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VI.
The Sure Word of
Prophecy
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Chapter 52
:
The Vicar of Christ
1. WHAT appeared unto Daniel in 538 B.C., the
same year in which Babylon fell?
"In the third year of the reign of King
Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me,
even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared
unto me at the first." Dan. 8:1.
2. Where was Daniel at this time?
"And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass,
when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the
palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I
saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai."
Verse 2.
3.
What first attracted the prophet's attention?
"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." Verse 3.
4.
What power was represented by the ram having two horns?
"The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the
kings of Media and Persia." Verse 20.
5.
How are the rise and work of this power described?
"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." Verse 4.
6.
What symbol was next introduced in the vision?
"And as I was considering, behold, an 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." Verse 5.
7.
What did the goat with the notable horn represent?
"And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and
the great horn that is between his eyes is the first
king." Verse 21.
8.
How was the conquest of Medo-Persia by Grecia foretold
in this symbolic prophecy?
"And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved
with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake
his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to
stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground,
and stamped upon him: and there was none that could
deliver the ram out of his hand." Verse 7.
9. When the he goat "was strong,"
what occurred? "Therefore 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." Verse 8.
10. Who was represented by " the great horn," and what
followed when it was broken?
"And the rough goat is the king [kingdom] of Grecia: and
the great horn that is between his eyes is the first
king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up
for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the
nation, but not in his power." Verses 21,22.
NOTES.-From the interpretation given, it is plain
that the notable "horn" upon the he goat represented
Alexander the Great, who led the Grecian forces in
their conquest of Medo-Persia. Upon the death of
Alexander at Babylon, B.C. 323, there followed a
brief period of confusion in the struggle for the
kingdom, but the succession was definitely
determined by the battle of Ipsus, B.C. 301.
Alexander's four leading generals- Cassander,
Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus- became his
successors.
"The vast empire created by Alexander's unparalleled
conquests was distracted by the wranglings and wars
of his successors, and before the close of the
fourth century before Christ, had become broken up
into many fragments. Besides minor states, four
well-defined and important monarchies rose out of
the ruins. . . . Their rulers were Lysimachus,
Cassander, Seleucus Nicator, and Ptolemy, who had
each assumed the title of king. The great horn was
broken; and instead of it came up four notable ones
toward the four winds of heaven."- Myers's
"History of Greece," page 457, edition 1902.
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What came out of one of the four horns of the goat?
"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."
Verse 9.
12. What interpretation is given to this little horn?
"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." Verse 23.
13. What did this little horn do
to the people of God?
"And it 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." Verse
10.
14. In what literal language is this persecution of the
people of God further described?
"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." Verse 24.
15. How was this little horn to
exalt itself against Christ and His mediatorial work?
"Yea, it magnified itself, even to the Prince
of the host, and it took away from Him the continual
burnt offering, and the place of His sanctuary was
cast down." Verse 11, R.V.
16. In the interpretation of the vision, how is this
self-exaltation set forth?
"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." Verse 25.
17. What similar language is used by the apostle Paul in
describing the "mystery of iniquity," or "man of sin"?
"That day shall not come, except there come a falling
away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of
perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above
all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he
as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself
that he is God." 2 Thess. 2:3,4.
NOTE.-The last two scriptures evidently describe one
and the same power,-a power which while religious
and professedly Christian, is anti-christian in
spirit, and the very "man of sin" himself. Possessed
with the selfish ambition of Lucifer (Isa. 14:12-14;
Eze. 28:17), he assumes to occupy the very seat and
place of Deity in the temple of God. Professing to
be Christ's vicar, or personal representative on
earth, he magnifies himself against Christ, and
"stands up," or reigns, in the place of, and
"against," the Prince of princes.
18. What was given into the hands of the power
represented by the little horn?
"And
the host was given over to it together with the
continual burnt offering through transgression."
Dan. 8:12, first clause, R.V.
19. What did this power do to the
truth?
"And it cast down truth to the ground,
and it did its pleasure and prospered." Same verse, last
clause, R.V.
NOTES.-The interpretation already given to this
vision shows plainly that the power represented by
the little horn is the successor of Medo-Persia and
Grecia. In the vision of the seventh chapter of
Daniel, which is closely related to this vision, the
fourth beast represented the fourth kingdom, or
Rome, in its entirety, special attention, however,
being given to the "little horn" phase of its
history. As shown by the work attributed to it, this
little horn, which arose among the ten kingdoms into
which Rome was divided, was to be a religio-political
power, which was to change the times and law of God,
and persecute the people of God. In the vision of
the eighth chapter the ecclesiastical features of
this fourth world power are especially noticed and
emphasized, and hence the only symbol there used to
represent it is the "little horn" which waxed
"exceeding great."
The religion of all the four great monarchies
mentioned in these prophecies was paganism; but the
paganism of ancient Babylon was re-produced in pagan
Rome, and then adapted and adopted by papal Rome.
The little horn of the eighth chapter represents
Rome, both pagan and papal, in its ecclesiastical
aspect, with its union of paganism, and later of
apostate Christianity, with the secular power; with
its antichristian persecutions of the saints of God;
with its perversion of the priesthood of Christi and
with its assertion of both temporal and spiritual
power over all the world. It is evident that pagan
Rome is introduced into this prophecy chiefly as a
means of locating the place and work of papal Rome,
and the ecclesiastical features of pagan Rome as
typical of the same features accentuated in papal
Rome, and that the emphasis is to be placed upon the
fulfillment of the prophecy in the work of papal
Rome. A careful comparison of Dan. 7:21,25, with
Dan. 8:10-12, R.V., and 2 Thess. 2:3,4, will amply
justify this conclusion.
"The Romans could not forget-never did forget-that
they had once been masters and rulers of the world.
Even after they had become wholly unfit to rule
themselves, let alone the ruling of others, they
still retained the temper and used the language of
masters. . . . In the absence of an emperor in the
West the popes rapidly gained influence and power,
and soon built up an ecclesiastical empire that in
some respects took the place of the old empire and
carried on its civilizing work."-Myers's "Rome;
Its Rise and Fall," Boston, 1900, pages 398, 399,
442, 443.
The host and the stars of Dan. 8:10 are the same
as the saints of the Most High of Dan. 7:25; and the
Prince of the host of Dan. 8:11 is the Prince of
princes, or Christ. When the same being appeared to
Joshua. (Joshua 5:13-15, margin), He applies the
same expression to Himself.
In Dan. 8:11-13, in the Revised Version, the words
"burnt offering" have been supplied by the
translators after the word "continual," but this
rendering seems to place too restricted a meaning
upon the word "continual." The fact that no word is
connected with "continual" in the original text,
although in the typical service of the sanctuary it
is used with "burnt offering" (Ex. 29:42), with
"incense" (Ex. 30:8, here rendered perpetual), and
with "showbread" (Num. 4:7), indicates that that
which is continual represents the continual
service or mediation of Christ in the heavenly
sanctuary, in which an that was continual in the
typical service found its antitype and fulfillment.
See Heb. 6:19,20; 7:1-3, 14-16, 23-25. The action
which made the Pope the vicar of God and the high
priest of the apostasy, really took away from
Christ, as far as human intent and power were
concerned, his place and work as the only mediator
between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5), and this took away
from Him, as far as man could take it away, the
continual mediation, according to the prediction in
this prophecy.
The prophecies of Daniel are cumulative and widening
in their view, each carrying matters farther than
the preceding one, and bringing out more explicitly
and more in detail important features down the
stream of time. In Daniel 2, under the fourth
universal kingdom, the Papacy is not represented
under any direct symbol or figure at all,-simply
Rome in its united and divided state; In Daniel 7
Rome is symbolized by the "little horn" coming up
among the ten horns representing the divided state
of Rome; while in Daniel 8 the only figure used to
represent the fourth world power is the "little
horn" which waxed "exceeding great."
In each of these last two chapters the little horn
is introduced to tell especially of the workings of
the same terrible power-Rome papal. Both chapters
deal with the same great apostasy. In the seventh
chapter, the little horn takes away the law of
God. In the eighth chapter, it takes away the
gospel. Had it taken away only the law, this
would have vitiated the gospel; for, with the law of
God gone, even the true gospel could not
save, because the law is needed to convict and give
a knowledge of sin. And had the Papacy taken away
only the gospel, and left the law, salvation through
such a system would still have been impossible, for
there is no salvation for sinners through even the
law of God itself apart from Christ and the gospel.
But to make apostasy doubly sure, this power
changes, vitiates, and takes away both the law
and the gospel.
In changing the Sabbath, the Papacy struck
directly at the very heart and seal of the law of
God, just as in substituting its own mediatorial
system for that of Christ's it struck directly at
the heavenly sanctuary and its service, which, in
his epistle to the Hebrews, Paul shows to be the
very heart and essence of the gospel.
20. What question was asked in the hearing of the
prophet?
"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 underfoot?" Dan.
8:13.
21. What answer was addressed to Daniel?
"And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three
hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."
Verse 14.
NOTE.-In verse 13, R.V., the vision is clearly
defined. It is "the vision concerning the continual
burnt offering [or continual mediation], and the
transgression that maketh desolate," which results
in giving both the sanctuary and the people of God
to be trodden underfoot. The time when the vision
was to have its special application is stated in
verse 17 to be "at the time of the end," or in the
last days. This is additional proof that this
prophecy was to find its complete fulfillment in
papal Rome only, as pagan Rome passed away many
centuries ago. The sanctuary and the
twenty-three-hundred-day period here referred to are
considered at length in succeeding readings. See
Chapter 53 and 54 of this book.
22. What prophetic period begins at the time when the
continual mediation of Christ was taken away by the
Papacy?
"And from the time that the continual burnt offering
shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh
desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two
hundred and ninety days." Dan. 12:11, R.V.
NOTES.-lnasmuch as the taking away of the continual
mediation of Christ is made the beginning of a
prophetic period, there must be some definite act at
some definite time which, in form and intent, takes
from Christ His priestly work in the heavenly
sanctuary. This act was the official decree of an
ecclesiastical council held at Rome in 503 A.D., by
which it was declared "that the Pope was judge as
God's vicar, and could himself be judged by no one."
See Hardouins "Councils," Vol. II, page 983; Labbe
and Cossart's "Councils," Vol. IV, col. 1364; and
Bower's "History of the Popes" (three-volume
edition), Vol. I, pages 304, 305. The work of Clovis
king of the Franks, who earned for himself the title
of "the eldest son of the church" by his campaigns
to subdue the kingdoms hostile to the Papacy,
contributed much toward putting into practical
effect this claim of the Papacy, which finally
resulted in establishing the Pope as the head of the
Roman priesthood which has usurped the priestly work
of Christ, and has established another system of
mediation in its place. This work of Clovis came to
its climax in the period 503-508, and this period
therefore becomes the natural one from which to date
the 1290 years of Dan. 12:11, which would
accordingly end in the period 1793-98, at the same
time as the 1260 years of Dan. 7:25.
"With Rome would have fallen her bishop, had he not,
as if by anticipation of the crisis, reserved till
this hour the master-stroke of his policy, He now
boldly cast himself upon an element of much greater
strength than that of which the political
convulsions of the time had deprived him; namely,
that the bishop of Rome is the successor of Peter,
the prince of the apostles, and, in virtue of being
so, is Christ's vicar on earth. In making this
claim, the Roman pontiffs vaulted at once over the
throne of kings to the seat of gods: Rome became
once more the mistress of the world, and her popes
the rulers of the earth."-" The Papacy," by J. A.
Wylie, page 34.
23. What assurance was given to Daniel concerning the
period of time mentioned in verse 14?
"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." Dan. 8:26.
NOTES.-By the expression "the vision of the evening
and the morning" reference is made to the vision
concerning the twenty-three hundred days, as may be
seen by referring to the marginal readings of Dan.
8:14.
The interpretation of the vision of chapter 8 closes
without making any explanation of the long period of
time which was mentioned to Daniel in the answer to
the question, "How long shall be the vision?" This
important feature was left to be interpreted later.
See the next chapter.
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