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Good News
June 1960
Vol. IX, Number 6
Daniel's
"2300 Days" Prophecy REVEALED AT LAST!
In the 8th chapter of Daniel is an amazing prophecy. Somebelieve it
was fulfilled in 1844. Others believe
it wasfulfilled by Antiochus Ephiphanes. Daniel could not understandit. Yet it stands revealed for us today!
by Herman L. Hoeh
THE TIME has come to reveal an amazing
prophecy for the latter
days!
YOU need to understand it.
This amazing prophecy has been woefully
misunderstood. Most
scholars and churches admit they do not understand it.
Some claim it has already been fulfilled
in 1844. They
believe that in that year Christ
entered into "the heavenly
sanctuary" to "cleanse" it. But is this doctrine true? It's
time we looked into the Bible to
see what this prophecy really
says.
A SEALED Prophecy
Open your Bibles to Daniel 8. Notice particularly verse 26.
Daniel is commanded to
"shut up the vision; for it shall be for
many days."
Those who assume this prophecy was
fulfilled in 1844 deny that
Daniel was commanded to
"shut up the vision" -- to seal it up
from human understanding.
Yet that is what the Scripture plainly
says!
Here is a vital prophecy for our time shut
up from human
understanding until these latter
days -- "for the words are
closed up and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall be
purified, and made white, and
tried; but the wicked shall do
wickedly: and none of the wicked
shall understand; but the wise
shall understand" (Dan. 12:9-10).
This prophecy was not for Daniel's day,
but for our age.
This prophecy was not meant to be
understood till the time of
the end. Today the
wise shall understand. This is God's promise.
These prophecies are to be known
today! Now let us notice this
amazing prophecy in Daniel 8.
Time-Setting of the Prophecy
Notice the setting of the prophecy. It is the third year of
the reign of Belshazzar the king
of Babylon. Daniel receives a
vision while at Shushan in the Palace in the province
of Elam
(Dan. 8:1-2). Here is what he sees in the vision,
"Then I lifted
up mine eyes, and saw, and
behold, there stood before the river a
ram which had two horns; and the
two horns were high; but one was
higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the
ram pushing westward, and
northward, and southward; so that no
beasts might stand before him,
neither was there any that could
deliver out of his hand; but he
did according to his will, and
became great" (verses 3 and 4).
Here is a mysterious "ram." What does this ram symbolize?
Notice the explanation revealed
in verse 20! "The ram which thou
sawest
having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia"! This
ram symbolized THE MEDO-PERSIAN EMPIRE. It destroyed the Kingdom
of Babylon in 539 B.C. and ruled to 331 B.C.
But this is only the beginning of the
prophecy. Now notice
verse 5: "And as I was
considering, behold, a he goat came from
the west on the face of the
whole earth, and touched not the
ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes."
Now notice the explanation of this
mysterious symbol. "And
the rough goat IS THE KING OF
GRECIA: and the great horn that is
between his eyes is THE FIRST KING" (verse 21).
These symbols are revealed to Daniel so
that we can understand
the TIME SETTING of this end-time prophecy. The ram -- the
Medo-Persian Empire -- existed on the world scene until 331
B.C.
Then the Greco-Macedonian Empire
came on the scene with its first
great king, Alexander the Great (verses 6 and 7). The conquest
of
the Medo-Persian
Empire by Alexander the Great occurred in 331
B.C.
Now continue with verse 8. "... the
he goat waxed very great:
and when he was strong, the
great horn was broken; and for it
came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven."
Remember that the horn in the
goat's head symbolized the "first
king" of the Greco-Macedonian Empire. That was Alexander the
Great. But this horn was suddenly
"broken"! Alexander the
Great
died suddenly of a fever in Babylon little more than thirty years
of age!
Continuing with verse 22 of this amazing
prophecy: "Now that
being broken," -- Alexander
the Great being dead -- "whereas four
stood up for it, four kingdoms
shall stand up out of the kingdom,
but not in his power."
Consider the time setting of this
prophecy. It commenced with
the Medo-Persian Empire which
lasted until 331 B.C. Then the
Greco-Macedonian Empire came on
the scene with its first king,
Alexander the Great. In 323 B.C. Alexander died at the age of
33. Alexander's empire was divided into four
major parts --
verse 22. None of these
parts was as strong as the whole kingdom
had been under Alexander the Great. The time setting of this
prophecy already brings us to the date 323 B.C.! The rest of the
PROPHECY CANNOT BEGIN BEFORE
this date! Yet those who claim it
was fulfilled in 1844 must begin
the prophecy over a century too
early.
Now notice what is to happen next on the
world scene!
A Prophecy for the Latter Time!
Let us continue with verse 3: "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."
Look at this prophecy again. Here a "little horn" appears
coming out of one of the four divisions of Alexander's empire.
THIS "LITTLE HORN"
CANNOT HAVE ARISEN BEFORE THE DIVISION OF
ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE, as some
claim! Notice that again! "OUT OF
ONE OF THEM CAME FORTH a little
horn"!
Whatever this mysterious horn symbolizes,
whatever this little
horn does on the world scene,
must occur AFTER the death of
Alexander the Great -- after the
division of his empire into four
parts!
We come now to the climax of this
vision. Daniel was told:
"For AT THE TIME OF THE END
shall be the vision" (verse 17).
The
vision of "the little horn" is for the time of the
end! Read
verse 23, "AND IN THE
LATTER TIME of their kingdom, when the
transgressors are come to the full."
But WHO does the "little horn"
symbolize? Notice the Bible
explanation!
"A king of fierce countenance, and
understanding dark
sentences shall stand up.
And his power shall be mighty ... and
he shall magnify himself in his
heart, and by peace [the margin
says "prosperity"]
shall destroy many; HE SHALL ALSO STAND UP
AGAINST THE PRINCE OF PRINCES;
but he shall be broken without
hand" (verses 23-25).
There is the answer!
Look at this prophecy again. Notice it is a prophecy for the
latter days. The little
horn symbolizes a king who shall arise
"in
the latter time of their kingdom" (verse 23). This man
stands up AGAINST THE PRINCE OF
PRINCES -- that is Christ at His
second coming! Here is a
great Gentile world ruler who stands up
against Christ and is
supernaturally destroyed -- "without hand"
-- not
by human hand but by divine intervention in human affairs.
The Bible interprets this "little
horn" as A RULER WHO SHALL
EXIST AT THE SECOND COMING OF
CHRIST! He comes on the scene when
world transgression -- world sin
-- has reached its climax (verse
23).
This "little horn" is described
again in Revelation 17:14.
There we read that he makes war
with the Lamb and the Lamb shall
overcome him and his allies.
This "little horn" does the same
thing as the final "beast" of Revelation!
What the "Little Horn"
Does
But to continue with this amazing prophecy
for the latter
days! "And it
[the little horn] 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 a host
was given him against the daily
sacrifice by reason of
transgression" -- the
margin reads: "the host was given over for
the transgression against the
daily sacrifice" -- "and it cast
down the truth to the ground;
and it practiced, and prospered"
(Daniel 8:10-12).
Many have tried to interpret these
mysterious symbols out of
their own human reasoning.
They have tried to read into the
Bible meanings that are not
there. Let THE BIBLE interpret the
Bible! Notice the explanation in verse 24:
"And his power shall
be mighty."
That's the explanation of the first part of verse
10: "It waxed great."
To continue: "But not by his own
power." This king will not
accomplish his great deeds by his own strength. Revelation 17:17
reveals why. Ten lesser
kings GIVE THEIR MILITARY POWER AND
STRENGTH "unto the
Beast."
This little horn "shall destroy
wonderfully" -- shall have
marvelous, frightening military
powers "and shall destroy the
mighty and the holy people" (verse 24). Here is a persecuting
power, a power which destroys
God's people -- the children of
Israel -- and persecutes the true church (Dan. 8:10,24).
Verse 25 continues to explain verse 11,
and so on.
But what about the "daily
sacrifice" that is taken away and
what about the "sanctuary" that is cast down? What
do these
symbolize? What do they
mean? Could this be true of "the
heavenly sanctuary" -- God's Throne?
The Surprise Answer
Before we can fully understand this
prophecy we must read
Daniel 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.'"
This is the mysterious part of the vision
which was shut up to
Daniel -- which
was not to be revealed until the latter days!
THIS IS A PROPHECY FOR THE LATTER
DAYS! Some have tried to
explain this prophecy before God's time came to reveal it! One
particular denomination claims
that this vision of "2300 days"
commenced in 457 B.C. and ended in A.D. 1844. This denomination
claims that the "2300 days" represent 2300 years in
fulfillment.
This denomination further
insists that the "sanctuary" that was
cast down is the Holy of Holies
in heaven itself -- God's very
throne! They claim that
the very throne of God was "cleansed"
beginning in 1844.
This denomination has assumed that the
prophecy commenced
fulfillment in 457 B.C. How
did they arrive at this date? They
certainly didn't get it from the Bible!
Notice why!
The Medo-Persian
Empire ruled the world until 331 B.C.
Then
Alexander came on the
scene. He died in 323 B.C., after
which
his empire was divided into four parts. Out of one of the four
divisions of Alexander's Empire
is to rise this little horn "IN
THE LATTER DAYS!" It is the little horn which takes away the
daily sacrifice and casts down the sanctuary! Whatever the
little horn is to do for
"2300 days" cannot have begun UNTIL
AFTER THE DIVISION OF
ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE INTO FOUR PARTS!
But
457 B.C. is over a century too
early! That date cannot be the
commencement of the "2300 days"!
But notice further. The little horn takes away the daily
sacrifice! Was the daily
sacrifice taken away from 457 B.C.
until 1844? Did a king
for 2300 years prevent the daily
sacrifice from being offered?
Did a king for 2300 years cast
down the sanctuary of God?
Of course not! THE JEWS WERE
OFFERING THE DAILY SACRIFICE
ALMOST CONTINUOUSLY FROM THE DAYS OF
EZRA AND NEHEMIAH UNTIL THE JEWS
WERE DRIVEN OUT OF JERUSALEM IN
70 A.D.
The date 457 B.C. is the commencement of
ANOTHER prophecy
altogether -- the "seventy weeks" prophecy in Daniel
9:25. The
year 457 B.C. marks the
commencement of Daniel's prophecy of
"seventy
weeks" which led to the first coming of Jesus Christ!
THAT PROPHECY HAS NOTHING
DIRECTLY TO DO WITH THE PROPHECY
RECORDED HERE IN DANIEL 8! The prophecy of Dan. 9 is a detailed
explanation of one aspect of
Daniel's FIRST vision in chapter 7
(compare
Dan. 9:21,23 and 7:16).
The prophecy of Daniel 9 is not the
explanation of the "2300
days." That
prophecy was sealed from human understanding until
this "time of the end."
Daniel 8 proves that this prophecy of the
"2300 days" could
not have commenced in 457 B.C.! And therefore IT DID NOT END IN
1844!
NOT Heavenly Sanctuary!
This denomination claims, however, that
the sanctuary was not
on earth but in heaven!
Of course! They could not claim
it was
the sanctuary on earth because
during that time it was not cast
down! The sanctuary on
earth was not trodden underfoot -- was
not cast down -- in the days of
Christ and the Apostles as their
theory requires!
Granted that the earthly sanctuary was a
type of the heavenly
sanctuary, God's throne.
But what king has ever cast down God's
throne in heaven for 2300 years? Notice the last part of verse
13. The "sanctuary" is to be
"trodden underfoot"! No
kingdom,
no power has ever trodden
underfoot God's sanctuary for 2300
years! The Bible itself
proves that this amazing prophecy was
not fulfilled in 1844!
The doctrines of the "Sanctuary
Question" and of the
"Investigative
Judgment" spawned by Mrs. E. G. White are utter
blasphemy against God's Throne.
Anyone who believes that it was fulfilled
then IS DELIBERATELY
THROWING ASIDE THE TESTIMONY OF
SCRIPTURE ITSELF. Some people
would rather put the words of
the self-styled "prophetess" in
place of the very Word of God!
It's time we opened our minds.
It's time we straightened out
our hearts before God and repented
of following the snares of Satan the Devil! It's time we began
to BELIEVE THE BIBLE for what it says!
A Common Misunderstanding
Notice Daniel 8:26: "And the vision
of the evening and the
morning which was told is true
..." The vision of "2300
days" is
actually called in the Scripture
"THE VISION OF THE EVENING AND
THE MORNING." Why?
Turn in your Bibles to verse 14 of chapter
8. In most Bibles
you will find a marginal note for the word
"days." This note
reveals that the original Hebrew
of the word "days" is "evening
morning." This
prophecy is NOT referring to 24-hour days but to
evenings and mornings -- THE EVENING AND MORNING SACRIFICE!
Notice in verse 11 that the
little horn takes away the DAILY
SACRIFICE. The daily sacrifice was offered in the
evening and in
the morning. See Lev.
6:9 and 12.
Verse 14 is a MISTRANSLATION in the text
of the King James
Version, though it is correct in
the margin. The Revised
Standard Version more correctly
reads, "for two thousand three
hundred evenings and mornings."
In other words, here is a prophecy that
two thousand three
hundred evening and morning sacrifices would cease to be
offered.
Since the daily sacrifice was
offered TWICE A DAY, this prophecy
is actually speaking of one
thousand one hundred fifty (1150)
days. In 1150 days
there would be exactly two thousand three
hundred sacrifices offered at evening and morning.
At the end of this 1150-day period the
sanctuary is to be
"cleansed"
or "justified." This
prophecy is yet to be fulfilled!
That's why it was shut up and
sealed from human understanding
until our time. It was
not for God's people or the world until
these latter days!
Another False Idea
Some have contended that this prophecy has
already been
fulfilled. This is NOT
TRUE! Notice why: what happened to the
daily sacrifice in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes
(168-165 B.C.)
was ONLY A TYPE of what is yet to occur! The wicked deeds of
Antiochus Epiphanes
are recorded in Daniel 11:31. He
polluted
the ancient sanctuary.
He took away the daily sacrifice BUT NOT
FOR EXACTLY 1150 DAYS.
Daniel 11:31 is not referring to the same event described in
Daniel 8. Notice especially in Daniel 11 that the
latter days do
not commence until verse 40.
"And at the TIME OF THE END ..."
That's in this generation,
almost two thousand years AFTER the
days of Antiochus Epiphanes.
But Daniel 8 shows that the little horn,
which takes away the
daily sacrifice and casts down
the sanctuary, ARISES IN THE
LATTER DAYS. It is to arise at the time of the end. The little
horn is the LAST KING of one of
the four divisions of Alexander's
Empire. He is, in fact, the last king who rules
over the
"Kingdom of the North"
-- one of the four divisions of
Alexander's Empire.
The King of the North, described in Daniel
11, was originally
Syria -- NORTH of Palestine. BUT SYRIA WAS SWALLOWED UP BY ROME.
The Roman system of government
became the "Kingdom of the North."
It has existed to our time in Europe. This amazing history is
described in Daniel 11:36-41.
In Daniel 11 the last King of the
North is pictured as occupying
"the glorious land" Palestine
(verse
41). This is the same region that the
little horn" of
Daniel 8 is yet to control IN
OUR DAY!
The Final Fulfillment
This amazing prophecy is about to be
fulfilled in our day. A
great crisis is yet to occur in Palestine. After nearly 19
centuries a part of the tribe of
Judah the Jews -- has come back
to Palestine. In their war of
independence in 1948 they gained
possession of the new part of Jerusalem, but the Arabs still
control old Jerusalem. Not only Jerusalem, but the whole land of
Palestine is divided. It is
an armed camp likely to ignite at
any moment!
In the near future we shall literally see
the next great
prophesied event for Palestine -- "the daily sacrifice" and "the
sanctuary" restored before our very eyes.
Then will come World War III and the
occupation of Palestine
and Jerusalem.
A great European Church-State union will
be in control of
Palestine and the whole Western World. It will prohibit the
Truth. It will "cast down the truth to the
ground." It will
practice and prosper!
It will persecute and martyr God's Holy
people. It will be
allowed to tread Jerusalem underfoot and to prohibit the daily
sacrifice at the sanctuary for 1150 days. It will substitute its
own abominable, idolatrous rites
in place of the evening and
morning sacrifice. Jesus
referred to this same event in Matthew
24:15. "When ye therefore
shall see the abomination of
desolation, spoken of by Daniel
the prophet, STAND IN THE HOLY
PLACE, (whoso readeth, let him understand;) Then let them which
be in Judea flee
into the mountains ... for then shall be great
tribulation ..." climaxing
in the second coming of Jesus Christ
(verses
15-21).
The Gentiles will trod
down Jerusalem for 1260 days (Rev. 11).
It will be the time of the two
witnesses who will prophesy in the
streets of Jerusalem for 1260 days, then be killed, and -- just
IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE RETURN OF
CHRIST -- be raised from the
dead in the sight of the people!
God will suddenly intervene in human
affairs. He will put an
end to this wicked idolatrous system. "The sanctuary
SHALL BE
cleansed."
We are very near the fulfillment of these
amazing prophecies.
It is time we wake up to world
events and free ourselves from
fables and traditions began more than a century ago! It's time
we believe the Bible and not false teachers! It's time we asked
God for wisdom and ask Him to
lead us and to show us HIS TRUTH!
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