1 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.
This dream occurred two years after the previous dream.
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.
Susa became one of the capital cities of the Persian Empire. The Ulai may have been the eastern branch of the Choasper.
15 And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man
16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, ‘Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.’
17 So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, ‘Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end (of Israel) shall be the vision.’
Gabriel tells Daniel that this vision is about the rest of the history of Israel. At this point in history, Israel/Judah (the book of Daniel uses the terms interchangeably, just meaning “descendants of Jacob”) is in captivity to Babylon.
It is possible Daniel is afraid its history is already over. God shows him what is really left.
18 Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.
19 And he said, ‘Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation (the last beast seen in the last dream): for at the time appointed the end (of the indignation) shall be.’
3 Then I lifted up mine 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.
20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
Persia was the newer kingdom, but became bigger than Media. At the time of this vision, they were both gaining power.
4 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.
It was very shortly after this dream that Medo- Persia conquered Babylon. This made them bigger than the Babylonian Empire.
5 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.
21 And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
Alexander the Great
6 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.
Darius the Persian had defeated Alexander’s dad Phillip, who had died in battle with the Persians. Alexander went after Persia partly in revenge, though there had been wars between the two countries for years. Alexander hunted Darius down and would have killed him if a scared general from Persia hadn’t done it just before he caught him.
7 And I saw him come close 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 him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.
Alexander flat destroyed all remnants of power from the Persian and Babylonian Empires.
8 Therefore the he 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.
22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.
Alexander reached the Indus River in India. He wanted to go further, but his soldiers rebelled and threatened to leave him if he did. He returned to Babylonia where he died (poisoning or maybe malaria. We don’t know for sure.) He was thirty-two.
His four major Generals fought over the kingdom, killing his son, wives, mother and any other relatives they could find. After seven years of civil war, the kingdom was divided into four parts:
- Antigonus won Greece (Mediterranean to central Greece, Near Asia)
- Ptolemy Lagi won Egypt and southern Syria.
- Cassander won Macedonia (northern modern Greece)
- Lysimachus won Thrace (by the Black sea)
9 And out of one of them (Egypt) came forth a little horn (Seleucus), which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land (Israel).
Ptolemy gave Syria to his favorite general, Seleucid who captured Antigonus’ Asian territory.
10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.
Antiochus IV of the Seleucid family killed many Israelites, especially the priests. God’s people are often represented as stars in the Bible. In this case the “host of heaven” is talking about the Israelites who truly loved God.
11 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.
Antiochus IV stopped the daily sacrifice for a time. He considered himself a god, and magnified himself to the same level as Jesus, the Prince of the host (or kingdom of God).
In a backhanded sort of way, this is prophecy of the return to Judah and rebuilding of the Temple. At the time of this dream, all the descendants of Jacob are in captivity and the daily sacrifices weren’t happening since Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the Temple decades before. Obviously, Israel will return to Judah, rebuild the Temple, and restart the daily sacrifices so Antiochus IV, the little horn, can stop them again.
12 And an host was given him (the little horn) against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered.
Because of the rebellion of the Jews and to prove God’s power, this was allowed.
23 "And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
24 And his (Antiochus IV) power shall be mighty, but not by his own power (by God’s allowance with some help from Rome): and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
Antiochus III (of the Seleucid dynasty) was succeeded by his son Seleucid IV Philopator (187- 175BC). In order to collect taxes, Seleucid IV sent his tax collector to rob the Jerusalem temple. However, Heliodorus (the tax collector) had Seleucid IV killed and assumed the throne.
Seleucid IV’s brother had been captured by the Romans in a war with their father. Seleucid IV sent his son, Demetrius, to Rome as a hostage trade for his brother Antiochus IV just before his death.
Antiochus IV secretly negotiated with Rome for the Seleucid throne. Rome agreed to keep his nephew, Demetrius, as a hostage in exchange for extra taxes.
Antiochus IV had secretly supported Heliodorus in his assassination of Seleucid IV. Now, the king of Pergamus was given a portion of the Syrian kingdom by the Romans for assisting them in the wars against the Seleucids. This king kicked Heliodorus (the tax collector) out (with Antiochus IV’s help) and put Antiochus IV on the throne.
So, Antiochus IV Epiphanes took control of the kingdom of Syria and reigned from 175BC to 164BC. He stole from the treasury and Jewish temples, roamed around in Roman officer clothes, and drank and caroused with the lowest of the people. He was way more wicked than previous rulers.
He orchestrated the death of the Jewish High-Priest and scores of priests and scribes (They refused to eat pork so he killed them) and sold the High-Priest position to the highest bidders.
He took control of the Jerusalem temple, ended the daily sacrifices, sacrificed unclean animals on the temple altar and altars throughout Judea, performed or allowed acts of sexual perversion within the temple, placed an idol in the temple, collected the sacred Hebrew scrolls, threw them to the ground, and burned them in order to eliminate the Holy Laws from the land.
He also plundered the temple treasury.
2 Maccabees 9 tells us that God struck Antiochus IV down with an incurable pain in his bowels.
Antiochus IV was riding in a chariot when he fell out and his body was racked throughout. Living for a brief time, he became so infected that flesh fell off his bones and produced a horrid stench. He died without dignity- destroyed, but not by human hands.
13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, “How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?”
14 And he said unto me, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”
Antiochus IV desecrated the Temple alter on Chislev 15, 168BC.
The Jews celebrated its consecration on Chislev 25, 165BC, 1150 days or 2300 “daily” sacrifices later (one in the evening and one in the morning.)
[As recorded in the books of the Maccabees]
26 "And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.
It would be about 250 years before these prophecies would be useful to anyone.
27 And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.