Dan 8:20-21 | KingComments | STEP | Gabriel introduces his interpretation with the promise that he will let Daniel know “what will occur at the final period of the indignation”. The application and interpretation is therefore about the end time. It is called here the “period of indignation”. The expression “indignation” is used in Isaiah for the indignation of God upon His people who have turned away from Him, following the antichrist ( ). It is the time of great tribulation. The fact that it is about the time of the end means that the explanation goes beyond the immediate or near future. The near future is about the conquest by the Greeks of the empire of the Medes and Persians. We see this in the meaning of the ram and the male goat. What these represent, is clearly said. We also hear about the one large horn and the four horns that replace it. The first king is Alexander. Upon his death, his kingdom was divided among his four generals. This division also means the end of the power of the Greek empire. None of the four parts had the power Alexander had. When the four kings are at the end of their power, an “insolent” king will arise. That is the small horn, or the earlier mentioned Antiochus Epiphanes. The reason for his rise is not primarily the approaching end of the kingship of the four kings, but the behavior of the apostates. It concerns the apostates of God’s people. There comes a moment when the degenerate Jews have made full the measure of their iniquity (cf. ; ; ). That is the moment when they are ripe for the destruction that God will bring upon them through Antiochus as a discipline. Besides his insolent deeds, this king is also “skilled in intrigue”, which indicates the corruptness of his character. He achieves his goals by exercising a reign of terror and the use of lies and deceit. The great power he develops he does not possess by himself: “His power will be mighty, but not by his [own] power.” He owes his strength to another power. By this other power he is strong and he succeeds in his pursuit of causing destruction. It can’t be otherwise but if someone who takes pleasure in causing destruction is an instrument of the devil. The remark “that he will destroy to an extraordinary degree” also shows this. Someone of whom you do not expect to be so powerful and yet to be so, has help from the realm of darkness. He has sold his soul to the devil who rewards him with ‘power’. To this aim, the devil uses Russia, the mighty empire in the far north ( ). The fact that the driving force behind Antiochus is the devil is also shown by the fact that he wants to cause destruction among God’s people in particular. He will do it and he will succeed. We know it is because he – without being aware of it – is used by God as a means of discipline in His hand. However, this does not absolve him from his corrupt actions through and through, which will also be judged by God, as we read at the end of . God knows how to use man’s evil deeds, for which he is fully responsible himself, for His purpose. His goal is the welfare of His people and the glorification of His Son by those people. The “mighty men” he destroys are the leaders of Israel who lead the people into the apostasy. He will also destroy “the holy people”. Despite the apostasy of the people, God’s Spirit calls them here “the holy people”. That is what the people should have been: a people set apart from all peoples to live only for God. But because they rejected Him and surrendered to the idolatry of the nations, they are surrendered by God to their enemies, here in the person of the cruel, wicked Antiochus. This is not a new way of acting by God. We see in the book of Judges several times that God surrenders His people into the hands of their enemies when they have departed from Him. He does so that they may return to Him. When they call upon Him, He sends a liberator. This can also happen in our personal lives. When we depart from the Lord, He sometimes has to give us up to the power of sin. Then we learn the reign of sin through experiencing the power of sin. By this we will remember how good it was when we followed the Lord and served Him. We hear that also from the prodigal son and what he says in the parable the Lord Jesus tells ( ). The result is that we will then acknowledge with repentance our wrong path. We will know that the Father awaits us and takes us in His arms when we come back to Him. In attention is once again drawn to his cunning. Because he is cunning, he manages to be deceitful. He may well conceal his true intention and exercise power over others. His success will make him proud. He will boast of his prosperity. Somehow he will succeed in gaining a foothold in Israel. If the Jews think they have nothing to fear from him and they are at rest, he will strike and kill many. In his pride he will even venture to stand up against the Lord Jesus, as if he could destroy Him too. But he dies suddenly by the hand of God ( ; ).

‏ Daniel 8:20-21

The Interpretation of the Vision

Gabriel introduces his interpretation with the promise that he will let Daniel know “what will occur at the final period of the indignation”. The application and interpretation is therefore about the end time. It is called here the “period of indignation”. The expression “indignation” is used in Isaiah for the indignation of God upon His people who have turned away from Him, following the antichrist (Isa 10:25 ; Isa 26:20). It is the time of great tribulation.

The fact that it is about the time of the end means that the explanation goes beyond the immediate or near future. The near future is about the conquest by the Greeks of the empire of the Medes and Persians. We see this in the meaning of the ram and the male goat. What these represent, is clearly said. We also hear about the one large horn and the four horns that replace it. The first king is Alexander. Upon his death, his kingdom was divided among his four generals. This division also means the end of the power of the Greek empire. None of the four parts had the power Alexander had.

When the four kings are at the end of their power, an “insolent” king will arise. That is the small horn, or the earlier mentioned Antiochus Epiphanes. The reason for his rise is not primarily the approaching end of the kingship of the four kings, but the behavior of the apostates. It concerns the apostates of God’s people. There comes a moment when the degenerate Jews have made full the measure of their iniquity (cf. Mt 23:32; Gen 15:16; 1Thes 2:16). That is the moment when they are ripe for the destruction that God will bring upon them through Antiochus as a discipline. Besides his insolent deeds, this king is also “skilled in intrigue”, which indicates the corruptness of his character. He achieves his goals by exercising a reign of terror and the use of lies and deceit.

The great power he develops he does not possess by himself: “His power will be mighty, but not by his [own] power.” He owes his strength to another power. By this other power he is strong and he succeeds in his pursuit of causing destruction. It can’t be otherwise but if someone who takes pleasure in causing destruction is an instrument of the devil. The remark “that he will destroy to an extraordinary degree” also shows this. Someone of whom you do not expect to be so powerful and yet to be so, has help from the realm of darkness. He has sold his soul to the devil who rewards him with ‘power’. To this aim, the devil uses Russia, the mighty empire in the far north (Eze 38:2-6 ; 14-16 ; Eze 39:1-2).

The fact that the driving force behind Antiochus is the devil is also shown by the fact that he wants to cause destruction among God’s people in particular. He will do it and he will succeed. We know it is because he – without being aware of it – is used by God as a means of discipline in His hand. However, this does not absolve him from his corrupt actions through and through, which will also be judged by God, as we read at the end of Dan 8:25. God knows how to use man’s evil deeds, for which he is fully responsible himself, for His purpose. His goal is the welfare of His people and the glorification of His Son by those people.

The “mighty men” he destroys are the leaders of Israel who lead the people into the apostasy. He will also destroy “the holy people”. Despite the apostasy of the people, God’s Spirit calls them here “the holy people”. That is what the people should have been: a people set apart from all peoples to live only for God. But because they rejected Him and surrendered to the idolatry of the nations, they are surrendered by God to their enemies, here in the person of the cruel, wicked Antiochus. This is not a new way of acting by God. We see in the book of Judges several times that God surrenders His people into the hands of their enemies when they have departed from Him. He does so that they may return to Him. When they call upon Him, He sends a liberator.

This can also happen in our personal lives. When we depart from the Lord, He sometimes has to give us up to the power of sin. Then we learn the reign of sin through experiencing the power of sin. By this we will remember how good it was when we followed the Lord and served Him. We hear that also from the prodigal son and what he says in the parable the Lord Jesus tells (Lk 15:17). The result is that we will then acknowledge with repentance our wrong path. We will know that the Father awaits us and takes us in His arms when we come back to Him.

In Dan 8:25 attention is once again drawn to his cunning. Because he is cunning, he manages to be deceitful. He may well conceal his true intention and exercise power over others. His success will make him proud. He will boast of his prosperity. Somehow he will succeed in gaining a foothold in Israel. If the Jews think they have nothing to fear from him and they are at rest, he will strike and kill many. In his pride he will even venture to stand up against the Lord Jesus, as if he could destroy Him too. But he dies suddenly by the hand of God (Dan 2:45; Job 34:20).