Segment 4 -
Daniel 8
The Antichrist
____________________
page l 1 l 2 l 3 l 4 l 5 l 6 l 7 l
page 6/7
How Jesus Cleanses the
Temple in Heaven
Unlike the earthy
temple, which was cleansed annually,
Heaven’s temple is cleansed
once, at the end of the age. (Hebrews
9:24-26) This cleansing began in
1844, which is 2,300 years after the
decree to restore and rebuild
Jerusalem given by Artaxerxes in 457
B.C. (457 B.C. also marks the
beginning of the seventy weeks in
Daniel 9.) The Day of Atonement
service in the earthly temple was a
shadow of the plan of salvation.
Notice what the shadow reveals:
Two animals, a bull
and a goat, were sacrifices in this
service. (Leviticus 16) This service
began right after daybreak with the
slaying of a bull that belonged to
the high priest. This bull (a very
expensive sacrifice) represents the
sacrifice that the Father made in
order to redeem mankind. “For
God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son…”
(John 3:16, KJV) The Father gave up
the most valuable asset He could
provide so fallen man could have the
offer of salvation. After the bull
was slain, the high priest carried
some of the bull’s blood behind
the veil into the Most Holy Place
where he met with God. The high
priest had to be worthy to cleanse
the temple before he could conduct
the service. The slaying of the bull
and the worthiness of the high priest
shadows the sacrifice that the Father
made and the qualifying process which
Jesus our High Priest underwent
before He could conclude the sin
problem. (See Revelation 4 and 5.)
The next event on the
Day of Atonement was casting of lots
to determine which goat should die.
After the lots were cast, the
Lord’s goat was slayed. The
Lord’s goat represents the death
that Jesus was willing to experience
in order to save man. A goat was used
for this sacrifice because a goat has
a free spirit. Jesus freely gave up
His life for sinners. After the
Lord’s goat was slain, its blood
was mixed with the bull’s blood.
Then, the high priest went behind the
veil a second time to begin the
cleansing of the temple. The first
item to be cleansed was the Art of
the Covenant. The second item was the
Altar of Incense and the last item to
be cleansed was the Altar of Burnt
Offering. These items were cleansed
in this order and they became free of
sin (cleansed, recons crated,
restored) when the mixed blood of the
bull and the goat was sprinkled on
them.
The last event in this
service was the laying of hands on
the head of the scapegoat. The
scapegoat represents Lucifer, the
author of sin, who freely exercised
his power of choice to commit sin.
After the temple furniture had been
made holy with the sprinkling of
blood, the high priest placed his
hands on the head of the scapegoat.
Through the placement of hands on the
scapegoat, the sins of the people
(which had been stored on the
temple’s altars) were transferred
onto the head of the scapegoat.
Then, the scapegoat was led out into
the wilderness to slowly starve to
death.
This may come as a
shock, but in God’s economy, sin
is never forgiven because someone
other than God is responsible for
sin. The beauty of salvation is that
sinners can escape the penalty of sin
through faith. If a sinner makes
restitution for his sin and confesses
his sin to God, he transfers his
guilt to Heaven’s temple. At the
end of the 1,000 years in revelation
20, Lucifer, the scapegoat, will
receive all of the guilt transferred
into Heaven’s temple because he
is responsible for the presence of
sin. On the other hand, if a sinner
does not transfer his sin to the
temple, his sins remain upon his own
head and in God’s economy; the
wages of sin is eternal death.
(Romans 6:23) At the end of the 1,000
years, God will execute justice on
the scapegoat and the wicked and they
will suffer in proportion to their
guilt until they are annihilated.
This is the meaning of divine
justice.
The Temple to be
Cleansed Is in Heaven
The cleansing of the
earthy temple shadows a process that
began in Heaven in 1844. It is
interesting to notice that 1844 is
exactly forty-six years after 1798.
When Jesus began His ministry on
Earth, His first action after
returning from fasting in the desert
was the cleansing of the temple that
took forty-six years to restore!
(John 2:13-21) The parallel is that
Jesus began cleansing the heavenly
temple forty-six after the
twenty-five thrones had been arranged
and the convocation in Heaven began!
Before the cleansing
of Heaven’s temple could begin,
someone had to be found worthy to
conduct the process. Jesus was found
worthy to cleanse Heaven’s
temple. After Jesus was found worthy,
both Daniel (Daniel 7:13,14) and John
(Revelation 4 and 5) saw Jesus highly
exalted. Daniel 7 and Revelation 4
and 5 describe the same scene from
slightly different angles. After
Jesus was found worthy to cleanse
Heaven’s temple, He began
passing judgment on the records of
the dead. Since the Spring of 1844,
Jesus has been going through the
books of record – one sinner at
a time. Standing before the hosts of
Heaven, Jesus has been deciding who
will be a part of His eternal kingdom
and who will not.
When Jesus determines
a person will be saved, Jesus removes
the record of sin from Heaven’s
book and He transfers the guilt of
the sinner to the head of Lucifer.
When Jesus determines a person cannot
be saved, Jesus places the guilt of
that sinner on the sinner’s
head. The point is that the temple in
Heaven is cleansed as the guilt of
sin is removed and placed on
the appropriate party. (Leviticus 20;
Ezekiel 11:21; 22:31; 18:1-24)
When the time comes
for the destruction of sinners at the
end of the 1,000 years, every wicked
person will suffer the appropriately
penalty for his sins. God will see
that every condemned sinner gets
their due reward: “For we know
him who said, ‘It is mine to
avenge; I will repay,’ and
again, ‘The Lord will judge his
people.’ It is a dreadful thing
to fall into the hands of the living
God.” (Hebrews 10:30,31)
Jesus will complete
the task of judging mankind during
the Great Tribulation. People living
during the Great Tribulation will not
be judged in the same way as those
who have died. The faith of people
living at that time will be tested
with persecution. In this way, they
will choose and determine their
eternal destiny. At the sounding of
seventh trumpet (Revelation 11:15-19)
the cleansing of Heaven’s temple
will be finished and the temple will
at last, be free of sin. (Revelation
15:1-8) The book of Revelation
reveals much more about this process,
but this synopsis is intended to give
you a general overview of the
judgment process. Consider these
comments by Bible writers:
“Now all
has been heard; here is the
conclusion of the matter: Fear God
and keep his commandments, for this
is the whole duty of man. For God will
bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing, whether
it is good or evil.”
(Ecclesiastes 12: 13,14, italics
mine) King Solomon
“Moreover, the
Father judges no one, but has entrusted
all judgment to the Son, that all
may honor the Son just as they honor
the Father. He who does not honor the
Son does not honor the Father, who
sent him.” (John 5:22,23,
italics mine) Apostle John
“For we must all
appear before the judgment seat of
Christ, that each one may receive
what is due him for the things done
while in the body, whether good or
bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10)
Apostle Paul
“For he [the
Father] has set a day when he
will judge the world with justice by
the man he had appointed. He has
given proof of this to all men by
raising him from the dead.” (Acts
17:31, insertion and italics mine)
Apostle Paul
“As Paul
discoursed on righteousness,
self-control and the judgment to
come, Felix was afraid and said,
‘That is enough for now! You may
leave. When I find it convenient, I
will send for you.” (Acts 24:25
italics mine) Apostle Paul
“Behold, I am
coming soon! My reward is with me,
and I will give to everyone according
to what he has done.” (Revelation
22:12) Apostle John
Remember that the
2,300 days in Daniel 8:14 have been a
great mystery for most Bible
students. The reason for the mystery
is quite simple. The event to
which this prophecy points is not on
Earth, but in Heaven. God
uses the Heaven-Earth-Linkage-Law
again to inform us of the timing of
something we cannot see. God put the
kingdoms of Medo-Persia and Grecia in
Daniel 8 because the 2,300 days began
during the time of Medo-Persia. Then,
God linked the decree of a Persian
king (Artaxerxes, Ezra 7) with the
cleansing of Heaven’s temple in
1844 by inserting a 2,300-year
time-period in the prophecy of Daniel
8. (Review Chart 4.4 and notice how
Daniel 7 and Daniel 8 align.)
A starting date for
the 2,300 years is not mentioned in
Daniel 8 because the starting date is
given in Daniel 9. To make matters
more mysterious, the cleansing of the
temple is in Heaven and not on Earth!
No wonder this time-period has been a
great mystery for nearly twenty-six
centuries! Fortunately, God has
revealed the architecture of Daniel
and we can determine when the 2,300
evenings and mornings began. We will
find in our study on Daniel 9 that
the seventy weeks and the 2,300 days
start together and we will find that
Daniel 7, Daniel 8, Daniel 9 and
Revelation 4 and 5 perfectly align. I
hope you will be patient enough to
allow the prophetic matrix to build.
My frustration, as we go through this
study, is in trying to explain why
each piece of prophecy belongs in a
certain place (according to the
rules) before all the pieces that
belong to the story have been
identified! Therefore, all I can ask
at the present is that you allow the
matrix to place each new piece in its
place.
Section VI – The
Horn Power in Daniel 8 Cannot be the
Papacy
The Time of Wrath
The reformation
Christians believed the horn power of
Daniel 8 represented the papacy and
some Christians today believe the
same thing. Let us briefly examine
this view, Gabriel told Daniel, “…
I am going to tell you what will
happen later in the time of wrath,
because the vision concerns the
appointed time of the end.” (Daniel
8:19) Since the ram and goat
represent ancient empires, this
leaves the horn power as only element
in this vision that can appear at
“the appointed time of the
end.” This vision includes a
prophetic span of 2,300 evenings and
mornings, so the appointed time of
the end has to occur after
1844! In other words, the horn power
described in Daniel 8 does not appear
prior to 1844. This simple fact
eliminates the Roman Catholic Church
as a possible candidate for the horn
power of Daniel 8 because the Roman
Catholic Church achieved absolute
power in A.D. 538. The little horn of
Daniel 7 and the horn power of Daniel
8 cannot be the same entity for the
following reasons:
1.
The little horn of Daniel 7 rises out
of the Roman Empire. The horn power
of Daniel 8 does not derive its
strength from Rome or any nation. The
horn power in Daniel 8 is a power
unto itself. It appears out of one of
the four winds, specifically, the
north.
2.
The little horn of Daniel 7 arises in
A.D. 538 after the ten horns have
broken the Roman Empire. The horn
power of Daniel 8 has to appear after
1844 because it appears during the
appointed time of the end.
3.
The little horn of Daniel 7
represents a diverse or different
type of kingdom (Daniel 7:8) that
wars against the saints for a very
long time (1,260 years). The little
horn in Daniel 7 was unlike the
remaining seven horns in that it had
eyes and a mouth. The horn power of
Daniel 8 represents a man, a
stern-faced king who will take
“the daily” away from Jesus
during the appointed time of the end.
As we will see, taking the daily away
from Jesus is something that no
ordinary mortal can do, not even a
pope!
4.
Daniel 7 predicts the papacy will
recover from its wound and speak
boastfully against the Most High.
Revelation 13:1-5 confirms the deadly
wound will be healed at the time of
the end, but Daniel 8 reveals that
the Antichrist will destroy the
authority of the papacy by casting
all religions to the ground and
trampling on them. The Antichrist
“will exalt himself over
everything that is called God” by
means of the miracles, he has power
to do. (2 Thessalonians 2:4;
Revelation 13:14) The Antichrist will
abolish all the religious systems,
including the papacy, to establish
his global religion. The stern-faced
king in Daniel 8 will lead the world
to war against the King of kings, and
the prince of darkness will take his
stand against the Prince of
Heaven’s host (Jesus, King of
kings) at the Second Coming.
5.
The horn power in Daniel 8 cannot be
destroyed by human power. This
feature stands in contrast to the
fact that the little horn in Daniel 7
is subject to mortality. The papacy
was almost destroyed by the sword
(war) in 1798.
Daniel 11:36-12:3
contributes several important points
to apocalyptic matrix. Even though we
have not studied Daniel 10-12, this
prophecy amplifies the works and
activities of the horn power in
Daniel 8. The king of the north in
Daniel 11:36 and the stern-faced king
that comes out of the north in Daniel
8 are the same entity. The
papacy cannot meet all of the
specifications that go with the horn
power of Daniel 8. A study of
Revelation 9 and Revelation 13:11-18,
will show the antichrist, the
physical appearing of Lucifer with
millions of his angels, to be the
only solution that satisfies all of
the specifications for this power in
the books of Daniel and Revelation.
page l 1 l 2 l 3 l 4 l 5 l 6 l 7 l
page 6/7
