He magnified himself even to the prince of the host.

by Alejandro Roque Glez

“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 Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai. Then I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns… and as I was considering, behold, a goat came… and touched not the ground… and when he was strong… and out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south… Yes, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of the sanctuary was cast down.”

(Daniel 8:2-27)

This prophecy, written in the third year of the reign of Belshazzar––the last king of the Babylonian Empire––is a more detailed explanation in which the archangel Gabriel (v.16) describes to Daniel, on the empires that would follow the fall of Babylon; something already revealed, in general terms, during the vision of the statue in times of king Nebuchadnezzar (Belshazzar’s grandfather); written in chapter 2 of the book.

In this prophecy rams are symbolized as future kings and emperors. The ‘ram’ which had ‘two horns’ (v.3-4) were the kings of Media and Persia (v.20), the Medo-Persian Empire that should soon emerge (538 BC), since the moment when Daniel prophesies it (v.1) it was happening last years (555-538 BC) of the Babylonian apogee under its last king co-regent Belshazzar (5:28-31). The Medo-Persian Empire was imposed according to its own will, and became great usurping all the nations and kingdoms of the one––then to be overthrown––Babylonian Empire.

The ‘male goat’ coming from the west on the face of all the earth having a ‘notable horn’ (v.5), is the king of Javan or Greece (v.21); that is, the future Greek Empire (336-146 BC). The ‘notable horn’ or first king refers to the founder of the Empire: Alexander the Great who with lightning speed, in less than ten years, conquered then the entire civilized world. No man, under his sole command had achieved such a feat in the history of mankind. For this swift conquest is that prophecies call him the brave (11:3); albeit, as always, he was lifted up and greatly exalted himself to the point of having people to bow before him like a god. The followed consequence was that close to the thirteen year of his Empire (336-323 BC) he died of malarial fever––others believe he was poisoned––as the most common of men. The vanity and immoralities always doing pieces of well endowed humans!

His empire, nevertheless, continued its course, but it was divided into four kingdoms (v.8). The four leading generals of Alexander the ancient history records disputed the throne after the death of the Greek conqueror, and this made the empire to be divided into those four kingdoms––and local subkingdoms––strong enough to war among themselves vying for supremacy. The four most representative kingdoms were:

1- The kingdom of the Ptolemies (323-30 B.C). These dynastic kings took over Egypt as their private property.

2- The kingdom of the Seleucids (323-64 B.C). It was actually a conglomeration of different peoples and heterogeneous countries which were located then on the Asian side under the command of Alexander the Great.

3- The kingdom of the Antigónidas (323-148 BC). Once Antipater died (319 BC), Macedonia (Greece) was taken by his son Cassander, who quickly distributed his supporters and followers to occupy positions in front of all the Greek states; making himself king of Macedonia.

4- The Kingdom of Pergamum (283-133 B.C). Pergamon was an ancient city of Asia Minor, built by Lysimachus, one of Alexander’s successors. Lysimachus, and thanks to a propitious and favorable political situation, gained its independence as a state in 283 BC; and that is why we have mentioned about the local political activities which also existed and gravitated within the major powers.

The prophet Daniel reveals that these “four notable ones,” or four kingdoms (v.8) were swallowed by the rising, impetuous, and mighty Roman Empire (146 BC-476 AD) which unstoppably rose once it conquered Macedonia (v.9), then being under the rule of the Antigónidas and now subjected by Rome, thus becoming a superpower subjugating the rest of the civilized world (then less than 200 million inhabitants); extending its borders in such a way that at its peak and splendor (46 BC-180 AD) reached from the Atlantic Ocean to the Euphrates River; and from the North Sea to the African desert itself. It was big, powerful and very strong (v.10), to the point that its emperors called Caesars (Lk 2:1, 3:1, 20:25) in their great arrogance and unlimited pride made others to worship and bow down before them.

Apparently Rome has not changed much since.

Even against the Jewish people––carrier of the Holy Scriptures––they magnified against (v.11), and was in 70 AD that Titus, son of emperor Vespasian (59-79 AD), invaded the city of Jerusalem and destroyed its Temple and Sanctuary (until today), perishing in it more than a million Jews during the siege and capture of the city, starting with the Diaspora of Abraham’s descendants through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob; until 1948 on which the current state of Israel was founded.

A day is coming when a remnant of the Jewish people will understand and appreciate their Messiah Christ, having allowed himself to be abused, whipped, punched, spitted, cursed, and crucified;and with his resurrection beating death forever and bringing his Eternal Kingdom (Rev 20:4-6) of justice in the Plan that Yahweh God formed from the very Creation (Gn 3:15) and thus bringing salvation and redemption to mankind.

(Also read the author's book entitled: 'The Great Peacemaker from Hell,' which recreates in a narrative form the final events, now very close.

[These and other Old Testament prophecies are explicatively compiled in the author's book entitled: 'Major Prophets of the Old Testament;' in print and digital editions]

{ Click here if you wish or need to Contact Us }