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©Laura Haverkamp

Chapter 8:9-14 (ESV)

Posted on January 22, 2025  - By Chris LaBelle  

Chapter 8:9-14 (ESV) - Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land. It grew great, even to the host of heaven. And some of the host and some of the stars it threw down to the ground and trampled on them. It became great, even as great as the Prince of the host. And the regular burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. And a host will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression, and it will throw truth to the ground, and it will act and prosper. Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, “For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?” And he said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.”

Question to consider: Where do you think was “the glorious land” mentioned by Gabriel in today’s passage?

After the fall of Alexander the Great and the rise of his four generals, the vision spoke of a little horn— another king who would grow exceedingly great. The reference to the stars being thrown down hearkens back to the vision given to Joseph of his family kneeling before him in Genesis 37:9-10. His father was likened to the sun, his mother the moon, and his brothers the stars.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes rose up from the Seleucid dynasty. He was from the region of Syria and part of the Hellenistic state. He waged war against Egypt (the south), Babylon and Persia (the east), and the restored Israel after their exile. The throwing down of the stars was his overthrow of the prominent political and religious leaders of Israel, and as a worshiper of Zeus, he ended the sacrifices in the temple and made circumcision illegal.

You can read more about him in the apocryphal books of the Maccabees. By introducing Zeus worship into the temple, the vision described it as making the temple desolate and giving over the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot.

2,300 evenings and mornings was a period of just under six and a half years. The LORD would mercifully set the people free during the seventh year by allowing Antiochus to suffer and die in a foreign land from a sickness. While we desire that all people repent and turn to God for His mercy and forgiveness, we can also pray for God to deliver us from persecution. If his reign had not been cut short, he would not have stopped until all of the saints who sought to follow the Law were killed.

The image of this horn in the vision was a type and shadow of another ruler who would come at the end of the age. We will cover this more in tomorrow’s study and in the coming chapters, but I’d imagine that this news was incredibly disheartening to Daniel who was in exile and longed only for the restoration of Israel and the temple.

Prayer

Dear heavenly Father, help us to trust in You during times of uncertainty in the world. May we have the courage to speak truth in love to a culture that is in rebellion against You, and may Your Spirit convict the world of sin and their need for Christ. It is in His name that we pray. Amen.