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The Gospel is Restored in the Judgment Hour
William Diehl
(The following was written to a young fellow who erroneously thought that the "little horn" of Daniel 7 symbolizes a different antichrist power than the "little horn" of Daniel 8.)
I am all in favor of getting rid of traditions that are erroneous and that do not measure up to close scrutiny in allowing the Bible to interpret itself. The book of Daniel however begins with the prophecy of chapter 2 which lays the foundation for those prophecies that follow in chapters 7, and 8, and 9, and 10-12. The parallelism is rather obvious in my opinion and in the opinion of most Protestant interpreters of these portions of scripture.
I would urge you to do a study of the concept of the "time of the end". The "last days" according to the New Testament began with the Christian era when our Lord became the Lamb of God at Calvary and will end with the second coming of our Lord. The term, "3 and 1/2 years" of Daniel and Revelation, is the symbolic term for the era of the "abomination of desolation" during which the beast makes war with the woman (Revelation 12). The symbolism of the "3 and 1/2 years" is taken from the experience of Elijah in the wilderness when he was fleeing from Jezebel and her efforts to establish Baal worship in Israel. God nourished Elijah during the 3 and 1/2 years that he was in the wilderness and then at the very end of the time, God overthrew the priests of Baal at Mt. Carmel when all Israel was to choose whether to worship Yahweh or Baal. The symbolism of the false prophet (the lamb-like beast) calling fire down from heaven in the site of men (Rev 13) is also taken from the account of Elijah.
The "3 and 1/2 years" symbolism is used also in Daniel 9. Here the Messiah is cut off in the middle of the final 7 years of the 490 year prophecy and then the prince who shall come shall cause the sanctuary to be cast down until the "consummation" or end of all things. Please read the text and the words I have placed in parenthesis to help with the understanding of the interpretation.
Dan 9:26 "And after threescore and two weeks (7+62=69 weeks of years=69x7=483 years) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself: and the people of the prince (Rome) that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 And He (Messiah) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he (Rome) shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he (Rome) shall make it (the Sanctuary) desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."
Thus we see that the Messiah is cut off in the middle of the last week and Rome then desecrates the Sanctuary for the remaining "3 and 1/2" years until the "consummation". The final "3 and 1/2 years" of the 490 years become symbolic years in the sense that these "years" represent the entire Christian era. Here we see again that the final "3 and 1/2 years" is the symbolic term used to measure the time when the antichrist Rome is to desolate or place the abomination of desolation in the Sanctuary. The "3 and 1/2 years" of desolation of the sanctuary will continue until as we are told in Daniel 8:14 that the Sanctuary is "restored". This "restoration of the Sanctuary" represents the on-going work of the Protestant Reformation to restore the truth that the Antichrist little horn has cast to the ground. This restoration of the truth is being finished or completed in the final Protestant reformation.
The "faith that was once delivered to the saints" is being uncovered from all the "abominations" that the medieval church had brought into the Christian Church. All the truth of the Gospel is being restored and Babylon is being exposed as the "false prophet" and all are being called to "choose this day whom ye would serve, whether Christ or Baal". The remnant community of believers who "keep the commandments of God and faith in Jesus Christ" is completing the final restoration of the Temple just as surely as the temple was rebuilt after the end of the Babylonish captivity of Israel in B.C.457, the date for the beginning of the 490 year prophecy.
The Protestant reformation is calling all of the followers of God to "come out of her my people" and rebuild the waste places and restore the "paths to dwell in". Once this restoration of the true apostolic Gospel of justification by grace alone through faith alone in the sinless life and atoning death of our Lord Jesus Christ alone is completed and proclaimed to all the world, then the consummation will take place. Now is the time when all the world is making its decision to either follow the true Lamb or follow the "lamb-like one", the Antichrist of Revelation 13.
So it is a nail in a sure place that the little horn of Daniel 8 is the same little horn of Daniel 7 which arises out of the 10 horns of the fourth beast. These ten horns correspond perfectly with the 10 toes of the image of Daniel 2. These prophecies are a beautiful chain of truth which are a lamp unto the feet of the people of God. The apostle Paul and our Lord both understood that Rome was the "little horn" of Daniel 7 and 8. Our Lord in Matthew 24 was referring to Pagan Rome, while Paul in 2 Thes 2 was referring to Papal Rome when he stated:
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth (restrains him) will let (restrain), until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
While it is true as you state that the "little horn" is destroyed by the brightness of our Lord's coming, it is also true that the "little horn" is exposed and unmasked by the testimony of the movement which God has raised up and ordained to declare the "fall of Babylon" and to warn all to "come out of her my people" so that they would not receive of the seven last plagues. All are to be called to, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." The true Christ is being proclaimed in the evangelical movement that is God's final restoration (Daniel 8;14) of the Temple.
"Let him who readeth understand".
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