Scripture Daily

Context No. 1211 of 4322 · Daniel (Greek)

Context · Reflection

Daniel (Greek) 8:9-13: in context

9Out of one of them came out a little horn, which grew exceedingly great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious land. 10It grew great, even to the army of the sky; and it cast down some of the army and of the stars to the ground, and trampled on them. 11Yes, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the army; and it took away from him the continual burnt offering, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. 12The army was given over to it together with the continual burnt offering through disobedience. It cast down truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered. 13Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who spoke, “How long will the vision about the continual burnt offering, and the disobedience that makes desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the army to be trodden under foot be?”

Daniel sees a vision of a little horn, understood to point to a tyrant who would arise, that grows great, exalts itself even against the host of heaven, and does terrible things: it takes away the daily sacrifice, throws down the sanctuary, and casts truth to the ground, and it prospers in all it does. Then Daniel hears one holy one ask another the question the whole vision provokes: how long will this vision last, the taking away of the sacrifice, the transgression that makes desolate, the trampling of the sanctuary?

Two hard realities and one honest cry sit in this passage. First, the horn casts truth to the ground and prospers. For a time, a real time, evil succeeds; the tyrant throws down what is holy, tramples the sanctuary, flings truth into the dust, and the vision says plainly, it did its pleasure and prospered. Scripture does not pretend that wickedness always fails immediately; sometimes it flourishes, and truth lies trampled, and the faithful watch it happen. Second, and this is the honest cry, the response of the holy ones is a question we all eventually ask: how long? Not why, not a denial that it is happening, but how long will this go on. It is the ancient cry of the faithful when evil prospers and truth is cast down, and scripture puts it in the mouths of the holy ones themselves, so it is not a faithless question. The vision does not pretend the trampling is not real, but it frames it as bounded, something with a how long and therefore an answer, a duration and an end. Evil that casts truth to the ground still operates on a clock God has set. The faithful may not know the length, but they know there is one, and so the cry is not despair but how long, addressed to the God who has numbered the days.

When I watch evil prosper and truth cast to the ground, can I turn my anguish into the faithful cry of the holy ones, how long, addressed to the God who has set a limit even on the trampling?

Sources