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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 In the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king, a vision, appeared unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the beginning. |
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| 2 So then I saw, in the vision, and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was in Shusan the fortress, which is in Persia the province,–yea I saw it in a vision, when, I, was by the river Ulai. |
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| 3 So then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and lo! a ram, standing before the river, and, it, had two horns,–and, the two horns, were high, but, the one, was higher than the other, and, the higher, had come up, last. |
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| 4 I saw the ram, pushing strongly westward and northward and southward, so that no wild beast could stand before him, and none could deliver out of his hand,–but he did according to his own pleasure, and shewed himself great. |
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| 5 Now, I, was observing, when lo! a he-goat, coming in out of the west, over the face of all the earth, but it meddled not with the earth,–and, the goat, had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. |
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| 6 So then he came up to the ram having the two horns, which I had seen, standing before the river,–and ran unto him, in the fury of his strength. |
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| 7 Yea I saw him coming close upon the ram, and he was enraged at him, and smote the ram, and brake in pieces both his horns, and there was no strength in the ram to stand before him,–but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled him underfoot, and there was none could deliver the ram out of his power. |
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| 8 But, the he-goat, shewed himself very great,–and, when he had become mighty, the great horn, was broken in pieces, and there came up afterwards four, in its stead, towards 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, out of the first of them, came forth a little horn,–which became exceedingly great, against the south and against the east, and against the beautiful [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 became great as far as the host of the heavens,–and caused to fall, to the earth, some of the host and some of the stars, and trampled them underfoot; |
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 even as far as the ruler of the host, shewed he his greatness,–and, because of him, was taken away the continual [ascending-sacrifice], and the place of the 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, a host, was set over the continual [ascending-sacrifice], by transgression,–and faithfulness, was cast down, to the ground, and so he acted with effect, and succeeded. |
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 heard I a certain holy one, speaking,–and another holy one said to that certain holy one who was speaking–How long is the vision of the continual [ascending-sacrifice] as taken away, and the transgression which astoundeth, for both sanctuary and host to be given over to be trampled underfoot? |
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 him, Until two thousand and three hundred evening-mornings,–then shall the sanctuary, be vindicated. |
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 Daniel, had seen the vision,–and had sought discernment, that lo! there was standing before me, as the appearance of a man. |
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| 16 Then heard I a human voice, between [the banks of] the Ulai,–which cried out, and said, Gabriel! cause this man to understand the revelation. |
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| 17 So he came near where I stood, and, when he came, I was terrified, and fell upon my face,–but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man, that, to the time of the end, belongeth 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, when he spake with me, I fell stunned upon my face, to the earth,–but he touched me, and caused me to stand up where I was. |
In a deep sleep – In amazement. C97
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| 19 Then said he, Behold me! causing thee to know, that which shall come to pass in the afterpart of the indignation,–for, at an appointed time, shall be an 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, having the two horns, representeth the kings of Media and Persia; |
Are – Signifieth. C97
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| 21 and, the he-goat, is the king of Greece,–and, the great horn which was between his eyes, the same, is the first king. |
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| 22 Now, as for its being broken in pieces, whereupon there stood up four in its stead, four kingdoms, out of his nation, shall stand up, but not with his strength; |
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 but, in the aftertime of their kingdom, when transgressions, have filled up their measure,–there will stand up a king of mighty presence, and skilful in dissimulation; |
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 strength, will be mighty, but not through his own strength, and, wonderfully, will he destroy, and succeed and act with effect,–and will destroy mighty ones, and the people of 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 cunning, will he both cause deceit to succeed in his hand, and, in his own heart, will he shew himself to be great, and, by their careless security, will he destroy many,–and, against the ruler of rulers, will he stand up, but, without hand, shall be broken in pieces. |
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 Now, the revelation of the evening and the morning which hath been told, faithful, indeed it is,–but, thou, close up the vision, because it is for 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 Now, as for me Daniel, then was I sick for days, but I arose and did the business of the king,–and, though I was confounded concerning the revelation, yet could no one discern 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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