The Ram and The Goat
This article is about Daniel chapter 8. Daniel saw a vision, “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. 4 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.”
“5 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. 6 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. 7 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. 8 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.”
After that, “9 Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land. 10 It grew great, even to the host of heaven. And some of the host and some of the stars it threw down to the ground and trampled on them. 11 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(Jerusalem) was overthrown. 12 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.
13 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(Jerusalem) and host to be trampled underfoot?” 14 And he said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary(Jerusalem) shall be restored to its rightful state.”
Daniel want to know this vision, “I sought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. 16 And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, and it called, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” 17 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.”18 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.
Daniel fell into deep sleep when angel Gabriel made him understanding the vision. Why he fell into deep sleep? Please imagine when you have a lesson that you can’t understanding, you will feel tired and fall in sleep. “27 …but I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it”. So same as Daniel, he fell in sleep represents it’s difficult for us to understand and fall in sleep until the end time.
This vision is mainly apoint to the end time “for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end”. “19 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“. So the sealed words shall be unsealed, and we will understand this vision at the time of the end. We can say, “today” we are at the time of the end.
What does it mean? It means we can understand this vision now. So what does this vision about? Yes, it refers to the appointed time of the end, the sanctuary(Jerusalem) shall be restored to its rightful state. But let’s see the ram and the goat first. What does it mean of the ram and the goat?
Gabriel said “20 As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 And the goat is the king of Greece. And the great horn between his eyes is the first king.22 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”.
Angel Gabriel told us the ram symoblic the kingdom of Media and Persia, the goat symbolic the kingdom of Greece. Now we know that the first king of the goat is Alexander the Great, “but when he was strong, the great horn was broken”. He died at 32 years old, and his four Generals divided his kingdom into four, but their kingdoms were less powerful than with him.
Gabriel explained “9 Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land”. This little horn came from the one among of divided Greek kingdoms, the little horn came out among of them. Daniel chapter 4 says the Great Top Tree bound with a band of “iron and bronze”, bronze and iron represents the third and the fourth kingdom. This tells us in God’s view, they are closely related. The Top Tree is bound by the third and the fourth kingdom mainly.
What does the little horn mean? This little horn is not the “little horn” of the fourth beast of Daniel chapter 7. The “little horn” of fourth beast came from the one among ten horns, it represents the final part of the fourth beast-USA. But the “little horn” of chapter 8 represents the whole fourth beast, the whole of its kingdoms(Roman Empire). And we had explained in previous article “The Four Great Beasts” that the Roman Empire was the first part of the fourth beast.
If we study history, we will find that Greek and Roman were closely related, for Roman was deeply affected of Greek Empire. Roman often formed with many different Greek city-states to be the union before it became the Empire, it was copying Greek’s art work, Greek’s culture, Greek’s political system… We can say It was the copy of the Greek, that’s why God said it was the little horn came from the Greek Empire.
What did this little horn(Roman Empire- First Part of the Fourth Great Beast) do? Gabriel said “10 It grew great, even to the host of heaven. And some of the host and some of the stars it threw down to the ground and trampled on them”. What does it mean? Could Roman Empire thrown it down and trampled on the stars of heaven? Actually the temple and Jerusalem was protected by heavenly stars(Angels). So when Roman Empire destroyed the Jerusalem in AD 70, it means the heavenly stars(angels) are defeated.
“11 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(Jerusalem) was overthrown”. Who is “The Prince of host”? He is our Creator Jehovah God’s son Jesus. Is that the fourth beast(Roman Empire) much powerful than the host the stars(Angels) of heaven, so it can destroy the Jerusalem? No, because “12 And a host(“legion of angels”) will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression”. What transgression? For the Jews killed the son of God, the righteous one Jesus, so God let Rome destroyed the Jerusalem in AD 70, so that can be said a host-the heavenly stars(angels) was given over to it(was defeated).
This transgression made the sanctuary(Jerusalem) desolate. The holy one asked, “13For 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 then Gabriel said to Daniel, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary(Jerusalem) shall be restored to its rightful state.” In this verse, it specifically mentions 2300 “evenings” and “mornings” that means it should be the real number. If one day equal to 1 year, then it shall be 2300 years. Jerusalem(the sanctuary) was destroyed in AD 70, then the sanctuary(New Jerusalem) shall be restored officially after 2300 years and that will be at AD 2370. Surely it will happen in the <Reign a thousand years> period. What will happen before restore the New Jerusalem?
Rev.19:20 says, “The beast and the false prophet who had done miracles for the beast were captured. By these miracles the false prophet had deceived those who had the brand of the beast and worshiped its statue. Both of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur”.
Rev. 20:1-3 says,”Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer”.
Revelation 21:2,22 says, “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God… 22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple”.
So the restored sanctuary is the New Jerusalem and “Jehovah God and Jesus” are its temple. Maybe after “Babylon the Great” was destroyed, the fourth beast was destroyed, and Satan(the dragon) was thrown into the bottomless pit, then the New Jerusalem will be restored “officially“. But at that time the New Jerusalem is in the Heaven, after Jesus and 144000 <Reign a thousand years>, it will come down from heaven . Please read these articles.
Daniel 8:23-25 says, “23 And at the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their limit, a king of bold face, one who understands riddles(” impudent, and skilled in intrigue”), shall arise. 24 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. 25 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.”
Gabriel said at the end of their kingdom(the forth great beast), a king who understands riddles (” impudent, and skilled in intrigue”) shall arise. Who is he? Gabriel said a king shall arise at the end of their kingdom(the end period of the fourth great beast), so is that “a king” means the real “man”(king) or means a last “kingdom” of the beast? Or both, the real man(king) of the last kingdom? Let’s wait to the end time, who is the last king will be revealed.
And this king “against the Prince of princes(Jesus of 144000 princes)”, at the end he will “be broken(destroyed)—but by no human hand“. What does it mean?
Daniel 2:45,44 says, 45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold”.
Yes, the last king of the last beast will be destroyed by God’s kingdom(a stone-Jesus), and God’s kingdom shall stand forever. Amen.
Let’s Prayer
Thank you Father and Load Jesus, please let us know the truth about Daniel’s vision. We are eager to learn the truth, let us know what will happen at the end time and please give us the truth through Prince Jesus Christ. Amen.
Same as Daniel’s prayer, “15 And now, YHWH, our God, You who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and made a name for Yourself, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have been wicked. 16 YHWH, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the wrongdoings of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become an object of taunting to all those around us.
17 So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his pleas, and for Your sake, YHWH, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary. 18 My God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our pleas before You based on any merits of our own, but based on Your great compassion. 19 YHWH, hear! YHWH, forgive! YHWH, listen and take action! For Your own sake, my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name”.
Since Jerusalem destroyed in AD 70, we had waited for a long time of the restored Jerusalem. Jehovah God, you are God Almighty, and you have always acted according your will of your plan. “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted”. Jehovah God, our Father, may all honor your name and worship you, may your sanctuary New Jerusalem be restored. Amen.
May we all give Praise, Thankful, Honor to you and Jesus Christ. Amen.
Prayer is also in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Views: 316
Comments are Closed on this Post