Participants: Stephen Bohr
Series Code: HWIS
Program Code: HWIS000012
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00:33 Let's pray.
00:37 Our loving Father in heaven, once again we thank You 00:40 that we can gather in Your presence to open Your holy Word 00:45 and to understand the great things that have taken place, 00:50 are taking place, and soon will occur in this world. 00:55 As we study Daniel chapter 8 today, we need the 00:59 special guidance of Your Holy Spirit. 01:02 We ask, Father, that You will give us understanding 01:06 that we might be able to comprehend this 01:08 magnificent chapter of Scripture. 01:12 I ask, Lord, that You will help us to see its importance 01:14 for our own personal walk with Jesus. 01:17 And we thank You for hearing our prayer, 01:19 for we ask it in Jesus' name, amen. 01:23 I'd like to begin by reviewing what we've studied 01:27 in our last two lectures. 01:30 Basically, I want to go through the sequence of powers 01:34 that are mentioned in Daniel chapter 2 and Daniel chapter 7. 01:39 The first power... 01:40 And we'll go to Daniel 7 as our example. 01:44 The first power is a lion. 01:46 It represents what kingdom? 01:48 Babylon. 01:49 The next kingdom is what? 01:52 Medo-Persia. 01:53 The third kingdom, the leopard kingdom, is what? 01:56 Greece. 01:57 Then we have a terrible dragon beast that has iron teeth. 02:02 And what nation does that represent? 02:05 It represents the Roman Empire. 02:07 Then from the head of that dragon beast come forth what? 02:11 Ten horns. 02:12 And those represent the divisions of the Roman Empire 02:17 into which the Roman Empire was divided when it broke up 02:21 in the year 476. 02:23 And then among the ten rises what? 02:26 A little horn, a nasty little horn; 02:29 and does all kinds of wicked things. 02:31 And it rules for how long? 02:34 It rules for 1260 years. 02:37 And that period begins when? 02:40 In the year 538 when the Ostrogoths were defeated. 02:44 The third of the three horns was ripped out by the roots. 02:49 And it continued until what date? 02:52 The little horn? 1798. 02:56 And then you notice that we have the next scene is what? 03:01 The judgment. 03:03 So after what date does the judgment take place? 03:07 It has to be after 1798. 03:11 But it also happens before probation closes. 03:16 Before Jesus comes. 03:18 Because we noticed in Revelation chapter 14, it says, 03:22 "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His 03:25 judgment has come," while the gospel is still being preached. 03:28 Probation can't have closed if the gospel is 03:31 still being preached. 03:32 And only after the third angel's message 03:35 do you have Jesus sitting on a cloud with a sickle 03:39 coming to harvest the earth. 03:42 And so we noticed in our study that the judgment takes place 03:47 sometime between 1798 and the close of probation. 03:53 Although we are not told exactly what the precise date is. 03:58 All we have is the parameters. 04:01 But the prophecy that we're going to study 04:03 in this evening's lecture, as well as our next one, 04:07 regarding Daniel chapter 8, we're going to notice 04:11 that Scripture pinpoints the exact date 04:16 when that judgment was going to begin. 04:20 So let's turn in our Bibles to Daniel chapter 8. 04:24 And the first thing that we're going to notice in this chapter 04:27 is that it does not begin with Babylon like chapter 7 04:31 and like chapter 2. 04:33 There is no symbol for Babylon. 04:36 In fact, in Daniel chapter 8 the vision begins with Medo-Persia. 04:44 Now you might be wondering, "Pastor Bohr, Why does the 04:47 vision of Daniel 8 begin with Medo-Persia 04:50 if Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 began with Babylon?" 04:55 Now the traditional interpretation 04:57 that has been given in the Adventist church is that 05:00 Babylon is about to pass from history. 05:04 But the fact is that this vision is taking place 05:06 in the year 550 BC. 05:08 And Babylon was not going to fall for another 11 years. 05:12 There is another more important reason why Babylon 05:16 is not in this vision of Daniel chapter 8. 05:19 And let me explain the reason succinctly. 05:22 You see, the 2300 days that are mentioned in this prophecy 05:28 begin during the period of the Persian Empire. 05:34 And so the vision begins... 05:37 Now listen carefully. 05:38 The vision begins where the 2300 days begin. 05:44 You see, the 2300 days do not begin in the kingdom of Babylon. 05:48 They begin during the period of the kingdom of Persia. 05:51 And therefore, the 2300 day prophecy begins with Persia. 05:56 And that's the reason why this vision begins with Persia 06:01 and not with Babylon. 06:04 Are you understanding the reason? 06:05 It's a very important reason. 06:06 And we will have reason to come back to this a little bit later. 06:10 Now let's go to Daniel chapter 8 and verse 1 06:13 and move through this magnificent prophecy. 06:17 It says there in verse 1... 06:25 I mentioned that this is the year 550 BC. 06:43 Which is the one that appeared to him the first time? 06:46 The one that is found in the previous chapter. 06:49 In Daniel chapter what? 06:51 Chapter 7. 06:52 Now listen carefully. 06:53 The word for "vision" here is a very important word. 06:57 You see, in Daniel 8 there are two different 06:59 words for "vision." 07:01 And unless we understand that, we're not going to reach correct 07:04 conclusions as we study this chapter. 07:07 The word that is used here for "vision," where it says, 07:10 "The third year of the reign of King Belshazzar 07:12 a vision appears to me," is the Hebrews word, "chazon." 07:18 Remember that because it's very, very important. 07:21 Now let's go to verse 2. 07:23 "I saw in the vision..." 07:26 Once again, the word "chazon." 07:33 Now the emphasis on eye sight here. 07:39 Shusan is one of the capitals of the Medo-Persian Empire. 07:49 Once again, the third time that the word "chazon" is used 07:54 to describe the vision. 07:55 So it says in verse 2... 08:12 Now let's go to verse 3. 08:17 Notice one again the emphasis on vision, seeing. 08:21 There's tremendous emphasis on this. 08:31 Just one beast. 08:33 But now notice what it continues saying. 08:38 So this is one nation that is composed of two kingdoms. 08:43 Because horns represent kingdoms. 08:45 So it's one nation composed of two kingdoms. 08:48 In other words, dual kingdoms in one nation. 08:52 So it continues saying... 09:07 So you have two horns. 09:09 One is higher than the other. 09:11 And the higher one comes out how? 09:13 Last. 09:14 Now, you should have received two sheets tonight. 09:17 One of the sheets has the dynasty of the 09:20 Medes and Persians. 09:21 Now if you look at that chart... 09:23 We're not going to look at it carefully right now 09:25 because we don't have the time. 09:28 From the year 539 when the Medes and Persians began to rule 09:33 until the year 522, all of the kings were Medes 09:39 except for Cyrus, who was half Mede and half Persian. 09:44 But from the year 522 until the year 331, 09:49 almost 200 years, every single king was Persian. 09:57 So what was the nation that became more powerful last? 10:01 It was the Persians. 10:02 And interestingly enough, after Daniel chapter 8 10:06 every time that this kingdom appears in prophecy 10:10 it's no longer called Medo-Persia. 10:14 It is called Persia. 10:16 Because the Medes have basically disappeared, 10:20 and now Persia is ruling. 10:22 Are you understanding my point? 10:23 And you can see it on that chart. 10:26 Prophecy is specific and exact on this point. 10:30 Now, this battle that we're going to see here 10:34 at the beginning of Daniel chapter 8 is taking place 10:36 on a horizontal level on earth. 10:39 There is no indication that these nations are in 10:42 controversy or in conflict with God. 10:44 This is a geographical fight among nations 10:47 on a horizontal level. 10:49 There is no fight against God in the early part of the chapter. 10:54 Notice Daniel chapter 8 and verse 4. 10:57 Oh by the way, do you remember that the bear 11:00 was raise up on one side in Daniel chapter 7? 11:03 And here we have one horn that's what? 11:06 That's higher than the other. 11:07 See, it's parallel. 11:09 Now Daniel chapter 8 and verse 4. 11:11 "I saw the ram," which represents the 11:14 Medes and Persians... 11:20 How many ribs did the bear have in its mouth in Daniel 7? 11:24 Three. 11:25 And here, the ram conquers in three directions. 11:29 Westward would be Babylon, 539. 11:32 Northward would be Lydia, 546. 11:35 And southward would be Egypt, in the year 525. 11:39 And it continues saying... 11:51 Now remember that, the ram became what? 11:54 The ram became great. 11:56 That's important. 11:58 Now we have another power that rises. 12:00 Go with me to Daniel chapter 8 and verse 5. 12:13 It's interesting, a male goat came from the west. 12:15 Do you know that Greece is west of Persia? 12:19 And do you know that Daniel was in Persia 12:22 when he received this vision? 12:24 And so he sees this beast coming from the west. 12:27 What nation does this beast represent, this he goat? 12:30 Greece. 12:31 Interesting, even the points of the compass 12:34 are precise and exact. 12:36 And so it says, "And as I was considering, 12:38 suddenly a male goat..." 12:50 What beast represented Greece in Daniel chapter 7? 12:54 A leopard. Is a leopard swift? 12:56 Yes, but the leopard had what? 12:58 Four wings of a bird, super swift. 13:01 Here, the he goat, which represents the same power, 13:03 is so swift that it's flying. 13:07 Have you ever seen a flying goat? 13:09 Oh my. 13:10 He is really conquering in a hurry. 13:13 By the way, as I mentioned yesterday, the prophecy 13:17 tells us that Alexander the Great was represented 13:21 by a notable horn. 13:22 In fact, let's read it. 13:23 And then I'll tell you something about Alexander the Great. 13:26 It says that this he goat came without touching the ground. 13:30 "And the goat had a..." What? 13:32 "...a notable horn between his eyes." 13:35 Which, later on in chapter 8, says that it 13:38 represents the first king of this nation; 13:41 which is Alexander the Great. 13:44 Alexander the Great ruled from Athens all the way 13:47 to the Indus Valley. 13:50 In three years he conquered the known world. 13:54 And he died when he was only 33 years old 13:58 of a drunken binge because he didn't have anything more to do. 14:01 He didn't have anything more to conquer. 14:03 Amazing. 14:04 He was swift. 14:06 Notice Daniel chapter 8 and verses 6 and 7. 14:36 Is this battle still taking place horizontally on earth? 14:40 Is this an earthly battle? 14:41 Any indication that the he goat has any bone 14:46 to pick with the Lord? 14:47 Absolutely not, this is a geographical fight 14:50 among nations on a horizontal level. 14:53 Now let's notice Daniel chapter 8 and verse 8. 15:03 Ah, the ram grew what? 15:07 Great. 15:08 Now we see that the he goat grows what? 15:11 Very great. 15:13 Don't forget that because we're going to come back to it. 15:14 "Therefore, the male goat," which represents Greece, 15:18 grew very great; but when he became strong..." 15:23 In other words, at the climax of his strength, what happened? 15:27 "...the large horn was broken." 15:33 Alexander the Great died when Greece was at the apex 15:36 of its power. 15:38 In a drunken binge, like I mentioned. 15:40 And notice what happened. 15:42 It continues saying... 15:53 How many heads did the leopard have? 15:55 The leopard had four heads. 15:57 Now how many horns come when this great horn is broken? 16:03 Four. 16:05 So Daniel 7 and Daniel 8 are parallel prophecies. 16:11 Now you need to understand what happened 16:14 after Alexander the Great died. 16:16 After he died, there was a struggle among his generals 16:19 to gain power in the kingdom. 16:22 And for a while sometimes there were three kingdoms, 16:25 sometimes there were four kingdoms, 16:27 sometimes there were even two kingdoms. 16:29 But finally, four kingdoms emerged from what had been 16:35 Alexander's empire. 16:37 I want to read you a statement that is found in the book 16:40 by W. W. Tarn, Hellenistic Civilization, page 6 16:45 where he explains these four kingdoms. 16:48 He says this... 16:49 "By 275, three dynasties descended from 16:54 three of his generals, and they were well established." 16:58 The Seleucids..." 17:00 Which by the way ruled from 312 to the year 63 BC. 17:05 He says, "The Seleucids ruled much of what had been 17:08 the Persian Empire in Asia. 17:10 The Ptolemies," who ruled from 323 to 30 BC, "ruled Egypt. 17:17 And the Antigonids," who ruled from 283 to 168, 17:21 "ruled Macedonia." 17:24 And then he says this. 17:25 "A Fourth European dynasty not connected with Alexander, 17:31 the Attalids of Pergamum," 263 to 133, "subsequently 17:39 grew up in Asia Minor at Seleucid's expense 17:44 and became great by the favor of Rome." 17:49 So the four kingdoms that arose, four stable kingdoms 17:55 that lasted a significant period of time, 17:57 were the Seleucids, the Ptolemies, the Antigonids, 18:01 and the Attalids in Pergamum. 18:06 Now I want to just mention that many scholars, 18:09 probably most Roman Catholic scholars and Protestant scholars 18:12 believe that the little horn that is going to come from 18:16 these four horns at the four winds represents a nasty 18:21 individual called Antiochus Epiphanes. 18:24 He was a Syrian ruler that ruled from the 18:27 year 171 to the year 163 BC. 18:32 I want to tell you that I do not share the idea that 18:36 this little horn of Daniel 8 that comes forth from 18:39 the four horns represents Antiochus Epiphanes. 18:43 Because there are too many parallels between the 18:45 little horn of Daniel chapter 7 and the little horn of Daniel 8 18:49 that indicate that this represents the same power. 18:51 Let me just mention some of those parallels. 18:54 First of all, both are referred to as a horn. 18:58 And even though Daniel 7 and Daniel 8 are in 19:01 two different languages, Daniel 7 is in Aramaic 19:04 and Daniel chapter 8 is in Hebrew, the same Hebrew 19:08 word, "qeren," is used to describe the horn. 19:11 The identical word for the horn of Daniel 7 and the 19:14 horn of Daniel 8. 19:15 Secondly, both are described as little. 19:18 In the third place, both of them become great 19:22 after they had a small beginning. 19:24 In the fourth place, both are described as persecuting powers. 19:29 In the fifth place, the persecution is against 19:32 the same target group. 19:34 That is, against the people of the saints of the Most High. 19:38 In the sixth place, both of them are self-exalting 19:42 and blasphemous powers. 19:44 In the seventh place, both are distinguished 19:47 by crafty intelligence. 19:49 One has the eyes of a man, in Daniel chapter 7. 19:52 And in Daniel chapter 8, the little horn understands riddles 19:56 and cunning and deceit. 19:59 Number eight, both of these represent the final power 20:03 that will rule upon this earth. 20:05 Number nine, both of these horns have to do with prophetic time. 20:11 Number ten, both of these horns extend until 20:15 the time of the end. 20:16 And number eleven, both of the horns are supernaturally 20:20 destroyed when Jesus comes. 20:22 In other words, the little horn of Daniel 8 represents 20:25 the same power as the little horn of Daniel chapter 7. 20:28 I want to read a statement by an individual who was 20:31 my teacher at the seminary in Michigan, Andrews University. 20:34 William Shea, a tremendous Old Testament scholar. 20:38 In the book, Symposium on Daniel, page 187, 20:41 this is what he says. 20:43 "If the prophet," that is, if Daniel, "had desired to 20:46 represent different powers in this final position 20:50 he could easily have used different symbols to do so. 20:54 But instead, he used the same symbol of a little horn 20:59 at the end of the vision in chapter 8 21:01 as he did at the end of the vision in chapter 7. 21:05 This commonality of representation suggests 21:09 that the same symbol has been used to refer to the same power 21:15 in both cases." 21:17 So in other words, the little horn of Daniel 7 21:20 and the little horn of Daniel 8 represents basically 21:23 the same power. 21:24 Now, there's a problem. 21:27 In Daniel chapter 7, the little horn rises from the 21:31 head of the fourth beast. 21:33 In Daniel chapter 8, the little horn rises 21:37 from one of the four horns that were a part of 21:41 Alexander the Great's broken up empire. 21:44 So you say it gives the impression that in 21:47 Daniel chapter 7 this little horn comes from Rome, 21:51 but in Daniel chapter 8 this little horn comes from 21:54 one of the four divisions of the empire of Greece; 21:57 the empire of Alexander the Great. 21:59 Well this problem is not as difficult as some 22:03 people would believe. 22:05 Now let's go to Daniel chapter 8 and verse 9. 22:08 It says here, "And out of one of them..." 22:11 That is, out of one of the four horns at the four winds. 22:26 Is there a progression here? 22:28 The ram was what? 22:30 Great. 22:31 The he goat was what? 22:33 Very great. 22:35 And the little horn is exceeding great. 22:40 That's why I don't believe that this little horn 22:42 can be Antiochus Epiphanes. 22:43 Antiochus Epiphanes was a non-entity in history. 22:48 He wasn't greater than the Medes and Persians and the Greeks. 22:52 There are other reasons why this little horn 22:54 is not Antiochus Epiphanes. 22:56 And so notice what it continues saying. 22:58 "And out of one of them," out of one of the four horns 23:01 to the four winds, "came a little horn which grew 23:03 exceedingly great toward the east," that is, towards Greece, 23:10 Asia Minor, and Syria, "and toward the south," 23:14 that's Egypt, "and toward the Glorious Land," 23:18 that is Israel. 23:21 Now listen carefully. 23:22 There's one kingdom that conquered in those 23:25 three directions to rise to power. 23:28 And that nation was what? 23:31 Rome. 23:33 If you look at history, you'll find that Rome conquered 23:37 the south, Egypt; it conquered towards the east, Greece, 23:41 Asia Minor, and Syria where the previous power had ruled; 23:45 and the Glorious Land, which is what? 23:49 The land of Israel. 23:51 Now listen carefully to what I'm going to say. 23:54 In Daniel chapter 8, the little horn represents both 23:58 pagan Rome and papal Rome. 24:02 And you'll notice as we study this prophecy 24:05 that the little horn at first conquers only horizontally 24:11 and geographically. 24:13 But suddenly that little horn that is only conquering... 24:17 According to this, where? 24:19 The south, the east, and the Glorious Land. 24:22 Suddenly he shifts. 24:25 And now he's fighting against whom? 24:27 He's fighting against the God of heaven. 24:29 Is this true of what happened in Daniel 7 with Rome? 24:33 The iron monarchy of Rome conquered how? 24:36 Horizontally. 24:38 But then suddenly the little horn, which is also Rome, 24:41 now does what? 24:42 It speaks blasphemies against the Most High, 24:45 and it persecuted the saints of the Most High, 24:47 and it thinks it can change the law of the Most High. 24:51 Now you say, "Why is this little horn portrayed as coming 24:54 from one of the four kingdoms that came from the kingdom 24:59 of Alexander the Great?" 25:01 Let me tell you why. 25:02 The reason why is because historians, such as Virgil... 25:06 You ever heard of Virgil? 25:08 ...Seneca, and other historians of Rome, make it very clear 25:15 that Roman religion and Roman civilization 25:19 and Roman culture had their origins in Asia Minor, 25:25 specifically in Pergamum. 25:27 And that was one of the kingdoms into which 25:30 the kingdom of Alexander the Great was divided. 25:33 In other words, it is strictly true that the Roman Empire 25:38 grew out of Asia Minor. 25:41 It grew out of the kingdom of Pergamum, which was 25:44 one of the four kingdoms that were formed after the fall 25:49 of Alexander the Great. 25:52 Now let's go to Daniel chapter 8 and verse 10. 25:56 By the way, if you're interested in studying this 25:58 more extensively, I wrote a document, it's about 26:02 30 pages long, on the whole message of Daniel chapter 8. 26:08 And it has a lot more material than what I'm able to 26:11 present here tonight and in our next lecture. 26:13 So if you really want to get into an in-depth study of 26:17 these things, I have quotations from historians and so on 26:19 showing that Roman civilization, religion, 26:23 culture, arose from one of those kingdoms of Greece. 26:27 Now let's go to Daniel chapter 8 and verse 10. 26:29 Suddenly this little horn, who's only concerned with conquering 26:34 geographically and horizontally, suddenly, like the little horn 26:38 of Daniel chapter 7, it starts fighting against 26:41 the God of heaven. 26:43 Now his fight becomes vertical. 26:45 Notice Daniel chapter 8 and verse 10. 26:47 It says, "And it grew up to the..." What? 27:00 Now the question is, what is represented by the host 27:03 or by these stars? 27:05 You know, we might be tempted to think that they were angels, 27:07 but somehow I don't think that the little horn was 27:11 able to grab the angels and thrown them to the ground 27:14 and trample on them. 27:15 In fact, the Bible uses the word "host," not only to 27:18 describe the heavenly host of God, but to describe 27:22 His earthly people, His earthly army. 27:24 Because in Scripture, the church is described as what? 27:29 As an army. 27:30 Let me prove that. 27:32 Go with me to 1 Samuel chapter 17 and verse 45. 27:38 1 Samuel chapter 17 and verse 45. 27:42 This is speaking about the time that David met Goliath. 27:45 And it says there, "Then David said to the Philistine, 27:49 'You come to me with sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. 27:54 But I come to you in the name of the...'" What? 27:58 "...of the Lord of hosts..." 28:01 And now notice who the hosts are. 28:04 "...the Lord of hosts, the God of the..." What? 28:07 "...of the armies of Israel, whom you have defiled." 28:12 So what is the host? 28:13 The armies of what? 28:15 The armies of Israel. 28:16 So what is this little horn doing? 28:18 Who is he casting down? 28:20 In Daniel 7, it says that the little horn would persecute 28:23 the saints of the Most High. 28:25 So here, the stars or God's host represents what? 28:30 It represents God's people. 28:32 Later on in the chapter we're going to find this 28:34 very clearly expressed. 28:36 And so the first thing that this little horn does is 28:40 the same thing as the little horn of Daniel 7. 28:42 He persecutes the saints and he throws them to the ground 28:46 and he tramples them. 28:48 But then you'll notice in Daniel chapter 8 and verse 11 28:52 that he goes even further. 28:53 It says in Daniel 8:11... 29:03 The leader of the host, in other words. 29:08 "...and by him," that is, by the little horn, 29:11 "the daily sacrifices..." 29:13 You need to delete that word "sacrifices," 29:15 because it is not in the Hebrew. 29:18 It's only the word "daily." 29:20 And we'll come to that in a minute. 29:37 Interesting. 29:38 Now the question is, who is this Prince of the host? 29:42 Well, this identical expression is used only in one other place 29:47 in the whole Bible, "the Prince of the host." 29:50 It's not translated the same, but it's the 29:51 identical expression. 29:53 Joshua chapter 5 and verses 13 through 15. 29:57 Joshua chapter 5 and verses 13 through 15. 29:59 Let's find out who this Prince of the host is 30:02 from whom the daily is taken away 30:04 and the Sanctuary is cast down. 30:07 Notice Joshua 5 verse 13. 30:09 This is outside of the city of Jericho. 30:11 We read this once before. 30:13 And Joshua meets this man with a sword in his hand. 30:16 It says, "And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho 30:20 that he lifted his eyes and looked. 30:22 And behold, a man stood opposite him with his sword 30:26 drawn in his hand. 30:28 And Joshua went to him and said to him, 30:30 'Are you for us or for our adversaries?' 30:35 So He said, 'No, but as Commander of the army 30:40 of the Lord I have now come.'" 30:43 That expression, "Commander of the army of the Lord," 30:46 is the identical expression, "Prince of the host." 30:49 It's not translated the same, but in Hebrew it's identical. 30:53 And so He says, "'No, but as Commander of the army 30:57 of the Lord I have now come.' 30:58 And Joshua..." What did Joshua do? 31:01 Oh, it says he, "fell on his face to the earth..." 31:05 And what? 31:06 Was this a common ordinary man? 31:09 No, this was Jesus. 31:10 "...and said to Him, 'What does my Lord say to His servant?' 31:15 Then the Commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, 31:19 'Take your sandal off your foot, for the place 31:23 where you stand is holy.'" 31:26 Who was that Prince of the host? 31:28 It's none other than Jesus Christ. 31:31 So what does the little horn do? 31:34 He even attacks the Prince of the host, Jesus Christ. 31:38 And he takes away from Jesus, what? 31:41 The daily. 31:42 And he casts the Sanctuary to the ground. 31:45 Now you say, "What is meant by that, the daily?" 31:49 As I mentioned, the word, "sacrifice," is not there. 31:52 It's added by the translators, but it is nowhere to be found 31:56 in the original Hebrew. 31:58 You see, the translators, they felt that this little horn 32:01 represented Antiochus Epiphanes. 32:03 And Antiochus Epiphanes eliminated the sacrifices 32:07 in the temple for three years. 32:08 So because they're thinking Antiochus Epiphanes, 32:11 they're translating, "daily sacrifices." 32:13 The fact is that the word "daily" here is an adjective 32:17 that has no noun to qualify. 32:20 The word simply means, something that goes on and on and on 32:24 without interruption. 32:26 In other words, it's a technical term. 32:28 It should be understood, not as an adjective, 32:31 although technically it is, it should be understood as a noun. 32:36 And of course the question is, he took away the daily what? 32:42 Well it must have something to do with the Sanctuary, right? 32:45 Because the whole theme of Daniel chapter 8 32:47 is the Sanctuary, correct? 32:49 Even the two animals that you find in Daniel chapter 8 32:52 are the two most important animals of the Sanctuary. 32:55 The daily service, morning and evening, a ram was sacrificed. 33:00 And the yearly service, a he goat was sacrificed. 33:04 So God is saying by choosing these two beasts, 33:06 the central theme of Daniel 8 is what? 33:10 The Sanctuary. 33:11 So the question is, the little horn took away the daily. 33:14 The question is, the daily what? 33:17 Well, we need to look at the answer in the Sanctuary. 33:20 Is that word used in connection with the Sanctuary? 33:23 It most certainly is. 33:25 Now allow me to tell you that this word is used 33:29 in connection with the ministry of the priest in the court 33:34 and in the Holy Place of the Sanctuary. 33:37 It's never used to refer to anything that the priest does 33:40 in the Most Holy Place. 33:42 It's used to refer to what he did in the court and in the 33:45 Holy Place of the Sanctuary. 33:47 Let me mention several verses where this very word, 33:51 "tamid," is used. 33:53 Exodus 28 and verse 30. 33:55 And we're going to go quickly. 33:56 Exodus 28 and verse 30. 33:59 The high priest who ministered in the Holy Place, 34:03 the Bible says that he ministered continually. 34:06 Notice what it says there. 34:25 "Continually," that's the word "tamid." 34:27 Notice the similar language in Hebrews 7:23-25 34:31 where it talks about Jesus. 34:33 Hebrews 7 verses 23 through 25. 34:36 Speaking about the old system, it says... 34:45 See that word, "continuing?" 34:47 They couldn't continue because they what? 34:49 Because they died. And now notice... 35:11 Is the intercession of Jesus Christ continual? 35:15 Is it tamid? 35:16 See, it really shouldn't even be translated "daily." 35:19 It should be translated, "continual." 35:22 Notice Exodus chapter 29 and verse 42. 35:26 The sacrifices that were offered morning and evening 35:28 are also referred to by the word "tamid," continual. 35:33 It says... 35:43 Notice, the offering was what? 35:45 The continual burnt offering. 35:48 The fire that was used to burn the sacrifices 35:51 was also a continual fire. 35:54 Notice Leviticus chapter 6 and verse 13. 36:04 In other words, it was to be burning continually. 36:08 The table of showbread, the bread on the table, 36:11 it called the continual bread. 36:14 Notice Exodus chapter 25 and verse 30. 36:17 Exodus chapter 25 and verse 30. 36:19 "And you shall set the showbread on the table before Me always." 36:24 It's translated "always," but it's the word "tamid." 36:26 It could be translated, "You shall set the showbread 36:29 on the table before Me continually." 36:33 Notice also that the seven lamps of the Holy Place 36:36 are called the continual lamps. 36:38 Leviticus chapter 24 and verses 1 through 4. 36:41 Leviticus chapter 24 and verses 1 through 4. 36:54 There's the word, "continually." 37:03 "Continually," there's the word again. 37:13 "Continually," once again the same word. 37:16 So the continual refers to the sacrifice, to the ministration 37:19 of the priest in the Holy Place, to the fire that was 37:21 offered in the court. 37:23 It refers to the showbread, it refers to the seven lamps. 37:26 It also refers to the golden altar of incense 37:29 in the Holy Place. 37:30 Notice Exodus chapter 30 and verse 8. 37:32 Exodus chapter 30 and verse 8. 37:42 Well the translation says, "a perpetual incense." 37:46 It's the same identical word. 37:47 It could be, "a continual incense before the Lord 37:51 throughout your generations." 37:54 Now let me ask you, what did the altar and the lampstand 38:01 and the showbread and the priest and the 38:05 altar of incense represent? 38:08 They represented different aspects of the 38:11 saving ministry of whom? 38:13 Of the saving ministry of Jesus Christ. 38:17 Now notice, the place of the Sanctuary was going to be what? 38:20 Cast down to the earth. 38:23 Where does Jesus minister? 38:25 He ministers in the heavenly Sanctuary. 38:27 What was the little horn going to do? 38:29 The little horn was going to take the heavenly ministry 38:32 of Christ and he was going to cast it where? 38:35 To the earth. 38:36 He was going to establish a rival earthly ministry 38:39 in place of the ministry of Jesus Christ. 38:43 Let me ask you, how many times does Jesus have to die? 38:48 The book of Hebrews chapter 7 verse 27 says 38:50 that He dies once for all. 38:54 But in the Roman Catholic Church, they teach that 38:56 at every mass Jesus Christ is sacrificed once again. 39:01 Interesting. 39:02 But there's more. 39:04 They believe that in the little wafer host, Jesus is contained 39:09 in each one of those wafer hosts. 39:11 If there's ten million people participating in the host, 39:14 Christ is fully and completely in each one of them. 39:18 Furthermore, the interesting thing is that this little host 39:24 is what shape? 39:26 Round. 39:27 And what color is it? 39:29 It's yellow. 39:32 What is round and yellow? 39:35 The sun. 39:36 Now listen carefully. 39:38 The host is kept in an artifact that is called, the tabernacle. 39:44 It other words, it's a little circle 39:45 and the host is placed inside. 39:47 And you know, outside the place where you put the host, 39:50 there are the rays of the sun sprouting out. 39:54 I don't know whether you've ever seen that at the 39:56 Roman Catholic Church. 39:57 But it's very interesting. 39:59 And Catholics are told that when the host is raised up, 40:03 they are to bow and they are to what? 40:06 They are to worship the host, because Jesus is in the host. 40:11 Furthermore... 40:13 Listen to what I'm going to say. 40:14 ...the Roman Catholic Church teaches that when the priests 40:17 pronounces those words, "Hoc est corpus meum," 40:21 "That is my body," he says it in Latin in the traditional way, 40:25 what he does is he creates Jesus Christ 40:30 really and truly in the host. 40:33 And the host is no longer bread, even though 40:36 it appears like bread. 40:37 The appearance doesn't change. 40:39 But it is the real body of Jesus Christ. 40:41 And the grape juice, or the wine, that the priest drinks 40:45 is the real blood of Jesus Christ, even though 40:48 it tastes like grape juice. 40:51 So where is the focus of people in Roman Catholicism? 40:54 Is it upon the body and blood of Jesus Christ 40:58 in heaven who died once for all for us? 41:02 No, it is focused where? 41:04 It is focused on earth. 41:07 And an earthly system cannot save. 41:10 This is very, very serious. 41:12 In fact, do you know that one Roman Catholic theologian 41:14 said that the priest could be called 41:17 the creator of his Creator? 41:20 Because he creates Jesus in the host. 41:24 Amazing. 41:27 What does the candlestick represent? 41:29 We already studied this. 41:30 What does the candlestick represent? 41:33 It represents the oil of the Holy Spirit 41:35 that is given to the church so the church can give what? 41:41 So it can give light. 41:43 What happened during the period of the 41:44 dominion of the little horn? 41:47 The light flickered. 41:48 That's why it's called, what kind of ages? 41:51 It's called the Dark Ages. 41:54 Because the church no longer preached the gospel 41:56 of Jesus Christ, which is spoken of as light in Scripture. 42:00 In other words, it affected the mission and the 42:04 message of the church. 42:07 What about the showbread? 42:08 What does the showbread represent? 42:10 The showbread represents the Word of God. 42:12 Twelve loaves because there's enough to feed all of Israel, 42:15 all of God's people. 42:17 What did the Roman Catholic Church establish in place of 42:21 the Word of God? 42:23 Tradition. 42:24 All kinds of traditions came into the church. 42:27 Purgatory, limbo, celibacy, auricular confession, 42:30 an eternally burning hell, lent, processions, the mass, 42:34 relics, canonizations of saints, the rosary, 42:36 bowing before images, the immaculate conception, 42:39 the assumption of Mary, the baptism of infants 42:42 by sprinkling, novenas, the observance of Sunday. 42:45 I could continue the list. 42:48 None of which are taught in Holy Scripture. 42:51 In other words, instead of the Word of God 42:54 being the rule of the church, the result was that the church 43:00 established tradition. 43:02 And therefore, people were starving to death on earth. 43:05 By the way, at the Council of Toulouse in the year 1229, 43:10 the Roman Catholic Church officially forbade 43:13 lay people from reading the Scriptures. 43:16 And there were other decrees by other councils where 43:18 people were forbidden from reading the Bible. 43:21 That's the reason why Martin Luther, even when he was a monk 43:24 and he discovered a Bible, he was surprised. 43:28 Because the Bible was not accessible. 43:30 It was in Latin. 43:31 In fact, people like Wycliffe, you know, when he translated 43:35 the Bible into English, they burned him at the stake 43:39 for translating the Bible into a language that 43:41 people could understand. 43:43 And so the Roman Catholic Church substituted. 43:46 Instead of the bread, it substituted tradition. 43:49 Let me ask you, what does the altar of incense represent? 43:53 The altar of incense represents that when we pray, 43:56 our prayers are blended with the perfect merits of 43:59 Christ's righteousness and we are accepted 44:02 in the sight of God. 44:04 Question, what did the Roman Catholic Church establish 44:07 in place of the only intercession of Christ? 44:10 We have one mediator between God and man; 44:12 Jesus Christ the Man, Scripture says. 44:15 What does the Roman Catholic Church teach? 44:17 They say that we are suppose to confess to whom? 44:20 We are suppose to confess our sins to a priest, 44:23 an earthly priest. 44:26 And not only that, they say that if we want access 44:29 to Jesus Christ, we have to go through the virgin Mary. 44:33 And we have to go through the saints. 44:35 You know why they teach that? 44:38 Even though they would never admit it, because in their 44:40 theological formulations they don't say this, 44:43 but in practical reality it's this way. 44:46 You see, Jesus is seen by Roman Catholics as a stern judge. 44:53 See, He was human but He really wasn't exactly like one of us. 44:57 So we have to go through someone who can really understand us. 45:01 Like Mary and like the saints. 45:06 And so what do we have happening here? 45:09 All of the functions that belong to Jesus Christ 45:12 in the heavenly Sanctuary, what did the papacy do? 45:16 What did the little horn do? 45:17 It took all of those functions and it placed them where? 45:21 And it placed them on earth. 45:22 Let me ask you, is salvation at stake here? 45:26 It most certainly is. 45:28 Are you understanding what the taking away of the daily is? 45:32 He took away the continual ministration of Christ. 45:35 His feeding the church with the bread, 45:37 His interceding for the church, 45:40 His giving the Holy Spirit to the church 45:43 so that it could shed light, 45:44 the preaching that Jesus died once for all 45:47 for the sins of the world. 45:49 And by the way, the Roman Catholic Church also established 45:52 the idea that, you know, you have to do penance 45:55 in order for your sins to be forgiven. 45:57 So it wasn't enough for Jesus to die on the cross. 46:01 You still have to do part of the payment yourself. 46:05 Are you understanding what Daniel 8 is talking about? 46:08 It's very serious. 46:09 It has to do with salvation. 46:11 Now let's go to Daniel chapter 8 and verse 12. 46:15 It says, listen carefully... 46:23 The word, "sacrifices," shouldn't be there. 46:25 What does that mean, an army was given to him? 46:28 What did we talk about when we dealt 46:29 with the feet of the image? 46:30 What was joined together? 46:33 Church and what? State. 46:35 How did the church make sure that people kept this 46:39 system going that we talked about? 46:42 The church couldn't do it as a church. 46:43 They had to have an army. 46:45 They had to have a political power to back them up. 46:48 Is that exactly what happened during the Dark Ages? 46:50 Did the church appeal to the arm of the state to 46:53 punish anyone who was not in favor of their beliefs 46:56 and their practices? 46:57 All you have to do is read the history books. 47:01 And so it says... 47:07 Not the daily "sacrifices." The "daily." 47:18 Did the little horn prosper when it was persecuting the saints? 47:22 Absolutely, it prospered. 47:23 Things went well. 47:27 Was it necessary to perform a judgment in heaven 47:29 to rectify things? 47:32 Do you think? 47:33 Absolutely. 47:34 And we're going to be coming to that in a few moments. 47:37 Now notice, it continues saying... 47:41 And by the way, the word that is used here, "prosper," 47:45 is the same idea that is used in Daniel chapter 7 47:49 for the little horn. 47:51 Now, when we get to this point of the vision, 47:54 the video goes blank. 47:57 And now Daniel can only hear the audio. 48:01 Daniel chapter 8 verses 13 and 14. 48:04 The video goes blank. 48:06 Now he's not seeing, he's only hearing. 48:07 He's hearing a conversation between two angels. 48:23 The word, "vision," that is the word, "chazon." 48:25 Now let me ask you, what does the "chazon" include? 48:29 It includes the whole vision, right? 48:31 Does it include Medo-Persia? 48:33 Does it include Greece? 48:35 Does it include the first king of Greece, the four horns, 48:39 the little horn in its first and second stages? 48:42 That's the vision, that's the "chazon." 48:45 And so the question is, "How long..." 48:47 A better translation would be, 48:48 "Until when will the chazon be..." 48:54 Eliminate the word, "sacrifices." 48:55 Not there. 49:05 You know, we have a similar scene to this in 49:07 Revelation chapter 6 and verses 9 through 11. 49:11 There you have some martyrs that are crying out 49:13 from under the altar. 49:14 This is the fifth seal. 49:15 I wish we had time to speak about this. 49:17 This is the same historical time period. 49:19 And they're crying out and they're saying... 49:21 Because they've been mowed down by the church 49:25 that claims to be the church of Jesus Christ. 49:27 They're crying out, they're saying, "Lord, until when?" 49:30 Same question. 49:32 "Will you not judge and avenge our blood 49:35 on those who have shed our blood upon the earth?" 49:40 Now notice verse 14. 49:43 "And he said to me..." 49:50 Literally, it says in Hebrew, "For two-thousand three-hundred 49:53 evening mornings." 49:55 In other words, units that are composed of evening and morning. 49:58 In other words, days. 49:59 The translation, "days," is good. 50:09 Now listen, there's a very interesting nuance here. 50:12 Before Daniel 8 verse 14, the word that is used for 50:18 "Sanctuary" is the word, "miqdash." 50:23 But in Daniel chapter 8 and verse 14, the word for 50:27 "Sanctuary" is changed. 50:30 Instead of the word "miqdash," it uses the word, "qodesh." 50:37 Interesting, "The Sanctuary shall be cleansed." 50:39 It's not the entire Sanctuary that's been talked about. 50:43 It must be something different because 50:45 a different word is used. 50:46 Are you understanding me? 50:48 So the Sanctuary to be cleansed is not the "miqdash," 50:51 the whole Sanctuary structure. 50:53 It is the "qodesh." 50:56 Which must refer to the Most Holy Place of the Sanctuary. 50:58 And we'll notice that a little bit later on. 51:01 Now notice Daniel 8 verses 15 to 19. 51:09 "The vision;" the chazon. 51:18 That word, "appearance," is the same word that's 51:21 translated, "vision," we're going to notice, in verse 16. 51:27 Notice, so it says... 51:47 "The vision;" the mareh. 51:50 See, if you only were reading in English, 51:54 you wouldn't know that a different word 51:56 is used for "vision" here. 51:58 It's not the word, "chazon." 52:00 It's not referring to the whole vision. 52:02 A different word is used. The word, "mareh." 52:06 Which is the same word that is used here where it says, 52:09 "one appeared to me having the appearance of a man." 52:12 The word, "appearance," is mareh. 52:15 The word, "mareh," is used in connection with the 2300 days. 52:19 With that particular conversation between 52:21 the two heavenly beings. 52:24 Verse 17. 52:34 "The vision;" this is the chazon. 52:56 And then he goes on to explain 52:59 the vision that we just looked at. 53:02 Let's go to Daniel chapter 8 and verse 20 very quickly. 53:05 We have very little time. 53:12 Now comes the explanation. 53:14 Verse 21. 53:23 Verse 22. 53:34 In other words, they're not going to be descendants 53:36 of Alexander the Great. 53:39 Is he explaining the vision? 53:41 Absolutely, the whole vision. 53:44 Verse 23. 53:47 That is, of the four. 53:51 "A king shall arise..." 53:52 This is the little horn, by the way. 53:59 In other words, he's a crafty politician. 54:02 Verse 24. 54:10 Why not by his own power? 54:13 Where is he going to get his power from? 54:15 What was given to him? 54:17 An army was given him. 54:20 In Daniel 7, who was it that helped him? 54:24 The iron monarchy of Rome. 54:26 The iron mixed with the clay. 54:28 And so it says in verse 24, "His power shall be mighty, 54:33 but not by his own power. 54:34 He shall..." What? 54:43 Ah, there's the host explained. 54:45 He was going to destroy what? 54:46 The holy people. 54:48 That's the stars that he was going to trample. 54:50 Now comes the last part which has to do with 54:52 the Prince of the host. 54:53 Verse 25. 54:55 See, he's a shrewd politician. 54:58 He's going to use deceit to prosper under his rule. 55:04 Is he going to be a haughty power like the little horn 55:06 who spoke blasphemies against the Most High 55:09 and tried to occupy the place of the Most High? 55:11 Absolutely. 55:13 And notice... 55:17 And now notice the last part. 55:24 That's the same as the "Prince of the host", right? 55:26 Is he explaining every element of this vision? 55:28 Absolutely. 55:30 And then he says... 55:33 But there was one part that he did not explain. 55:37 The one part he did not explain was the conversation 55:40 between the two angels; the time period. 55:43 He ends with the Prince of princes. 55:45 Let's notice verse 26. 55:47 "And the vision..." This is the mareh. 55:49 The conversation of the two, the appearance. 55:54 See, we know what the "mareh" is. 55:55 It has to do with the 2300 days, with the evening and mornings. 56:08 What was the only thing that was not explained 56:10 in Daniel chapter 8? 56:12 The 2300 day aspect. 56:14 Do you know why? 56:16 Because Daniel got sick. 56:19 Notice verse 27. 56:33 "The vision;" that is the mareh, not the chazon. 56:35 Had the "chazon" been explained? 56:37 Yes. 56:38 "I was astonished at the mareh, but no one understood it." 56:44 What didn't he understand? 56:46 He understood the chazon because God told him through Gabriel. 56:49 Everything up to the Prince of the host. 56:51 But the only thing that was left unexplained was what? 56:55 The time period. 56:57 The 2300 days. 56:59 Now the big question is, how can you know 57:03 where the 2300 days end if you don't know where they begin? 57:10 Daniel 8 doesn't tell us where they begin. 57:12 Where would you expect to find in the Bible the place 57:15 that would tell you where the 2300 days begin? 57:18 How about the next chapter? 57:22 We're going to notice in our next study that the 57:24 next chapter tells us the exact date for the beginning 57:28 of the cleansing of the Sanctuary. |
Revised 2014-12-17