1st What are the Religions of The World

From G2453; to become a Judaean, that is, “judaize”:—live as the Jews.

A religion is a set of stories, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural quality, that
give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to an ultimate power or reality.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language,
Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered
as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances,
and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
2. a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of
persons or sects: the Christian religion;

a. Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor
of the universe.

(1): the service and worship of God or the supernatural
(2): commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance

Religion

1. A strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny;
"he lost his faith but not his morality".

1 the belief in and worship of a god or gods, or any such system of belief and worship:
the Christian religion

1 the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal
God or gods.
2 a particular system of faith and worship.

Religion, sacred engagement with that which is believed to be a spiritual reality.

http://www.wordsmyth.net/live/home.php?
script=search&matchent=religion&matchtype=exact

1. a set of beliefs concerned with explaining the origins and purposes of the universe, usu. involving belief
in a supernatural creator and offering guidance in ethics and morals.

As you can see, there are a great number of ways to
define religion. So, would it be safe to simply refer to religion as:

Well, there are not really thousands
and thousands of “religions”.

Actually, every one will fit quite
neatly into one of the following 7 categories:

1 Judaism
2 Islam
3 Christianity
4 The Cults
5 Eastern Religions
6 Spiritualism
7 Secular Humanism

What is a Cult?

7) A history of psychological and spiritual abuses of group members that destroy lives

ALL “religions” can actually be classified into one of the
religions numbered 4-7, that are not contained in groups 1-3.

The Analects. A collection of Confucius' teachings thought to have been recorded by
his students. They are considered the only sayings that can safely be attributed to him.

Bhagavad Gita. A Sanskrit poem that is part of the Indian epic known as the Mahabharata .
It describes, in a dialogue between Lord Krishna and Prince Arjuna, the Hindu path to spiritual
wisdom and the unity with God that can be achieved through karma (action), bhakti (devotion),
and jnana (knowledge). The Bhagavad-Gita was probably written sometime between 200 B.C. and
A.D. 200.

Five Classics Five works traditionally attributed to Confucius that form
the basic texts of Confucianism. They are the Spring and Autumn Annals,
a history of Confucius's native district; the I Ching (or Book of Changes ), a system of divining
the future; the Book of Rites , which outlines ceremonies and describes the ideal
government; the Book of History ; and the Book of Songs , a collection of poetry.
Together they promulgate a system of ethics for managing society based on sympathy for others, etiquette,
and ritual. Although the dates of these books are uncertain, they were probably written before the
third century B.C.

The Koran. (Arabic, al-Qur'an) The primary holy book of Islam. It is made up of 114 suras, or
chapters, which contain impassioned appeals for belief in God, encouragement to lead a moral life,
portrayals of damnation and beatitude, stories of Islamic prophets, and rules governing the social and
religious life of Muslims. Believers maintain that the Koran contains the verbatim word of God, revealed
to the prophet Muhammad through the Angel Gabriel. Some of the Suras were written during
Muhammad's lifetime, but an authoritative text was not produced until c. A.D. 650.

New Testament. The second portion of the Christian Bible, which contains
27 books that form the basis of Christian belief. These books include the sayings of Jesus, the story
of his life and work, the death and resurrection of Jesus now celebrated as Easter, the teachings and
writings of the apostles, and instruction for converting nonbelievers and for performing baptisms, blessings,
and other rituals. The New Testament is believed to have been written c. A.D. 40-100, some
10 to 67 years after the death of Jesus.

Old Testament. The Christian name for the Hebrew Bible. It is the sacred
scripture of Judaism and the first portion of the Christian Bible. According to Jewish teachings, it is made
up of three parts: the Law (also known as the Torah or Pentateuch), comprising the first five books
(Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), which describes the origins of the world, the
covenant between the Lord and Israel, the exodus and entry into the promised land, and the various rules
governing social and religious behavior; the Prophets , including the former prophets (Joshua, Judges,
Samuel 1-2, Kings 1-2) and the latter prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the 12 minor prophets),
which describes the history of the Israelites, the stories of heroes, kings, judges, and wars, and the
choosing of David as leader of the Israelites; and the Holy Writings (including Psalms, Job, Song of
Solomon, and Ruth, among others), which describes the reactions of the people to the laws and
covenants, as well as prayers and praises of the covenant. Some books of the Old Testament regarded
as sacred by the Jews are not accepted as such by Christians; among Christians there are differences
between Roman Catholics and Protestants about the inclusion of some books, the order of the books,
and the original sources used in translating them. Scholars generally agree that the Old Testament
was compiled from c. 1000 B.C. to c. 100 B.C. (Collins’ note: Most Evangelical Christian
Theologians would debate for a time back to circa 1500 B.C.)

Talmud. A compilation of Jewish oral law and rabbinical teachings that is separate from the
scriptures of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament. It is made up of two parts: the (Mishna , which is
the oral law itself), and the (Gemara , a commentary on the Mishna) . The Talmud contains both a
legal section (the Halakah ) and a portion devoted to legends and stories (the Aggada ). The
authoritative Babylonian Talmud was compiled in the sixth century.

Tao-te-ching. (The Way and Its Power) The basic text of the Chinese philosophy and religion
known as Taoism. It is made up of 81 short chapters or poems that describe a way of life marked by
quiet effortlessness and freedom from desire. This is thought to be achieved by following the creative,
spontaneous life force of the universe, called the Tao. The book is attributed to Lao-tzu, but it was
probably a compilation by a number of writers over a long period of time.

Upanishads. The basis of Hindu religion and philosophy that form the final portion of the
Veda . The 112 Upanishads describe the relationship of the Brahman , or universal soul, to the atman ,
or individual soul; they also provide information about Vedic sacrifice and yoga. The original texts of
the Upanishads come from various sources and were written beginning c. 900 B.C.

Veda. The sacred scripture of Hinduism. Four Vedas make up the
Samhita , a collection of prayers and hymns that are considered to be revelations of eternal
truth written by seer-poets inspired by the gods. The Rig-Veda , the Sama-Veda , and the
Yajur-Veda are books of hymns; the Atharva-Veda compiles magic spells. These writings
maintain that the Brahman , or Absolute Self, underlies all reality and can be known by invoking gods
through the use of hymns or mantes. The Vedic texts were compiled between c. 1000 B.C. and c.
500 B.C.

The Zend Avesta Sacred books of Zoroastrianism

Pahlavi Texts Sacred books of Zoroastrianism

Pahlavi Texts, Part IV (SBE 37)
Contents of the Nasks
E.W. West [1892]
Long-lost Zoroastrian texts available now only in summaries and fragments.

Pahlavi Texts, Part V (SBE 47)
Marvels of Zoroastrianism
E.W. West [1897]
Late Zoroastrian texts of traditional history and prophecy.

Fourth?:

Can the Bible Be Proven,
Beyond Doubt, to Be What It
Claims to Be?...

...God's Word to Mankind?

FIRST: The natural man (unsaved person)
cannot understand the things written in Holy Scripture

1 Corinthians 2:10-16¹⁰^“For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit
searches all things, even the depths of God. ¹¹For who among men knows the thoughts
of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no
one knows except the Spirit of God. ¹²Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,
but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, ¹³which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught
by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

¹⁴But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. ¹⁵But he
who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. ¹⁶For who has
known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Verse 14 is saying that the man who does not know God, or the man who has not placed his faith
in Christ, cannot possibly understand the things written in Holy Scripture because they are
“spiritually appraised” (or discerned, or learned through the ministry of the Holy Spirit).

While below, in 1 John 2:26, John expressly states that these Christians he was writing to HAVE the
anointing (the Holy Spirit) who teaches the believer all things in scripture. This is not to say Christians
do not need Bible teachers. John’s point in context here states that the believer should compare
whatever is taught with what Scriptures really say and what the Holy Spirit tells the believer is or
is not true. Thus, helping to eliminate false teaching.

Read 1 John 2:26²⁶^”These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying
to deceive you. ²⁷As for you, the anointing (the Holy Spirit) which you received from Him
(Christ) abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His
anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught
you, you abide in Him.

¹Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, ²but
we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or
adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to
every man’s conscience in the sight of God. ³And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled
to those who are perishing, ⁴in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds
of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,
who is the image of God. ⁵For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and
ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶For God, who said, “Light shall shine
out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

³And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, ⁴in whose case the
god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the
light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Read Matthew 4:8
8. Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of
the world and their glory; 9. and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall
down and worship me.” 10. Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall
worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” 11. Then the devil left Him; and behold,
angels came and began to minister to Him.

Read Luke 4:5
And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶And
the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed
over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷“Therefore if You worship before me, it shall
all be Yours.” ⁸Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and serve Him only.’”
Jesus never denied Satan’s power over this world

Read John 12:31
²⁷ “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this
hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. ²⁸“Father, glorify Your name.” Then a
voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” ²⁹So the crowd
of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying,
“An angel has spoken to Him.” ³⁰Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for
My sake, but for your sakes. ³¹“Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this
world will be cast out. ³²“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
The Lord Jesus was referring to Satan

Read John 14:30
²⁸ “You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you
would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. ²⁹“Now
I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe. ³⁰“I will not
speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; ³¹but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father
commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here. The Lord Jesus was referring to Satan

Read John 16:11
⁵“But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’
⁶“But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷“But I tell you
the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not
come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. ⁸“And He, when He comes, will convict the
world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; ⁹concerning sin, because they do
not believe in Me; ¹⁰and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no
longer see Me; ¹¹and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
The Lord Jesus was referring to Satan

Read Ephesians 2:2
¹And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, ²in which you formerly walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that
is now working in the sons of disobedience.
Paul was referring to Satan as The Prince of the Power of the Air here on Earth

Read Ephesians 6:12

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. ¹¹Put on the full armor of
God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. ¹²For our struggle
is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world
forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Read 1 John 5:19
⁸We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him,
and the evil one does not touch him. ¹⁹We
know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
The evil one is Satan

It is evidently the design of the Scriptures to make much of Satan and his work. From first to last, the
favorite representation of the world’s history is, that it is the arena for a struggle between two
kingdoms—Christ’s and Satan’s. Christ leads the kingdom of the good, Satan that of the evil;
though with different authorities and powers. The headship of Satan over his demons is implied
where they are called “his angels.” He is also called Prince of Devils. Eph. 2:2; Matt. 25:41; 9:34.
Prince of the powers of the air, and Prince of darkness. Eph. 6:12. This pre–eminence he doubtless
acquired partly by seducing them at first, and probably confirmed by his superior powers. His dominion is
compacted by fear and hatred of God, and common purposes of malice. It is by their concert of action that
they seem to approach so near to ubiquity in their influences. That Satan is also the tyrant and head of
sinful men is equally plain. This prevalent Bible picture of the two kingdoms may be seen carried
out in these particulars. (a) Satan originated sin. Gen. 3:1; Rev. 12:9, to; 20:2, 10; 1 John 3:8;
John 8:44; 2 Cor. 11:3. (b) Satan remains the leader of the human and angelic hosts which he
seduced into hostility, and employs them in desperate resistance to Christ and His Father.
He is the “God of this world.” 2 Cor. 4:4. “The Spirit that worketh in the children of this world.”
Eph. 2:2. Wicked men are his captives. See above, and 2 Tim. 2:26. He is “the Adversary “
(Satan,) “the Accuser,” (Διαβολος ) “the Destroyer,” (Απολλυων )

THIRD: The Natural Man Loves
Darkness Rather Than Light.
In the words of John MacArthur:
“They love their sin”.

We take such tremendous care to operate within the scientific laws to preserve the body. We
build these buildings, these massive skyscraper buildings with all of the science of architecture
so that they don't collapse and crush all the people in them. We build great ships that go out in
the ocean in the great depths, built according to standards of navigation and standards of
floatation and all those kinds of things to preserve the life of those people with tremendous care,
and yet we live in total moral relativity which is just contrary to everything we know about the
operation of the universe. Why do men do that? Because they love their sin, that's why. That's
the only reason. Not because it's logical.

People always ask me if AIDS...how does AIDS fit into this? AIDS is consequence to violation of
moral law. You understand that? You violate moral law you get venereal disease. That's what
Paul meant when he said you sin against the body when you join yourself to a harlot, when
you commit fornication and adultery. The ancient world was rife with venereal disease. People
died in pandemic kind of things, kind of experiences in masses because of venereal disease.
AIDS is no different, it is simply the built-in consequence to an ongoing violation of the moral
law.

You know, it amazes me. I'm watching this massive movement against smoking that's going on in our
country. You've been watching that? It's motivated by two things. One, it's motivated by the left to hate the
corporate...the corporate world and they hate these conglomerates that have so much money, like the
Reynolds Tobacco Company and these others who are multi- faceted corporations and have many different
enterprises. But the left hates them because they represent the capitalistic establishment so they want to
bring them down. Many of them aren't so concerned about the smoking, they're just concerned to wreck
these great institutions.

But there are those who are very conscious of the fact that smoking is bad for your health,
and I certainly agree with that. I don't think, as I've said, smoking is a sin, but I've been watching
how these commercials have become more and more graphic...You know, this is what smoking
does to you. I understand all that. And so there's this massive, massive move to stop people
from smoking because it effects your health physically.

At the same time there is a concurrent and equally aggressive escalation of the normalization
of homosexuality which has produced a disease which has massacred people all over the world.
Well how can they do that? How can they commit that kind of schizophrenia? Because they love
their sin. Bottom line. And when they decide they're going to work in a fixed world in the physical
realm and they're going to work in a random world in the moral realm, they are committing
spiritual suicide. That's what they're doing.

You see the same thing in high schools. All these posters everywhere trying to prevent drugs,
and alongside of them where you can pick up your condom. If you...if you have your choice in
sin, I can forget the drugs. This kind of schizophrenia is because we are unwilling to live in a
fixed moral realm. And that is precisely what God has designed and He's revealed it here. There
is a morality built by God into the world that is fixed and when violated it brings tragic results.
And the Scripture has laid that out for us...absolute laws.
From: John MacArthur / Grace to You Broadcast / The Character of God’s Word

Throughout Scripture, we see time and time again where the natural man loves darkness rather
than light…evil rather than good

Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;

Read Isaiah 50:10

Read John 3:16-21
¹⁶“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes
in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷“For God did not send the Son into the world
to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. ¹⁸“He who believes in
Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹“This is the judgment, that the
Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their
deeds were evil. ²⁰“For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the
Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹“But he who practices the truth comes to
the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Read John 12:44-47
⁴⁴And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him
who sent Me. ⁴⁵“He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. ⁴⁶“I have come as Light into
the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. ⁴⁷“If anyone
hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge
the world, but to save the world.

¹⁶‘But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint
you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the
things in which I will appear to you; ¹⁷rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the
Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, ¹⁸to open their eyes so that they may turn from
darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness
of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’

Read Romans 13:12
¹¹Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for
now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. ¹²The night is almost gone, and the
day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual
promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. ¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

Read 1 Corinthians 4:5
⁴For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one
who examines me is the Lord. ⁵Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time,
but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness
and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him
from God.

VERY IMPORTANT:

One important thing to realize is, even though a person may not put their faith in what Christ
did for them when he died on the cross and then was raised from the dead…even though they
may think it mythology…even though they think it a stupid story…even though they will not
listen or respond to His great love…The Scripture tells us NO MAN IS WITHOUT EXCUSE
BECAUSE GOD HAS PUT A KNOWLEDGE OF MORALITY INTO EVERY PERSON’S
HEART AND HAS REVEALED HIMSELF, AND HIS GLORY, THROUGH HIS CREATION.

SORRY, WE HAVE NO EXCUSE.

GOD HOLDS US ACCOUNTABLE FOR TRUSTING IN WHAT HIS SON DID OR FOR
REJECTING IT. YOU MAY NOT BELIEVE IT. THAT IS OUR CHOICE. THE
EVIDENCE IS THERE, AS STATED BY PAUL (BELOW) AND AS EVIDENCED BY
WHAT FOLLOWS.

Please Read Romans 1:18-21 >>>¹⁸For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because that which is known about
God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰For since the creation of
the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen,
being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. ²¹ For even
though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became
futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

The Bible is the only book, considered to be a “Holy Book”, that actually offers many
statements of scientific fact that were not known by the scientific community until 100’s,
sometimes 1,000’s of years later?

The Bible also offers 100’s of prophecies that have ALREADY been LITERALLY FULFILLED
since ca. 3000 B.C. The Koran offers prophecies of things to be yet fulfilled…so you really
need to wait until “the end” to discover if it’s true or not. (Seems a little risky to me). None
of the other “holy” books offer any fulfilled prophecy. (Incidentally, what did “the prophet”
ever prophesy, anyway?)

The Bible Claims vs. the Archaeological Record ARE always in agreement. Anytime
mankind goes hundreds of years denying the existence of some ancient place or people
named in the Bible, eventually some non-Christian or Christian archaeologist ends up
finding it, validating the Biblical record.

Therefore:

We propose these following evidences to show beyond any doubt the
Bible IS what it claims to be…

…The following is prepared for those who (It is our dearest and most
sincere hope) who will consider asking God to somehow make The Truth
known to them. Would you consider, right now, praying a simple prayer
and asking God (if He really is there) that if the Bible is what it claims to be,
He will provide someone, or something to reveal that to you?

Incidentally…

Let no person tell you there is no such thing as Absolute Truth. There are
many arguments for the existence of Absolute Truth, but the simplest
requires the simplest reasoning:

If I say to you, “There is no such thing as absolute truth”,

I have just made a statement that requires absolute truth to be valid.

Think about it, please.

Outstanding Evidences (Proofs) for
Biblical Inspiration and Truth Can be
Found in Many Areas.

I Choose to Use:

Hydrology is basic in the science of water and its cycle. And while it's very easy for us to
understand, it wasn't until the seventeenth century that...that men began to figure out what
the water cycle really was. The water cycle is very simple...three words will teach you the
water cycle...one is evaporation, the other is condensation, and the third is precipitation.
That's the water cycle. From the great seas of the earth water evaporates. It is condensed in the clouds,
carried over the land, precipitates in the rain and the snow and runs back down to the sea from which it
evaporates, condenses and precipitates again.

Strange how men from 800BC to ca 1500BC knew the hydrological cycle, isn’t it?

Job is the oldest book in the Bible (circa 1500+ B.C.) and it describes evaporation, condensation and
precipitation.

¹⁰ “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth

       Read Psalm 135:7
       He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;
       He makes lightning for the rain;
       He brings the wind out of His treasuries.

      Read Jeremiah 10:13
     When He utters His voice,
      There is a multitude of waters in the heavens:
     “And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.
     He makes lightning for the rain,
     He brings the wind out of His treasuries.”

Read Amos 5:8
“Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the
morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and
poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name”.

Main article: Pierre Perrault
b 1611? Paris
d 1680 Paris

French hydrologist whose investigation of the origin of springs was instrumental in establishing the
science of hydrology on a quantitative basis. He showed conclusively that precipitation was more than
adequate to sustain the flow of rivers; thus he refuted theories traceable as far back as the writings of Plato
and Aristotle that invoked some variety of subterranean condensation or...

hydrologic sciences

In the latter part of the 17th century, Pierre Perrault and Edmé Mariotte conducted hydrologic
investigations in the basin of the Seine River that established that the local annual precipitation was
more than ample to account for the annual runoff.

As early as 800 B.C., Homer wrote in the Iliad of the ocean “from whose deeps every river and sea,
every spring and well flows,” suggesting the interconnectedness of all of the earth’s water. It wasn’t until
the 17th century, however, that the poetic notion of a finite water cycle was demonstrated in the Seine
River basin by two French physicists, Edmé Mariotte and Pierre Perrault, who independently determined
that the snowpack in the river’s headwaters was more than sufficient to account for the river’s discharge.
These two studies marked the beginning of hydrology, the science of water, and also the hydrologic cycle.

The hydrologic cycle can be thought of as a series of reservoirs, or storage areas, and a set of processes
that cause water to move between those reservoirs. The largest reservoir by far is the oceans, which hold
about 97% of the earth’s water. The remaining 3% is the freshwater so important to our survival, but about
78% of that is stored in ice in Antarctica and Greenland. About 21% of freshwater on the earth is
groundwater, stored in sediments and rocks below the surface of the earth. The freshwater that we see in
rivers, streams, lakes, and rain is less than 1% of the freshwater on the earth and less than 0.1% of all
the water on the earth.

From http://www.visionlearning.org/library/module_viewer.php?c3=1&l=1&mid=99

The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north; the wind whirls about
continually, and comes again on its circuit”

In the seventeenth century George Hadley discovered that the winds circulate around the earth.
Thousands of years earlier the book of Ecclesiastes referred to this phenomenon

Read Luke 17:34-36
³⁴I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the
other shall be left. ³⁵Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and
the other left. ³⁶Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left...

...Circa 60 AD. Luke 17:34-36 depicts Christ’s Second Coming as happening while some are
asleep at night and others are working at day time activities in the field, an indication of a rotating
earth with day and night at the same time.
(Source-CNN report title Star Survey)

The Bible and The Conservation of Mass and Energy
(The First Law of Thermodynamics)

The Bible affirms one of the basic laws of science which is called the first law of thermodynamics
...the first law of thermodynamics is the conservation of mass and energy. That is to say all mass
and energy that exists is perpetuated. In other words, from an evolutionary standpoint they would say...
well once there was this little piece of mass and this little piece of energy and it just kept going and going
and going and going and going and going and going. What science knows, however, if it's honest
with its data is that there is mass and energy and it is conserved at the same amount at the same
amount. It came into existence at that amount and it remains at that amount. That can be
explained by the creation. That can be explained in the Scripture. Energy doesn't go out of
existence. Mass doesn't go out of existence. It alters its forms, but it doesn't go out of existence.
From: John MacArthur / Grace to You Broadcast / The Character of God’s Word.

          Read Isaiah 40:26
²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high
           And see who has created these stars,
          The One who leads forth their host by number,
          He calls them all by name;
          Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,
          Not one of them is missing.

         Read Nehemiah 9:6
⁶ “You alone are the LORD.
         You have made the heavens,
         The heaven of heavens with all their host,
         The earth and all that is on it,
         The seas and all that is in them.
         You give life (preservest all of them) to all of them
         And the heavenly host bows down before You.

Read Ecclesiastes 1:9-10
⁹ That which has been is that which will be,
         And that which has been done is that which will be done.
         So there is nothing new under the sun.
¹⁰ Is there anything of which one might say,
         “See this, it is new”?

Entropy is a measure of the disorder of a system. Systems tend to go from a state of order
(low entropy) to a state of maximum disorder (high entropy). This is indisputable, scientific law.
Entropy is the Second Law of Thermodynamics

These verses indicate that the earth is wearing out. This is what the
Second Law of Thermodynamics (the Law of Increasing Entropy) states: that in all physical
processes, every ordered system over time tends to become more disordered. Everything is
running down and wearing out as energy is becoming less and less available for use. That
means the universe will eventually "wear out" to the extent that (theoretically speaking) there
will be a "heat death" and therefore no more energy available for use. This
wasn’t discovered by science until recently, but the Bible states it in concise terms.
(see above verses)

The concept and name of Entropy originated in the early 1850’s in the work of Rudolph Julius Emmanuel
Clausius (1822-1888).

The oldest book in the Bible says God turns the earth like the clay to the seal

Read Job 38:12-14.
^“Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know
his place; ¹³That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be
shaken out of it? ¹⁴It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment”.

What does it mean to turn the earth like the clay to the seal? In ancient times they had a piece of
clay, soft clay, and they would take a stick and they would write in a legal document or some kind of thing
before the development, or often even with the development of papyrus and other things to write to on,
they used these for permanent documents. And then when they wanted to sign it they had a cylinder
with a raised signature and they would roll it across the clay like that, with two sticks coming
out of the end. The author is saying the earth rotates on an axis. From John MacArthur

Man Discovers:
In a 1679 letter to Robert Hooke, Isaac Newton explained his idea that Earth's rotation could be proved
from the fact that an object dropped from the top of a tower should have a greater tangential velocity than
one dropped near the foot of the tower. By saying that the velocity of falling bodies in the eastward
direction was greater than the velocity of Earth's surface, Newton thus predicted an eastward deviation
for a falling body. Hooke said that the deviation "would not be directly east, as Mr. Newton supposed,
but to the southeast."

Newton's suggestion presented a novel way to confirm the Copernican system, which most astronomers
had accepted by this time. Those who didn't "were a bit slow-witted or under the superstitions imposed by
merely human activity," wrote Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens.

Even so, acceptance is not proof. Hooke had already discovered that Jupiter rotates on its axis. Proving
that Earth itself rotates was a tempting prize. Hooke dropped balls from a height of 8.2 meters and
claimed to have noted a deviation to the southeast, but because the magnitude of the deviations differed,
Hooke did not know "which was true:'

A century passed before Giovanni Guglielmini repeated the experiment. Between June and September
1791, Guglielmini scaled the 78-meter city tower of Bologna, from which he dropped 16 balls. This was
reminiscent of Galileo 200 years earlier, who reputedly dropped weights from the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
But Galileo was studying motion in the direction of the gravitational center, and was thus not looking for a
deviation. While Guglielmini successfully noted a southeast deviation, both his measurement and the
calculated deviation were incorrect. Physics in the late 18th century was not grounded in mathematics
as it is today.

Lack of a firm mathematical basis did not deter a 25-year-old teacher newly arrived in Hamburg in 1802.
Johann Benzenberg was determined to make his mark by proving Earth's rotation. He chose the highest
point available, the spire of St. Michael's church, from which he dropped 31 balls onto a prepared wooden
surface. He also noted a deviation to the southeast, but the results begged the question: What results
should be expected according to theory?

Benzenberg turned his results over to Wilhelm Olbers, who was unable to solve the problem. Fresh from
his triumph in calculating the orbit of the first asteroid, Ceres, the mathematician Carl Gauss developed
a workable theory. This spurred Benzenberg to repeat the tests in a mine shaft. In 1804 he dropped 29
balls a distance of 80.4 meters. The eastward deviation differed only one-twelfth from Gauss's predicted
value.

It fell to French physicist Leon Foucault to offer indisputable proof of Earth's rotation. He did so in a novel
manner. Realizing that the free fall of a weight was difficult to measure accurately, he began experimenting
in his cellar using a 2-meter pendulum with a 5-kilogram bob.

On February 3, 1851 he presented his experiment to his colleagues, and Prince Louis
Bonaparte asked him to give a public demonstration. The scene could hardly have been
more dramatic. Foucault set up a pendulum more than 60 meters long hanging from the
domed ceiling of the Pantheon in Paris. The pendulum never retraced its path as each
swing deviated to the right, which meant that the floor of the Pantheon was moving!
Foucault had at last provided the first dynamical proof of Earth's rotation. Foucault pendulums
now hold a place of honor in science museums worldwide.

British philosopher and sociologist, Herbert Spencer was a major figure in the intellectual life of the
Victorian era. He was one of the principal proponents of evolutionary theory in the mid nineteenth
century, and his reputation at the time rivaled that of Charles Darwin. Spencer was initially best known
for developing and applying evolutionary theory to philosophy, psychology and the study of society --
what he called his "synthetic philosophy" (see his A System of Synthetic Philosophy, 1862-93). Today,
however, he is usually remembered in philosophical circles for his political thought, primarily for his defense
of natural rights and for criticisms of utilitarian positivism, and his views have been invoked by 'libertarian'
thinkers such as Robert Nozick.

Spencer had come up with the “Classification of the Knowable”. That is to say he had come up with
the classification of everything in existence. He said all that exists, all that is knowable can fall into five
categories. And he won some great prizes and awards for this because this reduced everything to
categorization. He said this...and this was the order in which Herbert Spencer wrote them...
he said, QUOTE "All that is knowable falls into these five categories...time, force, action,
space and matter."
Everything in existence falls into one of those five categories
...time, force, action, space and matter.

               Read Genesis 1:1,
               “In the beginning       -- that's TIMEt
                            God                     -- that's FORCE      th
                            created          -- that's ACTION
                            the heavens -- that's SPACE
              and      the earth      -- That's MATTER

EVERY ONE of Herbert Spencer’s
“Classifications of the Knowable”
is placed in the first verse of the Bible.

¹⁸Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the

worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by

his fleshly mind, ¹⁹and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being

supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is

The earliest history of the pituitary gland dates back to Ancient Egypt (around 1365 BC) where a portrait,

of the Pharaoh at the time (Akhenaten), shows signs of acromegaly. Galen, in 150AD, was the first to

describe the pituitary, and he proposed that its role was to drain the phlegm from the brain to the

In the early 18th century, De Haen described amenorrhoea in a patient with a pituitary tumour. It was in

1742 that Joseph Lieutaud discovered the pituitary-portal blood system, known today as the

hypothalamo-hypophysial axis. In 1772, Saucerotte was the first to describe acromegaly.

In 1794, Frank distinguished diabetes insipidus from diabetes mellitus. Rathke described the

formation of the gland in 1838. In 1887, Minkowski was the first to link the expansion of the

pituitary gland to a number of clinical symptoms. Within a few years it was accepted that it was

In 1892, Vassale and Sacchi showed that by removing the pituitary gland (hypophysectomy) the water

and mineral metabolism of the body were affected. In the same year, Massalongo attributed acromegaly

to hyperfunction of the pituitary. The following year, Caton and Paul attempted surgical treatment to

relieve the pressure from a pituitary tumour. In 1907, Schloffer became the first to operate on the

In 1909, Aschner showed that a hypophysectomy in a growing animal caused dwarfism. Cushing and

his team made the first experimental link between the pituitary and the reproductive organs in 1910.

From: http://www.endocrinesurgeon.co.uk/pituitary/The-History-of-the-Pituitary-Gland.html

Job, the oldest book in the Bible, says God hangs the earth on nothing.

        Read Job 26:7
       ^“He stretcheth out the north over the empty place,
        and hangeth the earth upon nothing”.

The Koran says the earth is on the back of elephants who produce earthquakes when they shake.
The Bible says He hangs the world on nothing. How did Isaiah know that?

Man Discovers:
"... Not only was the earth rotating, but it also began orbiting in space, suspended upon ‘nothing’
except the mysterious force of gravity, acting at a distance.
www.answering-islam.org/Responses/Shabir.../science13.htm

Job 26:7 was written approx. 3500 years before Sir Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727) identified
and described this force."

Man Discovers:
Because Earth-bound observers could only view a small section of the globe at a time, it wasn't possible
to tell from direct observation whether the Earth was a flat disk or a sphere. The Greeks were the first to
theorize that the Earth was round. Scholars like Pythagoras in 500 BC based their belief on observations
about the way the altitudes of stars varied at different places on Earth and how ships appeared on the
horizon. As a ship returned to port, first its mast tops, then the sails, and finally its hull gradually came into
view. Aristotle, who lived 300 years before Christ, observed that the Earth cast a round shadow on the moon.
When a light is shined on a sphere, it casts the same shadow. The Greeks calculated the general size
and shape of the Earth. They also created the grid system of latitude and longitude, so that with just two
coordinates one can locate any point on the Earth. Greek philosophers also concluded that the Earth could
only be a sphere because that, in their opinion, was the "most perfect" shape.

Christopher Columbus' voyage in 1492 confirmed that the Earth was round. Magellan's crew
proved the fact definitively by circling the globe on a three-year voyage from 1519-1522. Map
making joined hand in hand with the Age of Discovery.

God imputed “attribute or ascribe” weight (mish-kawl/H4948/weight, weighing) to the wind.

High or Low
Although wind blows from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure, it doesn't blow in a
straight line. That's because the earth is rotating. In the northern hemisphere, the spin of the
earth causes winds to curve to the right. (To the left in the southern hemisphere) This is called
the coriolis force. So in the northern hemisphere, winds blow clockwise around an area of high
pressure and counter-clockwise around low pressure.

From H8254; weight (numerically estimated); hence, weighing (the act):—(full) weight.

Read Psalm 103:12
“As far as the East is from the West, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

The Psalmist uses East and West…not North and South. When one travels east or west, one always
continues to go that direction and never reaches the opposite direction. When one travels North or South,
eventually, you will reach the opposite pole and head the opposite direction. Hey! What a chance guess
by the Psalmist, huh?

The above is not a proof, but it's really interesting, isn't it?

How Did Job Know the
Moon gave off no Light?

Read Job 25:4- 6
⁴How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be
clean that is born of a woman?
⁵Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are
not pure in his sight.
⁶How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?
How did Job know that?

Genesis 15:5 “…count the stars, if you are able to count them. …so shall your
descendants be.”

Genesis 22:17 “…and multiplying, I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the
heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore…”

Jeremiah 33:22 “…as the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea
measured…”

Claudius Ptolemy was the most influential of Greek astronomers and geographers of his time.
He propounded the geocentric theory that prevailed for 1400 years. Ptolemy counted 1056 stars,

Johannes Kepler completed the Rudolphine Tables that Tycho had started long ago. These included
calculations using logarithms, which he developed, and provided perpetual tables for calculating
planetary positions for any past or future date. Kepler used the tables to predict a pair of transits by
Mercury and Venus of the Sun, although he did not live to witness the events. Johannes Kepler c
ounted 1005

Total number of stars visible to the naked is about 4,000.
THESE 3 VERSES SEEMED IN ERROR, UNTIL…
…THE TELESCOPE

For the Universe, the galaxies are our small representative volumes, and there are something like
10¹¹ to 10¹²(10,000,000,000,000) stars in our galaxy, and there are perhaps something like 10¹¹
or 10¹²(10,000,000,000,000) galaxies.

Defined: A group of stars that form a pattern or design

Read Job 38:31
“Can you bind the cluster of Pleiades or loose the
belt of Orion?”

God told Job the stars of Pleiades were bound together and the stars of Orion were not.
Not God?
Someone knew it.

Circa 2000 B.C. Pleiades used to be called the 7 sisters.

Man Discovers:
In the 1900’s science learned the stars of Pleiades are gravitationally bound together…
the stars of Orion are not…almost 4000 years after Job was written.

Genesis 2:21 “ and the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept;
and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in it’s place.”

Man Discovers

Anestesia was not used in surgery until the 1800’s. It was perfected by William Morton
circa 1846. Anesthetic gases were discovered in the early 1800’s

Leviticus 11:40 “ He also who carried it’s carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean
until evening.” Circa 1400 BC.

Man Discovers:
Until the 1800’s Doctors handled the dead and then treated patients without washing. Phillip Semmelweiss
proved disease can be transferred by not washing after handling dead animals or persons Circa 1846 AD

Read Genesis 9:4
"Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

Read Leviticus 17:11
'For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make
atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.'

Read Deuteronomy 12:23
"Only be sure not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life
with the flesh.

English physiologist, born on the 18th of February 1790, at Basford, near Nottingham, where his father,
Robert Hall, was a cotton manufacturer. Having attended the Rev. J. Blanchard's academy at Nottingham,
he entered a chemist's shop at Newark, and in 1809 began to study medicine at Edinburgh University. In
1811 he was elected senior president of the Royal Medical Society; the following year he took the M.D.
degree, and was immediately appointed resident house physician to the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh. This
appointment he resigned after two years, when he visited Paris and its medical schools, and, on a walking
tour, those also of Berlin and Göttingen. In 1817, when he settled at Nottingham, he published his
Diagnosis, and in 1818 he wrote the Mimoses, a work on the affections denominated bilious, nervous,
etc. The next year he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and in 1825 he became
physician to the Nottingham general hospital. In 1826 he removed to London, and in the following year
he published his Commentaries on the more important diseases of females. In 1830 he issued his
Observations on Blood-letting, founded on researches on the morbid and curative effects of loss of
blood, which were acknowledged by the medical profession to be of vast practical value, and in 1831
his Experimental Essay on the Circulation of the Blood in the Capillary Vessels, in which he showed that
the blood-channels intermediate between arteries and veins serve the office of bringing the fluid blood
into contact with the material tissues of the system.

Read Psalm 19:4-6
⁴ Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their utterances to the end of the world.
In them He has placed a tent for the sun,
⁵ Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
⁶ Its rising is from one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

Man Discovers:

Read Genesis 17:12
“And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your
generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any
foreigner, who is not of your descendants.

Read Leviticus 12:3
'On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

Read Acts 7:8
"And He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham became the father of
Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and
Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

In Genesis 17:12, God specifically directed Abraham to circumcise newborn males on the
eighth day. Why the eighth day?

Man Discovers:
In 1935, professor H. Dam proposed the name “vitamin K” for the factor in foods that helped
prevent hemorrhaging in baby chicks. We now know vitamin K is responsible for the production
(by the liver) of the element known as prothrombin. If vitamin K is deficient, there will be a
prothrombin deficiency and hemorrhaging may occur. Oddly, it is only on the fifth through the
seventh days of the newborn male’s life that vitamin K (produced by bacteria in the intestinal tract) is
present in adequate quantities. Vitamin K, coupled with prothrombin, causes blood coagulation, which
is important in any surgical procedure. Holt and McIntosh, in their classic work, Holt Pediatrics,
observed that a newborn infant has “peculiar susceptibility to bleeding between the second
and fifth days of life.... Hemorrhages at this time, though often inconsequential, are sometimes extensive;
they may produce serious damage to internal organs, especially to the brain, and cause death from
shock and exsanguination” (1953, pp. 125-126). Obviously, then, if vitamin K is not produced in
sufficient quantities until days five through seven, it would be wise to postpone any surgery
until some time after that. But why did God specify day eight?

On the eighth day, the amount of prothrombin present actually is elevated above one-hundred
percent of normal—and is the only day in the male’s life in which this will be the case under
normal conditions. If surgery is to be performed, day eight is the perfect day to do it.

The significance of Sir Robert Anderson's book, "The Coming Prince" (1895), should not be
underestimated by modern students of Bible prophecy, in that Anderson not only ably
defended Daniel's authorship of the Book of Daniel from the "scholarship" of unbelief of the
Higher Criticism of his day, but he clearly established the historical accuracy of the fulfillment
of the time-oriented prophecy for the First Advent of the LORD Jesus Christ as Messiah.

THE PROPHECY

Read Daniel 9:24-26
"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore
and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and
two weeks: (69 weeks of 483, 360-day lunar years) the street shall be built again, and the wall,
even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off,
but not for Himself"

Anderson wrote:
"The Julian date of that 10th Nisan was Sunday the 6th April, A.D. 32. What then was the length
of the period intervening between the issuing of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem (see Ezra Ch. 6)
and the public advent of 'Messiah the Prince,' (see John 12:12-17)-- between the 14th March,
B.C. 445, and the 6th April, A.D. 30? THE INTERVAL CONTAINED EXACTLY AND TO THE VERY
DAY 173,880 DAYS, OR SEVEN TIMES SIXTY-NINE PROPHETIC YEARS OF 360 DAYS, the first
sixty-nine weeks of Gabriel's prophecy."

Nehemiah 2:1-9 And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,
that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been
sad in his presence. 2So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad though you are not sick?
This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid. 3I said to the king, “Let the
king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs,
lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?” 4Then the king said to me, “What
would you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5I said to the king, “If it please the king,
and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’
tombs, that I may rebuild it.” 6Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, “How long
will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave
him a definite time. 7And I said to the king, “If it please the king, let letters be given me for the
governors of the provinces beyond the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I
come to Judah, 8and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber
to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple, for the wall of the city and for
the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my
God was on me. 9Then I came to the governors of the provinces beyond the River and gave
them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.
10When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about it, it was very
displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.

Read John 12:12-19 ¹²On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they
heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, ¹³took the branches of the palm trees and went
out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the
Lord, even the King of Israel.” ¹⁴Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, ¹⁵“Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” ¹⁶These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then
they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to
Him. ¹⁷So the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised
him from the dead, continued to testify about Him. ¹⁸For this reason also the people went and
met Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign. ¹⁹So the Pharisees said to one
another, “You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him.”

...and Nehemiah is headed for Israel to rebuild the wall in
Jerusalem UNTIL the day Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem
on a donkey (John 12:12-19), presenting himself as their
Messiah for the first time was exactly 173,880 days.

A hundred and fifty years before he was born the Bible
predicted there would come a man named Cyrus.
A hundred a fifty years before he was born…Isaiah
CALLS HIM BY NAME and Isaiah says he will become the ruler
in Babylon and he will let the Israelites go back to
their land.

Read Isaiah 44:28. (c 690- 681 BC)
²⁴ Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and
the one who formed you from the womb,

And I will raise up her ruins again ²⁷ “It is I who says
to the depth of the sea, ‘Be dried up!’

Cyrus will make a decree and allow them to go back and rebuild Jerusalem. And a hundred
and fifty years later he did it and his name was Cyrus.
How did Isaiah know that?
He couldn't know that.
How could he know who wasn't born for a hundred and fifty years? How could he
predict what who hadn't been born would do? No way. Only God controls history like that.

The Prophecy is fulfilled:

Read Ezra 1:1- 4 (c 538 BC) (Work completed by Jews c 516 BC)¹Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the
mouth of Jeremiah, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a
proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, ²“Thus says Cyrus
king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and
He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ³‘Whoever there is
among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem which is in
Judah and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel; He is the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴‘Every survivor, at whatever place he may live, let the men of that place support him with silver
and gold, with goods and cattle, together with a freewill offering for the house of God which is
in Jerusalem.’”

An Old Testament Prophet proclaims Josiah (by name)
300 years before he is born, and states that Josiah will
be the one to “clean house” in Jerusalem.

(This took place while Jeroboam reigned c 931 – 910 BC)
Prophecy: 1 Kings 13:1-3 ¹Now behold, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the
word of the LORD, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense. ²He cried against
the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, a son
shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests
of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’” ³Then he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the LORD has spoken,
‘Behold, the altar shall be split apart and the ashes which are on it shall be poured out.’”

(Josiah Reigns c 640 – 609 BC)
The Prophecy is fulfilled: 2 Kings 23:15-16 15 Furthermore, the altar that was at Bethel and the
high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar
and the high place he broke down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and
burned the Asherah. 16 Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the
mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and
defiled it according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed
these things.

2 Kings 23:19-20¹⁹Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were in the
cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made provoking the LORD; and he did to them
just as he had done in Bethel. ²⁰All the priests of the high places who were there he slaughtered
on the altars and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.

One of the great cities of the ancient world was a city called Tyre which was on the north coast
of the land of Palestine. Ezekiel chapter 26, the prophet Ezekiel predicted that Nebuchadnezzar
would come in verse 7 of that chapter, that Nebuchadnezzar the great Babylonian emperor
would come and destroy the city. He predicted that Nebuchadnezzar would destroy the city and
that the city would be leveled to the ground and then it would be cleared of all its rubble and
scraped clean and thrown into the sea and it would never be rebuilt again and it would be simply
a little place where people dried fish nets.

Read Ezekiel 6:7-14
⁷For thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will bring upon Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses, chariots, cavalry and a great army. ⁸“He will slay
your daughters on the mainland with the sword; and he will make siege walls against you, cast
up a ramp against you and raise up a large shield against you. ⁹“The blow of his battering rams
he will direct against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers. ¹⁰“Because
of the multitude of his horses, the dust raised by them will cover you; your walls will shake at the
noise of cavalry and wagons and chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city that
is breached. ¹¹“With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets. He will slay your
people with the sword; and your strong pillars will come down to the ground. ^{Alexander the Great will finish the job:}

¹²“Also they will make a spoil of your riches and a prey of your merchandise, break down your
walls and destroy your pleasant houses, and throw your stones and your timbers and your
debris into the water. ¹³“So I will silence the sound of your songs, and the sound of your harps
will be heard no more. ¹⁴“I will make you a bare rock; you will be a place for the spreading of nets.
You will be built no more, for I the LORD have spoken,” declares the Lord GOD.

Tyre. The city had a hundred and fifty foot high wall, one hundred and fifty-foot high, fifteen feet thick. It had
a massive army protecting the inland and it had the finest navy in the world protecting the coast.
Phoenicians were there. They were the colonizers, mariners of the ancient times. They were navigators.
They had navigated around the Cape of Africa, established trade routes to the east. Three years after
Ezekiel prophesied this Nebuchadnezzar came and he did exactly what Ezekiel said he would do.
It took him thirteen years to do it. And at the end he smashed down the walls, smashed down
the tower. Finally he entered the city and he found no spoils because the people had taken
everything by ship out to an island. So when he got in there no people, no spoils. They had taken
it all to an island off shore because Nebuchadnezzar didn't have a navy. So they laughed at him
and mocked him. The island was only about a half a mile off shore but it was too far for them to
go. So Nebuchadnezzar went back home and for two hundred and fifty years the prophecy was
never fulfilled about it being scraped and all the rubble thrown in the sea.

Two hundred and fifty years later came Alexander the Great, son of Philip of Macedon, world
conqueror, thirty three thousand infantry men, fifteen thousand horsemen, fifty thousand troops.
They come marching down that area. They're headed east conquering the world as they go. They send a
messenger out to this little island city of Tyre and they say...we want food, we want money, we want
supplies. And they say...forget it, buddy, you don't have a navy either. They sent the messenger back
and Alexander got mad. So what he did, he took all the rubble in the city of Tyre, all the rubble
that was left, dumped it in the sea, built a causeway, marched out and destroyed them all. Two
hundred and fifty years later fulfilling exactly what Ezekiel said would happen. There were
about twenty-five thousand on that island at the time who were slaughtered and thirty thousand
more sold into slavery. He did it all in seven months. And Ezekiel said the city would never be
rebuilt. It never has been rebuilt. And just to make a comparison, Jerusalem has been rebuilt
seventeen times.
From John MacArthur

The Bible predicted the destruction of Nineveh which was the capital of Assyria.
(see Nahum 2:1-14, below) It had a hundred foot inner wall fifty-feet thick, towers two hundred
feet high, fifteen gates and a one hundred and fifty-foot moat. The city was seven miles in
circumference, a double wall, two thousand feet outside the inner wall.

Reached its high point in 663 B.C. Nahum says it's going to be destroyed. It was. The Medes,
the Babylonians they came, entered, took it, never rebuilt.

Read Nahum 2:8-14
⁸ Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days,

¹³“Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of hosts. “I will burn up her chariots in smoke,
a sword will devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the land, and no longer
will the voice of your messengers be heard.”

Read Zephaniah 2:13
“And He will stretch out His hand against
the north and destroy Assyria,

It was Sennacherib who made Nineveh a truly magnificent city (c. 700 BC). He laid out fresh
streets and squares and built within it the famous "palace without a rival", the plan of which
has been mostly recovered and has overall dimensions of about 210m by 200m (630 by 600 ft).
It comprised at least 80 rooms, of which many were lined with sculpture. Nineveh's greatness
was short-lived. About 633 BC the Assyrian empire began to show signs of weakness, and
Nineveh was attacked by the Medes, who subsequently, about 625 BC, joined by the Babylonians
and Susianians, again attacked it. Nineveh fell in 612 BC, and was razed to the ground. The
Assyrian empire then came to an end, the Medes and Babylonians dividing its provinces
between them. Following the defeat in 612 BC, Nineveh fades in importance. The city is mentioned
again in the Battle of Nineveh in 627 CE, which was fought between the Eastern Roman Empire and the
Sassanian Empire of Persia near the ancient city. Before the excavations in the 1800s, our knowledge
of the great Assyrian empire and of its magnificent capital was almost wholly a blank. Vague memories
had indeed survived of its power and greatness, but very little was definitely known about it.
Other cities which had perished, such as Palmyra, Persepolis, and Thebes, had left ruins to
mark their sites and tell of their former greatness; but of this city, imperial Nineveh, not a single
vestige seemed to remain, and the very place on which it had stood was only matter of conjecture.
In the days of the Greek historian Herodotus, 400 BC, it had become a thing of the past; and when
Xenophon the historian passed the place in the Retreat of the Ten Thousand the very memory
of its name had been lost. It was buried out of sight.

70 weeks (of Sabbatical years) declared by God for Israel to accomplish 6 things.

First there must be an explanation of what is meant in Scripture
by 70 years equaling 70 weeks of 7 years each:

prophecies of the Old Testament is contained.
The prophecy as a whole is presented in verse 24. The first sixty-nine sevens is described in verse 25.
The events between the sixty-ninth seventh and the seventieth seventh are detailed in verse 26. The final
period of the seventieth seventh is described in verse 27."378

Daniel 9:24 >>>>>>The Hebrew word translated "weeks" (shabu'im) literally means "sevens."
It can refer to seven days (Gen. 29:27-28) or seven years (Lev. 25:3-5).381 Most scholars believe
that this word here represents seven years. Daniel had been thinking of God's program for Israel
in terms of years (vv. 1-2). It would have been normal then for him to interpret these sevens as
years.382 Furthermore, the fulfillment of the first sixty-nine years shows…

378Walvoord, Daniel . . ., p. 216. Renald E. Showers, Maranatha: Our Lord, Come! A Definitive Study of

the Rapture of the Church, pp. 230-44, demonstrated that these verses imply a pretribulation Rapture of the church. See also
Alva J. McClain, Daniel's Prophecies of the Seventy Weeks, pp. 53-55.

381The Jews observed a seven-year celebration (the sabbatical year) as well as a seven-day celebration (the Sabbath).

382For defense of this view based on additional internal evidence in the Book of Daniel, see Otto Zöckler,

"The Book of the Prophet Daniel," in Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, 7:2:194. See also

"your holy city" are obvious references to the Jews and Jerusalem
(cf. vv.7, 11, 20).

They have nothing to do with the church, which is a distinct

for God decreeing this period is six-fold:

First, it will end rebellion against Him.

Fifth, it will bring in the fulfillment of the vision that God has for
the earth.

Sixth, it will result in the anointing of the most holy, probably a
reference to a new and more glorious temple.

Daniel 9:25>>>>>
There are four decrees concerning the rebuilding of Jerusalem that Scripture records.

The first was Cyrus' decree to rebuild the temple in 538

B.C. (2 Chron. 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4; 6:1-5).

The second was Darius 1's

decree in 512 B.C. confirming Cyrus' earlier one (Ezra 6:1, 6-12).

The third was Artaxerxes' decree in 457 B.C. (Ezra 7:11-26).386

The fourth was Artaxerxes' decree authorizing Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem in 444 B.C. (Neh. 2:1-8).

387 The first two authorized the rebuilding of the temple, and the third provided for animal
sacrifices in the temple. Only the fourth onegave the Jews permission to rebuild Jerusalem,
and it seems to be the one in view here. The Jews encountered opposition as they sought to
rebuild and refortify their ancient capital, as the Book of Nehemiah records. The date 444 B.C.
then probably marks the beginning of this 490-year period. Seven sevens plus sixty-two sevens
equals 483 years. Gabriel predicted that after 483 years Messiah would be cut off. Detailed
chronological studies have been done that show that Jesus Christ's death occurred then.388

One scholar, Sir Robert Anderson, believed that the day Jesus entered Jerusalem in his triumphal
entry was the last day of this longperiod.389 Whether or not the chronology is that exact, almost
all expositors agree that the death of Christ is in view and that it occurred atthe end of the
sixty-ninth week.

386See William H. Shea, "Supplementary Evidence in Support of 457 B.C. as the Starting Date for the 2300 Day-Years of
Daniel 8:14," Journal of the Adventist Theological Society 12:1 (Spring 2001):89-96.

387Chisholm, pp. 314-17, suggested a fifth possibility, namely, that the decree in view was Jeremiah's prophecy, sometime
between 597 and 586 B.C., that Jerusalem would be rebuilt (Jer. 30:18). He took the seventy weeks as symbolic of completeness.

388If one calculates 483 years from 444 B.C., one might conclude that the date for Messiah being cut off is A.D. 39. However,
both the Jews and the Babylonians observed years of 360 rather than 365 days per year.

If one calculates the number of days involved in the Jewish and Babylonian calendar year, the year Messiah would be cut off
comes out to A.D. 33 with a 365 day year, the modern Julian calendar year.

389Robert Anderson, The Coming Prince, p. 128. McClain, p. 25-26; and H. W. Hoehner, "Daniel's Seventy Weeks and New
Testament Chronology," Bibliotheca Sacra 132:525 (January-March 1975):64; came to the same conclusion. The Triumphal
Entry was significant because it was the last public event during Jesus'

first advent that demonstrated a positive popular reaction to Him. After it, the nation of Israel rejected Him.

390Walvoord, Daniel . . ., p. 227; Pentecost, "Daniel," p. 1363; Campbell, p. 110; Ironside, p. 165; J. Randall Price, "Prophetic
Postponement in Daniel 9 and Other Texts," in Issues in Dispensationalism, pp. 151-52.

The reference to Jerusalem being rebuilt "with plaza and moat" (NASB) or"with streets and a trench"
(NIV) has confused some readers since Jerusalem never had a typical moat or trench around it.
However, the valleys of Hinnom and Kidron, on Jerusalem's east, south and west sides, resemble a
moat or trench around most of the city. In heavy rains they did and still do carry water and function
as a moat or trench.

Daniel 9:26>>>>>>Most Christian interpreters have taken the cutting off of Messiah as a reference to
Jesus Christ's death. He had nothing then in a very real sense. The prince who will come seems to be a
different person from the Messiah.392 His people, not he himself, would destroy the city. This happened
in A.D. 70 when the Roman army under Titus leveled Jerusalem. The prince who will come, however, was
evidently not Titus but a future ruler, namely, the Antichrist (7:8). Titus made no covenant with the Jews
(v. 27). However, Titus did initially what this prince will do ultimately. Jerusalem did not end because of a
literal flood of water in Titus' day, but Roman soldiers overwhelmed it (cf. 11:10, 22, 26, 40; Isa. 8:8).
War preceded the destruction. Gabriel announced that God had determined the city's desolation
(cf. Matt. 24:7-22).

Some interpreters believe that the end of this verse describes conditions that have followed Titus' destruction
and continue even today.393 Others think it only describes what Titus did.394

Daniel 9:27 >>>>>"In contrast to the rather clear fulfillment of verses 25-26, verse 27 is an enigma
as far as history is concerned; and only futuristic interpretation allows any literal fulfillment."395

The nearest antecedent of "he" is "the prince who is to come" (v. 26). Titus made no covenant with
Israel, so who is in view? Apparently a future ruler of the revived or reorganized Roman Empire, the
little horn of chapter 7, is in view. This seems preferable to taking the antecedent of "he" as
Messiah since Jesus Christ did not do the things predicted of the prince here. This means that the
seventieth week does not follow the sixty-ninth week immediately. Such a break in prophetic
chronology has precedent in the predictions of Messiah's first and second advents (Isa. 61:1-2).
Another evidence of a break between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks is the fact that there
was a 37-year gap between Messiah's cutting off in A.D. 33 and the destruction of Jerusalem in
A.D. 70. Yet Daniel presented both of these events as after the sixty-ninth week

392A legitimate translation is "the people of a ruler who will come" (Archer, "Daniel," p. 116).

and before the seventieth week. Thus there must be a break in the chronology after the sixty-ninth week.396

This future ruler, according to Gabriel, will make a covenant with "the many" for one week (seven years).
"The many" evidently refers to Daniel's people (v. 24), believers in the religion of the Jews
(cf. 11:39; 12:2). After three and one-half years, this Antichrist will terminate the sacrifices and offerings
that he permitted these Jews to offer. Their ability to offer these sacrifices indicates that they will be
back in the land worshipping at a rebuilt temple.

The wing of abominations may be a reference to a wing of the temple that is particularly abominable
because of idolatry, possibly the pinnacle or summit of the temple.397 Another interpretation takes
"wing" figuratively and sees Antichrist descending vulture-like on his prey.398 Perhaps the simplest
explanation is to take "on the wing of" in the sense of "with." Apparently the prince will appear in the
Jerusalem temple when he ends the sacrifices.

Daniel 12:11 refers to a future stopping of the Jewish sacrifices forty-two months before Messiah
returns to the earth. Revelation 13:4-7 also describes this future ruler in harmony with what Gabriel
revealed here. Jesus too warned of him in Matthew 24:15-28 as did the Apostle Paul in
2 Thessalonians 2:4 and the Apostle John in 1 John 2:1 . The complete destruction decreed by
God and poured out on this prince will come, according to these passages, when Messiah returns to the
earth. Students of this passage who do not take this verse as predicting future events usually adopt
one of the following interpretations.399 Liberal commentators believe that the events in the seventieth
seven, as well as those in the preceding sixty-nine sevens, happened in a loose sense after the
Maccabean persecution of the second century B.C.400 Orthodox Jewish scholars usually take the
destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 as the fulfillment of this verse. Many amillennialists understand
the seventieth week to represent what has happened since Jesus Christ's first advent and what will
continue until His second advent.401 A few amillennialists take the seventieth seven as seven literal
years beginning with Jesus' public ministry and ending about three and one-half years after his death.402
Pentecost represents the standard premillennial, pretribulational interpretation.

399See also Baldwin's additional note on some interpretations of the seventy sevens, pp. 172-78.

402E.g., Philip Mauro, The Seventy Weeks and the Great Tribulation, pp. 70-71.

From Dr. Constable’s Website: http://soniclight.com/constable/notes/pdf/daniel.pdf

The 1^st 69 weeks of Daniel are prophesied and come to pass:

Prophecy:

Read Daniel 9:24-27

²⁴“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city,
1to finish the transgression, to make
2 an end of sin,
3 to make atonement for iniquity,
4 to bring in everlasting righteousness,
5 to seal up vision and prophecy and
6 to anoint the most holy place. ²⁵“So you are to know and discern that from the issuing
of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven
weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.
²⁶“Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off (Crucified) and have nothing,
and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its
end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. ²⁷“And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week
he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come
one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured
out on the one who makes desolate.”

Read: Nehemiah 2:1-8 1And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King
Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and I ook up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had
not been sad in his presence. 2So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad though you are
not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid. 3I said to the
king, “Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my
fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?” 4Then the king said to me,
“What would you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5I said to the king, “If it please the king,
and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs,
that I may rebuild it.” 6Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your
journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time.
7And I said to the king, “If it please the king, let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces
beyond the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, 8and a letter to Asaph
the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress
which is by the temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go.” And the king
granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.

Sir Robert Anderson – A great scholar from the 1800’s: extrapolated the information and
determined that from the day Ezra left Babylon, (Ezra 7:1) with letter in hand to rebuild Jerusalem
until the very day Jesus rode into Jerusalem to present Himself as King (John 12:12) was exactly
173,880 Days…69 Biblical years of 360 days X 7 Sabbath years…483 years

From:http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Fellowship/Edit_Sir.Robert.Anderson.html

The Romans destroyed Jerusalem 37 years after Christ.
Whoever the Messiah was to be, He HAD to appear
when 490 years had passed from the issuing of the decree
and before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
Who best fits that description?
Do Jews believe the book of Daniel?
Then Jesus Christ MUST be the Messiah.

Daniel found himself with quite an opportunity after Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon had a dream
and no one in the kingdom was found who could interpret this dream for him. Attention was drawn to
Daniel in the 2^nd chapter. His interpretation follows: description of this prophecy for the reader here.

Read Daniel 2:25-49 ²⁵Then Arioch hurriedly brought Daniel into the king’s presence and spoke
to him as follows: “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can make the
interpretation known to the king!” ²⁶The king said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar,
“Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?” ²⁷Daniel answered before the king and said, “As for the mystery about which the king has
inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the
king. ²⁸“However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known
to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the
visions in your mind while on your bed. ²⁹“As for you, O king, while on your bed your
thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals mysteries has
made known to you what will take place. ³⁰“But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed
to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose
of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts
of your mind.³¹ “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue;
that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you,
and its appearance was awesome.

…³⁴“You continued looking until (CHRIST) 6 A STONE WAS CUT WITHOUT HANDS ,
and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. ³⁵“Then the iron, the
clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like
chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a
trace of them was found. But (CHRIST) the Stone that struck the statue became a great
mountain and filled the whole earth.

³⁶“This was the dream; now we will tell its interpretation before the king.

³⁷“You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom,
the power, the strength and the glory; ³⁸and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts
of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you
to rule over them all. YOU ARE THE HEAD OF GOLD. (1)

³⁹“AFTER YOU THERE WILL ARISE ANOTHER KINGDOM (2) inferior to you, THEN
ANOTHER THIRD KINGDOM OF BRONZE (3), which will rule over all the earth.

⁴⁰“THEN THERE WILL BE A FOURTH KINGDOM AS STRONG AS IRON (4); inasmuch as
iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and
break all these in pieces.

The Legs of iron, above, are the Roman Empire. Verse 41 moves on to the feet and toes of a clay and
iron mixture…this is the Revived Roman Empire which we have not yet seen as a ruling empire, but as the
beginnings of a world-class ruling empire. The European Union is the 5^th kingdom. This remains to be
completely fulfilled, but will be. Then the Last Kingdom will be the “Stone cut from the mountain without
hands”…the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ yet to be fulfilled. BUT, 4 of the 6 kingdoms
prophesied HAVE come to pass, just as foretold. 2 are left: the Revised Roman Empire
(probably the future of the European Union and the Final Glorious Kingdom of Christ.

5 Revised Roman Empire

⁴¹“IN THAT YOU SAW THE FEET AND TOES, PARTLY OF POTTER’S CLAY AND PARTLY OF
IRON, IT WILL BE A DIVIDED KINGDOM; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch
as you saw the iron mixed with common clay.

⁴²“AS THE TOES OF THE FEET WERE PARTLY OF IRON AND PARTLY OF POTTERY,
SO SOME OF THE KINGDOM WILL BE STRONG AND PART OF IT WILL BE BRITTLE.

⁴³“AND IN THAT YOU SAW THE IRON MIXED WITH COMMON CLAY, THEY WILL COMBINE
WITH ONE ANOTHER IN THE SEED OF MEN; BUT THEY WILL NOT ADHERE TO ONE
ANOTHER, EVEN AS IRON DOES NOT COMBINE WITH POTTERY.

6⁴⁴“IN THE DAYS OF THOSE KINGS THE GOD OF HEAVEN WILL SET UP A KINGDOM
WHICH WILL NEVER BE DESTROYED, AND THAT KINGDOM WILL NOT BE LEFT FOR
ANOTHER PEOPLE; IT WILL CRUSH AND PUT AN END TO ALL THESE KINGDOMS, BUT
IT WILL ITSELF ENDURE FOREVER. ⁴⁵“INASMUCH AS YOU SAW THAT A STONE WAS
CUT OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN WITHOUT HANDS AND THAT IT CRUSHED THE IRON,
THE BRONZE, THE CLAY, THE SILVER AND THE GOLD, THE GREAT GOD HAS MADE
KNOWN TO THE KING WHAT WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE FUTURE; so the dream is true
and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

⁴⁶Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did homage to Daniel, and gave orders
to present to him an offering and fragrant incense.
⁴⁷The king answered Daniel and said, “Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings
and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery.” ⁴⁸ Then the
king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole
province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.

1 Babylon–Nebuchadnezzar / Nineveh Captured / Babylon falls to Medo-Persia c. 546-540 B.C.

Cyrus was probably born in Parsa around 590 BC (Young, "Cyrus"), but little is known about his early life.
Born a Persian prince, he likely became a Median vassal in 559 BC, ruling over several Persian tribes.
Sometime around 550, Cyrus began the establishment of the Persian, or Achaemenid, Empire when he
overthrew the Median king, Astyages. According to the Babylonian Nabonidus Chronicle, large parts
of the Median army turned on the king Mede and joined the Persians (Sancisi-Weerdenburg 1039).

In a surprise move, Cyrus pursued Croesus to Sardis when Croesus withdrew his troops for the winter.
Outside the walls of Sardis, a battle between the Lydians and the Persians ended when the Lydians
withdrew into the citadel. The Persians then found a way to climb an undefended section of the wall
and defeated the Lydians. Cyrus then captured much of Ionia (to the West of Sardis) and
established the Pasargadae, in his homeland of Parsa and adjacent to the Pulvar River,
"as his capital city around 547 BC (Stronach 250). By 547 BC, soon after he captured King
Croesus of Lydia, Cyrus brought all of Asia Minor under his control.

Cyrus went on to expand his empire by conquering lands to the North-East of the Iranian plateau
between 546 BC and 540 BC and conquered Babylon, the dominant power in the Near East at
the time, in 539 BC. It is suggested that Cyrus easy defeat of Babylon was made possible by the
propaganda campaign he started against the Babylonian's unpopular ruler, Nabonidus, when Cyrus' army
was fighting in the East and North-East. Cyrus first conquered Opis. There are two accounts of what
happened next. In one, Cyrus went on to occupy Sippar while a separate section of his army seized
Babylon and Cyrus' troops welcomed him when he entered the city (Young, "Cyrus"). Another says that
Cyrus never fought at Sippar and that he "marched unopposed" into the city of Babylon after his victory
at Opis (Young, "Persians" 297). Interestingly, both articles were written by the same author.

Whether or not Cyrus' army fought at Babylon, when he entered the city, he clasped the hands of the
statue of Marduk, the Babylonian god, and announced that he was the rightful heir of the Babylonian
throne and that he planned to leave local customs in place (Young, "Cyrus"). He also returned all of the
Mesopotamian deities that the Babylonian kings had taken and returned them to their native lands
(Young, "Persians" 297). This policy of tolerance became characteristic of Cyrus' rule and was more
firmly established with the writing of the Cyrus cylinder.

The defeat of Babylon marked the height of Cyrus' empire. By this time, all of the Near East was
under his control, with the exception of Egypt, which he made no attempt to conquer (Payne, par. 14).
Cyrus had become ruler of the largest empire ever known (Carruth 985).

2 Medo-Persia / Alexander the Great conquers and defeats the Medo-Persian Empire c. 333 B.C.

Alexander's specific goals in Asia were several. Officially, he was leading a Panhellenic invasion of the
Persian Empire to rid the world of tyranny and oppression, and he also sought revenge on the Persians
for their invasion of Greece in 490 B.C.E. Alexander, however, conquered lands outside of the Persian
Empire because he had a personal longing to see the Ocean that was believed to encircle Europe and
Asia at the edge of the Earth.

When he crossed the Hellespont with his army in 334 B.C.E., Alexander threw his spear from his ship
to the coast and it stuck in the ground. He stepped onto the shore, pulled his weapon from the soil, and
declared that the whole of Asia would be won by the spear. Also significant about Alexander's crossing
of the Hellespont into Asia Minor was that he landed at Troy just like Achilles had done in Homer's Iliad.

The Macedonian army soon encountered the Persian army under King Darius at the crossing
of the river Granicus, near the Aegean coast. Alexander courageously plunged his cavalry
into the swiftly flowing river and fought his way up the steep riverbank to meet the Persians,
who were defeated in fierce hand-to-hand combat.

Alexander proceeded to march south through Ionia and free the Greek cities there from Persian
rule, and thus, he confirmed his status as the great liberator of civilized men. Then he turned
northward to Gordion, home of the famous Gordian Knot. The legend behind the ancient knot
was that the man who could untie it was destined to rule the entire world. Alexander simply
slashed the knot with his sword and unraveled it.

In November of 333 B.C.E., Alexander met Darius in battle for the second time at a mountain
pass at Issus. Although the Persian army greatly outnumbered the Macedonians, the narrow
field of battle allowed Alexander to defeat the Persians, even though Darius escaped. Following
the battle, Alexander entered Damascus and captured Darius' war chest and his family. In the
next year, he marched down the Phoenician coast and received the surrenders of all of the
major cities there except for Tyre. A seven-month siege of the city followed, and the Tyrians
eventually surrendered to Alexander.

While Rome was engaged in internal politics and the conquest of Italy, the Macedonian Greeks first
conquered the Greek mainland and peninsula, and then, literally, the whole of the world. By 324 BC, when
Rome still didn't control much of Italy and the city was still struggling with friction between the
patricians and the plebeians, the entire world east of Rome, everything, was under the control
of a single man, Alexander the Great. While there were numerous Greek cities on the Italian
peninsula and while Rome was heavily influenced by Greek culture and thought, the Romans
didn't seem to pay this ground-shaking development with much concern. Although the

Hellenistic world fractured in pieces, nonetheless the end of the fourth century saw three great
empires controlling the world east of Rome. The Romans, however, didn't seem overly concerned,
occupied with problems of their own; the Romans, you see, were not particularly interested in
world domination, but rather on their own immediate security. And the Hellenistic empires
were not viewed as a threat.

The Second Punic War, however, changed all that. Rome had almost been destroyed by
Carthage and the Macedonian kingdom under Philip V 221-179 BC) had allied themselves
with Carthage; the Hellenistic world had appeared on the Roman radar in the only way that
foreign countries ever appeared on the Roman radar: as a potential threat. Philip V of Macedon
was an empire builder; he eagerly sought to extend Macedonian control over more territory.
Unfortunately for him, Antiochus III (223-187 BC), the king of the Seleucid empire, the second
of the great Hellenistic empires, also was an empire builder. Only one hundred years after the
death of Alexander the Great, the Hellenistic empires entered a new era of expansion.
Antiochus III began seizing territories in Palestine, wresting control from the Ptolemies in
Egypt (this included Judah). Philip V began seizing territories in the Aegean Sea and Asia Minor.
Philip and Antiochus decided it would be best to move in concert, so they began contemplating
the conquest of Egypt; they would then split the territory among themselves.

Rome, after its bitter experience with Carthage, was deeply suspicious of any empire-building
at all. They had fought against Philip during the Second Punic War (this first Roman war with
Philip was called the First Macedonian War), and demanded that he cease seizing Greek territory.
When Philip refused, Rome fielded an army against him under the generalship of Flaminius in
200 BC; thus began the Second Macedonian War. Flaminius defeated Philip in Thessaly only
three years later and in the next year, 196 BC, declared all the Greek cities to be free.

The Romans, however, were deeply suspicious of Antiochus as well. Seeing an opportunity,
Antiochus landed an army on the Greek mainland in order to "free" them from the Romans,
but he was soon driven from Greece and his army decimated at the battle of Magnesia in Asia

Minor in 189 BC. As with the earlier war, the Romans seized no territory whatsoever, although
they did demand a heavy penalty from Antiochus. By and large, the Romans regarded the
Greek cities as free cities that posed no threat to them; they also felt that they were the
"protectors" of Greece, a role that would prevent the rise of any centralized power that might
threaten the security of Rome.

However, when Philip V died in 179 BC, he was succeeded by Perseus, who then roused up
democratic and revolutionary passions in Greece. So Rome invaded Greece again, in the Third
Macedonian War (172-168 BC); the results, however, were dramatically different. While the
Romans did not seize territory, they did impose very stern control over the native control of
that territory. The Romans embarked on hegemonic rule of allies and subject states as well
in order to prevent any kind of revolutionary fervor. They had learned from their control of
Italy that states were more likely to remain subject to Rome if reprisal was sure, swift, and
harsh.

At this point, Roman empire-building had been accomplished piece-meal. The Romans responded to
threats as they appeared on the horizon; the result was, you might say, an accidental empire. This situation
changed, however, after the Third Macedonian War. The defeat of Perseus involved massive looting
of the conquered cities; in addition, the penalties imposed on the defeated states literally
flooded the Roman treasury with wealth. In the west, entrepreneurial governors, called
“publicani” had been extracting harsh taxes from the subject peoples and greatly increasing
both their own and Roman wealth. By the middle of the second century BC, it had become apparent to
Romans that the empire was a vast money-making machine and empire-building a fabulously lucrative
affair. The accidental Roman Empire suddenly shifted into high gear. However, the massive wealth that
was created for Rome awoke old tensions between the classes, and the Republic would live in a state of
crisis for over a hundred years—a crisis that, at its conclusion, would precipitate the demise of the
Republic in favor of a dictatorship.

There were many reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire. Each one intertwined with the next.

Many even blame the introduction of Christianity for the decline. Christianity made many Roman

citizens into pacifists, making it more difficult to defend against the barbarian attackers. Also

money used to build churches could have been used to maintain the empire. Although some

argue that Christianity may have provided some morals and values for a declining civilization

Those morals and values that kept together the Roman legions and thus the empire could not be maintained

towards the end of the empire. Crimes of violence made the streets of the larger cities unsafe. Even

during PaxRomana there were 32,000 prostitutes in Rome. Emperors like Nero and Caligula

became infamous for wasting money on lavish parties where guests ate and drank until they

became ill. The most popular amusement was watching the gladiatorial combats in the

Colosseum. These were attended by the poor, the rich, and frequently the emperor himself.

As gladiators fought, vicious cries and curses were heard from the audience. One contest after

another was staged in the course of a single day. Should the ground become too soaked with

blood, it was covered over with a fresh layer of sand and the performance went on.

There were many public health and environmental problems. Many of the wealthy had water

brought to their homes through lead pipes. Previously the aqueducts had even purified the

water but at the end lead pipes were thought to be preferable. The wealthy death rate was very

high. The continuous interaction of people at the Colosseum, the blood and death probable

spread disease. Those who lived on the streets in continuous contact allowed for an uninterrupted

strain of disease much like the homeless in the poorer run shelters of today. Alcohol use increased

One of the most difficult problems was choosing a new emperor. Unlike Greece where transition

may not have been smooth but was at least consistent, the Romans never created an effective

system to determine how new emperors would be selected. The choice was always open to

debate between the old emperor, the Senate, the Praetorian Guard (the emperor's's private army),

and the army. Gradually, the Praetorian Guard gained complete authority to choose the new

emperor, who rewarded the guard who then became more influential, perpetuating the cycle.

Then in 186 A. D. the army strangled the new emperor, the practice began of selling the throne

to the highest bidder. During the next 100 years, Rome had 37 different emperors - 25 of whom

were removed from office by assassination. This contributed to the overall weaknesses of the

During the latter years of the empire farming was done on large estates called latifundia that

were owned by wealthy men who used slave labor. A farmer who had to pay workmen could

not produce goods as cheaply. Many farmers could not compete with these low prices and lost

or sold their farms. This not only undermined the citizen farmer who passed his values to his

family, but also filled the cities with unemployed people. At one time, the emperor was importing

grain to feed more than 100,000 people in Rome alone. These people were not only a burden

but also had little to do but cause trouble and contribute to an ever increasing crime rate.

The roman economy suffered from inflation (an increase in prices) beginning after the reign of

Marcus Aurelius. Once the Romans stopped conquering new lands, the flow of gold into the

Roman economy decreased. Yet much gold was being spent by the Romans to pay for luxury

items. This meant that there was less gold to use in coins. As the amount of gold used in coins

decreased, the coins became less valuable. To make up for this loss in value, merchants raised

the prices on the goods they sold. Many people stopped using coins and began to barter to

get what they needed. Eventually, salaries had to be paid in food and clothing, and taxes were

Wealthy Romans lived in a domus, or houses, with marble walls, floors with intricate colored

tiles, and windows made of small panes of glass. Most Romans, however, were not rich, They

lived in small smelly rooms in apartment houses with six or more stories called islands. Each

island covered an entire block. At one time there were 44,000 apartment houses within the city

walls of Rome. First-floor apartments were not occupied by the poor since these living quarters

rented for about many dollars per year. The more shaky wooden stairs a family had to climb,

the cheaper the rent became. The upper apartments that the poor rented for $40 a year were hot,

dirty, crowed, and dangerous. Anyone who could not pay the rent was forced to move out

and live on the crime-infested streets. Because of this cities began to decay.

During the last 400 years of the empire, the scientific achievements of the Romans were

limited almost entirely to engineering and the organization of public services. They built

marvelous roads, bridges, and aqueducts. They established the first system of medicine for

the benefit of the poor. But since the Romans relied so much on human and animal labor, they

failed to invent many new machines or find new technology to produce goods more efficiently.

They could not provide enough goods for their growing population. They were no longer

conquering other civilizations and adapting their technology, they were actually losing territory

Maintaining an army to defend the border of the Empire from barbarian attacks was a constant

drain on the government. Military spending left few resources for other vital activities, such as

providing public housing and maintaining quality roads and aqueducts. Frustrated Romans

lost their desire to defend the Empire. The empire had to begin hiring soldiers recruited from

the unemployed city mobs or worse from foreign counties. Such an army was not only

unreliable, but very expensive. The emperors were forced to raise taxes frequently which in

For years, the well-disciplined Roman army held the barbarians of Germany back. Then in the

third century A. D. the Roman soldiers were pulled back from the Rhine-Danube frontier to

fight civil war in Italy. This left the Roman border open to attack. Gradually Germanic hunters

and herders from the north began to overtake Roman lands in Greece and Gaul (later France).

Then in 476 A. D. the Germanic general Odacer or Odovacar overthrew the last of the Roman

From then on the western part of the Empire was ruled by Germanic chieftain. Roads and bridges

were left in disrepair and fields left untilled. Pirates and bandits made travel unsafe. Cities could

not be maintained without goods from the farms, trade and business began to disappear. And

After suffering through centuries of bloody conflict, the nations of Western Europe finally unite in the spirit
of economic cooperation with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty of European Union. The treaty, signed
by ministers of the European Community, called for greater economic integration, common foreign and
security policies, and cooperation between police and other authorities on crime, terrorism, and
immigration issues. The agreement also laid the groundwork for the establishment of a single European
currency, to be known as the "euro." By the time the Maastricht Treaty took effect in 1993, it had been
ratified by 12 nations: Great Britain, France, Germany, the Irish Republic, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece,
Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Since then, Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Sweden,
Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and
Slovenia have also joined the union. The euro was introduced into circulation on January 1, 2002.

European Constitution to be signed in Rome today
29.10.2004 - 09:52 CET | By Lisbeth Kirk

EUOBSERVER / ROME - EU leaders from the 25 member states will arrive in Rome today for the formal
signing of the new European Constitution - officially starting the two-year ratification period.

Symbolically, the ceremony will take place in the same room as the signing of the original Treaty of Rome
by the then six member states - France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg - in 1957.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi fought a hard battle to get the document signed in Rome -
although Italy failed to get the document agreed under its EU Presidency in the second half of last year.

It was eventually agreed under the Irish EU Presidency in June. A mammoth document, The Constitution
runs to some 300 pages and contains over 400 articles. It will replace, once adopted, most of the existing
EU treaties.

The first part defines the European Union and its values and institutions. The second part incorporates
the Charter on fundamental rights. The third part describes the policy and actions of the European Union
and the last part contains the final clauses, including the procedures for approval and a possible revision
of the Constitution.

Big changes. It introduces some big changes. The EU will get a permanent chair of the European Council
to drive the EU forward, and a new EU foreign minister. The new voting system will be based on a double
majority of both member states and population.

The number of Commissioners will be reduced to two thirds of the number of member states from 2014.

The European Parliament's powers have been greatly strengthened so that the areas where it can
co-legislate with member states have almost doubled. And, for the first time, there is an exit clause
so that a member state can leave the Union if it wants and a solidarity clause committing member
states to help when another in the bloc is under terrorist attack.

From Laeken to Rome. The Constitution project was born among EU leaders at the Laeken summit in
December 2001.

Acknowledging that previous procedures which resulted in long arduous summits with negotiations into
the early morning was no longer appropriate, they decided instead to call a Convention to draft a new
Constitution. The Convention was tasked to bring the EU to its citizens and make the European Union
work with 28 or more states - chaired by former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, it met for
the first time in February 2002.

Over 16 months, with clever political manoeuvres and by disciplined use of the so-called consensus
method, the elderly politician managed to draft most of the text, which is to be signed today. In July
2003, Mr. Giscard took the text from its birthplace in Brussels and brought it to Rome for a symbolic
hand-over to the Italian Presidency. An Intergovernmental Conference was then launched in October
last year and by June this year, leaders managed to agree a text.

Pan European campaigns. However, the final - and perhaps most difficult part - still remains: ratification.
The text cannot come into place until all 25 member states have ratified it by referendum or via their
national parliaments.

So far, 11 member states have committed themselves to holding a referendum - with Spain set to be the
first in February next year. The debates - both for and against the Constitution - are likely to be
pan-European for a change. Earlier referenda on EU treaties, fought in Denmark, Ireland and elsewhere,
were mainly national events.

On a different front, a battle is also heating up - on Christianity. Several centre-right politicians are
agitating for a reference to Europe's Christian heritage to be made in the national statutes ratifying
the Constitution.

In the case of a no-vote? What happens if one country votes no to the European Constitution - the answer
is political. There is much speculation over whether a no vote in a small country would be allowed to
sink the whole ship.

However, a no vote in a larger country or in several countries would be difficult to overcome and could send
politicians back to the drawing board.

In any case, Europe is entering a new two-year phase today of national ratification - the Constitution will
enter into force on 1 November 2006, provided it has been ratified in all 25 member states.

If this is not the case, a declaration attached to the treaty says that "the matter will be referred to the
European Council".

Leaders Sign EU's First Constitution 10-29-2004
Fri Oct 29, 3:00 PM ET
By ROBERT WIELAARD, Associated Press Writer

ROME - European Union leaders on Friday signed the EU's first constitution, an ambitious charter that
aims to raise the union's profile on the world stage. But they grappled with a leadership crisis over the
nominee for justice minister, who called homosexuality a sin and said women belong at home.

The fruit of 28 months of acrimonious debate between EU governments, the treaty must be approved by
the national parliaments of the 25 EU nations. At least nine EU nations plan to put it to a referendum
starting with Spain on Feb. 20. A single "no" will stop the constitution in its tracks.

The leaders signed the constitution at the spectacular Campidoglio, a Michelangelo-designed complex
of Renaissance buildings on Rome's Capitoline Hill, along with the leaders of Romania, Bulgaria,
Turkey and Croatia — four EU candidates.

The signing was overshadowed by the furor over the conservative nominee for EU justice commissioner,
Rocco Buttiglione. In his confirmation hearings before the European Parliament, Buttiglione said
homosexuality is a sin and women are better off married and at home.

The 25-member EU Commission runs the day to day business of the European Union and serves for
five years; each EU nation selects one commissioner. Buttiglione was the choice of Italy's prime minister,
Silvio Berlusconi.

The next commission is supposed to take office Monday, but on Wednesday, Jose Manuel Barroso,
the next commission president, withdrew his team from an approval vote in the parliament, realizing he
faced an unprecedented rejection because of strong opposition to Buttiglione.

Barroso, a former Portuguese prime minister, asked for more time to resolve the Buttiglione nomination.
The outgoing commission, headed by Italian Romano Prodi, will stay in office as long as necessary.

If Buttiglione goes, others will follow, exacerbating the crisis and paralyzing any work in the commission.
EU lawmakers have also expressed opposition to Laszlo Kovacs, Hungary's former foreign minister and
the incoming energy commissioner; Latvia's Ingrida Udre, a Green and the next fiscal affairs
commissioner; and Liberal Neelie Kroes, the Dutch businesswoman nominated to be competition
commissioner.

The EU constitution has a long charter of fundamental rights and foresees simpler voting rules to end
decision gridlock in a club that grew to 25 members this year and plans to absorb half a dozen more
in the years ahead.

It includes new powers for the European Parliament and ends national vetoes in 45 new policy
areas — including judicial and police cooperation, education and economic policy but not in foreign
and defense policy, social security, taxation or cultural matters.

The constitution was signed in the Sala degli Orazi e Curiazi in a Renaissance palazzo where in 1957
six nations — Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg — signed the union's
founding treaty.

"Never in history have we seen an example of nations voluntarily deciding to exercise their sovereign
powers jointly in the exclusive interests of their peoples, thus overcoming age-old impulses of rivalry and
distrust," Berlusconi, the ceremony's host said.

Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch leader whose nation holds the EU presidency, said economic and
political integration has turned Europe into a realm of peace and cooperation that is the envy of nations
worldwide.

"We have seen former dictatorships turn into democracies and witnessed the reunification of Europe,"
he said.

The EU constitution, which includes a charter of fundamental rights, gives the continent "greater capacity
for making Europe more secure, more prosperous, more just," he said.

Daniel Chapter 8: 1-26 1 In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king a vision appeared
to me, Daniel, subsequent to the one which appeared to me previously. 2 I looked in the vision,
and while I was looking I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam; and I
looked in the vision and I myself was beside the Ulai Canal. 3 Then I lifted my eyes and looked,
and behold, a ram which had two horns was standing in front of the canal. Now the two horns
were long, but one was longer than the other, with the longer one coming up last. 4 I saw the ram
butting westward, northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand before him nor
was there anyone to rescue from his power, but he did as he pleased and magnified himself.

5 While I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the
whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous horn between his
eyes. 6 He came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the
canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath. 7 I saw him come beside the ram, and he was
enraged at him; and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns, and the ram had no strength
to withstand him. So he hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to
rescue the ram from his power. 8 Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly. But as soon
as he was mighty, the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous
horns toward the four winds of heaven.

The Little Horn

9 Out of one of them came forth a rather small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the
south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land. 10 It grew up to the host of heaven and
caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down.
11 It even magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host; and it removed the regular
sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down. 12 And on account of
transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will
fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper. 13 Then I heard a holy one speaking,
and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, “How long will the vision
about the regular sacrifice apply, while the transgression causes horror, so as to allow both
the holy place and the host to be trampled?” 14 He said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings;
then the holy place will be properly restored.”

15 When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it; and behold, standing before me
was one who looked like a man. 16 And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, and
he called out and said, “Gabriel, give this man an understanding of the vision.” 17 So he came
near to where I was standing, and when he came I was frightened and fell on my face; but he
said to me, “Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end.” 18 Now
while he was talking with me, I sank into a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he
touched me and made me stand upright. 19 He said, “Behold, I am going to let you know what
will occur at the final period of the indignation, for it pertains to the appointed time of the end.

20 “The ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.

21 “The shaggy goat represents the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that is between his
eyes is the first king. 22 “The broken horn and the four horns that arose in its place represent
four kingdoms which will arise from his nation, although not with his power. 23 “In the latter
period of their rule, When the transgressors have run their course, A king will arise, Insolent
and skilled in intrigue. 24 “His power will be mighty, but not by his own power, And he will destroy
to an extraordinary degree And prosper and perform his will; He will destroy mighty men and the
holy people. 25 “And through his shrewdness He will cause deceit to succeed by his influence;
And he will magnify himself in his heart, And he will destroy many while they are at ease.
He will even oppose the Prince of princes, But he will be broken without human agency.
26 “The vision of the evenings and mornings Which has been told is true; But keep the
vision secret, For it pertains to many days in the future.”

The Vision Of The Ram And The Goat

By: John F. Walvoord (Bio)

Two important factors mark Daniel 8 as the beginning of a new section. First, beginning with this chapter,
the language returns to Hebrew instead of the Aramaic used by Daniel from 2:4 through 7:28. Second, the
change of language is in keeping with the change in thought introduced by this chapter. From here to the
end of Daniel, the prophecy, even though it concerns the Gentiles, is occupied with human history as it
relates to Israel. Therefore, although many expositors divide the book of Daniel into two halves
(1-6 and 7-12), there are also good reasons for dividing Daniel into three sections (1, 2-7, 8-12).⁴⁰²

The first of Daniel’s own visions recorded in Daniel 7 is a broad summary of the times of the Gentiles,
with emphasis on the climactic events culminating in the second coming of Christ to the earth. Beginning
in chapter 8, Daniel’s second vision concerns the empires of Persia and Greece as they relate to Israel.
Under Persian government, Israelites went back to rebuild their land and their city, Jerusalem. Under
Grecian domination, in particular under Antiochus Epiphanes, the city and the temple were again
desolated. Daniel 9 presents Israel’s history from the time of Ezra and Nehemiah to the inauguration
of the kingdom from heaven at the second coming of Christ immediately preceded by the time of great
trouble for Israel. Chapters 10-11 reveal the events relating the Persian and Greek Empires to Israel,
with emphasis on the Gentile oppression of Israel. The final section, 11:36—12:13, deals with the end
of the age, the period of the revived Roman Empire, and the deliverance of Israel. It is fitting that the
last five chapters of Daniel should be written in Hebrew, the language of Israel.

Daniel 8:1-2 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 a 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 a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.

The second vision of Daniel occurred, according to verse 1, “in the third year of the reign of king
Belshazzar,” in other words, about two years after the vision of chapter 7. Because it took place in the
reign of Belshazzar, it is clear that both chapter 7 and 8 chronologically occur before chapter 5, the night
of Belshazzar’s feast. Before archeological discoveries confirmed the historical character of Belshazzar,
it was common for critical expositors to conclude that the events of chapter 8 occurred immediately
before chapter 5. Some recent expositors also follow this interpretation, although there is no ground for it.
For instance, A. C. Gaebelein states, “It was the year when the feast of blasphemy was held and Babylon
fell. Then God took His faithful servant aside and revealed to him new things concerning the future.”⁴⁰³
Edward Young assumes without evidence the same chronology, stating, “At any rate, this vision
occurred shortly before the events of the fatal night of ch. 5.”⁴⁰⁴ Zockler also places this chapter “shortly
before the end of this king [Belshazzar].”⁴⁰⁵

On the basis of The Babylonian Chronicle, it is now known that Nabonidus began his reign in 556 b.c,
and apparently Belshazzar became co-regent three years later, 553 b.c, when Nabonidus took residence
at Teima, as brought out in chapter 5. Belshazzar previously had served in other royal capacities
beginning 560 b.c. Accordingly, if the vision of chapter 7 occurred in 553 b.c, the vision of chapter 8
occurred in 551 b.c, or twelve years before Belshazzar’s feast in chapter 5. There is, therefore, no
support for placing Daniel 8 near the downfall of Babylon as was the customary chronology before
The Babylonian Chronicle was discovered. A. L. Oppenheim points out that Belshazzar was officially
recognized as coregent while also the crown prince. He cites two legal documents dated in the twelfth
and thirteenth vears of Nabonidus, the king, and Bel-shar-usur, a variation of Belshazzar, the crown prince,
for which there is no parallel in cuneiform literature.⁴⁰⁶ This confirms beyond question both the role of
Belshazzar as coregent and the dating of this vision before 539 b.c, the date of Belshazzar’s death, and
indicates the probability of the year 551 b.c as the date of the vision as the sixth year of Nabonidus as
well as the third year of Belshazzar.

The vision of chapter 8 is somewhat different in character from that of chapter 7, as it apparently did not
occur in a dream or in a night vision. As Young correctly says, “This vision was not a dream vision like
that of ch. 7.”⁴⁰⁷ Keil says in a similar way, “But not in a dream as that was, but while he was awake.”⁴⁰⁸
Daniel is careful to distinguish not only the character of the vision but its time by adding “after that which
appeared unto me at the first,” that is, the vision of chapter 7.

Although this much is clear, expositors have differed widely as to whether Daniel was in the palace at
Shushan in the province of Elam, by the river Ulai (as 5:2 indicates) or was transported there in vision
and actually was in Babylon at the time. Ancient Susa (called Shushan in the King James Version),
about 150 miles north of the present head of the Persian Gulf, was situated midway between Ecbatana
and Persepolio, and later became one of the main residences of the Persian kings. According to
Josephus, Daniel was actually in Elam.⁴⁰⁹ Keil notes that Bertholdt and Rosenmuller interpret Daniel
as stating that he is actually in Shushan (Susa). He also notes that Bertholdt uses this to substantiate
a charge of error against the pseudo-Daniel.⁴¹⁰

Most expositors, whether liberal or conservative, understand Daniel 8 to teach that Daniel was actually
in Babylon and in vision only was transported to Shushan. Montgomery cites the overwhelming weight
of scholarship on this point that Daniel was there only in vision, which is supported by the Syriac version
and the Vulgate, and held by John Calvin and many contemporary writers.⁴¹¹ Ezekiel also was
transported in vision, presumably (Eze 8:3; 40:1 ff.).

The question as to whether Babylon at this time controlled ancient Susa is debated but is beside the
point; in any case, in the vision Daniel is projected forward into the prophetic future of the Persian and
Grecian Empires.

The probability is that Babylon did not control this city or area at this time, and this perhaps accounts for
Daniel’s astonishment as he contemplated the vision to find that he was in this place rather than at Babylon.
The expression Shushan the palace reoccurs in historical sections dealing with the Persian Empire
(Neh 1:1; Est 1:2, 5; 2:3, 5). By the palace is probably meant the king’s residence, which was more in the
form of a castle or fortress than merely a luxurious building. Shushan the palace, nevertheless, was
destined in the Persian Empire to become the capital rather than Babylon. This was unknown at the time
that this vision was given to Daniel, although Susa had served as the capital of the Elamites in antiquity;
and conservative scholars find a genuine prophetic prediction in this reference to Susa.

Daniel finds it necessary to define in particular the location of this city, something a second-century
pseudo-Daniel would not have had to do. Some critics have attempted to prove that Daniel was in error
because Elam was probably not a province of Babylon at that time; however, Daniel does not literally say
that it was.⁴¹² Daniel also mentions that he was by “the river of Ulai.” In regard to this stream near ancient
Susa, Montgomery states, “The Ulai can best be identified with an artificial canal which connected the rivers
Choastes and Coprates and ran close by Susa.”⁴¹³

In a word, Daniel finds himself projected in vision to a town little known at that time and unsuspected for
future grandeur, but yet destined to be the important capital of Persia, the home of Esther, and the city
from which Nehemiah came to Jerusalem. Beginning in 1884, the site of ancient Susa, then a large
mound, has been explored and has divulged many archeological treasures. The code of Hammurabi
was found there in 1901. The famous palace referred to by Daniel, Esther and Nehemiah was begun by
Darius I and enlarged by later kings. Remains of its magnificence can still be seen near the modern village
of Shush.⁴¹⁴ This unusual setting described in detail by Daniel in the opening verses of the eighth chapter
now becomes the stage on which a great drama is portrayed in symbol describing the conquests of the
second and third empires.

Daniel 8:3-4 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. 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.

Daniel, in his vision, sees a ram with two horns which are unequal, one higher than the other, and the
higher one growing out of the ram last. As Daniel watches, he sees the ram pushing westward, northward,
and southward; but no mention is made of pushing toward the east. No other beast is found to stand
before the ram nor was anyone, whether man or beast, able to deliver from his power. As Daniel
summarizes it, the ram does according to his will and becomes great.

The interpretation is provided in Daniel 8:20 that the ram is Medo-Persia, with the two horns representing its
major kings. The fact that the ram represents both the Median and Persian Empires in their combined
states rather than as separate empires is another important proof that the critics are wrong. The critics
attempt to prove, on the basis of the reference to Darius the Mede, that Daniel erroneously taught two
empires, first a Median and then a Persian. This, of course, is contradicted by history; and critics use this
in attempt to prove Daniel in error. The critics, however, attribute to Daniel what he does not teach; and the
problem is their own faulty interpretation. As Young puts it, “Neither here or elsewhere does Daniel conceive
of an independently existing Median empire.”⁴¹⁵ Historically, it was the combination of the Medes and the
Persians which proved irresistible for almost two hundred years, until Alexander the Great came on the
scene.⁴¹⁶

The portrayal of the two horns representing the two major aspects of the Medo-Persian Empire, that is,
the Medes and the Persians, is very accurate, as the Persians coming up last and represented by the
higher horn were also the more prominent and powerful. The directions which represent the conquests
of the ram include all except east. Although Persia did expand to the east, its principal movement was
to the west, north and south. It is the accuracy of this portrayal, rather than any alleged inaccuracy, which
is embarrassing to the critic who does not want to accept a sixth-century Daniel who wrote genuine
prophecy.

In regard to the use of a ram to represent that great empire, Keil observes, “In the Bundehesch the
guardian spirit of the Persian kingdom appears under the form of a ram with clean feet and sharp-pointed
horns, and… the Persian king, when he stood at the head of his army, bore, instead of the diadem, the
head of a ram.”⁴¹⁷ The references to beasts, as Keil states, “represent kingdoms and nations.”⁴¹⁸

Not only are both the ram and the goat mentioned in the Old Testament as symbols of power, but Cumont
has noted that different lands were assigned to the signs of the Zodiac according to astronomical
geography. In this view, Persia is thought of as under the zodiacal sign of Aries, the “ram,” and Greece
as sharing with Syria, the principal territory of the Seleucid monarchy, the zodiacal sign of Capricorn,
the “goat.” The word Capricorn is derived from the Latin, caper, a goat and cornu, a horn.⁴¹⁹ Taken as a
whole, as Driver states, “The verse describes the irresistible advances of the Persian arms, especially
in the direction of Palestine, Asia Minor, and Egypt, with particular allusion to the conquests of Cyrus
and Cambyses.”⁴²⁰

Daniel 8:5-7 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 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.

Interpreters of Daniel 8 are generally agreed that the he goat or literally, “buck of the goats,”⁴²¹ represents
the king of Greece, and more particularly the single important horn between its eyes, as also stated in
Daniel 8:21, is “the first king,” that is, Alexander the Great. All the facts about this goat and his activities
obviously anticipate the dynamic role of Alexander. Like Alexander, the he goat comes “from the west
on the face of the whole earth,” that is, his conquests beginning in Greece move east and cover the entire
territory. The implication in the vision, where it states that the he goat “touched not the ground,” is the
impression of tremendous speed, which characterized the conquest of Alexander. The unusual horn,
one large horn instead of the normal two, symbolically represents the single leadership provided by
Alexander.

As Daniel considers, the he goat attacks the ram. The ram is identified with the one seen earlier in the
vision as standing before the river. An unusual feature of the attack by the he goat is that it is accomplished
“in the fury of his power.” There was considerable feeling based upon the historical background in which
the Persians had attacked Greece earlier in history. Now it was time for Greek retaliation against the
Persians. The goat accordingly “moved with choler against him,” that is, “in great anger,” and butting the
ram, breaks the ram’s two horns. This symbolically refers to the disintegration of the Medo-Persian
Empire with the result that the ram had no power to stand before the he goat. The contest ends with the
he goat casting the ram to the ground and stamping upon it.

All of this, of course, was fulfilled dramatically in history. The forces of Alexander first met and
defeated the Persians at the Granicus River in Asia Minor in May 334 B.C., which was the
beginning of the complete conquest of the entire Persian Empire. A year and a half later a battle
occurred at Issus (November 333 b.c.) near the northeastern tip of the Mediterranean Sea.
The power of Persia was finally broken at Gaugamela near Nineveh in October 331 b.c.⁴²²

There is no discrepancy between history, which records a series of battles, and Daniel’s
representation that the Persian Empire fell with one blow. Daniel is obviously describing the
result rather than the details.⁴²³ That the prophecy is accurate, insofar as it goes, most expositors
concede. Here again, the correspondence of the prophecy to later history is so accurate that
liberal critics attempt to make it history instead of prophecy.

The divine view of Greece is less complimentary than that of secular historians. Tarn gives high praise of
Alexander, for instance: “He [Alexander] was one of the supreme fertilizing forces in history. He lifted the
civilized world out of one groove and set it in another; he started a new epoch; nothing could again be as
it had been…Particularism was replaced by the idea of the ‘inhabited world,’ the common possession of
civilized men… Greek culture, heretofore practically confined to Greeks, spread throughout the world; and
for the use of its inhabitants, in place of the many dialects of Greece, there grew up the form of Greek
known as the koine, the ‘common speech.’”⁴²⁴ Porteous comments on Tarn’s praise, “Not a glimmer of
all this appears in the book of Daniel.”⁴²⁵ God’s view is different from man’s.

Daniel 8:8 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.

As Daniel contemplates in his vision the triumph of the he goat, an unexpected development takes place.
The great horn between the eyes of the he goat is broken just when the he goat has reached the pinnacle
of its strength. Out of this grows four notable horns described as being “toward the four winds of heaven.
” Expositors, both liberal and conservative, have interpreted this verse as representing the
untimely death of Alexander and the division of his empire into four major sections. Alexander,
who had conquered more of the world than any previous ruler, was not able to conquer himself.
Partly due to a strenuous exertion, his dissipated life, and a raging fever, Alexander died in a
drunken debauch at Babylon, not yet thirty-three years of age. His death left a great conquest
without an effective single leader, and it took about twenty years for the empire to be
successfully divided.

Practically all commentators, however, recognize the four horns as symbolic of the four
kingdoms of the Diadochi which emerged as follows:
(1) Cassander assumed rule over Macedonia and Greece;
(2) Lysimacus took control of Thrace, Bithynia, and most of Asia Minor;
(3) Seleucus took Syria and the lands to the east including Babylonia;
(4) Ptolemy established rule over Egypt and possibly Palestine and Arabia Petraea.⁴²⁶
A fifth contender for political power, Antigonus, was soon defeated. Thus, with remarkable accuracy,
Daniel in his prophetic vision predicts that the empire of Alexander was divided into four divisions,
not three or less or five or more.

Daniel 8:9-10 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding 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 of the stars to the ground, and
stamped upon them.

While there is comparatively little disagreement as to the identity of the ram and the he goat, practically
all the controversy over this vision has centered on the meaning of the little horn described in verses 9
and 10. According to Daniel’s account, the little horn emerges from one of the four notable
horns mentioned in verse 8. The horn, small in the beginning, grows “exceeding great” in t
hree directions: toward the south, toward the east and toward the pleasant land. The implication
is that the point of reference is Syria, that “the south” is equal to Egypt, and “the east,” in the
direction of ancient Medo-Persia or Armenia, and “the pleasant land,” or “glorious land”
referring to Palestine or Canaan, which lay between Syria and Egypt. The original for
“pleasant land” actually means “beauty,” with the word for ‘land” supplied from Daniel 11
(cf. Dan 11:16, 41, 45; Jer 3:19; Eze 20:6, 15; Mai 3:12). Actually, the meaning here may be
Jerusalem in particular rather than the land in general.

These conquests, of course, are confirmed in the history of Syria, especially under Antiochus
Epiphanes, the eighth king in the Syrian dynasty who reigned 175-164 B.C. (1 Mace 1:10; 6:16). In his
lifetime, he conducted military expeditions in relation to all of these areas. Montgomery considers the
expression “toward the pleasant land” as a gloss “which is absurd when aligned with the given points
of the compass, in which the book is remarkably accurate.”⁴²⁷ There is no justification for this deletion
from the text, however, as from Daniel’s viewpoint in this whole section, the important question is how
the times of the Gentiles relate to Israel. The land of Israel indeed became the battle ground
between Syria and Egypt, and the setting of some of Antiochus Epiphanes’ most significant
blasphemous acts against God. According to 1 Maccabees 1:20, Revised Standard Version,
Antiochus first invaded Egypt and then Jerusalem: “after subduing Egypt, Antiochus returned in the one
hundred and forty-third year. He went up against Israel and came to Jerusalem with a strong force.”

As a result of his military conquests, the little horn, representing Antiochus Epiphanes, is said to grow
great “even to the host of heaven.” He is pictured as casting some of the host and of the stars to the
ground and stamping upon them. This difficult prophecy has aroused many technical discussions as
that of Montgomery which extends over several pages.⁴²⁸If the mythological explanations such as
identifying stars with heathen gods or the seven planets is discarded and this is considered genuine
prophecy, probably the best explanation is that this prophecy relates to the persecution and destruction
of the people of God with its defiance of the angelic hosts who are their protectors, including the power of
God Himself. As Leupold says, “That stars should signify God’s holy people is not strange when one
considers as a background the words that were spoken to Abraham concerning the numerical increase
of the people of God, Gen. 15:5; 22:17. To this may be added Dan. 12:3, where a starlike glory is held
out to those who “turn many to righteousness.” Compare also Matt. 13:43. If the world calls those men
and women stars who excel in one or another department of human activity, why should not a similar
statement be still more appropriate with reference to God’s people?”⁴²⁹Leupold considers the host
and the stars in apposition, that is, “the host even the stars.” That Antiochus blasphemed God and
heavenly power as well as persecuted the people of Israel, the people of God, is all too evident from
history. Even Driver states, “The stars are intended to symbolize the faithful Israelites: cf. Enoch 46:7.”⁴³⁰

Daniel 8:11-14 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 practised, and prospered. 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? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days;
then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

Up to Daniel 8:11, it is not difficult to find fulfillment of the vision in the history of the
Medo-Persian, Alexandrian, and post-Alexandrian periods. Beginning with verse 11, however,
expositors have differed widely as to whether the main import of the passage refers to
Antiochus Epiphanes, with complete fulfillment in his lifetime, or whether the passage
either primarily or secondarily refers also to the end of the age, that is, the period of great
tribulation preceding the second coming of Jesus Christ. The divergence of interpretation
is so wide as to be confusing to the student of Daniel. As Montgomery states, verses 11 and
12 “constitute … the most difficult short passage of the bk.”⁴³¹

If the many divergent views can be simplified, they fall into three general classifications. First, the critical
view that Daniel was a second-century forgery written by a pseudo-Daniel regards this prophecy as simply
history written after the fact and completely fulfilled in Antiochus Epiphanes. This, of course, has been
rejected by the great majority of conservative scholars. Second, the view that this is genuine sixth-century
B.C. prophecy, but completely fulfilled historically in Antiochus Epiphanes. Edward J. Young is strongly in
favor of this interpretation⁴³² and speaks in general for many amillenarians who are conservative
interpreters. Third, the view that the prophecy is genuine prediction fulfilled historically in the second
century B.C., but typical and anticipatory of the final conflict between God and Gentile rulers at the time
of the persecution of Israel prior to the second advent of Christ. The third view sometimes confuses the
prophetic and typical interpretations or attempts to find dual fulfillment literally of both aspects of the
prophecy. The ultimate decision must rest not simply on verses 11 through 14 but on the interpretation
of the prophecy given in verses 20-26.

According to verse 11, the little horn, fulfilled in Antiochus Epiphanes historically, magnifies
himself even to the prince of the host. By this is meant that he exalted himself up to the point of
claiming divine honor, as brought out in his name Epiphanes which refers to glorious manifestation
such as belonged to God. His pretentions are similar to the little horn of Daniel 7:8, 20. Antiochus,
however, obviously also directed blasphemous opposition against God Himself and to this extent
magnified himself against God as well as reaching toward the glory and honor belonging to God.

As a specific illustration and supreme act manifesting this attitude, it is stated that he took away the daily
offerings and desecrated the sanctuary. “By him,” in verse 11, is literally, “from him,” that is, from God.
By this is meant that Antiochus stopped the morning and evening sacrifices, taking away from God what
were daily tokens of Israel’s worship.⁴³³ The expression daily sacrifices, from the Hebrew tamid, which
means “constant,” applies to the daily offerings (cf. Ex 29:38 ff.; Num 28:3 ff.). Young, accordingly,
feels that it should not be restricted to the morning and evening sacrifices, but that it included all the
offerings customarily offered in the temple services.⁴³⁴

This is brought out in 1 Maccabees 1:44-49, referring to the command of Antiochus Epiphanes to depart
from the worship of the law of Moses, “And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the
cities of Judah; he directed them to follow customs strange to the land, to forbid burnt offerings and
sacrifices and drink offerings in the sanctuary, to profane Sabbaths and feasts, to defile the sanctuary
and the priests, to build altars in sacred precincts and shrines for idols, to sacrifice swine and unclean
animals, and to leave their sons uncircumcised. They were to make themselves abominable by
everything unclean and profane, so that they should forget the law and change all the ordinances. And
whoever does not obey the command of the king shall die” (RSV).

Although it is not necessary to take the expression “the place of his sanctuary was cast down” as meaning
destruction by Antiochus of the temple itself, it is of interest that in 1 Maccabees 4:42 ff., in connection
with the cleansing of the sanctuary, they literally tore down the altar and built a new one, “they also rebuilt
the sanctuary and the interior of the temple, and consecrated the courts” (1 Mace 4:48). As Young
comments, “Apparently Antiochus did not actually tear down the temple, although eventually he desecrated
it to such a point that it was hardly fit for use.”⁴³⁵

The obvious parallel between the cessation of the daily sacrifice by Antiochus Epiphanes and that
anticipated in Daniel 9:27, which occurs three and one-half years before the second coming of Christ,
has led some expositors to find here

evidence for reference to the end of the age and not simply to Antiochus. As far as this prophecy is
concerned, however, it did have complete fulfillment in Antiochus.

Verse 12 is a recapitulation of Antiochus Epiphanes’ activities against God. The statement that an host
was given him apparently refers to the fact that the people of Israel were under his power with divine
permission. The phrase against the daily sacrifice can be translated “with the daily sacrifice,” that is, the
daily sacrifices were also in his power and he was able to substitute a heathen worship. The phrase by
reason of transgression should be understood as an extension of this, that is, the daily sacrifices are
given in his power in order to permit him to transgress against God. The result is that Antiochus “cast
down the truth to the ground,” that is, the truth of the law of Moses, practiced his activities, and seemingly
prospered. Although the translation of this verse is very difficult, conservative scholars generally interpret
it to mean that the people of Israel along with their worship are given over to the power of Antiochus
Epiphanes with the resulting transgression and blasphemy against God. The extent of departure from
the law is indicated in 1 Maccabees 1:44-49 Revised Standard Version.

Having described the nefarious activities of Antiochus Epiphanes, Daniel now records a conversation
between two “saints” or “holy ones,” apparently angels, concerning the duration of the desecration of the
sanctuary. The question is “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 underfoot?”

The answer given in verse 14 has touched off almost endless exegetical controversy. Daniel is informed
that the answer to the riddle is “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be
cleansed.” The answer is said to be given “unto me,” that is, to Daniel rather than to the other angel.
Obviously these angels are brought in for Daniel’s benefit and the result is that Daniel hears the answer.
The interpretation and fulfillment of this passage is to some extent the crux of this entire chapter.

The Seventh Day Adventists understood that the two thousand and three hundred days referred to years
which, on the basis of their interpretation, were to culminate in the year 1884 with the second coming of
Christ.⁴³⁶ The year-day theory for all practical purposes was excluded by the fact that Christ did not come
in 1884 in any real fulfillment of the anticipation of this interpretation.

If the twenty-three hundred days are to be considered as days, instead of years, two basic alternatives
are offered. Many have taken this as twenty-three hundred twenty-four hour days. Because the days are
related to the cessation of the evening and morning sacrifices, another theory was that the phrase actually
referred to eleven hundred and fifty days, that is, twenty-three hundred evenings and mornings as set forth
by Ephraim of Syria and Hippolytus.⁴³⁷

Obviously, the interpretation of this difficult time period is determined largely by the expositor’s desire to
find fulfillment either in history or in parallel prophecies concerning the future. Generally, expositors even
of differing schools of eschatological interpretation follow the idea that these are twenty-three hundred
literal days. The concept that the period in view is eleven hundred and fifty days also is taken by some
to coincide with the three and one-half years of the great tribulation predicted in Daniel 9:27 and
elsewhere, even though there is a discrepancy of over one hundred days.

A Hebrew reader could not possibly understand the period of 2300 evening-mornings of 2300 half days
or 1150 whole days, because evening and morning at the creation constituted not the half but the whole
day. Still less, in the designation of time, ‘till 2300 evening-mornings,’ could ‘evening-mornings’ be
understood of the evening and morning sacrifices, and the words be regarded as meaning that till 1150
evening sacrifices and 1150 morning sacrifices are discontinued. We must therefore take the words as
they are, i.e., understand them as 2300 whole days.⁴³⁸

Keil supports this by numerous arguments including the fact, “when the Hebrews wished to express
separately day and night, the component parts of a day of a week, then the number of both is expressed.
They say, e.g., forty days and forty nights (Gen. 7:4, 12; Ex. 24:18; 1 Kings 19:8), and three days and
three nights (Jonah 2:1; Matt. 12:40), but not eighty or six days-and-nights, when they wish to speak of
forty or three full days.”⁴³⁹

If they are literally twenty-three hundred days, what is the fulfillment? The attempts to relate
this to the last seven years of the Gentile period referred to in Daniel 9:27 have confused rather
than helped the interpretation. Twenty-three hundred days is less than seven years of 360 days,
and the half figure of eleven hundred and fifty days is short of the three and one-half years
of the great tribulation. Exegetically, a safe course to follow is to find fulfillment in Antiochus
Epiphanes, and then proceed to consider what eschatological or unfilled prophecy may be
involved.

Innumerable explanations have been attempted to make the twenty-three hundred days coincide with the
history of Antiochus Epiphanes. The terminus ad quem of the twenty-three hundred days is taken by most
expositors as 164 B.C. when Antiochus Epiphanes died during a military campaign in Media.
This permitted the purging of the sanctuary and the return to Jewish worship. Figuring from this date
backward twenty-three hundred days would fix the beginning time at 171 b.c. In that year, Onias III, the
legitimate high priest, was murdered and a pseudo line of priests assumed power. This would give
adequate fulfillment in time for the twenty-three hundred days to elapse at the time of the death of Antiochus.
The actual desecration of the temple, however, did not occur until December 25, 167 B.C. when the
sacrifices in the temple were forcibly caused to cease and a Greek altar erected in the temple. The
actual desecration of the temple lasted only about three years. During this period, Antiochus issued
coins with the title “Epiphanes,” which claimed that he manifested divine honors and which showed
him as beardless and wearing a diadem.⁴⁴⁰

Taking all the evidence into consideration, the best conclusion is that the twenty-three hundred days of
Daniel are fulfilled in the period from 171 b.c. and culminated in the death of Antiochus Epiphanes in
164 b.c. The period when the sacrifices ceased was the latter part of this longer period. Although the
evidence available today does not offer fulfillment to the precise day, the twenty-three hundred days,
obviously a round number, is relatively accurate in defining the period when the Jewish religion began
to erode under the persecution of Antiochus, and the period as a whole concluded with his death.

The alternate theories produce more problems than they solve. Considering the days as year-days has
provided no fulfillment. Using the figure of eleven hundred and fifty days only creates more problems as
it does not fit precisely any scheme of events and has a dubious” basis. By far the simplest and most
honoring to the Scriptures is the solution that the twenty-three hundred days date from 171 b.c. to 164 b.c.
This prophecy may safely be said now to have been fulfilled and does not have any further eschatological
significance in the sense of anticipating a future fulfillment. As far as Daniel 8:1-14 is concerned,
there is no adequate reason for considering it in any other light than that of fulfilled prophecy
from the standpoint of the twentieth century. It is adequately explained in the history of the
Medo-Persian and Greek empires, and specifically, in the activities of Antiochus Epiphanes.

Daniel 8:15-19 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. And I heard a
man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to
understand the vision. 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
shall be the vision. 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. And he said, Behold, I will make thee
know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.

With the entire vision recorded and, to some extent, already interpreted, Daniel now enters into active
participation in the vision and, as in chapter 7, sought an interpretation. According to verse 15, Daniel
“sought for the meaning”; and in response to his desire, a personage stood before him described “as
the appearance of a man,” but obviously an angel. In verse 16, the angel Gabriel is mentioned specifically,
and a man’s voice is addressed to Gabriel to instruct Daniel in understanding the vision. The man’s voice
may be that of Michael the Archangel or even the voice of God, but it is not identified in the text. Calvin
believes that the man speaking is Christ.⁴⁴¹ Young points out that the word for man in verse 15 is gaber,
similar in sound to Gabriel and denoting strength or power.⁴⁴²To this is added el, the word for God, to
form the name Gabriel.

Of interest is the fact that this is the first mention in the Bible of a holy angel by name. Gabriel is again
mentioned in Daniel 9:21 and in Luke 1:19, 26, where he is the messenger to Zacharias, announcing
the future birth of John the Baptist, and to the virgin Mary, announcing the coming birth of Jesus Christ.
The only other angel in Scripture named, aside from Satan, is Michael, mentioned in Daniel 10:13, 21;
12:1, and in the New Testament in Jude 9 and Revelation 12:7. The restraint of Scripture in naming
angels is in contrast to prolific nomenclature of angels in apocalyptic literature outside the Bible.⁴⁴³

Because of the whole context of the vision, the powerful presence of Gabriel, and the mysterious voice
which may be the voice of Deity, Daniel is afraid, actually panic-stricken, and falls on his face. The
situation is not much different from that of John the apostle in Revelation 1 at the tremendous vision
of the glorified Christ. The words of Gabriel are reassuring, and he instructs Daniel, using the title son
of man, and for the first time in the entire chapter indicates that “the time of the end” is in question in
relation to the vision.

Although Daniel apparently had been awake in the earlier part of the vision, we now learn that, as Gabriel
was speaking, Daniel had fallen into a deep sleep with his face toward the ground. Montgomery translates
I was in a deep sleep as “I swooned.”⁴⁴⁴ In any event, it is not a natural sleep but the result of his fear
described in verse 17. As in the case of Ezekiel (Eze 1:28-2:2), Daniel is aroused: as stated in verse
18, Gabriel “touched me, and set me upright.” Porteous suggests that the expression, set me upright
(v. 18), “probably means ‘made me stand up where I was.’ Daniel is keeping his distance.”⁴⁴⁵ In verse
19, Gabriel then begins a further explanation of what he introduced in verse 17 concerning the time
of the end, making clear his intention to let Daniel know “what shall be in the last end of the indignation:
for at the time appointed the end shall be.” In the verses which follow, details of interpretation of the
vision are given.

The expression, the indignation, judging by the context (cf. Dan 11:36, where it occurs again) here
seems to refer to God’s anger against Israel. As in the days of Isaiah, when God used Assyria as His
chastening rod (Is 10:5, 25), God in His indignation was using for His corrective purposes the tyranny
of Antiochus and “lawless men” (cf. 1 Macc 1:11-15) who carried out Antiochus’ orders. In any case,
the point is that God is permitting the persecution as a chastening of Israel in this instance.

Because of the introduction of the term the time of the end (Dan 8:17, 19) and the additional expression
in verse 19 of “in the last end of the indignation,” many scholars find in this chapter reference to the ultimate
consummation of Gentile times at the second advent of Christ. Although an adequate fulfillment can be
found of the prophecy through verse 14 in the history of the centuries before Christ, how can these
references to the time of the end be understood? The entire matter is complicated by references which
clearly relate to the end of the Gentile period in Daniel 9:27 and by the extended passage Daniel 11:35 ff.,
where again the time of the end is mentioned, with additional references in chapter 12. The expositor has
numerous options, each of which has some support from reputable scholarship.

Although a great deal of variation is found in details of interpretation, four major views emerge:
1) the historical view that all of Daniel 8 has been fulfilled;
(2) the futuristic view, the idea that it is entirely future;
(3) the view based upon the principle of dual fulfillment of prophecy, that Daniel 8 is intentionally a prophetic
reference both to Antiochus Epiphanes, now fulfilled, and to the end of the age and the final world ruler who
persecutes Israel before the second advent;
(4) the view that the passage is prophecy, historically fulfilled but intentionally typical of similar events
and personages at the end of the age.

Premillenarians who emphasize historical fulfillment in this chapter invariably agree to typical anticipation.
The historical view is supported largely by liberal critics and amillenarians. S. R. Driver, representing
liberal criticism, states, for instance, “In ch. 8 there is a ‘little horn,’ which is admitted on all hands to
represent Antiochus Epiphanes, and whose impious character and doings (8:10-12, 25) are in all
essentials identical with those attributed to the ‘little horn’ in ch. 7 (7:8 end 20, 21, 25): as Delitzsch
remarks, it is extremely difficult to think that where the description is so similar, two entirely different
persons, living in widely different periods of the world’s history should be intended.”⁴⁴⁶

Driver, identifying the fourth empire of Daniel 7 as the Greek Empire, as liberal critics do in contrast
to most conservative expositors, finds the two little horns identical. In keeping with this, he defines the
time of the end as meaning from Daniel’s standpoint “the period of Antiochus’s persecution, together with
the short interval consisting of a few months, which followed before his death (xi. 35, 40), that being, in the
view of the author, the ‘end’ of the present condition of things, and the divine kingdom (7:14, 18, 22, 27, 1
2:2, 3) being established immediately afterwards.” Driver goes on, “This sense of ‘end’ is based probably
upon the use of the word in Am. 8:2, Ez. 7:2, ‘an end is come, the end is come upon the four corners
of the land,’ 3, 6: cf. also ‘in the time of the iniquity of the end,’ Ez. 21:25, 29, 35:5; and Hab. 2:3, ‘For the
vision is yet for the appointed-time [has reference to the time of its destined fulfillment], and it hasteth
toward the end.’”⁴⁴⁷

Conservative amillenarians as represented by Edward J. Young, distinguish between the little horns of
chapter 7 and chapter 8. In summarizing his view of the identity of the fourth empire, Young writes, “A
comparison of the horns of ch. 8 and the little horn of ch. 7 makes it apparent that the two horns are
intended to represent different things. Since the horn of ch. 8 evidently stands for Antiochus Epiphanes,
it follows that the little horn of ch. 7 does not stand for Antiochus Epiphanes.”⁴⁴⁸ In a word, Young finds
chapter 8 completely fulfilled in history. The principal difficulty with the purely historical view is that it
provides no satisfactory explanation of the expression the time of the end, the other references in the
book of Daniel which use it as the end of the time of the Gentiles, and certain details that are given in
the interpretation of the vision.

A second view, in sharp contrast to the historical interpretation, is that which takes the reference to the
little horn of chapter 8 as being the same as the little horn of chapter 7 but considers the entire prophecy
to be subject to future fulfillment. It is like the liberal critical view in identifying the two horns, but unlike the
liberal critical view in relating it to the Roman Empire in the future and not to the Greek Empire of the past.
Although only a few writers have taken this position, G. H. Pember takes as “the first clue to the
interpretation” the premise: “The vision is no prophecy of Antiochus Epiphanes: the Little Horn is a far
more terrible persecutor, who will arise in the last days.”⁴⁴⁹

Tregelles argues for the same conclusions, stating, “Further, the four divided kingdoms which formed
themselves out of the empire of Alexander were one by one incorporated within the Roman empire, but
it is out of one of these kingdoms that the horn of this chapter springs, hence it is clear that he belongs to
the Roman earth. Thus the person spoken of in the two chapters are found within the same territorial
limits.”⁴⁵⁰ Tregelles goes on to compare the similarities between the little horn of chapter 7 and the little
horn of chapter 8 as well as a description of the final world ruler in Daniel 11:36-45. Tregelles concludes,
“The conclusion from all this appears to be inevitable, that the horn of chapter 7 and chapter 8 are one
and the same person.”⁴⁵¹

The majority of premillennial expositors, however, have not followed this view because the
Roman Empire is not clearly in view in chapter 8, and, as a matter of fact, there are a number
of contradictions. Although the territory involved in the various world empires is often the
same, this does not prove that the events are the same or the personages are the same; and
this is the crux of the matter which Tregelles ignores. Pusey, for instance, points out, “In the
Grecian empire, the little horns issues, not from the empire itself, but from one of its four-fold
divisions… Antiochus Epiphanes came out of one of the four kingdoms of Alexander’s
successors, and that kingdom existed in him, as the fourth horn issued in the little horn.
But in the fourth empire, the horn proceeds, not out of any one horn, but out of

the body of the empire itself. It came up among them [the horns], wholly distinct from them,
and destroyed three of them. Such a marked difference in a symbol, otherwise so alike, must
be intended to involve a difference in the fact represented.”⁴⁵²

While there are obvious similarities between the two little horns of chapter 7 and chapter 8, the
differences are important. If the fourth kingdom represented by Daniel 7 is Rome, then obviously
the third kingdom represented by the goat in chapter 8 is not Rome. Their characteristics are much
different as they arise from different beasts, their horns differ in number, and the end result is different.
The Messianic kingdom according to Daniel 7 was going to be erected after the final world empire.

This is not true of the period following the he goat in chapter 8. The familiar rule that similarities do not
prove identity is applicable here. Two men or events may be alike in many respects but are
distinguished by one definite dissimilarity. In this case, there are many factors which contrast the two
chapters and their contents.

In view of the problems of a purely historical fulfillment on the one hand or a purely futuristic fulfillment on
the other, many expositors have been intrigued with the possibility of a dual fulfillment, that is, that a
prophecy fulfilled in part in the past is a foreshadowing of a future event which will completely fulfill the
passage. Variations exist in this approach with some taking the entire passage as having dual fufillment,
and others taking Daniel 8:1-14 as historically fulfilled and Daniel 8:15-17 as having dual fulfillment. This
latter view was popularized by the Scofield Reference Bible. Both the 1917 and the 1967 edition interpret
chapter 8 as being fulfilled historically in Antiochus, but prophetically, beginning with verse 17, as being
fulfilled at the end of the age with the second advent.⁴⁵³

Many premillennial writers follow this interpretation. Louis T. Talbot, for instance, writes “When the vision
recorded here was given to Daniel, all of it had to do with then prophetic events; whereas we today can
look back and see that everything in verses 1-22 refers to men and empires that have come and gone.
We read about them in the pages of secular history. But verses 23-27 of the chapter before us have to
do with ‘a king of fierce countenance’ who shall appear ‘in the latter time’ (v. 23); and he is none other
than the Antichrist who is to come. Again, while verses 1-22 have to do with history, yet the men of whom
they speak were shadows of that coming ‘man of sin,’ who is more fully described in the closing verses
of the chapter.”⁴⁵⁴ Talbot varies from the pattern somewhat by finding typical fulfillment in verses 1-22
and futuristic fulfillment in verses 23-26. Strictly speaking, this does not conform to any of the divisions
indicated here, but illustrates that the passage gives prophecy in two different senses.

A number of other expositors find chapter 8 dealing with both Antiochus Epiphanes and the future world
ruler. Among them are William Kelly,⁴⁵⁵Nathaniel West,⁴⁵⁶ and Joseph A. Seiss.⁴⁵⁷

This view is ably summarized by J. Dwight Pentecost. Pentecost gives a most illuminating overall
view of chapters 7 through 12 in the following statement: “The key to understanding chapters 7 through
12 of Daniel’s prophecy is to understand that Daniel is focusing his attention on this one great ruler and
his kingdom which will arise in the end time. And while Daniel may use historical reference and refer to
events which to us may be fulfilled, Daniel is thinking of them only to give us more details about this final
form of Gentile world power and its ruler who will reign on the earth. In Daniel chapter 8, we have another
reference to this one. Daniel describes a king who is going to conquer the Medo-Persian Empire. This is
an historical event that took place several centuries after Daniel lived. There was an individual that came
out of the Grecian Empire who was a great enemy of the nation Israel. We know him as Antiochus
Epiphanes. Antiochus Epiphanes was a ruler who sought to show his contempt for Palestine, the Jews,
and the Jewish religion by going to the temple in Jerusalem with a sow which he slaughtered and put its
blood upon the altar. This man was known as one who desolated, or ‘the desolator.’ But this passage in
Daniel 8 is speaking not only of Antiochus in his desolation and his desecration of the Temple; it is looking
forward to the great desolator who would come, the one who is called ‘the little horn’ in Daniel 7. In
Daniel 8:23 we read of this one and his ministry.”⁴⁵⁸

Pentecost summarizes the facts from Daniel 8:23-25 as a description of the beast in that
(1) he is to appear in the latter times of Israel’s history (Dan 8:23);
(2) through alliance with other nations, he achieves worldwide influence (Dan 8:24);
(3) a peace program helps his rise to power (Dan 8:25);
(4) he is extremely intelligent and persuasive (Dan 8:23);
(5) he is characterized by Satanic control (Dan 8:24);
(6) he is a great adversary against Israel and the prince of princes (Dan 8:24-25);
(7) a direct judgment from God terminates his rule (Dan 8:25).⁴⁵⁹

It may be concluded that many premillennial expositors find a dual fulfillment in Daniel 8 : some of them
achieve this by a division of the first part of the chapter as historically fulfilled and the last part prophetically
future; some regard the whole chapter as having, in some sense, a dual fulfillment historically as well as
in the future; but most of them find the futuristic elements emphasized, especially in the interpretation of
the vision.

A variation of the view that the last part of the chapter is specifically futuristic is found in the interpretation
which has much to commend itself. This variation regards the entire chapter as historically fulfilled in
Antiochus, but to varying degrees foreshadowing typically the future world ruler who would dominate the
situation at the end of the times of the Gentiles. In any case, the passage intentionally goes beyond
Antiochus to provide prophetic foreshadowing of the final Gentile ruler.

Daniel 8:20-22 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first
king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of
the nation, but not in his power.

The interpretation of the ram and he goat vision as given in verses 20-21 makes explicit what has been
assumed in preceding exegesis. Most significant is the fact that Media and Persia are regarded as one
empire, refuting the liberal notion that Daniel taught the empire of Media was separate from Persia,
which liberals use to justify the exegesis that the second and third empires of Daniel 7 were Media and
Persia. All agree that history does not support this, and the liberal interpretation assumes that Daniel
was in error. Here the matter is made clear by Daniel himself, and it is evident that the critics are guilty
of attributing to Daniel something he did not teach. The he goat described as “rough” or shaggy, although
called “the king of Grecia,” is an obvious reference to the kingdom as a whole, as the great horn between
its eyes is identified as the first king. Practically everyone agrees that this is Alexander the Great.

The four kingdoms represented by the four horns which replaced the great horn that was
broken are identified as four kingdoms arising from the he goat nation. They are described as
not having the power of the great horn. Aside from expositors pressed to relate this to the Roman
empire, where there is no reasonable parallel, the four kingdoms are obviously the four generals
of Alexander who partitioned his empire as previously noted. Most expositors agree that verses
20-22 have been fulfilled completely in history in connection with the Medo-Persian and Greek empires
and the four divisions following Alexander the Great. The exegetical problems arise in the passage which follows.

Daniel 8:23-26 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. And his
power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall
prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. 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. 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.

In this section of Daniel 8, an individual is pictured prophetically who is said to have the
following characteristics:
(1) he will appear “in the latter time of their kingdom,” that is, of the four
kingdoms of verse 22;
(2) he will appear “when the transgressors are come to the full”;
(3) he will be “a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,” that is, having a
strong or bold countenance and able to interpret riddles, a mark of intelligence (1 Ki 10:1);
(4) he shall have great power but his power shall be derived from another (either God, Satan,
Alexander the Great);
(5) he shall accomplish great exploits including destroying Israel, the mighty and holy people;
(6) by his policies “he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand,” always busy hatching plots
(1 Macc 1:16-51), that is, wickedness shall be on the increase;
(7) he shall exalt himself, as did Antiochus Epiphanes;
(8) by means of a false peace, he shall destroy many people;
(9) he shall oppose “the Prince of princes”;
(10) in the end “he shall be broken without hand” (Antiochus died of a foul disease), that is,
his power shall be destroyed without human intervention. Finally, Daniel is cautioned that the
total vision is true, but the understanding of it shall be delayed for many days as well as its fulfillment.

A careful scrutiny of these many points will justify the conclusion that it is possible to explain
all of these elements as fulfilled historically in Antiochus Epiphanes. Most of the factors are
obvious and the principal difficulty is occasioned by the expression in the latter time of their
kingdom and in the statement he shall stand up against the Prince of princes. Antiochus
Epiphanes, of course, did arise in the latter time of the Syrian kingdom. However, the use of
other terms such as the end in verses 17 and 19, and the last end of the indignation in verse
19 are difficult to harmonize with Antiochus Epiphanes.

It is also objected, as expressed by W. C. Stevens, “The time of Antiochus was in the former time of
those kingdoms. His day was not even in the latter time of the old Grecian Empire; for he came to his
end more than one hundred years before the Grecian Empire ended. The simple solution is that those
four kingdoms are to have ‘a latter time’; i.e., they are to be again represented territorially as four
kingdoms in the last days at the Times of the Gentiles.”⁴⁶⁰ The expression the end frequently occurs
in references in Daniel 9:26; 11:6, 27, 35, 40, 45; 12:4, 6, 9, 13.

Another problem is the statement that the king “shall also stand up against the Prince of
princes.” H. A. Ironside expresses a common viewpoint that the “Prince of princes can be none
other than the Messiah; consequently, these words were not fulfilled in the life and death of
Antiochus.”⁴⁶¹ However, this objection is not unanswerable, because opposition to God, to
Israel, and to the Messianic hope in general, which characterized blasphemers of the Old
Testament, can well be interpreted as standing up against “the Prince of princes.” After all,
Christ existed in Old Testament times as God and as the Angel of Jehovah and as the
defender of Israel.

Taken as a whole, the principal problem of the passage when interpreted as prophecy fulfilled
completely in Antiochus is the allusions to the end of the age. These are hard to understand as
relating to Antiochus in view of the larger picture of Daniel 7 which concludes with the second advent of
Christ. It is for this reason, as well as for the many details in the passage, that many expositors believe
the interpretation goes beyond the vision. If the vision itself of the little horn can be fulfilled in Antiochus
Epiphanes, the interpretation given by the angel seems to go beyond Antiochus to the final world ruler.

Some premillennial interpreters, however, convinced of the futuristic character of the interpretation of the
vision, identify the personage here as a different future character than the little horn of Daniel 7. The little
horn of Daniel 7 is identified as a Roman and a future world dictator, whereas the little horn of Daniel 8
in its futuristic interpretation is understood by them to refer to the king of the north in Daniel 11:6-15, who
is also identified with “the Assyrian” (Mic 5:5-6).⁴⁶² Contemporary expositors, however, generally
interpret these references to Assyria in other prophetic passages as either already fulfilled in the previous
invasion of the Holy Land by Assyria or a description of Assyria in the millennial kingdom. These
passages then do not become relevant to Daniel 8.

It may be concluded that this difficult passage apparently goes beyond that which is historically
fulfilled in Antiochus Epiphanes to foreshadow a future personage often identified as the world
ruler of the end time. In many respects this ruler carries on a persecution of Israel and desecration
of the temple similar to what was accomplished historically by Antiochus. This interpretation of
the vision may be regarded as an illustration of double fulfillment of prophecy or, using Antiochus
as a type, the interpretation may go on to reveal additional facts which go beyond the type in
describing the ultimate king who will oppose Israel in the last days. He indeed will be “broken
without hand” at the time of the second advent of Jesus Christ.

In concluding the interpretation, Gabriel makes plain that the vision will not become immediately
understandable to Daniel and that its fulfillment will occupy many days.

Daniel 8:27 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.

As a result of the tremendous vision given to Daniel and his exhaustion because of it, Daniel records that
he fainted and was sick for days thereafter. Upon his recovery, he was able to resume his conduct of the
king’s business. Jeffrey notes that Daniel by his immediate resumption of his work in the king’s service
proves that he had been in Babylon all the time, and that his presence in Susa was purely visionary.⁴⁶³

The dramatic character of the vision and its tremendous implications, although not understandable to Daniel,
remained in his mind. But he could find none that could give him the complete interpretation. It is obvious
that the intent of the vision was to record the prophecy for the benefit of future generations rather than for
Daniel himself. Unlike the previous instances where Daniel was the interpreter of divine revelation, here
Daniel becomes the recorder of it without understanding all that he wrote or experienced.

The emphasis of the eighth chapter of Daniel is on prophecy as it relates to Israel; and for this reason,
the little horn is given prominence both in the vision and in the interpretation. The times of the Gentiles,
although not entirely a period of persecution of Israel, often resulted in great trial to them. Of the four
great world empires anticipated by Daniel, only the Persian empire was relatively kind to the Jew. As
Christ Himself indicated in Luke 21:24, the times of the Gentiles is characterized by the treading down
of Jerusalem, and the subjugation and persecution of the people of Israel.

⁴⁰²Cf. R. D. Culver, Daniel and the Latter Days, pp. 95-104.
⁴⁰³A. C. Gaebelein, The Prophet Daniel, p. 94.
⁴⁰⁴E. J. Young, The Prophecy of Daniel, p. 165.
⁴⁰⁵Otto Zockler, “The Book of the Prophet Daniel,” in A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, 13:171; cf. pp. 33-34.
⁴⁰⁶ A. L. Oppenheim, “Belshazzar,” in The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, 1:379-80.
⁴⁰⁷Young, p. 165.
⁴⁰⁸C. F. Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel, p. 285.
⁴⁰⁹ Josephus is also the source of the story that Daniel built a building at Ecbatana in Media in which later the kings of
Media, Persia and Parthis were buried. Cf. Montgomery’s discussion on the tomb of Daniel at Susa, and the tradition that
Daniel built a tower at Ecbatana (The Book of Daniel, pp. 10-11, 325). J. A. Montgomery, The Book of Daniel, p. 325.
Cf. Josephus, The Works of Flavius Josephus, p. 320.
⁴¹⁰Keil, p. 285.
⁴¹¹ Montgomery, pp. 325-26.
⁴¹²S. R. Driver, The Book of Daniel, p. 111.
⁴¹³ Montgomery, p. 327.
⁴¹⁴ Cf. M. F. Unger, Unger’s Bible Dictionary, pp. 1022-23.
⁴¹⁵Young, p. 178.
⁴¹⁶For a brief history of Medo-Persia, see Walvoord, The Nations in Prophecy, pp. 70 ff.
⁴¹⁷Keil, p. 290.
⁴¹⁸Ibid., p. 291.
⁴¹⁹ F. Cumont, “La plus Ancienne geographie astrologique,” Klio 9:263-73.
⁴²⁰ Driver, p. 113.
⁴²¹H. C. Leupold, Exposition of Daniel, p. 339.
⁴²²Young, p. 169; cf. Walvoord, The Nations in Prophecy, pp. 76 ff.
⁴²³Young, p. 169.
⁴²⁴ William W. Tarn, Alexander the Great, 1:145-46.
⁴²⁵ N. W. Porteous, Daniel: A Commentary, p. 123.
⁴²⁶Young, p. 169; Leupold, p. 344; Montgomery, pp. 332-33.
⁴²⁷ Montgomery, p. 333.
⁴²⁸Ibid., pp. 333-35.
⁴²⁹Leupold, p. 346.
⁴³⁰Driver, p. 116.
⁴³¹ Montgomery, p. 335.
⁴³²Young, pp. 165 ff.
⁴³³ Montgomery, pp. 335-36.
⁴³⁴Young, p. 172.
⁴³⁵Ibid.
⁴³⁶ Uriah Smith, The Sanctuary and the Twenty-three Hundred Days of Daniel 8:14, p. 119.
⁴³⁷Young, p. 173.
⁴³⁸Keil, p. 304.
⁴³⁹Ibid., pp. 303-4.
⁴⁴⁰See D. H. Wheaton, “Antiochus,” in The New Bible Dictionary, pp. 41-42.
⁴⁴¹J. Calvin, Commentaries on the Book of the Prophet Daniel, 2:112.
⁴⁴²Young, p. 175.
⁴⁴³For extrascriptural mention of angels, see Montgomery, p. 345.
⁴⁴⁴Ibid., p. 346.
⁴⁴⁵Porteous, p. 128.
⁴⁴⁶Driver, p. 99.
⁴⁴⁷Ibid., p. 121. Bracketed material in the original.
⁴⁴⁸Young, p. 288.
⁴⁴⁹ George H. Pember, The Great Prophecies of the Centuries Concerning Israel and the Gentiles, pp. 289-90; cf.
Clarence Larkin, The Book of Daniel, p. 165.
⁴⁵⁰ S. P. Tregelles, Remarks on the Prophetic Visions in the Book of Daniel, p. 82.
⁴⁵¹Ibid., p. 83.
⁴⁵²E. B. Pusey, Daniel the Prophet, p. 135.
⁴⁵³Cyrus 1:Scofield, ed., Scofield Reference Bible, p. 913, and New Scofield Reference Bible, p. 911.
⁴⁵⁴ Louis T. Talbot, The Prophecies of Daniel, p. 143.
⁴⁵⁵ William Kelly, Lectures on the Book of Daniel, p. 132.
⁴⁵⁶ Nathaniel West, Daniel’s Great Prophecy, p. 103.
⁴⁵⁷

Hess, Frances. Earth Science. New York: Glencoe Mc Graw-Hill, 2002: 348.	"The Sun's orbit around the galaxy is about 220 km/s and thus its orbital period is about 240 million years."	240 million years
Morris, Mark. "The Milky Way." The World Book Encyclopedia, 2002, Vol. 13: 551.	"The Sun's completes an almost circular orbit of the center (of the galaxy) about every 250 million years."	250 million years
Croswell, Ken. The Alchemy of the Heavens Searching for the meaning of the Milky Way. New York: Doubleday, 1995: 2.	"The Galaxy is so huge that the Sun requires 230 million years to complete one orbit around the Milky Way's center."	230 million years
Moore, Patrick. The International Encyclopedia of Astronomy. New York: Mitchell Beazly Publishers, 1981: 45.	"Cosmic Year: the time taken for one complete revolution of the Sun around the entire center of the galaxy; about 225 million years."	225 million years
Kerrod, Robin. Encyclopedia of Science Heavens 2. New York: MacMillian Reference USA, 1997: 35.	"The Sun takes 225 million Earth years to make one rotation. This period of time is called a cosmic year."	225 million years

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