Q: What are the “Four Notable Ones” that come after the kingdom of the He-Goat (Ancient Greece)?
Years ago it was humbly said by some chief Adventist Bible scholars that they didn’t truly understand what are the “Notable Ones” of Daniel 8. Evidently there is some discrepancy with the gender in the ancient Hebrew words. But had they looked a little deeper into the account, they would have found that Scripture gives us a good answer to this dilemma.
Key Verse:
Daniel 8:8 “Therefore the Male Goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it Four Notable Ones came up toward the Four Winds of Heaven.”
Who are the 4 main characters in this verse?
Male Goat: Greece “The Male goat represents the kingdom of Greece. …” (Daniel 8:21)
Horn on the Goat: Alexander the Great “…The large horn that is between its eyes is the first [chief, primary] king.” (Daniel 8:2)
Four Winds of Heaven: “These are the Four Sprits [winds, ruach] of the Heavens who go out from their station before the Lord of all the earth.” (Zechariah 6:5) These “Four Winds of Heaven” play a key role in bringing to life the kingdoms that are found in Daniel 7. (Daniel 7:2)
Four Notable Ones
Q: What is the Bible answer to the Four Notable Ones?
A: The Four Notables are the next four in a series of successive Kingdoms.
Daniel 8 solves the dilemma of the gender conflict of verse 8 by explaining that these “Four Notables” are kingdoms!
“As for the broken horn and the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation, but not with its power.” (Daniel 8:22)
This word “power” is clarified in the Hebrew:
Strong’s H3580: ko-akh; ability, strength, substance, wealth
Historic Background:
Daniel 2 set the stage for a series of kingdoms to carry us down through earth’s history, beginning with the kingdom of Babylon and ending with the Second Coming of Jesus and the Kingdom of the Saints.
Daniel 7 takes up the same theme with Four Kingdoms within the sequence that play key roles in the Plan of Salvation: Lion, Bear, Leopard, 10-Horn Beast.
In partnership with the 10-Horned Beast, there arises a blasphemous Little Horn——a small kingdom——who becomes the worst persecutor of God and His people throughout all time. This Little Horn is what gives rise to the closing Time of Trouble.
Eventually, with the Second Coming of Christ, the sequence of kingdoms draws to a close as, “the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15) This is the Good News of the Kingdom that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:14. And this is the last message to be preached worldwide. Here, with these Four Notables, we are getting a little piece of the puzzle that makes up the good news of the Kingdom of Christ.
Daniel 8 Gives us the Time Placement
Here in Daniel 8 we are again reviewing the sequence of kingdoms—this time focusing attention on the Ram and the He-Goat, which we are directly told represent the kingdoms of ancient Media-Persia and Greece as they follow on the tail of Babylon. (Daniel 8:20-21)
Scripture tells us that Media-Persia came directly after Babylon.
Daniel 5:30-31 “That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. 31 And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.”
Daniel 8:7 tells us that the kingdom of Greece directly follows the kingdom of Media-Persia.
“And I saw him confronting the ram; he was moved with rage against him, attacked the ram, and broke his two horns. There was no power in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled him; and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand.” (Daniel 8:7)
Here in Daniel 8:8 we are being shown that the Four Notable Kingdoms directly follow in sequence after Greece.
The Four Winds of Heaven will play their role in establishing those next Four Kingdoms, ending with the Little Horn. And here is where our key verse fits in.
“Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven. And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land.” (Daniel 8:8-9)
What do the Four Winds of Heaven do?
They bring in kingdoms, according to Daniel 7:2-3:
“Daniel spoke, saying, ‘I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the Four Winds of Heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.’” (Daniel 7:2-3)
And out of one of these Four Notable Kingdoms comes a Little Horn kingdom.
Q: Which of the Four Kingdoms produces the Little Horn?
A: For this answer, we look to Daniel 7 where we also see the same Little Horn.
“After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.” (Daniel 7:7-8)
• The Little Horn comes out of the 10-Horned Beast in Daniel 7.
• The Little Horn comes out of one of the Four Notable Kingdoms of Daniel 8.
• This means that the 10-Horned Beast in Daniel 7 is one of the Four Notable Kingdoms of Daniel 8!
• This leads us to understand that the Four Notable Kingdoms of Daniel 8 are the same 4 Notable Kingdoms of Daniel 7: the Lion, the Bear, the Leopard and the 10-Horned Beast.
NOTE: Here is a point where the Bible record is slightly different from the traditional Historicist view held for many years. But this is the Bible truth, therefore, it will be okay for us to grasp this clue and see where it leads in the study of Daniel and Revelation.
Succession of Kingdoms
This information therefore tells us that the Ram and the He-Goat are followed by these Four Notable Kingdoms, making the sequence of kingdoms follow in this order:
[Babylon – Not mentioned in Chapter 8, but Daniel 5:30-31 tells us that Babylon is directly in line before the Ram/Media-Persia.]
Ram – Media-Persia
He-Goat – Greece
Four Notables:
1. Lion
2. Bear
3. Leopard
4. 10-Horned Beast, with the adjunct Little Horn
Ancient of Days/Stone/Christ
Kingdom of the Saints/Great Mountain
What is the conclusion of the story?
The 10-Horned Beast and the Little Horn are directly followed by the Second Coming of Christ:
Says the angel, “Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.”
Then Daniel asked, “Then I wished to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet; and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater [older, more elder in age] than his fellows. I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.” (Daniel 7:17-22)
“And I saw the [10-Horned] Beast, [which are] the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse [Christ] and against His army. Then the Beast was captured, and with him the False Prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the Mark of the Beast and those who worshiped his Image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.” (Revelation 19:19-20)
The Beast and the False Prophet are going straight to the Lake of Fire. There is no Great White Throne second judgment scene for them. (Revelation 20:11)
Prophetic Pattern
In EVERY prophetic book of the Bible, this is the pattern of earth’s history from King Nebuchadnezzar until the Second Coming. Each book picks up some piece of this pattern at some point in time. Maybe small, maybe large, but EVERYTHING fits this pattern without exception.
Why the Four Notables of Daniel 8:8 cannot be Alexander’s Generals. The Bible gives us the answer.
“Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not among his posterity nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted, even for others besides these.” (Daniel 11:3-4)
When the kingdom of ancient Greece is broken up, it is completely “plucked up” and given to other people/kings. When you pull up a plant by the roots, it withers and dies without continuing its growth or putting out new shoots. In this passage we are told that Greece is completely plucked up by its roots. We are also told that the kingdom is not left to Alexander’s posterity—that is, it is not left to his offspring. And we are told conclusively that none of Alexander’s rulers receive the kingdom—not “according to his dominion with which he ruled.” It was time for the succession of kingdoms to move on to others. And Daniel 7 clearly moves us forward in Earth’s history as it presents the Four Notable Kingdoms that follow Alexander’s demise.
