There is a ram standing beside a named river near Bazra. ->

This ram is described as having many horns, the last one to sprout being higher than the rest. He is also a bully to all the countries around him, and no one is able to control him.

Rushing toward this ram is a he-goat with a single horn in  ->

his forehead. The angry goat is coming from the west so fast that he seems not to touch the ground. The goat does battle with the ram twice and the second time he breaks the rams horns and casts him to the ground and stamps on him. There is no one to save the ram.

When the goat is in control, then the horn on the goat's   ->

forehead is broken and four horns come up in its place toward the four points of the compass. From these four horns emerges another horn toward the southwest. It was a very great horn until the 'prince of the host' which did blasphemous things and prospered.

Then there appeared a vision of a man standing between the banks of the named river who said that the power of the very great horn would be 2300 days. He also instructed the angel to teach Daniel what the vision meant.

The angel said that the horns on the ram were the kings of the ancient land of the Medes. This land is the modern state of Iraq. Eight kings reigned over Iraq from it's foundation in 1921 by the British; ending with the most powerful of all, Saddam Hussein. While vice president of Iraq, Hussein started building one of the most oppresive systems in the world. After becoming president, he continued to use the oil revenue and speechless cruelty to continue to make sure that no one would restrict his power. Three major wars, executions and the destruction Iraq's wealth and infrastructure are among Hussein's achievements.

The angel further states that the he-goat was a coalition of western kings and the horn in his forehead was the leader king. In 1991, George Bush the senior led a coalition of western nations against Iraq because Hussein had annexed Kuwait to have a port from which to ship his oil. President Bush stopped the rout at Bazra thinking that he had given Hussein a lesson to cool his jets. Hussein didn't stop his bullying ways and eventually George Bush the junior declared war on Iraq and completely dessimated the army and captured Hussein. The greatest problem during the second war was the dissedents and the terrorists that took advantage of the vacuum of power in Iraq. It took another few years to be able to control the chaos and eventually turn the government over to a new Iraqi administration.

The vision continues with the prominent horn on the forehead of the goat being broken when the coalition gains power of the land of Iraq. The angel states that the government that led the coalition against Iraq will be broken and a government made up of representatives from the four corners of the world will take over. This united nations government at some time will call on another king to go to the pleasant land, which is probably Israel. This may be a reference to the 'command to restore and to build Jerusalem' in Daniel 9. This king will magnify himself until he is replaced by the antichrist, who will practise and prosper with lies and then commit the transgression of desolation. The antichrist will reign for 2300 days.

                                                                                                                 Daniel 8

           1 ¶ In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.

Starting as most of the Daniel chapters with a reference to the time that the vision was given; the first verse ends with a reference back to the vision of Daniel 7, as if there was a connection. As a matter of fact, I believe that the only reason that this second vision is here is to pinpoint the time when the prophesies of Daniel 7-12 will begin to come to fulfilment. This vision and the event that depicts is so explicit that it is hard to find another event that will fit the complete picture that it portrays. And, I believe, that the breaking of the prominent horn of the he goat is directly related to the humiliation of the lion with eagle’s wings in Daniel 7 and the breaking of the dominion of the great king of Daniel 11.

           2 And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision,

           and I was by the river of Ulai.

           3 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.

Verse 3 actually reads in Hebrew, as found in the Dead Sea scrolls:

          *3 And I lifted eyes, and I gave attention, and behold ram one taking his stand against

          *the river, and he had horns horns high, and the one higher from others, and the higher

          *sprang up last.

This reading also agrees with Flavius Josephus in Book X Chapter 11 Paragraph 7, who published that the understanding of the Jews of his day was that the ram had

many horns and that the last horn was higher than the rest.

          4 I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts 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.

Verse 4a, in the Dead Sea scrolls also includes ‘eastward’ in the directions that the ram was a bully.

          5 And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and

          the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

         6 And he came to the ram that had (two) horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.

         7 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 no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that

           could deliver the ram out of his hand.

Once more I take exception with the English translation: the ‘two’ follows the ‘sign of the definite direct object’ which makes it an adverb and not an adjective. Therefore the following cursive translation:

          *7 And I saw  him approach in proximity to the ram, and he was embittered to him,

          *and he came near the ram and he broke twice the horns, and not happen power with

          *the ram to stand before him.

This also agrees with the writings of Josephus where the goat came against the ram twice.

Now, we have a complete picture of the vision:

1.  The ram stood on the opposite shore of the river Ulai

2.  The ram had many horns-the last horn was higher.

3.  The horns of the ram are the kings of Media Persia. Dan 8:20

4.  The ram pushed(butting) westward and eastward, northward and southward.

5.  The ram became great.

6.  The ram was “smote” twice by the he-goat.

7.  The horns of the ram were completely broken.

8.  The goat was the kings of Grecia. Dan 8.21

9.  The prominent horn was the first(chief) king. Dan 8:21

It is my opinion that the ram of Dan.8 is Iraq. In the history of Iraq there have been four kings(Faisal, King Ghazi I, Faisal II,   Hussein), then there was a time of several coups where there were several presidents and prime ministers(Salam Arif, Rahman Arif, Al-Bakr, and Hussein-who pronounced himself king). While Saddam Hussein was  king, he ‘pushed’ east against Iran and south into Kuwait.  After he pushed into Kuwait, the U.S. went to war with Iraq for the first time. During the war Iraq launched it’s scuds west against Israel in an effort to bring Israel into the war to break down the U.S.’s coalition of Arab support. After Desert Storm, Hussein made himself great in his region by standing off the western nations insistence that he abide by their rules and continued to push north(against the Kurds) and south(against the Shiites) thereby bringing on the “no fly zones” imposed by the western nations.

The river Ulai is the modern Karun River which empties into the Euphrates just south of Bazra. The ram stood ‘against the river’, which is a Hebrew idiom that translates into modern English as ‘on the other side’. Daniel 8 focuses our attention on this little country of Iraq as the opening scenes of the second of Daniel’s late life visions.

The he-goat comes out of the west so fast he seems to not touch the ground. The word choler means with anger. The goat is defined in Gabriel’s explanation as the kings of Grecia. I continue to believe that the ‘realm of Grecia’ is the Western nations, or the western most nation(s) that Daniel knew of when he penned the prophesies. ‘Grecia’ is the Old English translation of ‘Javan’ - or the nations that were settled by Noah’s grandson, Javan, when ‘the earth was divided’, which is believed to be the area west along the northern Mediterranean Sea. The ‘first king’ is a translation of the same word that is also translated as ‘chief king’. The chief king of the western nations is the president of the United States. The US led coalition warred with Iraq twice to complete the destruction of the Iraqi government.

           8 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.

Just a note here; the ram was great; now the goat waxed very great. If Hussein was ‘great’ because he held Iraq together despite the various factions there, then the goat by being ‘very great’ may exert enough force to do the same, although at this writing the coalition in Iraq is not giving the perception that the outcome of this war will be very pretty. However, ‘when he was strong’ the government of the chief king was broken. The more time passes, the more feasible ways this can happen come into view. A suitcase nuke downtown Washington when there is a great party or abandoned celebration, a high altitude nuke that would bring the nation to collapse(electronically), or the bankruptcy of our economy, etc. Daniel 11:4, I believe, states that when the collapse of the US does happen, that there will be noone to legally take the reigns of the government. This would lead to great chaos and, I believe, the UN would step in to restore peace. Although verse 8b sounds like the US could be divided into four pieces it also could be that a single government with representatives from the ‘four winds of heaven’ could be invited to be an interim government.

        9 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.

I believe that this verse tells of the future internationalization of Jerusalem and the invitation to the Vatican to take control of the city to bring peace and order to the area. If you go south and east from the Vatican you could just possibly end up in Jerusalem, especially if you are going ‘toward the pleasant land’. Notice that there is no mention of eyes and a mouth on this little horn. I believe that this horn is different than the horn that comes up among the ten horns of the fourth beast of Daniel 7:7, 8.

10 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.

          11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, ...

The ram was ‘great’, the he goat was ‘very great’, and the little horn is ‘exceeding great’. It sounds like he has to use a great deal of force, and that life is not easy for God’s chosen - ‘the host’ and ‘the stars’. The little horn ‘magnifies himself’ until the ‘prince of the host’ shows up. This ‘prince of the host’, I believe, is the little horn with eyes and a mouth, or the Antichrist, the ‘man of sin’ himself.

          ...and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

        12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground;

            and it practised, and prospered.

As the man of sin or Satan prepares to move into the Most Holy Place of the new Temple, the ‘daily sacrifice’ can be no more and because of  the ‘abomination of desolation‘, the use of the Temple for the Jew to make atonement for transgression is meaningless. Then the  man of sin, or the Antichrist, does his thing for a time.

          13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision

          concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?

          14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

Verse 14 does not do justice to the Hebrew; actually, it says ‘unto two thousand and three hundred’ evening and morning

sacrifices, or one thousand one hundred and fifty days, ‘then shall the sanctuary be restored’ or the ‘abomination of desolation’ terminated.

          15 ¶ And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before

          me as the appearance of a man.

          16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.

The promise is that it will last a limited time.

Dan 8:14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days;

then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

           17 So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand,

           O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.

         18 Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.

         19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.

         20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.

         21 And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

         22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.

In each vision, Gabriel comes to Daniel and explains the vision to him. And each time, the implication, if not the command is given to ‘understand, o son of man’. This command lays especially heavy on us, who occupy the ‘time appointed’, to ‘understand’, to open our minds and study the prophecies as ‘knowledge is increased’. Watching prophecy turn into history will, I think, help us to grow in our trust of God.

           23 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.

           24 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.

  25 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.

The part of Daniel 7 of which Daniel had been so upset; his observation of the little horn with ‘eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things’; are brought into better focus here. These verses describe in a little more detail the actions of this ‘latter time’ king.

          26 And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.

          27 And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.

What is important right now to you and I in this vision is what happens to the “great horn” after the second war of the ram and he-goat. If the horn is indeed the Bush government and it is “broken” enough to be replaced with a foreign government or governments, we may be in for some hard times. If we wait until the crisis, decisions made may be skin saving–especially if family is negatively affected. If you, as I, believe God is showing us, his children, what is to come to pass and we make tentative decisions based on the study of prophecy, we can not only be strong, but be a help for others.