PURPOSE: To reveal the identity and work of the exceedingly Great Horn and the restoration of truth. INTRODUCTION
**Dan 9 is a revision of Dan 2 and 7 – it is a prophecy of the World kingdoms as they related to the people of God.
**Dan 8:1, 3-4, 20 = Medo-Persia. The 2 horns = Media and Persia. Media founded 700BC, Persia 559BC. These two merged in 538BC and conquered Babylon same year.” the higher came up last” – Persia, the strongest of the two, was founded last 559 BC.
**Dan 8:5-8, 21 – 22 = Greece. The great horn, the first king = Alexander the Great. He died from over drinking of wine at the party celebrating his victory! His kingdom was shared among his 4 generals: Ptolemy (south – Arabia, Africa and Palestine), Lysimachus (north – Turkey), Cassandra (West – Greece) and Seleucus (east – Asia)
THE EXCEEDINGLY GREAT HORN Dan 8:9 – 12 (see Dan 7:24 – 25):
“And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant [land]. And it waxed great, [even] to the host of heaven; and it cast down [some] of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified [himself] even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily [sacrifice] was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given [him] against the daily [sacrifice] by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered….”
DAN. 8:23-25 – “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify [himself] in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.”
“Out of one of them” – one of the 4 horns, developed the exceedingly great horn. Dan 11:5 – out of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Therefore Rome originated from the Ptolemaic dynasty, though history failed to trace this! Rome extended the Grecian boundaries to the south, east and Palestine. Rome rose “at the latter time of their kingdom,” i.e. at the end of divided Grecian rule. When “the transgressors came to the full” – Sin = transgression of the Law – the transgressors refer to backslidden believers in God – the Jews, their complete apostasy began with the decline of Greece.
“a King of fierce countenance ” = Imperial Rome.
“Understanding dark sentences” = supernatural power – destroyed the saints, stood against the Prince (Jesus). Rome (pagan and Papal) was “inspired” by the devil in this work. (See Rev. 12: 3 – 4, 9 / Rev 13:2 / GC 28-29)
The “Host of heaven,” under the “Prince of princes” (Jesus), could not have been the Jews – who murdered Jesus and the saints. Could not have been literal angels – over which neither the devil nor the Papacy had power. They were the human hosts – the saints – the early Christians.
`.Dan 8:11, 12 /Dan 11:31
“A host was given him” and they “polluted the Sanctuary”. This host is revealed in GC 384 – 385 – a flood of unconverted multitude. “The sanctuary of strength”- the Christian church, polluted by removing from it the “daily” to replace it with the “abomination.” This power is the same as the one in Dan. 7:25
/ Math 24:15-16 = Papal Rome. The “daily” – EW 74 – is something “perpetual,” “eternal” the Sabbath of the 10 commandments. They replaced it with Sunday (the abomination). “The treading of the host”
= Massacre of Christians who refused to accept the Papal changes.
Dan 8:13-14 – “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.
The question is about how long shall the sanctuary remain polluted – and the answer was after 2 300 days (years) – the sanctuary shall be cleansed. These years span from 457BC to 1844AD. The Sanctuary and Sabbath truth was restored in 1844 and the Heavenly Sanctuary began to be cleansed (names of sinners removed from the books of heaven) – i.e. the Judgment of the dead.
WHEN WAS THE DAILY REMOVED AND RESTORED?
Dan 12:11-19 – “And from the time [that] the daily [sacrifice] shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, [there shall be] a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed [is] he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way till the end [be]: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.”
The end of the power (Papacy) was 1798. Therefore the 1290 expired in 1798. To find the exact year when the Sabbath (daily) was removed from the Christian church: 1798 – 1290 = 508AD. But the blessing of restoration of the Sabbath Truth was not to be until after the 1335 years! i.e. 508 + 1335 = 1843AD. After 1843 (in 1844 AD), the sanctuary and Sabbath Truth was restored.
THE DIFFICULT PART OF THE VISION
Dan 8:26-27 – “And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told [is] true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it [shall be] for many days. And I Daniel fainted, and was sick [certain] days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood [it].”
What did he fail to understand? Dan 9:24 = 70 weeks = 490 days (years). 490 years – 456BC = 34AD.
This was the year of restoration of Righteousness, etc. He understood all this. What Daniel failed to understand is recorded in Dan 10:1 the time from the Messiah’s restoration of righteousness, 34AD to the cleansing of the sanctuary and restoration of the Daily: 2300 years – 490 years = 1810 years! Daniel could not understand why such a very long, long time needed to elapse before the polluted sanctuary could be cleansed. The thing is, he could not be allowed to know what we now know, that the Sanctuary was the Christian church not the Jewish Temple.
HOW WAS THE SANCTUARY TO BE CLEANSED?
It was polluted by removing from it the Sanctuary and Sabbath Truth. Therefore to cleanse it was to restore this Truth in it, removing the abomination (Sunday) from it, and removing the names of sinners from the heavenly sanctuary books- starting with the dead and closing with the living.
(ISM 125 / 5T.211 / 3T. 266 – 267 /Ezek 9) SPECIAL NOTE
The exceedingly great horn covers 3 periods: Pagan Rome, Papal Rome, Divided Rome or Protestant periods. This great horn could not have been Antiochus Epiphanes – because Rome came from the Ptolemaic dynasty while Antiochus was of the Seleucus dynasty – also his kingdom was a fragment of Grecia, while Rome was universal kingdom.
THE END