The resurgence of Islam really got underway in Iran, when a secular ruler, the Shah of Iran was overthrown by militant, fundamentalist Moslems loyal to Ayatollah Khomeini. The Islamic revolution revival radically changed the entire nation. Iran is now an Islamic Republic and a key player in the Middle East. The Islamic Republic in Iran was prophesied in Daniel 11:2.
Three more kings will appear in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. When he has gained power by his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.
Daniel described a fourth powerful ruler who gains power in Persia by his wealth King (the Ram of Daniel 8). This refers to the power that Iran has gained through the control of a significant share of the world's oil supplies. Iran has stirred up many people against the Western nations.
In the rest of Daniel, this ruler together with other middle eastern powers are referred to as the King of the South. The King of the South is a spiritual force, who works through a variety of Islamic nations.
The Islamic Revolution in Iran is also described in Daniel 8. This chapter describes a vision that Daniel received while the people of Judah were in exile in Babylon. After the vision, the angel Gabriel appeared to explain its meaning to him. When Gabriel drew near, Daniel fell to the ground in fear, but the angel stood him on his feet and encouraged him. Gabriel first explained the timing of the vision's fulfilment.
Understand that the vision concerns the time of the end
I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end. Dan 8:17,19.
He makes it clear that the vision is not to be fulfilled in Daniel's time. It concerns the time of the end, and will be fulfilled in the later "time of wrath". In the RSV this phrase is translated as the "latter end of the indignation". Daniel 8 has not yet been fulfilled.
We are seeing its fulfilment in our time. The first part of the vision is described in Daniel 8:3,4.
I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two horns, standing beside the canal, and the horns were long. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later. I watched the ram as he charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and none could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased, and became great.
This is what Daniel saw and the interpretation is given in verse 20. The two-horned ram represents the kings of Media and Persia. The people of Media and Persia now make up the nation of Iran. Daniel saw a future ruler of Iran, who would rise to power.
The fundamentalist Islamic revival has radically changed Iran. This culminated in the overthrow of the Shah of Iran, and the rise to power of Ayatollah Khomeini. Iran is now an Islamic Republic, and a key player in the Middle East. The goat is a restoration of the empire of the Prince of Persia, centred on the the Islamic Republic in Iran.
It seems that Daniel's visions are being fulfilled in our own time. Over the last two decades, the Islamic revival has spread right across the world. The nation of Iran has been at the spearhead of this growth in fervour. The other more secular Moslem nations were frightened by what happened. This is tied in with Revelations 6. The bowman in the first seal represents the advance of Islam and Daniel's ram represents the first part of this advance.
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