Daniel’s prophecy concerning the coming of these two kings is interpreted by the angel Gabriel (Daniel 8:16). Let’s look at the context of this prophecy, which is extremely detailed in its description:
« In the third year of the kingship of King Bel·shazʹzar, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that appeared to me previously. I saw the vision, and as I watched I was in Shuʹshan the citadel, which is in the province of Eʹlam; I viewed the vision, and I was next to the watercourse of Uʹlai. As I raised my eyes, look! there was a ram standing before the watercourse, and it had two horns. The two horns were tall, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up later. I saw the ram making thrusts to the west and to the north and to the south, and no wild beasts could stand before it, and there was no one who could provide rescue from its power. It did as it pleased and exalted itself. As I kept watching, look! there was a male goat coming from the west crossing the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground. And the goat had a conspicuous horn between its eyes. It was coming toward the ram with the two horns, which I had seen standing before the watercourse; it was running toward it in a powerful rage. I saw it closing in on the ram, and it was filled with bitterness toward it. It struck down the ram and broke its two horns, and the ram was powerless to stand up to it. It threw the ram to the ground and trampled it down, and there was no one to rescue it from its power. Then the male goat exalted itself exceedingly, but as soon as it became mighty, the great horn was broken; then four conspicuous horns came up instead of the one, toward the four winds of the heavens » (Daniel 8:1-8).
This time, there are only two wild beasts that represent only two world powers, the two-horned ram, the Medo-Persian power, and the very fast male goat, with a very big horn, the Greek Empire: « The two-horned ram that you saw stands for the kings of Meʹdi·a and Persia. The hairy male goat stands for the king of Greece; and the great horn that was between its eyes stands for the first king. As for the horn that was broken, so that four stood up instead of it, there are four kingdoms from his nation that will stand up, but not with his power » (Daniel 8:20-22).
Two hundred years in advance, this prophecy foretold the advent of Alexander, the Great (the great horn of the male goat) and his very fast conquests (the male goat without touching the ground). The book of Daniel has been completed around 536 BCE, in Babylon. Alexander the Great was born in 356 BCE. In 336, he began his reign. He died very young, in 323 BCE: « the horn was broken ». The prophecy suggests that none of his sons would inherit his kingdom. Alexander the Great had two sons: Alexander IV Aigos and Héraclès, an illegitimate son. The two sons were murdered and therefore did not succeed their father. According to the prophecy, after the death of Alexander, the Great, all the conquered territories were divided into four, between four of his generals: Seleucus Nicator taking Mesopotamia and Syria; Cassandra, Macedonia and Greece; Ptolemy Lagus, Egypt and Palestine; and Lysimachus, Thrace and Asia Minor.
Then, the prophetic vision announces an event which takes place more than 2,500 years later, in our time, just before the great tribulation: the special description of the last king, of the last world power: « Out of one of them came another horn, a small one, and it grew very great toward the south and toward the east and toward the Decoration. It grew so great that it reached all the way to the army of the heavens, and it caused some of the army and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down. It exalted itself even against the Prince of the army, and from him the constant feature was taken away, and the established place of his sanctuary was thrown down. And an army was given over, together with the constant feature, because of transgression; and it kept throwing truth to the earth, and it acted and had success » (Daniel 8:9-12). The angel gives the explanation of this vision:
« And in the final part of their kingdom, as the transgressors act to a completion, a fierce-looking king who understands ambiguous sayings will stand up. His power will become great, but not through his own power. He will bring ruin in an extraordinary way, and he will be successful and act effectively. He will bring mighty ones to ruin, also the people made up of the holy ones. And by his cunning he will use deception to succeed; and in his heart he will exalt himself; and during a time of security he will bring many to ruin. He will even stand up against the Prince of princes, but he will be broken without human hand » (Daniel 8:23-25). After the prowess of announcing the advent of Alexander 200 years in advance, it is the prophetic feat of announcing 2,500 years in advance, by the general description of his grimacing face, and his astute attitude and arrogant, the advent of the last king of the last world power. There is a special biblical study of him (click on the link to access it).
« And I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one speaking: “How long will the vision of the constant feature and of the transgression causing desolation continue, to make both the holy place and the army things to trample on?” 14 So he said to me: “Until 2,300 evenings and mornings; and the holy place will certainly be restored to its right condition” » (Daniel 8:13,14).
***
The Prophecy of the Book of Daniel
The study of the Prophecy of Daniel is the analysis of current prophetic events in the Middle East and in the World…
The Prophecy of the Book of Daniel – The Last Hard-Faced King (Daniel 8:23-25)
This prophecy describes the face and attitude of the last king, of the last world power…
The Prophecy of the Book of Daniel – The Conflict Between the Two Kings (Daniel 11)
This prophecy foreshadows the conclusion of events in the Middle East…
We are, it seems, currently in the last stage of the fulfillment of this prophecy of Daniel, about the two kings…
The Prophecy of the Book of Daniel – The Conflict Between the Two Kings (Daniel 11)
This prophecy foretells the conclusion of events in the Middle East…
The Prophecy of the Book of Zechariah
The prophecy of Zechariah and its prophetic riddles, explanations to know the future…
The Prophecy of Jesus Christ of the end of this system of things, with several preliminary signs…
Table of contents of the http://yomelyah.fr/ website
Reading the Bible daily, this table of contents contains informative Bible articles (Please click on the link above to view it)…
Table of languages of more than seventy languages, with six important biblical articles, written in each of these languages…
***