Daniel’s remarkable vision introduces a ram with two horns (v.2). This ram is identified as the dual kingdom of Media-Persia (v.20). This ram is destroyed by a he goat (v.7) that is later said to be Greece (v.21). The he goat has “a notable horn between his eyes” (v.5). This horn has to be Alexander the Great (see v.21). When “the great horn was broken” (v.8 – Alexander died), in its place “came up four notable ones toward the winds of heaven” (v.8). This was fulfilled when the Greek empire was split up among four of Alexander’s generals after Alexander’s death.
This all occurred about 200 years after Daniel’s vision. Later, a “little horn” (v.9) “waxed great” (v.10) and “magnified himself” (v.11) so that “by him the daily sacrifice was taken away” (v.11). This almost certainly refers to Antiochus Epiphanes who offered a swine in the Jewish temple about 350 years after this prophecy was made.
Prophecies like this prove scripture to be God-given. No other holy book for any major religion stakes its claim to authority on its ability to foretell the future. Only God’s word, the Holy Bible, takes this chance. Do you believe that the words you read in scripture are the holy words of a holy God? Do you read God’s word with reverence, awe and anticipation? Do you regularly read the Book of books?
