Daniel 8:14 and Leviticus 16, the connection

Hi D_____,

I don’t understand everything about Desmond Ford’s position, but, I hear him say that Daniel 8:14 had no connection with the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, but that it related to Antiochus Epiphanes defiling the Jewish temple and the Macabbees performing ceremonial purification of their sanctuary.

Now I think I see the connection between Daniel 8 and Leviticus 16. But, correct me if I’m wrong.

Leviticus 16:10 refers to a second atonement on the 10th day of the 7th month, other than the cleansing of or atoning for the Holy Place. “But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.” (Lev. 16:10).

What Satan did to deserve this was his attempt to overthrow the angelic kingdom. “And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth.” (Rev. 12:4). Then he did the identical thing to God’s earthly kingdom, first to the antedeluvians, then to His people Israel, and finally to His church. “And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.”

The reason for the cleansing of the sanctuary was to cleanse it of the rebellion Satan had started and maintained since the foundation of the world, as represented in the work of the little horn in tempting the Adamic race, Israel, and Catholicism into apostasy. “Yea, he magnified himself even to the Prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.” (Dan. 8:10-12).

The same scenario in another figure, the abominable, or vile King of the north, “He shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. And arms [an host was given him (Dan. 8:12)] shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed. And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.” (Dan. 11:31-37).
 

This all describes the incessant, persistent, tenacious work of Satan to destroy God’s work of saving humanity through His chosen people and His chosen system of faith and truth. And Azazel, representing Satan, must stand trial before God at the time God has cleansed His church from Azazel’s defiling temptations. So, Leviticus 16:10 deals with the issues of Daniel’s visions; and Satan’s little horn power, his earthly agency, rightly must be judged, a judgment which is essential for ending the great controversy with sin. And that judgment is correctly foretold to happen after God cleanses His sanctuary of all the sins committed by His saints through work of Satan and his earthly agencies, from Cain and his seed, to Ham and his Babylonian deceptions, to Rome and her perpetuating those original apostasies, all throughout the eons of time.

“Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” (Dan. 8:13,14).

As an aside, “But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.” (Lev. 16:10).

This sounds like Agag’s nerve-racked day of judgment. “Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.” (1Sam. 15:32,33). The final wrath of God against Satan and his hosts, both angelic and human, will make the saints’ hair stand on end and their hearts fail. But, it will be done after millennia of patience toward the workers of inquity; and sin will never arise the second time.

David