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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 In the third year of the reign of king Bel-shazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me, Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first. |
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| 2 And I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in Shushan the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai. |
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| 3 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. |
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| 4 I saw the ram goring westward, and northward, and southward; and no beasts could stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself. |
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| 5 And as I was considering, behold, a he-goat came from the west over the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. |
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| 6 And he came to the ram that had the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and ran upon him in the fury of his power. |
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| 7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him; but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled upon him; and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. |
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| 8 And the he-goat magnified himself exceedingly: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up four notable horns toward the four winds of heaven. |
The great horn – Alexander the Great. C27
Four notable ones – The four divisions of Alexander's empire. C27, C31
Ptolemy in Egypt, Seleucus in Asia, Lysimachus in Asia Minor and Cassander in Macedonia. C31
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| 9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious land. |
A little horn – Civil or Imperial Rome, which rose to influence upon the ruins of the Macedonian empire and then underwent a change and became Papal Rome, the Abomination of Desolation. C27, C64, C95, C98
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| 10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled upon them. |
And it – The Papacy, the Abomination of Desolation. C64, C98
Waxed great even to – To controlling. C96, C98
The host of heaven – The entire church. C96
And of the stars – The shining lights. C96, C104
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| 11 Yes, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the host; and it took away from him the continual burnt-offering, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. |
Magnified himself – In the person of its head, the pope. C104
Even to the prince – Even to assuming dignities, prophecies and titles belonging to Christ Jesus, the true Prince of the Church. C96
Of the host – The great mass of the nominal church. C37, C108
And by him – And from him, Christ. C96
The daily sacrifice – The continual sacrifice. C96, C98
Was taken away – Christ's continual sacrifice was not actually cancelled or abolished by Papacy, but it was set aside by the false doctrine of the Mass. C98
Papacy substituted a false or sham sacrifice in the place of the one everlasting, complete, never-to-be-repeated sacrifice of Calvary made once for all time. C102
And the place – And the base. C96
The doctrine of the ransom is the base of the Sanctuary or holy Temple, the consecrated Church. C103
Of his sanctuary – The truly consecrated, in the nominal church. C37, C109
Was cast down – Was overthrown. C96
By the doctrine of transubstantiation and the sacrifice of the Mass. This was the center of Luther's attack on the Papacy in AD 1517. C99, C109
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| 12 And the host was given over to it together with the continual burnt-offering through transgression; and it cast down truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered. |
And an host – And the host, the people. C96
The rejection of Babylon (Christendom) in 1878 was the rejection of the mass of professors--the "host," thus distinguished from the Sanctuary or Temple class. C180
Was given him – Was given over to it. C96, C103
The daily sacrifice – The continual sacrifice. C96
By reason of – Through. C96
Cast down the truth – Together with such of the host and of the teachers as held fast to the truth and would not unite with its course of transgression. C104
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| 13 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said unto that certain one who spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the continual burnt-offering, and the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the Holy and the host to be trodden under foot? |
The daily sacrifice – The continual sacrifice. C96
The transgression – The earliest mention of the Mass was at the Council of Constantinople, AD 381, a date not particularly referred to in this prophecy. C103
Of desolation – That maketh desolate. C96
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| 14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the Holy be cleansed. |
Unto 2300 days – 2300 literal years, "From the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem" (Dan. 9:25), 454 BC to 1846 AD, when Evangelical Alliance. B67; C107, C119
As the seventy weeks, or 490 days (Dan. 9:21-27), were the forepart of the 2300, their fulfillment shows us where the 2300 began and whether literal or symbolic time was signified. C107
The work of cleansing the true Church from the defilements of the Dark Ages culminated in 1846 and was but limited. R5565:6
The sanctuary – A nucleus of the "holy people," the Sanctuary, would become free from the errors of Papacy. C123
The host was not cleansed, they retained the error; but the consecrated class, the Sanctuary, renounced the error and suffered for truth's sake, many even unto death. C109
Be cleansed – Freed from the traditions of Babylon. R4334:6
The Great Reformation of the 16th century is the date for the commencing of the cleansing of the Sanctuary. C108
At a time sufficiently in advance of 1874 to make ready a people prepared for the Lord, a people in devout expectancy of his coming. C129
Marking, not the beginning of the cleansing work, but a period in which it would be, in a measure, finished. C105
Protestant church-state union was the snare by which the Adversary impeded the cleansing of the Sanctuary, and reformation and cleansing, for a time, ceased. C111
The cleansed Sanctuary will soon be exalted and filled with the glory of God. C26
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| 15 And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. |
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| 16 And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. |
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| 17 So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was affrighted, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man; for the vision belongeth to the time of the end. |
Understand – Mark well. C96, C105
For at the time – Because for the time. C96, C105
Of the end – It cannot be understood sooner and will terminate then. C105
Shall be the vision – Is the vision. C96
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| 18 Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me upright. |
In a deep sleep – In amazement. C97
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| 19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation; for it belongeth to the appointed time of the end. |
In the last end – To the end. C97, C105
Of the indignation – Of these evil predictions. C97, C105
For at – For it pertaineth to and shall be fulfilled. C97, C105
Time appointed – Appointed time. C97, C105
AD 1799. C129
The end shall be – Of the end. C97, C105
The dominion of the "Man of Sin" was taken away. C129
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| 20 The ram which thou sawest, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia. |
Are – Signifieth. C97
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| 21 And the rough he-goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. |
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| 22 And as for that which was broken, in the place whereof four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power. |
Now that being – Now that it was. C97
Whereas – And that. C97
Stood up for it – Sprang up in its stead, signifieth. C97
Not in his power – Not with his power. C97
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| 23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. |
Are come to the full – Have filled the measure of their guilt. C97
"For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." (Gen. 15:16) C97
A king – The Papacy, the Abomination of Desolation. C64, C97
Of fierce – Impudent or shameless. C97
Dark sentences – Deep schemes. C97
Shall stand up – Shall arise. C97
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| 24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do his pleasure; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the people of the saints. |
Shall be mighty – Shall be made mighty. C97
Not by his own power – Not with his own force. Papacy strengthened itself by using the force of the various nations of Europe. C97
Prosper, and practise – Do more than can be believed. C97
And shall destroy – Or corrupt. C97
The mighty – The mighty ones. C97
The holy people – Saintly people. C97
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| 25 And through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in their security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. |
Through his policy – By his cunning skill. C97
Craft to prosper – Deceit to prosper him. C97
In his hand – In his power. C97
And by peace – And by prosperity. C97
Shall also stand up – As Antichrist. C97
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| 26 And the vision of the evenings and mornings which hath been told is true: but shut thou up the vision; for it belongeth to many days to come. |
And the vision of – And that part of the vision concerning. C97
Evening and the morning – Or, the "vision of the days," giving it the same rendering as in verse 14. HG650:1
Which was told – That there would be 2300 days to the cleansing. C97
For it shall be – For it will be fulfilled. C97
For many days – For a very long time; not merely for 2300 literal days. C105
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| 27 And I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick for days; then I rose up, and did the king’s business: and I wondered at the vision, but none understood it. |
And was sick – Sick at heart by the thought of so many evils coming upon God's people. C105
None understood it – None could interpret it. C106
The prophets wrote not for themselves and the people then living. but for the Gospel Church. R1418:6
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