Tuesday, July 30, 2013

A Little Horn Among Little Horns

Well, it has certainly been a while since I've written an article. Unfortunately, with summer comes baseball and softball tournaments, which, of course, means I am actually kept busy at work for once. But more than that, I've had some difficulties feeling motivated. I thought, “Why not try to write something and see what happens? Perhaps it will be all I need to jump over this hurdle [or mountain] of writer's block.” Let's see what happens.

Not too long ago, I was confronted by a Historicist claiming that the “little horn” of Daniel 8 is the same “little horn” of Daniel 7. I found this to be incorrect. I still find this to be incorrect. However, the smallest detail had always eluded me, and it is something that has eluded countless others, I believe. And when I share this with you, I hope you have the same reaction I had: “Uh...duh!”

Thus, the focus of this article will be Daniel 7 and 8. I simply wish to share some observations with you as we study the scriptures together.


Identifying the Beasts

Daniel 7 is at the heart of prophetic texts pertaining to the last days. And while much of Christendom is united in a general interpretation of which kingdoms the four beasts of Daniel 7 represent, there are still those who have their own interpretations. Let's first observe the text, then draw our conclusions:

2I Daniel beheld, and, lo, the four winds of heaven blew violently upon the great sea. 3And there came up four great beasts out of the sea, differing from one another. 4The first was a lionness, and her wings as an eagle's; I beheld until her wings were plucked, and she was lifted off from the earth, and she stood on human feet, and a man's heart was given to her. 5And, behold, a second beast like a bear, and it supported itself on one side, and there were three ribs in its mouth, between its teeth: and thus they said to it, Arise, devour much flesh. 6And after this one I looked, and behold another wild beast as a leopard, and it had four wings of a bird upon it: and the wild beast had four heads, and power was given to it. 7After this one I looked, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and exceedingly strong, and its teeth were of iron; devouring and crushing to atoms, and it trampled the remainder with its feet: and it was altogether different from the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. 8I noticed his horns, and behold, another little horn came up in the midst of them, and before it three of the former horns were rooted out: and, behold, there were eyes as the eyes of a man in this horn, and a mouth speaking great things. (Daniel 7:2-8)

What we have here are four beasts. I believe these beasts represent Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Consider the following:

Babylon:

When prophesying of the coming of Babylon against Judah, Jeremiah wrote:

5Declare ye in Juda, and let it be heard in Jerusalem: say ye, Sound the trumpet in the land; cry ye aloud: say ye, gather yourselves together, and let us enter in to the fortified cities. 6Gather up your wares and flee to Sion, stay not: for I will bring evils from the north, and great destruction. 7The lion is gone up from his lair, he has roused himself to the destruction of the nations, and has gone forth out of his place, to make the land desolate; and the cities shall be destroyed, so as to be without inhabitant. (Jeremiah 4:5-7)

Jerusalem had been called to repentance so that they could be saved from the coming wrath of the Babylonian kingdom (Jeremiah 4:14). As we know, they did not repent, and Babylon came at them like a lion, just as the Lord declared. This harmonizes with Daniel's vision in Daniel 7. In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a colossal figure in the image of a man. This figure was made of various metals. The head, which was made of gold, was identified by Daniel as the Babylonian kingdom (Daniel 2:38-39). Nebuchadnezzar's dream correlates with Daniel's own vision in Daniel 7, and therefore, we are to interpret the lion as Babylon.

Medo-Persia:

Identifying what the bear in Daniel 7 represents is quite simple to do. The kingdom which followed Babylon was that of the Medes and Persians. When Medo-Persia conquered Babylon they also managed to take Lydia and Egypt, symbolized by the three ribs in the bear's mouth. The fact that this bear was raised up on one side likely symbolizes the dominance of Persian power over the Medes.

Isaiah prophesied against Babylon quite some time before the kingdom's fall. And who did God promise to stir up against them? The Medes:

17Behold, I will stir up against you the Medes, who do not regard silver, neither have they need of gold. (Isaiah 13:17).

Therefore, I find it accurate to identify the second beast of Daniel 7 as the Medo-Persian empire.

Leopard:

In Daniel 8, Daniel prophesied of a ram and goat. This was two years after his dream in Daniel 7. The ram depicted the kings of Media and Persia (Daniel 8:20), and the goat depicted Greece (Daniel 8:21). Daniel's vision of the ram and goat portrays the Greeks overthrowing Medo-Persia (Daniel 8:5-7), and therefore, identifying the leopard of Daniel 7.

I believe the leopard was used to portray swiftness. Alexander the Great, arguably the greatest conqueror in history, expanded his kingdom with more ferocity than kingdoms before him, and he did so with great speed. When he died, his kingdom was divided between his four generals. Notice that the leopard has four wings and four heads (Daniel 7:6). I believe one of these sets of four (likely the heads) represents this division. Likewise, we read in Daniel 8 of broken horn on the goat, which spawned four more horns in its place. I believe this broken horn is Alexander the Great, and the four horns in his place are his generals.

Fourth Beast:

A number of scholars believe the fourth, indescribable beast of Daniel 7 is the Seleucid empire from which Antiochus IV Epiphanes would come. A few things weigh against this. For starters, Gabriel attributes the power of Antiochus IV Epiphanes to one of the horns spawned from the fall of Alexander the Great. Pay attention to the context:

21The he-goat is the King of the Greeks: and the great horn which was between his eyes, he is the first king. 22And as for the one that was broken, in whose place there stood up four horns, four kings shall arise out of his nation, but not in their own strength. 23And at the latter time of their kingdom, when their sins are coming to the full, there shall arise a king bold in countenance, and understanding riddles. 24And his power shall be great, and he shall destroy wonderfully, and prosper, and practise, and shall destroy mighty men, and the holy people. (Daniel 8:21-24).

The one that would come and destroy the holy people was Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Daniel says he would come from the division of the Grecian empire. While the Seleucid empire is distinct from the Grecian empire of Alexander the Great, this terrible and mighty king who would destroy the holy people was still being attributed to the power and image of the goat by Gabriel.

A second strike against the Seleucid view is a rather simple one. In Daniel 7, Daniel notes that the fourth beast would “excel all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth” (Daniel 7:23). The Seleucid empire, while quite ferocious, did not obtain the same power the of the Roman empire. Encyclopedia Brittanica notes the following: “The Seleucid kingdom began losing control over large territories in the 3rd century BC. An inexorable decline followed the first defeat of the Seleucids by the Romans in 190.” The Seleucid empire did maintain its power for a fair share of time, but it hardly had the power of the Roman empire. This empire had a difficult time holding onto its larger territories.

Another strike against the Seleucid view is that Daniel prophesies of the coming of the Messiah during the time of this fourth beast. When the “little horn” “shall wear out the saints of the Most High,” the everlasting kingdom of the Most High would be given to the saints (Daniel 7:27). Nebuchadnezzar's dream also depicted God's kingdom at this time (Daniel 2:44-45). This is depicted again in Daniel 7:9-14.


Is the “Little Horn” of Daniel 7 the same "Little Horn" of Daniel 8?

As stated earlier, Historicists claim that the “little horn” of Daniel 7 is the same as the “little horn” of Daniel 8. The logic behind this is that we should be interpreting scripture with scripture, and since Daniel 7 has a “little horn,” the “little horn” in Daniel 8 must apparently be the same figure. However, we've already begun dismantling this position, for the persecuting power in Daniel 7 is part of the fourth beast, which is not the same as the goat in Daniel 8, earlier identified as the Grecian empire.

I will elaborate on this a little further in due time, but for now I'd like to observe something else. At the beginning of this article I had mentioned finally coming across something that had eluded me. That which eluded me has to do with this “little horn” in Daniel 7. The question that came to mind was, “Which little horn?” What do I mean? Glad you asked. Note the following:

7After this one I looked, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and exceedingly strong, and its teeth were of iron; devouring and crushing to atoms, and it trampled the remainder with its feet: and it was altogether different from the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. 8I noticed his horns, and behold, another little horn came up in the midst of them, and before it three of the former horns were rooted out: and, behold, there were eyes as the eyes of a man in this horn, and a mouth speaking great things. (Daniel 7:7-8).

This is the first instance in which we read of the fourth beast's horns. This beast had ten horns. Were they large? Were they small? Notice that Daniel says “another little horn” came up. How could there be another one if none of the other horns were little? Have you ever noticed how numerous interpretations rely on this horn's size to determine the figure it represents? This is not to say whether I agree or disagree with this interpretation, but note the fact that a number of Preterists identify this “little horn” as Titus, son of emperor Vespasian. Titus, who was not yet emperor, is the one who laid waste to Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Because he was not yet emperor, many see him as “little,” or inferior to his father. But is this necessarily the accurate way to interpret the eleventh horn? Even if the interpretation itself is correct, the text doesn't actually portray this “little horn” as a different size than the others, for it is “another little horn,” suggesting that there are others of similar size.

I, too, have tried to interpret the eleventh horn according to its size. However, I'm not certain that's actually accurate. Thus, when we read of a “little horn” in Daniel 8, we can't actually interpret it the way some claim we should, for all of the horns on the fourth beast in Daniel 7 are seemingly “little.” Historicists could do themselves a greater service to rely solely on the characteristics of the two horns to find correlation, instead. The point I am trying to make is that I believe Historicists, and others who interpret similarly (Partial Preterist James B. Jordan comes to mind), cannot maintain a consistent interpretation by these means. (James B. Jordan believes the horns in Daniel 7 are the Herods, and thus, the “little horn” of Daniel 8 must also be a Herod. I don't wish to determine whether he is correct or incorrect, but simply point out his hermeneutic. For more on this, read his commentary on the book of Daniel.)

My scripture citations have come from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of Old Testament. In order to read of a “little horn” in Daniel 8, an alternate translation must be used. I'll switch to the King James Version for this:

8Therefore 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. 9And 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. 10And 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. (Daniel 8:8-10 KJV)

This “little horn” is simply a “strong horn” in the Septuagint. This horn is most certainly strong, too! The similarities between this “little horn” and the one in Daniel 7 are also quite obvious. Both of these horns are persecuting powers and maintain quite the strength. So, the similarities are certainly there. However, the Historicist interpretation crumbles when one understands that the “little horn” of Daniel 8 comes from one of the four horns that spawned from the great horn of the goat! Again, when Alexander died his kingdom was divided among his four generals. Of this division was the Seleucid empire from which Antiochus IV Epiphanes would come. Therefore, if the Seleucid empire was one of the four “notable [horns]” of the Grecian empire, and a “little horn” would come from one such horn, then clearly the “little horn” of Daniel 8 cannot be the “little horn,” or eleventh horn, of Daniel 7! Gabriel concurs when he identifies the goat as the Grecian empire. The “little horn” in question comes from this empire, not the Roman empire.


Conclusion

I believe the Historicists are doing the best they can to interpret Daniel 8 with consistency. I do not believe they are coming to the proper conclusions, however. Gabriel did all of the interpretation for Daniel. There is no question as to what the ram and goat of Daniel 8 are representing, for Gabriel explained all of this. Historicists, therefore, must ignore Gabriel's explanation of the prophecy's imagery. They improperly attribute this prophecy's fulfillment to the time of the fourth beast. But as we have seen, the goat of Daniel 8 is the Grecian empire, which was the third beast of Daniel 7, not the fourth.

I believe we do ourselves a disservice to base our interpretation of the eleventh horn of Daniel 7 on the characteristic of size, as well as identify the “little horn” of Daniel 8 as the same “little horn” in Daniel 7. The text doesn't actually support such a distinction between the eleventh horn and the other ten. Since probably 99% or more of Christendom refers to the eleventh horn as a “little horn,” it is accurate to assume that the majority of Christians believe there is such a distinction given by the text. And again, I was one such individual until recently. I find this to be an error now, however, and simply wish to share this with you for your own consideration.



Blessings,


Jason Watt