Daniel Prophet and Man of God

The Little Horn
(8:8-14)

9 And out of one of them came forth a rather small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land.⁶ 10 And it grew up to the host of heaven⁷ and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down. 11 It even magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host; and it removed the regular sacrifice⁸ from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down. 12 And on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper.⁹ 13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, “How long will the vision about the regular sacrifice apply, while the transgression causes horror, so as to allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled?” 14 And he said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be properly restored.”

We should begin by noting that the focus of chapter 8 is the “little horn,” just as the “little horn” is the central focus of chapter 7.¹⁰ Six verses are devoted to the description of the ram and the goat. The origins of the “little horn” give little indication of the power and prominence to which this king eventually attains. After the one “large horn” of the goat is broken off (apparently the death of Alexander the Great), four lesser horns arise. The “little horn” emerges from one of these four horns. While rather small at first, it grows to be exceedingly great.

9-10 Verses 9-12 foretell the rise of a "small horn" (v. 9) from the midst of these four horns of the Diadochi. It is described as attaining success in aggression against the "south" (hannegeb), or the domains of the Ptolemies in Egypt. This evidently refers to the career of Antiochus IV Epiphanes ("the Manifest/Conspicuous One"), who usurped the Seleucid throne from his nephew (son of his older brother, Seleucus IV) and succeeded in invading Egypt 170-169 B.C.

Some historians say this verse alludes to the dowry paid by Antichus the III, who gave his daughter Cleopatra to Ptolemy the V as part of a peace settlement, and Antiochus the IV (Epiphanies) refused to pay the dowry any longer.

Antiochus Epiphanes, who sprung from the kingdom of the Seleucidae in Syria, or from Seleucus king of Syria, one of the four horns before mentioned: this is that sinful root said to come out from thence, in the Apocrypha:
``And there came out of them a wicked root Antiochus surnamed Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king, who had been an hostage at Rome, and he reigned in the hundred and thirty and seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.'' (1 Maccabees 1:10)
9. little horn --not to be confounded with the little horn of the fourth kingdom in#Da 7:8. The little horn in#Da 7:8
Lets compare:

7:8 comes out of the 4th kingdom 8:9 comes out of the 3rd kingdom

is given power by the 10 kings, ascends to the throne by one of the 4 rulers

uproots three kings to gain power

comes as an eleventh horn after ten preceding horns. In#Da 8:9 it is not an independent fifth horn, after the four previous ones, but it arises out of one of the four existing horns.

Now since the author of Daniel lays great emphasis on numbers and invests them with high significance, there is no possibility that he could have meant to equate a ten-horned beast with one bearing only four horns. The only really plausible explanation, therefore, is that the little horn arising from the third kingdom serves as a prototype of the little horn of the fourth kingdom.

This horn is explained(#Da 8:23) to be "a king of fierce countenance," etc. Antiochus Epiphanes is meant. Greece with all its refinement produces the first, that is, the Old Testament Antichrist. Antiochus had an extraordinarly love of art, which expressed itself in grand temples. He wished to substitute Zeus Olympius for Jehovah at Jerusalem. Thus first heathen civilization from below, and revealed religion from above, came into collision. Identifying himself with Jupiter, his aim was to make his own worship universal (compare#Da 8:25 with#Da 11:36);
so mad was he in this that he was called Epimanes (maniac) instead of Epiphanes (brilliant, shining).
None of the previous world rulers, Nebuchadnezzar(#Da 4:31-34), Darius(#Da 6:27,28), Cyrus(#Ezr 1:2 -4), Artaxerxes Longimanus(#Ezr 7:12), had systematically opposed the Jews' religious worship. Hence the need of prophecy to prepare them for Antiochus. (I Maccabees 2:59).
He is the forerunner or shadow of the final Antichrist, standing in the same relation to the first advent of Christ that Antichrist does to His second coming.
The sins in Israel which gave rise to the Greek Antichrist were that some Jews adopted Hellenic customs (compare#Da 11:30,32), erecting theaters, and regarding all religions alike, sacrificing to Jehovah, but at the same time sending money for sacrifices to Hercules. Such shall be the state of the world when ripe for Antichrist. At#Da 8:9 and #Da 8:23 the description passes from the literal Antiochus to features which, though partially attributed to him, hold good in their fullest sense only of his antitype, the New Testament Antichrist.
His expeditions against rebellious elements in Parthia and Armenia were initially successful "to the east" as well, and his determination to impose religious and cultural uniformity on all his domains led to a brutal suppression of Jewish worship at Jerusalem and generally throughout Palestine (here referred to as "the Beautiful Land" [hassebi, "glory," "adornment," "pride," apparently abbreviated from )eres- hassebi (11:16, 41), "the land of adornment," or "of glory"]).

The Hosts of Heaven

Continuing on with the predicted career of Antiochus (v. 10), we encounter the remarkable statement that he will grow up to "the host of heaven" and will throw "some of the starry host down to the earth," where he will "trample on them." The "host" (saba) is a term most often used of the armies of angels in the service of God (esp. in the frequent title YHWH sebaot, "Yahweh of hosts"), or else of the stars in heaven (cf. Jer 33:22). But it is also used of the people of God, who are to become as the stars in number (Gen 12:3; 15:5) and in Exodus 12:41 are spoken of as "the hosts of Yahweh" (NIV, "the LORD'S divisions") who went out of the land of Egypt. Daniel 12:3 states that true believers (hammaskil|m, "those who are wise") "will shine like the brightness of the heavens [kokabim, lit., `stars'--the same term used here in v. 10] for ever and ever."
The “little horn” seems to change before our eyes, from a mortal man to an incarnation of Satan himself. The focus seems to shift from the Israelites, Israel, Jerusalem, and the temple, to the “host of heaven” and the “stars of heaven.” Are these angels as they seem to be (see Revelation 12:4)? This prophecy suggests that much more exists here than meets the eye. Little wonder then that Bible students differ greatly about the meaning of these verses.¹¹
Read 8:23-25