Structure of Daniel 8:10-12
Study:
"And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered." Daniel 8:10-12
Structure:
and stamped upon them.
and it practised, and prospered.
How are we to understand this?
Let's examine the upper half first!
"and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.
"Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host,
"and by him the daily was taken away,
"and the place of his sanctuary was cast down."
Notice the bold items. How do we understand these?
The context of this text is the sanctuary. Understanding is to be found there!
This already agrees with some of our previous findings.
"the host of heaven": according to Isaiah 14:13,14 this is God's throne in His sanctuary, or the ark of the covenant (containing the 10 Commandments, the foundation of God's government), symbolizing the government of God in all its levels from the lowly inhabitant of the created worlds up through the angelic hosts to God himself upon his throne.
"the host and ... the stars": according to Revelation 12 these are Michael's earthly angels or Christ's true disciples. How are they connected to the sanctuary?
"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 2:5
"And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father;..." Revelation 1:6
"the host and ... the stars" is the priesthood of all believers.
"the daily": within the context of the sanctuary, the daily is the priestly ministry. Notice the following texts... the connection of the "daily," Heb. tamid, with the duties of the priest.
"And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me always [daily]." Exodus 25:30
"And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always [daily]." Exodus 27:20
"And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually [daily]. And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron’s heart, when he goeth in before the Lord: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually [daily]. " Exodus 28:29,30
"And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE Lord. And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be. And it shall be upon Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always [daily] upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord." Exodus 28:36-38
"Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually [daily]. ... This shall be a continual [daily] burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee." Exodus 29:38-42
"And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual [daily] incense before the Lord throughout your generations." Exodus 30:8
So what is the daily? The shewbread, the lamps, the breastplate, the plate upon the forehead, the altar of sacrifice, and the altar of incense... in other words, the daily is the priestly ministry!
One thing now remains...
According to the book of Hebrews, we have a high priest...
So far we have found the following equivalences between items in our text and the sanctuary.
- "the host of heaven" is the ark of the covenant,
- "the prince of the host" is ?,
- "the host and the stars" is the priesthood of all believers, and
- "the daily" is the priestly ministry, where...
"the sanctuary" is the heavenly sanctuary, as described in the book of Hebrews:
"A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Hebrews 8:2
"But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;" Hebrews 9:11
"It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For 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 9:23,24
Two questions readily come to mind... Where is Daniel 8's sanctuary's high priest? Who is "the prince of the host"?
Note that the "prince of the host" might equally have been translated, the "ruler of the host"!
Who is the ruler or leader of the priesthood of all believers? Would this not be the high priest?
Michael and Christ!
This problem was already, at least, partially visible prior to this... Michael and Christ appear to be the same person! Let's review the evidence.
Daniel 8:10,11 vs. Revelation 12:3,4,7-9: "stars cast to earth/ground"
of the he-goat
"...Michael, one of the chief princes [or rulers]..." Daniel 1:13
"...Michael your prince." Daniel 10:21
"...Michael ... the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people..." Daniel 12:1
According to these verses, Michael is not only the leader of God's heavenly angelic host but also of His earthly angelic host, His Old Testament as well as New Testament people, literal and spiritual Israel (or His Old Testament and New Testament churches).
Recall! when the little horn attacks heaven, it is in the form of the Church of Rome, thus the stars it casts to the ground and stamps upon are members of God's true church.
Recall the various pictures of Christ we have seen in Daniel 8-12:
on the Day of Atonement
Recall that Michael is only mentioned in the company of the man in linen indicating some connection between the two, between Michael and Christ.
Notice that Michael, "prince of the host," is not only high priest but also God. This is hinted at by the structure of Daniel 8:10.
Note: Hebrew is read right to left! Source: BibleHub.com.
haš·šā·mā·yim;
הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם
of heaven
Art | N‑mp
ṣə·ḇā
צְבָ֣א
the host
N‑csc
‘aḏ-
עַד־
to
Prep
wat·tiḡ·dal
וַתִּגְדַּ֖ל
And it grew up
Conj‑w | V‑Qal‑ConsecImperf‑3fs
wat·tir·mə·sêm.
וַֽתִּרְמְסֵֽם׃
and trampled them
V‑Qal‑ConsecImperf‑3fs
| 3mp
hak·kō·w·ḵā·ḇîm
הַכּוֹכָבִ֖ים
of the stars
ū·min-
וּמִן־
and [some]
haṣ·ṣā·ḇā
הַצָּבָ֥א
of the host
min-
מִן־
[some]
’ar·ṣāh
אַ֛רְצָה
to the ground
wat·tap·pêl
וַתַּפֵּ֥ל
and it cast down
V‑Hifil‑ConsecImperf‑3fs
hiḡ·dîl;
הִגְדִּ֑יל
He exalted [himself]
V‑Hifil‑Perf‑3ms
haṣ·ṣā·ḇā
הַצָּבָ֖א
of the host
Art | N‑cs
śar-
שַֽׂר־
the Prince
N‑msc
wə·‘aḏ
וְעַ֥ד
And even as high as
Conj‑w | Prep
Notice the parallel nature of A/A'. Of the four Hebrew words making up each phrase, three are shared in common. This would imply there is a connection between the Prince of the host, Michael, the high priest, and the host of heaven, God. If Michael is Christ then the connection is obvious for Jesus is part of the Godhead. As I said previously, this is the same connection that is implied by the mention of Michael in the visions of the man in linen, in Daniel 10 and Daniel 12.
The last piece of information of relevance to this discustion of Michael and Christ is the name itself. Michael means "Who (is) like God?" It forms a rhetorical question, and a battle cry!, if the holder of the name is Christ, God the Son.
Returning to our discussion of Daniel 8:10-12's structure...
Summarizing, our findings thus far...
- "the host of heaven" is the ark of the covenant, God and His government,
- "the host and the stars" is the priesthood of all believers,
- "the prince of the host" is our high priest, Christ,
- "the daily" is the high priestly ministry of Christ, and
- "the sanctuary" is the heavenly sanctuary.
Returning to our structure.
Structure:
and stamped upon them.
and it practised, and prospered.
Who are "the host" of Layer A'?
From this structure "the host" of the little horn are in opposition to "the host of heaven," God and his government, "the host and the stars," the priesthood of all believers, and "the prince of the host," Christ.
The priesthood of the Catholic church, headed by the pope, obviously fits this.
-
they claim to forgive sins which is God's and only God's prerogative,
"Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?" Mark 2:7
-
they set themselves above the common people destroying the priesthood of all
believers,
"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 2:5
- and they draw man's attention to their earthly priestly work, a counterfeit
work, away from Christ's work.
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" 1 Timothy 2:5
How was Layer B's "daily," Christ's priestly ministry, "taken away?"
This answer was hinted at already. By making a counterfeit earthly ministry and taking God's people's attention away from Christ and His heavenly ministry, Christ's daily was effectively taken away. Men were lead to believe that it was the priesthood and the mysterious rites, the sacraments, they performed that were the people's salvation. Salvation was no longer seen as solely a result of Christ's perpetual mediation, through His sacrifice on the cross, on the behalf of sinful man.
How was Layer C's "place of his sanctuary," heaven, "cast down?" How was Layer C''s "truth cast down to the ground?"
Both of these are perhaps related. A good part of the answer is that of the previous question, but there is more! Man was made to believe that God's heavenly temple was the church... that the church would transform this world of sin into a new world. Men were told that man would make this world the kingdom of God. This was a lie! The City of God was not and would not be the church. Man cannot change this world. God has told us this. God has told us that this world will be destroyed. Our home is not here but in the heavens, in the New Jerusalem, a physical, real city. God will purify this world and then recreate it and then and only then will it be our world to inhabit. Furthermore, heaven has been cast down because many of us, as Christians, no longer look to heaven as our highest goal and God as our ultimate master. We plan out our earthy carriers. We believe it is our job to take care of our daily needs. But God has said go and teach and make disciples of all mankind. Our heavenly duties were to be our highest priorities. If we would but listen to God, He has promised to supply all our needs... But those old teachings from the church of the Middle Ages ring louder in our ears and so we keep our eyes on the earth, eyes for the physical, and not heaven searching eyes of faith. But what does God want? Isn't there still a world to reach? Isn't this more important than all else? Isn't God still able to feed His faithful Elijah's? Isn't time running out for his earth? Or are we fast asleep and unable to see how late it is? Wake up and look up for your redemption draweth nigh!
Comments
Post a Comment