THE BOOK OF DANIEL | THE FUTURE OF THE GENTILE REIGN AND THE JEWISH REMNANT

LISTENER’S GUIDE | SESSION 12 | DANIEL 8:13-27 | DR. RANDY WHITE

Note: Session 11 notes contained portions of vv 13-27. This session contains the complete notes from this passage.

Verse 13 - Daniel now eavesdrops on a conversation between two saints, or holy ones, possibly angels.

Verse 14 - This time period has been interpreted in about as many ways as there are commentaries.

The Seventh Day Adventists used this to argue that the Lord would return in 1844 (2300 years after the desecration of the temple by Antiochus, in 167 BC.)

In the end, no interpretation is perfectly satisfactory, but the best appears to be to consider this as fully fulfilled in Antiochus, who removed the regular priesthood in 171 BC and died in 164 BC, the entire time the Temple being desecrated to some degree, even though the sacrifices were not fully halted until 167 BC. If this is the correct interpretation, then there is no need to align this time period with the seven years of tribulation seen in Daniel 9.

Verse 17 – the time of the end - This gives indication that there is interpretation of the vision beyond Antiochus Epiphanes.

Here one must deal with an interpretive matter. Is this indignation the current one, being the Babylonian exile? or is it the end of all four kingdoms, taking place just before the Ancient of Days gives the kingdom to the Son of Man?

There are three passages which speak of the indignation coming to an end, Dan. 8:19, Dan. 11:36, and Isaiah 10:25.

In a practical sense, the indignation against Israel is the entire times of the Gentiles.

Grecia or Greece is an interpretive anachronism. At the time of Daniel, it would have been considered Javan. See Isaiah 66:19 for an example.

Verse 22 – but not in his power - That is, not having the combined strength of the original unified kingdom.

Verses 23-25 - While this is fulfilled in Antiochus Epiphanes, it is believed by most that Antiochus was a type of the Antichrist to come.

Verse 23 – in the latter time of their kingdom - This phrase, which must be taken literally for consistency, prohibits a view that places the fulfillment of the passage in the tribulation itself. However, prophecy students also know that there are types which are real events foreshadow the ultimate event in the future.

wonderfully - Strong's defines the word as, "to be beyond one’s power, be difficult to do."

destroy - The word does not require annihilation. The same word is used in the flood account in reference to mankind (which survived through Noah) and of the earth (which continues to survive).

craft - That is, trickery, deceit, and fraud. These are always the tools of dictators.

peace - The word is broader than simple peace (the absence of war), and refers to prosperity and ease of living. The work of Antiochus Epiphanes was the work of Hellenism, which instituted recreation, sports, and relaxation into the Jewish world, and came close to becoming a worldview that would totally eradicate the Jewish worldview (and was successful at removing every other ancient religion from the face of the earth).

he shall be broken… - Read 2 Maccabees 9 for a fascinating account of the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes.