The Ram and the Goat

Order of Service

• Hymn — O God Beyond All Praising
• Call to Worship — Psalm 138
• Hymn — O God Beyond All Praising
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Westminster Shorter Catechism
• Scripture Reading — Luke 5:17-26
• Hymn — In Christ Alone
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Hymn — Be Still My Soul
• Sermon
• Hymn — Day by Day and with Each Passing Moment
• Benediction — Numbers 6:24-26
• Doxology

Sermon Title: The Ram and the Goat

Scripture: Daniel 8

I. Who Is Being Depicted in the Vision?

• A. The ram with two horns represents the Medo-Persian Empire, as identified by the angel in Daniel 8:20.

  1. The higher horn represents Persia, which had already subjugated the Medes under King Cyrus.
  2. The vision is set in the third year of the Babylonian king Belshazzar, near the end of Babylon's reign.
  3. Daniel is transported in the vision to Susa, the chief capital of Persia, alongside the Ulai Canal.

• B. The goat represents Greece, as identified by the angel in Daniel 8:21.

  1. The great horn between the goat's eyes is Alexander the Great, who swiftly conquered vast territory before dying of a fever at age 32.
  2. After Alexander's death, his kingdom was divided among four generals: Cassander (Macedonia), Lysimachus (Thrace), the Seleucids (Syria), and Ptolemy (Egypt).

• C. The little horn emerging from one of the four horns (Daniel 8:9) is widely identified as Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Seleucid Empire.

  1. He grew exceedingly great toward the south, east, and toward the glorious land (Canaan/Jerusalem).
  2. The "host of heaven" and "stars" (Daniel 8:10) represent the saints, as confirmed in Daniel 8:24, echoing the promise to Abraham in Genesis 15 and Daniel 12:3.

• D. The angelic host has a vested interest in the welfare of the saints.

  1. An angel cries out "how long?" in Daniel 8:13, echoing the anguished language of the psalmists under persecution.
  2. Scripture confirms angelic rejoicing over sinners saved (Luke 15) and at the birth of Christ (Luke 2).
  3. The "prince of the host" and "prince of princes" (Daniel 8:11, 8:25) most likely refers to God himself.

II. What Is Being Depicted in the Vision?

• A. The vision depicts the desecration of Jerusalem and the temple by Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

  1. Antiochus styled himself "Epiphanes" (God manifest), identifying with Olympian Zeus; enemies called him "Epimanes" (madman).
  2. He killed the high priest Onias III in 170 BC and slaughtered thousands of Jews — 2 Maccabees records 80,000 killed in three days.
  3. He abolished temple worship, prohibited the Sabbath and circumcision on penalty of death, and required pagan sacrifice in every town in Judea.
  4. On December 25, 167 BC, the first pagan sacrifice to Zeus was offered on a heathen altar erected over the altar of burnt offering in Jerusalem.

• B. The 2,300 evenings and mornings (Daniel 8:14) mark a definite but limited period of suffering with an appointed end.

  1. One interpretation: the evenings and mornings refer to the daily sacrifices commanded in Exodus 29 and Numbers 28, yielding 1,150 days (roughly 168–165 BC).
  2. A second interpretation follows the Hebrew day reckoning of Genesis 1 (evening and morning), yielding approximately six years and four months (roughly 171–165 BC).
  3. Either way, God reveals to Daniel ahead of time that the suffering has an expiration date.

• C. Calvin's insight: forewarning of suffering becomes a comfort and solace, preventing the faithful from sliding into despair.

• D. Antiochus died not in battle or by assassination but by illness in 164 BC, fulfilling Daniel 8:25 — "he shall be broken, but by no human hand."

  1. His death the same year as the Jewish revolt led by Judas Maccabeus and the rededication of the temple is still celebrated as Hanukkah.

• E. Daniel, in exile and longing for restoration, sees the temple and land restored — but in the context of defilement and slaughter.

  1. Like the disciples learning the Messiah would be crucified and they too would suffer, restoration comes through tribulation.
  2. The church, like Washington's Continental Army, loses many battles but cannot be destroyed as long as it remains united to its Captain, Christ.
  3. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9: "afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed."

III. Why Does This Take Place?

• A. Transgression is identified in Daniel 8:12 and 8:23 as the root cause of these judgments.

  1. The Hebrew word for transgression in the Old Testament most commonly refers to covenant law-breaking among God's own people.
  2. The recurring pattern of Judges — apostasy leading to foreign oppression — is in view.

• B. Hellenism had infiltrated Judaism prior to Antiochus's atrocities.

  1. A corrupt Jewish priest named Menelaus robbed the temple and collaborated with Antiochus to kill the high priest Onias, making himself high priest.
  2. According to 2 Maccabees, it was Menelaus who persuaded Antiochus to Hellenize Jewish worship — the transgression began within Israel's own priesthood.

• C. The book of Malachi (c. 450 BC) ends the Old Testament canon with the temple restored and the people in the land, yet with a corrupt priesthood (Malachi 1:10).

  1. God declares he takes no pleasure in the corrupt offerings and would rather the temple doors be shut.
  2. This corruption is only resolved in Jesus Christ, the true High Priest.

• D. Christ comes as the true remedy for the transgression Israel could never permanently solve.

  1. One of Jesus's first acts is cleansing the temple (John 2); his final entry into Jerusalem is also marked by cleansing the temple (Matthew 21).
  2. At his death, the temple curtain is torn from top to bottom, opening free access to God through his blood.
  3. Worship is no longer bound to Mount Gerizim or Mount Zion; wherever two or three gather in Christ's name, that is holy ground.

• E. The greatest beast is not the external enemy but the beast of sin within.

  1. John Owen: "Sin aims always at the utmost. Every unclean thought or glance would be adultery if it could. Every covetous desire would be oppression."
  2. What Israel ultimately needed was not a Maccabean revolt but transgression dealt with — the beast within conquered.
  3. When sin is slain by Christ at the cross, the external beasts become, by comparison, mere stepping stones — the cross is the high dive after which all else seems manageable.
  4. Psalm 118: "The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"

• F. Call to self-examination: are you focused on threats from without while sin rages within?

  1. Sin is a roaring lion that seeks to destroy from the inside.
  2. The answer is faith in Christ, whose atoning work at Calvary vanquishes the greatest enemy once and for all.
  3. The suffering of God's people will end; it will give way to peace everlasting.