THE MAN (A) OF DANIEL 2
This chapter begins the chiastic arrangement of the book of Daniel as noted below which connects the prophetic chapters.
What is a CHIASTIC structure? It is a literary device or pattern in which two ideas or more are presented and then represented in a reverse order so as to convey a more complete meaning.
The simplest chiasmus is found in Mark 2:27
"And he said unto them, The sabbath (A) was made for man (B), and not man (B') for the sabbath: (A')" conveying the idea that the Sabbath was made after man was created and not vice versa, hence man has no authority over it except for the one who made the Sabbath. The Son of man, therefore, is Lord of the Sabbath Day as he made it for man and it is His prerogative and not man's to decide how the Sabbath is to be kept holy which was the contention in Mark chapter 2.
THE CHIASTIC STRUCTURE OF DANIEL - ABB'A'
Daniel chapter 2 presents the image of a MAN (A)
Daniel chapter 7 presents the vision of BEASTS (B)
Daniel chapter 8 presents the vision of BEASTS (B')
Daniel chapter 11 presents the MEN who ruled (A')
The chapters are not to be treated in isolation but are interconnected so as to arrive at the correct interpretation of the prophecy. In fact if we took Daniel 7 in isolation, it would be impossible to arrive at a correct understanding of what the beasts represented. But with the chiastic arrangement of the book we can cross correlate chapters 2, 7, 8 & 11 and identify what these beasts represent and the world kingdoms outlined in Daniel chapter 2
DANIEL CHAPTER 2 - THE DREAMTIME
3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name wasBelteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen,
and the interpretation thereof?
33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
THE INTERPRETATION
BABYLON
"King", "Kingdom" & "Beasts" are used interchangeably in prophetic interpretation.
The four beasts of Daniel 7 are said to be four Kings in vs 17. But the four beasts are also said to be kingdoms in vs 23. Hence beasts, Kings and Kingdoms are used interchangeably. While Daniel refers to King Nebuchadnezzar as the head of Gold, he is stating that the Kingdom of Babylon is the Head of Gold.
MEDO-PERSIA
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, ...
The use of the word "Kingdom" here means Babylon is the first kingdom. Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians. The latter becomes the second kingdom of the metal image. The story is told in Daniel chapter 5:26-28
"This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."
GRECIA
Alexander the Great's Grecia crushes the Medo-Persian Empire and becomes the third kingdom of Bible prophecy. The prophecy is outlined and interpreted in Daniel chapter 8:3-7, 20,21
5 And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole
earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
ROME
Historically, Rome followed the Grecian Empire as it gradually conquered the remnants of Grecia after Alexander the great died. Rome is not specifically identified in the Book of Daniel, nevertheless, Daniel leaves us important characteristics of this power to enable us to confidently identify the Rome of the Caesars as the fourth kingdom of the Daniel 2 metal man image. The other point is that Rome as a power was not in existence during the time of Daniel and hence could not be called out as such so the Lord leaves clues to the puzzle in Daniel chapter 8. Verses 8 & 9 of Daniel 8 comes to our aid. This power conquered the pleasant land - Palestine.
PRINCIPLE OF FIRST MENTION
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The Little horn was first mentioned in Daniel chapter 7
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Hence, it is the same Little horn symbol here in Daniel chapter 8 with added features
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The Little horn of Daniel 7 arose out of the head of the fourth beast.
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Important to remember that all horns in prophecy arise out of the head of a beast.
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Eleven horns arose from the head of the 4th beast in Daniel 7
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Two horns are present on the head of the Ram in Daniel 8
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Five horns arose from the head of the He-Goat in Daniel 8
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Horns do not arise out of another horn.
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Antiochus Epiphanes cannot be the Little horn of Daniel 8 & at the same time be the Syrian horn
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Horns arise out of a beast's head, hence symbolically, the 4th beast of Daniel 7 is here in Daniel 8
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The fourth beast is not mentioned specifically but is represented by its Little horn here in Daniel 8
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Hence, the Little horn in Daniel 8 is symbolic of both the 4th beast and the Little horn of Daniel 7
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The Little horn of Daniel 8, therefore, represents both pagan Rome and Papal Rome
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LITTLE HORN OF DANIEL 8
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The Little Horn comes out of one of the four winds and NOT from another horn as noted above - v 9
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The Little horn waxed exceeding great compared to the Ram (great) & the He-Goat (very great) - v 9
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The little horn conquered toward the South, toward the East & toward the Pleasant land - v 9
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The Little horn waxed great to the host of heaven - v 10
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The Little horn cast down the host & the stars to the ground - v 10 cf the He-Goat in v 7
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The Little horn stamped upon the host & the stars - v 10 cf the He-Goat in v 7
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The Little horn magnified himself toward the prince of the host - v 11
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From the Little horn, the daily was taken away (taken up, lifted up or exalted) - v 11
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The place of the Little horn's sanctuary was cast down - v 11
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An host was given the Little horn against the Daily - v 12
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The Little horn cast down the truth to the ground - v 12
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The Little horn practised and prospered - v 12
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The Little horn trod underfoot the sanctuary - v 13
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The Little horn trod underfoot the host - v 13
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The Little horn is the King of fierce countenance - v 23
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The Little horn understands dark sentences - v 23. had a different language - Deut 28:49,50
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The Little horn would destroy the mighty & holy people - v 24
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The Little horn would magnify himself - v 25
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The Little horn would stand up against the prince of princes - v 25 Be against Christ.
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The Little horn would be broken without hand - v 25 - be destroyed supernaturally.
INTERPRETATION OF ABOVE POINTS
The Little Horn of Daniel 8 is Rome in both its pagan and papal phases.
Pagan Rome transitions to Papal Rome in Daniel 2, 7, 8 and 11 - see those studies on this site.
1. Rome came from the West, one of the directions of the compass, four winds of heaven - v 9
2. Rome became exceeding great compared to the Ram (great v 4) & the He-Goat (very great v 8) - v 9
3. Rome conquered South (Egypt 168 BC, made a province 30 BC)
3. Rome conquered East (Syria 65 BC)
3. Rome conquered the Pleasant land (Palestine 63 BC), Ps 106:24, Glorious land (Dan 11:16)
4. Rome waxed great toward the "host of heaven" - destroyed God's people - v 10
4. Michael is the prince of this host - Dan 10:21
4. The original, "Prince of the Host" occurs in Joshua 5:14 - the host is God's people, his church
5. Rome, like the He-goat to the Ram, cast God's people to the ground - persecuted them - v 10
6. Rome, like the He-goat to the Ram, stamped upon God's people - destroyed them - v 10
7. Rome magnified itself toward the Prince of the host - Rome killed Christ, the prince of the host
8. From pagan Rome, the Daily was lifted up, exalted. - see study on "The Daily"
8. Papal Rome took up the spirit of self exaltation of paganism.
9. Pagan Rome gave up its sanctuary, the City of Rome & Papal Rome took over the city.
10 The host here is armies, which helped Papal Rome come to power - see Daniel 11:31
11. Papal Rome cast the truth to the ground - much of Papal Rome's doctrines are non-biblical
12. Papal Rome practised & prospered - the wealth of the Papacy is astounding unlike the lowly Jesus
13. Pagan & Papal Rome both trod underfoot the sanctuary.
13. Pagan Rome destroyed the literal sanctuary.
13. Papal Rome substituted its own form of sanctuary service, including the Confessional.
14. Pagan Rome trod underfoot the host - Rome killed Christians (fed to the Lions or crucified them)
14. Papal Rome trod underfoot the host - Papal Rome killed millions of Christians - Dan 7:25, Rev 13:7
15. Rome is the King of fierce countenance.
16. Rome spoke a different language, Latin, which the Jews did not understand. - see Deut 28:49,50
17. Rome, both pagan and papal, destroyed God's people.
18. Papal Rome would magnify himself above the God of heaven, even changing the 7th day Sabbath.
19. Papal Rome stood up against Christ, is the Antichrist system of prophecy
20. Papal Rome will be destroyed, or "broken without hand" by Christ at the second coming.
A CHANGE TO THE FOURTH KINGDOM
PAPAL ROME
The fourth kingdom, Rome, is represented by the legs of Iron in the Daniel 2 image.
The Iron continues into the feet of the image, hence is still Rome. However, the feet are not just Iron. There is an addition to the IRON in the form of CLAY.
What does the Clay represent?
The Clay represents Bible religion united with the state (Iron). But this is no ordinary clay. It is specifically the clay of the Bible, in other words, professed Christianity in union with the state.
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The Iron represents Rome.
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The Clay represents professed Christianity.
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Therefore, the feet of Iron & Clay represents Papal Rome, the Roman Catholic Church.
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The Iron & Clay represents the union of church and state.
