Segment 4 -
Daniel 8
The Antichrist
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“Dear Children,
this is the last hour; and as you
have heard that the Antichrist is
coming, even now many antichrists
have come. This is how we know it is
the last hour.” 1 John 2:18
Section 1 – The
Symbols
As we proceed through
the book of Daniel, the prophetic
matrix will continue to unfold, and
our understanding of God’s Word
will become clearer. Daniel 8 adds
several important elements to the
prophetic matrix. God can say so much
with very few words! To make this
study easier to digest, I have
sub-divided it into seven segments.
If you make sure that you understand
the issues in each segment as you
proceed, you should end up with a
deeper appreciation for God’s
Word at the end of this study. Before
we examine Daniel 8, there are four
points from the previous segment that
needs to be restated:
- History
confirms the identity of the
fourth beast in Daniel 7 to
be the empire of Rome.
- History
confirms the identity of the
little horn that uprooted
three of the ten horns to be
the Roman Catholic
Church.
- The timing of
the convocation in Heaven
(Daniel 7:9) is linked to the
wounding of the little horn
power on Earth. (Daniel
7:21,22) The time, times and
half a time (the 1,260 years
of persecution) mentioned in
Daniel 7:25 came to an end in
February 1798, when French
soldiers captured the pope
and put him in exile. The
downfall of the papacy
occurred because the allotted
time of 1,260 years ended,
and the Ancient of Days
pronounced a restraining
order in favor of the saints.
As a result, the persecution
of God’s people ended.
The linkage between the
wounding of the papacy in
1798 (on Earth) and the
issuance of the restraining
order (in Heaven) is a key
point. Because the event on
Earth is linked to an event
in Heaven, we can determine
when the convocation in
Heaven began.
- Daniel 7:11
(and Revelation 13:3)
indicate the Roman Catholic
Church will return to a
position of world preeminence
after 1798. Daniel
heard boastful words from the
little horn after he
observed the courtroom scene
in Heaven. (Compare Daniel
7:11 with Revelation 13:3)
Now that these four
points have been reviewed, consider
the following points that will rise
from this study on Daniel 8:
- Babylon will
fall and the Medo-Persian
Empire will rise to power.
- The
Medo-Persian Empire will fall
and the Grecian Empire will
rise to power.
- The cleansing
of Heaven’s temple
begins after 2,300 years.
- During the
Great Tribulation, Lucifer,
the Antichrist, will
physically appear and
masquerade as God. He will
gain control over Earth for a
short period of time and kill
a large number of people.
Look over the matrix
in Chart 4.1, and notice that it
contains some repetition and
enlargement of the matrix presented
in Segment 3. Especially notice the
placement and order of the items
located in the rows for Daniel 7 and
Daniel 8.
Remember from Segment
1 that “no prophecy is complete
within itself,” and Daniel 8 is
no exception. As we will see, Daniel
8 cannot be accurately interpreted
without using the developing matrix
that the four rules produce. Even
with a valid set of rules, we have to
be careful that we put each element
in its intended place. All of the
prophetic pieces have to fit together
in a harmonious matrix, for God is
the Author and Designer of prophecy.
Remember, each prophetic element is
like a piece of a puzzle that has
several sides. The puzzle is solved
when all the pieces are positioned in
such a way that they harmoniously
align with the surrounding pieces.
Prophetic Matrix
Including Daniel 2, 7, 8, and 11
Chart 4.1
The Apocalyptic
Sequence
God gave the vision in
Daniel 8 to Daniel about 550 B.C.
Daniel 8 follows the same order found
in Daniel 2 and 7. In other words,
this vision contains an orderly
sequence of events that is followed
by commentary that explains the
sequence. Carefully study the
apocalyptic sequence:
“In the third
year of the reign of king Belshazzar
a vision appeared unto me, even unto
me Daniel, after that which appeared
unto me at the first. And I saw
in the vision; and it came to pass,
when I saw, that I was at Shushan in
the palace, which is in the province
of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and
I was by the river of Ulai. Then I
lifted up my eyes, and saw, and,
behold, there stood before the river
a ram which had two horns: and the
two horns were high; but one was
higher than the other, and the higher
came up last. I saw the ram pushing
westward, and northward, and
southward; so that no beasts might
stand before him, neither was there
any that could deliver out of his
hand; but he did according to his
will, and became great.
“And as I was
considering, behold, an he goat came
from the west on the face of the
whole Earth, and touched not the
ground: and the goat had a notable
horn between his eyes. 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. And I saw him come close to
unto the ram, and he was moved with
choler against him, and smote the
ram, and brake his two horns; and
there was no power in the ram to
stand before him, but he cast down to
the ground, and stomped upon him: and
there was none that could deliver the
ram out of his hand. Therefore the
goat waxed very great: and when he
was strong, the great horn was
broken; and for it came up four
notable ones toward the four winds of
heaven.
“And out of
them came forth a little horn, which
waxed exceedingly great, toward the
south, and toward the east, and
toward the pleasant land. And it
waxed great, even to the host of
heaven; and it cast down some of the
host and the stars to the ground, and
stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified
himself even to the prince of the
host, and by him the daily sacrifice
was taken away, and the place of his
sanctuary was cast down. And an
host was given him against the daily
sacrifice by reason of transgression,
and it cast down the truth to the
ground; and it practiced, and
prospered.” (Daniel 8:1-12,
KJV)
Comments
These twelve verses
focus on three symbols: a ram, a goat
and a horn power. Because the Bible
is its own interpreter, it provides
the meaning of these symbols. The ram
represents the kingdom of
Medo-Persia. (Daniel 5:28; 8:20). The
two horns of the ram represent the
co-regent reign of two kings, the
king of the Medes and the king of the
Persians. The higher horn of the ram
in Daniel 8:3 also aligns with the
“higher shoulder” of the
bear in Daniel 7:5. (See Chart 4.1.)
The second symbol, the
goat, represents the kingdom of
Grecia. (Daniel 8:21) The great horn
represents the fist prominent king of
the Grecian empire. History reveals
this king was Alexander the Great,
who died in the prime of life. The
four horns that replaced the great
horn represent four generals that
eventually gained control of
Alexander’s empire. Historians
identify these generals as Cassander,
Lysimachus, Ptolemy and Seleucus.
We know the identity
of the ram and goat, but what does
the third symbol, the horn power,
represent? Until the twentieth
century, a majority of Protestants
claimed the little horn in Daniel 7
and the horn power in Daniel 8
represented the papacy. True, both
horns have important similarities,
but they are not the same entity. We
will see that the horn power in
Daniel 8 is many times more powerful
than the Roman Catholic Church.
Beasts Are Kingdoms
– Horns Are Kings
In Daniel 8, the two
beasts represent empires, but the
horns of the ram and the goat
represent kings. This
distinction is important, because the
horn power in this vision is not
attached to a beast (a world empire).
Further, the Bible says this horn
power is a king. (Daniel 8:23) Daniel
was told this king will exalt himself
to be as great as the Prince of the
host, Jesus Christ! (Daniel 8:11) The
horn power in Daniel 8 is a
stern-faced king that will rule over
Earth during the Great Tribulation.
(Daniel 11:36) This coming king is
the Antichrist, Lucifer, who will
dazzle the world with his power,
authority and ability to perform
incredible miracles. He will gain
control of Earth and do more evil
than Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot
combined. In short, the dreaded
Antichrist will not be a mere man.
The coming Antichrist will be
Lucifer, appearing in the flesh,
masquerading as an angel of light,
and claiming to be Almighty God. (2
Corinthians 11:14; Daniel 11:36;
Revelation 9; Revelation 13:11-18)
Timing Is Everything
The vision in Daniel 8
almost covers the same 2,600 years
described in Daniel 2 and 7. The only
difference is that6 the Daniel 8
vision starts with the Medo-Persian
empire (538 B.C.) instead of the
Babylonian empire (605 B.C.). The
sequence in this vision ends when
Jesus destroys “the stern-faced
king” at the Second Coming.
Daniel 8:25 indicates the horn power
will be destroyed by God: “…
he will be destroyed, but not by
human power.” (See Daniel
2:44, Daniel 7:11 and Revelation
19:11-21.) This is an important
specification. Men will not be able
to destroy the Antichrist. Lucifer
will do whatever he wants and no one
will be able to stop him. Jesus does
not lay hands on His enemies at the
Second Coming; He simply commands the
wicked to die. The sharp sword that
comes out of His mouth represents His
ability to speak the command and
people drop dead. (See Revelation
19:15-21.) It is interesting to note
that the voice that calls the
righteous dead to life (1
Thessalonians 4:16) is the same
voice that commands the wicked to
die. (Revelation 19:21)
Because God is the
Creator of apocalyptic prophecy, we
know Daniel 8 will harmonize with the
matrix established in Daniel 2 and
Daniel 7. Pay close attention to the
words of Gabriel, as he speaks to
Daniel about the sequence of events: “And
I heard a man’s voice from the
Ulai calling, ‘Gabriel, tell
this man the meaning of the
vision.’ As he came near the
place where I was standing, I was
terrified and fell prostrate.
‘Son of man,’ he said to
me, ‘understand that the
vision concerns the time of the
end.’ While he was
speaking to me, I was in a deep
sleep, with my face to the ground.
Then he touched me and raised me to
my feet. He said: ‘I am going to
tell you what will happen later in
the time of wrath,
because the vision concerns the
appointed time of the
end.’” (Daniel
8:16-19, italics mine)
Look at the words that
have been italicized. Gabriel twice
emphasized the point that this vision
concerns “the time of the
end” or “the appointed time
of the end.” The word
“appointed” means the time
of the end was set or predetermined
long ago. God has set a date for the
Great Tribulation to begin. The
Father has also set a date for the
second Coming. (Matthew 24:36) So,
ready or not, believe it or not,
God’s great time clock is
counting the days to the appointed
time of the end. (Read Revelation
9:15 and notice how the date for the
sixth trumpet has been predetermined
down to the very hour.)
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