Daniel Eight ... A Background Study  

Throughout the book of Daniel, we can find clues that connect us to a time and a place. In this case, in chapter eight, we find them in the first few verses. As to time, this is the third year of Belshazzar’s reign. In chapter seven, Daniel received a detailed vision during the first year of Belshazzar. This new vision in chapter eight followed two years later. And it all happened within the reign of the foolish king of Babylon who gave a party while his capital city was besieged. This is Belshazzar who watched the ghostly hand write his death sentence on the wall. While the king dithered away his administration, Daniel served in the government, apparently unnoticed. And God continued to reveal mysteries of the present and the future to Daniel.

Now for a little geography. The vision took Daniel to the city of Susa, which was probably a relatively unimportant outpost in the Babylonian empire. It became much more important, however, with the rise of Medo-Persia. The vision begins with Medo-Persia, as if God had already erased Babylon from the picture. And so, perhaps even the setting of the vision is prophetic. Daniel found himself, in his dream, at the place that would become the royal residence of the kingdom that would conquer Babylon.

The name is important for another reason, and this can be discovered by even the most casual reader. Susa is named in other books in the Bible. It is Nehemiah’s place of service. And it is the king’s residence in the book of Esther. In each case, it is called the citadel of Susa, suggesting a castle or palace. The reference should allow the reader to connect the Old Testament books of Daniel, Esther, and Nehemiah, since they concern the same empire—the Persians. A closer look should reveal that Nehemiah must have been a contemporary of Daniel, in a way. They both saw the end of the captivity of Israel after the seventy years. Esther is a more difficult character to place, but she was at least a part of the Persian empire that arose during Daniel’s time.

So chapter eight of Daniel begins with a vision. The previous chapter had listed a similar vision, containing a complex picture of history acted out by four animals. The meaning of that vision applied both to very current events and to the far-off future. This vision, in chapter eight, concerns a slightly different point in history. And although it is more directly pointed at the future of Israel, it will have eternal significance as well.

The first animal in the vision is a ram, which represents Medo-Persia. There is no mystery here. In verse 20, the ram is identified to Daniel as the combined empire of Media and Persia. One horn of this ram was larger than the other, just as Persia was more significant than Media, though it was the later of the two empires to rise to prominence. The use of the ram is appropriate. It is said that the king of Persia appeared at the front of his army wearing—or carrying—the head of a ram as his symbol. The money of Persia bore the image of a ram, and such pictures can be found as decorations all through the empire.

The second animal is a shaggy goat that seemed to fly at its enemies without touching the ground. This is Greece, the empire that arises after Persia. The Greek advance under Alexander was particularly rapid. It’s warfare was decisive. And when Alexander died, the kingdom was divided into four quarters by his squabbling generals. And so the one horn on the head of the goat became four horns of lesser importance. 

This much is general history. But the story of the vision is really the story of the small horn that arises from the goat. The identity of the animals simply offers a historical background to the boastfulness and cruelty of this little horn. Since horns seem to be pictures of rulers or kings, then this is the life of a particularly nasty king that would arise out of the Greek empire of Alexander the Great. Looking back in history, we know the exact king that the vision is talking about. And then again, we don’t.

Setting aside the kings for a moment, there are others in this vision that deserve mention. There are the holy ones, as Daniel calls them. One called out a question, and another answered. No details are given for the identity of these voices. Perhaps they are beyond describing. Visions often supply us with pictures of things that can not be known. These are heavenly voices, and they come to supply for Daniel the answer to a question that he must be asking. We would ask it, certainly. When will all this happen? When will we see the goat? When will truth be thrown to the ground? Unfortunately, the answer is as confusing as the vision.

As Daniel tried to make sense of the vision, someone stood in front of him, and a voice called out from the nearby canal—tell Daniel the meaning of the vision. Only a few of the angels that appear in the Bible have names. This angel is Gabriel, and he will figure in some rather major announcements in history. He will return to Daniel in a later chapter, and he will appear before Mary in the gospel of Luke to announce the arrival of her son.

In most cases, the name of an angel is insignificant. In Daniel, one other angel is named. He is Michael, and the name may not be so important as the function. Gabriel announces, and Michael fights the war. Here are two important tasks that angels perform. They speak as God directs, and they wage war against some very dangerous opponents.

Through the years, much folklore has been accumulated about angels, but the Bible says little more than what we have here in Daniel. But in the Gnostic books, those alternate gospels that have not been allowed in the scriptures, angels are rampant. They have names, and they have functions. They resemble in many ways the little idols of the Old Testament, smaller versions of God that are more convenient to worship. The Bible, on the other hand, gives every scrap of glory and honor to God. Although Gabriel is quite terrifying, he is not the one who arranges history. He just explains a few things, as God directs.

In this case, Gabriel can not add enough detail to make the vision clear. He promises that a king will arise, and that this king will do some despicable things. He will trample on the truth. He will battle against the mighty and the holy, and will prevail. Daniel reports that this king will sweep some of the starry host to earth, and that he will take away the daily sacrifice. There is an end-time language to this vision, and Gabriel warns specifically that the vision concerns the time of the end.

But the vision was fulfilled before the arrival of New Testament times. A king named Antiochus IV came to power in one of Alexander’s four empires. Antiochus was particularly ambitious and particularly ruthless. He murdered his brother to gain the throne, and after a defeat in Egypt, he set up a statue of Zeus in the temple in Jerusalem and sacrificed a pig on the altar. To the Jews, these were horrible offences. The desecration of the temple effectively stopped the daily sacrifice that was a part of Jewish worship. To add to the insult, as many as 100,000 people were murdered as a part of ongoing trouble in Judah.

In spite of this, the message of the vision is for the end. So there will be another, much like Antiochus, who will come to desecrate the worship of God. The vision reports that the king will sweep down some of the starry host. While that may refer to the people of Jerusalem, it may also speak of a much greater battle that causes even the angels to fall.

Though it was shrouded in mystery, the elements of the vision had a crushing effect upon Daniel. He was overwhelmed by the appearance of the angel, Gabriel, and he was sickened by the terror that would soon fall upon his people. For several days he lay exhausted and ill. Then he returned to work and went about the king’s business. When the time came to read the graffiti on the wall of Belshazzar’s party, it is possible that the king faced a very sober Daniel. After all, he carried the weight of two troubling visions. And as the book of Daniel continues, there are more revelations to come.