Daniel 8:11-12

‘Yes it magnified itself, even to the prince of the host, and it took away from him what is done continually (religious worship including the offerings and sacrifices), and the place of his sanctuary was cast down, and the host was given up together with the continual (rites) because of transgression. And it cast down truth to the ground, and it acted and prospered.'

This would seem to confirm that the ‘host of heaven' is the people of God. Antiochus, by his behaviour set himself against God and those who served Him.

For ‘the prince (sar) of the host' compare Joshua 5:14, ‘as sar of the host of Yahweh have I come' where the thought is probably of the divine Angel of Yahweh (Judges 2:1). See also ‘the prince (sar) of princes' in Daniel 8:25 in this chapter. ‘Yahweh of Hosts' was after all a regular name for God. In Isaiah 9:6 the coming king is called ‘the Prince (sar) of peace. But in Daniel 10:21 we have reference to ‘Michael your sar' and in Daniel 12:1 to ‘Michael -- the great sar who stands for the children of your people'. However, neither are directly linked with God's host.

So in the light of reference to the ‘taking away' from him of what is ‘done continually' (the sabbaths and feasts, the offerings and sacrifices) and the reference to ‘his' sanctuary we must surely see this prince of the host as meaning God Himself or the Angel of Yahweh. The ‘host of heaven' is then certainly the true Israel.

By his religious restrictions, forbidding sacrifices and circumcision, banning the sabbath, and the reading of the Scriptures, and by the desecration of God's temple, he basically took away from God what was His, and in the course of it cast down the sanctuary (compare 1Ma 1:44-47).

An alternative is to see the prince of the host as the true High Priest who had had taken from him the privilege of partaking in the continual rites of worship, and had also seen the sanctuary which was his responsibility, desecrated.

‘What is done continually' (religious worship including the offerings and sacrifices). This is literally ‘the continual.' It probably includes all the continually repeated aspects of Israelite worship; morning and evening sacrifice, other regular sacrifices, the keeping of the sabbath, circumcision, the reading of Scripture, and so on (compare again 1Ma 1:44-47).

‘And the place of his sanctuary was cast down.' ‘The place' means that which has been set up. It may refer mainly to the altar, which was replaced by Antiochus with an altar for the worship of Zeus, or it may mean that the whole of the sanctuary which had been set up for the worship of God was rendered useless for its purpose because of the desecration. Notice that the stars (God's true people?) were cast down to the ground, literally ‘were made to fall' (Daniel 8:10), the place of His sanctuary was cast down (Daniel 8:11) and truth was cast down to the ground (Daniel 8:12), a threefold casting down denoting completeness.

The ‘giving up' up may mean given up by God because of the transgressions of His people. Such humiliations of His people as this are usually traced to sin in Scripture, and at this time there was much sin and apostasy in Israel due to the worst aspects of Hellenisation. It will shortly be depicted as the latter part of the whole period of God's indignation against Israel. Alternately it may signify that Antiochus gave them up, and the continual rites, to punishment, cessation and retribution because they had transgressed against him.

‘Because of transgression.' Compare Daniel 8:23, but see also Daniel 8:13.

‘And it cast down truth to the ground, and it acted and prospered.' This is expressing what has already been said in another way. As a result of his activities it was truth that was the victim. It was rejected and tossed to the ground. People were being turned from the way of truth by persecution. And in the face of it Antiochus prospered. There was judgment waiting to happen.