August 4: HE WHO IS GREATEST

“Then he came at the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing beside the river, and ran at him with furious power.” Daniel 8:6

The male goat… from the west (v.5) represents Greece, as do the belly and thighs of bronze (2:32,39) and the leopard with four wings and four heads (7:6). The notable horn between [the male goat’s] eyes (v.5) symbolizes young Alexander the Great whose father, Philip of Macedonia had been assassinated (see July 19 entry). History records that the battles between the Greeks and the Persians were particularly fierce. In a rapid series of military confrontations that began with Alexander crushing the generals of Darius at the River Granicus in Phrygia, then on to the passes of Issus in Cilicia, and lastly on the plains of Arbela in Syria. In 331BC the final defeat of the Persian Empire went into history’s record. These events elevated Alexander to the status of very great, in comparison to the previous empire, that of the Persians, which had become great (v.4).

And I saw [the male goat] confronting the ram; he was moved with rage against him, attacked the ram, and broke his two horns. There was no power in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled him; and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand (v.7). The two horns of the ram that had worked so well together, the kings of Media and Persia (v.20), were both completely undone through the military cunning of Alexander and the well-trained army he led after the death of his father.

Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven (v.8). At the pinnacle of Greece’s glory, so rapidly achieved, the life and military genius of Alexander the Great came to a sudden and sad end only eight years after the victory at Arbela. His drinking habit left him unable to survive what might have been only a mild illness. The statement, the large horn was broken, is written in passive voice, and not pointing to an outside inflictor of defeat. Many have said of Alexander, “He could conquer the world, but he could not conquer himself.” Thus it so often happens with the unrepentant who sense no need for repentance. The horn of their strength is broken even as they believe they are standing firm. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall (1 Corinthians 10:12).

The four notable [horns that] came up toward the four winds of heaven represent four generals in Alexander’s army. Each general fought to gain power for himself, and the resulting divisions of the Grecian Empire never had the same glory. Lysimachus took over the northern regions, Seleucus the eastern countries, Ptolomy the southern parts, and Cassander the west—symbolized by the four heads of the leopard in Daniel’s first vision (Daniel 7:6). The four winds of heaven symbolize the four points of the compass and in general refer to the multiple directions that the Grecian Empire had spread. Thus far, the territories conquered by Alexander the Great combined to form the largest empire in the known world. Though it was regarded as very great (v.8), its worldly glory was short-lived and pales by comparison to the next world empire to come… In the end, we can be certain that all of man’s striving for world dominion will come to naught.

Jesus said, “But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:1