made in Daniel's hearing was that it should be unto 2,300 days and then the sanctuary

should be cleansed. The interpretation of the vision is now given to Daniel, and we may

set out the details as follows:--

THE RAM.--This represents the kings of Media and Persia. The ram was the symbol

of Persia, and is found upon ancient Persian coins: it was worn by kings, and used, with

its curling horns, as pillar capitals and volutes at Persepolis, the metropolis of the

kingdom.

THE HE-GOAT.--This is the symbol of Greece. According to legend, an oracle

directed the first settlers to follow a goat, and the word Egeae, which is still found on the

map, is from aix, a goat. The great horn is said to represent "the first king" (verse 21),

and so stands for Alexander the Great.

THE FOUR.--At the death of Alexander, his kingdom was divided amongst his

generals.  Ptolemy took Egypt, Palestine, and parts of Asia Minor;  Cassander,

Macedonia and Greece; Lysimachus, Thrace and Bythinia, and Seleucus, Syria and

East of the Euphrates.  Just as the silver kingdom of Persia is said to be "inferior" to the

golden kingdom of Babylon, so, at the death of Alexander, his kingdom waned: it was

not held together by these four heads "in his power".

Thus far we have a prophecy of what is now history. But Daniel, however, had no

information from which he could tell whether the interval between the fourfold division

of Alexander's kingdom and the rise of the little horn would be long or short. In this

respect, we have the advantage, for we know that a very long interval was intended.

However, the interval, whether long or short, is passed over in silence, and we come to

the time when the little horn should appear.

THE LITTLE HORN.--This is a king of fierce countenance or mighty presence, who

understood dark sentences. The latter characteristic is indicative of something deeper

than mere "skill in dissimulation", for it indicates that he will be acquainted with the

depths of satan. "A dark saying" is an expression used in Psa. 49: 4, 78: 2, and

Prov. 1: 6 for deep parabolic utterances or "mysteries", and is found in Chaldee form in

Dan. 5: 12. Immediately following the statement concerning his understanding of dark

sentences is a further revelation concerning the secret of his power: "His power shall be

mighty, but not by his own power" (8: 24). Rev. 13: 2 and II Thess. 2: 9, 10 have

since been written to make clear to us the satanic source of this king's power.

THE TIME.--This all takes place in the latter time of the kingdom of the four heads

of Grecian dominion, and is still further defined by the added statement, "when the

transgressors are come to the full". This appears to be a principle upon which God acts.

Abraham was told that his seed would have to wait four hundred years, and in bondage

for a part of that time, because "the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full"

(Gen. 15: 16). The longsuffering of God waited through the period covered by the Acts

until Israel had filled up the measure of their fathers (Matt. 23: 32 and I Thess. 2: 16).

The mystery of iniquity is at work at present beneath the surface.  Day by day it