Four horns, the little horn, and the Jewish Nation
Study:
"Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land." Daniel 8:8,9
Ever counted the "little horn"'s conquests?
We have "four horns towards the four winds of heaven":
north
horn
west
horn
east
horn
south
horn
Then we have the "little horn" and its conquests:
little
horn
towards
the
east
the
south
pleasant
land
Don't you find it odd that there are 4 horns and 1 "little horn" + 3 conquests? I do not believe in coincidences in God's word. Everything is by design!
little
horn
towards
east
horn
south
horn
pleasant
horn
Note: "...out of one of them [the four horns] came forth a little horn..." meaning... the "little horn" is attached to one of the four horns lying in the four directions; it cannot attack that horn without detaching itself from the he-goat.
Which horn is the "little horn" attached to? Which horn is the pleasant land? One is the north horn and the other is the west horn! Which is which? How can we tell? The context is the sanctuary. The answer lies there!
According to the Bible, the camp of Israel, during its wilderness wanderings, had four camps "toward the four winds of heaven."
"And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father’s house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch. And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch ... And those that do pitch next unto him shall be the tribe of Issachar... Then the tribe of Zebulun... On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben... And those which pitch by him shall be the tribe of Simeon... Then the tribe of Gad... On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim... And by him shall be the tribe of Manasseh... Then the tribe of Benjamin... The standard of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side... And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Asher... Then the tribe of Naphtali..." Numbers 2
Dan
Asher
Naphtali
Ephraim
Manasseh
Benjamin
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun
Reuben
Simeon
Gad
According to rabbinical tradition, with some foundation in the Bible, each of these four camps had a symbolic representation which appeared on the standard of that camp. These four standards were recorded by Jerome Prado and are the lion for the camp of Juda, the man for the camp of Reuben, the bull for the camp of Ephraim, and the eagle for the camp of Dan.
Eagle
Bull
Lion
Man
Judah, a lion:
"Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?" Genesis 49:9
Reuben, a man:
"Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:" Genesis 49:3
Ephraim, a bull:
"And of Joseph he said, ... His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, ... and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh." Deuteronomy 33:13-17
Dan, a serpent!? or an eagle (by tradition):
"Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward." Genesis 49:17
"[...] Towards the north, above the tent of Ahiezer the son of Dan, there floated a motley standard of white and red, like the jaspis (or, as some say, a carbuncle), in which the name of Dan was engraved upon the breastplate. The crest upon this was an eagle, the great foe to serpents, which had been chosen by the leader in the place of a serpent, because his forefather Jacob had compared Dan to a serpent, saying, `Dan is a serpent in the way, an adder (cerastes, a horned snake) in the path;' but Ahiezer substituted the eagle, the destroyer of serpents, as he shrank from carrying an adder upon his flag."
Keil, Carl Friedrich; Delitzsch, Franz; Martin, James, tr., Biblical commentary on the Old Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1871, The Pentateuch, vol. 3, p. 18.
How does this symbolic representation of the directions help? It does not directly, but with the interpretation of Daniel 8...
"Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land." Daniel 8:8,9
"And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up." Daniel 8:21-23
From a comparison between these two texts, the vision and its interpretation, it is clear that the "little horn" is the "king of fierce countenance." The phrase "fierce countenance" only occurs twice in the entire Old Testament, here and in Deuteronomy 28.
"The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:" Deuteronomy 28:49,50
Notice that this text not only mentions "a nation of fierce countenance" but also compares that nation to an eagle. Thus, the "little horn" is an eagle and it is from the north or out of the north horn! This makes "the pleasant land" the west horn or a bull.
horn
(an eagle)
towards
pleasant
horn
(a bull)
east
horn
south
horn
Why is this important?
What is the pleasant land? Comparing the vision and its interpretation...
"Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land." Daniel 8:8,9
"And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand;..." Daniel 8:21-25
What is "the pleasant land"? Who are "the mighty and the holy people"? How would a Jew, like Daniel, have understood these two? A Jew would have understood "the pleasant land" to be the Promised land/Canaan/Judea and "the mighty and the holy people" to be the Jews!
Why is this important?
Do you see the structure of Daniel 8:23-25?
"And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand;..." Daniel 8:23-25
Structure:
First, notice that this entire structure deals with the Jews! Or, at the least, there is no obvious references to any other peoples. Why would God place so much focus on the Jews? Daniel 8-12 is a religious view of history! There is a lesson to be learned here for God's people, the church!
Recall that the Jews and their nation are represented by a bull. Of the four creatures (lion, man, bull, and eagle) this is the only one which is a clean animal and a sacrificial animal. As "the pleasant land" and "the might and holy people" are destroyed it is like they are sacrificed. The Jews were God's Old Testament church. For sin, the Law demanded a sacrifice. Without a sacrifice the sinner was cut off... symbolically becoming the sacrifice. But in the time of Christ, the Jewish Nation rejected Him, "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1:29) And without a sacrifice, the nation itself became its own sacrifice. Thus, the Jewish Nation, a Bull, having rejected the Lamb of God, was destroyed, becoming a sacrifice for its own sins.
But there is more. Notice, concerning the destruction of the Jewish Nation, that it says "And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully..." (vs. 24) According to Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, "wonderfully" (Heb. pala') might also be translated "miraculously" or "marvellously," as in the supernatural. Why is his mighty power "not by his own power"? Because the horn is attached to the he-goat! Were the Romans powered by Greek might when they destroyed the Jews? No! Recall they "destroy wonderfully" or supernaturally. Recall also that the he-goat is not only Greece but also Satan. When the Jews rejected Christ, not only did they become their own sacrifice, but they lost the protection of God and succumbed to the satanic vengeance of the devil.
Summarizing:
A rejection of God (1) makes you yourself your own sacrifice for sin and (2) removes God's protection from you leaving you free game for Satan.
To be continued...
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