Deeper Reflection
The vision of the “small horn” (vv.9-14) is “the vision pertains to the time of the end” (vv.17, 19). What is this “the end”? The “small horn”, as a biblical type, had its initial fulfilment in Antiochus IV’s evil reign. But Antiochus’ evil reign was not “the end” as in the climactic end. The climactic end is Christ’s Second Coming. This “the end” is “the last days” (2 Tim 3:1; 2 Pet 3:3). And as a biblical-theological representative, this “small horn” “helps us to anticipate, understand and endure”⁶⁵ other last days “small horns” to come. The “small horn” evil days will last for “2,300” days (v.14) – “just short of seven years” – which is “a figurative representation of a significant but limited period of suffering”⁶⁶ for God’s people, who ask, “How long?” (v.13).Old Testament scholar Christopher Wright observes reflectively today’s world through the prophetic-theological lens of “the end” in the Daniel 8 vision: “…it looks like we are in the midst of the slow collapse of the dominance and self-assured superiority of Western civilisation (predominantly European and North American) in the world. There are many signs of it. We still have an astoundingly arrogant and blasphemous worship of false gods of mammon and consumerism. We still sacrifice astronomical sums of money (and lives) on the altar of militarism, war and violence-meeting-violence. We heedlessly pursue unattainable levels of economic consumption and ecological carelessness that are leading to the destructive effects of climate change. And we are struggling to cope with the rise and assertiveness of new powers in the geo-political arena.”⁶⁷

---

⁶⁵ Christopher J. H. Wright, 181 ⁶⁶ Iain M. Duguid, 132 ⁶⁷ Christopher J. H. Wright, 181