Daniel 8: 20-- "The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media
and Persia."
So the ram represents the world kingdom of Medo-Persia, which
was also represented by the bear of Daniel 7: 5. If you look throughout
Daniel and Revelation you will find that they follow the principle of
"repeat and expand," meaning that they repeat prophecies covered in
earlier chapters of the book and enlarge upon them. That way, we can
know more clearly what the prophecies represent.
What does Daniel see next?
Daniel 8: 21, 22--"And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is
between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for
it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation."
In Daniel's vision, a male goat appears which has one huge horn,
traveling at great speed. He attacked the ram and defeated it. The huge
horn was broken and four horns replaced rose in its place. The male
goat represents the third world kingdom of Greece. The huge horn
reprents Alexander the Great. The four horns which replaced the huge
horn represent the four kingdoms that Alexander's empire was divided into when he died.
Daniel 7: 6 shows these four kingdoms represented by the four heads of the leopard beast,
which also represents Greece.
Next, in Daniel 8: 8, 9, a little horn power arises. What does the horn represent?
Most leaders of the Reformation agree that the little horn power is none other than Rome
in both its pagan and papal forms. Let's see what evidence there is for this:
A. Using the principle of "repeat and expand," Rome must be represented here because
both Daniel 2 and 7 point to Rome as the kingdom that follows the world kingdom of
Greece. Daniel 7: 24-27 also shows that papal Rome will be followed by the kingdom of
Christ. Daniel 8s little horn power fits this pattern: It follows after Greece is finally
destroyed at Jesus' coming.
B. Daniel 8 says that the Medo-Persians would become "great" (verse 4), the Grecians
"very great" (verse 8), and the little horn power "exceeding great" (verse 9). It can be
seen that no power following Greece became "exceeding great" other than Rome.
C. Rome grew in power to the south (Egypt), the east (Macedonia), and the "pleasant
land" (Palestine) just like the prophecy predicted (verse 9). No other power has done
this besides Rome.
D. Only Rome stood up against Jesus, "the prince of the host" (verse 11) and "the
Prince of princes" (verse 25). Pagan Rome crucified Him and destroyed the Jewish
temple. Papal Rome also effectively caused the heavenly sanctuary to be "cast down"
(verse 11) and "trodden under foot" (verse 13) by replacing the ministry of Jesus,
our High Priest in heaven, with earthly priests that claim to forgive sins. Jesus is our
only Priest and Mediator (1 Timothy 2: 5).
Next, Daniel 8 says that the little horn power would destroy many of God's people and cast the truth to the ground. A saint then asks, "How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled..." What was heaven's reply?
Daniel 8: 14--"And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then
shall the sanctuary be cleansed."
Heaven said that the sanctuary would be cleansed after 2,300 prophetic days, or
2,300 literal years (the day-for-a-year principle is found in Ezekiel 4:6 and Numbers 14:
34). Here, heaven is assuring Daniel that the power of the little horn would not prosper
forever. Instead, in 2,300 years, God would step in with the judgement and defeat all
sinners.
Next, during the interpretation of the vision, what did the angel Gabriel repeatedly stress?
Daniel 8: 17, 19, 26-- "Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be
the vision." "I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation."
"Wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days." (emphasis added)
Gabriel said again and again that the 2,300-day vision involved the end-time, which
began in 1798 (see article "Who is the Antichrist?" in MORE TOPICS). The message
applies primarily to those who are living in the end-time of earth's history.
Upon hearing about the 2,300 days, Daniel became ill and collapsed. He really
wanted to know about the 2,300 days, however, so he prayed to God. Daniel 9 opens
with his prayer and then goes into Gabriel's further interpretation of the vision.
The angel Gabriel says that "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people..."
Seventy prophetic weeks equal 490 literal years (70 x 7 = 490). Soon, God's people
would return from captivity and God would cut off 490 years from the 2,300 years as
an opportunity for His people to repent and serve Him.
Next, what event would mark the beginning of the 2,300-day and 490-year prophecies (Daniel 9:25)?
Daniel 9:25--"Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and
rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,'
and sixty-two 'sevens.'"
The starting event was the decree from Persian King Artaxerxes that allowed
God's people (who were captives in Medo-Persia) to return to Jerusalem and rebuild
the city. The decree is found in Ezra 7 and was made in 457 B.C. Gabriel said that
69 prophetic weeks, or 483 literal years would pass before the Messiah. Was this true?
Of course!
Adding 483 years to 457 B.C. would reach the fall of A.D. 27. At this time, Jesus
was anointed with the Holy Ghost (Acts 10: 38) at his baptism (Luke 3: 21, 22). His
anointing took place in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar (Luke 3: 1), which
was A.D. 27.
Now, we've taken care of 483 years of the 490-year prophecy. What happens
in the last seven literal years?
Daniel 9: 26--"After the sixty-two sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will
have nothing.
Jesus would be "cut off" or crucified "in the midst of the week," which would be
3 1/2 years after His anointing--the spring of A.D. 31. But then, you may ask, how can
Jesus "confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven'" (or week) if he died in the middle
of it?"
Jesus' covenant is His agreement to save people from their sins (Hebrews 10: 16,
17). After his death, Jesus confirmed the covenant through his disciples. He sent his
disciples to the Jews first because they still had 3 1/2 years remaining in their 490 year
opportunity to repent.
Then, after the 490 years was completed in the fall of A.D. 34, the disciples began to preach to other nations of the world (Acts 13: 46). In A.D. 34, one of Jesus' followers, Stephen, was stoned to death. After that, because the Jews had rejected Jesus' message, they were no longer God's chosen people. Now, all people who accept and serve Him are His people. After A.D. 34, how many years are left out of the 2,300-year prophecy? 1,810 years remain. The ending date of the prophecy would be in 1844. On this date the heavenly sanctuary was cleansed and the heavenly judgement began. Look at the diagram below to see how everything lines up.
Some Bible interpreters err and try to say that the last week (seven years) of the 490 years applies to Antichrist's work at the end of the world's history. There is absolutely no proof for this theory. Let's look at the evidence:
A. There is no evidence for there to be any gap in the 490-year prophecy. It is
continuous, just like the 70 years of exile for God's people (Daniel 9:2).
B. Scripture never gives a specific number of time units (days, weeks, years) that means
anything other than being a continuous amount of time.
C. A.D. 27 was the starting date for the last seven years of the prophecy, which Jesus
emphasized by saying, "The time is fulfilled" (Mark 1:15).
D. At the moment of Jesus' death in A.D. 31, He said, "It is finished." Here He refers
to the predictions of His death made in Daniel 9, including:
1) "Messiah" would be "cut off" or crucified (verse 26).
2) He would "cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease" by dying for all as
the Lamb of God (verse 27; 1 Corinthians 5: 7; 15: 3).
3)He would "make reconciliation for iniquity" (verse 24).
There is absolutely no biblical authority to show that detaching the last week
of the prophecy is plausible. Also, detaching the last week would so confuse the
prophecy that people would not be able to understand them.
