DANIEL'S VISION OF A RAM AND A GOAT DANIEL 8: 1 - 8

DANIEL'S VISION OF A RAM AND A GOAT

DANIEL 8: 1 -8

    (1) In the third year of King Belshazzar's reign, I, Daniel, had a vision after the one that had already appeared to me.  (2) In my vision, I saw myself in the citadel of Susa in the province of Elam; in the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal.  (3) I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two horns, standing beside the canal, and the horns were long.  One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later.  (4) I watched the ram as he charged toward the west and the north and the south.  No animal could stand against him, and none could rescue from his power.  He did as he pleased and became great.

   (5) As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground.  (6) He came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at him in great rage.  (7) I saw him attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering his two horns.  The ram was powerless to stand against him; the goat knocked him to the ground and trampled on him, and none could rescue the ram from his power.  (8) The goat became very great, but at the height of his power his large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven. 

H. A. IRONSIDE'S COMMENTARY

   As I first mentioned in the Chapter 1 commentaries, I found an interesting tidbit when I read Dr. Ironside's Commentary about the 8th Chapter of the Book of Daniel:  The Book of Daniel was originally written in two languages.  The first chapter, and verses 1 - 3 of Chapter 2 are in Hebrew.  From verse 4 of the 2nd Chapter to the end of Chapter 7, it is written in Chaldean, or Aramaic.  The balance of the Book is in Hebrew again.

   Dr. Ironside states that the first section was for the special help and encouragement of the faithful among the scattered Jews; so it is written in their own language.  In the second section, God is tracing out the course of the Times of the Gentiles, so He led Daniel to write the record of it in the popular language of the day, Aramaic, that the Chaldeans (Gentiles) might read it and benefit from it.  The third portion, beginning with the eighth chapter concerns the Jews in a very special way; so it is once again in the Hebrew language.

  The first verse in Chapter 8 shows us that two years had elapsed between the visions in Chapter 7 and Chapter 8.  The setting is in the palace in the province of Elam by the river Ulai.
   Elam was the ancient name of the highlands east of Babylon,  stretching from India to the Persian Gulf.  This is also the region that Cyrus was to obtain his first great victories, the land soon to be completely dominated by the Persians.

 (map from In Which God Do You Trust?)
   

COMMENTARY FROM LIFE APPLICATION STUDY BIBLE

   Susa was one of the capitals of the Babylonian empire.  It was located in what is now Iran.

   The two horns were the kings of Media and Persia; the longer horn represented the growing dominance of Persia in the Medo-Persian empire.

   The goat represented Greece, and it's large horn, Alexander the Great.  Alexander the Great died in his thirties at the height of his power.  His kingdom was split into four parts under four generals:  Ptolemy 1 of Egypt and Palestine; Seleucus of Babylonia and Syria; Lysimachus of Asia Minor; and Antipater of Macedon and Greece.

  

MY THOUGHTS

   Stay with us, this is going to be a little in depth.  It is recommended that we study Revelations also, as the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelations complement each other.

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