DANIEL 8
EXEGESIS
By P.T. Khumalo
Revere God Ministries
Dream or Vision?
24 JANUARY 2023
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This chapter is an elaborate of Daniel 7
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Daniel 8 is NOT A DREAM but a VISION! That
makes a huge difference.
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It is roughly a year after Daniel’s dream of Chapter 7.
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We are clear that Daniel 7 was a dream and not a
vision.
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It is not clear what the author is referring to when he
says: “… after the one that had already appeared to
me”.
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Pastor John Bradshaw of “It is Written” Ministry, says
this refers to Chapter 7, but Chapter 7 clearly isn’t a
vision but a dream despite a use of the word “vision”!
Dan 7:1
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Smartbrief.com explains the Difference between the
two: “Is there a difference between a dream and a
vision? Reality dictates that while visions are
comprised of dreams, dreams are
not visions. Dreams are flights of fancy. Visions are
directives.”
(https://www.smartbrief.com/original/2019/01/dreams
-and-visions-whatsSERIES
- DANIEL 8
DANIEL PROPHECY
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Verse 2 – Future
Capital
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“In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa in
the province of Elam;…”
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Citadel = a stronghold into which people could go
for shelter during a battle (Online Dictionary).
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Susa = was an ancient city in the lower Zagros
Mountains about 250 km (160 mi) east of the Tigris
River, between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers. One of
the most important cities of the Ancient Near East,
Susa served as the capital of Elam and
the Achaemenid Empire, and remained a strategic
center during the Parthian and Sasanian periods.
(Wikipedia)
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The prophet was transported through time and
space to a FUTURE CAPITAL CITY OF PERSIA.
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This was where Alexander the Great was going to
conquer Persia, roughly 12 years before the death of
Belshazzar.
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Canal = Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Canal
Canals are waterways channels, or artificial waterways,
for water conveyance, or to service water transport
vehicles. They may also help with irrigation. It can be
thought of as an artificial version of a river.
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“I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two
horns, standing beside the canal,…”
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Notable in this vision, is a shift from beasts, wild beasts
to domestic animals.
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This should cause us to shift as well from what we
have learnt so far about PROPHETIC KEYS!
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We had said:
• In prophecy, a beast represents a KINGDOM
• A head represents a MONARCH or HEAD OF THE
STATE
• A horn represents a RULER or a MONARCH or
Head of the State.
•
We should expect a temporal change in these
prophetic keys.
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Such keys we shall call “VARIABLE KEYS” because
they can represent more than one prophetic
interpretation, depending on the explanation given
in that context.
•
Those prophetic keys that remain the same at any
given time, we shall call them CONSTANT KEYS
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DANIEL PROPHECY SERIES - DANI EL 8
Verse 3 – The
Ram
Verse 3 – The Ram
Cont.
• These are such keys like:
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The Beast
Many waters / sea
Wind, etc.
The “VARIABLE KEY” should always be
explained in that chapter and context.
These should NOT be used OUTSIDE
OF THAT CHAPTER or CONTEXT.
The explanation should ALWAYS BE
GIVEN BY GOD through a medium He
choses at that time.
The prophet noted that the horns were
long, one of which was even longer.
The LONGER HORN grew up later!
Up to this point, there is no change in the
prophetic keys!
DANIEL PROPHECY SERIES - DANIEL 8
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Verse 4 – The Ram
Cont.
• “I watched the ram as he
charged towards the west and
the north and the south…”
• This charging, means
expanding his dominion!
• This we get from the
continuation of the verse as it
reads: “… No animal could
stand against him, none
could rescue from his power.
He did as he pleased and
became great.”
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Verse 5 – He-goat
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“As I was thinking about this, suddenly a
goat with a prominent horn between his
eyes came from the west crossing the
whole earth without touching the
ground.”
This animal introduced again here is
domesticated.
Not only is it domestic, but also used in the
SANCTUARY SERVICES.
In chapter 7, this was a leopard with 4
wings, designating his speed in conquest.
This time, he is depicted as crossing the
whole world without touching the
ground.
This is as good as FLYING.
He appears unexpectedly “SUDDENLY”
We also are noting that he comes FROM
the WEST.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_Alexander_the_Great
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Verses 6,7
6“He
came towards the two-horned ram I had seen standing
beside the canal and charged at him in great rage.” 7 “I saw
him attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering
his two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against him;
the goat knocked him to the ground and trampled on him, and
none could rescue the ram from his power.”
In Chapter 7, we noted the speed of the
leopard beast. We noted that it is fast by
nature, yet it was given 4 wings which also
symbolize swiftness.
In this chapter, though it is no longer a
leopard, but a goat, we note that it is so fast
that the prophet sees it flying (not touching
the ground).
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Map Analysis.
• We also are noting the DIRECTION from
which this goat came, the WEST.
• From the map on the left, we can clearly
see that the Greeks were on the western
side of the Persian Empire at that time.
• Number of Persian cities that revolted
from their Empire at the time of Grecian
attack (red circles), it becomes clear that
Persia became powerless as the Bible
says.
• Indeed, his two horns were shattered.
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• Other commentaries say the He-goat’s
attack was: “ striking a death-blow to
this kingdom which had been
instrumental in the return of the Jews
to their land and in the rebuilding of the
DANIEL PROPHECY SERIES
temple.”
- DANIEL
https://bible.org/seriespage/9-ram-goat8
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• “The goat became VERY GREAT
but at the height of his power his
large horn was broken off, and in its
place four prominent horns grew up
towards the four winds of heaven.”
• I would like us to test our
understanding of the prophetic
keys.
• It should be noted that this is the
trickiest part of Daniel 8 and most
interpreters often stumble here.
• Look at the picture on the left and
agree or disagree with this
interpreter.
• Do you agree that the Goat
represented
Alexander the
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2023
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Verse 8 –
Prominent Horn
Verse 9 – Tricky
Prophecy
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We have just said that this prophecy gets tricky.
Let us follow the verse:
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“Out of one of them, came another horn, which started
small but grew in power to the South, and to the East and
towards the Beautiful land.”
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DANIEL
Are we seeing 4 kingdoms on the head of this
goat?
• Obviously 5 horns as depicted by this artist.
• This is where things get trickier!
• We need to mark that so far; a Lion kingdom is
past; followed by a Bear / Ram kingdom!
• We are currently on the Leopard / He-goat
kingdom.
• Suddenly the emphasis shifts from
beasts/animals to the HORNS!
• There is NO MORE BEAST we are going to be
introduced to, NO MORE!
• Yet we are introduced to the 4th kingdom via A
HORN.
PROPHECY SERIES
- DANIEL 8
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Verse 9 –
Little
Horn
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This verse is concerned with the LITTLE HORN.
It started small but grew in power. This is in contrast with the rest of
the horns in that they are said to be PROMINENT. Verse 8
This horn does not come out of the head of the goat, on 1 of the
horns!
Can you then associate this horn with the “Goat”?
Notice the subtle transition here from the 3rd kingdom to the 4th!
From what was given Dan.2:40 “…it will crush and break all others”,
and Dan 7:7b “…it was different from all the former beasts…”
We can now see this “difference from all the former…” it did not
come to power the same way as the other kingdoms.
Verse 9
Rome Founder
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Just how different was this kingdom? It was
no longer a Monarchy but a Republic!
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It’s original founder was Romulus, a twin,
who had to kill his twin brother to found this
kingdom, and name it after himself.
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“In 450 B.C., the first Roman law code
was inscribed on 12 bronze tablets–
known as the Twelve Tables–and publicly
displayed in the Roman Forum. These laws
included issues of legal procedure, civil
rights and property rights and provided the
basis for all future Roman civil law. By
around 300 B.C., real political power in
Rome was centered in the Senate, which
at the time included only members of
patrician and wealthy plebeian families.”
https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-rome/ancientrome#:~:text=After%20450%20years%20as%20a,A.D.%20was
%20one%20of%20the
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So far, we have seen Empires coming and
going.
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With this He-goat, an Empire was
shattered and utterly destroyed.
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What is the difference? Look at the picture
on the left.
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With this in mind, we can safely say that
when Alexander the Great died, that was
the death of an Empire as well.
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The Bible predicted that after him would
come kingdoms, and not empires.
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Having said that, then we need to refine
our prophetic keys
• Beast = Empire
• Horn = King / Kingdom
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Empire vs Kingdom
Verse 9 – Dan. 7 Short
Revision.
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Let us make a short revision of Daniel 7.
 The 1st Beast, a Lion, had “its wings torn off, lifted
from the ground and made to stand on two feet
like a man, was given a heart of a man.” Dan. 7:4
 The 2nd Beast, a Bear, was told to “get up and
eat…” Dan. 7:5b
 The 3rd Beast, a Leopard, was “given authority to
rule” Dan. 7:6
 The 4th Beast, UNEXPLAINED, was neither given
any authority to rule nor told what to do!
 It is for that reason, the sooner it began to rule,
JUDGMENT was set, and the DOMINION was given
to Christ (the Son of Man) and His SAINTS to rule
forever!
The 4th Beast is an ILLEGITIMATE kingdom! No
wonder it fought against the SAINTS, thought to change
times, laws, and spoke pompously against THE MOST
HIGH!
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Why “towards the Beautiful Land?
• “…but grew in power to the South, and to the East and towards
the Beautiful Land.”
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Benson’ Commentary says, “And toward the pleasant land — Or, the land of
Judea, called the pleasant land, by the holy writers, as being chosen by God
for the place of his people’s habitation, and of his house or temple.”
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It also says, “The cruelties which Antiochus Epiphanes exercised in Judea
seem to be the primary subject of the following verses.”
• The Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible suggests that Israel might had called on this
cruelty to befall them by committing the sins mentioned below:
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The sins in Israel which gave rise to the Greek Antichrist were that some Jews adopted Hellenic customs (cf. Daniel
11:30; Daniel 11:32), erecting theaters, and regarding all religions alike, sacrificing to Yahweh, but at the same time
sending money for sacrifices to Hercules. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged
• Bridgeway Bible Commentary says: “One of these sectors was centred on Syria. From this sector there
arose, many years later, a king (‘a little horn’) who attacked God’s people and even God himself (‘the
stars of heaven and the Prince of those stars’). This king, (Antiochus Epiphanes), stopped the regular
sacrifices that the Jews offered each morning and evening, set up Greek idols and a heathen altar in their
holy temple, and forced the Jews to carry out practices that he knew their law prohibited (9-12; see also v.
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23-25).2023
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Why “towards the
Beautiful Land?
• In the light of the Great Controversy, it
becomes clear who the target was and
why.
• Henry’ Complete Commentary on the Bible
says: “He could not have done this if God
had not permitted him to do it, could have
had no power against Israel unless it had
been given him from above. God put this
power into his hand and gave him a host
against the daily sacrifice.”
• This to us seems to agree with the afore
mentioned activity of this “little horn” and
that even then God was still in control
even though He was not acknowledged
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so.
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