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Then I
heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that
certain one who was speaking, how long will the vision be,
concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of
desolation...? And he said to me, 'For two thousand three
hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.'" Daniel
8:13,14
In the eighth chapter of Daniel is recorded the longest
prophecy in the Bible. In vision, Daniel sees creatures that
symbolize nations which would eventually rule the world.
God opened to Daniel's view the rise and fall of coming world
empires 100's of years in advance. Today, history bears record
that everything has happened as God had shown His prophet. Can
we trust that the remaining Bible prophecies will be fulfilled
as God indicated? Can we trust God's promises and should we
take heed to God's warnings? YES, ABSOLUTELY!
In the heart of the prophecy of Daniel
8, a
question is asked: "How long?"
And the answer is:
"For 2300 days; then the
sanctuary shall be cleansed."
Ezekiel 4:6
"I have laid on
you a day for each year."
By applying the equivalence principle used in Bible
prophecy, that is, 1 day = 1 year,
we see that the 2300 days represent a period of 2300 years.
Our next question we would need to ask is "When does
this prophecy begin?"
Daniel 9:23-25
"Understand the
vision: Seventy weeks are cut-off for your people and
for your holy city.... Know therefore and understand, that from
the going forth of the command to restore and build
Jerusalem shall be seventy weeks."
The next prophecy, that is, the 70 weeks, was
necessary in order to discover the starting point of this
2300-year period.
So the angel Gabriel told Daniel that a period of 70 weeks had
been cut off, but from what?
Now, this period of 70 weeks (or 70 x 7 = 490 days)
could only be cut off from a longer period, that is, the 2300
days.
The starting point of the prophetic period of 70
weeks is "the going forth
of the command to restore and build Jerusalem".
During the nineteenth century, Christians
throughout the world studied the book of Daniel, and
especially the prophecy of the 2300 days, and the 70
weeks starting point was determined from Ezra
7:8,11,13,20, which says:
"...in the
seventh year of the king, ...the copy of the letter that King
Artaxerxes gave Ezra the priest, the scribe...: I issue a
decree that all those of the people of Israel and the priests
and Levites in my realm, who volunteer to go up to Jerusalem,
may go with you.... And whatever more may be needed for the
house of your God, which you may have occasion to provide, pay
for it from the king's treasury."
History SCHOLARS agree that it was in the seventh year
of king Artaxerxes reign, the king of Persia, issued the
decree ordering the restoration of Jerusalem. That was in 457
B.C.
Having discovered that the 2300 days began in 457
B.C. the nineteenth century Christians calculated that this
prophecy was going to end in 1844. Believing that the foretold
cleansing of the sanctuary corresponded with the return of
Jesus who would return to cleanse the earth, they all zealously preached
the gospel, eagerly waiting for 1844. This however, was not
the sanctuary on earth, but it was the heavenly sanctuary that
would be cleansed.
More details of
this time prophecy will be added shortly.
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