by
Damien F. Mackey
“While
I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn,
a
little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns
were
uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being
and
a mouth that spoke boastfully”.
Daniel 7:8
Introduction
Here, following up on a recent article of mine in which I
considered the views of a Seventh-Day Adventist writer concerning the little
horn of the prophecies of Daniel:
Daniel 7 and 8
as expressed in his article, “Why Antiochus
IV Is Not the Little Horn of Daniel 8”: http://1844madesimple.org/why-antiochus-iv-is-not-the-little-horn-of-daniel-8
I will now
consider the views of another writer, an ex-Adventist this time, regarding the
identification of Daniel’s little horn. And I shall be in agreement with him.
I refer to Winston
McHarg | 14 January 2018 | who will inform us at the
beginning of his article:
Why the Little Horn of
Daniel 8 Must Be Antiochus Epiphanes – Adventist Today
Why the Little Horn of Daniel 8 Must Be Antiochus
Epiphanes
In 1978 I made the most
difficult decision I have ever had to make. In spite of my love for my church,
my work, my family and friends, I felt compelled by conscience to withdraw from
the ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist church. The main reason I took this
traumatic, heart-wrenching step was that I had come to disbelieve my church’s
fundamental doctrine of a pre-advent investigative judgment.
In the first
case, the Seventh-Day Adventist writer, I went so far as to accept
this conclusion of his:
How much more evidence does one need? The little
horn power of Daniel 7 and the littler horn power of Daniel 8 are both the same
entity …
About which I commented: “I think that this article has
made an excellent case in favour of the truth at least of this last statement”.
But then I concluded by leaving the door open on his
other view, his emphatic belief that Antiochus IV was not the little horn of
Daniel, with this statement: “Regarding Antiochus ‘Epiphanes’ himself, though,
I intend to tackle that subject in my next article, on the little horn of
Daniel 7:8”.
The present article will hopefully be the fulfilment of
that.
Winston
McHarg’s contrary view
….
According to the traditional Adventist position the
“cleansing of the sanctuary” of Daniel 8:14 is an investigative judgment of the
professed people of God. A study of the context of this verse reveals that this
unusual interpretation finds no support in this chapter.
The symbolism of Daniel 8 centers in the notorious
little horn which is described as performing a number of horrific acts. Among
other things he is said to take away the daily sacrifices, pollute the
sanctuary and persecute the people of God. After witnessing these terrible
events in vision Daniel hears two angelic beings speaking to each other. One
asks the question, “For how long is the vision concerning the continual burnt
offering, the transgressing that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary
and the host to be trampled under foot?” (v. 13). In verse 14—the answer to
this question—the other angel replies, “Unto 2300 days then shall the sanctuary
be cleansed” (K.J.V.). It is clear, then, that the “cleansing of the sanctuary”
must involve the destruction of the little horn and the restoration of the
sanctuary. The Adventist interpretation totally ignores this context and
switches to the theme of an investigation of the professed people of God. This
exegesis fails to answer the question of verse 13 and is completely irrelevant
to the context of the entire chapter. There is however a simple,
straightforward and convincing alternative.
Modern Bible commentators are almost
unanimous in seeing the Greek king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, as the fulfillment
of the little horn of Daniel, chapter 8.
Antiochus Epiphanes was an erratic megalomaniac who
made it his express purpose to eliminate the religion of Jehovah from the face
of the earth. The history of this evil madman is graphically outlined in the
two intertestamental books of Maccabees, which describe a horrific period of
desecration and bloodshed during the years 171-165 BC.
Damien
Mackey’s comment:
For my complete historical renovation of king Antiochus, including the dates,
though, see e.g. my article:
Golden
Age of Athens actually belongs to the Seleucid tyrants
(5) Golden Age of
Athens actually belongs to the Seleucid tyrants
Winston McHarg continues:
During this terrible period of approximately 2300
days, Antiochus attempted to impose Greek customs upon the Jewish people. Along
with many other terrible outrages he banned the continual sacrifices,
desecrated the temple by installing a pagan image, poured swine’s broth around
the temple and tortured and murdered thousands who refused to abandon their
faith. Never before had there been such a blatant, foul and arrogant attempt to
totally wipe out the faith of Israel.
The well-known scholar, William Barclay, in his
commentary on the book of Revelation, details some of the horror of this time:
“Eighty thousand Jews were either slaughtered or sold
into slavery. To circumcise a child or to possess a copy of the Law was a crime
punishable by death. History has seldom, or never, seen so deliberate attempt
to wipe out the faith and religion of a whole people.
He desecrated the Temple. He erected an altar to
Olympian Zeus in the Holy Place, and on it he sacrificed swine’s flesh; and he
turned the rooms of the Temple into public brothels …
To the Jews Antiochus was the incarnation of all evil;
he is the blasphemous little horn of Daniel; he is the nearest approach to
Antichrist in human form.” ….
The tyrant’s reign of terror was brought to a totally
unexpected end when the pious Judas Maccabaeus, and his sons, rallied the
faithful, and incredibly routed the Greek army! It was three years to the day,
after the installation of the pagan image, that the sanctuary was cleansed and
rededicated.
This joyful event was henceforth remembered by the
feast of Hanukkah, which was observed in the time of Christ (John 10:22) and
continues to be celebrated by Jews today. This stirring story is about to be
exploited by Hollywood. Mel Gibson is rumoured to be considering making a film
recounting these incredible events.
To me, and to most other commentators, the fulfillment
of the little horn of Daniel 8 in Antiochus Epiphanes is crystal clear.
However, the Seventh-day Adventist church, from its very beginning, has
vigorously disagreed with this interpretation. According to the official
understanding of the church, the horn is a symbol of both the Roman Empire and
the Roman church. This understanding is important to the Adventist church
because it is foundational to their centre-piece doctrine of the investigative
judgment—which the church believes is one of the special truths that God has
commissioned it to proclaim to the world.
Without questioning the sincerity and earnestness of
my many friends in Adventism, I believe there are many convincing reasons why
the little horn of Daniel 8 must be Antiochus. Here are some of them:
1. The
little horn of Daniel 8 is a Greek horn. Unlike the little
horn of Daniel 7, which emerges from the Roman beast [sic], this horn is said
to emerge from one of the four horns upon the Greek beast. ….
This fact is so plain and transparent that one can only wonder why some have
overlooked it.
2. One
of the first things that the angelic interpretation says about the little horn
is that he is “… a king of fierce countenance…” (v. 23). According
to the traditional Adventist view the horn represents a kingdom, namely the
Roman Empire. It is hard to see how a kingdom could have “a fierce countenance”
and “understand dark sentences.” The angelic interpretation allows no
misunderstanding.
3. This
king emerges from one of the fourfold divisions of the Greek Empire. “Out of
one of them came forth a little horn…” (v. 9). Antiochus emerged from the
Seleucid horn which was a division of the Greek Empire. Rome did not; it
emerged on the Italian peninsula to the west of the Greek Empire.
4. The
horn would arise “in the latter time” of the fourfold division, which pictures
well Antiochus’s emergence. The fourfold division of Greece had passed the peak
of its power when he emerged, and this is evidenced by the humiliation he
suffered at the hands of the Romans while on his way to invade Egypt.
5. The
horn would attack the south and east and the pleasant land i.e. Palestine.
Antiochus did exactly that. However, when Rome came to power, it expanded
in all directions including west to Britain and north to the
germanic tribes. This little horn is clearly not Rome.
6. The
horn would be noted for his cunning and intrigue. He would “understand dark
sentences” and “cause craft to prosper” (v.25). Antiochus was renowned for his
craftiness and cunning; Rome more for her brute strength and power.
7. The
horn would destroy the mighty and holy people. History reveals that tens of
thousands perished as Antiochus attempted to force the Jews to deny their
faith.
8. The
horn would take away the daily sacrifices (v. 11). Antiochus put a stop to the
sacrifices for a period of over 3 years.
9. Antiochus
“cast down” the place of God’s sanctuary (v. 11) when he shut down its daily
ministry and set up the abomination that caused horror, i.e. the image of Zeus
Olympias, and slaughtered swine on the altar of burnt offering. The importance
of the sanctuary service lay not so much in the building as in the daily
sacrifices and offerings, and by taking these away Antiochus “brought low”
(NIV) God’s dwelling place.
10. Antiochus
continued for approximately (possibly precisely, it is impossible to determine)
2300 days (v. 14) i.e. from the first attacks upon the sanctuary to his death
in 164 BC. One of the world’s leading conservative scholars stated, “In this
year (i.e. 171BC) began the laying waste of the sanctuary. The termination
would then be the death of Antiochus (164BC).” ….
There is no convincing fulfilment of the 2300 days in
the history of the Roman Empire and only by a fine-spun linking of the Roman
Empire with the Roman church, and a further fine-spun linking of Daniel 8 with
Daniel 9 … can Seventh-day Adventists arrive at a closing date for the 2300
days.
….
11. In
his desecration of the sanctuary and his persecution of true believers,
Antiochus did “practice and prosper” and “was exceeding great” (v.9 & v.
12).
One of the major objections to Antiochus as the
fulfillment of the prophecy is the fact that he was a relatively minor player
on the stage of history. It is sometimes asserted he is not big enough to
fulfill the prophecy. This objection fails to take into account the simple fact
that this particular prophecy centers primarily on the fate of the people and
religion of God. The great theme of this vision is an unprecedented and
successful attack upon the saints and true worship. It is IN THIS SENSE that Antiochus
practices and prospers and becomes exceeding great.
….
12. That
Antiochus is the little horn of Daniel 8 is convincingly confirmed by a
comparison with the final vision of chapter 11. This final vision covers much
the same ground as chapter 8. Various Persian and Grecian kings, including
Alexander the Great, are referred to, but all are dealt with briefly in just
one or two verses. As the vision moves towards its climax, Antiochus is once
again centre stage, and no less than fifteen full verses are devoted to him
(see 11:21-35). Antiochus is clearly no minor player in this vision. ….
Summary
The vision of Daniel 8 is probably the clearest in the
whole book hence the almost universal agreement by both conservative and
liberal scholars on the meaning of the symbols. Almost all are agreed that in
Antiochus Epiphanes we find a natural, straightforward and convincing
fulfilment of the horn who desecrates the sanctuary.
In contrast to the above, the traditional Seventh-day
Adventist position wrestles against the most obvious meaning of the passage.
Its assertion that the Roman Empire emerges from one of the Greek horns fatally
flaws this interpretation from the very beginning. If you take the wrong path
at the commencement of your journey, you can expect to arrive in the wrong
place. ….
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