Daniel's Vision of the Ram and the Goat
Daniel 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?"Holy ones or angels are in view here.
Question 12. Next, Dan. 10:17.
2,300 Days Not 2,300 Years
The question of Dan. 8:14 is: How long will the daily sacrifice be cut off and the transgression continue that makes the temple desolate of divine worship? The answer, Unto 2,300 days (literally, 1,150 evening and 1,150 morning sacrifices, Dan. 8:26), or 3 years, 2 months, and 10 days. Then shall the sanctuary be cleansed of the abomination of desolation (Dan. 8:14). This is 110 days short of the full 1,260 days that the 2 witnesses will be here and Jerusalem will be trodden underfoot by the Gentiles (Rev. 11:1-3); that Israel will flee into the wilderness (Rev. 12:6, 12:14); and Antichrist will be given power over nations (Rev. 13:5; Dan. 7:25; 9:27). This explains Mat. 24:22, "but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened." These 110 days could be the last 110 days of the 1,260-day period during which time the Jews somehow will get control of the temple again by the help of the two witnesses and other means. Scripture teaches that the Jews will have control of Jerusalem again at the end of this time when Antichrist comes from the northern war to fight Armageddon (Zec. 14:1-5).
The theory that the 2,300 days are to be 2,300 years from 457 B.C. to A.D. 1844 is false. No man has any authority to make a day a year and a year a day, nor is there any example of this in Scripture. Just because God cursed Israel to wander in the wilderness for 40 years according to the number of days the spies were in Canaan (Num. 14:34), and because Judah was to be punished 40 years according to the number of days Ezekiel lay upon his side (Eze. 4:6), is no proof that a day means a year and a year means a day in prophecy. Even in these passages a day was a day and a year was a year. Many fallacies are based upon the year-day theory:
1. The fallacy of the whole length of the times of the Gentiles being 2,520 years.
2. The 2,300 days being 2,300 years which are fulfilled in connection with the papacy.
3. The 1,260 days of Rev. 11:1-3; 12:6, 12:14; 13:5 being 1,260 years—from A.D. 538-1798 when the papacy was given power over the saints. All date-setting for the end of the times of the Gentiles and the second coming of Christ is based upon juggling these Bible periods to suit the whim of the individual Bible speculator.
The Year-Day Theory Is Foolish
If it were a law in Scripture that a day meant a year and a year meant a day, we would have to believe that:
1. Abraham’s seed was to be afflicted by the Gentiles for only 400 days (Gen. 15:13).
2. Joseph saved the corn of 7 days instead of 7 years and there was a famine in Egypt 7 days instead of 7 years (Gen. 41:26-54).
3. The spies were in Canaan 40 years, not 40 days and Israel wandered in the wilderness 40 days instead of 40 years (Num. 14:33-34)
4. Within 65 days Israel would not be a people yet it was literally 65 years (Isa. 7:8).
5. Moab would be destroyed in 3 days instead of 3 years (Isa. 16:14).
6. Isaiah walked barefoot 3 days instead of 3 years (Isa. 20:3).
7. Tyre was to be forgotten 70 days instead of 70 years (Isa. 23:15-17).
8. Hezekiah had 15 days added to his life instead of 15 years (Isa. 38:5).
9. A child shall die being 100 days old instead of 100 years in the Millennium, and a sinner being 100 days old shall be accursed (Isa. 65:20). This would make the time of accountability for children under 100 days.
10. Israel was in captivity to Babylon for 70 days and not 70 years (Jer. 25:1-38).
11. Ninevah was to be destroyed in 40 years instead of 40 days (Jon. 3:4).
12. Jonah sat under a booth outside Ninevah for 40 years to see if the city would be destroyed (Jon. 3:4; 4:5).
13. Adam was given 120 more days to live instead of 120 years (Gen. 6:3).
14. Noah and animals stayed 7 years in the ark instead of 7 days before the rains came (Gen. 7:4-10).
15. It rained upon the earth 40 years instead of 40 days (Gen. 7:12).
16. The flood of Noah prevailed upon the earth 150 years instead of 150 days before it began to recede. Then it receded another 150 years (Gen. 7:24; 8:3). At the end of another 40 years he sent forth a raven. Then 7 years later he sent forth a dove that returned. In still another 7 years he sent forth another dove that never did return (Gen. 8:6-12). It would be too old to return after all the years of flood and receding waters—over 354 years.
17. Ezekiel lay upon his left side 390 years and upon his right side 40 years instead of that many days (Eze. 4:4-9).
18. Jonah was 3 years in the whale’s belly and Christ was 3 years in the tomb instead of 3 days (Mat. 12:40).
How ridiculous it is to change the literal meaning of God’s Word! Not only is it clear from the above that 2,300 days refers to 2,300 evenings and mornings (Dan. 8:26), but that it concerns the daily sacrifices (Dan. 8:11-13) which were offered every morning and evening (Num. 28:3-4; 1Ch. 16:40). Hence, the 3 years, 2 months, and 10 days are the whole and actual length of time for doing away with daily sacrifices in the temple before they are offered again by the Jews when the sanctuary is cleansed of the abomination of desolation. Literally, 2,300 sacrifices will be cut off from the temple during this period. The question could be, How many daily sacrifices will be cut off (Dan. 8:13)? The answer is 2,300.
The Papacy and the 2,300 Days:
To teach that the papacy is the little horn ruling from 476-1844 A.D., and that the 2,300 days are years, from 457 B.C. to A.D. 1844, is unscriptural because:
1. The little horn will come from Greece, Turkey, Syria, or Egypt (Dan. 8:9, 8:20-23). The papacy did not. It arose in Rome, Italy.
2. The little horn will do away with the daily sacrifice in Israel for the 2,300 days (Dan. 8:9-14). The papacy did not come into existence until several centuries after the Jews had ceased having sacrifices in 70 A.D. They will again have sacrifices when they build a temple in Jerusalem (Dan. 8:9-14; 9:27; Rev. 11:1-2). No papacy will fulfill 2,300 years after this is done.
3. All this prophecy (Dan. 8:3-25) will be fulfilled in connection with the old Medo-Persian and Grecian empires (Dan. 8:20-25), not Italy where the papacy is located.
4. The little horn is a man (Dan. 8:9, 8:20-23; 7:7-8, 7:20, 7:23-24; Rev. 13:18); the papacy is a religious system.
5. The little horn will fight against Christ at His second coming (Dan. 8:20-25; 7:23-27; Rev. 17:12-17; 19:19-21); the papacy will not.
6. The little horn will rule the 10 kings (Dan. 8:20-25; 7:23-24; Rev. 17:12-17); the papacy will not.
7. The little horn is yet to come (Dan. 8:20-23; 7:23-24; Rev. 13:1-18; 17:8-17); the papacy has already come.
8. The little horn will come after the 10 kings (Dan. 7:23-24; Rev. 7:12-17); the papacy has already been in existence some 13 centuries.
9. To teach that the little horn is the papacy which began in A.D. 476 and to teach also that the 2,300 days began 457 B.C. is to contradict our self as well as the Bible, which requires us to believe that the little horn is the one who cuts off the daily sacrifices for the whole 2,300 days (Dan. 8:9-14). The Grecian Empire was not formed until 121 years after 457 B.C. when some say the 2,300 days began. Greece was not divided until 323-301 B.C. The little horn is yet to come in the last days out of one of the divisions. Therefore, the papacy could NOT be the little horn existing many centuries before the little horn is to come into existence.
10. Not one detail of this prophecy (Dan. 8:3-25) or the ones in Dan. 7:3-27; 9:24-27; 11:3-45; 12:1-13; Rev. 4:1-22:5 has ever been fulfilled in connection with the papacy, which came into existence about 610 A.D. and is not once mentioned in Scripture.
11. The papacy never has become great in the south (Egypt), the east (Syria, Iraq, Iran), or in Palestine. The little horn will become great in those directions (Dan. 8:9, 8:20-25; 9:27; 11:36-45).
12. The papacy has never fulfilled Dan. 8:10. The little horn will fulfill it (Dan. 8:9-10, 8:20-25; 9:27; 11:36-45; 12:7-13).
13. The papacy has never exalted itself against the high priest of Israel, cast down the sanctuary, or cut off daily sacrifices, for there has not been such a high priest, temple, or sacrifice since the existence of the papacy. The little horn will accomplish these things (Dan. 8:11-14, 8:20-25; 9:27; 11:36-45; 2Thes.2:4; Rev. 13:1-18 and Rev. 17:1-18).
14. The papacy has never desecrated a temple of God at Jerusalem, as predicted in Dan. 8:11-14 and never will do so. The little horn will do that (2Thes. 2:4).
15. There never has been a period of either 2,300 days or 2,300 years of abomination of desolation in a Jewish temple at Jerusalem by the papacy, nor will there ever be such a period of temple desecration. For about 1,900 years there has been no temple at Jerusalem; and there will not be one for some time yet. No 2,300 years could possibly be fulfilled with the future temple, for it will be given to the Gentiles for about 3 1/2 years, according to the true meaning of 2,300 days—3 years, 2 months, and 10 days (Dan. 8:11-14; 9:27; 11:40-45; Rev. 13:1-18 and Rev. 17:1-18). The little horn only rules for 3 1/2 years (Dan. 7:25; 8:14; 9:27; 12:7-13; Rev. 11:1-3; 12:6, 12:14; 13:5). Then he is destroyed by Christ at His second coming (Dan. 7:23-27; 8:20-25; 9:27; 11:36-45; Rev. 19:11-21).
16. Regardless of who fulfills Dan. 8:9-14, the passage concerns the daily sacrifice being cut off and the abomination of desolation being set up instead (Dan. 8:11-14; 9:27; 11:45; 12:7-11; Mat. 24:15; Rev. 13:1-18). Since the papacy has never had such relationship with a Jewish temple or daily sacrifices for any part of 2,300 years it could not be the reference here. The whole vision of Dan. 8:1-27 primarily concerns the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation and it will be fulfilled in this connection (Dan. 8:1, 8:13, 8:14, 8:26).
concerning the daily... Four Main Subjects of the Vision
1. The daily sacrifice cut off (Dan. 8:11-14)
2. The transgression of desolation (Dan. 8:13; 9:27; 11:45; Mat. 24:15; 2Thes. 2:4; Rev. 13:1-18)
3. The sanctuary to be trodden underfoot (Dan. 8:13; 9:27; 11:45; 2Thes. 2:4; Rev. 11:1-3)
4. The host to be trodden underfoot (Dan. 8:13; see, Dan. 8:10)
sacrifice, and the... This refers to the daily offerings and animal sacrifices of the Jewish temple (Dan. 11:31; 12:11; Num. 4:16; 28:24; 29:6; Ezr. 3:4; Eze. 45:23). The passage cannot be fulfilled until the Jews have a temple in Jerusalem and begin to offer such sacrifices again. It could not refer to the past, for it has a latter-day fulfillment (Dan. 8:19, 8:23-25; 9:27; 11:40-45; 12:1-13; Mat. 24:15-31; 2Thes. 2:1-12; Rev. 13:1-18 and Rev. 17:1-18).
transgression of desolation... This is the same as the abomination of desolation of Dan. 9:27; 12:11; Mat. 24:15; 2Thes. 2:4; Rev. 11:1-3; 13:11-18.
the sanctuary and... The Sanctuary
Hebrew: qodesh, a sacred place or thing. Translated sanctuary 68 times and nearly every time of the earthly tabernacle and temple of worship. Not the same word as miqdash, (Dan. 8:11), a consecrated place or thing; translated "sanctuary" 64 times.
Some teach that this sanctuary is the heavenly one and that Christ entered into it in 1844 and began examining the sins of the people to determine who shall have part in the first resurrection; that this work will end in 2,000 A.D., and then God’s people will be forever free from their sins; that during this judgment both righteous and the wicked remain in the graves; and that the wicked will be judged during the Millennium.
There is no truth in these claims. God is just and will not judge any person who is not resurrected and present at the judgment to give an account of himself. Saved men are to be judged after their resurrection and they will be present when judged (Rom. 14:10; 2Cor. 5:10). Sins of saints are cleansed in this life, not at some imaginative investigative judgment (Mat. 1:21; 1Jhn. 1:7-9; 3:5-10; Rev. 1:5). No judgment of God goes on during the Millennium. The wicked will be resurrected at the end of the Millennium and will stand personally before God then (Rev. 20:4-6, 20:11-15).
This Is Not the Heavenly Sanctuary:
1. Daniel is speaking of the Jewish temple on earth (Dan. 8:9-14; 9:27; 12:11; cp. Mat. 24:15; 2Thes. 2:4; Rev. 11:1-2).
2. The whole prophecy concerns earthly events (Dan. 8:3-25).
3. The sanctuary is to be in the kingdom of the little horn (Dan. 8:9-14).
4. He is the one who desecrates it, so it has to be on earth (Dan. 8:9-14).
5. No daily sacrifice is ever mentioned as being in heaven (Dan. 8:11-14).
6. No heavenly sanctuary could be made desolate by a man (Dan. 8:13).
7. Out of 136 times the word "sanctuary" is found, it is used only twice of the heavenly one (Psm. 102:19; Heb. 8:2).
8. Elsewhere in Daniel only the earthly one is mentioned (Dan. 9:17, 9:26; 11:31).
9. In no prophecy is the heavenly one referred to.
10. Only the earthly one is referred to as being cast down (Dan. 8:11-14).
11. No heavenly sanctuary could be cast down and trodden underfoot (Dan. 8:11-14).
12. Only an earthly sanctuary would need cleansing from an abomination (Dan. 8:14).
13. No cutting off of a daily sacrifice in a heavenly one could be possible by any man on earth (Dan. 8:11-14).
14. No man could cast down and tread underfoot ministers of a heavenly sanctuary (Dan. 8:1-14).
For Daniel’s benefit an angel (a holy one; cf. “holy ones” in Dan. 4:17) addressed the revealing angel (another holy one) and asked, How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled? The answer was, It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings.
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