Daniel 8: 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.”
8:5
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.
The “goat” vision runs from verse five to verse eight. This vision symbolizes Greece (v.21). Alexander the Great is the obvious horn. Alexander advanced with lightening speed against Persia. His feat of conquering the Near and Middle East within three years is acknowledged as a great military achievement. Alexander’s strategic brilliance and use of the phalanx proved decisive in the face of massive numerical superiority of the Persian army.
8:6
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.
The goat (Alexander) ran at the ram (Persia) with particular ferocity. This description corresponds to the third beast of 7:6. Alexander crossed the Hellespont with about 35,000 troops. After crossing the Granicus River, he encountered the Persian army. His hatred for the Persians expressed itself in this ferocious battle in 334 B.C. Alexander subsequently fought the Persians on two other occasions.
8:7
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.
Alexander was victorious in Asia Minor in 334 B.C. at the Granicus River and at Issus in Phrygia in 333 B.C. He finally conquered Persia at Gaugamela near Nineveh in 331 B.C. At this point Alexander possessed all the land of the Persians.
8:8
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.
After Alexander conquered Persia, he extended his borders into Afghanistan and the Indus Valley. Alexander regarded himself as divine.
This verse indicates the premature death of Alexander and the division of his empire among his four generals. Alexander died of dipsomania (drunkenness) in June 323 B.C. He could conquer the world but he could not conquer himself. He died of debauchery in Babylon at age thirty-three. He died at the zenith of his triumphs.
His four generals Lysimacus, Cassander, Seleucus and Ptolemy (11:4) divided the kingdom of Greece. Lysimacus took Thrace, Bithynia and most of Asia Minor; Cassander ruled over Macedonia and Greece; Ptolemy ruled over Egypt and maybe Palestine and Arabia Petraea; Seleucus took Syria and lands to the east including Babylonia.
PRINCIPLE:
The Word of God can have an effect on unbelievers.
APPLICATION:
History gives us an interesting story about Alexander and Jerusalem. The Jewish historian Josephus says that when Alexander approached Jerusalem to take the city, the high priests showed him this prophecy in Daniel eight. Alexander was so impressed with this prophecy that he spared Jerusalem.
