Paganism Absorbed but Not Converted — A Long Prophetic Period — The Two Desolating Powers and Their Work — The Two Hosts
This is the second of some four articles by Mr. Vuilleumier on the prophecy of the eighth chapter of Daniel. The article this week introduces the ecclesiastical power of the papacy, and the article next week will give a further development of the subject. EDITOR.
THE vision of Daniel 8 reaches down to the end of human history. In verse 25 we read, "He [the Roman horn] shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand." This latter expression refers to the violent destruction of earthly kingdoms at the coming of the Son of God in glory. See Dan. 2: 44, 45, where similar words are applied to the world. This fact is positively stated by the angel Gabriel when he comes to Daniel to explain the vision: "Understand, O son of man; for the vision belongeth to the time of the end." "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." Dan. 8: 17, 19.
"Elmshaven," the home of Mrs. E. G. White, near St. Helena, California
WHAT THE LITTLE HORN INCLUDES
From this, the evident conclusion follows that the "little horn, which waxed exceeding great," includes not only the pagan phase of the Roman power, but also its papal phase. In other words, the history of the world, from the days of Cæsar to the end of time, is all embraced under one symbol, compassed in one power. As the God of heaven views human affairs, not only is there a political but also a religious unity between pagan and papal Rome. Therefore the description of the "exceeding great" horn must include the entire history of the papal hierarchy and political supremacy during the Dark Ages and modern times. This conception is the undoubted teaching of the prophecy; and an interpretation which does not recognize it, cannot be correct.
Differences may spring up as to where the dividing line must be drawn between the statements of the prophecy belonging to pagan and those belonging to papal Rome; but the transition, no matter how imperceptible or how sudden, is there somewhere.
This is not the only place in prophecy where this fact is presented and this form of symbolism used. In Daniel 2, the whole history of the world from the beginning of the Roman Empire to the end of time is called one kingdom, though a "divided" one. Dan. 2: 40, 41. In Daniel 7, the ten barbarian kingdoms under papal domination are made inseparable parts of the fourth beast, or the Roman Empire. In Revelation 12 also, we see, from the first advent of Christ to His second coming, the whole political and religious history of the world summed up under one single symbol, the great red dragon.
TOOK AN ECCLESIASTICAL FORM
Nor is this fact unnoticed by historians. Says Chateaubriand, in his Etudes Historiques: "The Latin-Roman empire had become the barbarian-Roman empire. . . . The entire society took an ecclesiastical form; all was governed by the church and for the church, from the nations up to the kings themselves."
"Singular phenomenon!" says M. Guizot, the Protestant prime minister and historian under Napoleon III. "It was at the very time when the empire tottered and disappeared, that the Christian [Catholic] church definitely gathered its fragments and shaped itself. Political unity perished, religious unity appeared."
"As the one [the old Rome] disappears, the other [the new Rome] expands and takes possession of the ground," says a Catholic writer. "Throughout this change, the original idea attaching to Rome as the earth's capital remains unchanged. She does continue to be mistress of a world, but, by the grace of God, mistress no longer of a heathen but of a Christian world. The sway acquired by ancient Rome was but to foreshadow Rome's supernatural destiny in Christendom. The Christian hierarchy is, in all its essentials, of divine origin. But now, in its accidental development it adapted itself to the system of imperial government. The system was ready to hand, practical, efficient, and easily understood by all."—"Rome and the Popes," translated from the German of Dr. Karl Brandes by the Rev. W. G. Wiseman, Benziger Brothers, New York, 1868, page 63.
HOW LONG SHALL BE THE VISION?
But there is still another side to this prophetic prism; that is, its chronology, as pointed out by two heavenly beings speaking in the hearing of the prophet, thus showing the intense interest taken by heaven itself in these solemn revelations. This is found in Dan. 8: 13, 14.
The question of the holy one: "How long shall be the vision concerning the continual [the words "burnt offerings" or "sacrifice" are not in the original], and the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot?"
The answer of the other holy one: "And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."
Thus by two heavenly students of prophecy, the whole field of the vision is divided among two powers or religions, named "the continual" and "the transgression that maketh desolate"; both are engaged in one and the same enterprise, that is, treading underfoot "both the sanctuary and the host"; and this long, nefarious, heaven-daring campaign, or drama in two acts, is to last 2,300 prophetic days, or as many literal years, according to the prophetic year-day rule. Eze. 4: 4-6.
THE PROPHETIC PERIOD IN FULFILLMENT
This period, if started in the year 457 B. C.,— for which good reasons will be given later,— would end in 1844.
Let us see now if this bird's-eye view of the vision given by angels is confirmed by human history and chronology, reckoned in round numbers.
The three world empires embraced in the vision (the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans), which began 500 B. C., and ended 500 A. D., lasted together . . . . . 1,000 years
The barbarian or Latin phase of the Roman Empire, which began in the early part of the sixth century, and ended at the close of the eighteenth century, lasted . . . . . 1,300 years
Total . . . . . 2,300 years
And now, how does the history of the world, from the standpoint of religions, agree with this 2300-year period?
The paganism of the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans held sway for nearly . . . . . 1,000 years
The papal religion, which ruled the world from the destruction of paganism to 1798, lasted about . . . . . 1,300 years
Total . . . . . 2,300 years
In the rough, then, the vision of Daniel as summed up by the two angels is wonderfully confirmed by history and chronology. We are now prepared to enter into the detailed study of verses 11-13, which deal with the second, and, to us, most interesting phase of the vision.
THE TWO DESOLATIONS AND THE TWO SANCTUARIES
These verses contain a few expressions which must be studied before we can apply them correctly. These are the two desolations, the two sanctuaries, and the two hosts. In order to lay the whole problem before the reader, we will quote Dan. 8: 11-13, with two other passages in the book of Daniel where the same words are used, and evidently the same subject dealt with. We quote from the Revised Version:471
Dan. 8: 11: "Yea, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the host; and it took away from him the continual, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down." We purposely leave out the words "burnt offering," or "sacrifice," after the word "continual," as they are not found in the original.
CAST DOWN THE TRUTH AND PROSPERED
Dan. 8: 12, 13: "And the host was given over to it together with the continual through transgression; and it cast down truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered. 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, and the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot?"
Dan. 11: 31: "And forces shall stand on his part, and they shall profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall take away the continual, and they shall set up the abomination that maketh desolate."
Dan. 12: 11: "And from the time that the continual shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days."
THE CONTINUAL AND THE DESOLATING TRANSGRESSION
Four questions are now to be answered:
1. What relation is there between "the continual" and "the transgression that maketh desolate"? On this point, we will give U. Smith's grammatical criticism on verse 13: "We have [here] two desolating powers, which for a long period oppress or desolate the church. The Hebrew justifies this construction, the last word, shomem, 'desolation,' having a common relation to the two preceding nouns, the 'perpetual' and the 'transgression,' which are connected by the conjunction 'and.' Literally, it may be rendered, 'How long the vision [concerning] the continuance and the transgression of desolation?' the word 'desolation' being related to both continuance and transgression, as though it were expressed in full, thus: 'The continuance of desolation and the transgression of desolation.'"—"Thoughts on Daniel," chapter 8.
WHAT ARE THE DESOLATIONS?
2. What are these two desolations? On this question, we quote from J. N. Andrews, "The Sanctuary and 2300 Days," second edition, 1872, pages 33-39:
"It is plain that the sanctuary and the host were to be trodden underfoot by the daily and the transgression of desolation. The careful reading of verse 13 settles this point. And this fact establishes another; namely, that these two desolations are the two grand forms under which Satan has attempted to overthrow the worship and the cause of Jehovah. . . .
"It needs no argument to prove that the two grand forms of opposition by which Satan has desolated the church and trodden underfoot the sanctuary of the living God, are none other than paganism and popery. It is also a clear point that the change from one of these desolations to the other did occur under the Roman power. Paganism, from the days of the kings of Assyria down to the period when it became so far modified that it took the name of 'popery,' had been the daily, or, as Professor Whiting renders it, 'the continual' desolation, by which Satan had stood up against the cause of Jehovah. And indeed, in its priests, its altars, and its sacrifices, it bore resemblance to the Levitical form of Jehovah's worship. When the Christian form of worship took the place of the Levitical, a change in Satan's form of opposition and counterfeit worship became necessary, if he would successfully oppose the worship of the great God. . . . Nor was it a very great change of character when Satan transformed his counterfeit worship from paganism to popery. The same temples, altars, incense, priests, and worshipers were ready, with little change, to serve as the appendages of the papal abomination. The statue of Jupiter readily changed to that of Peter, the prince of the apostles; and the pantheon, which had been the temple of all the gods, without difficulty became the sanctuary of all the saints. Thus the same abomination that desolated Jerusalem, in a degree changed and modified, became the wonderful desolater of the saints and martyrs of Jesus. And in its so-called temple of God, it set at naught and trod underfoot the true temple of Jehovah, and Him who is its minister, Jesus Christ."
VAULT IN THE OFFICE OF MRS. E. G. WHITE, WHERE HER MANY TREASURED MANUSCRIPTS ARE KEPT
"From a religious point of view, says U. Smith, the world has presented only these two phases of opposition against the Lord's work in the earth. Hence although three earthly governments are introduced in the prophecy as oppressors of the church, they are here ranged under two heads; 'the daily' and the 'transgression of desolation.' Medo-Persia was pagan; Grecia was pagan; Rome in its first phase was pagan. These all were embraced in the 'daily.' Then comes the papal form,—the 'transgression of desolation.'"
THE TWO OPPOSING SANCTUARIES
3. What are the two opposing sanctuaries? Says J. N. Andrews, in the work previously quoted: "They are as follows: First, the sanctuary of the daily desolation. Verses 11; 11: 31. Second, the sanctuary which the daily and the transgression of desolation were to tread underfoot. Verses 13, 14. The one is the sanctuary of Satan; the other is the sanctuary of the Lord of hosts. The one is the dwelling place of 'all the gods'; the other is the habitation of the only living and true God. If it be said that a sanctuary is never connected with heathen and idolatrous worship, we cite the direct testimony of the Bible. Heathen Moab had a sanctuary. And that sanctuary was a place of prayer and worship for that heathen nation. Isa. 16: 12. The chapel erected by the king of Israel at Bethel, as a rival to the temple of God at Jerusalem (1 Kings 12: 27, 31-33), was called his sanctuary. Amos 7: 13, margin. And the places in which idolatrous Israel, the ten tribes, worshiped, are called sanctuaries. Amos 7: 9. The same is true of idolatrous Tyre. Eze. 28: 18."
Note the following from a Catholic writer: "The particular motive which induced Constantine to give up Rome as the capital of the empire, and transfer his court to Byzantium, has never transpired. No historian informs us what it was. The feeling at the time grew general that the sway of the Cæsars at Rome had come to an end; and perhaps this, and the knowledge Constantine had that the spiritual empire whose prince he had recognized in Pope Sylvester, should far outstretch and overshadow the temporal, moved him to the step. At any rate, the finger of God [or some occult power.—J. V.] is clearly discernible in the event."—Dr. Karl Brandes.
THE TWO HOSTS
4. What are the two hosts in Dan. 8: 9-13? "The one," says J. N. Andrews, "is the host that was given to the little horn against the daily, when it had filled its measure of transgression; and by the aid of this host, the little horn was able to cast down the truth. Verse 12. This host is mentioned in Dan. 11: 31. By this host, the sanctuary of the daily desolation, and its services, were transferred to the transgression, or abomination of desolation. This host is the forces of Satan, and it is intimately associated with his sanctuary. The other host is 'the host of heaven.' Verse 10. Michael is the Prince of this host. Dan. 10: 21."
We have seen that soon after the conversion, so called, of Constantine to Christianity, the majority of the population of the empire changed religion with him. Paganism, the "continual" or "daily," found itself in the minority, and had to face the same persecution it had inflicted upon Christianity when it was in power. It was abolished by law, its temples were destroyed, and its practice forbidden under severe penalty, including death. The facts will be brought out further on, as we come to treat the question of persecution under papal rule. And it was the power of the Roman Empire itself that was used472
against the old pagan religion. "Forces" or "troops coming from him shall stand," says Dan. 11: 31, "and shall take away the continual, and they shall set up the abomination that maketh desolate." But this opposition, this power of the state, this "host," or these "forces" or "troops" wielded by the "Christian emperors," were instigated and guided by the popes.
Now we are ready to sum up the whole question: One horn, one power which reaches to the time of the end, but under two separate forms of worship, two desolations treading underfoot the sanctuary and the host of the saints. How did the change come about? It must have been imperceptible and stealthy, until the new form was the stronger; then it rudely crushed the other out. Let us stop a moment to see how insidiously the change was brought about. Says the author of Great Controversy:
PAGANISM STEALS IN
"Almost imperceptibly the customs of heathenism found their way into the Christian church. The spirit of compromise and conformity was restrained for a time by the fierce persecutions which the church endured under paganism. But as persecution ceased, and Christianity entered the courts and palaces of kings, she laid aside the humble simplicity of Christ and His apostles for the pomp and pride of pagan priests and rulers; and in place of the requirements of God, she substituted human theories and traditions. The nominal conversion of Constantine, in the early part of the fourth century, caused great rejoicing; and the world, cloaked in a form of righteousness, walked into the church. Now the work of corruption rapidly progressed. Paganism, while appearing to be vanquished, became the conqueror."—Pages 49, 50.
"Entire populations," says a Catholic historian, "which, notwithstanding their abjuration, were pagan in their modes of life, their tastes, their prejudices, and their ignorance, . . . passed under the Christian banners, but they did so, taking with them their baggage of senseless beliefs and superstitious practices. Christianity adopted a part of the ancient cult."—A. Beugnot, "Destruction of Paganism," volume 2, pages 264-266.
And now that this mysterious, marvelous transition from paganism to Romanism has been consummated exactly as foretold, we are ready to look at the "exceeding great" horn in its second phase, or under its new garb.
