Change in World Monarchies, 8 Pt.1

By Charles Feinberg

Charles Feinberg:

This is the fourth message on the by Dr. Charles Lee Feinberg, Dean of

Talbot Theological Seminary at La Mirada California. In the previous lectures and messages, we had chapters one and two, the course of world monarchies. In chapters 3-6, the conduct of world monarchies. How world monarchs conduct themselves when they are in power. In chapter 7, we saw the climax in God's monarchy after the fourth kingdom, the coming of the kingdom of the

Lord, or of the Most High where the saints of the most high inherit the kingdom.

Today, in this lecture, we are in chapter 8, the change in world monarchies. There's a change between two monarchies. Power shifting from the second monarchy, the second kingdom, the second empire, into the third empire. We may call it the vision of the ram and the he-. And you will notice when we have animals used we're having the same type of figure that was employed in Chapter 7\. The same kind of symbol for gentile world rule fierce, rapacious beast. Now this chapter in the main covers the transference of power, the change in power from the second to the third empire. That is to say from Medo-Persia to Greece. If you wanted under the figure of chapter two, it's passing from the breasts and arms of silver to the body and thighs of brass of the image in chapter two. If you wanted after the delineation, portrayal in chapter 7, it's the going from the power of the bear to the power of the leopard in the vision that we had in the previous chapter, chapter 7\. Now just as in chapter 9 as we shall see, a Feinberg: Change in World Monarchies, Daniel Ch. 8 pt. 1 portion has been fulfilled in the past and a portion remains yet to be fulfilled. So with chapter 8 far too many see only past events in chapter 8\. But in these 27 verses of chapter 8, there are events of the past but there are also at the end of this chapter events that lie yet even beyond us in the time future.

Now chapter 8 is more closely connected with chapter 11, just as chapter 7 and 9 and 2 are connected to 7 and 9, so chapter 8 has its greatest affinity with chapter 11\. We see in chapter

7 and 9 the in prominence. It's the predominant figure in world rule. In chapters 8 and 11, it is features of the third kingdom, the Grecian kingdom and successors that came in the

Grecian Empire and the king of the north that are emphasized. Now we come to this vision of the ram and the he-goat. The vision itself is given in the first fourteen verses and in fifteen to twenty seven we have the interpretation of the vision. The chapter divides practically in half. Notice in the first 8 verses, the vision proper because from verse 9 through 14 we're gonna have further detail along a certain line. We read that in the third year of the reign of King , a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel after that which appeared unto me at the first, meaning what he saw in the 7th chapter. This is something separate; something that happened subsequently, after God granted him the previous disclosure.

And I saw in a vision, and it came to pass when I saw that I was at Shushan, in the palace which is in the province of . And I saw in a vision and I was by the river of Ulai. Then I lifted up mine eyes and saw and behold there stood before the river a ram which had two horns.

And the two horns were high but one was higher than the other and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward and northward and southward so that no beast might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand, but he did according to his will and became great. And as I was considering, behold a he goat came from the west over the face of

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Feinberg: Change in World Monarchies, Daniel Ch. 8 pt. 1 the whole earth and touched not the ground. The goat had a notable horn between his eyes. And he came to the ram that had two horns which I had seen standing before the river and ran unto him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come close unto the ram and he was moved with anger against him and smote the ram and broke his two horns and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground and stamped upon him and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. Therefore the he-goat grew very great. And when he was strong the great horn was broken and for it came up four notable one toward the four winds of heaven.

There's the vision proper in the first eight verses of this chapter. You need compare chapter 8:1 the third year of the reign of Belshazzar with chapter 7 verse one where you have the first year of Belshas- so this was two years later than the previous vision. Our present vision then is two years after the one given in chapter 7\. Daniel tells us that this vision appeared to him in

Shushan. He was at Shushan in the palace. This is the capital of Persia. The city of .

Shushan abirah. It's mentioned in the book of Esther. It's the capital city of Persia. It was prominent, very prominent in the book of Esther, that's where the events took place. There with

Esther and King , [SP] and her relative Esther's relative Mordecai and the enemy of

Israel, Haman. That was the setting, the capital city of Shushan. Daniel saw it in vision; he was probably transported there in spirit just as Ezekiel being down in was transported in

Ezekiel the eighth chapter back to . It was transportation in vision. God gave him the revelation in that form. He wasn't there physically, bodily, but he was there mentally and he was there spiritually. Now while Daniel was looking, he lifted up his eyes. He saw a ram, a ram. Now the ram in this instance is the Medo-Persian Empire. If we're in doubt about it, we have the identity in the 20th verse.

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Feinberg: Change in World Monarchies, Daniel Ch. 8 pt. 1

The spirit of God himself gives us the all sufficient and adequate definitive interpretation.

The ram, which thou sawest having two horns are these the kings of Media and Persia. So the ram is Medo-Persia. The ram was, in historic times the emblem of the Medo-Persian Empire.

Coins have been unearthed by Archaeologist with a rams head on one side and a reclining lamb on the other. Just as the lion was the symbol, even the winged lion of Babylon, so the ram is taken out as it was the normative, usual figure representation of Medo-Persia. You'll notice that the ram had two horns. There were two principle rulers, notice the accuracy of Scripture again.

Darius the Mede who came in at the end of the fifth chapter of Daniel and over through

Belshazzar , a general in the army of Cyrus the Persian. He had two horns. It is a confederate empire. It is a consolidation between two parts of the eastern world. They had Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian. Of these two, notice the accuracy again. The two horns were high but one was higher than the other, the higher came up last. Yes, Cyrus the Persian was the greater. He was the more powerful one and we know it now sometimes not as Medo-Persian

Empire but more particularly the Persian Empire.

And it did come up last it came on the scene later because Darius the Mead was operating as a general in the campaign and did the actual what we'd call footwork. And as Daniel looks he sees that ram pushing westward. That's where they're all heading, toward that great center of the

Mediterranean. So Medo-Persian Empire moves west, definitely north, and south. You notice it moved in every direction except toward the east. There is where Scripture will speak of events in a much later time. That's the area, in the far, far east where the kings of the sun rising are. And at this time, they were definitely not on the scene of world events and of world activity. They were, as it were, a slumbering Giant which has come into its own only in this 20th century. Now some have pointed out specific points where this ram did his work of campaigning west, north, and

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Feinberg: Change in World Monarchies, Daniel Ch. 8 pt. 1 south. They point out Lydia, Babylon, Egypt. These may well be the [inaudible] mentioned but others could be included. All these we know from historical sources were subjugated by the

Medo-Persian Empire. But that's not all that's said about this ram. He was irresistible. No one could deliver out of his hand. He did according to his will and became great. The Persian

Empire, if you'll read historical sources outside the , extra-biblical historical sources you'll see what a tremendous power Persia was. But the time came when the Persian Empire, the

Medo-Persian Empire had to go off the scene as well. Just as God had indicated in \. Just as God had indicated in \.

And as I was considering behold a he goat came from the west. Here comes a western power moving eastward over the face of the whole earth, and he touched not the ground. And the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. Now who is the he-goat? Well, if the ram is Medo-

Persia, we know what power it was that put an end to the rule of the sovereignty of Medo-Persia.

It was Greece. And we need not look farther when we see this very chapter, verse 21\. And the rough goat is the king of Greece. And the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. So the he-goat is Greece. Medo-Persia was brought to and end as an empire by the superior force of

Greece under Alexander. But notice this he-goat is so swift like the leopard in the 7th chapter of

Daniel. We read he touched not the ground. He ran so swiftly, and with such ferocity that he was lifted above the ground in a tremendous thrust. And he had a notable horn. No question that that's

Alexander the Great himself. He was the son of Phillip II of Macedon. Macedonia is a part of

Greece. He was the son of Phillip II of Macedon and after Persia had pushed its conquest to the west and had so humiliated Greece Alexander made it a life ambition. He promised himself that before he died, if he did nothing else, he would wreak vengeance on the invading Persians. And he did it. He did it in a way beyond what anyone would have expected. The Greeks had long

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Feinberg: Change in World Monarchies, Daniel Ch. 8 pt. 1 been chafing under the foreign dominations and invasions. And we see that when he came to the ram that had the two horns, ran in the fury of his power. You have so many words here. For anger, for indignation, for wrath. So he ran under him, that is the he goat ran to the ram in the fury of his power, moved with anger, smote him, broke his two horns. No power of the ram to stand before him. Precisely what Alexander did, already the young man he was and yet with what lightning like speed he prosecuted, carried out his Blitzkrieg. The ram didn't have any power to stand before him just as previous time there was no beast that could stand before the ram. Now the ram couldn't stand before the he goat.

Learned friends, when God's time comes for the disillusion, for the end, for the consummation of a certain kingdom, nothing under high heaven or on earth or anywhere else can in one single way, for one single moment hinder that divine purpose. He cast him down to the ground, stamped on him. No one was able to deliver the Medo-Persian Empire when Alexander came and defeated it. So, we read in verse 8 the he goat grew very great. When it was strong, the great horn was broken, and for it came up four notable ones for the four winds of heaven. Yes, he died this Alexander did in the zenith of his power, in the early thirty’s, from physical excesses.

And in the place of the great horn, there came up four horns, and notice how wonderfully agreeable and harmonious this is with the four wings on the leopard’s back. And we'll see in the

11th chapter that there are four horns that come out of the Grecian Empire. And a horn, you remember is, on an animal the means whereby he shows his will, his power, his force, and here horn speaks of four powers or four who come from the Grecian Empire. In historic times,

Alexander's empire was divided among his four generals. He had a general by the name of

Ptolemy, and he took Egypt in the south, Cyllene, cylle-, and portions of Asia Minor.

Another general he had by the name of Cassander became the king of Macedon and Greece

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Feinberg: Change in World Monarchies, Daniel Ch. 8 pt. 1

Proper. Lysimachus, another general of Alexander took Thrace, Western Bethania, lesser

Phrygia, and Mysia, Lydia with a meander for a boundary. And then Seleucids, another general ruled over the rest of Asia Minor and the east.

So you have here one who is prominent in the south, Ptolemy in Egypt, and we know the

Seleucid kings, the Seleucid kings from Seleucus had the power in the area north of the land of promise proper namely the Seleucid kings were in Syria. It was a Greco-Syrian Empire. Now in verse 9 through verse fourteen we are going to have certain particulars concerning another horn.

And out of one of them, that is out of one of these four horns came forth a little horn, now please this little horn is not the same as chapter 7 cuz that one came up out of the ten horns of the fourth empire, please. You make a great and grave mistake to connect this little horn in with the horn in Daniel 7\. Daniel 7, the little horn there is from the fourth empire and please the fourth empire, no more than the first empire is in view in Daniel 8\. Daniel 8 is dealing only with two empires, the middle two. The transference of power, the removal of power from the second kingdom to the third kingdom. From Medo-Persia to Greece. Chapter 7, I repeat, it is Roman the horn from the revived Roman Empire. Here it is a part of the Grecian Empire. Grecian power that was divided into four parts. Now, out of one of them came forth a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south. And toward the east and toward the pleasant land, that's the land of promise.

And it grew great, even to the host of heaven. It cast down some of the host under the stars to the ground and stamped upon them. Yea he magnified himself, even to the prince of the host. And by him the dearly sacrificed was taken away and the place of his sanctuary was cast down, and a host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression. And it cast down the truth to the ground and it continued and prospered. And I heard one saint or one holy

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Feinberg: Change in World Monarchies, Daniel Ch. 8 pt. 1 one speaking and another holy one said unto that certain holy one who spoke how long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot. And he said unto me, unto two thousand and three hundred days then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. This my dear friends was fulfilled in

Antiochus Epiphanes, in the second century BC. Now there is an error abroad which makes

2,300 years so that they got finally up into the 19th century and along with that came a number of other very serious departures from the word of God which shall not detain us here. But this is a period of time, when you count 2,300 days you're gonna have just about the time that this little horn, Antiochus Epiphanes was on his rampage against the people of Israel. I say, this little horn of verse 9 in chapter 8 was fulfilled in Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria who ruled over Palestine also.

We're going to see he's a picture of a more complete fulfillment yet in the future.

Specifically the coming Anti-Christ. And when he grows exceedingly, when his power expands toward the east and the pleasant land it means toward Palestine. Scripture geography conceives of countries in relation to their position to Palestine. And then we read in verse 10 that he casts, he grows great even to the host of heaven. Cast down some of the host under the stars to the ground and stamped them. How could this man have power over the host of heaven? Well the thought is against those of position of honor and glory of Israel. We have stars in the book of

Revelation that don't mean literal stars in the Heavens and we talk about baseball stars and football stars and the like, so that is the concept here as well. Speaking of his tremendous power, his presumption, his blasphemy, his opposition to the things of God. Read the history of that time concerning Antiochus Epiphanes, he was a strange man. Epiphanes was an added name to the

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Feinberg: Change in World Monarchies, Daniel Ch. 8 pt. 1 name he had originally, Antiochus. He wanted the name Epiphanes because it's from the Greek word meaning illustrious one, revealed one.

And he wrought so many abominable things against the people of Israel that they surnamed him not Epiphanes but Appimanes [SP], the Mad Man. He was the 8th king of the

Seleucid Dynasty of the Syrian Throne. He was so busy in campaigns against Egypt, being the king of Syria that he went roughshod over Israel and come down the coast and then carry on his campaigns in Egypt back and forth and back and forth and one, on one occasion a report was circulated in Palestine that he had been put to death, that he had been mortally wounded in warfare in Egypt. And there was such tremendous rejoicing in Jerusalem and among the people of Israel that when Antiochus heard of it, he never forgave them. It reminds you of the case of

Mark Twain who facetiously said the report concerning my death has been grossly exaggerated.

Well, this was grossly exaggerated of course. It wasn't true at all but he never forgave them. His infamous deeds are recorded in the book of , that's outside the Bible. The book of

Maccabees is of good historical value but it is not of canonical authority.

His deeds are there outlined. It's a marvel that he was allowed to live out as many days as he did. He was a buffoon. He acted the part of the clown in the public squares, in the public baths. He had everything but the dignity of a ruler. He massacred 100,000 pious Jews. We know from history that he sold the priesthood to the highest bidder. It didn't mean a thing to him. He introduced lewd practices. He changed the feast of tabernacles to the feast of Bacchus, the God of wine and of debauchery and of all forms of loose morality, the true worship of God was forbidden. He wasn't satisfied with that alone. He went on and prohibited the observance of the

Sabbath. He prohibited the practice of circumcision for Jewish children. The entire worship of

God was forbidden. He was going to paganize them. He was going to Hellenize that part of the

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Feinberg: Change in World Monarchies, Daniel Ch. 8 pt. 1 world. He was gonna make it Greek, every wit. And then the final blow, the final indignity, the final act of blasphemy was his defiling of the temple. He sacrificed a sow, a pig, on the altar, a burnt offering in the temple of Zerubbabel that had been finished in 516 BC. He defiled that temple by offering a pig on the altar. He set up in place of no images at all, which were strictly forbidden as they are today in Israel, he set up the image of Jupiter. Of all things in the holiest of all he certainly outraged every religious, every spiritual sensibility of the Jews. He cared not one wit for any of them. And then, the scripture tells us that somehow, in the strange providence of

God he was allowed to do that you see. He took away the daily sacrifice; he put in his own

Idolatrous one. Place of the sanctuary was cast down. It was under his trampling feet, and the daily sacrifice was allowed to be done away because of his transgression in Israel. And he cast down truth to the ground, all these features that were indicated. These practices that had come out of Old Testament observance, they didn't mean a thing to him. And yet he seemed to continue and prosper oh my friends, perhaps this has worried you.

Why is it that a Hitler can prosper, why is it that a Stalin can prosper, why is it that the ungodly prosper? Read Psalm 37 and Psalm 73 on the prosperity of the ungodly. It's only for a time. It's only for a fraction of time and then God visits upon them, as he did upon Haman, as he did upon Pharaoh, as he did upon these kingdoms one after another. And then Daniel is allowed into the counsels above. He is allowed to be an interested Spectator and an interested hearer. And he overheard what was going on in conversation between one of the holy ones and the glory and the other, wanting to know about that sacrifice that was the most serious thing about that sanctuary. Being trampled underfoot. And the specific time is given here, 2,300 days. And if you will figure that out, according to a 360 day year, you will find that these are literal days, not to be symbolized, not to say that this is the entering of Christ into a heavenly sanctuary sometime in

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Feinberg: Change in World Monarchies, Daniel Ch. 8 pt. 1 the 19th century. The days cannot mean years. But if you take these days to be literal days, you'll find that it does exactly cover the period of Antiochus Epiphanes and his rampages and his ravings against the living God. They are not years but days. So Antiochus Epiphanes is the one in verses 9-14 he will be a picture, he will be a type of one who is spoken of in verses 23 and 25\.

Now thus far we have the vision of the ram and the he goat with more particulars on the little horn. And something concerning the interpretation will be coming on now. The remainder of the chapter is on the interpretation of the vision, the identity of the principle participants in these events and with a further word, just as it was a further word in verse 9 about a little horn, verses 23-27 we're going to have a very special individual before us in the interpretation. So reading in verse 15\. And it came to pass when I, even I Daniel had seen the vision and sought for the meaning. Then behold there stood before me one having the appearance of a man and I heard a man's voice between the banks of the Ulai who called and said , make this man to understand the vision. So he came near where I stood and when he came I was afraid and fell upon my face. But he said to me understand oh for at the time of the end shall be the vision. Now as he was speaking with me I was in a deep sleep with my face toward the ground but he touched me and set me upright. And he said behold I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation. For at the time appointed, the end shall be.

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