A Little Horn from a Notable One - Daniel 8:9

In the book of Daniel, Daniel said, “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 in chapter eight and verse nine of his book, Daniel said he saw, “out of one of them came forth a little horn”  where we read,

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.

The verse reads, “And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, …” Daniel began with the words, “and out of one of them” or “and from a certain and particular one of the four horns” “came forth a little horn” which means “arose a small protrusion”, “which was exceeding great” or “that existed as excessively and abundantly magnified and powerful”. Daniel shared how a small protrusion proceeded from the four notable horns on the excessively powerful “he goat”. 

The verse goes on to say, “… toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.” Daniel continued with the words, “toward the south” or “to the southern direction”, “and toward the east” which means “and to the eastward direction”, “and toward the pleasant land” or “and to the beautiful, honorable and splendorous property or territory”. Daniel shared how the “little horn” expanded his territory toward the southern and eastern direction as well as to the beautiful territory or region. 

When we consider Daniel’s words in this verse, we discover that there was a smaller protrusion that arose following the time when the “four notable horns” preceded from the “he goat”, and this smaller protrusion became exceedingly powerful in a southern and easterly direction and also toward the property known as the “beautiful land” which is the land of Israel. History tells us that this “little horn” was none other than “Antiochus Epiphanes (so he called himself)-the illustrious”. (See Daniel 7:8) Each of these powerful ruling entities had their place in the kingdoms of men, and although people thought they were in control, God actually was. God’s  desire is to have a personal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind, and when He raised Him from the dead, He made the way for us to be forgiven of our sins, granted everlasting life and equipped with His Holy Spirit so regardless of what happens in governments and kingdoms of men, we will know He is always in control. 

Next time Daniel shares how the little horn, “waxed great, even to the host of heaven”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".