Shaggy Goat
While watching the
Ram (which represents Iran) Daniel saw a shaggy goat with a
prominent horn. His advance is described in Daniel 8:5-8.
As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a
prominent horn between his eyes came from the west, crossing the
whole earth without touching the ground. He came towards the
two-horned ram I had been standing beside the canal and charged
at him in a great rage. I saw him attack the ram furiously,
striking the ram and shattering his two horns. The ram was
powerless to stand against him; the goat knocked him to the
ground and trampled on him, and none could rescue from his
power. The goat became very great…..
The message of this part of the vision is that when Iran has
reached its full power, a more powerful kingdom will shatter the
power of the Ram, in a sudden attack.
United States
The Goat is
called the King of Greece (Dan 8:21),
but we know from Daniel 11:3 that the King of Greece is also the
King of the North. The large
horn on the Goat is the United States.
Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Europe has been
eclipsed by the United States, so the King of the North is
currently working through the United States.
The goat comes from the
West and only has one horn. The United States currently dominates
Western Civilisation, in terms of military power and cultural influence,
so the large horn represents the United States. This
explains the irony of the King of the North "coming from the West
crossing the whole earth". The
Goat is another picture of the hegemony
of the United States.
Daniel saw the
United States, as the King of the North, flying into a great rage and attacking
the
nation of Iran (King of the South).
But Daniel also
warned that the power of the United States will fade.
When the goat
became very great, at the height of his power his large horn was
broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up
towards the four winds of heaven (Dan 8:8)
Airborne War
The goat
attacks the ram without "touching the ground",
so it would seem that that Daniel saw an airborne attack. No
ground forces will be involved and the United States will not send
in an army like it did in Iraq. Having struggled to subdue
Iraq, it will be reluctant to commit troops on the ground in another
Middle Eastern country. Instead it will use massive airpower
to accomplish victory.
Using just 120 B52 and stealth bombers for one mission, the United
States could target 5000 critical sites in Iran with
satellite-guided bombs. The United States might even use nuclear weapons to achieve its goal.
Dan 11:11-13 suggests
that the destruction of the second horn of the Ram comes will happen a
couple of years after the defeat of Iraq. An uprising will occur
first, as the
presence of a foreign army in Iraq stirs up
the Middle East.
Many of the neo-conservatives are urging their President to invade
Iran. He may take this action to restore his withering
popularity.
Note: the fact
that an event is prophesied does not mean that it is
justified. The United States was not justified in invading
Iraq and it would not be justified
in invading Iran.
The attack will be so intense that power of
Ram will shattered and none of its allies will be able to help. Iran
will be severly weakened by the attack, but it will not be totally
destroyed. Iran will have some involvement in the further battles
described in Dan 11:14-45, but it will no longer be the leader of the
Islamic nations.