Daniel’s
Amazing Eighth Chapter Revealed!
What is the meaning of the key prophecy in
Daniel’s
eighth chapter? Who is the ram and
the
goat? What about the mysterious 2300
“days”? Who is the “little horn”? In this article
we
take a look at the DUALITY of prophecy and
the
incredible fulfillment of Daniel 8 –
both in
history,
leading up to our day, and a final fulfill-
ment
of this amazing Bible prophecy in our END-
TIME
generation! Believe it or not, it
directly
relates
to TODAY and the WAR of
William F.
Dankenbring
Once
again, the
Nevertheless,
the world was astounded at the “shock and awe” of the
Is
this ferocious assault by the Western powers against
In
fact, Daniel’s awesome prophecy has had three amazing fulfillments – one in 334
B.C., one over the centuries bringing us up to the “end time,” and an astounding
end-time literal fulfillment!
Let’s
understand this amazing prophecy, which God Almighty has given to WARN us of
things yet to happen, before the coming of the Messiah!
In
the book of Daniel the prophet is a most puzzling prophecy that has dumfounded
Biblical students and researchers for thousands of years. It is found in chapter 8. We read:
“In the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, had a vision .
. . In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of
“As
I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between his
eyes came from the WEST, crossing the whole earth without touching the
ground. He came toward the two-horned
ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at him in great rage. I saw him attack the ram furiously, striking
the ram and shattering his two horns.
The ram was powerless to stand against him; the goat knocked him to the
ground and trampled on him, and none could rescue the ram from his power. The goat became very great, but at the height
of his power his large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent
horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven” (Dan.8:1-8).
The
archangel Gabriel explains to Daniel the basic meaning of this vision. In verse 20, he says, “The two-horned ram that
you saw represents the kings of Media and
This
prophecy was amazingly fulfilled.
Alexander’s forces -- composed of 30,000 mobile cavalry -- moved so rapidly it was as if they traveled “without touching the ground”
(v.5). He attacked the Persians with
fury and unheard-of violence, representing the concentrated wrath of
“The conflicts
between the Greeks and the Persians were excessively severe. Alexander
FIRST vanquished the generals of
Darius, at the river Granicus, in
attacked and totally routed Darius, at
the straits of
the plains of
‘the ram -- which I had seen standing
by the river, ran unto him in the fury of his power,’
without having the image of Darius’
army STANDING AND GUARDING THE RIVER
GRANICUS; and of Alexander on the other
side, with his forces plunging in swimming
across the stream, and rushing on the
enemy, with all the FIRE AND FURY that can be
conceived” (Clarke’s Commentary, vol.1,
p.597, emphasis mine throughout).
The date of Alexander’s
world-changing, bench-mark invasion of
But
after Alexander’s lightning-like conquests, he mysteriously died in
“Then
I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, ‘How long
will it take for the vision to be fulfilled -- the vision concerning the
daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, and the surrender of the
sanctuary and of the host that will be trampled underfoot?’ He said to me, ‘It will take 2,300 evenings
and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated’” (Dan.8:9-14). What is the real meaning of this strange vision?
The Role of Antiochus Epiphanes
All Bible students and commentators recognize that the
“little horn” that grew up and became powerful, and which invaded the Holy
Land, took away the daily sacrifice and desolated the Temple of God in
Jerusalem, was Antiochus Epiphanes, the king of Syria. His empire spread across the whole Middle
East, and he hated the religion of the Jews.
Says the Critical, Experimental Commentary by Jamieson, Fausett
and Brown:
“This horn is
explained (v.23) to be ‘a king of fierce countenance,’ etc. Antiochus
Epiphanes is meant. Greece, with all its refinement, produces the
first -- ie., the Old
Testament ANTICHRIST. Antiochus had an extraordinary love of art,
which expressed
itself in grand temples. He wished to substitute Zeus
Olympus for Jehovah at Jerusalem.
Thus, first, heathen civilization from
below and revealed religion from above came into
collision. Identifying himself with Jupiter, his aim was
to make his own worship uni-
versal (cf. v.25 with ch.11:36): so mad was he in this that he was called
Epimanes
(maniac) instead of Epiphanes
(illustrious). None of the previous
world rulers . . . had
systematically opposed the Jews’
religious worship. . . . He is the forerunner of the final
Antichrist, standing in the same
relation to the first advent of Christ that Antichrist does
to His second coming” (vol.1, p.427).
The
prophecy of Daniel was fulfilled to the very letter. Many in Israel were adopting Hellenistic
customs, erecting theaters, gymnasiums, began regarding all religions as alike
-- much like our modern western world and its new-found thrust for
entertainment, sports, fashion, and in religion “church unity” and respect for
all religions. Jews sacrificed to God,
but also sent money to pay for sacrifices to Hercules. In the book of Maccabees, we read: “Many also of the Israelites consented to his
[Antiochus’] religion, and sacrificed unto idols, and profaned the Sabbath” (I
Macc.1:20-53).
The
Critical, Experimental Commentary
continues the story of Antiochus:
“Returning from
Persia Antiochus came to Ecbatana, after having been put to flight by
the people of Persepolis. Swelling with anger he thought to avenge upon
the Jews the
disgrace so done to him, and threatened
proudly that he would come to Jerusalem and
make a common burying-place of the
Jews. . . . He not only opposes God’s ancient
people, but God Himself. The daily sacrifice -- one lamb was offered in the morning
and another in the evening
(Exo.29:38,39) was taken away -- by Antiochus” (ibid.).
The first book of
Maccabees tells us the details: “The
King forbad burnt offerings and sacrifice and drink offerings in the temple,
and [ordered] that they should sacrifice swine’s flesh . . . Now in the fifteenth
day of the month Kislev, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the
altar . . . and they did sacrifice upon the idol-altar, which was upon the
altar of God” (I Macc.1:20,24,54, 59).
These
calamities were directly due to the rebellion of many Jews to the laws of God
and a widespread apostasy afflicting the land.
The first book of Maccabees relates further:
“In those days
went there out of Israel wicked men, who persuaded many, saying,
‘Let us go and make a covenant with the
heathen that are round about us’ . . .
Whereupon they built a place of
exercise (a school) at Jerusalem, according to the
customs of the heathen; and made
themselves uncircumcised and forsook the holy
covenant, and joined themselves to the
heathen, and were sold to do mischief”
(I Macc.1:11-16).
In
Daniel’s vision, he saw one angel say to another that the vision concerning the
daily sacrifice, the rebellion, and the host being trampled underfoot, was to
be “2300 evenings and mornings.” To what
does this enigmatic expression refer?
The
Critical, Experimental Commentary gives
us the historical answer. Notice!
“Unto two
thousand and three hundred days -- lit.,
mornings and evenings, specified
in connection with the morning and evening
sacrifice. Cf. Gen.1:5. SIX YEARS
AND 110 DAYS. This includes not only the three and a
half years during which the
daily sacrifice was forbidden by
Antiochus (Josephus Belllum Judaicum, i, 1, sec.1),
BUT THE WHOLE SERIES OF EVENTS whereby
it was practically interrupted:
beginning with the ‘little horn waxing
great toward the pleasant land,’ and ‘casting down
some of the host’ (vs.9-10); viz., WHEN
IN 171 B.C., or the month Sivan . . . THE
SACRIFICES BEGAN TO BE NEGLECTED, owing
to the high priest Jason intro-
ducing at Jerusalem Grecian customs and
amusements -- the palestra and gymnasium;
ending with the DEATH OF ANTIOCHUS, 165
B.C.” (p.428).
In other words, the
period of 2300 days meant literal days in the fulfillment which occurred during
the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes. This
was the period of APOSTASY or REBELLION which began in 171 B.C. and ended in
165 B.C. with the cleansing and restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem by the
revolt led by Judas Maccabeus and his brothers.
The period of wholesale apostasy lasted 6 years and 110 days -- or 2300
days.
The
second book of Maccabees tells us that “Jason. . . labored underhand to be high
priest . . . he forthwith brought his own nation to the Greekish fashion. . . .
For he built gladly a place of exercise under the tower itself, and brought the
chief young men under his subjection. . . . Now such was the height of Greek
fashions, and increase in heathenish manners through the exceeding profaneness
of Jason, that ungodly wretch and no high priest; that the priests had no
courage to serve any more at the altar, but despising the temple, and
NEGLECTING THE SACRIFICES, hastened to be partakers of the unlawful allowance
in the place of exercise, after the game of Discus called them forth” (II
Macc.4:7-14).
What
was so abominable about having a sports stadium near the Temple of God? Gymnastics, running, throwing, and athletics
was not the problem as such -- but, as Werner Keller writes in The Bible As
History, “True to the Olympic pattern,
games were played COMPLETELY NAKED. The
body could only be ‘covered’ with a thin coat of oil!” (p.313). Naked athletes, only a few steps from the
Temple and the Holy of Holies, and in full view, must have been regarded as a
moral outrage.
The First “Great Tribulation”
In
168 B.C. Antiochus plundered and desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem. Writes Werner Keller,
“The worship of
Olympian Zeus was set up in the Temple of Yahweh.
For taking part in any Jewish religious
ceremonies, the traditional sacrifices,
the sabbath or circumcision, the
penalty was death. The holy scriptures
were
destroyed. This was the first thoroughgoing religious
persecution in history”
(The Bible As History, p.315).
The
cutting off of the sacrifices lasted 3 1/2 years (see also Dan.9:27 and
12:7). Josephus declares in Wars of
the Jews:
“He [Antiochus
Epiphanes] also spoiled the temple, and put a stop to the constant
practice of offering a daily sacrifice
of expiation for THREE YEARS AND SIX
MONTHS . . . Now Antiochus . . .
compelled the Jews to dissolve the laws of their
country, and to keep their infants
uncircumcized, and to sacrifice swine’s flesh upon
the altar” (Bk.1, 1,1-2).
In Antiquities of the
Jews, Josephus adds these points of fact:
“. . . he
ventured to break the league he had made.
So he left the temple bare, and
took away the golden candlesticks, and
the golden altar . . . He also emptied it of
its secret treasures, and left nothing
at all remaining; and by this means cast the Jews
into great lamentation, for he forbade
them to offer those daily sacrifices which they
used to offer to God, according to the
law. And when he had pillaged the whole
city,
some of the inhabitants he slew, and
some he carried captive, together with their wives
and children, so that the multitude of
those captives that were taken alive amounted
to about ten thousand. . . . And when
the king had built an idol altar upon God’s altar,
he slew swine upon it, and so offered a
sacrifice neither according to the law, nor the
Jewish religious worship in that
country. He also compelled them to
forsake the worship
which they paid their own God, and to
adore those whom he took to be gods; and made
them build temples, and raise idol
altars, in every city and village, and offer swine upon
them every day. . . . but the best men,
and those of the noblest souls, did not regard him
. . . on which account they every day
underwent GREAT MISERIES [a type of the Great
Tribulation to come!] and bitter
torments: for they were whipped with
rods, and their
bodies were torn to pieces, and were
crucified, while they were still alive and breathed:
they also strangled those women and
their sons whom they had circumcised, as the king
had appointed, hanging their sons about
their necks as they were upon the crosses.
And
if there were any sacred book of the
law found, it was destroyed . . .” (Ant., Bk.XII, V, 4).
The
period of the abomination of desolation itself -- when the Temple itself was
defiled -- lasted exactly three years, from Kislev 25, 168 B.C. to Kislev 25,
165 B.C. Josephus tells us,
“Now it so fell
out, that these things [the restoration of the Temple by Judas Macca-
beus and his army] were done on
the VERY SAME DAY on which their divine
worship had fallen off, and was reduced
to a profane and common use, AFTER
THREE YEARS' TIME; for so it was, that
the temple was MADE DESOLATE
by Antiochus, and so continued for
THREE YEARS . . . And this desolation came
to pass according to the prophecy of
Daniel, which was given four hundred and
eight years before . . .” (Ant. XII,VII,
6).
This prophecy came to
pass, just as Daniel foretold it over four hundred years previously! But that is not all. As most Bible students are well aware, Bible
prophecy is often DUAL! There is often a
previous forerunner fulfillment, and there will be a final, climactic END-TIME
fulfillment as well! Daniel was actually
told by the angel Gabriel, “Son of man, understand that the VISION concerns the
TIME OF THE END” (Dan.8:17).
Antiochus
Epiphanes lived 165 years before Christ’s coming the first time. He did not live during the true “time of the
end.” Therefore, his fulfillment of
these cryptic Biblical passages was only as a TYPE -- a FORERUNER -- of the
true apocalyptic END TIME fulfillment to come in OUR DAY, today!
Let’s
notice another fulfillment of this prophecy, which brings us down to our modern
generation!
It is commonly understood that there is a “day for a year”
principle in understanding Biblical prophecy.
That is, often when the Bible says a “day,” the interpretation of
prophetic fulfillment is a “year,” or a “prophetic year” of 360 days.
When
the Israeli spies searched out the land of Canaan for forty days, and then
returned to Moses with a negative report, saying the children of Israel were
not strong enough to overcome the inhabitants of the land, God was furious with
their lack of faith. So He said to them,
“For FORTY YEARS -- one year for each of the forty days you explored the land
-- you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against
you” (Num.14:34).
This
same principle of a day for a year is illustrated by Ezekiel the prophet. God told the prophet, “Then lie on your left
side and put the sin of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of
days you lie on your side. I have
ASSIGNED you the SAME NUMBER OF DAYS AS THE YEARS of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the
house of Israel. After you have finished
this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the
house of Judah. I have assigned you
forty days, A DAY FOR EACH YEAR” (Ezek.4:1-6).
Taking
this principle, then, Daniel heard the question of HOW LONG would it take for
the VISION he saw in Daniel 8 to be fulfilled, or accomplished -- from
beginning to end. That is, from the
beginning moment when the Grecian “goat” attacked and pulverized the two-horned
Persian “ram” -- till the END of the vision, when the “sanctuary” would be
cleansed or restored, during the “TIME OF THE END” (Dan.8:17; also 8:13, and
5-7).
The
prophesied length or duration of this vision was to be 2300 “days” (v.13). Using the “day for a year” principle, we have
therefore 2300 YEARS of fulfillment.
Alexander
the Great attacked and conquered the assembled Persian army at the river
Granicus in 334 B.C., storming across the river with fury, with only 30,000
troops. In so doing, he changed the
course of the history of the world from that moment, with one world empire
falling, and another rising. Since the
prophecy begins with this event, we must count the 2300 years from that very
date. Beginning in 334 B.C., counting
2300 years, we come to the year of 1967 A.D. What happened in 1967 A.D.? How was this prophecy literally
fulfilled?
In
1967 the state of Israel defeated the combined armies and air forces of the
surrounding Arab nations in Six Days that shook the world. Was this incredible victory foretold in the
pages of Bible prophecy?
In
1984, God Almighty began to reveal to me the most amazing and mind-boggling
keys to understanding Daniel’s enigmatic and mysterious prophecy of the “2300
days” (“evenings and mornings”) found in Daniel, chapter 8. It’s time we take
another look at this pivotal Bible prophecy and its awesome, intriguing
significance for us today!
In
the Six Day War, against seemingly hopeless odds, in less than three hours the
Israeli air force destroyed three hundred Egyptian aircraft on the ground,
losing only 3-4 planes in the bargain.
In June of 1967 the world was astounded as in Six Days, the small nation
of Israel demolished the combined land and air forces of Egypt, Syria and
Jordan, recapturing the Sinai, seizing the Golan heights, the West Bank of the
Jordan River, and the Old City of Jerusalem.
When
Jordan entered the war, the Israelis attacked with a vengeance. To many, it was like the “day of the Lord” in
Biblical prophecy. Quickly, the West
Bank was seized from Jordanian forces, and the Old City of Jerusalem, from
which Jews had been expelled during the time of Emperor Hadrian in 135 A.D.,
once again fell into Jewish hands. The
news rang out in Israel -- “HAR HA’BAYIT B’YADENU!” “The Temple Mount is in our hands!” Throughout Israel, there was a spontaneous
burst of incredible joy and exultation -- newly-weds embraced, mothers hugged
children, fathers and sons danced, comrades in arms shouted with glee,
everywhere Jews embraced, danced and sang:
“This is the day the LORD hath made . . .” David Ben Gurion, Prime Minister of Israel,
said in a quavering voice, “This is the greatest day of my life!”
It
was truly a Day of Nissin v’niflaot -- “miracles and marvels”!
After
having been exiled from Jerusalem for some 1832 years, it seemed like a dream
come true. Once again Jewish feet trod
on the holy places of Zion! The enemies
of Israel were vanquished in six days!
Who could believe it? Surely
the hand of the Almighty was evident in this spectacular victory -- this
momentous epic event!
The Incredible and
Miraculous SIX DAY WAR
Says
the Worldbook Encyclopedia in regard to this marvelous event:
“UN troops
prevented raids across the Israeli-Egyptian border after the 1956 war. But
Arab raids continued from Syria and
Jordan into Israel, and Israeli forces raided those
countries in return. Border clashes increased greatly in the
mid-1960’s.
“In May 1967, Israel and the three Arab
countries all alerted their armed forces for
possible war. At Egypt’s demand, the UN troops left the
Gaza Strip and the Sinai
Peninsula. The Egyptians then again closed the Gulf of
Aqaba to Israeli ships.
“On June 5, 1967, Israeli planes
attacked airfields in Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The
Israelis destroyed the Arab air forces
almost completely. Then they defeated
the Arab
armies.
By June 8, Israeli troops occupied the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula,
and
Jordanian territory west of the River
Jordan, including Jordan’s half of Jerusalem.
On
June 10, Israel captured Syria’s Golan
Heights. The war was over in six days.
“When the brief war ended, the Israelis controlled Arab
territory totaling more than
three times the area of Israel
itself. In June 1967, Israel officially
made Jordan’s half
of Jerusalem a part of Israel”
(“Israel,” p.393).
This astounding war
occurred exactly 2300 years from the pivotal battle between Greece and Persia
that began Daniel’s vision of the eighth chapter. This furious battle, like its predecessor
2300 years ago, was fought against overwhelming odds, and the outcome was
decided by Divine Providence. Something
occurred during this battle in 1967 which proves it was the terminus of this
ancient prophecy. The Jews seized the
Old City of Jerusalem, historic Jerusalem, and along with it THE SACRED TEMPLE
MOUNT, where history shows that Solomon's Temple, and the Second Temple, were
both constructed!
In
70 A.D., Roman armies under Titus and Vespacian, conquered the Jews and
destroyed the Temple. In 132-135 A.D.,
during the Bar Kochba rebellion, another generation of Jews rebelled against
Rome -- after which Jews were BANISHED from Jerusalem and expelled from their
homeland by the angry Romans who were furious that they had had to fight two
fierce and costly wars with the Jews in a space of sixty two years. The Jews were a shattered people. Hope of a Jewish Kingdom was annihilated --
destroyed. The period of Jewish exile --
the SECOND major Jewish exile in history -- was begun. It was a time of affliction, consternation,
shame, and worldwide reproach.
Wrote
Winston and Randolph Churchill:
“Jerusalem was
finally reduced to rubble and the harrow drawn across
its former glories. In the new Roman city of Jerusalem no Jew was
allowed
to set foot more than once
a year. The practice of Judaism was
forbidden
and even circumcision
proscribed. Although the Jews remained
in Pales-
tine, there could be no
further hope of a Jewish Kingdom” (The Six Day
War, Churchill,
p.2-3).
But
now, incredibly, in 1967, for the first time since those ancient days, the Jews
once again established Jewish CONTROL and sovereignty and authority over the
TEMPLE MOUNT OF JERUSALEM! Gentiles had
ruled the region for almost two thousand years.
Now, once again, it was under Jewish control -- and the way was once
again prepared for the rebuilding of the ancient Jewish Temple.
When
the Jews conquered the Old City of Jerusalem, wresting it from the hands of the
Jordanians, feelings were at an incredible level. Winston S. and Randolph S. Churchill wrote:
“The Wailing
Wall is supposedly the last remains of the Temple, destroyed by the
Roman Emperor Titus in the
year 70 A.D. As he stood beside it Dayan
affirmed:
‘We have returned to our
holiest of holy places, never to be parted from it again.’
Ben-Gurion, too, when he
visited the wall declared, in a voice charged with emotion:
‘This is the greatest day
of my life’” (ibid., p.141).
Winston
and Randolph Churchill add:
“Thus, by
nightfall on Wednesday June 7, the Israelis had in their hands Jerusalem,
the city of King David,
Hebron, the city of Abraham, and all the Holy Land. Just a
couple of weeks before,
there were few Jews who would have believed they would see
any of these places in their
lifetime. For Jews the world over but
particularly for those
who had come to make their
homes in Israel, this was the fulfillment of a hope of
centuries” (p.147).
Is
this astonishing victory for Israel in 1967 significant? A nation of 2 1/2 million put to rout the
armies and military forces of Arab nations with a combined population of over
140 million. This was “a staggering
achievement,” in the words of Winston S. and Randolph S. Churchill. Colin Legum in The Observor called the
Israeli victory “a miracle of arms” (ibid.,p.194-195). He added that one of Israel’s leading
soldier-politicians remarked:
“The only
analogy I can think of is if Britain had found herself in occupation of Berlin
just three days after
Dunkirk. The suddenness of the
transformation from a situation of
acute danger to
unparalleled victory is too much for any people to absorb. It will take
time to get over it” (ibid.).
On
June 27 three laws were passed through the Knesset annexing the Old City of
Jerusalem and reuniting it with the New City on the next day.
The Awesome Significance
What
is the real significance of this amazing fulfillment of Biblical prophecy? Since prophecy terminates with the year 1967,
that year itself must be a key linchpin in the overall plan of God. It must be extremely significant. Could it be the key pointer that tells us we
are now living in the “time of the end”?
The Messiah, Jesus Christ, told us, “Verily I say unto you,
This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled”
(Matt.24:34). What is “this
generation”? He is talking about the
generation that sees these signs of fulfilled prophecy given in the
Mount Olivet prophecy. Surely the
fulfillment of the 2300 day/year prophecy is a major dating key in God's
overall plan. It must pinpoint the “last
generation” of which Christ speaks.
In
Biblical language, a “generation” is generally a period of forty years (Numbers
14:34). Therefore, the END of this
generation could have been within a period of 40 years from 1967,
bringing us to 2007 A.D. However, in
1967 the Jews did NOT obey God, and begin to rebuild the Temple of God in
Jerusalem. Even though they recaptured
the Temple Mount, Jewish general Moshe Dayan gave control over the holy site to
the MUSLIMS! So an opportunity to
fulfill prophecy and usher in the coming of the Messiah was LOST!
Almost
40 years have gone by since that date! Even
as God caused ancient Israel to WANDER in the wilderness for 40 years, because
they did not have FAITH in God to enter into the Promised Land – they “feared
the GIANTS” – even so, this generation lacked FAITH in God to bring about His
promises, and refused to seize the Temple Mount and REBUILD GOD’S HOUSE! So they, too, like their ancestors, have been
punished with 40 YEARS of strife, trouble, warfare, suicide-bombers, terrorism,
Hamas, Hizbollah, and incessant Palestinian VIOLENCE!
Those
40 years are about up.
The
time is HERE! The time is NOW! The time has come to make plans to REBUILD
GOD’S HOUSE! This means that the Dome of
the Rock, which now stands upon the temple site, must come down. In its place must be reared up the end-time
Temple of the Living God of Israel!
Could
the year 1967 be the beginning point of this final end-time “generation,”
pointing toward the rebuilding of the Temple, and then the coming of the
Messiah?
The
fulfillment of this prophecy shows that we are surely living in the days called
“the birthpangs of the Messiah.” It is
only a matter of time.
The Words of Ha Mashiach