Daniel's Dreams (Part 2)

Living for God in Ungodly Times - Message 9 - Daniel's Dreams (Part 2). This new vision that Daniel has as recorded in chapter 8 involves a ram and a goat. In the dreams and visions of the Book of Daniel we started in chapter 2 with a statue made of differing metals, representing four kingdoms of this world. Babylon, the Medes and Persians, Greece, and Rome were represented. Now as we focus on the Medes and Persians and the kingdom of Greece, we see that out of the four horns of the goat (Alexander the Great's generals who ruled four regions after his death) comes another "little horn." This is not the Antichrist, but this is an important figure in the history of the Jews. This prophecy introduces us to Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a Greek ruler who was one of the worst enemies of the Jewish people throughout all of history. He was the eighth king of the Seleucid dynasty. He usurped the throne through deception and mastering wickedness. He attacked Jerusalem and Egypt, outlawed owning a copy of the Jewish Scriptures, forbade sacrifices and circumcision, and erected an idol of Zeus in the Temple area. Finally he sacrificed a pig on the altar at the Temple offering this desecration to Zeus. This act and this idol is known in Scripture and Jewish history as the "abomination of desolation." This occurred between the Old and New Testaments in the 170s and 160s BC. It is a foreshadowing of what will happen with the final "little horn" (Matt 24:15). This vision and what it foretold for the people of God was so horrible that it made Daniel sick, and at one point he even fainted.