22 Daniel

The little horn introduced in Daniel 7:8, is different from that one. This one emerges from one of the four horns. He succeeds the four divisions of Alexander's kingdom. This little horn is not the Antichrist of the end times although the two of them have similar activities and hatred of Israel. This one conquers Egypt, Persia, and then invades which is, Israel here spoken of as the "pleasant land". He conducts attacks on the Jews both politically, and religiously. He tries to destroy the Jew's faith by stopping the sacrifices in the temple (vv. 11–12). In verse 13 we see that he will set up "the transgression of desolation" in the temple and defiles the temple for 2,300 days. This is the historical figure known as Antiochus Epiphanes. He was the wicked leader who came out of Syria, one of the four divisions of Alexander's empire.