The third question that we will briefly consider is: What earthly power represented the little horn in 457 B.C. that defiled the sanctuary, fulfilling what was prophesied in Daniel 8:11? We have posed this question on several occasions, so there is little we need to consider in this article. However, we pose it again because for our theologians it is the most difficult question to answer, and without a response, they resort to contradictory conjectures, such as claiming that the little horn of Daniel was represented by pagan Rome, which makes no sense because Rome emerged approximately 300 years after 457 B.C.; so it could not desecrate the sanctuary during the Persian empire in the aforementioned year. Inexplicably, we have also conjectured that the little horn of Daniel 8 was represented by the papacy, which leads us into a greater problem because the papacy, as a religious institution, did not emerge until the 4th century of our era, after being established as the official religion of the Roman Empire by Constantine, approximately 800 years after 457 B.C., so it also could not defile the sanctuary during the Persian empire. Unfortunately, we are trapped in our traditional interpretation of Daniel 8’s prophecy, and we cannot find a way out of the interpretative labyrinth we have entered. The main problem is that by not being able to identify the earthly power that defiled the sanctuary for 2,300 years, starting from 457 B.C.; this year loses its prophetic value, and consequently, the year 1884, forcing us to look for other dates that validate the beginning and end of Daniel 8’s prophecy, where we can correctly identify the power represented by the little horn that defiled the sanctuary for 2,300 evenings and mornings. If we cannot give an objective and satisfactory answer to the initially formulated question, without resorting to hermeneutical acrobatics, it is time to proceed with a review of the date that marks the beginning of the 2,300 evenings and mornings prophecy, or the events that should have occurred on that date. In relation to the starting date of Daniel 8’s prophecy, one of our problems is that we have adopted the interpretation that Daniel 8’s prophecy began simultaneously with Daniel 9’s prophecy, proposed by Johan Petri in the 18th century, who also claimed that at the end of the 2,300 years, Christ’s millennial kingdom would begin with the Lord’s second coming. It is possible that Guillermo Miller read that interpretation and adopted it; an interpretation that our sincere pioneers also ended up embracing (simultaneous beginning of Daniel 7 and 8 prophecies), due to the level of ignorance of the scriptures at that time, which led to accepting any interpretation suggested by renowned and recognized scholars of that time without any questioning. The problem with Petri’s interpretation is that it is based on conjecture because Daniel 8:8-9 and 21-23 categorically reveal that the little horn of Daniel 8, which would defile the sanctuary, would arise after the four kingdoms horns, into which the Greek empire was divided; after which, a king of bold countenance would rise up, who would magnify himself against the prince of the host, as recorded in verse 11, or against the prince of princes, as verse 25 records. It is important to note that the previous prophetic revelation is accepted by our scholars and is recorded in the book “Attack on the Sanctuary,” page 49, by Clifford Goldstein, which states: “The little horn, the final power in Daniel 8, arises after Greece.” William Shea, in his book “Daniel: A Guide for the Scholar,” pages 177-178, wrote the following: “The power called the little horn… appears on the historical scene, ‘at the end of the reign of these’ (verse 23); that is, at the very end of the rule of the four Greek kingdoms… Rome appeared on the scene during the final part of the rule of these four kingdoms, conquering each in turn: Greece in the year 168 B.C. … based on these reasons, in this work we take the position that THE LITTLE HORN IN DANIEL 8’s VISION REPRESENTS ROME”. Loron Wade, in the book “The Future Revealed in the Book of Daniel,” page 149, records the following: “In the year 168 B.C., precisely the time indicated by the prophecy, Rome fulfilled all the conditions indicated by the prophecy.” If the previous statements of our theologians – which are supported by the Scriptures – are correct: How can we assert that the little horn – supposedly represented by pagan Rome – which emerged in the mid-2nd century B.C., could defile the sanctuary approximately 300 years before its emergence, in 457 B.C. during the Persian empire? For more information, read the articles on this blog entitled “Where is Rome in Daniel 8?”, part I and II. The second problem we have related to the emergence date of the little horn is that we ignore the clear biblical revelation of the moment of said emergence and pretend to find it in Daniel 9, where NO MENTION IS MADE OF THE LITTLE HORN, nor the defilement of the sanctuary, nor the 2,300 evenings and mornings; because in Daniel 8, the prophecy of the 2,300 evenings and mornings is revealed, and in Daniel 9, the prophecy of the seventy weeks. For more information, read the article on this blog entitled “Is there any grounded explanation of the 2,300 evenings and mornings prophecy in Daniel 9?”. The third problem related to the emergence time of the little horn of Daniel 8 is conjecturing that the little horn of Daniel 7 represents the same power as the little horn recorded in Daniel 8, which has us very confused and leads us into contradictions when we affirm on one hand that the little horn of Daniel 8 is represented by pagan Rome, and on the other hand, that the same horn is represented by the papacy, as William Shea affirms in his book “Daniel: A guide for the scholar”, page 141, where the following is noted: “The position taken in this book IS THAT THE LITTLE HORN REPRESENTS THE PAPACY, NOT ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES… the events recorded in history confirm this identification.” Unfortunately, the above statement is totally contrary to what was recently mentioned on pages 177-178 of Shea’s book, where the same autor states: THAT THE LITTLE HORN IS REPRESENTED BY PAGAN ROME THAT EMERGED AFTER GREECE IN THE YEAR 168 BC., when the papacy did not exist. The previous contradiction is typical of Shea and most of our scholars, who have not been able to properly identify who represented the little horn, which desecreated the sanctuary in the year 457 BC. which leaves us with more questions that answers. We conclude by reaffirming that Daniel 7 and 8 reveal two different prophecies temporally, with little horns that have different start and end dates. For more information, read the article on this blog entitled “Is the little horn of Daniel 7 the same as the little horn of Daniel 8? Blessings.
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