The Goat and the 2300 days

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Most very complex interpretations about the “goat” and the 2300 days prophecy from Daniel have not fit well. Here is a simple viewpoint. Who is the goat today?

Excerpt:

Dan 8:11 Yea, he [the goat] magnified [himself] even to the prince of the host [Messiah], and by him the daily [sacrifice] was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

Dan 8:12 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 practiced, and prospered.

Dan 8:13 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?

Dan 8:14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

The goat is the king of the Grecian empire:

Dan 8:21 And the rough goat [is] the king of Grecia: and the great horn that [is] between his eyes [is] the first king.

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Events that happen during the 2300 days

1. The sanctuary is made desolate with abominations, transgressions, and “cast down (Daniel 8:11, 13)

2. The host (Israelis) are to be trodden under foot (Daniel 8:13)

3. The daily sacrifices are taken away (Daniel 8:11)

4. All this is done by the “little horn” which arises out of the Grecian empire (goat) who exalts himself as “high as the Prince of the host (Messiah).” (Daniel 8:11)

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The angel Gabriel explains to Daniel about the timing of the events:

Dan 8:17 So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end [shall be] the vision. (KJV)

“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.” NIV Daniel 8:19

“But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.” (Daniel 12:4)

It is clear from Daniel that this vision is for the last days, which we are currently in, now that Israel has been re-established as a nation, and Jews are returning to their homeland.

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Errors in interpretation and timing

1. There has been some attempts to assign this prophecy to ancient history of the Greeks and Romans, especially during the Antiochus period, but only certain parts of the prophecy seem fulfilled, and not all of them.

Force fitting this into ancient history ignores the “time of the end” aspect, and the Prince of princes [Messiah] who defeats the goat (Daniel 8:25).

Daniel 9:25-27 simultaneously describes the timing (70 weeks) of the Messiah with a break in time. He comes 62 +7 = 69 weeks after the first rebuilding of the temple (447/457 BC), then he is “cut off (killed). It does not say how long his presence is cut off, but the rest of Daniel indicates that it “many days in the future” at the “time of the end” that the rest of the events takes place, and the final week occurs.

2. There was another interpretation I read that used 2300 years, instead of days, and ended up erroneously at 1844, which is now just history.

Any time a prophecy refers to the end times, the timing and interpretation needs to be applied for the years that follow the re-establishment of Israel.

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When is the “last days?”

God said that in the last days, he would bring the scattered Jews home from the 4 corners of the earth. This officially started in 1948, so that starts the prophetic clock for the last days. The return of the Jews coincide with the coming of the Messiah.

Eze 6:8 Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have [some] that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries.

Isa 11:12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

Jer 23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

*** The righteous Branch is the Messiah

Jer 23:7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD lives, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

Jer 23:8 But, The LORD lives, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.

*** the north country is Russia

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How does the 2300 days fit with the last week of Daniel?

A prophetic week is 7 years = 2520 days (the covenant for “one week”)

2500 days

– 2300 days

220 days (~ 7 months)

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If the 2300 days is part of the 7 years, what is going on in those extra 7 months (220 days)?

Daniel 9:26 indicates that the city [Jerusalem] and the sanctuary is destroyed first, which brings more desolations.

Dan 9:26 …. and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof [shall be] with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

Apparently, once he has conquered the city, he is in a position to “confirm a covenant” for one week (7 years).

Dan 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

If he confirms a covenant, that means there was a covenant (peace agreement) already in place that was broken by his invasion.

This pattern of making and breaking covenants is very typical of HAMAS, and other radical Muslim groups. In jihad thinking, the only good reason for having a truce with one’s enemy is to buy time, so they can build up their forces, and attack in a stronger way. Every agreement is based on deceit.

What about the 7 months? Maybe it is a time of false peace either at the beginning of the covenant, or at the confirmation of the covenant. Either way, Israel is still in trouble. Also, see the next section for more thoughts.

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Comparing this to traditional interpretation

Traditional interpretation is that the first half of the tribulation will be “peaceful,” but not perfect. Then the second half is terrible.

I do not see this. Daniel is saying that most of the 7 years is bad.

Comparing this to Revelation 12, the woman (Israel) flees to the wilderness for 1260 days in 12:6 at the beginning of Jacob’s trouble, which is followed by a war in heaven. Once Satan is cast to the earth, there is a time of satanic wrath, in which the woman is persecuted, and flees a second time to the wilderness.

If she flees a second time, then she must have had a short time of rest, which might be the 7 months noted above.

All this time, most of the world actually likes the beast, but Israel seems to have some support at one point (Rev 12:16) where the “earth” swallows up the flood which the dragon spews out of his mouth.” These supporters are believers in Messiah (“those who have the testimony of Jesus Christ”), as the dragon then turns against them. (Rev 12:17, Rev 13:7).

Looking at the entire Book of Revelation, as a confirmation, there is really nothing “peaceful” or pleasant about the last days, so saying the first half of it is “not too bad” seems to be an error. Revelation does not give time periods for each event, with the exception of Chapter 12.

Back to the Goat

There is much speculation about the Antichrist (goat)  being a Roman, or an American, or a European. The goat does symbolize the Grecian empire, revived for the “time of the end.”

Some of the Grecian and Roman empire territories overlap, so this means that a country common to both ancient empires, can be a part of the end time empire.

This is the ancient “goat” (map of Grecian empire) predicted to fight with the Messiah. Think about who lives there today. Think about the only group that is constantly at war with Israel, and would have to agree to any covenant with it.

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Interesting final note:

Jesus said at his final judgment, that he would be separating the sheep from the goats. The sheep would be spared. The goats would be destroyed.