A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Daniel 8

Kuruvilla Thomas
Bangalore
Published on 5 October 2024 *

Fig. 1

Introduction

This study treats Daniel 8:2-14 as a cryptochiasmus in order to arrive at a coherent reconfiguration of the text ( see definition of cryptochiasmus in [1] ). If you wish to skip the technicalities of a chiastic parse, you may read starting from Section 4 of the Discussion section, which has the reconfigured text.

Daniel 8 makes predictions regarding the Greek Empire and regarding the coming of the Messiah and the Antichrist before the start of the Millennial Reign. The first section of Daniel 8 (vs 2-14) is a prophecy, and the second (vs 15-27) is the angel Gabriel's explanation of the prophecy. We will show that the timespan of "2300 evenings and mornings" in this prophecy predicts the birth year of the coming Messiah. This is one of the few prophecies that are designated as sealed (others are Daniel 10-12 [4], Isaiah 7-9, Isaiah 28-33, Revelation).

Discussion

1. Presuppositions

We base our parse of Daniel 8:2-14 on the assumption that it refers to 3 periods:

1. The Reign of the Greek Empire (333BC-146BC). This Period begins at Alexander's victory at the Battle of Issus and ends with the Greek defeat at the Battle of Corinth. Medo-Persia and Rome are also mentioned, but as part of the prologue and epilogue to the predictions on the Greeks.
2. The First Half of the First Jewish-Roman War (66AD-70AD). The war began when the Judahites stopped their sacrifices and offerings for Caesar. Jerusalem was destroyed in the middle of the war.
3. The Birth of the Coming Messiah, the "Prince of Princes" (1968/69AD). The Antichrist is also mentioned in the epilogue.

2. Parsing the chiasmus

We will use the NIV translation for this parse.

Parsing this chiasmus involves dividing portions of the text into three categories as above. We will call time of the Greek Empire Period 1, the first half of the First Jewish-Roman War Period 2, and the birth of the coming Messiah Period 3.

Categorizing Daniel 8:2-14

Vs 2-10a belong to Period 1. The reign of the Greek empire, from Alexander's conquest of Medo-Persia to the end of the empire. The Roman empire, which replaced the Greek empire, gradually grows to become extraordinarily powerful.

Vs 10b-11a belong to Period 3. Archangel Michael, the coming Messiah, defeats Satan and his angels shortly after the creation of the world; this event falls far outside the Period, but we will treat it as introductory to the passage on the birth of the coming Messiah in 12b. The Antichrist sets himself up to control the world and fight the Messiah.

Vs 11b-12a belong to Period 2. At the beginning of the First Jewish–Roman War, the Judahites stop sacrifices to Caesar (66AD), and, in the middle of the war, Jerusalem is destroyed (70AD).

Vs 12b belongs to Period 3. God sends down "Truth" to the earth - the birth of the coming Messiah.

Vs 13-14 appear to belong to Period 1. The angels discuss the timespan of the prophecy. We complete this cryptochiasmus by assigning this passage to Period 1 - the "2300 evenings and mornings" begin in this Period.

Original text

We color-code the chiastic units of the original text (NIV) below for easy visual identification using: red for Period 1, blue for Period 2, green for Period 3, and purple for the text outside the chiasmus. We have retranslated parts of the text.

Daniel 8 1 In the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, had a vision, after the one that had already appeared to me.

2 In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa in the province of Elam; in the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal. 3 I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two horns, standing beside the canal, and the horns were long. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later. 4 I watched the ram as it charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against it, and none could rescue from its power. It did as it pleased and became great.
5 As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between its eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. 6 It came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at it in great rage. 7 I saw it attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering its two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against it; the goat knocked it to the ground and trampled on it, and none could rescue the ram from its power. 8 The goat became very great, but at the height of its power the large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven.
9 Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land. 10a It grew great, even to the host of heaven.
10b It had thrown some [a] of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them. 11a He set himself up to be as great as the Prince of the army of the LORD. [b]
11b The regular sacrifices were taken away from him. 11c The place of His sanctuary was cast down.[c] 12a A raid was undertaken over the regular sacrifices, as it was a rebellious act.[d]
12b Truth is sent down to the earth; it will prosper in everything it does. [e]
13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, “How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled—the vision concerning the regular sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, the trampling underfoot of the sanctuary and the Lord’s people?” [f]
14 He said to me, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be properly restored [g].”

15 When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. [h] 16 And I heard a man’s voice from the Ulai calling, “Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of the vision.”
17 As he came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate. “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.”
18 While he was speaking to me, I was in a trance [i], with my face to the ground. Then he touched me and raised me to my feet.
19 He said: “I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end. 20 The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king. 22 The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power.
23 “In the latter part of their reign, when the break-away kingdoms have run their course [j], a fierce-looking king, a master of intrigue, will arise. 24 He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will corrupt to an extraordinary degree and will succeed and get what he wants. He will destroy multitudes [k], the holy people. 25 Through his cunning, he will cause deceit to prosper under his reign. He will become arrogant, and when they feel secure, he will destroy many. He will take his stand against the Prince of princes, but will be destroyed, though not by human power. [l]
26 “The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given you is true, but seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.”
27 I, Daniel, was worn out. I lay exhausted for several days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was appalled by the vision; it was beyond understanding.

Retranslation notes for Daniel 8
[a] vs 10 "It grew great, even to the host of heaven. It had thrown some" instead of "It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some".
[b] vs 11 "He set himself up to be as great as the Prince of the army of the LORD." instead of "It set itself up to be as great as the commander of the army of the LORD;".
[c] vs 11 "The regular sacrifices were taken away from him. The place of His sanctuary was cast down" instead of "it took away the daily sacrifice from the LORD, and his sanctuary was thrown down". Retranslated and punctuated to fit the chiastic design.
[d] vs 12 "A raid was undertaken over the regular sacrifices, as it was a rebellious act" instead of "Because of rebellion, the LORD’s people and the daily sacrifice were given over to it". Partially based on the Cambridge Bible analysis.
[e] vs 12 "Truth is sent down to the earth; it will prosper in everything it does" instead of "It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground".
[f] vs 13 "regular sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, the trampling underfoot of the sanctuary and the Lord’s people" instead of "daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, the surrender of the sanctuary and the trampling underfoot of the LORD’s people".
[g] vs 14 "then the holy place will be properly restored" instead of "then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated". From the NASB.
[h] vs 15 "When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man" instead of "While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there before me stood one who looked like a man". From the ESV.
[i] vs 18 "trance" instead of "deep sleep".
[j] vs 23 "when the break-away kingdoms have run their course" instead of "when rebels have become completely wicked".
[k] vs 24 "He will corrupt to an extraordinary degree and will succeed and get what he wants. He will destroy multitudes" instead of "He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy those who are mighty".
[l] vs 25 "Through his cunning, he will cause deceit to prosper under his reign. He will become arrogant, and when they feel secure, he will destroy many. He will take his stand against the Prince of princes, but will be destroyed, though not by human power" instead of "He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power".

3. Building the reconfigured text

From this parse, it appears that Daniel 8:2-14 forms a cryptochiasmus as below:

A1   vs. 2-10a Period 1. The Greek Empire
  B1   vs. 10b-11a Period 3. The Messiah and the Antichrist
    X   vs. 11b-12a Period 2. The First Jewish-Roman War
  B2   vs. 12b Period 3. The birth of the coming Messiah
A2   vs. 13-14 Period 1. The timespan of the prophecy

We now reconstruct the passages in the right order based on the chiastic structure above and based on the ordering rules of cryptochiasmi [1].

We lead with the central pivot point 'X'. The corresponding subunits (For ex., subunit A1 corresponds to A2) are placed contiguously to form units (For ex., A1,A2 is a unit).

The sequence selected for rearrangement is:

X  [A1,A2]  [B1,B2]        (1)

Translating (1) into verse numbers, we get:

[11b-12a]   [[2-10a], [13-14]]   [[10b-11a], 12b]        (2)

We arrive at the reconfigured passage in the next section by rearranging the verses so they are in sequence (2).

4. Daniel 8:2-14 Reconfigured

Period 2. The First Half of the First Jewish-Roman War (66AD-70AD) (vs. 11b-12a)



Period 1. The Reign of the Greek Empire (333BC-146BC) (vs. 2-10a,13-14)



Period 3. The Birth of the coming Messiah, the "Prince of Princes" (1968/69AD) (vs. 10b-11a, 12b)



The explanatory section outside the cryptochiasmus (vs. 15-27)

5 A Commentary on the Reconfigured Text

5.0 Introductory passage (vs 1)

1. In the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, had a vision, after the one that had already appeared to me.

Daniel had this vision in Belshazzar’s 3rd year (c. 548BC), shortly after the vision of the previous chapter, Dan. 7, that he had in Belshazzar’s 1st year. Belshazzar, who reigned till 539BC, was the last king of the Babylonian empire (see Dan. 5). Note that the text switches back to Hebrew from this chapter onward - it had been in Aramaic in Dan. 2:4-7:28.

5.1 Period 2. The First Half of the First Jewish-Roman War (66AD-70AD) (vs. 11b-12a)

This Period is arranged in the form of a single-unit chiasmus:

A1 8:11b War breaks out when sacrifices for Caesar are stopped (66AD)
    X 8:11c Jerusalem and its temple are destroyed in the middle of the war (70AD)
A2 8:12a War breaks out when sacrifices for Caesar are stopped (66AD)


Subunit A1: War breaks out when sacrifices for Caesar are stopped (66AD) (8:11b)

11b The regular sacrifices were taken away from him.

The Judahites stopped prayers and sacrifices for Caesar (Emperor Nero) in the fall of 66AD (see also Dan 11:31, 12:11) in order to protest the desecration of a Jewish synagogue in Caesarea. This triggered a response by the Romans that led to the First Jewish-Roman War. ( For details on this Period, see the paper on the 70 weeks of Daniel [2].)

Pivot X: Jerusalem and its temple are destroyed in the middle of the war (70AD) (8:11c)

11c The place of His sanctuary was cast down.

By the fall of 70AD, the Romans extirpated God's city, Jerusalem, and His temple ("sanctuary"), and they killed most of the Judahites. God allowed this destruction of Jerusalem and its temple to take place to indicate that Israel ("The place of His sanctuary") was no longer His holy land ("cast down") (see Zech. 11:10-11,14).

Subunit A2: War breaks out when sacrifices for Caesar are stopped (66AD) (8:12a)

12a A raid was undertaken over the regular sacrifices, as it was a rebellious act.

The Judahites' stopping of sacrifices for Caesar (see 8:11b in Subunit A1 above) was seen as a major act of rebellion, and the Romans had to respond. The First Jewish-Roman War began when the Roman governor Gessius Florus conducted a raid against the Judahites to punish this rebellion (66AD).

5.2 Period 1. The Reign of the Greek Empire (333BC-146BC) (vs. 2-10a, 13-14)

This Period is structured as a two-unit chiasmus:

A1 8:2-3 Prologue: The vision at Susa
  B1 8:4 Prologue: The Pre-Greek Empire - Medo-Persia
    X 8:5-8 Alexander establishes the Greek Empire
  B2 8:9-10a Epilogue: The Post-Greek Empire - Rome
A2 8:13-14 Epilogue: The vision at Susa - The 2,300 evenings and mornings


Subunit A1: Prologue: The vision at Susa (8:2-3)

This subunit and the corresponding subunit A2 below are regarding the vision itself.

2 In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa in the province of Elam; in the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal.

This vision is set by the Ulai Canal in Susa, one of the capitals of Persia. The location of the vision is significant, because it was near Susa that Alexander won the battle that utterly crushed the Medo-Persian Empire (see Pivot X below). Bodies of water represent multitudes of people, so the Ulai canal presumably represents the common people of the vast regions that the empires of this Period controlled.

3 I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two horns, standing beside the canal, and the horns were long. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later.

The ram represents Medo-Persia, according to the angel Gabriel's explanation in vs. 20 below. The two long horns represent the powerful leadership of Media and Persia with the higher horn representing Persia - Persia was the newer power but grew to be the stronger of the two (a horn in this and other prophecies represents a ruler or a centre of power - cf. Dan 7:7-8). This verse is regarding Medo-Persia at the time of the vision (the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign), so the predictions of this Period begin in the next subunit.

Subunit B1: Prologue: The Pre-Greek Empire - Medo-Persia (8:4)

4 I watched the ram as it charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against it, and none could rescue from its power. It did as it pleased and became great.

The Medo-Persian kingdom conquered the nations ("animals") around it and grew into a great power. It expanded west to Babylon and all the way to Syria and Libya, north to the regions around the Caspian sea, and south into India, but it did not significantly expand east in the direction of China. Medo-Persia was a large and powerful empire that dominated the region and the world in its time.

Pivot X: Alexander establishes the Greek Empire (8:5-8)

5 As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between its eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. 6 It came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at it in great rage.

The angel Gabriel interprets the goat as representing the Greek empire, and so its prominent horn is its first king, Alexander the Great (see vs 21). Alexander began his campaign against Persia c. 334BC in furious retaliation to Xerxes' earlier attack on Greece and destruction of Athens (480BC) and to the expulsion of the Satanic bloodlines from Babylon (480BC) (see details in appendix below). Alexander's first direct confrontation with Darius III, the emperor of Persia, took place in 333BC when he defeated the emperor at the battle of Issus - we treat this date as the start date of this Period and the prophecy. After conducting an expedition that rapidly ("without touching the ground") conquered vast areas of Persia-controlled Asia and Africa, Alexander advanced towards the capital cities of Persia.

7 I saw it attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering its two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against it; the goat knocked it to the ground and trampled on it, and none could rescue the ram from its power.

Alexander defeated a Persian last stand near Susa, the site of this vision, in 330 BC, and this was the end of the Medo-Persian Empire. Alexander's victory had the effect of moving the political centre of the world westward - from Medo-Persia (Subunit B1) to Rome (Subunit B2), through Greece.

8 The goat became very great, but at the height of its power the large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven.

Under Alexander, the Greek empire grew rapidly, so that it extended from Greece and Egypt in the west to India in the east; but on his sudden death in 323BC ("large horn broken"), his generals (the Diadochi) warred over his empire, as he had left behind no clear successor. After the battle of Ipsus in 301BC, the empire was permanently divided into 4 kingdoms (the "4 horns", see verse 22): to the west, Cassander ruled Greece and Macedonia; to the north, Lysimachus ruled Thrace and Asia Minor; to the south, Ptolemy Soter controlled Egypt and Palestine; and to the east Seleucus Nicator controlled Syria, Babylonia and regions farther east up to India.

Subunit B2: Epilogue: The Post-Greek Empire - Rome (8:9-10a)

9 Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land.

One of the 4 horns of verse 8, the Ptolemaic empire, controlled parts of southern Italy through the efforts of Pyrrhus of Epirus, who, for a short while, had conquered regions in Italy up to the very border of Rome (c. 280 BC). But Pyrrhus' victories proved pyrrhic, and the Roman Republic, which started off as a relatively minor power, a "small horn", took control of all of Italy, including its Greek regions (Magna Graecia) after the Battle of Beneventum (c. 272BC). Rome then gradually expanded into other parts of the Greek Empire: to the south into Egypt in Northern Africa; to the east into Syria and Asia Minor and to the south-east into Judea and its surrounding regions. Although Roman rule expanded in other directions, the focus here appears to be its growth into regions controlled by the Greeks, and its growth towards Judea.

10a It grew great, even to the host of heaven.

Over the millennia, the Roman Empire continued to grow powerful, so that, by the end of Satan's reign (c. 2027), it becomes the world dominating Beast Empire (see details in the appendix below, see also Rev 13, Dan. 7:7,23-25). The Beast Empire will be supported by a strong spiritual component that consists of powerful fallen angels ("even to the host of heaven") (see Rev 17:7-8).

Subunit A2: Epilogue: The vision at Susa - The 2,300 evenings and mornings (8:13-14)

13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, “How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled—the vision concerning the regular sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, the trampling underfoot of the sanctuary and the Lord’s people?”

After seeing the prophetic images of the vision, Daniel hears a conversation between heavenly beings. The heavenly being's question in this passage only pertains to the part of the vision about the first half of the Jewish-Roman war (Period 2), but we will treat it as an inquiry on the timespan of the entire vision - it is a synecdoche of sorts that serves to further obscure the meaning of the prophecy. This interpretation agrees with the explanation of this subunit in the section below - in vs. 17, “...the vision concerns the time of the end”, and vs. 26, "The vision of the evenings and mornings... concerns the distant future”.

The angel Gabriel is one of the heavenly beings of this vision (see 8:15,16 below), and messages are passed from the spiritual to the earthly realm almost exclusively through angels. So an heavenly being asks the angel Gabriel to make the important announcement of the timespan of the vision.

14a He said to me, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings;”

For the "2300 evenings and mornings" to specify the timespan of the entire vision, it would have to represent 2300 years. Which events mark the start and end of the 2300 year timespan and what are the corresponding dates?

• Start Date: The first event of this prophecy is Alexander's attack on Persia (see vs 5 in Period 1) (we treat the passage about Medo-Persia in Subunits A1 and B1 as the prologue). Alexander's first battle against Darius III was at Issus towards the end of 333BC, which we set as the start date of the 2300 years.
• End Date: The last event of the prophecy is the birth of the coming Messiah (see vs 12b in Period 3 below) (we treat the passage regarding the Antichrist in 11a as epilogue). Adding 2300 years to 333BC gets us to 1968/69AD, the year of the Messiah's birth (these prophecies go by the Jewish 'fall to fall' calendar).

14b "then the holy place will be properly restored.

At the time of the birth of the Messiah in Period 3, God will once again make Israel His chosen nation ("the holy place" is "restored") - it had lost this status in Period 2 (see 8:11, Zech. 11:10-11).

The Seal

This vision of the "2300 evenings and mornings" of 8:14 ties Period 3 to the three other parts of the prophecy:

• Period 1: The 2300 years begins in Period 1 and terminates in Period 3 (8:14a).
• Period 2: The nation of Israel is rejected by God in Period 2 (8:11c) and restored to being God's holy nation in Period 3 (8:14b).
• The explanatory section: The angel Gabriel explains that this vision of the evenings and mornings is regarding Period 3 ("the vision concerns the time of the end" in 8:17 and "it concerns the distant future" in 8:26).

This vision in 8:14, that connects all 4 parts of this prophecy, forms the "seal" of this prophecy in Daniel 8 (see 8:28). This seal presumably corresponds to the first seal of Revelation (in Rev. 5:1-2), and the opening of this seal (the explanation of this prophecy in Daniel 8) that discloses the birth year of the coming Messiah, releases the "Rider on the White Horse", the Messiah, who then sets out to conquer (see Rev. 6:2).

5.3 Period 3. The Birth of the Coming Messiah, the "Prince of Princes" (1968/69AD) (vs. 10b-11a, 12b)

This Period is arranged in the form of a single-unit chiasmus:

A1 8:10b Prologue: Archangel Michael, the coming Messiah, defeats Satan: In heaven
    X 8:11a Epilogue: The Antichrist prepares to fight the Messiah
A2 8:12b Archangel Michael, the coming Messiah, defeats Satan: On earth


Subunit A1: Prologue: Archangel Michael, the coming Messiah, defeats Satan: In heaven (8:10b)

Note that the Messiah, Archangel Michael, is called "Truth" in this Unit A (in 12b) and so the pronoun "it" is used for him in the unit.

10b It had thrown some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them.

Shortly after the earth was created in 4034BC, there was a war in heaven around 4032BC, and Michael, the leader of God's angels, defeated Satan and his forces; Michael dispatched a third of the angels ("starry host"), those on Satan's side, to the earth, and they lost their place in heaven ("trampled on them") (Rev. 12:4,7-9).

This ancient war in heaven is mentioned here in this Period of the start of the Millennial Reign to indicate that the war in heaven for the souls of angels was a type of the battle for the souls of men during the reign of the Beast (see Rev 13 in [6]): the opposing leaders of the heavenly war were Michael and Satan, and the leaders of this earthly war are the Messiah and Satan's representative, the Antichrist; in both wars, the victor is the side that wins a 2/3rds majority of souls (see Rev 12:4, Rev 13:18).

Pivot X: Epilogue: The Antichrist prepares to fight the Messiah (8:11a)

11a He set himself up to be as great as the Prince of the army of the LORD.

The Antichrist will use Satan's empires - "Babylon" and the Beast system (see Rev 17 in [6]) - to acquire great power and fight the Messiah, "the Prince of the Lords army" (see Dan. 11:13). But the Antichrist will be defeated with the help of the angels of the Lord's army (see Gabriel's explanation of this verse in 8:25; see also Rev. 19:20).

Subunit A2: Archangel Michael, the coming Messiah, defeats Satan: On earth (8:12b)

12b Truth is sent down to the earth; it will prosper in everything it does.

This passage predicts the birth of the coming Messiah (Isaiah 9:6), the earthly ruler who will represent Jesus as the King of kings. Archangel Michael will be sent down to earth as the Messiah to rule over Israel and the world during Christ's Millennial Reign. ( The date of this event is predicted in vs 14 above.)

The coming Messiah is called 'Truth' here, and he is given similar epithets in other passages: he is the 'Spirit of Truth' and the 'Comforter' of John 14:15-17; he is both 'Faithful' and 'True' as the Rider on the White Horse in Rev. 19:11-14 (the word translated 'Truth' in this verse can also mean 'Faithful'). Also Michael, being the angel responsible for the Israelites (Dan. 12:1), was the primary transmitter of the Word of God - the Truth - to the prophets.

The coming Messiah will, with divine assistance, be victorious over Satan's kingdom and lead the world into a prosperous age under Christ ("prospered in everything it did").

6. Commentary on the explanatory section outside the cryptochiasmus (8:15-27)

This explanatory section is arranged in the form of a three-unit chiasmus:

A1 8:15-16 Prologue to the explanatory section
  B1 8:17 The 2,300 evenings and mornings: Prelude
    C1 8:18-19 About the Antichrist: Prelude
      X 8:20-24 The Greek Empire
    C2 8:25 About the Antichrist
  B2 8:26 The 2,300 evenings and mornings: The prophecy is sealed
A2 8:27 Epilogue to the explanatory section


Subunit A1: Prologue to the explanatory section (8:15-16)

15 When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. 16 And I heard a man’s voice from the Ulai calling, “Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of the vision.”

As Daniel tried to understand the cryptic vision he had just seen, he sees the angel Gabriel in the form of a man (he had heard the disembodied voices of heavenly beings at the end of the vision - vs 13-14). An heavenly being asks Gabriel to explain the vision - it is the angels that are responsible for transmitting messages to humans. Note that, most often, angels appear to people as human men, and not as creatures with wings.

In order to correctly understand Gabriel's explanation below, it must be read starting from the middle, in the sequence: Pivot X, Unit C (Subunit C1, Subunit C2) and then Unit B (Subunit B1, Subunit B2). When read this way, the order of events in the vision and in the explanation are the same.

Subunit B1: The 2,300 evenings and mornings: Prelude (8:17)

17a As he came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate.

Daniel had been standing for the explanation in Unit C below, but when Gabriel comes close to Daniel to continue his explanation, the prophet is terrified at the sight of the angel and falls prostrate in awe and respect (cf. Dan. 10:8-11, Rev. 1:17). This is the third position Daniel adopts as he listens to Gabriel (he is seated with head bowed for the Pivot X below and he is standing for Unit C).

17b “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.”

The vision of the "evenings and mornings" is regarding the "time of the end", which refers to the period towards the end of Satan's reign (before 2027AD) (see also Dan. 11:35, 12:4, 12:9). The angel continues to speak about the "evening and mornings" in the corresponding Subunit B2 below.

Subunit C1: About the Antichrist: Prelude (8:18-19)

18 While he was speaking to me, I was in a trance, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me and raised me to my feet.

Daniel had been in a trance with his head bowed ("face to the ground") (cf. Dan 10:9), presumably in a seated position, as he listened to the explanation of the passage about the Greek empire in the Pivot X below. The angel gets him to stand up for this unit.

19 He said: “I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end.

The phrase, "time of wrath", refers to Satan's short tyrannical rule through the Antichrist (2023-2027AD) (see also Rev. 12:12, Rev. 13), and "time of the end" refers to the period of the end of Satan's reign on earth, around 2027AD (see also Dan. 12:4,9,13). The angel goes on to describe the Antichrist and his actions in the corresponding Subunit C2 below.

Pivot X: The Greek Empire (8:20-24)

This pivot continues from the prologue of the explanatory section in Subunit A1 (8:15-16). Here Gabriel explains and expands on aspects of the pivot of Period 1 (8:5-8), regarding Alexander and the Greek empire.

20 The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king. 22 The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power.

The ram represents Medo-Persia, with the horns representing the leaders of Media and Persia. The goat represents Greece, and its large horn represents Alexander, its first king. The 4 horns represent the 4 kingdoms into which Greece was divided after Alexander's death. ( See more details in the commentary under the pivot of Period 1 above.)

Why are the Persian and the Greek empires represented by the ram and the goat? We propose that the ram (male sheep) and the goat represent good and evil empires respectively, as in Matthew 25:31-46. Medo-Persia, the empire of God's chosen Cyrus, the empire that had helped the Judahites rebuild (Ezra 1:1-4), and the empire that had expelled the Satanic bloodlines from Babylon (see details in the appendix below), was the good empire; the Greek empire, the empire that was controlled by the Satanic bloodlines of Pergamum, the empire that was Satan's kingdom at that time, was the evil empire.

23 “In the latter part of their reign, when the break-away kingdoms have run their course, a fierce-looking king, a master of intrigue, will arise.

In the final years of the Greek empire, as the Roman empire gradually conquers the 4 Greek kingdoms ("the break-away kingdoms have run their course"), Antiochus IV Epiphanes begins his reign in 175BC. Antiochus is well-known for his fierceness ("fierce-looking") and his scheming ("a master of intrigue") (see also Dan. 11:21-24,27).

Although Antiochus Epiphanes is a part of one of the 4 horns of 8:8, his reign is not specifically predicted in the vision above. He is mentioned here in the explanation, presumably because he is a type of the Antichrist (as in Dan. 11:21-30a,37-45); for like Antiochus, the Antichrist will arrive in the final years of Satan's reign over the earth and rule with fierce cruelty and cunning.

24a He will become very strong, but not by his own power.

Antiochus becomes strong with spiritual support from fallen angels (according to Daniel 11:39, "He will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god"). The Antichrist will similarly control the whole world through spiritual power from the Satanic realm (see Rev. 13).

24b He will corrupt to an extraordinary degree and will succeed and get what he wants.

Antiochus is an astonishingly effective corrupting influence, even among the Judahites (see for ex. 2 Maccabees 4:7-22), and he uses corruption and guile to successfully execute his plans and to get his way (see also Dan 11:23-24).

24c He will destroy multitudes, the holy people.

Antiochus conducts assaults against Judea and destroys many Judahites ("the holy people") (see 1 Maccabees 1:20–28, Dan 11:28,30a). ( We will consider "holy people" in Old Testament prophecy to refer to the people of Israel - see also Dan. 7:18.)

After this pivot, this explanatory section continues in Subunit C1 above.

Subunit C2: About the Antichrist (8:25)

This subunit continues from Subunit C1 above. It explains and expands on the pivot of Period 3 (8:11a). Note that the passages below regarding the corrupting influence of the Antichrist and his destruction of the righteous are similar to those regarding Antiochus, the type, in the previous passage (vs 24).

25a Through his cunning, he will cause deceit to prosper under his reign.

The Antichrist sets up a global environment of deceit, and uses these corrupt conditions to gain complete control over the world (see also Matthew 24:11).

25b He will become arrogant, and when they feel secure, he will destroy many.

The Antichrist thinks of himself as greater than all gods (2 Thess. 2:4, Dan. 11:36), and so he expects everyone to obey him. He seemingly comes in peace ("when they feel secure", "like a lamb" - Rev. 13:11), but then suddenly destroys the righteous - those who remain faithful to their God and ignore the Antichrist's order to worship the Beast (see Rev 13:12,15).

25c He will take his stand against the Prince of princes, but will be destroyed, though not by human power.

The Antichrist will even battle the coming Messiah ("Prince of princes") when he leads the Beast army against Israel (see Ezekiel 39), but he will be defeated and destroyed by God's supernatural forces (see Rev. 19:11-21).

Powerful angels who are placed in charge of nations are called "princes", as in Daniel 10 [7], and so the "Prince of princes" is the leader of the angels - archangel Michael. ( Michael is "the first of the chief princes" in Dan. 10:13 [7], and the leader of the angels in Rev. 12:7 [5].)

This explanatory section continues in Subunit B1 above.

Subunit B2: The 2,300 evenings and mornings: The prophecy is sealed (8:26)

This subunit continues from Subunit B1 above, in which Daniel is told that this part of the vision, the "evenings and mornings", is regarding the "time of the end". It expands on Unit A, particularly Subunit A2, in Period 1 (8:13-14).

26 “The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given you is true, but seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.”

An "evening and morning" represents one year in this prophecy, perhaps with the evenings and mornings figuratively representing fall and spring respectively (these prophecies follow the Hebrew secular fall-to-fall calendar), so the "2300 evenings and mornings" spans millennia and terminates in Period 3 ("distant future"). This vision is sealed, as detailed in the commentary at the end of Period 1.

Subunit A2: Epilogue to the explanatory section (8:27)

27 I, Daniel, was worn out. I lay exhausted for several days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was appalled by the vision; it was beyond understanding.

Daniel must have seen a lot more in this vision than he wrote down, for the experience drained him. Even after Gabriel's explanation, he did not understand the sealed prophecy, which means that, at least in some cases, scripture was dictated to the prophets from above word-for-word.

Conclusion

With this chiastic reconfiguration, we have shown that this prophecy is regarding 3 distinct Periods that together span 2300 years. On a straight-through reading of the passage, it appears that the prophecy ends with Antiochus Epiphanes' desecration of the temple in Jerusalem; but with this reconfiguration, we have shown that the prophecy also predicts the coming of the Antichrist and the birth of the Messiah. With the unsealing of this prophecy, the First Horseman, the Rider on the White Horse, is loosed (see Rev 6:1-2).

Appendix

The "Empires of Daniel" and the Satanic Bloodlines

Satan's Empires

Why do we see Daniel 2, 7, 8, 11 & 12 and other prophecies repeatedly chart the history of the same empires - Assyria, Neo-Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome - to the exclusion of all the other great empires of the world? We propose that these are the empires through which Satan, with the aid of certain bloodlines, enforced his reign on earth.

The Bloodlines

Members of priestly/royal bloodlines from ancient Babylon - likely from Nimrod (see Micah 5:6) - controlled these empires and the rest of the world for Satan, just as members of the Davidic line led God's kingdom, Israel. (The detailed Biblical listing of the Davidic genealogies indicate that bloodlines matter.) The priests/kings of these bloodlines enhance their wealth and power by worshipping Satan and his mighty demons using their esoteric mystery knowledge from Babylon (see Isa. 47:9-12), and by doing Satan's bidding. Their current seat of power at the Vatican - the Great Whore of Rev. 17:5 - is called "Mystery Babylon" because of these strong, secret connections to ancient Babylon.

The Bloodlines move West

The Medo-Persian emperor Xerxes, wary of the power and machinations of these bloodlines, deposed them from Babylon and destroyed their temples, forcing them to flee west (c. 480BC). They established their new headquarters at Pergamum (Rev. 2:13) and they later retaliated by taking control of the Greeks and helping Alexander the Great defeat the Medo-Persians (c. 333BC). The Romans took ownership of Pergamum (c. 133BC), and a short time later, the bloodlines took control of the Roman Empire through Julius Caesar (c. 49BC) and his successors. So, as the bloodlines moved westward, Satan's world capital and temple moved with them from Babylon to Pergamum and then to Rome.

The Roman Catholic Empire ('Babylon') and its vassals.

After the fall of Rome, c. 480AD, the Satanic bloodlines that had controlled Rome extended their reign by using the Roman Catholic Church to leech on to other European nations. Initially they ruled through the Holy Roman Empire, but after that they turned into a covert global empire. Biblical prophecy treats the "Roman" Empire of this period as made up of two divisions:

• The Roman Catholic Empire or 'Babylon': This is the spiritual/executive division of the empire. The Satanic bloodlines expanded their family of Satan worshippers by recruiting people from around the world into the service of Satan. Through these Satan worshippers and their secret organizations, the bloodlines covertly control all nations from Rome (see commentary on Rev 17 in [6] for details). (Note that we call the Roman Catholic Empire, 'Babylon', according to the convention in prophetic passages such as Rev. 18, but use quotes to distinguish it from ancient Babylon.)
• The enforcer nations: The military duties of Satan and his empire, 'Babylon', are implemented by a series of nations with strong armies. Enforcer nations have primarily been Western European nations and their offshoots: USA, Britain, France, Spain, Germany etc.. These nations make up the 6th king of Rev 17:10, and we will refer to them collectively as the Western Empire. Through the Western Empire, the Roman Catholic Empire took control of the rest of the world during the colonial era, and although those colonized nations have been ostensibly granted independence since, they continue to be covertly controlled by Rome. Towards the start of Christ's Millennial Reign, this enforcing power will be transferred to the 7th king of Rev 17:10, China, for a short time. China ("Magog") will then lead the 8th king, the world dominating Beast alliance of 7 nations (see Rev 13 and Rev 17:11).

References

[1] A Definition of Cryptochiasmus
[2] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of "The 70 Weeks Of Daniel"
[3] First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE) by Wikipedia.
[4] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Daniel 10-12. Part 2: Daniel 11-12
[5] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Revelation 12
[6] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Revelation 4-22: Part 2
[7] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Daniel 10-12: Part 1
[8] A Chiastic Reconfiguration Of Ezekiel 4-5





* First version published on 9 March 2019.