Daniel’s Second Vision-Part 2

“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?  And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”  Daniel 8:13-14

Daniel’s vision continues from the last blog.  We do not know the timing of Daniel’s vision, but it would have been between B.C. 605, the time of Daniel’s captivity in Babylon and B.C 530, the day of the Persian king, Cyrus’s, death.  These two saints that Daniel mentioned are believed to be angels who accompanied Daniel in his vision.  The question asked by one of the saints for Daniel’s benefit concerned the length of time that the daily sacrifice would be forbidden by the “little horn”, when the sanctuary would be desecrated, and God’s people would be persecuted.  We always want to know how long something will last or how long we will have to wait for an answer.  Daniel was no different.  The angel/saint said that after 2,300 days the sanctuary would be cleansed.  Bible scholars have not been able to pinpoint exactly the era of time covering these 2,300 days.  However it played out, the “little horn” Antiochus Epiphanes was defeated, and temple worship was restored for a time.

Daniel was puzzled because he couldn’t understand this vision.  A figure with a human form stood before him, not a vision, but a real being.  Daniel was by the river Ulai, and he heard a voice coming from the river.  The voice was God’s or Christ’s who identified the being as the angel Gabriel and instructed him to help Daniel understand the vision.  Daniel became fearful, falling on his face to keep from looking at Gabriel, who spoke to Daniel and told him to understand that his vision would not take place until the time of the end.  Gabriel addressed Daniel as “son of man”, a representative of mankind, one especially selected by God to be given the words of the prophecy.  Daniel still did not completely understand his vision.

Daniel was overwhelmed.  Still with his face to the ground, he fell asleep or, more likely, passed out.  However, Gabriel touched him, awakening him, and pulled him up to a seated position, assuring him that he would understand the vision and how the “indignation”, or “righteous anger” would end.  Gabriel was going to give Daniel some insight into the events which would occur over several hundred years and would also be a foretelling of even greater events which are still yet to transpire.  Gabriel began by telling Daniel that the two horns represented the kings of Media and Persia.  The he-goat represented the kingdom of Macedonia and Greece which eventually joined together under the rule of Alexander the great, the “great horn”.  Alexander died and four of his generals gained control, dividing up the Greek empire.  These facts were made known in the first part of this chapter.

By the time the end of the generals’ rule came, the Jewish people would have moved so far away from righteous living until there was little evidence of godliness in their lives, thus, the need for a strong ruler to bring order into chaos.  He would be a master of deceit, and the main focus of his tyrannical reign would be the Jews whose idolatry and disobedience to God had caused God to allow this severe chastisement to come upon His own people.  The power of this ruler, this “little horn”, was believed to have been Antiochus Epiphanes.  God would allow him the task of carrying out God’s judgment upon His wayward people.  His power would go to his head, though, and he would believe that he was unconquerable.  He assumed even God could not overcome him.  But he would eventually succumb to his own demise by the hand of God.  Antiochus Epiphanes ruled over the Seleucid dynasty and came to power in B.C. 175.  It was in B.C. 169 when he invaded Israel and did exactly as was indicated in Daniel’s vision.  There were brave Israelites who fought against him and eventually reclaimed the temple, cleansing it, and restoring worship.  Antiochus died in B.C. 149, sick with grief that he had failed.  All of this occurred during the 400 plus years during which God withheld His word and His prophets from His people (I Maccabees 1-6).

It was the lack of faithfulness to God, the Father, which caused God’s people to suffer captivity by the Babylonians and then the Persians.  Many of them just gave up on the LORD.  They became indifferent toward their Creator.  The priests neglected their duties, did not keep the ways of God and had shown partiality in carrying out God’s law.  Malachi, the last Old Testament prophet, warned the people as to their disobedient and idolatrous ways.  He also prophesied of another prophet who would come, like Elijah, to give warning before the Lord’s return.  This prophet, John the Baptist, appeared on the scene around 26 A.D. and introduced Jesus Christ to God’s people.

And so it will be that another cruel dictator, the antichrist, under the influence of Satan, will appear on the scene one day to attempt an overthrow of God and His remnant, but he will fail miserably and be cast into hell from which he came.  We don’t have to look very far to see that people, even God’s chosen people of Israel, have strayed so far from Him and His word, just like those in the time of Malachi.  Is there now a prophet in Israel warning the people of God’s judgment which is coming upon them and upon the world?  The word of God is available for all to read and heed, thus no one will have an excuse for their sin.  However, people will be caught off-guard because they have failed to honor God, His word, and His Son who gave His life so that anyone who repents and believes in Him will be saved.