Dan 8:24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do his pleasure; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people.

                                                                                                                                     

Daniel 8 records Daniel’s second vision. In this vision, he saw a ram and a goat, representing the Persian and Grecian empires respectively. This goat has one horn, right between its eyes. This goat with one horn is Alexander the Great. He defeated the Persian Empire with such swiftness and fury. But at the height of his power, he died at a young age of only thirty-three and his empire was divided among his four generals, represented by the four smaller horns.

Out of one of these four horns came a little horn which became exceeding great. Gabriel says that at the end of the rule of these four kings, a king will come who will outdo the rest in wickedness. He is deceitful and arrogant, even trying to attack the "Prince of princes." But he will be defeated eventually—though not by human beings.

Commentators generally agree that this little horn is the wicked Antiochus Epiphanes. He profaned God’s Temple and altar, prohibiting His worship, and persecuting His worshippers. He was infamous for the abolition of the daily offered in the Temple and the desecration of the sanctuary itself by violence and sacrilege. God said “he shall be broken without hand” (vs 25). That is, he should not die by the hand of an enemy in battle, nor be assassinated by the hand of man, but be cut off by the immediate hand of God.

The book of Daniel teaches us no matter how powerful and wicked an empire may be, it will not stand forever. The wicked Antiochus who profaned God’s sanctuary and persecuted His worshippers did not succeed in destroying God’s eternal plan of redeeming man. Indeed, Satan was behind all those plans that sought to destroy the chosen people of God. He did so to prevent the promised seed from forming. But God always triumph: “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law” (Galatians 4:4).

And, God will still triumph even today. Whether it be a king such as Nebuchadnezzar or Antiochus, or a democratically elected leader or government, the principle is the same: “The most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will” (Daniel 5:21).

                       

Nebuchadnezzar did not like what he saw in his dream so he made an image entirely of gold. But God has appointed the kingdoms of silver, brass and iron after him and it could not be changed by men. Antiochus set himself against God: "he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down" (vs 11). "He stood up against the Prince of princes" (vs 25). But he died.

Today, there are still governments who try to stop Christianity from spreading in their countries. They will try all means to make things difficult for Christians. We need to pray for our brethren in those countries. They are having a hard time. We need to pray that they persevere and they have the boldness to preach and teach Christ (Acts 4:18-20). Indeed, “The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ” (Acts 4:26).

The Berlin Wall came down without a gun shot fired across the wall. More recently, the world was preparing itself for a nuclear war around the Korean Peninsula which would spread to the entire world. Suddenly, there is peace.

Brethren, we do not know how God works in the kingdoms of men but He is working no doubt. Let us continue to pray for peace, especially for our brethren in those countries who are anti-God.

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.