GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
DANIEL 7:8
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8 “I was thinking about the horns when was another horn, a little one, came up from between them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. There were eyes like the eyes of a man in that horn, and a mouth that kept speaking boastfully.
The horns are the various powers, kingdoms, and other points of authority and even bullying to come out of Rome. Daniel’s mind was occupied by this for a while. Remember that Daniel had seen the last of the kings of Judah taken away into exile. He himself had been carried off, one of the first. He had seen Babylon at its height of power and he was soon to witness its collapse (this was the first year of its last king). But this was a far, far greater and more frightening nation to come.
But then the vision changed once again. This time it wasn’t another beast, a fifth one to replace Rome, but something bursting forth out of the beast’s head. It was a little horn that knocked three other horns away. The new horn knocked others out because it was going to grow quite large. There might not be any spiritual significance in there being three horns that are knocked away. This is something I do all the time putting away groceries or putting away the clean dishes– I try to force something through a few other things, and soon glasses or cups or cans of soup are falling down. So it was when this seemingly small and unimportant horn came out.
It had a strange look to it, and the prophet paid attention to those details. It had eyes. And it also had a mouth. We might pause here to remember words from the Apostle John: “I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns… The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion” (Revelation 13:1,2). This monster, despite its wild description both here and in Revelation, has the eyes and mouth of a man. It is a human being. The mouth would speak terrible things, things to oppose God and even to oppose and usurp God’s rule over the earth.
This began shortly after Daniel’s time. The Jews had actually fared pretty well under Nebuchadnezzar, exiles though they were. And of course God commanded them to go into exile in order to preserve their nation, speaking through Jeremiah (Jeremiah 32;3-5; 34:3; 37:17 and other places). In the days before the coming of Jesus, a ruler named Antiochus Epiphanes rose to power. He was the son of one of the kings who followed Alexander the Great, therefore he was associated with the Greeks (that is, the third beast) but grew up as a political hostage in Rome, and in this way he was also a man who came out of Rome to rule (1 Maccabees 1:10). Antiochus was an eccentric ruler when he came to power, a man who tried to destroy anything he pleased. He persecuted the Jews and the Samaritans, and he fought ruthlessly against the Maccabees in Judea. “He arrogantly entered the sanctuary in Jerusalem and took the golden altar, the lampstand for the light, and all its utensils. He took also the bread of the presence, the cups for the drink offerings, the bowls, the golden censers, the curtain, the crowns, and the gold decorations on the front of the temple; he stripped it all off” (1 Maccabees 1:21-22). He also “erected a desolating sacrilege upon the altar of burnt offering” (1 Maccabees 1:54). This seems to be the same desecration described later, when this king “sent an Athenian senator to pollute the temple in Jerusalem and call it the temple of Olympian Zeus… It was the onslaught of evil” (2 Maccabees 6:2-3).
For all of his wickedness, King Antiochus was simply a foreshadowing of a far worse wickedness to come: The Antichrist. Since Daniel has a lot to say about this enemy of Christ and his church, we will say just a few general things here:
1, The Holy Bible prophesies the coming of the great Antichrist. “The antichrist is coming” (1 John 2:18).
2, All people are either friends or opponents of Christ. Jesus said, “Whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:40).
3, Some of the enemies of Christ actually appear inside the church. Some are heretics. Paul says, “Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him” (Titus 3:10). Some are schismatics; people who create and cause divisions in the church. “Watch out for those who cause divisions… keep away from them” (Romans 16:17). And some try to create false unions between believers: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:20).
Here in Daniel 7:8, we learn that this enemy of the church would rise up out of the Roman Empire or whatever followed it in Rome (remember the iron and clay in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream). He comes from a very small beginning. But he also speaks “boastfully.”
Lutheran pastor David Hollaz said, “The name ‘antichrist’ is used (1) in a general way for any heretics who disseminate doctrines that are false and opposed to the doctrine of Christ and stubbornly fight for them. These are commonly called ‘little antichrists.’ (2) In a special way (and ‘with prominence’), for that outstanding adversary of Christ whom for the sake of difference we call ‘the great Antichrist.’”
As I have already said, there will be a lot more about Antichrist in Daniel. Therefore this verse is a warning, and as such it preaches the law: “Beware! Be careful! Thou shalt not listen to him or be taken in by his false teaching!” But there is gospel here, too. Consider where this little horn came from, and how it appeared. It came growing out of the head of the beast with ten horns. Remember the rock in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream? “A rock was cut out, but not by human hands” (Daniel 2:34). That rock was Christ, who came from God the Father. Here, the Antichrist does not come from any supernatural force or means, and not from the devil. He comes from within the kingdom of the ten horns, some part of Rome. This means that he is subject to God’s ultimate dominion and judgment. He is a being who can be defeated, and who will be judged. Hell has a place reserved for him, when he will be removed, “taken out of the way” as Paul says (2 Thessalonians 2:7). So fear his teaching and beware of his false doctrine, but do not fear him as if he has angelic or supernatural powers. You have Jesus and his holy angels to protect you. Put your trust completely on Christ Jesus your Lord, and he will give you everlasting life.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Daniel 7:8 Antichrist appears