THE RAM AND GOAT—HIS FOUR HORNS AND THE LITTLE HORN

Daniel 8th chap., verses 3, 4. “Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns; and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other; and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beast might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.” The above is explained, verse 20th. “The ram which thou sawest having two horns, are the kings of Media and Persia.” The kingdoms of the Medes and Persians were united under Cyrus, the Persian general, by whom Babylon was taken, and became one of the most powerful kingdoms of antiquity.APEC 75.2

Verses 5-8. “And as I was considering, behold, an he-goat came from the west, on the face of the whole earth, and he touched not the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. And he came to the ram, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns;-and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. Therefore the he-goat waxed great; and when he was strong the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones, toward the four winds of heaven.” This passage is explained in the 21st and 22nd verses. “And the rough goat is the king of Grecia; and the great horn that is between his eyes, is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.” All expositors, I believe, are agreed that this text points out the Macedonian kingdom; and the notable horn, Alexander the Great; who, in the height of his conquests, suddenly died at Babylon, and whose dominion was divided among four of his generals, towards the four winds:-Persia in the east; Macedon or Greece in the west; Syria in the north; and Egypt in the south. For further particulars, see Rollin’s Ancient History.APEC 76.1

Verses 9-12th. “And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, 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. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down truth to the ground, and it practised and prospered.” The above is explained, verses 23rd-25th. “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many; he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.”APEC 77.1

The question to be discussed, is, Who or what is represented by the little horn, which came forth out of one of the four notable horns?APEC 77.2

Some say, “Antiochus Epiphanes.” But to this I object-1. Because Antiochus, instead of being another kingdom, growing out of the Syrian government, was that horn or government itself. 2. It never has yet been shown that Antiochus trod under foot, as it is assumed he did, the sanctuary and the host, for 2300 days. It is not known precisely how long he oppressed the Jews. But if the period is 2300 literal days, those who thus apply it are bound to show a literal fulfilment.APEC 77.3

Again, it is said, “Mohammedism, and it came out of the northern division, Syria; because in Syria its first exploits were performed.” I deny it. And even if it could be proved that its “first drama of wickedness” was acted in Syria, still an insurmountable difficulty remains. Mohammedism did not originate in or come out of Syria, but Arabia. And in Arabia the Mohammedan religion was first promulgated and gained a footing.APEC 78.1

What, then, is represented by the little horn? I reply, In the seventh chapter it has been demonstrated to mean the Papal system. And it means the same thing in this place.APEC 78.2

The little horn was to come out of one of the notable horns in the “latter time of their (the four horns) kingdom, when the transgressors (northern barbarians) had come to the fall.” A. D. 325, Constantine, the Roman emperor, became sole master of the Roman world, and from that time openly and decidedly espoused the Christian cause. From that time a flood of worldly riches, honor and power, flowed in upon the church. The man of sin began rapidly to develop himself. A. D. 330, he removed the seat of empire from Rome to Byzantium, and honored it with his own name calling it Constantinople. After the death of Constantine, which happened A. D. 337, the Roman empire was divided between the three sons of Constantine. Constantius inherited the eastern division, and possessed his father’s throne, in Constantinople. Constantine and Constans inherited the western empire. The Greek kingdom had again become an independent government under Constantius. But, A. D. 353, his two brothers both being dead, the whole empire came into his hands and the Roman empire was again united. But, A. D. 356, the Huns, a barbarous nation, invaded the Roman empire and established themselves in Hungary. This event was followed by the establishment, between 356 and 483, of nine other independent kingdoms within the Roman empire. But, during all this time, the eastern or Greek empire, as it was called, remained entire and independent. This was not the first time of the Greek kingdom’s independence after Alexander’s death; nor the last; but the latter. The first time was after the death of Alexander, until conquered by the Romans. The latter time, from the death of Constantine to the Ottoman conquest. The last time, partially, since the Greek revolution, but principally yet in the future, after the fall of the Ottoman power. It was this Greek empire which became the promoter of the Papal usurpations, from the days of Constantine, when he first removed the seat of empire to the east, until the days of Justinian, when, A. D. 534, he constituted the Bishop of Rome head of all the churches, and, 538, conquered Rome and established the pope in his see. It was in this way the little Papal horn came out of the Greek empire, one of the four horns of the goat, in the latter time of their kingdom. The power of this Papal horn became “mighty, but not by his own power.” 1. The greatness of the Pope, as an ecclesiastical power, was conferred on him by the Greek emperor, Justinian. 2. The same emperor conquered the Ostrogoths to make way for the Pope. 3. He defended him against his enemies after he possessed Rome. 4. Pepin, king of France, in 755, conquered the Exarchate of Ravenna and conferred it on the Pope in perpetual sovereignty; thus constituting him a temporal prince. Other acts of assistance might be brought forward to almost any extent; but the foregoing are deemed sufficient to prove and illustrate the point, that the Roman Pontiff did not become mighty by his own power, but by the power of others. “He waxed exceeding great, toward the east, toward the south, and toward the pleasant land.” The crusades established the Papal power in all Syria, and part of Asia Minor, and even erected the banner of the cross on Mount Zion. And where has not the Papal power been felt?APEC 78.3

“He magnified himself, even to the host of heaven,” etc. He assumed to be the sole church of God. “He cast down some of the host, and of the stars, and stamped on them.” He persecuted the saints, and trod them in the dust. “He magnified himself even to the Prince of the host.” He assumed to be the Vicegerent of Jesus Christ, and to possess and exercise the prerogatives of the Son of God.APEC 80.1

“By him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.”APEC 81.1

“By him the daily;” the word sacrifice not being in the original. This term is of frequent occurrence in the book of Daniel, and it will be necessary to ascertain its true meaning. What then did the anti-christian or Papal abomination remove to make way for itself? What was it that let or hindered until he was taken out of the way? I answer, Paganism. For, although the empire was nominally Christian most of the time from the days of Constantine, yet Paganism continued to maintain itself in Rome, and Pagan sacrifices were offered there until the conversion of the Ostrogoths to Christianity, about A. D. 508, since which time we have no account of any public Pagan sacrifices being offered in the city of Rome. “The place of Paganism’s sanctuary” was then cast down, and in its place a new system of idolatry was set up, viz., the worship of saints and images. So that these Pagan conquerors, when they embraced the Christian religion, only exchanged one system of idolatry for another. But by the fall of Paganism, the way began to open for the establishment of the Papal pretensions.APEC 81.2

“An host was given him against the daily sacrifice, by reason of transgression.” The energies of the church were directed by the aspiring pontiffs against Pagan institutions, and to bring the Pagans over to the Christian faith.APEC 81.3

“And it cast down truth to the ground, and it practised and prospered.” The Papal power trampled on the word of God, corrupted all the doctrines of the gospel, imposed on men’s consciences burdens, heavy and intolerable to be borne; persecuted and put to death all who would not submit to the yoke. Thus far the prophetic emblems. And from them we learn that the little horn in this vision is the same as in the former, the Papal power. And from the 25th verse, we learn that he is to have the same end. “He shall stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.” He shall be destroyed without human intervention, by Divine power. He shall be slain and given to the burning flame. He shall be destroyed by the brightness of the Lord’s coming, etc.APEC 81.4