DANIEL 8

DAN 8:1 In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.

DAN 8:2 And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.

Elam as we learned earlier was Persia as you can tell from any Bible time map usually found in the back of your Bible. The ULAI was a canal near the city of Shushan (Also known as Susa) which would become the treasure city and winter capital for the Medo-Persian Empire.

DAN 8:3 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.

DAN 8:4 I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.

DAN 8:5 And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

DAN 8:6 And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.

DAN 8:7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.

DAN 8:8 Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.

The ram is the Meda-Persian Empire because the angel tells us so in verse 20. I am jumping ahead here so that we can see what it is talking about as it unfolds. The two horns represent Media and Persia. The higher coming up last is the Persians.

The downfall of Babylon is so imminent that in this history of nations it begins with the already rising kingdom of the Medes and Persians.

About how big was this Median-Persian Empire: "Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasurus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)" "That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace, In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power, of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him:" Esther 1:1-3.

The goat is Greece, for it says so in verse 21. It comes from the west and is the 1st kingdom to come from Europe to Asia. The great horn is the first king that conquered the world and first to lead against Meda-Persia this was Alexander the Great. The Persians were finally defeated at the Battle of Arebel in 331 B.C. The goat not touching the ground signifies speed. Alexander was usually pictured on his coins as having horns. For 200 years before Daniel, the Grecians were called the goat people. They used goats as the ensign on their standard and shield, The goat was a swift and sure footed beast.

Tradition has it that Caremus, the first king of Macedon, followed a herd of wild goats to Edessa, where he set up his capital, calling it Aege, "the goat city", from whence the national symbol sprang. Unfolding Daniel's Prophecies by Roy Allen Anderson pg. 102

In its place four other horns sprang up. At the height of Alexanders career, while in his mid 30's, after conquering the "World" in only four years, he died of fever due to excessive drunkenness. "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." Prov. 16:32 His kingdom was divided up into four parts given to his four generals. Lysimichas took the North or Asia Minor, Cassander took the west or Greece and Italy, Seleucus took the East or Syria and Palestine and Ptolemy took the South or Egypt.

DAN 8:9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.

DAN 8:10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.

DAN 8:11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of the sanctuary was cast down.

DAN 8:12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered.

DAN 8:13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?

The little horn came from the west so it is not Asian but European; it is from the western section of Alexander's Empire. It waxed great toward the south, Egypt, eastward toward Asia minor and Syria, as well as the holy land or Palestine. It stood up against "the prince of the host". Remember that the "host" in verse 10 is the heavenly or spiritual host and their prince is Jesus Christ; therefore Jesus Christ is the "Prince of Hosts", "the King of Kings and Lord of Lords" Rev. 19:16. Jesus was called "the King of the Jews", and was put to death by the Romans. Therefore this little horn could only be the Roman Empire.

In 37 A.D. the Jewish Government or Leaders were cast down by the Roman Government and in 70 A.D. Jerusalem was destroyed the Jews dispersed by the Romans. The stars were therefore the bright lights or leaders of the church or the host. As we saw in Gen. 49:10 pg. 26. The Messiah had to have come before this.

Who took over and continued the power of Rome? "In the West, the church took over the defense of Roman civilization. The emperor gave up the title of Pontifex Maximus (High Priest of Pagan Rome) because the Roman gods were no longer worshipped. The Bishop of Rome assumed these priestly functions, and this is why the Pope today is sometimes referred to as the Pontiff. When the Huns, a fierce and savage tribe led by brutal Attila, swept into Italy and threatened to take and destroy the city of Rome, it was the leader of the Christian Church, Pope Leo, not the emperor, who met the barbarian. Attila was so impressed with the Pope's spiritual power that he turned back. What Leo said to Attila remains unknown, but what is significant is the fact that it was the Pope and not the emperor who stood at the gates of Rome. The Roman Empire had become the Christian Church." Ancient Greece and Rome by Harry A. Dawe pg. 188, World Cultures in Perspective (Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co., 1970) quoted in God Cares pg. 154.

The horn represents both pagan and later papal Rome because of the desolating career against the saints and the gospel. The church assumed the capital of Rome as its capital and took on its defense against the barbarians, Papal Rome took the official language Latin, and the official title of the Emperor Pontiff, (or Pontifix maximus), both continued intolerance toward the people of God. They assumed many of the Pagan Roman traditions and customs such as Christmas or the birthday of Tamud on December 25th, the worship of the mother god or the virgin Mary, the day of the sun as a holy day, the bowing before the statues (though renamed).

It is called the transgression of desolation or the abomination that maketh desolate in Dan. 11:31. Jesus in Matt. 24:15 referred to it as yet in the future so the abomination of desolations of this little horn must happen after the time of Christ or else his admonition in Matt. 24 to learn and head this warning is meaningless, for it was given to late.

Casting down the sanctuary?

The Romans literally destroyed the Jewish sanctuary in 70 A.D. which has never been rebuilt. They also literally crucified Christ, our savior.

The Roman church cast down the sanctuary by creating their own earthly substitute sanctuary service to replace the heavenly. You call a Roman Catholic minister a "priest" for he officiates at the ceremonies, in priestly garments, of the false sanctuary, the crucifying afresh of Christ at mass, and the hearing and the forgiveness of sins. This substitute priesthood even has a false altar, holy water, incense, and candles of the ancient sanctuary service. Thus they cast down the heavenly sanctuary, its true priest and sacrifice.

Why did the Jews have a sanctuary and sacrifices?

Earthly Sanctuary of Jews started at Moses and ended in 31 A.D. It was temporary because it and its priests "Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount." Heb. 8:5 (Ex. 25:9)

Just as you would cherish a picture of someone you loved when he is absent but when he comes to you, you would not be spending your time looking at the piece of paper. So when the real lamb of God came, the "picture" or the "types" of the Jewish sanctuary were no longer needed. This was testified by the withdrawal of God from the earthly at Christ's death. "Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost." "And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;" Matt. 27:50,51

Where is Jesus Christ Now?

After Jesus ascended into the heavenly "temple" he began His work as High Priest in the better sanctuary. His followers no longer concerned themselves with the old sanctuary in Jerusalem but, by faith, followed Christ into the Heavenly or real sanctuary.

"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession." Heb. 4:14.

"A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Heb. 8:2.

"Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us." Heb. 9:9-12. Thus from His ascension till His return, the second coming, Christ is in heavens command center for dealing with sin.

Why do we need this Heavenly Sanctuary?

"For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect." Heb. 10:1.

"For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." "Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:", "In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.", "Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.", "Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;", "Then said he, Lo, I come to do they will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.", "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Heb. 10:4,5,6,7.

"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:" Heb. 9:22-24.

As we briefly review this model or reflection of the real thing we will learn much about God's method of salvation and the logic behind it.

All of the sanctuaries spoken of in the Bible, the Moses' in the wilderness, Solomon's, and Herods, had two apartments and two divisions of atonement, the daily or continual and the yearly. All are based upon and couldn't start without a blood sacrifice or substitute for sin. The earthly sanctuary always consisted of an outer court containing the altar of sacrifice. This is where the substitute lamb sacrifice was killed. By faith you confessed your sins on that lamb signifying your recognition of the lamb of God as your substitute and transferred your sins and hence your penalty of death to the innocent substitute lamb. The priest took the blood or the sin of that lamb and applied it to the sanctuary itself or ate the flesh of the lamb thus symbolically taking your sin onto himself, and hence the sanctuary. A holy brass laver or washing basin was in the court that was used by the priest to clean the blood off of themselves, thus symbolic of the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit. It was made of polished brass so that, like a mirror, you could examine yourself in its reflection to see where you were dirty; this is symbolic of the law of God that like a mirror tells us that we need to be cleaned of sin(James 1:23-25; Rom. 7:7; Gal. 3:24). So the true holy water of the sanctuary is the Holy Spirit used to clean the filthiness of sin from our blood stained hands. Inside was the table of continual showbread symbolic of the spiritual bread of life and our need of spiritual nourishment (John 6:51; Luke 22:19; Matt. 4:4; 26:26). Across from it were the holy candles or lamps supplied by olive oil, which is symbolic of the light of truth, the enlightenment of the holy spirit. Then there was the continual holy incense before God, symbolic of prayers ascending to God mixed with the sweet smelling merits of Christ. Inside the most holy place was the ark containing the ten commandments under a mercy seat, the law that all are judged by in the judgment. It also contained the rod of Aaron symbolic of the leading and discipline of God and it contained some manna, the food that heaven supplied for the people.

What is the Daily?

The daily sacrifice was taken away in several senses, first by the complete sacrifice of Christ on the cross (Heb. 7:27,9:28,10:7), secondly by the Romans for they destroyed the earthly sanctuary of the Jews (70 A.D.) even throwing them out of that region, and thirdly by the Roman Church when it set up its substitute sacrifice (the Mass) and demanded that all submit to it.

Notice that the word Sacrifice is in italics, meaning that this word was supplied by the translators for clarity and is in fact not based upon the Greek or Hebrew and hence is really not part of the word of God. This is one reason why we are using the King James Version because it and the New King James are the only modern English Bibles to tell us which words were added by the translators.

If you don't know what something means you go back to the first time it was used and see if you can understand it there because its meaning is based upon its earlier use and meaning. This is what the theologians call the Rule of first uses.

The word "daily" or TAMID in Hebrew is used 103 times in the old Testament and is translated as "daily" or "continual". It is almost always used in connection with the daily or continual mediation, offerings, incense and prayers of the sanctuary of God (as in Num. 28 & 29) The word always of Ex. 27:20, perpetual of Ex. 30:8 and continual of Ex. 29:42 are some more examples. As in the continual showbread (the bread of life for our spiritual nourishment), or the continual incense before God (our prayers ascending to heaven by God's grace) etc. These foreshadowing the continual mediation of our Lord for sinners. The offering of Lambs daily foreshadowed the true lamb sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross (Heb. 7:3, 4:15, 8:1, 9:11,12). The translators used the most common use of this word in the past and that was the daily sacrifice of lambs, but since this is talking of the true lamb, Jesus Christ, who died only once and since that sacrifice is worthless without the priest to apply and mediate on behalf of the sinner, this must be talking about the application of the daily sacrifice, or in other words the daily work of God on behalf of sinners in applying the blood of the lamb.

These truths of the mediation and sacrifice for sin would be trampled under foot, stepped on or rubbed out till the end of the 2300 days.

So how was the sacrifice and mediation of the Lamb trampled under? They set up a false priesthood by a false confessing and atoning for sins, the confessional, confessions to man not God. The second sacrifice of the mass supplants the sacrifice on the cross by use of the sacraments. Cardinal Gibons says "the sacrifice of the mass is the consecration of the bread and wine into the body and the blood of Christ, and the oblation of this body and blood to God by the ministry of the priest for a perpetual memorial of Christ's sacrifice on the cross" Faith of our Fathers pg. 311, thus they consider the mass the perpetuation of the Jewish sanctuary and its daily sacrifices.

The Eucharist article from the book Catholic belief pgs 73-79 ". . This sacrifice surpasses in excellence all other sacraments because under the appearance of bread and wine the most blessed sacrament contains truly, really and substantially the body and the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ together with his soul and divinity which can never be separated from his body and blood. The Catholic church teaches that after the consecration of the bread and the wine what still appears to be bread and wine is no longer bread and wine but the body and the blood of Jesus Christ. It is therefore proper that as in the law of nature and in the Mosaic law there were sacrifices instituted by the Almighty, there should also be in the law of grace a continual sacrifices whereby to worship god in a manner worthy of him besides the one sacrifice offered by our Lord Jesus Christ on Mount Calvary. In the Holy Eucharist the victim Jesus Christ is truly present, therefore he can be offered up as an oblation to his eternal father. The holy sacrifice of the mass does not differ in its essence from the sacrifice offered up on Mount Calvary as we find on Calvary and in the mass the same identical victim and the same principle offered Jesus Christ. The two sacrifices are essentially the same. The two sacrifices differ only in non-essentials because only the manner of offering is different. One was offered by Christ personally, the other is offered by him through his minister."

Thus they crucify him afresh in opposition to these scriptures:

"Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself." Heb. 7:27.

"So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Heb. 9: 28.

"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." 1 Peter 2:24.

"Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God." Rom. 6:9,10 (Also see Rev. 1:18).

So the "Daily" is not the sacrifice which in truth only happened once but it is the truth or the gospel of the application of that sacrifice by our priest, Jesus Christ, that was trampled underfoot by the little horn.

Abomination of Desolation / Transgression of Desolation:

The Romans set up a standard, a symbol of their authority and power up on the holy ground of Jerusalem declaring as it were war on the Jews. This was an abomination to the Jews and it caused or proceeded the desolation of Jerusalem and the temple by the Romans. They were warned by Christ to leave as soon as they saw this sign.

The little horn has transgressed the law of God, the greatest of transgressions by changing the Sabbath to Sunday and by cutting out the law of God against idolatry (Also see Neh 13:15-21; John 2:14-16). When the church sets up its mark of authority, the transgression of the law, Sunday sacredness by law, it will be time for us to flee due to persecution. Hypocrisy will be the results and thus desolation will come. (See Matt. 24:15, Rev. 13:16,17).

DAN 8:14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

Some say that this is 2300 half days because the Hebrew says mornings and evenings though nowhere does the Bible number half days in this manner.

"When the Hebrews wish to express separately day and night, the component parts of a day of a week, then the number of both is expressed. They say, e.g.,forty days; and forty nights (Gen. 7:4,12; Ex. 24:18; 1 Kings 19:8), and three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17; Matt. 12:40), but not eighty or six days-and-nights, when they wish to speak of forty or three full days. A Hebrew reader could not possibly understand the period of 2300 evenings and mornings as 2300 half days or 1150 whole days, because evenings and mornings at creation consisted not of half days but of whole days .... we must therefore take the words as they are, understand them as 2300 whole days." Daniel by Carl F. Keil pg. 303-304 also quoted in The Prophecy of Daniel, by Edward J. Young pg. 174.

Example "And the evening and the morning were the first day." Gen. 1:6 also verses 8, 13, 19, 23, 31. NOT two evenings and mornings were the first day. So our Bible was translated correctly these are 2300 days not 2300 half days as many theologians claim.

Unto 2300 days, is from the beginning of the vision or the height of the Medo-Persian Empire (The Ram). If someone wrote you a letter, and it said "and this and that happened and then after 60 days". After sixty days from what? Why from the beginning, of course. So this says that the Ram, then the He Goat and then a little horn that would do these things and that all of this would be over at the end of 2300 days. Verse 11 and 12 state that then the little horn (he) would "magnify himself" and come "against the daily" not necessarily during the entire 2300 days but toward the end. "How long shall be the vision [including the ram and he goat - see verse 2] concerning the daily. This is the sum of the vision, not repeating all of it for it would be senseless to list the whole vision again, so he calls it the vision about the daily. All these things (verse13) would last for 2300 days. In order for 2300 days to cover all the things mentioned in verse 13 it must be symbolic. It also implies that it is symbolic for it is written as 2300 days not six years three months and so many days (See Dan. 7 pg. 57).

Since it ends with an event relating to the sanctuary so it would begin with some event relevant to that. In the previous chapter a judgment (Dan 7:26) from heavenly books (Dan 7:10) after the rise of the little horn (Dan 7:21-27) is brought to view. As each successive prophecy builds upon the previous with more details on the last day events and seeing as the sanctuary is God's place of judgement this must be talking about the time of the last day judgment in heaven for there is no earthly sanctuary at the end of these empires. A symbol of or a type should reflect the beginning of this "sanctuary cleansing" prophecy. The event all of the Jews, including Daniel, looked forward to in that day was the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the full restoration of its sanctuary. This was the only event during this time of any significance. This event with the proper governmental authority would naturally be the starting date. But we need not guess about any of this for that will be covered and explained in chapter nine by the angel.

What about Antiochus Epiphanes?

Almost everyone seems to believe that the 2300 days were fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanes, a Macedonian king, for he interrupted the Jewish Sanctuary service for three years and ten days according to 1 Maccabees 1:54-59; 2:43-54 which they say is about 2300 half days. So it is believed that he is the little horn. But three years and ten days is 1090 days or 1102 days depending on how many days to a year you want, still a far cry from half of 2300 half days by more than a month and a half. We know that the 2300 days are whole days and not half days, so he is actually off by more than three years. The little horn was "Exceeding Great" or greater than the "very great" goat or Greece. The Macedonia king Antiochus Epiphanes was forced to leave Egypt at the command of the Romans. And since the strong drive out the weaker the Romans were, therefore, the Exceeding great power. The little horn came from the western part of the empire but Antiochus came from the east. Antiochus Epiphanes was not successful in his campaigns nor did he destroy or cast down the host or stars or any great prince or even go toward the east or south or have any success in the glorious land. His language was not dark sentences and he did it by his own power, his own army not another as it says. He was a part of the oldest order of kings and not any new power coming up after Greece (the goat) but was, if anything, a part of the former empire. In Matt. 24:15. Christ spoke of this desolating power as being in the future; yet Antiochus Epiphanes had died long before Christ, during the rise of the Roman empire. Therefore Antiochus Epiphanes could not possibly be the fulfillment of this prophecy.

It is interesting to note what Sir Isaac Newton says about this in his commentary on Daniel pg. 222.

"The last horn is by some taken for ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES, but not very judiciously. A horn of a Beast is never taken for a single person: it always signifies a new kingdom, and the kingdom of ANTIOCHUS was an old one. ANTIOCHUS reigned over one of the four horns, and the little horn was a fifth under its proper kings. This horn was at first a little one, and waxed exceeding great, but so did not ANTIOCHUS. It is described great above all the former horns, and so was not ANTIOCHUS. His kingdom on the contrary was weak, and tributary to the ROMANS, and he did not enlarge it. The horn was a king of fierce countenance, and destroyed wonderfully, and prospered and practiced; that is, he prospered in his practices against the holy people: but ANTIOCHUS was frightened out of EGYPT by a mere message of the ROMANS, and afterwards routed and baffled by the JEWS. The horn was mighty by another's power; ANTIOCHUS acted by his own. The horn stood up against the Prince of the Host of Heaven, the Prince of Princes; and this is the character, not of ANTIOCHUS but of ANTICHRIST. The horn cast down the Sanctuary to the ground, and so did not ANTIOCHUS; but he left it standing. The sanctuary and the Host were trampled underfoot 2300 days; and in Daniel's Prophecies days are put for years: but the profanation of the temple in the reign of ANTIOCHUS did not last for so many natural days. These were to last till the time of the end, till the last end of the indignation against the Jews; and this indignation is not yet at an end. They were to last till the sanctuary which had been cast down should be cleansed, and the sanctuary is not yet cleansed." Quoted in God Cares pg. 187.

How is the Sanctuary Cleansed?

Something is "cleansed" because it is dirty or filthy and needs to be made right. The heavenly as with the earthly were cleansed not of physical dirt but of the filth of sin. The earthly sanctuary was cleansed yearly on the day of atonement and since the sanctuary to be cleansed is at the time of the end and after the 2300 days it must be the true heavenly sanctuary of which the earthly was only a type or symbol (See Heb. 8:1-5; 9:23).

In the symbol, the confessed sins of the people were transferred to the priest and the tabernacle, (Lev 10:17,18; 16:20,21) and then at the end of the spiritual year there was a cleansing of this sanctuary or a judgment. "Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement {to make it right, to reconcile hence cleanse from evil}: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people." Lev. 23:27-30. Thus those people that had their heart right with God and their sins confessed were also cleansed with the sanctuary (Lev 16:30).

"Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord?" Lev. 10:17 also see verses 16-20.

On this day of atonement "And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. . . . and make an atonement for it: . . . and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel." Lev. 16:16-9.

Why is the sanctuary so important? It is the means of our salvation and the source of our help. "Thy way, Oh God, is in the sancturary: who is so great a God as our God?" Ps. 77:13 "Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion." Ps. 20:2.

How were the people in the Old Testament saved? Hebrews says that the blood of goats and lambs didn't save anyone, for the blood of an animal cannot atone for a human's sin (Ps. 40:6; Heb. 10:4). It was a symbol of faith in the true lamb Jesus Christ; in fact, if Jesus did not come the faith of those in the Old Testament would have been in vain and they couldn't be saved. Just as Gal. 3:8 talks about Abraham being saved and as an example of true gospel faith. "And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations be blessed."

DAN 8:15 And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.

DAN 8:16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.

DAN 8:17 So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.

DAN 8:18 Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.

DAN 8:19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.

DAN 8:20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.

DAN 8:21 And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

DAN 8:22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.

The four generals inherited, or more accurately, usurped Alexander the Great's empire for he named no successor. Thus the four kingdoms stood up but not by their own power, for they didn't earn it or fight for it, nor were they proper heirs but just claimed it.

DAN 8:23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.

The king of fierce countenance is like Daniel 7:7's "dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly;" beast that followed the four divisions of the Greek Empire. This was Rome whose language was Latin, a dark or unknown language to the Jews.

Parallel Prophecy:

"The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young: And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of they land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:" Deut. 28:49-53 (written about 1400 years before Christ)

The nation from far away was Rome; the language they did not understand was Latin, the language of the Romans and the official language of the Roman Catholic Church. Rome dominated Palestine with the Jews' consent in 161 B.C. but took away the Jewish government in 37 A.D. And when the Jews rebelled, they besieged the trusted city of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The Jews inside had squandered their reserves of food and the people became cannibals. At the end of the siege Rome destroyed the city, its high fenced walls and the Temple itself, that in which they had trusted. (See Matt. 24:1-3,15-20, pgs 113-115)

DAN 8:24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.

Not by his own power This church doesn't do the killing by its own power but uses the civil governments to do its bidding. The three horns that were plucked up were done so by other governments but at the little horns' direction. The crusades were done by the kings and princes at the Pope's bidding and during the Dark Ages and the Spanish Inquisition they were the local jails that held the churches' enemies.

DAN 8:25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

Stand up against the Prince of princes: The Prince of Princes is Jesus Christ as can be seen in Rev. 1:5; 17:14; 19:16. This evil power could not be Antiochus Epiphanes for He died one hundred and sixty-four years before our Lord was born. To avoid the application of this prophecy to the Roman power, either pagan or papal, the papists have shifted it from Rome to Antiochus Epiphanes, a Syrian king, who could not resist the mandates of Rome. This application is made by papists (see footnotes of any Catholic bible) to save their church from any share in the fulfillment of the prophecy; and in this they have been followed by the majority of religion teachers. The power that stood up against the Prince of Princes was the Roman power. See Acts 3:15; 4:26,27; 5:31.

The "broken without hand" is like the "stone cut out without hands" of Daniel 2. It is without human power or hands, but by God's power. Thus this little horn will live till the second coming of Jesus Christ.

He directed its attacks against the sanctuary, which must be the sanctuary in heaven because after Christ died the earthy sanctuary didn't exist any more and it was never that important, for it was a reflection of the real thing in heaven. We will see more on this in Dan. 11:31 and Rev. 13:6.

DAN 8:26 And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.

DAN 8:27 And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.

He asked for a further explanation but not all truth is revealed at one time. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet" Ps. 119:105. The lamp does not light up the whole path but enough for the steps. The angels' mission to explain this vision (verse 16) was interrupted by Daniel's fainting so we must wait to fully understand this vision till chapter nine. As the ram, the he goat and the little horn were explained the only thing left to explain would be the 2300 days.

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