by
E.E. Franke
CONTINUING FROM PREVIOUS
The passage seems to be a figure implying self-exaltation, such
as was used by Isaiah concerning the king of Babylon, and more
directly applied to Satan:
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into
heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I
will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the
sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the
clouds; I will be like the most High (Isaiah 14:13,14).
It is also said of the little horn:
Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of host, and by
him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his
sanctuary was cast down (Daniel 8:11).
"The prince of the host," here, may refer to Onias, the high
priest of God's people, or it may refer to the fact that
Antiochus exalted himself against God, the real Prince of the
Hosts of Heaven, when he presumed to destroy His worship and set
up the worship of a filthy idol in God's sanctuary. The prophet
says:
... by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place
of his sanctuary was cast down (Daniel 8:1lb).
This refers to the fact that Antiochus suspended the daily
morning and evening sacrifices in the temple of the Most High
God, as stated in the book of Maccabees, and also in the
Antiquities of the Jews, by Josephus, from which we quote the
following:
For the king (Antiochus) had sent letters unto Jerusalem and
the cities of Judah, that they should follow the strange
laws of the land. And forbid burnt offerings and sacrifice,
and drink offerings in the temple; and that they should
profane the Sabbaths and festival days: and pollute the
sanctuary and holy people: set up altars and groves, and
chapels of idols, and sacrifice swine's flesh, and unclean
beasts. That they should also leave their children
uncircumcised, and make their souls abominable with all
manner of uncleanness and profanation: to the end they might
forget the law, and change all the ordinances. And whosoever
would not do according to the commandment of the king (he
said) he should die (1 Maccabees 1:44-50).
Josephus adds this testimony:
He (Antiochus) forbade to offer those daily sacrifices which
they used to offer to God, according to the law
(Antiquities, Chapter 5, Par.4).
In view of the above, can any still doubt the application of all
this prophecy, of the work of the "little horn," to Antiochus
Epiphanes?
All this happened to Israel because of their sins and
transgressions and because they had departed from the God of
their fathers. Says the prophet:
And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by
reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the
ground; and it practised, and prospered (Daniel 8:12).
There were certain wicked men and among them priests, who
obtained permission from Antiochus to introduce heathen customs
and who themselves were so far departed from God that they
prostituted the worship of the true God and introduced many
heathen customs even before the persecutions by Antiochus. Is it
any wonder that these things were permitted by God,in view of
Israel's apostasy and sins?
THE END OF THE 2300 DAYS
Now we come to the crucial and most interesting part of this
prophecy, on account of the fact that Seventh-day Adventists
claim that the "2300 days" ended October 22, 1844, and that then
(1844) the atonement and judgment began.
The whole theory of the Seventh-day Adventists is exploded by
what we have said before of the work of the "little horn" of
Daniel, eighth chapter, but nevertheless, we shall go further and
leave not a leg for the 1844 proposition to stand upon. We quote,
therefore, the next two verses:
Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto
that certain 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?" (Dan. 8:13).
Reduced to simple language, the question implies just this: How
long will this work of persecution and desolation by Antiochus
continue? How long will he have power to abolish the daily
evening and morning sacrifices? How long will the sanctuary of
the Lord at Jerusalem be polluted with idol worship and iniquity,
the offering of swine's flesh, etc.? The angel answered:
And he said unto me, "Unto two thousand and three hundred
days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" (Daniel 8:14).
Which sanctuary?, we may ask, and answer thus: The only sanctuary
that the angel could refer to, and which must be the one that was
polluted by Antiochus and his men, was in Jerusalem - and we
might add that this has no reference to the heavenly sanctuary -
none whatever. Only the twisting and turning of Scripture could
make it mean this. The sanctuary question as taught by
Seventh-day Adventists will not stand the searchlight of
Scripture, history or reason. It is a false and forced position,
merely to sustain the mistakes of William Miller and the
Seventh-day Adventist false prophetess, Mrs.Ellen G.White, who
claimed to see the matter in vision. The same vision Mrs.White
saw had been invented in theory already by Elder Crosier to
account for the inglorious mistake made originally by William
Miller, who, notwithstanding this mistake, was a pious Christian
gentleman.
It seems proper, before going further with our study of the
eighth chapter of Daniel, to consider the time brought to view in
the 14th verse:
...Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the
sanctuary be cleansed.
It will, perhaps, astonish our readers who have heard the "day
for a year" theory applied to this text, ending the 2,300 days in
1844, to learn that in the Hebrew original from which this verse
is taken the word "days" does not appear at all.
The Hebrew word for day is "yom," and in the Old Testament the
word "day" is translated 1,153 times from the Hebrew word "yom."
In its plural form, the word for days is "yamin" and the word
"days" is translated from this word no less than 657 times. In
the text where we get our authority for counting a day for a
year, the word is "yom," thus:
I have appointed thee each day [Hebrew, yom] for a year
(Ezekiel 4:6).
In our King James or Authorized Version, the word "days" is
wrongly translated from two words: "ereb," meaning "evening," and
"boger," meaning "morning." Why the translators of this version
so translated the words we know not, but every Hebrew scholar
knows that the translation is incorrect.
I have before me as I write, a photographed, electrotyped copy of
the original 1611 A.D. edition of the King James or Authorized
Version and in the marginal readings I find that the translators
themselves were pricked in their consciences over rendering the
words "ereb" and "boger," "days," and so they have in the margin
the following note: "Hebrew, evening morning."
I also have before me the original Hebrew, the English Revised
Version, the American Revised Version, Leeser's Jewish Bible, the
New Translation by the Jewish Publication Society, Martin
Luther's German Bible, and the Catholic Bible. In every instance
the rendering is "evening morning," making the verse read:
Unto two thousand three hundred evening morning then shall
the sanctuary be cleansed.
But, says one, is not that the same as saying "days?" We answer
most emphatically, NO, for the simple reason that the angel is
speaking of the "daily sacrifices" that were abolished by
Antiochus, of which there were two each day, one in the evening
and one in the morning, hence, just as the translators supplied
the word "sacrifice" after the word "daily," in verses 11, 12 and
13, so they should have supplied the word "sacrifices" in the
14th verse, giving it a correct rendering and its true meaning
thus:
Unto two thousand three hundred evening, morning sacrifices
then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
Every person who knows anything about the persecution of the Jews
by Antiochus Epiphanes knows that he did abolish the evening and
morning sacrifices in the sanctuary of the Jews. He forbade them
under penalty of death. (See Maccabees, Josephus, Prideaux'
Connections, Vol. 3, and many other works which verify this
point.)
Every student of history knows, or ought to know, that after
these evening and morning sacrifices had been abolished or left
unobserved for the time specified, in Daniel 8:14, Judas
Maccabees returned to Jerusalem, cleansed the sanctuary and
rededicated it. He pulled down the altars which the heathen had
erected; bore out the defiled stones into an unclean place; built
a new altar in the place of the altar of burnt offerings which
had been defiled; he hallowed the courts, made a new altar of
incense, table of shewbread, golden candlestick, etc., and after
this was done, he and the priests whom he selected, and the
people, solemnly reconsecrated the temple, the sanctuary of the
Lord, to His service.
This occurred on the twenty-fifth day of the month Kisleu, and
the service continued for eight days, and from that day to this
the feast of the dedication or lights has been observed by the
Jews in honor of the cleansing of the sanctuary. This feast was
observed in the time of Christ, see John 10:22, and is still
observed by orthodox Jews everywhere; so then, those who locate
the end of the 2,300 days (evening morning) and the cleansing of
the sanctuary in 1844, are over two thousand years out of date,
and to that extent behind time and in gross error.
We shall give a few quotations from the book of Maccabees to
prove our point:
So he chose priests of blameless conversation, such as had
pleasure in the law. Who cleansed the sanctuary, and bare
out the defiled stones into an unclean place. Furthermore,
they set the loaves upon the table, and spread out the
vails, and finished all the work which they had begun to
make. Now on the five and twentieth day of the ninth month
(which is called the month Casleu), in the hundredth and
forty-eighth year they rose up betimes in the morning. And
offered a sacrifice according to law upon the new altar of
burnt offerings which they had made (1 Maccabees
4:42,43,51-53).
Josephus relates the story of the cleansing of the sanctuary
thus:
When, therefore, the generals of Antiochus' armies had been
beaten so often, Judas assembled the people together, and
told them that after these many victories which God had
given them, they ought to go up to Jerusalem and purify the
temple (cleanse the sanctuary) and offer the appointed
sacrifices. When, therefore, he had carefully purged
(cleansed) it, and had brought in new vessels, the
candlesticks, the table (of shewbread), and the altar (of
incense), which were made of gold, he hung up the vails at
the gates, and added doors to them; he also took down the
altar (of burnt offering), and built a new one of
stones that he had gathered together, and not of such as
were hewn with iron tools. So on the 25th day of the month
of Casleu, which the Macedonians call Apelleus, they lighted
the lamps that were on the candle sticks and offered incense
upon the altar (of incense), and laid loaves of bread upon
the table (of shewbread) and offered burnt offerings upon
the new altar (of burnt offerings)......And this desolation
came to pass according to the prophecy of Daniel, which was
given 408 years before; for he declared that the Macedonians
would dissolve the worship (for some time). And from that
time to this we celebrate this festival and call it lights
(Antiquities of the Jews, Book 7).
For a full description of the cleansing of the sanctuary by Judas
Maccabees, see also Prideaux' Connection, 3, pp. 265-269.
What further proof is necessary to establish the truth of our
statement that Antiochus is symbolized by the "little horn" that
came out of one of the four divisions of Alexander's kingdom and
that he abolished the daily evening and morning sacrifices in the
sanctuary after polluting it, and that after the specified number
of evening and morning sacrifices had passed Judas Maccabees
cleansed the sanctuary according to the words of Daniel the
prophet?
"Unto two thousand three hundred evening morning
(sacrifices) then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."
We leave this explanation with the reader with the fervent prayer
that he will not pass it over lightly, but that he will study it
carefully and prayerfully, and be able to see the awful mistakes
of Seventh-day Adventism and also to enlighten others who are
entangled in those errors.
THE NUMBER SHOULD BE 2200
It may surprise some Seventh-day Adventists to learn that,
although the author of their book, "Thoughts on Daniel," has
quoted Dr.Hales to prove that there is no number in the Bible
whose genuineness is better ascertained than that of the 2,300
days, that it is by no means true that 2,300 is the correct
number.
When Jesus was on earth, He quoted from the Septuagint or Greek
translation by the LXX, as also did His disciples after him, and
yet in that translation (Vatican MSS) the number is given as
2400.
If Jesus had attached the importance to the 2,300 days (or
"evening-morning") that the Adventists do, He no doubt would have
called attention to the discrepancy, but He knew that these days
(or "evening-morning") had passed and could have no
serious effect upon the future - hence His silence.
Then, too, some of the older copies of the book of Daniel,
noticed by the great scholar and translator of the Vulgate,
Jerome, give the number as "2,200 evening morning," which is
perhaps correct, as the oldest manuscripts are without question
more true to the original.
Clearly, then, Seventh-day Adventists are out of joint with the
prophecy in every particular.
The difference in figures noted above is the fault of copyists,
who never claimed inspiration and were never credited with being
inspired. The figures 2,200 appearing in the oldest manuscripts,
have greater claim to our acceptance, particularly so, in as much
as the actual historical occurrences fit these figures ("2200")
to a nicety - We are furnished with the exact time or date when
the desolation of the sanctuary and abolition of the daily,
evening and morning sacrifices took place, as follows:
On the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the one hundred
forty-fifth year (of the Selucid era, or 168 B. C.), they
set up the abomination of desolation on the altar (1 Mac.
1:54).
On that date the temple was desecrated, an altar and the statue
of Jupiter Olympius set up, displacing the worship of Jehovah and
putting an end to the Jewish evening and morning sacrifices.
Ten days later, on the 25th of Casleu, the sacrifices to Jupiter
began and the temple was sprinkled with the broth of swine's
flesh.
In 1 Mac. 4:52-54, we find the date when the temple service was
resumed after its cleansing. We read:
Now on the five and twentieth day of the ninth month, which
is called the month of Casleu, in the hundred and
forty-eighth year [B.C. 165], they rose up betimes in the
morning and offered sacrifices according to the law upon the
new altar of burnt offerings, which they had made.
Look at what time and what day the heathen had profaned it, even
in that it was dedicated with songs, and citherns, and harps and
cymbals. Josephus also bears witness to these dates, as follows:
This desolation happened to the temple in the hundred forty
and fifth year, on the twenty-fifth day of the month
Apelleus (Casleu), and on the hundred fifty and third
Olympiad: but was dedicated anew on the same day, the
twenty-fifth of the month Apelleus (Casleu), on the hundred
forty-eighth year and on the hundred and fifty-fourth
Olympiad, and this desolation came to pass according to the
prophecy of Daniel, which was given four hundred and eight
years before: for he declared that the Macedonians (Greeks)
would dissolve the worship [for some time] (Antiquities 12,
7, 6).
He speaks in another place thus:
And that from among them [the four horns of the rough goat]
there should arise a certain king that should overcome our
nation, and should take away their political government and
should spoil the temple, and forbid the sacrifice to be
offered for three years' time.
And indeed it so came to pass, that our nation suffered
these things under Antiochus Epiphanes, according to
"Daniel's vision and what he wrote years before they came to
pass" (Antiquities 10, 11, 7).
The Jews did not reckon time by the sun, but counted each new
moon as the beginning of their religious month.
Watchers were appointed to notice the first appearance of the new
moon, and as soon as it was observed, trumpets were blown at the
temple and fires were lighted upon eminences. These months
consisted of 29 1/2 days, or as they counted, 29 days in one
month and 30 in the next.
Their religious year of 12 months consisted of 354 days and to
equalize their time with the solar year, they added an
intercalary month of 29 days every three years.
It will be observed that Josephus counts three years from the
time the heathen sacrifice began in the temple of the Lord until
the sanctuary was cleansed and the morning and evening sacrifices
were again resumed; but according to Judas Maccabees, before
quoted, the Jewish sacrifices were set aside ten days before the
heathen sacrifices began (1 Mac. 1:543), so to get the correct
time, we must count three years and ten days.
Let us do some figuring:
Three years of 354 days each, equal ...1062 days. One intercalary
month ...29 days. From 15th to 25th of Casleu...10 days. Total
time ...1101 days.
This included the 25th day of Casleu, which was the day that the
daily evening and morning sacrifices were resumed, after the
cleansing, hence it is necessary to deduct this one day, as the
abolition of sacrifices and desecration were brought to an end
the preceding day (24th) and the sacrifices were resumed the 25th
day. This makes our total just 1100 days. Counting two sacrifices
each day, one evening and one morning, we multiply 1100 times 2
and see that 2200 sacrifices were abolished.
This harmonizes with the prophecy and is in accord with the older
versions seen by Jerome as well as with the reckoning of
Josephus, and this establishes the fact that the more correct
rendering of the text would be:
"...Unto two thousand and two hundred evening morning
(sacrifices) then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."
JOSEPHUS CLEARS THE RECORD OF DANIEL 8:14
It is very evident that what Josephus says of Antiochus Epiphanes
fulfilling the prophecy of Daniel in desecrating the temple and
abolishing the morning and evening sacrifices for three years, is
established beyond peradventure of doubt, and that he resorted to
the oldest manuscripts obtainable. This should settle any
discussion or question as to the time period of Daniel 8:14. It
is unimpeachable evidence that the correct rendering is "2200
days," or "evening and morning" (sacrifices) and NOT "2300," as
our King James version gives it.
We have diligently searched the writings of Josephus and among
other evidence substantiating the conclusions herein set forth,
we find Josephus saying:
Now that Scripture which is laid up in the temple, informs
us... (Antiquities, Book 3, Ch.1, end of last part).
And again, he says:
I have translated the Antiquities out of our sacred books;
which I easily could do, since I was a priest by birth,
and have studied that philosophy which is contained in
those writings (Against Apion, Par. 10).
Commenting further as to the holy books (Scripture), to which he
had access, Josephus says that these ancient manuscripts fell
into his own possession following the destruction of Jerusalem;
that they were presented to him by Titus. He says:
Moreover, when the city of Jerusalem was taken by force,
Titus Caesar persuaded me frequently to take whatever I
would of the ruins of my country, and said that he gave me
leave so to do; but when my country was destroyed, I thought
nothing else to be of any value which I could take and keep
as a comfort under my calamities; so I made this request to
Titus, that my family might have their liberty: I had also
the holy books by Titus's concession (Life of Josephus,
written by himself. Whiston's Josephus, p. 35).
The "holy books" referred to in this quotation, comprised the
whole of what we now call the Old Testament; for proof of which
see Flavius Josephus against Apion, Whiston's Josephus, Bk.1,
Par.7.
Thus it appears that Josephus not only had access to the oldest
Scriptures, while the temple was standing, but actually owned
them after the destruction of Jerusalem. These were the very
Scriptures which were in use in the temple at Jerusalem in the
time of Christ and these gave the reading of the time period in
Daniel 8:14 as "2200 evening morning;" of this there can be no
question.
In view of all the evidence presented, even the most sceptical
must be convinced that Daniel 8:14 should properly read:
"...Unto two thousand two hundred evening morning
(sacrifices), then shall the sanctuary be cleansed"
Josephus was an honorable man and a scholar, a firm believer in
the inspiration of the Jewish Scriptures of which he said in his
writings against Apion "which are justly believed to be divine,"
and then he tells us that the temple was desecrated for three
years and of these three years, that:
Indeed it so came to pass that our nation suffered these
things under Antiochus Epiphanes, according to Daniel's
vision and what he wrote years before they came to pass.
We would be foolish indeed to suppose that he tried to fit three
years into 2300 days - we would be obliged to question the
intelligence and honesty of a wonderful scholar and the best
Jewish historian who ever lived, and knowing that he took his
reckoning from history less than two hundred years in the past
and compared it with the very Scriptures used in the Jewish
temple at Jerusalem in the time of Christ, such imputation would
only prove our own ignorance, therefore it remains a settled and
proven fact that 2200, and not 2300, is the correct number in
Daniel 8:14.
................
TO BE CONTINUED
|
