Now
let’s look at Daniel 8. Daniel 8 is divided into 4 Acts, if you will. Act one
is the vision (8:1-14); In Act 2 Gabriel speaks to Daniel and is told to give
him understanding of the vision (8:15-19); Act 3 (8:20-26) Gabriel interprets
the vision; and finally, Act 4 is Daniel’s response to the above vision and
encounter with Gabriel (8:27).
Daniel 8:10-12 is my primary text. If the antichrist is a Nephilim, a mingled seed of Satan and a woman (see The Seed of Satan: Part 1), then this view point seems to bring light to these otherwise difficult scriptures:
9 Out
of one of them [the kingdom represented by Alexander the Great’s four generals]
came forth a rather small horn [the antichrist: compare with Revelation 13 and
17] which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward
the Beautiful Land. 10 It grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the
host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down. 11
It even magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host; and it
removed the regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was
thrown down. 12 And on account of transgression the host will be given over to
the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the
ground and perform its will and prosper. 13 Then I heard a holy one speaking,
and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, "How
long will the vision about the regular sacrifice apply, while the transgression
causes horror [aka the abomination of desolation (see Matthew 24:15)], so as to
allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled?" 14 He said to me,
"For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be properly
restored."
Setting the stage is Daniel 8:19: He [Gabriel] said, "Behold, I am going to let you [Daniel] know what will occur at the final period of the indignation, for it pertains to the appointed time of the end.” Daniel 8:26 sandwiches the timing: “The vision of the evenings and mornings Which has been told is true; But keep the vision secret, For it pertains to many days in the future.” And Jesus Himself ties the Abomination of Desolation into future end-time events:
“This
gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to
all the nations, and then the end will
come.
Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)…” Matthew 24:14-15
We must, therefore, keep the time of the end in view as we discuss this part of Daniel.
Due to the clarity of the vision regarding Alexander the Great and the subsequent division of his kingdom to his four generals, some have accused Daniel’s vision as having been written following these events. They try to reason away its prophetic nature. And although this vision has a “down payment” fulfillment in Antiochus Epiphanes, for he is a prototype of the antichrist, the vision’s fulfillment does pertain to the antichrist at “the appointed time of the end.”
Characteristics
revealed for this time and person are thus:
1. It will be in the later period of their kingdom (The four generals’ kingdom subsequent to that of Alexander. This kingdom stretched from Macedonia to Egypt and from Greece to part of India. See the map above.).
2. Transgressors will have reached their fullness. (Have they yet?)
3. A kings will arise at (“the appointed time of the end.”) He is:
a. Insolent,
b. Skilled in intrigue, and
c. Mighty in power that is not his own.
4. This king will:
a. Destroy to an extraordinary degree,
b. Do as he pleases,
c. Destroy mighty men,
d. Destroy the holy people,
e. Through his shrewdness he will cause deceit to succeed by his influence,
f. Magnify himself in his own heart,
g. Destroy many while they are at ease,
h. He will even oppose the Prince of princes, and
i. Be broken without human agency.
When juxtaposing the above description with 2 Thessalonians 2’s lawless one—the son of perdition, we find the two are nearly identical.
Gabriel explains to Daniel the vision, except he doesn’t explain how this one, the antichrist, could possibly:
1. Grow up to the host of heaven (hosts are warring angels: Hebrew Lexicon),
2. Cause some of the hosts (warring angels) and some of the stars (often meaning angels) to fall to the earth (see Revelation 12:4 and Isaiah 14:13),
3. Magnify itself to be equal with the Commander of the host (Jesus)
4. Remove sacrifice from Him,
5. Throw down His sanctuary,
6. Have the host given over to him along with the regular sacrifice,
7. Fling truth to the ground, and
8. Perform its will and prosper.
In this blog (Part 3) we will discuss #1 and #2 in the above list.
If we view this Assyrian (the little horn), as he is often called, as a Nephilim and not just a fallen angel’s seed mingled with a woman, but Satan himself, then this seems to bring some clarity to these hard-to-understand scriptures in Daniel 8. Reading through commentaries on Daniel 8:10-11, I found many who want to minimize their reach to Antiochus as the little horn and the stars and hosts as the leaders of the Jewish people and/or the Church. Revelation 12:4’s stars were swept from heaven by the dragon (Satan) and thrown to the earth. Revelation 12:9 brings further precision that these that were thrown down are fallen angels. This correlates with Daniel’s stars which also fall from heaven. Furthermore, Revelation’s beast—this horrific Satan empowered world ruler—is futuristic. (See Revelation 1:1, 1:3, 1:19, and 4:1 for further futuristic references.)
Now let’s look specifically at 8:10: “It grew up to the host of heaven,” (NASB) what could this possibly mean? Daniel 8:10 could easily be translated that its influence reached into the warring angels’ realm. How could a man, even a very evil influential man, penetrate into the angelic realm? Seems absurd. However, what if this little horn whose reach was into the angelic realm was part angel—even part Satan himself? Then this seems to make more sense that he would have influence with angels.
Revelation 12 says that there is coming a time when the dragon will be thrown to the earth and his angels along with him. He at this point will no longer have access to heaven or the Throne of God. When someone has a demon living inside of them, the demon can come and go at will (Matthew 12:43-45). If Satan was mingled with and inside a man, then he too could come and go at will. He could, even as Revelation 12:10 says, stand before the Throne of God and accuse us day and night—until he is cast out and thrown to the earth.
There
are 7 years left of Daniel’s 70 week prophecy. Revelation clearly reveals the
tribulation is 3-1/2 years (1260 days; 42 weeks; time, times, and 1/2 a time). What do we
do with the first half of the remaining week? This will be discussed in my next blog: Part 4.
