Last time we looked closely at Daniel 8, its primary application and message and how we should apply it.
We saw that Jesus takes his favourite epithet, the Son of Man, from Daniel 7, his core theological theme, the kingdom of God, is taken primarily from Daniel, and he pointed to Daniel specifically in his eschatological sermon in Matthew 24, so that we bypass Daniel at our own loss, especially when we are considering last-day events.
We also noted that Daniel 8:14 is the key verse in Daniel because it marks the climax of the symbolic portion of Daniel. All after this verse is explanation of it, making it critical to understand its significance.
The endemic message of Daniel is the kingdoms of the world versus the kingdom of God. Daniel 2 shows the kingdoms of the then world as diverse metals making up a giant man, who is struck on the toes by the stone that becomes the kingdom of God.
Daniel 7 showcases a string of animal kingdoms, first a lion with eagles wings, followed by a lop-sided bear, then a speedy leopard, and finally a terrifying beast that Daniel struggled to describe. We usually read the lion as Babylon, the lop-sided bear as Medo-Persia, the leopard as Greece, and the non-descript beast as Rome. Then a little horn arose out of ten horns on the non-descript beast, and this horn was proud and arrogant. Soon it and the beast were sent to the judgement bar of the nations before the Ancient of Days, and judgement was pronounced against it.
And then one like a Son of Man appeared before the Ancient of Days and was presented with dominion over the kingdom of God at the judgement bar of the nations. This is how it reads in Daniel 7:14,
Daniel 7:14 (NRSV) To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.
Then, in Daniel 8 we have the ram and the he-goat that crash together, representing Greece clashing with and defeating Medo-Persia, with 4 horns arising from the one prominent horn of Alexander the Great.
Then another little horn arises from these 4, demonstrating all the markings of the antichrist, and a lot like the little horn of chapter 7, who claws his way up from the world of nature to challenge the Prince of the Host, denigrating his truth and trampling on his people and sanctuary, the very symbol of the kingdom of God on earth.
Verse 13 cries out with the question, “How long” will this abominable character and situation be allowed to continue? Then, in verse 14 we have the answer given that after 2,300 “evening-mornings” the sanctuary, the symbol of the kingdom of God on earth, would be vindicated, or justified (NRSV ‘restored to its rightful state’).
So, the place where the ‘regular burnt offering’ was offered each morning and evening, and which was taken away by the little horn power – after 2,300 of these evening-mornings, the sanctuary would be vindicated and set right again. We won’t go into depth again as to what this actually pointed to historically, but it signified that God’s kingdom would be vindicated in the eyes of the world.
This is what we call the primary message of a passage, what the original author meant his hearers to understand.
However, today we will take a look at a secondary application. A secondary application is something that can be taken from the passage, supported by the passage, but which is not its primary meaning or message. Therefore, it does not carry the same weight as the primary meaning, but nonetheless useful.
The 2,300 Evening-Mornings Can Also Apply to Christ’s Death
Kevin Ferris, who was a Pastor in the SNSW Conference office in Australia, many years ago, when I first started attending a local church, has suggested an intriguing application of the 1,150 days of Daniel 8:14 and its further explanation in Daniel 9:24-27, to Christ’s ministry and its culmination in his death on the cross.[i]
The vindication of the sanctuary, the symbol of the kingdom of God on earth, is surely Jesus death on the Cross, since it is not only the fulfilment of all the offerings and services of the sanctuary, but also his supreme sacrifice on Calvary vindicates God, his truth, his people and kingdom. And you will remember these were the offences of the antichrist in Daniel 8. Let me repeat that (repeat).
So how does the time period in Daniel 8:14 fit into Jesus' life situation? It fits in in the same way as we apply the larger 70 weeks of years prophecy, we work backwards from the fulfilment. If we count backwards from Christ’s death, 1,150 days, we arrive at Christ’s clearing of the Temple in Jerusalem.
You might remember that at the wedding feast in Cana, when asked by his mother to perform a miracle, Jesus protested to her, “My time has not yet come.” But not many months after this, just after John the Baptist was arrested and needed reassurance about the kingdom of God, Mark tells us,
Mark 1:14–15 (NRSV) ...Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has [‘arrived’, or ‘is at hand’]; repent, and believe in the good news.”
And at about this time Jesus travels to Jerusalem and clears the Temple of the money changers and hustlers. We cannot be very precise about exact dates. About no prophecy can we expect total precision, as this is not what they are about.
Most of the information about the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus comes from the gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These accounts are not exhaustive. They are not chronological. They do not have identical accounts of many events and they record them in a different order. This makes piecing together an exact timeline impossible.[ii]
But we can establish a cogent timetable of events, and the clearing of the Temple is about 1,150 days (approx. 3 ½ years) prior to Calvary. And here we have wording to justify that, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.” This is what Ferris says,
The code concealed so alluringly within Daniel’s words, is summoned at a vital time in the yardstick of salvation. The beginning of the seven years of Daniel 9:27 occurred in the autumn of the year of Christ’s baptism.[iii]
Ferris concludes that the clearing of the temple was the event that would set in motion the time-clock of Daniel 8:14.
Here for the first time while on earth Christ reveals His plan, prefigured in Daniel 8:14, as to how the sanctuary would cease to be trampled underfoot and [be] restored to its rightful place. He announces his forthcoming death and resurrection. In answer to the question “under what authority do you do these things [cleanse the temple],” He responds: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.”[iv] (Jn. 2:19)
Little horn power, the abomination of desolation in Daniel, was on notice.
The 2,300 evening-mornings, signifying the 1,150-days of temple sacrifice, would culminate in the ultimate sacrifice prefigured by all the slain lambs here-to-fore, as Christ’s death, at the very hour of the evening sacrifice, and his resurrection three days later, delivers vindication to God and his temple, as John in Revelation celebrates:
Revelation 12:10–11 “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb...”
Ferris highlights that John’s explanation of the Temple is most illuminating, since he turns the focus from the old temple which was passing into history when he explains, “The temple he spoke of was His body” (John 2:21).[v]
Along with all the various articles of the temple, the New Testament clearly identifies Christ as the new embodiment of them all. Each item of furniture prefigured some of the glory of Christ: the shewbread pointed to Him as the Bread of Life, the candlestick spoke of Him as the Light of the world, the sweet-smelling incense told of His righteousness which alone can make our prayers acceptable. The Ark testified to the One who declared, "Thy law is within my heart," and the mercy seat, which stood between the Shekinah and the violated law, spoke of Christ as our propitiation. God views the believer's sins only through the atoning blood of His Son.[vi]
As Kevin Ferris rightly says,
No temple in heaven ever bore our sins because they were buried with Christ in the tomb. No sins of humanity ever polluted the realms of heaven.[vii]
“God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
“the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7)
It was Christ’s blood that vindicated God, his sanctuary, his truth and his people, who are the citizens of his kingdom.
“The temple he spoke of was His body!” (Jn. 2:21)
The Abominable Desolator and the Kingdom of God
There is little doubt that Antiochus IV Epiphanes is the historical first fulfilment of the little horn of Daniel 8, because everything in Daniel 8 and 11 screams out for such an application. But it is also clear that “little” Antiochus could never fill full the characteristics of the antichrist figure portrayed in scripture as a whole.
It was the leaders of Judaism joining with Roman political power to crucify Israel’s Messiah that is a further application of the abomination of desolation and little horn of Daniel. We know from Jesus and other New Testament passages that there would be future manifestations of antichrist, who would desecrate his sanctuary, trample on his truth, disregard his sacrifice, and persecute his people, but nothing will ever overpower his kingdom because it has already been secured beyond any menace by Jesus, who “entered once for all into the Holy Place...with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:12)
This is definitely the event referred to in Daniel 9:24-27, and as we will now see, is the explication of the vindication of the sanctuary of Daniel 8:14.
Let’s look at,
Daniel 9:24 (NRSV) “Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city: to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place."
After waiting for years, this is the explanation Daniel is given for the perplexing prediction he was given in chapter 8:14 about the vindication of the sanctuary. And this is precisely what Jesus accomplished when he died on Calvary, he sealed Daniel 8:14’s prophetic vision by putting an end to sin; he finished the transgression of humanity by atoning for our iniquity, and thereby he ushered in everlasting righteousness. Jesus was the ‘holy place’ that was anointed because he is the new temple.
If this is not yet apparent to you, it may be because you have not taken advantage of what Jesus is offering you. You can be part of that ‘everlasting righteousness’, from today. You can be part of the future blessedness – all you need to do is accept Jesus' death for your sins, and henceforth become his follower. Will you take that step?
The kingdom of God, prefigured by the temple, was inaugurated and vindicated at the coming of the Messiah to die and rise again in timely fulfilment of Daniel 8:14.
[i] Daniel’s Micro-code, Kevin Ferris: https://spectrummagazine.org/2020/daniels-micro-codeFebruary 27, 2020 [ii] https://christianity.org.uk/article/timeline-of-jesus-life [iii] Ferris, K. Daniel’s Micro-code. [iv] Ibid. [v] Ibid. [vi] Ford. Daniel and the Coming King. 2371 [vii] Ferris. Daniel’s Micro-code.
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