CHAPTER   EIGHT

Verse 1: In the third year of the reign of king Baltasar, a vision appeared to me. I Daniel, after what I had seen in the beginning.

In the third year of of the reign of King Baltasar, the year AM 3451 or 553 BC, two years later, the vision was given to the prophet Daniel again.

Verse 2: Saw in my vision when I was in the castle of Susa, which is in the province of Elam: and I saw in the vision that I was over the gate of Ulai.

According to the vision, Daniel saw the locality that he was in.

Verse 3: And I lifted up my eyes and saw: and I behold the ram stood before the water, having two high horns, and one higher than the other, and growing up. Afterward

The prophet saw an unusual ram standing by the river or creek.

Verse 4: I saw the ram pushing with his horns against the west, against the north, and against the south: and no beast could withstand him, nor be delivered out of his hand: and he did according to his own will, and became great.

The prophet saw the ram attacking the north, the south, and the west at will. He seemed invincible and his dominion was great. Notice that the ram did not attack his enemy in the east because he came from the east. The ram signified the Eastern Alliance, Russia and the Muslims led by Iran , who would win many battles at the beginning of the World War III against NATO or Western allies. Muslims shall invade southern Europe (the West), Asia and northern Europe (the North), and northern Africa (the south).

Verse 5: And I understood: and behold a he-goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and he touched not the ground, and the he-goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

The he-goat signifying the Western block approached the ram.This he-goat had a notable horn or supreme power. "He touched not the ground" as King Henry of the Western alliance shall advance rapidly against the Muslim forces and their allies after the turning point of World War III , and after an apparent defeat at the start.

Verse 6: And he went up the ram that had the horns, which I had seen stand before the gate, and he ran toward him in the force of his strength.

The remnants of NATO shall fully counter-attack the Muslims.

Verse 7: And when he was come near the ram, he was enraged against him, and struck the ram: and broke his two horns, and the ram could not withstand him: and when he cast him down on the ground, he stamped upon him, and none could deliver the ram out of his hand.

The he-goat won the war agaisnt the ram, broke his two horns or completely neutralize his power. The Western allies shall drive back the Islamic and Russian invasion. Iran and Muslim territories shall become occupied by the Western allies.

Verse 8: And the he-goat became exceedingly great: and when he was grown, the great horn was broken, and there came up four horns under it toward the four winds of heaven.

The he-goat or Western Europe shall become very glorious and powerful during the period of peace. When the he-goat becomes full grown or the Catholic Empire reaches its maturity, its influence or dominion shall cover all four corners of the earth and the Empire shall become one Christian World Order. The great horn then shall be broken or the great French Monarch of the Catholic Roman Empire, King Henry shall die. Four other leaders shall succeed him before the emergence of the "little horn" or the long-awaited antichrist.

Verse 9: And out of them came forth a little horn:and became great against the south, and agaisnt the east, and against the strength.

And out of this One World Order or this Empire shall emerge a "little horn" or the antichrist who shall become very powerful. He shall conquer the southern countries and eastern territories. And he shall conquer agaisnt the "strength" or the Church. The war campaign of the antichrist is believed to take place in the East or Middle East including the Holy Land, and the south of Mediterranean or northern Africa. The antichrist shall come from the southern Europe, possibly Greece.

Verse 10: And it was magnified even to the strength of heaven: and it threw down of the strength, and of the stars, and trod upon them.

The antichrist shall become invincibly almighty. He shall oppress the Church or "the strength" and persecute Christians. He shall destroy all temporal rulers or "the stars".

Verse 11: And it was magnified even to the prince of the strength: and it took away from him the continual sacrifice, and cast down the place of his sanctuary.

He even conquers "the prince of strength" or the Holy Pontiff of the Church. He shall abolish the continual Sacrifice or the daily Sacrifice of the Holy Mass, and the antichrist shall destroy "the place of sanctuary" or the Seat of papacy, an equivalent of Rome or the Holy City.

Verse 12: And strength was given him against the continual sacrifice, because of sins: and truth shall be cast down on the ground, and he shall do and shall prosper.

God shall allow the antichrist to abolish the Holy Mass because the human iniquities shall reach an abhorable climax. People shall not recognize the eternal Truth in the teachings of the Church and the Holy Gospel. They shall believe in strange doctrines taught by the False Prophet who shall be the antichrist himself and his disciples. The antichrist shall prosper in everything he does due to the corrupted degradation of mankind which in many aspects shall be much worse than the present time of our century.

Verse 13: And I heard one of the saints speaking, and one saint said to another, I know not to whom that was speaking: How long shall be the vision, concerning the continual sacrifice, and the sin of the desolation that is made: and the sanctuary, and the strength be trodden under foot?

One of the departed faithful asked the other how long the antichrist would govern the world, desolate the Church, defile the Sanctuary, and prohibit the daily Sacrifice of the Holy Mass.

Verse 14: And he said to him: Unto evening and morning two thousand three hundred days: and the sanctuary shall be cleansed.

And the other holy soul answered that the Sanctuary of the Lord or the Christian Holy Land shall be cleansed from the undefiled after one heavenly day (from the evening to the morning). The abomination upon desolation shall be driven out of the temple of the Lord after occupying it for the toal of 2300 days or 6 years and 5 months. This period of time shall cover for most of the reign of the antichrist and also the reign of Satan himself who shall reign the world right before the Second Coming of the Lord for about three and one half years. These two bloody reigns shall be separated for one heavenly day which means thousands of years.

Verse 15: And it came to pass when I Daniel saw the vision, and sought the meaning, that behold there stood before me as it were the appearance of a man.

The prophet sought the meaning of the vision and the angel appeared to him.

Verse 16: And I heard the voice of a man between Ulai: and he called, and said: Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.

The Lord commanded the archangel Gabriel to explain the meaning of the vision to Daniel.

Verse 17: And he came and stood near where I stood: and when he was come, I fell on my face trembling, and he said to me: Understand, O son of man, for in the time of the end the vision shall be fulfilled.

The archangel Gabriel let the prophet know that the prophecies revealed through the vision would be fulfilled at "the time of the end" or the end times.

Verse 18: And when he spoke to me I fell flat on the ground: and he touched me, and set me upright,

The prophet Daniel prostrated before the archangel who in turn lifted him up.

Verse 19: And he said to me: I will shew what things are to come to pass in the end of the malediction: for the time hath its end.

The archangel said he would show Daniel what was going to happen at the end of all iniquities or at the end of the evil era as each season had its end according to the Decree of God. The end times of which this evil era that we are now living in is called the Apocalypse.

Verse 20: The ram, which thou sawest with horns, is the king of the Medes and Persians.

The ram in the vison signifies an Eastern or Iranian king who will lead the fundamental Islamic alliance.

Verse 21: And the he-goat is the king of the Greeks, and the great horn that was between his eyes, the same is the first king.

The he-goat is the Western king who shall lead the European allies. The first leader of this alliance shall conquer the Muslim and Eastern invaders. He shall be the glorious King Henry of France, the modern Charlemagne.

Verse 22: But whereas when that was broken, there arose four for it: four kings shall rise up of his nation, but not with his strength.

Succeeding him shall be four leaders of the Christian world totally, with lesser power and integrity.

Verse 23: And after their reign, when iniquities shall be grown up, there shall arise a king of a shameless face, and understanding dark sentences.

Mankind shall sin again after the death of their strong leader, King Henry of France. Iniquities will rise during the reigns of the four leaders of the Western alliance. And then a final leader of the Empire who shall have no conscience or "shameless face" shall emerge. He shall comprehend all evils ("dark sentences"). He is the long-awaited antichrist.

Verse 24: And his power shall be strengthened, but not by his own force: and he shall lay all things waste, and shall prosper, and do more than can be believed. And he shall destroy the mighty, and the people of the saints.

The power of the antichrist shall be strengthened by his father, Satan. He shall desolate everything, every town and city, and shall be very successful in doing so. He shall do more damage in secret that none can see. He shall destroy his mighty opponents and persecute Christians.

Verse 25: According to his will, and craft shall be successful in his hand: and his heart shall be puffed up, and in abundance of all things he shall kill many: and he shall rise against the prince of princes, and shall be broken without hand.

He can perform magical tricks at will and can be very talented. He shall be very proud and arrogant. He shall have great resources which he shall distribute widely to expand his influence, to rule, then to kill many. He shall rise up against the holy Pontiff or "prince of princes". At the end, the antichrist shall be destroyed, not by human hand but by the wrath from God after he finishes carrying out the Divine Judgment.

Verse 26: And the vision of the evening and the morning, which was told, is true: thou therefore shall seal up the vision, because it shall come to pass after many days.

The vision given to the prophet which change from the darkness of the night to daylight was totally authentic and true. Just as one day to God can be thousands of years, the vision and its meaning shall be concealed to mankind until the appropriate time for many years would still come to pass after Daniel.

Verse 27: And I Daniel languished, and was sick for some days: and when I was risen up, I did the king's business, and I was astonished at the vision, and there was none that could interpret it.

After seeing the vision, the prophet became terrified and sick. None whom he talked to about the vision could understand it. This verse indicates that the prophet still could not comprehend the meaning of the vision as it was meant for very distant future.