The Ram Tough GOAT | Sunday, July 30, 2023

In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me—to me, Daniel... I saw, and there, standing beside the river, was a ram which had two horns... Suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground... And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great... Then I heard a holy one speaking... "For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed." (Daniel 8, abridged)

Daniel's strange vision of a ram and a goat teaches us how to read Bible prophecy—and why God reveals the future at all.

Magic Eye Prophecy

Those who lived through the 1990s probably remember Magic Eye pictures—abstract images full of color that, if you stared long enough, revealed a hidden three-dimensional picture. Some people saw a T-rex or a whale; others stood there seeing nothing and feeling foolish.

Over the years I've discovered that a lot of Christians look at the apocalyptic visions of the Bible the same way. When we get into passages like the last half of Daniel, or Ezekiel, or Revelation, people stare intently and think they see things that may or may not actually be there. Sometimes we see more of what we want to see than what is actually there. And what do we call people who see things that aren't there? We call them crazy. So we must be careful to survey these things properly.

Fantasy Fiction or Good Exegesis

My concern coming into the apocalyptic genre is that much of what passes for interpretation of these passages is more akin to fantasy fiction than to good Bible study. It's fantasy fiction for Christians who don't read Harry Potter.

We need the proper principles of inductive Bible study, which moves through three steps: observation, interpretation, and application. But when people get into Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation, it often becomes observation, speculation, and application. Speculation is not one of the steps. Years ago we called this "newspaper eschatology"; today I'd call it "YouTube eschatology." Many people have built quite a following doing observation, speculation, and application of these texts, and more than a few Christians have gone down the algorithmic rabbit hole spending hour upon hour trying to decipher them.

Everybody Has an Eschatology

The hysteria reaches a fever pitch whenever chaotic or catastrophic things happen. Those who grew up in the Cold War remember the fear over the Soviet Union and "the bear" of Russia. (If you still have a map that says "Soviet Union," it's time to get a new map.) Then came Y2K—some of you still have a generator in your garage with gasoline from 1998 in it. Then 9/11, the Mayan calendar of 2012, every presidential election, COVID, the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Interspersed through it all are wars and rumors of wars, nation rising against nation, earthquakes, pestilences, persecution, and talk of peace accords in the Middle East.

This isn't only a Christian phenomenon. Everybody has an eschatology. Greta Thunberg is an evangelist for hers, fearful about what's coming. AOC has gone on record saying we have twelve years until we all die. People who don't believe the Bible can be just as bad as date-setting Christians. When the world or our own lives are shaken, our minds run out to the end, and "It's the End of the World as We Know It" plays on repeat.

The Late Great Planet Earth

We are made in God's image, and so we can grasp the finiteness of our lives and of this world. We look into the future, imagine an end, and wish someone could tell us what's coming. Astrology is a multi-billion dollar industry built on that longing.

Maybe you came to church because a Christian friend told you there is a way to know the future. Many of you may still have the dog-eared, highlighted bestseller on your shelf: The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey. It was the number-one non-fiction seller of the 1970s—10 million copies by the end of that decade, 28 million by 1990, 35 million by 1999, translated into more than 50 languages. As Christian books go, it's second only to Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Church.

It fanned the flames of what became America's doomsday industry—films like The Terminator, Armageddon, Deep Impact, and the Left Behind series. In the introduction, Lindsey writes that people are searching for answers, and his thesis is that the Bible contains "clear, unmistakable prophetic signs" being fulfilled before our eyes. I read it for the first time this past week, and through the lens of 2023 looking back to 1971, it's fascinating—because things did not turn out quite as proposed.

How I Learned to Hold This Loosely

When my family started attending Calvary Chapel of Escondido, I was told as a kid that as much as two-thirds of the Bible is predictive prophecy telling us what will happen in the last days. I learned the vocabulary—the tribulation, the Antichrist, the mark of the beast, the One World Government, the abomination of desolation, and the harpazo and the parousia (the rapture of 1 Thessalonians 4 and the Second Coming).

Out of this arose prophecy conferences, prophecy updates, names like Chuck Missler and cassette packs, then the Pre-Trib Research Center and endtimes.org. Like many people I knew, I became an amateur expert in all things dispensational—dispensational, pre-tribulational, pre-millennialism. At nineteen I could have articulated a confident statement about what is clearly going to happen, and I'd have thought it was all clearly stated in the Bible.

But when I actually dug into the Scriptures, I discovered that some of what Left Behind presented was simply filling in gaps. The Antichrist's name is not Nicolae Carpathia. I'm not saying these views have no validity. I'm saying we must be careful, because we see through a glass dimly and we know in part. If you have strong convictions about the future, make sure they're built from study of Scripture and not from a fiction series—and that you follow observation, interpretation, application, not observation, speculation, application.

I've watched a number of pastor friends shift their view of Bible prophecy in the wake of 2020—not because they found something new in Scripture, but because they wanted to change their behavior in response to the culture. If you're changing your beliefs to justify your behavior, you're doing it backward.

Future for Daniel, History for Us

So what does this have to do with Daniel 8? As you read Daniel 7–12, you find there certainly are predictions of things that would come to pass in the future from Daniel's point of view in the 6th century BC. But much of what was future for Daniel is history for us in 2023. Not all—I think some things still speak to our future—but much of it has already been fulfilled.

That raises the question: does this text still speak to us today? Yes—but the answer isn't always as neat and tidy as we'd like, and it won't be found in The Late Great Planet Earth. Looking forward, these prophetic illusions are cryptic and strange. Looking back, we can often see how they fit. But even the man who received the visions was scratching his head. At the end of chapter 7 Daniel says his thoughts troubled him, and at the end of chapter 8 he says, "I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for many days... I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it." If Daniel didn't fully get it after an angelic interpretation, why would we expect perfect clarity?

Read It Plainly

After decades of studying these passages, I think I have a good general sense of the plain meaning, but I'm very careful about making future pronouncements—because we see through a glass dimly. Approach the Bible with a plain-sense methodology. I appreciate Jordan Peterson, but he is terrible at interpreting Scripture; he grabs a Jungian, archetypal, psychological meaning when the text plainly says something else.

Point one: If the plain sense makes sense, seek no other sense. Consider when, where, by whom, to whom, and why a text was written. Many of you have been in a Bible study where someone says, "I think this means this for me," and you wonder where on earth they got it from the text. Their application may not be wholly invalid, but be careful.

The Vision of Daniel 8

In verse 1 Daniel gives us a temporal marker: "the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar," around 551 BC. He has a second vision (the first came around 553 BC), and in it he is transported some 200 miles east from Babylon to the citadel of Shushan in the province of Elam—the setting of Nehemiah and Esther, in modern-day Iran.

Standing by the river Ulai, he sees a ram with two horns, one higher than the other, the higher coming up last. The ram pushes westward, northward, and southward, and no animal can withstand it. Then a male goat—a hairy goat—comes from the west across the whole earth without touching the ground, moving very quickly, with a notable horn between its eyes. The goat runs at the ram with furious power, breaks its two horns, casts it down, and tramples it.

When the goat becomes strong, its large horn is broken off and four horns grow up in its place. Out of one of these comes a little horn that grows exceedingly great toward the south, the east, and the Glorious Land. It exalts itself, takes away the daily sacrifices, casts down the sanctuary, and casts truth to the ground. Daniel hears one holy one ask another how long the vision will last, and the answer is "for two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed." Totally clear, right? Except it isn't. Left with verses 1–14, we'd be at a loss and tempted to invent our own interpretation about laborers and capitalist overlords.

Let Scripture Interpret Scripture

Point two: As much as possible, let Scripture interpret Scripture. For years I taught Isaiah and Jeremiah at Calvary Chapel Bible College, sometimes to seventy or eighty students, and I always told them: to understand Isaiah or Jeremiah, familiarize yourself with Deuteronomy and with Kings and Chronicles. Those are the keys.

In Daniel 8, the interpretation is built right into the text. In verse 15, as Daniel seeks the meaning, one having the appearance of a man stands before him. The Hebrew word here isn't adam but geber, and a voice calls out, "Gabriel, make this man understand the vision." This is the angel Gabriel—the same Gabriel who later announces to Mary that she will bear a child. Daniel is afraid and falls on his face, and Gabriel tells him the vision refers to "the time of the end."

We read "the time of the end" and immediately think eschatology and the end of the world. But Daniel lived in 551 BC; the "end" Gabriel speaks of may concern Daniel and his people in exile, not necessarily you and me.

Medo-Persia, Greece, and Alexander

Gabriel then makes it remarkably specific. The ram with two horns is the kings of Media and Persia—and when Daniel received this, he was still twelve years from the Medo-Persians destroying Babylon. The male goat is the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is its first king. When that horn is broken, four kingdoms arise from it, "but not with the same power." And in the latter time of the Greek kingdom, a king of fierce features and sinister schemes arises, destroying the mighty and the holy people, even rising against the Prince of princes—but he is broken "without human means."

Critical scholars look at this with derision and insist Daniel must have been written centuries later, because it's "too accurate" to be a genuine prediction. But they say this only because they don't believe in the supernatural or in a God outside of time. What Daniel sees is an outline of the next 250 years. The goat with the great horn moving swiftly is Alexander the Great, who from age 24 to 32 expanded the Greek Empire from Macedon, overtaking everybody, including the Persians. One ancient historian tells us he despaired because he had nothing left to conquer, and he died at 32—before he'd even be old enough to be President of the United States—having conquered the known world.

Antiochus Epiphanes and the Little Horn

Alexander died without an heir, and his kingdom was split among his four chief generals—Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus. Seleucus ruled Syria and south toward Ptolemy's Egypt, so the land of Israel lay between them. Over the next centuries the Ptolemies and the Seleucids battled over Israel, and Jerusalem changed hands roughly 26 times, leaving the land devastated.

Out of this rose the little horn with fierce features: Antiochus IV of the Seleucid Empire, who called himself Antiochus Epiphanes, "the enlightened one." History records that in 168 BC he caused the temple sacrifices to cease, erected an image to Zeus in the temple, and offered a pig on the altar—the abomination of desolation Daniel describes in chapters 9 and 11. You can read more in 1 Maccabees, and the Maccabean Revolt that followed gave rise to Hanukkah.

Point three: Biblical prophecy is not completely opaque. When we seek the plain sense, it makes far more sense. The challenge is that we so often try to see ourselves through the lens of Scripture instead of using Scripture as the lens to understand what actually took place.

More Than One Fulfillment

Does this then have anything to say to us today? If not for something Jesus taught, I'd answer no. But in the synoptic Gospels Jesus gives us something striking. During the week of His crucifixion, He confronted the religious leaders in the temple, calling the scribes, Pharisees, and Herodians hypocrites and blind guides. As He left, His disciples admired the temple, and Jesus said, "You see this temple? Not one stone will be left upon another that will not be cast down."

On the Mount of Olives the disciples brought Him three questions: When will these things be? What will be the sign of Your coming? And of the end of the age? Jesus answered:

When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, see that you are not troubled... the end is not yet. You will hear of earthquakes and pestilences in diverse places... these are the beginning of birth pangs.

I was talking with someone this week who insisted these things are increasing as we near the end—more wars, more earthquakes, more pestilence. But are there actually more, or do we simply get notified instantly of what happens halfway around the world? Fewer people die today from earthquakes and tsunamis than 150 years ago, yet we watch a Beirut explosion or a Japanese tsunami live on our phones. Bible teachers once wondered how "every eye will see"—now we know, because we all get the notification.

The Abomination Still to Come

Jesus told His disciples that this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness, and then the end will come. Then He said, "When you therefore see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, then flee." This is important: by the first century, the Jewish understanding was that Daniel's abomination had already happened 200 years earlier under Antiochus. But Jesus says there is something more coming. Forty years later the temple was destroyed, just as He said—and there are reasons to believe a further abomination of desolation still lies in the future, which we'll explore next week.

Point four: Many of the prophecies in the Bible have both early and latter fulfillments. Just as there was an abomination under Antiochus 2,200 years ago, and another commemorated this past week by the Jewish people on Tisha B'Av, there may yet be one in the future.

Keep Calm and Carry On

All these words were given to encourage Daniel and the people of God that God knew what was happening. Has it ever occurred to you that nothing ever occurs to God? I've seen many Christians act as if COVID took God by surprise—as if He said, "Whoa, where did this come from?" That's how we respond. But God says, "You will hear of pestilences and pandemics; see that you are not troubled, the end is not yet. What will you do? You will preach the gospel."

Alistair Begg says this vision was given to forewarn Israel of a future period of severe persecution and to assure them that their sovereign God would limit those days and destroy the persecutor. It was meant to be an encouragement: you will go through difficulty—don't be troubled. God is in control. He often reveals what is coming, though not always with perfect clarity, so that we remain steady in faith and faithfulness until He comes.

Jesus told His disciples, "These things I have spoken to you, that you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

Point five: God's plan is revealed in advance so that we might keep calm and carry on. When the disciples asked, "Will you now restore the kingdom to Israel?" Jesus said it is not for us to know the times or seasons; instead we receive power from the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses to the end of the earth, and this gospel will be preached in all nations, and then the end will come. We don't need to worry. We need to be waiting, watching, and working.

So study the Scriptures carefully, whether apocalyptic or not. Hold your end-times views with humility and charity. Focus more on how to live faithfully, and build your life more on Christ than on eschatology—because God has a work for us to do, and it ain't over until it's over.

Closing Prayer

Father God, we thank You for Your word, and I pray that we would hold these things in our hearts and minds and recognize that You have given them so that we might have Your comfort—just as in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5, dealing with Your Second Coming, You say twice to comfort one another with these things. It should comfort us that You are on the throne and will one day come to rule and reign with righteousness. So we say, come, Lord Jesus; Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. As we look at the lions' den and the fiery furnace of Daniel, and how You continue to protect and carry Your people, remind us that You are still on the throne and in control. Help us to trust You and to be a light to those in darkness. This world needs good news, and we have great news—You will come again. So we say, come; but until You do, help us to be about Your business like the wise servant, using the talents You gave us to further Your mission. Work through us, Your church, we pray, in Jesus' name. And now may the Lord bless you and keep you, make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you, lift up His countenance upon you and give you His peace. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.