FAITH FUNDAMENTALS IN PROPHECY

“Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Daniel 8:14 (KJV):

ABSTRACT

Christ ministers today as High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary, where the investigative judgment begun in 1844 unfolds under the three angels of Revelation 14.

WHY REVISIT DANIEL’S VISION?

A vision given centuries before Christ still asks something of every reader who will open it today. The prophet Amos once wrote, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7, KJV), and Daniel’s eighth chapter fulfills that promise with unusual fullness. The revelation looks forward to kingdoms that did not yet exist, to a sanctuary that was still veiled, and to a date that no one in Babylon could have calculated. Daniel himself was told, “He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him” (Daniel 2:22, KJV), and the psalmist added that “the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant” (Psalm 25:14, KJV). Ellen G. White observed that “through another vision further light was thrown upon the events of the future; and it was at the close of this vision that Daniel heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision?” (Prophets and Kings, p. 554, 1917). The prophetic messenger then pressed the point of careful study, writing that “it is of the utmost importance that all should thoroughly investigate these subjects, and be able to give an answer to everyone that asketh them a reason of the hope that is in them” (The Great Controversy, p. 488, 1911). While many approach Daniel’s dreams as antique curiosity, the chapter before us treats them as the outline of our present hour. What, then, did the prophet actually see by the river Ulai?

WHAT STOOD BY THE RIVER ULAI?

Daniel received this vision in a courtly setting that itself carried prophetic weight. He recorded, “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. 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” (Daniel 8:1–2, KJV). The place named Shushan would soon become the winter capital of the Persian kings, so the prophet was standing, in vision, inside the very city where the next empire would hold court. When Daniel sought an explanation he heard a voice between the banks of the river, and he wrote, “I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision” (Daniel 8:15, KJV), and the prophet Habakkuk had already taught the faithful to trust such messages, saying, “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Habakkuk 2:3, KJV). In The Desire of Ages we read, “It was Gabriel, the angel next in rank to the Son of God, who came with the divine message to Daniel” (The Desire of Ages, p. 234, 1898). Through inspired counsel we are also told that “in the vision of the prophet God is seen casting down one mighty ruler, and setting up another. He is revealed as the monarch of the universe, about to set up His everlasting kingdom—the Ancient of days, the living God, the Source of all wisdom, the Ruler of the present, the Revealer of the future” (SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 4, p. 1166, 1955). While the palace at Shushan stood as a monument to human majesty, the vision along its river declared a higher sovereignty that would outlast every throne. What first figure then stepped into view to open the long procession?

WHO IS THE TWO-HORNED RAM?

The first figure was a ram with two unequal horns, and the prophet watched its conquests without interruption. Daniel testified, “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” (Daniel 8:3–4, KJV). The angel left no ambiguity when he declared, “The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia” (Daniel 8:20, KJV), and the rise of Persia had already been foretold by Isaiah, who wrote that the Lord “saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid” (Isaiah 44:28, KJV). A passage from Prophets and Kings reminds us that “from the rise and fall of nations as made plain in the books of Daniel and the Revelation, we need to learn how worthless is mere outward and worldly glory. Babylon, with all its power and magnificence, the like of which our world has never since beheld—power and magnificence which to the people of that day seemed so stable and enduring—how completely has it passed away! As the flower of the grass, it has perished. So perished the Medo-Persian kingdom, and the kingdoms of Grecia and Rome. And so perishes all that has not God for its foundation” (Prophets and Kings, p. 548, 1917). The inspired pen adds that “the power exercised by every ruler on the earth is Heaven-imparted; and upon his use of the power thus bestowed, his success depends” (Child Guidance, p. 95, 1954). While the ram pushed in three directions as though nothing could restrain him, the taller horn rising last pointed to Persia’s ascent over Media and to the brief shelf-life of every dominion that forgets its Giver. What new power, then, was already racing in from the west to bring this ram down?

WHAT CHARGES FROM THE WEST?

A he-goat came so swiftly that he seemed not to touch the ground, and the prophet traced his rise, his reach, and his ruin in a single compact record. Daniel wrote, “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” (Daniel 8:5, KJV), and the angel then named the figure without disguise, saying, “The rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king” (Daniel 8:21, KJV). When Alexander died at the height of his reach, a further verse foretold the fourfold division that followed, for Daniel saw that “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” (Daniel 8:8, KJV). A prophetic voice once wrote that “every nation has had its period of test; each has failed, its glory faded, its power departed” (Prophets and Kings, p. 535, 1917), and through inspired counsel we are told regarding Alexander himself that “Alexander and Caesar found it easier to subdue a world than to subdue themselves. After conquering nation after nation, they fell—one of them the victim of intemperance, the other of mad ambition” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 656, 1876). While the goat ran with such speed that his feet seemed lifted above the earth, the first king who wore that notable horn could not master the small territory of his own temper, and his empire shattered into four weaker parts within a generation of his grave. What then arose from one of those four divisions to grow exceeding great?

HOW DID ROME WAX SO GREAT?

From one of the four Greek divisions a little horn emerged, and its growth followed a pattern that the prophet described in sober, terrible detail. Daniel wrote, “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” (Daniel 8:9, KJV), and the same figure moved from imperial power to religious power as the vision continued, for the prophet added, “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” (Daniel 8:11, KJV). Yet the horn would meet an end that no human blade could claim, because Daniel foresaw that “he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand” (Daniel 8:25, KJV). A passage from The Great Controversy reminds us that “Popery had become the world’s despot. Kings and emperors bowed to the decrees of the Roman pontiff. The destinies of men, both for time and for eternity, seemed under his control” (The Great Controversy, p. 60, 1911). The inspired pen adds that “as foretold by prophecy, the papal power cast down the truth to the ground. The law of God was trampled in the dust, while the traditions and customs of men were exalted” (The Great Controversy, p. 65, 1911). While the legions of pagan Rome could crucify a Roman citizen but never a truth, the later ecclesiastical phase of that same power laid its hand upon the Sabbath itself and exchanged the commandment for a tradition. How long, then, would this trampling of sanctuary and saints be permitted to last?

HOW LONG, O LORD, HOW LONG?

A question rose between two holy voices and received an answer that opened the clock of the last days. The prophet heard, “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” (Daniel 8:13–14, KJV). The sanctuary in view is not an earthly shrine but a heavenly reality, for the writer of Hebrews declared that the faithful have “such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man” (Hebrews 8:1–2, KJV), and the same epistle insists that “Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Hebrews 9:24, KJV). Through inspired counsel we are told that “in the typical system, which was a shadow of the sacrifice and priesthood of Christ, the cleansing of the sanctuary was the last service performed by the high priest in the yearly round of ministration. It was the closing work of the atonement—a removal or putting away of sin from Israel. It prefigured the closing work in the ministration of our High Priest in heaven, in the removal or blotting out of the sins of His people, which are registered in the heavenly records” (The Great Controversy, p. 352, 1911). A passage from The Great Controversy also explains that “as anciently the sins of the people were by faith placed upon the sin offering and through its blood transferred, in figure, to the earthly sanctuary, so in the new covenant the sins of the repentant are by faith placed upon Christ and transferred, in fact, to the heavenly sanctuary” (The Great Controversy, pp. 421–422, 1911). While the ancient priest entered the most holy place once a year on the Day of Atonement, the Lord long ago commanded that “he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation” (Leviticus 16:33, KJV). What, then, did the faithful learn when the long hours of the autumn of 1844 finally passed?

WHAT BROKE THE HEARTS OF 1844?

The close of the 2300 days in the autumn of 1844 brought a grief so heavy that it broke the strongest hearts, yet it never broke the word of God. The angel had already told Daniel, “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” (Daniel 8:26, KJV), and the prophet himself confessed, “And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it” (Daniel 8:27, KJV). The letter to the Hebrews offered the very anchor that the disappointed company needed, reminding them, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession” (Hebrews 4:14, KJV). Through inspired counsel we are told that “the time of expectation passed, and Christ did not appear for the deliverance of His people. Those who with sincere faith had looked for their Saviour experienced a bitter disappointment” (The Great Controversy, p. 424, 1911). A passage from The Great Controversy then describes the months that followed, noting that “the passing of the time of expectation in 1844 was followed by a period of great trial to those who still held the advent faith” (The Great Controversy, p. 428, 1911). While the date was correct and the calculation was sound, the event had been misread, for the Saviour did not descend to cleanse an earthly shrine but entered the most holy place of the heavenly one. How then does a vision that cost so many tears also reveal the love of God?

HOW DOES LOVE MOVE FIRST?

Love that waits to be wooed is human, but love that moves first is divine, and Daniel’s vision is a long argument for the second kind. The Lord spoke through Jeremiah, “The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3, KJV), and Paul pressed the same truth further, writing, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, KJV). The apostle John summed it all in a single line when he declared, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10, KJV). Through inspired counsel we are told that “they had looked for the Lord to come to the earth, but instead of this He entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary” (The Great Controversy, p. 429, 1911), and the same chapter insists that “the sanctuary in heaven is the very center of Christ’s work in behalf of men” (The Great Controversy, p. 488, 1911). While the faithful in 1844 had expected a visible descent, the Saviour had already moved inward to plead their cause before the Father, turning their confusion into a deeper mercy. What, then, does such love ask of me in return?

WHAT DOES GOD ASK OF ME?

Love answered with love begins where love first moved, and the ancient prophets already named the shape of my reply. The Lord through Micah put the question plainly, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God” (Micah 6:8, KJV), and Paul pressed the same call into the language of worship when he wrote, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1, KJV). The preacher of Ecclesiastes closed his long meditation with the same note, saying, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13, KJV). A passage from The Great Controversy reminds us that there were also, in every trial, those who refused shallow retreat, for “others were unwilling to renounce points of faith and experience that were sustained by the Scriptures” (The Great Controversy, p. 430, 1911). While fashion invites me to treat the commandments as optional and the sanctuary as symbolic, Scripture binds my life to a living High Priest who still ministers for me today. How then am I to walk with the neighbor who is still working through the same questions?

HOW DO I CARRY MY BROTHER?

A vision this large leaves no room for a small heart, and my neighbor is the first place the vision asks to be lived. Paul wrote to the Galatians, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2, KJV), and to the Philippians he added, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” (Philippians 2:3, KJV). John made the matter unavoidable when he wrote, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen” (1 John 4:20, KJV). Through inspired counsel we are told that even the leaders of the advent movement learned slowly, for “like the first disciples, William Miller and his associates did not themselves fully comprehend the import of the message which they bore” (The Great Controversy, p. 351, 1911). While my first instinct after a hard truth is often to argue with the one who misses it, the faithful of 1844 teach us that patient, humble instruction bears more light than a sharpened tongue ever could. What lingers, then, from this vision once the study is set aside?

WHAT LINGERS FROM THIS VISION?

What lingers is the quiet dignity of a God who keeps appointments that empires cannot keep. Hebrews assures us that “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:28, KJV), Peter reminds us that “the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7, KJV), and Paul’s shorter line still governs the long wait, for “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7, KJV). A passage from The Great Controversy reminds us that darkness has never had the final word, for “amid the gloom that settled upon the earth during the long period of papal supremacy, the light of truth could not be wholly extinguished” (The Great Controversy, p. 61, 1911). Through inspired counsel we are also told that “God designed to prove His people. His hand covered a mistake in the reckoning of the prophetic periods” (The Great Controversy, p. 374, 1911). While the prophet fainted and went home to the king’s business, the unfinished vision kept working in him for years, and it will keep working in the honest reader for the rest of a life. Where then does this long journey finally end?

WHERE DOES THIS JOURNEY END?

The journey ends where it began, in the settled purpose of a God who declares “the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isaiah 46:10, KJV). The Saviour Himself promises, “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be” (Revelation 22:12, KJV), and the letter to the Hebrews presses patience upon the waiting heart, for “ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise” (Hebrews 10:36, KJV). In The Great Controversy we read that “our High Priest entered the most holy, to perform the last division of His solemn work—to cleanse the sanctuary” (The Great Controversy, p. 480, 1911), and the same volume adds that for the disappointed of 1844, “the only relief for them was the light which directed their minds to the sanctuary above” (The Great Controversy, p. 431, 1911). While empires still rise and fall in our own century with the same old appetites, the eighth chapter of Daniel is a steady voice telling the church where to look, what to expect, and whom to trust.

LAST THOUGHTS…

This study walks slowly through the eighth chapter of Daniel, where a ram, a he-goat, and a little horn cross the stage and tell how empires rise and fall. The ram becomes Medo-Persia, the goat becomes Greece, and the little horn grows through pagan and papal Rome until it reaches toward the Prince of the host. A question spoken between two holy voices receives an answer that carries the reader to 1844, to a sanctuary in heaven, and to a judgment begun in silence. The study traces each figure without hurry and asks what the faithful of 1844 learned when their hope was deferred. It closes by binding the vision to love, to duty, and to the neighbor who sits in the pew beside me and walks the same street that I do.

“Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” – Hebrews 8:1-2 (KJV):

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SELF-REFLECTION

1. When I study Daniel 8 in my own devotional time, which figure in the vision unsettles me the most, and what is that unsettlement trying to teach me about my own walk with God?
2. If I were asked to teach or preach this chapter next Sabbath, which single sentence of Scripture or inspired counsel would I place at the center of my message, and why?
3. What common misunderstandings about 1844 do I hear in conversations with family, coworkers, or fellow members, and how can I answer them gently from Scripture rather than from argument?
4. How does the truth that my High Priest is now in the most holy place change the way I live the next twenty-four hours of my ordinary week?

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