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Expanded Comments | Additional Comments |
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| 1 'In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king, a vision hath appeared unto me I Daniel after that which had appeared unto me at the beginning. |
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| 2 And I see in a vision, and it cometh to pass, in my seeing, and I [am] in Shushan the palace that [is] in Elam the province, and I see in a vision, and I have been by the stream Ulai. |
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| 3 And I lift up mine eyes, and look, and lo, a certain ram is standing before the stream, and it hath two horns, and the two horns [are] high; and the one [is] higher than the other, and the high one is coming up last. |
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| 4 I have seen the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward, and no living creatures do stand before it, and there is none delivering out of its hand, and it hath done according to its pleasure, and hath exerted itself. |
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| 5 'And I have been considering, and lo, a young he-goat hath come from the west, over the face of the whole earth, whom none is touching in the earth; as to the young he-goat, a conspicuous horn [is] between its eyes. |
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| 6 And it cometh unto the ram possessing the two horns, that I had seen standing before the stream, and runneth unto it in the fury of its power. |
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| 7 And I have seen it coming near the ram, and it becometh embittered at it, and smiteth the ram, and breaketh its two horns, and there hath been no power in the ram to stand before it, and it casteth it to the earth, and trampleth it down, and there hath been no deliverer to the ram out of its power.
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| 8 'And the young he-goat hath exerted itself very much, and when it is strong, broken hath been the great horn; and come up doth a vision of four in its place, at the four winds of the heavens. |
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 from the one of them come forth hath a little horn, and it exerteth itself greatly toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the beauteous [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 yea, it exerteth unto the host of the heavens, and causeth to fall to the earth of the host, and of the stars, and trampleth them down. |
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 And unto the prince of the host it exerteth itself, and by it taken away hath been the continual [sacrifice], and thrown down the base of his sanctuary. |
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 is given up, with the continual [sacrifice], through transgression, and it throweth down truth to the earth, and it hath worked, 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 'And I hear a certain holy one speaking, and a certain holy one saith to the wonderful numberer who is speaking: Till when [is] the vision of the continual [sacrifice], and of the transgression, an astonishment, to make both sanctuary and host a treading down |
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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I – Daniel, picturing the Lord's people during the time of His second presence.
Heard one saint speaking – The word "saint" means Holy One or True Believer.While it appears this is actually the angel Gabriel who is speaking, we are looking at this from the standpoint of a prophetic picture. The saint who is speaking appears to be the Seventh Messenger. (Gabriel means "man of God.")
And another saint said – This "other saint" seems to picture the Lord's people.
Unto that certain saint which spake – Young's Literal Translation reads "to the wonderful numberer who is speaking." This is the same "one saint speaking" mentioned above. This is the one who, in the next verse, explains to us the 2300 days (Vol. III Study IV.) It is the same one who later explains the 1260, 1290 and 1335 days. - Dan.12:6,7. This is the "wonderful numberer."
How long – It seems the saints ask this question a lot. Rev. 6:10; Isa. 6:11; Dan. 12:6; Psa. 74:10
Shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice – The continual sacrifice. C98:1
The transgression of desolation --
The sanctuary – The saints, the Lord's people.
The host – The masses of the nominal church. C108:3
To be trodden under foot -- |
| 14 And he saith unto me, Till evening morning two thousand and three hundred, then is the holy place declared right. |
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 cometh to pass in my seeing I, Daniel the vision, that I require understanding, and lo, standing over-against me [is] as the appearance of a mighty one. |
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| 16 And I hear a voice of man between [the banks of] Ulai, and he calleth and saith: Gabriel, cause this [one] to understand the appearance. |
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| 17 And he cometh in near my station, and at his coming in I have been afraid, and I fall on my face, and he saith unto me: Understand, son of man, for at the time of the end [is] the vision. |
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 And in his speaking with me, I have been in a trance on my face, on the earth; and he cometh against me, and causeth me to stand on my station, |
In a deep sleep – In amazement. C97
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| 19 and saith: Lo, I I am causing thee to know that which is in the latter end of the indignation; for, at the appointed time [is] 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 that thou hast seen possessing two horns, [are] the kings of Media and Persia. |
Are – Signifieth. C97
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| 21 And the young he-goat, the hairy one, [is] the king of Javan; and the great horn that [is] between its eyes is the first king; |
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| 22 and that being broken, stand up do four in its place, four kingdoms from the nation do stand up, and not in its 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 end of their kingdom, about the perfecting of the transgressors, stand up doth a king, fierce of face, and understanding hidden things; |
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 hath been mighty, and not by his own power; and wonderful things he destroyeth, and he hath prospered, and wrought, and destroyed mighty ones, and the people of the Holy Ones. |
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 by his understanding he hath also caused deceit to prosper in his hand, and in his heart he exerteth himself, and by ease he destroyeth many; and against the prince of princes he standeth and without hand he is broken. |
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 appearance of the evening and of the morning, that is told, is true; and thou, hide thou the vision, for [it is] after many days.' |
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, have been, yea, I became sick [for] days, and I rise, and do the king's work, and am astonished at the appearance, and there is none understanding. |
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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