God’s Word for You
Daniel 8:11-12 thrown to the ground
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Thursday, December 4, 2025
11 It even magnified itself to be as great as the Prince of the Army; it took away the continual sacrifices from him, and the place of his sanctuary was thrown down. 12 The army of the saints and the continual sacrifice were given over for this rebellion. It succeeded when it did this, and truth was thrown to the ground.
“It” is of course the little horn that grew, which is Antiochus Epiphanes, foreshadowing the Antichrist. He puffed himself up like a frog, and he got so big and self-important that he thought that any little whim of his should be a law; that all he had to do was to think a thing and it would be so—which is even more than God does, for he speaks his word aloud: “God said, ‘Let there be light,’” etc. (Genesis 1:3). Antiochus and other tyrants don’t think they need to bother with formalities like speaking or declaring.
The Prince of the heavenly army is God, so that when this human tyrant removed the sacrifices, he was not harming God, but interfering with the worship life of the people. “Continual” means more than “daily,” because the offerings of the yearly festivals and even the sin offerings and thank offerings were continual. The whole worship life of Israel was struck down. First Maccabees records the extent of this obscenity: “The king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem… to forbid burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings in the sanctuary; to profane sabbaths and feasts, to defile the sanctuary and the priests, to build altars and shrines for idols, to sacrifice swine and unclean animals, and to leave their sons uncircumcised” (1 Maccabees 1:48). And if that weren’t enough, Antiochus added this: “so that they should forget the law and change all the ordinances” (1 Maccabees 1:49).
It is unusual, almost unheard of, for a pagan to hate a god. Even the gods of enemies are tolerated with some respect. But when a pagan hates the true God, his sinful nature shows itself. There is no hatred so bitter as the hatred of the unbeliever against the Lord. It is as if he can already smell the fire and brimstone in the ground below his feet; the curling smoke of his inevitable torment encircles his feet with every step, and he knows it. Or if some cynic pretends not to fear the flames, then let him be cursed in “rough winter everlasting.” Let this law work on the conscience.
So Antiochus added to his sins. He built an altar to the god Jupiter (Zeus), and he burned the books that were in the temple; the Law of the Moses and the carefully hand copied scrolls of the history books, the prophets, and the Psalms. Those were the ancient exemplars; the books from which the copies were compared. They were burned like yesterday’s newspapers.
Here we have something for which to praise the Jews. Even though the Bible was destroyed by the madman, Antiochus, the Scribes of the Jews had made copies. It was in Daniel’s time, during the captivity, that this became especially necessary, although I’m sure that copies were made earlier. During the exile, the Jews began to worship together in homes in groups, and this was the beginning of the synagogues. And they collected copies of portions of the Scriptures, especially the Ten Commandments and the Psalms, but all of the Scriptures. In fact, Daniel quotes from Jeremiah who lived at the same time (Daniel 9:2), as do Ezra (Ezra 1:1) and the author of Chronicles (2 Chronicles 36:22). The copies that they made were carefully done; there are very few differences from one copy to the next, which is almost never the case when comparing handwritten copies of anything.
The rebellion in verse 12 involved all of these atrocities. And he prospered! He succeeding in all of this wickedness. Why would God allow all this to happen to his people? Why does God allow terrible things to happen in the world? Evil things, terrible things, are permitted by God for many reasons.
1, He may be punishing someone, some group, or some nation.
2, He may be ending some specific evil with a terrible event (as he did with the flood).
3, He may be waiting for the ideal moment to remove some other evil from the world.
4, He may be testing the faith of his people.
5, He may be strengthening the faith of his people in order to prepare them for other troubles or as they help their own children with troubles.
6, He may even be allowing the wickedness or trouble (such as certain wars) to continue in order to bring out some unforeseen blessings that would not otherwise have come—such as the copies that were made of the Old Testament.
7, He may be allowing wickedness and sin to completely reveal itself, as he did with some of the Israelite kings, and which he would do with the Antichrist.
All of these things cause God’s people to lift up our hearts and eyes to heaven to seek his grace, his mercy, and his blessings. “One thing I ask of the Lord: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle” (Psalm 27:4,5). For the Lord says to all of his children: “Give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways” (Proverbs 23:26). So “I lift my eyes to you, whose throne is in heaven” (Psalm 123:1). Whatever might get you down, it’s always a good time to look up.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.