1 of 16

DANIEL 8:�SANCTUARY CLEANSING

2 of 16

Daniel 8: The Vision

3 of 16

“Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven.” (Dan. 8:8)

4 of 16

“And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land.” (Dan. 8:9)

5 of 16

“And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered.” (Dan. 8:10-12)

6 of 16

Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, “How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?”

Daniel 8:13

7 of 16

And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.”

Daniel 8:14

8 of 16

LEVITICAL CONCEPTS IN DANIEL 8

The ram and the goat - clean animals used as sacrificial victims in the sanctuary services.
“place of his sanctuary [miqdash]”(8:11) and “sanctuary [qodesh]” (8:13).
The passage calls an angel “holy one” (8:13).
“host” (8:11).
“horn” (8:9).

We have already mentioned the symbols of the ram and the goat, clean animals used as sacrificial victims in the sanctuary services. We also find two different terms employed to designate the Temple: “place of his sanctuary [miqdash]” (Dan. 8:11) and “sanctuary [qodesh]” (verse 13). The connection with the sanctuary and its services could hardly be more explicit.

The passage calls an angel “holy one” (verse 13). Only holy ones could officiate in the sanctuary. In fact, the concept of “holiness” is of central importance in the sanctuary services, and a priestly responsibility was distinguishing between the holy and the common (Lev. 10:10). The term “host” (Dan. 8:11) appears in the setting of the sanctuary as well as in warfare contexts. Scripture employed it to designate an army (2 Chron. 26:11-15), and the Levites, like an army, had charge of protecting the holiness of the sanctuary (Num. 3:23, 30; 8:24, 25). The latter had to stop at any cost a person who attempted to violate the sanctity of the tabernacle (Num. 1:51). Other terms used in the context of the sanctuary are

“horn” (Dan. 8:9), which reminds us of the horns on the altar.

9 of 16

The “daily” (tamid)

Of particular importance is “the daily” (Dan. 8:11; wrongly translated “daily sacrifice”) used in the sanctuary to designate the daily/continual work of the priest. The Old Testament employs it in conjunction with the daily burnt offering (Ex. 29:42), the “bread of the Presence” (Ex. 25:30), the lighting of the lamps (Ex. 27:20), the offering of incense (Ex. 30:8), etc.

In other words, the expression designated the many different activities continually performed by the priest in the sanctuary. They included rites performed both in the court and in the holy place of the sanctuary. The expression never designated the work of the high priest in the Most Holy Place.

“Daily” (Hebrew tamid) specified the daily/continual work of mediation and intercession of the priest in the sanctuary on behalf of the people. Daniel 8:14 refers to the yearly service through the verb “to vindicate/ cleanse” (Hebrew nitsdaq), which Scripture also employs in sanctuary contexts (see next chapter).

It is really amazing to find in Daniel 8 so much terminology related to the sanctuary. Such usage indicates a connection

between the chapter and the sanctuary services. Therefore, we should employ passages dealing with the sanctuary and its services to clarify what Daniel seeks to communicate. The prophet presupposes that his readers are acquainted with such passages.

10 of 16

The Work of the Little Horn

Opposes the work of the Prince.
It attacks the sanctuary and the Prince to usurp His priestly work.
It was able to defeat some of the host/army.
It usurps the work of the Prince.
It sets up its own host/army.
It casts to the ground the truth of the sanctuary.

The sanctuary-related terminology clarifies not only what God is doing for His people through the “Prince of the host” but also the nature and work of the little horn. Fundamentally an anti-sanctuary power that opposes the priestly work of the Prince, it attacks the sanctuary and the Prince in an effort to usurp His priestly work.

Military imagery and ideas from the earthly sanctuary combine to describe the horn’s offensive. At the beginning of the struggle the horn confronted the “host/army” that, like the Levites in the Old Testament, protected the holiness of the heavenly sanctuary. The horn was able to defeat “some” of the army, opening a breach that allowed it to go after the Prince (Dan. 8:10). But the horn could only usurp the work of the Prince—“it took away the daily . . . from him” (verse 11)—and in an act of “rebellion” it set up, or appointed, its own “host/army” over or in control of the daily (verse 12). The truth of the sanctuary was rejected and cast to the ground.

This vivid description of the damage caused by the little horn found its fulfillment in the apostasy of the Christian church announced by Paul (2 Thess. 2:3-12), resulting both in the removal of Christ as our only and exclusive mediator before the Father and in the introduction into the Christian church of many other mediating figures between God and the believer (e.g., a human priestly system, the souls of the apostles and martyrs, Mary, and the sacrifice of the Eucharist). The church identified itself with the heavenly sanctuary, and the priestly system became the sole means of mediating grace to humanity.

11 of 16

The Work of the Prince

The fact that the horn usurped the role of the Prince and established a false priestly system does not mean that the work of the heavenly Prince/Priest came to an end. It simply became obscured. Those committed to Him continued to benefit from His mediation in the heavenly sanctuary, a process described by Daniel in terms of the daily work of the priest in the holy place of the earthly sanctuary.

But the high priest also performed a yearly service, and Daniel used that service to refer to what the Prince did shortly before the destruction of the little horn and the establishment of God’s kingdom. Once a year the earthly sanctuary was cleansed, and, according to Daniel 8:14, a cosmic cleansing would begin at the end of the 2300 days/years, leading to salvation for God’s people and the destruction of the little horn.

12 of 16

Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, “How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?”

(Dan. 8:13)

13 of 16

“Until when the vision, the daily, and

the rebellion causing desolation to give both the sanctuary

and the host a trampling?”

(Dan. 8:13)

14 of 16

“Until when the vision,

the daily,

the rebellion causing desolation

to give both the sanctuary and the host a trampling?”

The question is structured as follows:

“Until when the vision,

the daily,

the rebellion causing desolation

to give both the sanctuary and the host a trampling?”

“Vision” refers to the whole vision found in Daniel 8, beginning with the ram and ending with the usurpation of the little horn (see Dan. 8:1). The question clarifies that the “vision” is the one that includes the priestly work of the Prince (“the daily”) and the wicked scheme of the horn (“the rebellion”).

The question is not about how long the little horn is going to profane the sanctuary but about when the content of the whole vision will be fulfilled. The answer indicates that the fulfillment of the whole vision will take 2300 days/years. At the end of that period the little horn’s usurpation of the priestly work of the Messiah will come to an end through the eschatological day of atonement.

15 of 16

2300 years

490 yrs.

1810 yrs.

The cleansing

of the sanctuary

The 2300 Evenings and Mornings

The Greek and Latin versions of the Bible have interpreted the 2300 evenings and mornings as “days.” They read: “Twenty-three hundred days, evenings and mornings.” This is understandable because the phrase “evenings and mornings”

designates a full day in the Old Testament (see Gen. 1:5-31). That being the case, we have to take the 2300 days contextually as symbolic of years.

As we have already indicated, the question was When will the whole vision, which includes the daily and the rebellion of the little horn, be fulfilled? That vision goes back to the time of the Medo-Persian Empire and covers the Greek and Roman (pagan and ecclesiastical) empires. Their history covers much more than 2,300 literal days. We are unquestionably dealing here with prophetic days used to designate years.

The vision does not give us a specific year to start the 2300 years but offers us a general point of reference. Since the vision begins with a ram representing the Medo-Persian Empire, the 2300 years originated at some point during that

particular empire. We also know that when the 2300 years end, the eschatological day of atonement will commence.

Daniel 9 will provide us a more specific date for the start of the 2300 years.