The hymn that will be used as the theme for this quarter is from “The Church Hymnal, Official Hymnal of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church” which was surpassed by the “Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal” in 1985.In the ‘old’ hymnal, 
Number 497 – Standing by a Purpose True, that is, ”Dare to be a Daniel” will be the favourite. I do hope you are able to source this hymn and use it frequently during this quarter’s Sabbath School study time.

The Sabbath afternoon introduction shows we find our atonement is made by Christ in
Hymn 335, What a Wonderful Savior and Hymn 341, To God Be the Glory.

We find on Sunday that God had spoken through his prophet Daniel the unfolding of history to come, as in  
Hymn 413, God Has Spoken by His Prophets.

The papacy tries to take the place of Christ as our High Priest in heaven (Tuesday). We find our High Priest in 
Hymn 179, The Wonders of Redeeming Love, 
Hymn 238, How Sweet the Name!, 
Hymn 249, Praise Him! Praise Him!, and 
Hymn 145, Songs of Thankfulness and Praise.

Further, on Tuesday, Jesus is the Truth, as is the Word of God – 
Hymn 203, This Is the Threefold Truth, 
Hymn 221, Rejoice, the Lord Is King, 
Hymn 274, O Word of God Incarnate and 
Hymn 279, Only Trust Him.

Sinners bring their offerings to the sanctuary for cleansing (Wednesday) – 
Hymn 318, Whiter Than Snow, 
Hymn 282, I Hear Thy Welcome Voice, 
Hymn 294, Power in the Blood and 
Hymn 355, What a Wonderful Savior.

The question I ask myself is in 
Hymn 416, The Judgment Has Set.

God’s blessings as you enjoy your “Singing with Inspiration” this quarter.

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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1. How alike? How different? Before we take up the study of Daniel 8, let’s look at Daniel 7 and focus on how the two chapters are different from each other even though both deal with similar content. But first, what is missing in Daniel 8 that was emphasized in Daniel 7? Second, what is the basic content of chapter 8 compared to the central content of Chapter 7? Now we’ll consider the details.
2. The ram and the goat. First a ram, and then a goat takes center stage in this drama. The ram has two horns but is running in three directions: west, north, and south. What do the two horns represent? What is the importance of three directions the ram is taking at the same time? How strong do you think the Medo-Persian government was? Then the goat comes, running so fast its feet don’t touch the ground. Who is the famous monarch represented by the goat? As strong as the goat may be, what happens to its biggest horn? How was that prophecy fulfilled?
3. The rise of the little horn. From one of the goat’s four horns, a little horn shows up. In what direction does the little horn go? What power does the little horn, represent?  What seems to be its goal? After it accomplishes wars against Jewish people and even early Christians, does Rome (the goat) disappear? The little horn rapidly becomes the chief player in this drama. What are the two characteristics of the little horn (Rome) at this time? Does the little horn exist in any way today? Explain.
4. The attack on the sanctuary.  What is the difference between the murder of thousands of Christians by pagan leaders and attacks by the little horn on God’s people through the ages? Or is there a difference? How does the papal power establish itself to eliminate the intercessory ministry in the heavenly sanctuary? Explain how acts of the papacy have served to abolish the Word of God from full devotion and place papal tradition above the Bible. How does the Seventh-day Adventist church regard these actions and what if anything can we or should we do about them?
5. The cleansing of the sanctuary.Cheerful words, these. Right? Once in a while we hear a devout church member state that all of the details of the sanctuary on earth will be present in the final sanctuary service in heaven, and of course that’s right, except—Do you think we’ll offer sacrifices of live animals in the heavenly sanctuary? What is contained in the heavenly sanctuary that makes it in need of a thorough cleansing? How is the blood of Jesus given at Calvary represented in the heavenly sanctuary?

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Read Daniel 8:10-12. What kind of activity is the little horn depicted as doing here?

In Daniel 8:10, the little horn attempts to replicate, at the spiritual level, the efforts of the builders of Babel (Gen. 11:4). The terms “host” and “stars” can designate God’s people in the Old Testament. Israel is designated the host/armies of the Lord (Exod. 12:41).

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Daniel also depicts God’s faithful people as shining like the stars (Dan. 12:3). This is obviously not a literal attack on the heavenly bodies, however, but a persecution of God’s people, whose “citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20, NKJV). Although thousands of Christians were murdered by pagan emperors, the focus now is on the vertical activities of the little horn. Thus the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy must be linked with papal Rome and its persecution through the ages.

Also, Daniel 8:11 talks about a “Prince”, who is elsewhere mentioned in Daniel as “Messiah the Prince” (Dan. 9:25), “Michael your prince” (Dan. 10:21), and “Michael” the “great prince” (Dan. 12:1). No one but Jesus Christ could be the referent of this expression. Jesus Christ is the Prince of the aforementioned “host” and our High Priest in heaven. Therefore, the papacy and the religious system it represents obfuscates and attempts to supersede the priestly role of Jesus.

In Daniel 8:11, the “daily sacrifice” is a reminder of what happened in the earthly sanctuary to designate the various and continual aspects of the ritual services — including sacrifices and intercession. It is through these services that sinners are forgiven and sins are dealt with in the tabernacle. This earthly system represents Christ’s intercessory ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. So as the prophecy predicts, the papacy exchanges the intercession of Christ for the intercession of priests. By means of such counterfeit worship, the little horn takes away Christ’s intercessory ministry and symbolically casts down the place of Christ’s sanctuary.

“And he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered” (Dan. 8:12, NKJV). Jesus declares Himself to be the truth (John 14:6) and also points to the Word of God as truth (John 17:17). In contrast, the papacy prohibited the translation of the Bible into the language of the people, put the interpretation of the Bible under the authority of the church, and placed tradition alongside the Bible, in theory, but, in practice, tradition is placed above the Bible as the supreme rule of faith.

<–Monday Wednesday–>

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Key Thought: The vision of Daniel 8 parallels Daniel 7, but leaves Babylon out of it. Daniel 8 also shows the time and beginning of the Day of Atonement or Day of Judgment.
February 29, 2020

1. Have a volunteer read Daniel 8:6-12.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What gives us a clue as to the identity of the he-goat and thus the little horn power?
   (Note: See Daniel 8:21-26. This little horn pushes in three directions showing it is pagan Rome to start with, even standing against Jesus, but it also refers later to papal Rome.)
3. Personal Application: Why does God use repeat and enlarge prophecies to focus in on last day events chapter by chapter? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “How did the little horn, or Rome, take away the “daily” and cast the truth down to the ground?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Daniel 8:10-12.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What kind of activity is the little horn depicted as doing here?
3. Personal Application: What should this tell us about how important the knowledge of Biblical truth really is in contrast with human traditions and false religious teachings? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “In what ways do you Adventists think the Roman church has established a distorted worship system? What’s wrong with their teachings and worship?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Daniel 8:14

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What does it mean that the sanctuary shall be cleansed?
3. Personal Application: How important is it for us to be cleansed from our sins during the time of the heavenly sanctuary being cleansed? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states, “How do you guys get the year 1844 out of the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14? Where’s the starting point? How do you get 2300 years instead of days? I really don’t understand this prophecy. Did you people believe Jesus was coming to the earth in 1844?” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Daniel 8:13.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What significance does this verse have in revealing two saints speaking to each other concerning the time of the events mentioned?
3. Personal Application: What’s the difference between Christ’s ministry on the cross and His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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Read Daniel 8:8-12 carefully. In which directions is this little horn moving, and why is this important to understand?

After depicting four horns spreading to the four winds of heaven, the biblical text says that from one arose a little horn. The question here is whether this horn/power comes from one of the four horns, which, as we saw yesterday, represent the four generals of Alexander — or one of the four winds.

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The grammatical structure of the text in the original language indicates that this horn comes from one of the four winds of heaven. And since this power arises after the Grecian Empire and its four offshoots, a common understanding is that this horn is Rome, first pagan and then papal. “This little horn represents Rome in both its phases, pagan and papal. Daniel saw Rome first in its pagan, imperial phase, warring against the Jewish people and the early Christians, and then in its papal phase, continuing down to our own day and into the future”. — The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4, p. 841.

According to the biblical text, the little horn first undertook a horizontal movement and “grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land” (Dan. 8:9, NKJV). These three directions correspond to the three major areas that fell under the domination of pagan Rome.

As the little horn becomes the main player in the vision, its vertical expansion receives detailed attention. In this regard, the horn corresponds closely to the little horn of Daniel chapter 7, as the following comparison shows: (1) Both horns are little in the beginning (Dan. 7:8, Dan. 8:9). (2) Both become great later on (Dan. 7:20, Dan. 8:9). (3) Both are persecuting powers (Dan. 7:21, Dan. 7:25; Dan. 8:10, Dan. 8:24). (4) Both are self-exalting and blasphemous (Dan. 7:8, Dan. 7:20, Dan. 7:25; Dan. 8:10-11, Dan. 8:25). (5) Both target God’s people (Dan. 7:25, Dan. 8:24). (6) Both have aspects of their activity which are delineated by prophetic time (Dan. 7:25; Dan. 8:13-14). (7) Both extend until the time of the end (Dan. 7:25-26; Dan. 8:17, Dan. 8:19). (8) And both face supernatural destruction (Dan. 7:11, Dan. 7:26; Dan. 8:25). Lastly, because the little horn of Daniel chapter 7 represents the papacy, the vertical expansion of the little horn in Daniel chapter 8 must represent the same power. Thus, as in Daniel chapters 2 and 7, the final main power is Rome, both pagan and papal.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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