Daniel 8 verse 12 to 14
12 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 practised, and prospered.
13 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?
14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
🟢“An host was given him against the daily”
The term 'host' refers to a large group of people. The little horn and his host are not simply sinning; they are revolting or openly rebelling against the Prince, the daily, and the place of the sanctuary.
🟢“Sanctuary cleansed”
- Earthly vs Heavenly sanctuary
The Lord gave Moses instructions in Exodus 25:1–9 to construct a sanctuary from the free will offerings of the children of Israel so He could dwell among them, following the pattern He had shown him on Mount Sinai. This is an earthly sanctuary.
In Hebrews 8:1–2, you will notice that there is a tabernacle, which is in heaven. God, not man, pitched this tabernacle and placed a High Priest on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven. So it is clear to see that there is now a sanctuary in heaven, and this is the true tabernacle. The same chapter's verse 5 reveals that God patterned the earthly after the heavenly, a pattern Moses saw in the Mount. We identify a type and antitype relationship between the two Sanctuaries.
The heavenly sanctuary was not open until Christ was crucified, and then He entered the holy place with His own blood. (Matthew 27:50–51, Hebrews 9:8–12) We also see in verses 11 and 12 of Hebrews 9 the contrast between the ministration of the earthly, where the priests would sacrifice goats, calves, etc. on a daily basis, verse 6, whereas Christ made one sacrifice once and for all; He does not need to be sacrificed over and over again as the animals did in the earthly system.
- Now that we have seen that there is a Sanctuary on earth and in heaven, and both have services performed in them, first the earthly then the heavenly, we need to see if there is a service that deals with the cleansing of the earthly Sanctuary. The Sanctuary needs to be cleaned from sin.
- How did sin come to be in the Sanctuary anyway?
If we turn to Leviticus 4:1-7 we shall see the process of the sin offering. There was provision made for all to be able to bring a sacrifice as outlined in chapter 1 of the same book, so in substitute of the bullock we shall place a lamb as it is the most easily recognized and applied to Christ. So if you had sinned through ignorance, you were to bring a lamb without blemish to the north side of the altar. (Leviticus 1:10-11) The priest was to catch the blood of the animal in a bowl and take it into the Sanctuary and sprinkle it seven times before the veil of the most holy place with his finger. Then the priest would take some of the blood and put it the horns of the altar of incense which is also before the veil of the most holy place. The sin of the individual was thus, by his confession, by the slaying of the victim, and by the ministry of the priest, transferred from himself to the sanctuary. Victim after victim and day after day this went on. (Hebrews 9:6) So the sanctuary continually became the receptacle for the sins of the congregation. This is how sin came into the sanctuary.
-Let us examine the methods used to cleanse the sanctuary from the accumulation of sin:
This was done by the yearly service, or day of atonement, which was to cleanse the people, the sanctuary, and everything that was tainted with sin. (Leviticus 16:30; 33–34) So the day of atonement dealt with the cleansing of the sanctuary. On this day, a special service was performed by the High Priest. (Hebrews 9:7) The High Priest was to cast lots upon two goats, one for the Lord and one for the scapegoat or Satan. (Leviticus 16:8) Then he would offer the Lord’s goat as a sin offering, take the blood into the most holy place, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat (verse 15). After this, he would come out into the holy place and apply the blood to the horns of the altar of incense, where the record of sin is, thus cleansing it (verse 18). Then he would come out to the live goat/scapegoat and confess all the sins of Israel upon the head of it, thus the transference of sin from the sanctuary to the priest to the scapegoat, and the scapegoat was to bear the confessed sins of Israel until death in a place uninhabited, verses 20–22. So the sanctuary has now been cleansed. This was an important day where the people were to afflict their souls before God, or they would be cut off from His people. (Leviticus 23:28-29)
It was necessary to cleanse the earthly sanctuary with the blood of bulls and goats, but also in the heavenly it must also be cleansed but with the blood of Christ. (Hebrews 9:22-23, 12) Thus the ministration of the earthly is seen in the ministration of the heavenly.
- A distinction must be drawn here between the type and the antitype. Whereas the priests of the earthly sanctuary ministered this entire service each year, in the heavenly our great High Priest “ever liveth to make intercession for us.” Hebrews 7:25. Thus the work of the heavenly sanctuary instead of being a yearly work, is done once for all. Instead of being repeated year after year, one grand cycle is allotted to it, in which it is done and finished forever.
- One year’s round of service in the earthly sanctuary represented the entire work of the sanctuary above. In the type, the cleansing of the sanctuary was the brief closing work of the year's service. In the antitype, the cleansing of the sanctuary must be the closing work of Christ, our great High Priest, in the tabernacle in heaven. In the type, to cleanse the sanctuary the high priest entered into the most holy place to minister in the presence of God before the ark of the testament. In the antitype, when the time comes for the cleansing of the true sanctuary our High Priest, in like manner, enters into the most holy place once for all to make a final end of His intercessory work in behalf of mankind.
So the 2300 day prophecy is designed to show us the starting date of the great work of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary of sin. In Daniel 7:9-10 we see a judgment scene in the temple in heaven, where the ministration is before the throne of the Almighty God Himself. In chapter 8 we find this phase described as the cleansing of the sanctuary, which enlarges for us the process and method of the judgment in, Daniel 7. Thus this work of cleansing the sanctuary is in reality the final judgment, to determine the lost and the saved of all the earth and to make up the kingdom of Christ, eternally.
🟢“2300 days/years”
The prophecy of the 2300 days begins during the period of the Medo-Persian Empire (457 B. C.) and not during the reign of Babylon. If Daniel had started the chazon with Babylon, he would have given the distinct impression that the prophecy of the 2300 days was to begin during the reign of Babylon. Thus the vision begins with Medo-Persia because the 2300 days/years begin during the reign of Medo-Persia.
Daniel 8 verse 15 to 22
15 And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.
16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.
17 So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.
18 Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.
19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.
20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
21 And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.
🟢“Ram”
The Ram with two horns is symbolic of the Medo-Persian Empire.
🟢“Goat”
This is symbolic of the Grecian Empire, with the notable horn being the first king, Alexander the Great. Upon his death or breakup, his four generals assumed control of the Grecian kingdom and divided it into four parts. They did not do this with the same power as Alexander, for they did not conquer new territory as did Alexander; they only divided the kingdom.
Daniel 8 verse 23 to 27
23 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.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 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.
26 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.
27 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.
🟢“Transgressors are come to the full”
Daniel 2 illustrates that God establishes and removes kings. The living God gives all powers the opportunity to acknowledge and serve Him, but when they indulge in disobedience, He removes them and replaces them with others. This also refers to the fact that God's people, who were constantly receiving divine retribution for their sins and apostasy, were never more corrupt than when they were under the control of the Roman Power. Therefore, this transgression could also refer to Jews.
🟢“A king of fierce countenance”
This applies to Rome as seen in verse 9. In Deuteronomy 28:45-57 we see a prophecy dealing with the ultimate end of the Jews for their apostasy if they do not repent and return in heart to the Lord. Moses here describes a “nation of fierce countenance” that would come to destroy their city and take their lives.
🟢“Understanding dark sentences”
He also mentions that they would not understand the language, and this is true of the Latin that enveloped the Hellenistic world under the Roman conquests. The Greek, Persian and Chaldean languages were all known in Palestine, but Latin was unheard of until the Roman legions started dictating world affairs.
🟢“By peace he shall destroy many”
Many of the nations that became provinces under the Roman Empire did so by treaty, alliance and bequeathment. Thus by peace many were destroyed.
Also the Papacy, through the ecumenical movement, has successfully destroyed many a denomination.
🟢“Vision of the evening and morning”
This is a reference to the 2300 day prophecy. It is seen that there is no further information given to Daniel of any sought of starting date. But the vision is true; it will surely come to pass.
🟢“Shut thou up the vision”
Daniel was instructed to seal up the vision, for the fulfilment of certain details of the vision of this chapter would extend into the distant future. And when understood correctly, we see that it was the vision of the 2300 days that was shut up as it is not until after the time of the end.