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The Timeline Of The Tribulation: Chapter 2 – The Ram And The He Goat
Source: World Events and the Bible
By: Brandon T. Ward
As we begin Chapter 2 of this study we should understand we are under the power of the sixth kingdom which is the kingdom of the children of Satan. It is this kingdom that will receive a Deadly Wound as we outlined in the previous Chapter. In this Chapter we will discuss the Ram and the He Goat of Daniel 8 both historically and presently, analyzing what it means for us today and in the near future. The conflict in Daniel 8 is an event that will transpire just before we see the rise of the Ten Kings of the Earth, the Ten Clay Kings from Chapter 1 of this study which occurs before the Tribulation of Satan. In fact, it is this conflict that gives rise to these Ten Clay Kings.
Forward: Dates have been placed into this Chapter in order to document there is a space of time between the verses (events) in Daniel though these dates are not necessary for the understanding of this Chapter. In this Chapter historical and Biblical dates vary by roughly 113 years. The Bible is the Word of God which includes its dating and we refer the reader to Appendix 50 of the Companion Bible for dating references. It is interesting to note history itself had no record of Babylonian king Belshazzar until the year 1924 A.D. when a cuneiform was discovered with reference to him. Before that time the book of Daniel was thrown out as inaccurate by historians until this discovery. Once again documenting man’s imperfection and our Father’s divine accuracy.
Before we start our Bible study, let us ask our Father for wisdom and understanding of His Word, in Jesus Name amen.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 – The Beast with Seven Heads
Chapter 2 – The Ram and the He Goat
Chapter 3 –
Chapter 4 –
Chapter 5 –
Chapter 6 –
Chapter 7 –
Chapter 8 –
Chapter 9 –
Daniel 8:1
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.”
Daniel’s vision occurred in the year 539 B.C. (426 B.C. Biblical dating) under the rule of king Belshazzar of Babylon. If you recall from Chapter 1 of this study Babylon was the first kingdom, the “head of gold”.
We need to be careful to note the historical records of this event do not fulfill the scripture. The Angel Gabriel made that clear by stating, “for at the time of the end shall be the vision,” meaning the end of this age of flesh (Daniel 8:17). Let us continue.
Daniel 8:2
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.”
Karun River, Iran – Wikipedia
Daniel is giving us some very specific information. First, Daniel tells us his location where he experienced the vision and that was Shushan being the city of Susa in Iran of today. Within the vision Daniel was by the river of Ulai which is known today as the Karun River. The Karun River is east of Shushan and is the only navigable river in Iran which empties into the Euphrates River. It seems apparent the vision affixes a geographical location to the events we will now read of.
Daniel 8:3
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.”
The Angel Gabriel explains to us in verse 20, “The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia” and provides the interpretation of Daniel’s vision in verses 18-27. Remember, at the time of Daniel’s vision Belshazzar king of Babylon was in power. Meaning, Media-Persia had not yet conquered Babylon and established itself as the second kingdom which was the ‘breast and arms of silver’ in Daniel’s vision, which means this was future prophecy to Daniel (Daniel 2:32).
Daniel 8:4
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.”
In order to understand the future event being described in the vision, we need to understand the historical example. The king of Media was Astyages (lower horn) while the king of Persia was his son Cyrus (higher horn) who conquered his father’s Median kingdom in 546 B.C. (433 B.C. Biblical dating) after three years of war. In the year 539 B.C. (426 B.C. Biblical dating) Media-Persia would conquer Babylon fulfilling Daniel 5:28 where king Belshazzar of Babylon literally saw the writing on the wall that his kingdom was to be, “divided, and given to the Medes and Persians,” and so it was. When reading this verse it is important to understand Persia did not control the entire world, they controlled their known world, their area in general.
Now that we understand the historical context, let us take this example and apply it to these end times. It is my opinion the lower horn is symbolic for Iraq (Media) and the higher horn is Iran (Persia) who has gained respect politically on the world’s stage. It is a fact, Iran has the greatest influence of any Arab nation (though they are Persian) in the Middle East and how interesting to note the Iraq and Iran war of the 1980s that killed a million people between these two nations. Further, we saw Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (lower horn) fall from power at the hand of the United States who we will discuss shortly.
The phrase “became great” (Strong’s word: 1431) in this fourth verse would have been better translated as “proudly”, meaning the Ram “acted proudly”. Iran has certainly “acted proudly” on the world’s stage and through diplomacy they have kept their nation safe from enemy armies, but that will only last so long. The Globalists have a road map for the destruction of Iran, a subject we will discuss shortly.
Daniel 8:5
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.”
Gabriel explains to us in verse 21, “the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.” Historically, this was Greece and the horn is symbolic for Alexander their king.
While I believe the Ram is Iran of today, it is important to understand and take note of the specifics of Daniel’s vision. The Ram (Persia) has a geographical location tied to it, however we see the Goat comes from the West. Meaning, it is not tied to this same geographical location.
Greece is geographically located west from Persia and who is known as “the West” of today? The Western Nations, which are essentially the globalized world that is primarily comprised not only of the United States, but the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization better known as NATO. It is these Global Powers that naturally will come from “the face of the whole earth” against Iran and they already have politically. While Greece was the ruling power in the region when they conquered Persia in 328 B.C., the United States is the ruling power not only of the region today, but of the entire world.
Think about it for a moment, we rarely see nation fighting against nation today, specifically the globalized world. Instead, we see Global Powers or a “coalition of forces” lead by the United States and including nations such as Russia who are all fighting against a common enemy known as (manufactured) terrorism. We should understand these Global Powers are manipulated and controlled by the children of Satan and they are only pitted against one another when it serves the children of Satan’s best interests. Essentially, these Global Powers belong to the sixth kingdom and make up the current global structure. That current global structure would include its financial system and the accompanying organizations such as the BIS and IMF. It also consists of the most powerful nations in the world including the United States, Russia, China and the rest of the G20 nations. We have only scratched the surface here. The only nations that are not a part of today’s current global structure (Global Powers) are those nations who are not a part of the global financial system and due to that are being attacked or shortly will be.
Just as Alexander was undefeated in battle these Global Powers are essentially undefeated as well and you certainly cannot make war when everyone is a part of the same political directive.
To explain a little further, the United States is essentially the United Nations. What I mean by that is the United States provides more funding to the United Nations than 176 nations combined. According to the last available annual report, the United States contributed 22% of the entire United Nations budget which is the maximum allowed for one nation, a total that equaled $7.69 billion dollars. As a matter of fact the United States has been the top donor of the United Nations since its inception in 1945.
The United States support for globalism does not stop there. They also provide 17% of the International Monetary Fund’s budget which is converted to the SDR, a global currency. This total is three times more than the next closest nation.
Then we have NATO who receives 22% of their funding from the United States who also makes up 73% of all military spending by NATO nations documenting the United States for all intents and purposes is NATO as well.
Finally, the United States makes up 36% of the entire world’s military spending followed by China at 13%, Saudi Arabia at 5.2%, Russia at 4% and the rest of the world’s nations making up the remaining 41.8%. This further documents the United States is not only the sole superpower of the entire world, but they provide enormous support for the various global government entities and they are controlled by the children of Satan’s sixth kingdom.
Daniel 8:6
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.”
Again, where was Daniel when he saw this vision? In Persia, Iran of today. Daniel was located by the River Ulai which is the Karun River today and this is where the Ram was located. The Goat on the other hand came from the West, the obvious direction Greece came from to attack Persia.
Daniel 8:7
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.”
Historically, Greece attacked Persia in 334 B.C. and the war raged until 328 B.C. when Persia fell. History shows us this was not an instantaneous act and we should keep that in mind looking to this future event. As it took Greece years to overcome Media-Persia so has it taken years for the Global Powers of today to overtake Persia, Iran of today.
In 2003 Global Powers which are the powers of the sixth kingdom took over Iraq removing Saddam Hussein from power and incorporated Iraq into the current global structure and soon enough Iran will merge into this structure as well.
I want you to take note of the phrase from verse 4 “neither was there any that could deliver out of his (Ram’s) hand” with reference to Ram. Then in verse 7 we read “there was none that could deliver the ram out of his (Goat’s) hand” with reference to the Goat.
When we first read these verses there would appear to be a contradiction. We were first told the Ram was so strong no one could deliver anyone from his hand which is symbolic for his power. Then we read of the same scenario for the Goat, yet the Goat overtakes the Ram as verse 7 documents. Obviously, the Goat was able to break the two horns of the Ram and likewise the Goat’s horn will break as verse 8 reads, “the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken”. So what we are told is symbolic in meaning for these nations being powerful in one regard or another at specific times, but each kingdom eventually came to an end with a new one rising in its place.
When we read the phrase “neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand” we tend to immediately think of the world’s greatest military powers. While military might once defined phrases like this, today we see another power, one of diplomacy through the political process. We live in a time where conflicts can be created and ended in an office instead of on the battlefield. A time when economics can rule over might. As stated earlier Iran has the greatest influence of any Arab nation in the Middle East and if it was easy for Global Powers to take over Iran they would have done so years ago. It is not as simple as a bombing run, that would upset the geopolitical process of the entire world. There has to be a globally accepted and justifiable reason to attack Iran in order to avoid an uncontrollable blow back from the rest of the world. Specifically the Arab world, and the proper planning must take place, so the Globalists developed a playbook, a document titled, “Which Path to Persia”. This document proves itself true and accurate as the Globalists continue to follow the game plan contained within it to destroy Iran’s government and replace it with one ruled by Global Powers.
Daniel 8:8
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.”
Alexander, the great horn of Greece died in Babylon in the year 323 B.C., six years after he conquered Persia and essentially his kingdom fell with him no longer retaining its former glory. It is important to understand from the time that Greece started to wage war with Persia to the breaking of the horn of the Goat roughly 12 years transpired. The point is, this was not an instantaneous event, it took years for it all to unfold and we should expect to see and have seen the same so far in these last days.
Notice the Four Winds of Heaven. This is the moment when the Four Winds are let loose and the Sealing of our Father’s Saints is complete, but it does not mark the start of the Tribulation. Not until the Deadly Wound which we will cover in Chapter 4 of this study.
In verse 22 Gabriel explains the interpretation of verse 8, “Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.”
Four kingdoms are not going to arise from the United States though they are essentially the global power of the world. Remember, this is a global issue and we are under the rule of Global Powers, specifically “the rulers of the darkness of this world,” who are the rulers of the current global structure, the rulers of the sixth kingdom who are the children of Satan (Ephesians 6:12).
When we see the fall of Iran and its integration into the current global structure, we should understand as there was a space of time between Persia’s fall and the fall of the great horn known as Alexander (Goat, Greece), so will there be a gap in time between the fall of Iran and the fall of the current global structure (Global Powers). This fall will cause a Global Restructure which will be the fulfillment of the sixth kingdom. I must stress, this is not the Deadly Wound. We can be certain of that fact as the release of the Four Winds mark the point in time when the Goat’s horn is broken (Greece historically, Global Powers of today) which gives rise to the Ten Clay Kings which marks a new Global Structure, a subject we will cover in Chapter 3.
Today, the sixth kingdom which is the children of Satan’s kingdom rule essentially from behind a curtain, they rule, but not absolute as they control the nation state by manipulating its leaders to make their will come to pass instead of a truly centralized and Global Structure. The children of Satan derive their power primarily through their control of the global financial system which they use to manipulate and control the governments of the world including their education systems and the religions of the world.
Sometime after the war or political conflict with Iran we will witness the failure of the current global structure which suffers from many created illnesses like the current economic environment and the false war on terrorism. The world’s problems will be blamed on the governments of the world and their politicians and they already are. Today, the people of the world are fed up with their governments and continually look for other answers. We see people embracing globalism and the children of Satan will use the breaking of the Goat’s horn which is the current global structure led by the United States to bring forward their sixth kingdom front and center with them ruling more openly atop a truly centralized Global Structure. No longer will the children of Satan need to control a nation state as the nation state will no longer exist. This is when the Ten Clay Kings we learned about from Chapter 1 of this study will rise and take power over the earth. The “ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations,” meaning these Ten Clay Kings will not necessarily be the children of Satan themselves (Zechariah 8:23). Even so, this will be the moment the children of Satan truly have centralized power over the earth, the moment they have waited thousands of years for.
Source: World Events and the Bible
