The Little Horn Compares Himself to God

We are going to focus on Daniel chapter 8 verses 1-14. The bible in verse 1 tells us that Daniel’s vision occurred during Belshazzar's third year of his reign. In this vision Daniel is placed in Susa in the ancient nation of Elam in Iran. The ram and the goat are introduced and are the focus of the dream. Their appearance is more representative of actual goats and sheep in appearance than the beasts of chapter 7. They share similar behaviors and are analogous to the rise and fall of kingdoms and empires. The goat will surely overtake the ram because of his ferocity, strength agility and weaponry. The little horn of chapter 8 is not the little horn of chapter 7. The little horn out of chapter 7 comes out of the Roman Empire and the little horn from chapter 8 comes out of the Greek Empire. The one in (chapter 7) represents the antichrist and the one described in (chapter 8) prefigures the antichrist and represents Antiochus Epiphanes IV from 175 to 164 BC. The depiction of horns were always a symbol of power and dominion. The goat comes along with great speed and agility to destroy and conquer the kingdoms around it. The ram gets destroyed by the goat with relative ease by breaking the horns of the ram. The ram gets thrown to the ground and trampled without mercy, no one could save the ram.

The goat grew bigger and bigger and his power was great. His horn was broken and out of the horn came four horns of which another one, a little horn grew from the four. It grew great from the south to the east and to the Glorious Land. The little horn is so arrogant that he will try to go against God or try to become equal to God. He would then severally persecute the Jewish saints in Jerusalem and in Palestine. The king is ultimately taken down, two angels are talking and one asks how long will the vision be? The response form the other angel is 2300 days.

We can see parallels throughout history about kingdoms and other kingdoms. We see genocide in other countries, we have seen communism grow and the arrogance of leaders trying to dominate the world stage. In the nineteenth century we seen an evil dictator try to eliminate the Jews and put them in camps ultimately putting them to death in the furnaces. We see other dictators try to control and kill Christians across the globe. There are massive murders taking place in Africa trying to eliminate Christians today. We see the insurgence of Islamists across the globe trying to instill their beliefs through intimidation and physical harm.

But we see the one who is truly in control. Just as the bible continues to remind us, there is nothing that is too small or big for God (Jeremiah 32:17) and everything is held in God’s hand. God is our protector and will take care of all those who wish to do us harm (Psalms 110:5). We may not see it in our time and we may never see God’s punishment, but we know God is a just and righteous God that will protect us through every circumstance.

As Christians we need to stay strong in our faith knowing that leaders will come and go. If we stay strong in our faith by honoring and reverencing God, our lives will be more meaningful than we could ever imagine. God is always going to do His part defined by His righteousness and to His glory. We need to believe that no matter what circumstance we are in, we have to remember to let go and let God fix our issues. If we are guided by God, then who is greater or stronger in this world that can do a better job? Satan will always try to convince you he is the one that sits higher than God. We know through scripture and our personal relationship with Christ that God will always prevail. He will always provide and protect His children.

My recommendation is this, if you ever run into people who think they are God, who think they can control God I would just keep on running. Satan’s whole existence is predicated on destruction (John 8:44). In order to get into the kingdom of heaven you must make a choice. The choice has only one option, follow Christ or end up in hell. The time is extremely short, the evil is getting worse and Satan knows his time is short. If you are living a life completely surrounded by sin and are willingly participating in that sin you are going to be in trouble. Your only hope is to repent from your sins, receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, get in your word and develop that strong personal relationship Jesus want to have with you.

My prayer is that we would see the light and live in the light. I pray that we would seek Your face and live under Your protection so we may share You with all that come into our life. In Jesus Mighty Name I Pray Amen! Amen!