Rumble
Daniel 8, The Villain
Who Dominates The Drama!
April 11, 2022 by Tim Buck
Fotet.org
Daniel 8 describes the prophet Daniel’s second vision about the future and once again shows us how empires play such an important role in Bible prophecy. The prophecy of Daniel could easily be described as God’s book of Kingdoms.
In His infinite wisdom, God uses pagan empires as His teaching tool to reveal His future plans and to weave in the story of Antichrist.
In fact, the entire end-times drama cannot be properly understood without understanding the role of the correct empire who brings forth the little horn. For that reason, Yahweh not only provided careful scriptural descriptions, but in chapter 8 he gives us a remarkable historical antecedent as well.
Ram and Goat
This time, instead of the same four empires that appeared in chapters 2 and 7 (Babylon, Persia, Greece and Islam), Daniel sees a ram and a goat depicting just the two empires of Persia and Greece.
In doing so, we see the search for Antichrist narrowing from four empires down to two. After the Rapture, Antichrist will emerge from the territory of one of these two empires! Before the Rapture we know precisely where our attention should be fixed!
While many prophecy teachers often get confused about where to look for Antichrist today, God, through the prophet Daniel, goes to great lengths to make sure we would know precisely where and when the final tyrant will appear.
This time, instead of seeing the “little horn” of Antichrist like we saw in chapter 7, Daniel 8 reveals a new “little horn” with the remarkable story of the forerunner of Antichrist, a character known as Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
During the 400-year intertestamental period, there arose in the latter stages of the Greek kingdom a Gentile ruler named Antiochus IV. History records much about this despicable and villainous ruler, but more remarkable is the prophetic anticipation of Antichrist.
Proto-Type
The evil and rogue king of the Seleucid Empire comes charging on the scene accomplishing all the wicked acts of Antichrist. By presenting us with his cruel persecution of the Jews and his desecration of Israel’s temple, Antiochus emerges as the most accurate proto-type of Antichrist in the Scriptures.
The two men are so similar that when reading about Antiochus in Daniel chapters 8 and 11, you might as well assume you’re also reading about Antichrist. Therefore, the story of Antiochus gives prophecy students another layer of insight about Antichrist that’s rarely consulted. And what a story it is as these 6 verses show:
Dan. 8:10-12
10 And it [Little Horn = Antiochus IV] grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground and trampled them. 11 He even exalted himself
as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down.
12 Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered.
Dan. 8:23-25
A king shall arise, having fierce features, who understands sinister schemes. 24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power [demonic]; he shall destroy fearfully and shall prosper and thrive; He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people. 25 “Through his cunning he shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; And he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the Prince of princes; But he shall be broken without human means.
Are these verses talking about Antiochus or Antichrist?
