the Antichrist himself in his terrible persecution of the Jewish people. Those Jewish people recorded the events of that time in the book of I Maccabees – all of which is thoroughly documented and available for the reading.

For myself, I am more interested in recording my thoughts as far as the practical lessons we can draw from this chapter. To that end, I want to note first of all that, having labored through the Hebrew text, I must admit there is definitely a cryptic element to the entire chapter. What I mean is that, even in translating the text into English, many decisions have to be made what to do with odd elements in the Hebrew. Having made those decisions and having produced an English translation, many of those cryptic elements appear clear, when in reality they are not. For instance, in v.14, the angel tells Daniel, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings …” In Hebrew it says literally, “Until evening morning two thousand and three hundred …” Note that in the Hebrew, both “evening” and “morning” are singular. By translating it as “evenings and mornings,” one easily understands it as referring to days. 2,300 days. But that isn’t what it says. It says “2,300 evening morning.” Even if we translate it as “evenings and mornings,” one wonders why not just say “days?” Granted the allusion to “evening and morning” calls back to the Creation account in Genesis 1, but then we’re back to the question of why then are they singular

Another example is in vv.10-12. As I offered the literal translation above, vv.10,11 in Hebrew say something like, “And it (f.s.--the little horn) became great until the host of the heavens and it (f.s.) cast down [to] the earth from the host and from the stars and it (f.s.) trampled them. ¹¹And until the prince of the host he (m.s.) made great and from him was lifted the regular [sacrifice]and he was cast from the place of his sanctuary.” I had to insert the “f.s.” and “m.s.” to indicate what is feminine singular and what is masculine singular. In Hebrew, a horn is feminine, so those references are clearly back to the little horn, but then the switch to masculine singular seems odd. From our vantage point today, people are quick to see in these verses allusions to Antiochus’s violence toward the temple and the priesthood and those allusions may be valid, but, the reference to casting “down to the earth from the host and from the stars” seems a closer allusion to Satan’s fall as reported in Isa. 14:12-17 and Rev. 12:3,4. On the other hand, the passage doesn’t completely fit well with either. Imagine hearing it from Daniel’s vantage point, and then it would seem even more cryptic.

One more example (and there are many more) would be in the references to “the end.” In v.17, the NIV translates it as “the time of the end.” In v.19, the NIV refers to “what will happen in the time of wrath,” and “the appointed time of the end.” Finally, in v.26, it refers to “the distant future.” We like to see in such references the literal “end” or “the last days” as they are called in the NT. However, if the prophecies specifically concerned Antiochus and his evil, that happened some 2,200 years ago.

There are odd constructions like that all through the chapter.

What do we learn from this observation? I think it would teach us not to be too quickly dogmatic about our interpretations of Bible prophecy. Jesus told His disciples, “I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe” (John 14:29). Notice He said, “so that when it does happen…” There will probably always be some element of prophecy which we simply cannot understand until it is fulfilled, but, what Jesus is saying is that that is the point – so that when it happens, we will believe.

When it happens. That means it’s more important for us to know our Bibles, to know what the prophecies say, than necessarily to get all dogmatic about any particular interpretation of those prophecies. It means we should never forget that the prophecies themselves do contain that cryptic element. In other words, there are and always will be elements in a text like Daniel 8, where we all scratch our heads and admit we really aren’t sure what this means. That is not all bad. Even Daniel himself was left not understanding this vision, though he had none other than the angel Gabriel to explain it to him! Particularly when it comes to prophecy, we need to be content to learn that which is clear enough, while humbling leaving unanswered questions simply as that – unanswered questions. We can rest assured, if we know our Bibles, and if we are alive “when it happens,” it will then be patently obvious to us.

Part of the reason why the Jews missed Jesus at His first coming was because they had read the OT prophecies and seen only those references to Him as a conquering king. All those many references to “the suffering servant” seemed cryptic to them, so they just disregarded them. How could the Messiah be both a conquering king and a suffering servant? Had they honestly strove to know those Scriptures (like Isaiah 53), even if they didn’t understand them, then when Jesus did come, perhaps they would have been able to see Him as clearly as we do now.

To me, lesson learned from the Jews and from the text itself here in Daniel 8 is first and foremost to simply know our Bibles. There is nothing wrong (and everything right) about trying to piece it all together and to understand the prophecies as they seem clear enough. However, especially since there is always that cryptic element, we need to hold more strongly to the Scriptures themselves than we do to our “prophetic outlines.”

Lord, help us to know You first of all, to know our Bibles the best we can, then to be ready, as Your prophecies are fulfilled, to acknowledge what You have done, to believe, and to praise You in them.

Daniel 8:1,2 “Canals”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹In the third year to the reign of Belshazzar the king, a vision appeared to me – me, Daniel – after the [one which] appeared to me in the beginning. ²And I saw in [the] vision and it was in my seeing and I [was] in Shushan the Citadel which [is] in Elam the province and I saw in [the] vision and I was upon the Canal of Ulai.

And so we’re back to Hebrew. Hallelujah! I’m so glad I got to work with Aramaic from back in chapter 2 on through chapter 7. Aramaic is very similar to Hebrew, so if you know one, it is a fairly easy transition to work with the other. However, this is one of the cases where they are “the same – only different!” I have never gotten comfortable with the “different.” So, I am very glad to be done with it and back to my familiar Hebrew.

This is the second recorded vision of Daniel himself and occurred specifically in the “third year of Belshazzar.” This is the same Belshazzar from chapter 5 and the “Handwriting on the Wall” episode. This is believed to be about the year 550 BC. Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 BC, so it has been twelve years and Daniel would now be probably right around 70 years old. In the twelve years since Nebuchadnezzar died, Daniel has had to survive through four complete changes of administration with one king taking over by killing his predecessor. Finally, Belshazzar’s father Nabonidus killed the third one and took over, then left his son in charge of Babylon while he tended to other matters in the kingdom.

Somehow Daniel has stayed in some position of the government as we note (looking ahead) that, after this vision he says he “got up and went about the king’s business” (v.27). Apparently, sometime after Nebuchadnezzar’s death, the higher-ups ceased to value Daniel’s wisdom, based on the dialogue with Belshazzar back in chapter 5, but he has managed to stay in some position in the king’s service. It’s interesting to note that, in just eleven years (539 BC), the Persians will conquer Babylon, kill Belshazzar, and the new king Darius will immediately raise Daniel (by then around 80!) to be his prime minister! Daniel sure gets run through the ringer, but then that is exactly what we all go through in our careers, is it not? No matter how hard you work, you’ll go through times under good leaders, bad ones, be raised up, put on a shelf, and maybe raised up again. This is why us believers need to get it settled in our hearts we are actually servants of the Most High God and do our jobs well for Him, regardless of whether we are recognized or not. In the book of Esther, Mordecai is another good example of a man who did his job well whether he was forgotten or raised up.

It is interesting that this vision occurs in Elam, along the Ulai Canal. Elam is the very next province east of Babylon proper and the capital of that province is the city we now call Susa, which is also the setting of the books of Esther and Nehemiah (which will all happen about 100 years later). I say it is interesting because Elam is actually a part of what will be considered Medo-Persia. At this very time (and probably one of the reasons Nabonidus is out traveling) is because, as Babylon’s government is falling into total corruption and indolence, Medo-Persia is rising in power. Babylon was, of course, Nebuchadnezzar’s head of gold and the winged lion from chapter 7, while Medo-Persia was to be the chest and arms of silver and the bear raised up on one side. Even as Daniel has this vision, he is keenly aware that Babylon’s days are numbered.

Elam, Susa, and the Ulai Canal are only about 350 miles from Babylon. That would be quite a journey on camel back, but it was a hop-skip-and a jump when we realize the Babylonian empire stretched clear from India to Egypt. Susa being the capital city of the Elam province, Daniel has probably been there many times as part of his administrative responsibilities, at least under Nebuchadnezzar when his services were highly valued. Some writers question whether Daniel is actually having the vision in Babylon and transported to Susa or if he is in Susa having the vision. For whatever it’s worth, I can’t see any reason whatsoever in the text to understand that he is in Susa. As far as I’m concerned, there is no question he is still in Babylon and only transported to Susa in the vision.

Also, for whatever it’s worth, I’d like to suggest why it’s important that the vision occurs alongside the Ulai Canal. First of all, I’d suggest it’s in Elam specifically as a foreboding of Medo-Persia’s rising power. The whole point of these visions is to reveal the Lord’s plans for the rise and fall of the great Gentile kingdoms which would dominate Israel history, right down to the Coming of Christ. It only makes sense to me that, in a way, it’s like the Lord is done with Babylon, and in just a short time, the entire focus will move east, even including the fact that the Medo-Persians kings will make Susa their winter palace.

Then why a canal? Here’s where we need to do a little of transporting ourselves back into their world. Here in the Midwest, we get abundant rain (usually) and you can drill a hole in the ground anywhere and generally get all the water you want. As is still true in some parts of the world, farming depends completely on a series of irrigation canals. There is not sufficient rain to grow crops or maintain orchards, so water has to be brought in by those canals. Here’s where the monumental factor comes in – those canals are all controlled by gates and, generally speaking, the king controls those gates. What that means, obviously, is that he holds the power to either allow you to prosper or totally ruin you. All he has to do is order your gate shut and within days you’ll be the proud owner of a desert covered with dead plants

This dilemma is the backdrop for Prov. 21:1, “The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord; He directs it like a watercourse (a canal!) wherever He pleases.” The point of that proverb, which we all miss, is, while the king seems to be the one who literally holds your life in his hand, it is actually the Lord who holds his life in His hand! As Jesus told Pilate, “You would have no power over Me, except it be given you from above.” Ancient peoples, reading Prov. 21:1, would know that immediately, as they lived all day every day under the specter of the king’s power, and that especially when it came to the canal water upon which they were totally dependent.

The Ulai Canal is said to be a canal which stretched between two rivers in Elam and would have been politically of profound importance to the entire province. That is probably why Daniel knows the canal and why his vision occurs there. He has probably been to Susa many times specifically dealing with issues regarding this canal, its maintenance, the commerce surrounding it, and even issues of who gets their gates opened and shut. In a way, the canal is a fractal picture of the whole point of Daniel’s vision – the rise and fall of political powers. It’s not even surprising to me that, in v.16, the voice calling to Gabriel will call “from the Ulai.” The canal itself speaks of power, but we know who is the real power controlling all of this. Everything going on is all about power and Daniel teaches us again and again, “The Most High rules in the nations of men!”

We all desperately need to know our God is, in fact, in complete control. Yes, the heart of the king is and always will be “in the hand of the Lord.” And it isn’t just the king, it’s every single power of any kind which we find threatening our peace and happiness – even the rain on our planned picnic day. Our God is in charge and He wrote one whole chapter of the Bible – Romans 8 – to assure us that “nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Lord, help us to learn all we can from our good friend Daniel and may we share even just a little corner of his great faith! May we remember it is You who controls the “canals” of our lives.