Teachinghearts	The Ram And The Goat (Daniel 8) "Explore the Word. Change the World"
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	Babylon	Medo-Persia	Greece		Rome			Rome	Papal Rome	Europe			Europe		Christ
Babylon Fell						(Little Horn)						Sanctuary Restored
Day of Atonement (Evening)						Day of Atonement (Goat Attacks Ram)								Banished
Daniel						Daniel and Revelation					Time of the End (Sealed)

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The Vision Of The Sanctuary War
The Ram. In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king a vision appeared to me, Daniel, subsequent to the one which appeared to me previously. I looked in the vision, and while I was looking I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam; and I looked in the vision and I myself was beside the Ulai Canal. Then I lifted my eyes and looked, and then, a ram which had two horns was standing in front of the canal. Now the two horns were long, but one was longer than the other, with the longer one coming up last. I saw the ram butting westward, northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand before him nor was there anyone to rescue from his power, but he did as he pleased and magnified himself.
The Goat. While I was observing, then, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. He came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath. I saw him come beside the ram, and he was enraged at him; and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns, and the ram had no strength to withstand him. So he hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to rescue the ram from his power.
The Large Horn. Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly. But as soon as he was mighty, the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.
The Little Horn. Out of one of them came out a rather small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land. It grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down. It even magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host; and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down. And on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper.
The Cleansing. Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, "How long will the vision about the regular sacrifice apply, while the transgression causes horror, so as to allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled?'' He said to me, "For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be properly restored." (Daniel 8: 1-14)

Symbols
The symbols center around the attack on the sanctuary. It destroyed the building, the furniture, the worshippers and removed their God. It stopped the services on the most important day of their cleansing from sin - the Day of Atonement.

• The Worshippers. The little horn attacked the people (host). (Verse 10, 13)
• The High Priest. The commander of the host. (Verse 11)
• Sacrifice. It removed the continual sacrifice. (Verse 11)
• Sanctuary Animals. The goat and the ram were used on the day of atonement. (Verses 4-5 )
• The Laver Or River Of Water. The fight occurred in front of the canal. (Verse 3)
• Menorah. It removed the stars. (Verse 10)
• Altar. It set up another altar with four horns. (Verse 8)
• The Sanctuary. The building was thrown down. (Verse 11)
• The Holy Place And The Most Holy Place. It trampled the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. (Verse 13)
• Direction of Attack. West, north and south. The only directions in the sanctuary that had walls. (Verse 4)
• The People. South, East, Pleasant Land. The direction of the people. (Verse 9)
• The Covering Cherub. Two "Holy ones" announce that the desecration would last for 2300 years. (Verse 13)
• The Laws of God. It magnified itself above the feasts (times) and laws of God and changed them. (Verse 12)
• God. It reached into the Most Holy Place and removed the God of the sanctuary. (Verses 10-11)

In this choice of symbols we see a remarkable creative quality of God. He was able to repeat the events of the previous two prophecies while exploring it as a religious conquest against His sanctuary instead of a military conquest against His people. The vision of Daniel 8 starts with the Medo-Persian empire, rather than with Babylon, because Babylon is about to fall and technically no longer exists.

Beast		Interpretation
Ram		Medo-Persia (Daniel 8: 3-4)
1		The Attack On The Sanctuary The rich lands of India and China were in the east. Is it possible that God prevented an attack in the east so that the symbolism of attacking only the north, south and western walls of the sanctuary could be preserved? The Ram is Medo-Persia. (Daniel 8: 20). Physical: A Symbol Of Medo-Persia. As we previously learned, beasts represent kingdoms. Here, we have "a ram which had two horns" with one horn higher than the other. Daniel 8: 20 tells us that the "two horns are the kings of Media and Persia". Therefore, the ram represents the Medo-Persian Empire. The ram is the bear of chapter 7 with one side raised higher than the other. One horn is higher because the Persians become stronger than the Medes and absorbed their kingdom. The ram pushed "westward, and northward, and southward." Geographically, this describes the conquests of Medo-Persia. These three directions correspond to the three kingdoms symbolized by the three ribs in the mouth of the bear of Daniel 7. West. Babylon. North. Lydia. South. Egypt. Spiritual: A Symbol Of Christ. Cyrus, the leader of the Persians represents Christ, the Lord's goat and the ram. Cyrus defeated Babylon. Christ will defeat Babylon the Great. Both rescue the people of God from Babylon by parting the Euphrates river. Both build the temple of God which was destroyed by Babylon. Satan attacks both.
Male Goat		Greece (Daniel 8: 5-8)
2		The male goat is Greece. (Daniel 8: 21,22). The goat has two meanings in Daniel 8. Physical: A Symbol Of Greece . (Daniel 8: 21,22) Alexander the Great. It had a notable horn which waxed very great (Verse 8). Four Divisions. This single horn was broken, and four horns came up in its place toward the four winds of heaven. Speed. "touched not the ground". This flying goat represents great speed. Medo-Persia. It defeated the two horned ram. Greece defeated Medo-Persia. This matches the history of the Grecian conquest. Alexander the Great's conquests were very swift. We know that in the height of his power, Alexander died from a fever brought on by drunkenness, and his kingdom was divided between his four generals - Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seluecus I. The four horns corresponds to the kingdoms of these four generals. Spiritual: A Symbol Of Satanic Activity The goat is a satanic symbol described in Israel's day of judgment, the great Day of Atonement. (Leviticus 16: 5) There were two goats used on the Day of Atonement. (Leviticus 16: 5-10) One was sacrificed, the other was banished to the desert. We will look at this later in this study.
The Little Horn		Rome (Daniel 8: 9-12)
3	In nature, horns do not grow out of horns. They grow out of heads. This little horn of Daniel 8 grows out of the goat symbolizing another phase of Satan's control in world history.	The Attack on the People While the other animals attacked the sanctuary, the little horn primarily attacked the people. Physically, pagan Rome attacked these territories. » South. Africa and Egypt » East. Babylon and Greece » Pleasant Land. Israel Spiritually, papal Rome attacked the people. » South. If God sits on Mount Zion in the North, then the people of the earth are south (the footstool). Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion in the far north, the city of the great King. (Psalm 48: 2) » East. The priests. The clergy. » Pleasant Land. Israel. "Therefore the he goat waxed very 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. And out of one of them came out a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land." "four winds of heaven" (used here, and Daniel 11: 4) it represents directions, or points on the compass. "out of one of them". A little horn comes out of one of the "four winds" symbolizing one of the four directions of the compass. The grammatical structure of the original Hebrew indicates that the word "them" does not refer to the four horns because the word is masculine. The grammar requires that the pronoun have the same gender as the word to which it refers. Horns is feminine and winds is a masculine word. Therefore the pronoun "them" must refer to the winds. Why is this detail important? The little horn does not come out of the remnants of the Greek empire. It is a separate power that arises out of the Satanic goat in one of the four directions. Rome was west of this empire.
	The Conquests Of The Little Horn
	The little horn grew out of the north west, the direction of Greece. It came to power after Greece. It went south to Egypt and north Africa, east towards Asia Minor and the Greek empire and towards the Pleasant Land (Palestine). In our next study we will look at all the prophecies from Daniel 7 and 8 concerning this little horn.
	The Conquests of Pagan and Papal Rome. Pagan and Papal Rome seemed to have gained power by removing three rivals. » Pagan Rome. They conquered the powers in three directions: South (Egypt), East (Greek empire) and Palestine. Three powers fell before Pagan Rome ruled the world, (Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece). » Commander of the Host. Rome crucified the Messiah in 31 A.D. » Magnified to the Commander of the Host. Emperor Augustus Caesar started the cult of the living gods. » Daily Removed. Christ, the Lamb of God, was killed by the Romans under emperor Tiberias. » Host Given to the Little Horn. Israel was given to Rome by emperor Hadrian. » Place of His Sanctuary Thrown Down. Rome destroyed the temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. by emperor Titus. » Papal Rome. Three powers were uprooted to place it in power (Vandals (Africa), Heruli and Ostrogoths (Rome). » Magnified to the Commander of the Host. Pope is god on earth, the representative of Christ. » Daily Removed. The continual ministry of Christ as High Priest was replaced with a human priesthood. » Host Given to the Little Horn. Apostasy caused the church to be controlled by the papacy. » Place of His Sanctuary Thrown Down. The church will occupy Jerusalem during the final persecution.
4	The Judgment Of The Righteous (Daniel 8: 14) And he said to me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. (Daniel 8:14) In another study we will look at this prophecy and the one from Daniel 9 concerning this cleansing of the sanctuary.

The Animals On The Day Of Atonement

Azazel The Hebrew word for scapegoat is "Azazel." This literally means "angry or furious god" (Dr. Albert R. Treiyer, The Day of Atonement, page 257). The scapegoat, named "Azazel" is a symbol for Satan. (see Leviticus 17: 7) They shall no more offer their sacrifices to demons, after whom they have played the harlot. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations. (NKJV) And they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the he-goats, after which they play the harlot. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations. (ASV) The symbol for Lucifer in the modern occult is a hairy goat.

"And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house. And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness." (Leviticus 16: 5-10)

Sin Offering: The Lord's Goat
Every sacrificed animal in the Hebrew sanctuary (temple) represented the Great Sacrifice, Jesus Christ. Each pointed toward the sacrifice Christ made as the lamb of God. Jesus paid for the sins of mankind by the shedding of His blood at the cross of Calvary.

The scapegoat was not sacrificed. He cannot represent Jesus Christ.

The goat symbolizing Christ was sacrificed as a sin offering. The high priest would take some of the goat's blood into the Most Holy Place and sprinkle it seven times on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant.

Azazel: The Scapegoat (The Goat Of Removal).
There was a second goat that was not sacrificed. This is the scapegoat who represents Satan. He was not sacrificed for sin, but he is held responsible. The high priest would symbolically take all of the sins that had "accumulated in the sanctuary" during the year and would place them upon his head. He was then led into the wilderness to die far away from the camp of Israel. This symbolically represented the cleansing of the God's house in heaven by a divine judgment after 1798. In this judgment proper blame for the origin of sin is placed upon the head of Satan before his final banishment from the presence of God and His people at the end of time.
This banishment occurs during the millennium and the destroyed earth represents the wilderness where Satan will be confined. The scapegoat is thrown off a high cliff and killed. Satan is killed after the millennium, but He also fell from Mount Zion in heaven after the crucifixion of Jesus. (Luke 10: 18-19)

Burnt Offering: Bull, Ram And Seven Male Lambs.
On Yom Kippur several animals were offered as the burnt offering. It is this ram that the scapegoat attacks in the vision.

The Day Of Atonement

Time Out for Satan The fact that the sins are confessed over the goat does not mean that the goat pays the price for the sin. This goat does not die, so he does not atone for the sins of the innocent. Confessing the sins in his hearing means that he hears the list of charges for which God holds him responsible. He caused the sins but he cannot pay for them. So God puts them in his head so that he has a thousand years to contemplate all the mysery and every evil deed which he did, or inspired or caused.

"Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so he shall do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remains among them in the middle of their uncleanness." "And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about. And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
Satan Hears the Legal Charges against Him. And when he has made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities to a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. (Leviticus 16: 15,16, 18-22)

The Ram.
A ram was also offered as a burnt offering on this day. This prophecy used this positive image to describe Medo-Persia. Why does it do that?

It follows a trend in the prophecies of Medo-Persia rescuing the people of God. Although at some level this kingdom represents an oppressor of God's people, for some reason, God uses symbols associated with this empire to represent a positive role. Let us explore these other images.

Medo-Persia	Symbol	Comment
Ram	Ram (Lamb)	Attacked by the Satanic goat that represented both the Greek and the Roman empires
Cyrus	Conqueror chosen by God	Cyrus is a type of Jesus who rescues Israel. The Persian empire rescued Israel from Babylon. It was also the only pagan empire that rebuilt the temple of God. The others destroyed it in some way
Cyrus and Darius	Kings From the East	Revelation 16: 12. The church will be rescued by the kings from the east who dried up the Euphrates river. Israel was rescued by Medo-Persia which was east of Babylon

The Explanation
The explanation is given in verses 19-27.

Prophecy		Explained in Daniel 8		Spiritual Parallel		Destruction
Ram		Medo-Persian Empire		Jesus Christ		The Place. Sanctuary trampled
	Two Horns	»	Kings of Media and Persia	»	Human and Divine natures
Goat		Greek Empire		Fallen and corrupted Earth
	Great Horn	»	First king (Alexander the Great)	»	Satan
	Four Horns	»	Breaks into four kingdoms	»	Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome
Little Horn		Fierce King (Rome)		Antichrist
	Sanctuary Trampled	»	Rome burned the sanctuary in 70 AD	»	There was war in heaven
	Great to heaven	»	Mighty but not by his own power	»	Has an army of evil angels
	Magnified to Prince of Princes	»	Stands up against Jesus Christ. Claims to be god	»	Covets the throne of God	The People. Host (Jews, Christ and Christians) trampled
	Cast down stars	»	Destroys the mighty and holy people	»	One third of the angels fell
	The host was given to it with the daily	»	Host. The mighty and holy people	»	He got the earth and people
		»	Daily. Papal Rome assumed the role of priest and intercessor	»	He became our constant and continual accuser	Laws, High Priest and Offering. Laws trampled. High Priest killed like an animal
	Removed the continual from the Commander	»	His policy causes craft and deceit to succeed. Sacrifices stopped in the sanctuary	»	He deceived Adam and Eve. Humans turned away from God
	Magnifies Himself	»	Removes laws, changes times and laws	»	He gave the curses. Changes time from 40 to 42 and 28 to 30
	Sanctuary Restored	He will be broken without hand (human agency)				Defeated by God
	2300 days	Not Explained

Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for days. Then I got up and carried on the King's business; but I was astounded at the vision, And there was none to explain it. (Daniel 8: 27)

How could Daniel say that the vision was not explained? If you review verses 19 to 27 you will see that the only thing that was not explained was the 2300 days. In the next vision in chapter nine, the angel returns to explain a vision about time.

The People Of God
The place, people and laws of the sanctuary were trampled. How did this happen? We will explore why the people of God were handed over to the little horn.
It even magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host; and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down.
And on account of transgression, the host will be given over to the little horn along with the regular sacrifice [daily]; and it will fling truth to the ground and it will perform its will and prosper. (Daniel 8: 11-12)
The record says that they were put under the rule of the little horn because they sinned. This is the curse being fulfilled. God handed them over to their enemies so that they would be ruled by their enemies. Each apostasy accomplished all desolations, but a major event in the global desolation was fulfilled when each group of people were handed over.

• Christ ("The Commander Removed"). He became sin and was given over to Rome to be crucified in 31 A.D. His body temple was destroyed. As far as heaven was concerned, the daily sacrifice of animals could legally stop because the perfect sacrifice was made. The commander of the host was killed.
• Israel ("The Place of the Sanctuary Removed"). They sinned by rejecting Christ and Rome destroyed their temple in 70 A.D. The daily was forced to stop when the place of the sanctuary was torn down..
• Christians ("The Daily Removed"). They sinned by apostasy and Pagan Rome handed them over to Papal Rome in 538 A.D. The continual ministry of the heavenly sanctuary was removed through the apostasy as earth looked to human intercessors. Under these conditions, they were able to do their will and fling truth to the ground by changing the laws and ceremonies of God.

The Pattern: Jesus The Ram
This vision was also the pattern of future events. Jesus is the ram with two horns (human and divine). The higher horn came up at the end because the divine would reclaim the human at His resurrection. He was attacked and killed by the scapegoat Satan on Passover 31 AD, the beginning of the day of atonement. That scapegoat has prospered for 2000 years through the little horn power. At the end of time the day of atonement events will conclude when the scapegoat appears alive before the people in the false second coming. Then his original fate will be imposed as he is banished during the millennium.

Spiritual Warfare: The Destruction Of The Sanctuary
Numbers 10 is the law about the disassembly of the sanctuary and people during the exodus. Our exodus began after the crucifixion with Christ leading as our High Priest. This prophecy suggests that because of transgression we were handed over to the little horn of the scapegoat who usurped the place of Christ and tore down the true sanctuary on the day of atonement. These are the steps in transporting the sanctuary and people.
First, the priest leads the people.

• Angel of the Lord and the Cloud. The cloud indicated when they were supposed to begin their exodus. One angel came to comfort Christ in Gethsemane (Luke 22: 43).
  Guardian Angel. Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. (Exodus 23: 20)
• Ark of the Covenant. Christ keeps the covenant and earns the right to be High Priest and King.
• High Priest. Christ the High Priest leads the people to worship the Lord.
• Judah ("East"). Christ the King from the tribe of Judah leads the people on an exodus until they reject Him.
  The First Alarm. But when you blow an alarm, the camps that are pitched on the east side shall set out. (Numbers 10: 5)
  Sounding The Alarm. Although four sides set out, yet an alarm is only blown when the first two leave on their journey. Why? The rules state that an alarm is sounded for war.
  War. When you go to war in your land against the adversary who attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and be saved from your enemies. (Numbers 10: 5)
  So the tribes of Judah and Reuben are attacked by the enemy. Christ is the ram who was attacked and killed over 3.5 days by Satan, the scapegoat (Daniel 8: 7), but the little horn attacked the holy people over 3.5 prophetic years.

Ark of the Covenant	The Goat Attacks		The Little Horn Attacks				Holy Objects Arrive
	Moses Aaron	Judah		Gershon	Merari	Reuben		Kohath	Joseph	Dan
Led By Christ (Priest and King)			Sanctuary Destroyed			Church Afflicted	Sanctuary Restored		People Reunited	Wicked Killed
			Christ Killed			Jews Afflicted

Rejection. Christ was rejected by both branches of the church. So each was turned over to Rome.

• Jews Rejected Christ (31 AD). For 3.5 years after the crucifixion, the disciples ministered to the Jews.
  • Covenant (34 AD). The covenant was given to the Gentiles through Jesus.
  • Temple (70 AD). The temple was burned to the ground.
  • People (135 AD). The people were exiled from Jerusalem and both groups separated.
• Christians Rejected Christ. The church was exiled to Rome 500 years after the division of the kingdom.
  • Covenant (31 AD). The eternal covenant was made with Christ and it will never be given to another.
  • Temple (300 AD). The religion was corrupted and the people fell into apostasy.
  • People (538 AD). The church was given to Rome for 1260 years.
  After the division of the kingdom (985BC), it also took about 400 years for the Jews to be exiled to Babylon (586BC).

Transgression. When the people rejected the leadership of Christ and went astray, they were given up to the little horn because of transgression. Then the little horn destroyed everything (Daniel 8: 9-14).
And on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper. (Daniel 8: 12)

• Sanctuary Torn Down. The sanctuary is destroyed by removing the ceiling and then the building.
  Then the tabernacle was taken down and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who were carrying the tabernacle, set out. (Numbers 10: 17)
  • Gershon ("Ceiling"). The little horn grew up to heaven and cast down some of the host and stars.
  • Merari ("Building"). The sanctuary and fence were thrown down and trampled.
  The little horn moved the heavenly sanctuary to the earth and trampled on it.
  But the testimony is that God kept the pieces of the sanctuary safe among two groups. One has knowledge about heavenly things, and the other carried knowledge about the sanctuary system. A prophecy in Ezekiel shows that the Christians are entrusted with knowledge about Christ as our High Priest in heaven and the Jews with knowledge about the laws, feasts and sanctuary until God unites them and restores complete knowledge about the Plan of Salvation.
• Reuben ("South"). The little horn trampled down the host and stars. The people were afflicted.
  The Second Alarm. When you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that are pitched on the south side shall set out. An alarm is to be blown for them to set out. (Numbers 10: 6)
  An alarm is sounded for this phase of the church because they are being attacked by their enemies. The early church was attacked and slaughtered by the little horn for 1260 years.
• Kohath ("Furniture or Holy Objects"). The little horn successfully trampled truth and changed the ordinances. It took away the holy objects.
  • Altar of Sacrifice ("Offering"). The sacrifice of Christ which was done once for all is killed repeatedly on their altars as the Eucharist in the doctrine of transsubstantiation.
    » Daily Stopped ("Continual"). While the sanctuary and furniture are disassembled and in transit, the continual offering cannot be burned.
  • Laver ("Washing"). Baptism was replaced with sprinkling.
  • Menorah ("Light"). Darkness replaced the light of the Gospel. Bible reading was forbidden.
  • Table of Shewbread ("Bread and Wine"). Passover was replaced with something inferior.
  • Altar of Incense ("Prayer"). Praying to the true High Priest was replaced with a human priesthood and dead saints.
  The Horror Of The Great Transgression. The little horn placed all the holy objects under its jurisdiction. The testimony of God is that what the little horn did was a horrible transgression that was equivalent to tearing down the building and the people, maliciously stepping on them and smashing them into the dirt.
• Sanctuary Restored. The sanctuary is restored after 2300 days so that the holy objects will find truth.
  Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy objects; and the tabernacle was set up before their arrival. (Numbers 10: 21)
  Notice that two sequential events occur.
  • Sanctuary Restored. Knowledge of the sanctuary will be restored before the great awakening and reunion.
  • Kohatities Arrive With the Holy Objects. The righteous people in the south, who are now one group, will possess the holy truths that have been tarnished and neglected. The sons of Kohath camp in the south and many prophecies suggest that at the time the two branches of the church reunite, they will be symbolically waiting in the south. So here they are, the people of the south, with the holy truths.
• Joseph ("West"). The people are vindicated and restored and their reproach is removed. Joseph, who receives a double inheritance, now represents the two united branches of the church, Jews and Gentiles.
  No alarm is sounded when they set out. The implications are that God is with us and we do not need to sound an alarm to call Him to battle. At this phase of the church we are on the offensive until we are actually safe in heaven. For those who fear the time of trouble, this is encouraging. We will win battles like Joshua, Gideon and David did!
• Dan ("North"). The little horn will be judged and punished as a serpent by God.
  No alarm is sounded because God is already at war during the judgment and the battle of Armageddon.

Repetition and Enlargement
Daniel has another vision about the same empires. At the time the vision was given, Babylon was about to be conquered by the Persians. Therefore, you will notice that this nation was no longer mentioned. It is no longer prophecy, it is history.
Again, let us take a look at the symbolism. They were important because of the audience and the specific details being introduced.

1. Precious Metals. To Nebuchadnezzar, the symbolism of wealth would immediately help him to understand the value of each successive kingdom. It also reminded him of the pagan view of time. This cyclic time will be interrupted by the Rock.
2. Wild Beasts. To the Jew, the symbolism of an attack on the nation by wild beasts would lead them to think of the curses of the covenant.
3. Yom Kippur Animals. To the Jew, the symbolism of the ram and the goat would invoke images of Yom Kippur and the cleansing of the sanctuary. This fact is very significant because Daniel 8: 14 introduced the cleansing of the sanctuary. This prophecy describes the attack on the sanctuary during Yom Kippur.