We
are proceeding progressively through the Book of Daniel and his prophetic
revelations which lead us ultimately to world developments at the very end of
the age and the coming in judgment of Jesus Christ. This posting will cover the
prophetic truths contained in the eighth chapter of Daniel.
Occurring
in the third year of Belshazzar king of Babylon we discover the following: This
is Daniel’s vision on the occasion. “Then
I lifted up my 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. 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.” (Daniel 8:5). This again is a representation ion of the
kingdom of the Meads and the Persians (two horns). The higher one which came up
last are the kings of Persia, but the kingdom was a coalition of the two
peoples.
“And as I was considering, behold, as the
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, and he came to the
ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing at the river, and ran into
him in the fury of his power. 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. 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 towards the four
winds of heaven. “ (Daniel 8:6-8) Here
we see again as in chapter seven the vast kingdom of Alexander the Great. He is
the notable horn on the he goat. When he died after his conquest there were
four notable ones which came up towards the four winds of heaven. These were the
four principle generals in Alexander’s army which prevailed with him in
victory.
We
would take note here that there is a centuries long gap in the chronology of the secular history because the Roman Empire is not covered even though it was
represented in the legs of iron in the image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The
significance of this fact is to illustrate that all of the other kingdoms are
Middle Eastern in origin including the final one which we will cover next. The Roman Empire was centered in Rome and
extending to the regions of Europe. Where history began it will end.
We came
now to the final beast which resulted from the dividing into four parts the
great kingdom of Alexander’s Empire. “And
out of one of them came forth a title horn, which waxed exceeding great towards
the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land (Israel): and it
waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down of the host
(believers) and the stars to the ground and stamped upon them. Yet he magnified
himself even to the prince of the host, (Jesus Christ) and by him (Antichrist)
the daily sacrifice was taken away and the place of his sanctuary (believers)
was cast down. And an host was given against the daily sacrifice by reason of
transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced and
prospered.” (Daniel 8:9-12) Now everything for the people of God becomes
extremely difficult. The title horn which waxed exceedingly great is the nation
state of Israel expanded to a "Greater Israel." It is destined to become a vast empire recovering the
territory they believe to be the “Promised Land” at the very end of the age and
leading into the time of the great tribulation period (3 ½ years-not seven). Under
the auspices and power of Satan the Antichrist will even exalt himself to the Prince
(Jesus Christ) of the host (the people of God). It will be difficult for
multiplied millions of Christians to grasp these truths because they speak of
both persecution and martyrdom of the saints and they are of the belief that
they will be marvelously “raptured” before the time of trouble. The fact is
that there is no pretribulational rapture for the entire church prior to the
onset of the tribulation. We must now move forward to the next segment of the
prophecy.
“Then I heard one saint speaking, and
another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be 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).This stated
period encompasses the vast purification and martyrdom of the sanctuary.( i.e.
the people of the Lord). That is to say those among them who are committed and
faithful. Many will not endure, but rather will fall away through the craft and deciet of the enemy as we will discover later when we reach chapter
eleven. The Calvinist doctrine of ‘eternal security’ will not stand in that day
as it does not stand now. Only the faithful saints who “endure unto the end
will be saved.”(Jesus said it at Matt. 24:13).
These
passages do not comport to the popular theological systems of today’s churches
as they would embrace Calvinism and particularly dispensationalism as
popularized by the Scofield Reference Bible. These passages in Daniel’s
prophesy cannot be understood from those popular paradigms and so they remain a
mystery to almost all who claim to be Christians.
We
intend to continue to enlarge on these truths as we advance through the
remainder of the Book of Daniel because the true paradigm of end time prophetic
truth stands in stark contrast to what is general being taught today.
David Lance
Dean website and blog
access: authordavidlancedean.com
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