Certainty in Uncertain Times

Daniel 8:1-27 

1 In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me—to me, Daniel—after the one that appeared to me the first time. 2 I saw in the vision, and it so happened while I was looking, that I was in Shushan, the citadel, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision that I was by the River Ulai. 3 Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and there, standing beside the river, was a ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. 4 I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward, so that no animal could withstand him; nor was there any that could deliver from his hand, but he did according to his will and became great.

5 And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. 6 Then he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing beside the river, and ran at him with furious power. 7 And I saw him confronting the ram; he was moved with rage against him, attacked the ram, and broke his two horns. There was no power in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled him; and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand.

8 Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven. 9 And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land. 10 And it 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.

13 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, "How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?"

14 And he said to me, "For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed."

15 Then it happened, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision and was seeking the meaning, that suddenly there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. 16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of the Ulai, who called, and said, "Gabriel, make this man understand the vision." 17 So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face; but he said to me, "Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end."

18 Now, as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me, and stood me upright. 19 And he said, "Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation; for at the appointed time the end shall be. 20 The ram which you saw, having the two horns—they are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 And the male goat is the kingdom of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king. 22 As for the broken horn and the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation, but not with its power.

23 "And in the latter time of their kingdom,
When the transgressors have reached their fullness,
A king shall arise,
Having fierce features,
Who understands sinister schemes.

24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power;
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.

26 "And the vision of the evenings and mornings
Which was told is true;
Therefore seal up the vision,
For it refers to many days in the future."

27 And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward I arose and went about the king's business. I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it.

Daniel had a vision of a Ram and a Goat, of daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, and the sanctuary and the host to be trampled.  After seeing many confusing things concerning what would unfold into history, Gabriel came to him and interpreted the waking dream to Daniel in yet more veiled language.  These things were not to be all comprehended at that time, just like in the final book of the Bible, but unveiled as certain nations and leaders (horns) arose and fell according to God’s sovereign purposes along His predetermined timeline.  The ram arose to conquer unopposed, the goat rushed in and felled him by trampling the horns of the ram so none could deliver from the goat’s hand of might.  This goat had one horn break off and exalted himself to heaven, and “it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them.”  This symbolism points at satan in his arrogant self-exalting pride (Isaiah 14:13) taking a third of heaven’s angels down at his fall from that place (Revelation 12:4).  The daily sacrifices were stopped (as when Rome leveled the temple in 70 AD) and truth was thrown down to the ground to be stomped away in his rage against the LORD and His Anointed to come (Psalm 2:1-2, Acts 4:25-27), who is Christ Jesus at the hands of Herod and Pontius Pilate.  Such evil seems to prosper in the history of the world, but we hold to the promise of the eternal kingdom to come and rest in the sovereign omnipotence of the King of kings and Lord of all lords who will defeat each of these in their appointed times.  Our God is lord of history and all in it, both in heaven and on earth.  Yes, we can attempt to count days and construct timelines by our limited understanding or we can instead hold on to the Lord who has all times (Psalm 31:15) in His hands.  There is nothing and no one to fear in all of history, past or present or future, besides the one who alone has the power of eternal judgment or deliverance (Luke 12:5) for all who trust in that Anointed One in whose hands we sit firmly (John 10:28-29) forever.  Gabriel gave comfort to Daniel by explaining that these things were to take place at the time end of the end, the judgment day at the appointed time when God holds all created beings accountable.  He described some of the kings and nations, but not all, such as the mighty unnamed king who will rise up and conquer with sinister schemes according to the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6:11) and destroy even the holy people of God.  Cunning and deception will be his weapons as he rises against the Prince of peace Himself, yet that one will be sovereignty dealt with by God Himself.  This vision was sealed up for us to consider when the end comes, not to be embroiled in the details and miss the mark of the gospel message by battling our own understanding of what God unveils as and when He wills.  Like Daniel, we can become sick and weak trying to comprehend it all and fear the wrong things by focusing on the end times events instead of the One in complete control of mall these things to come.  He promises to preserve and keep us in His grace no matter what tribulation we go through because we have that certain hope after death which no enemy or circumstance can remove or alter.  We above all people have certainty in uncertain times!