Daniel's 2,300 Day Prophecy FAQ
Is Daniel 8:14 a prophecy about temple
sacrifices?
A. Actually the mention of "sacrifice"
in Daniel
8:11-13 is a gloss or a mistranslation, and is not part of the text
in the original language, as can be seen by the use of italics in the
KJV.
Italics are used to indicate words added by translators in their
attempt
to make sense of the text. In this case, the addition of "sacrifice"
probably obscures the real meaning. Some scholars prefer to use the
word
"Constant" in place of "daily sacrifice." I think this is much
better,
as it allows one to see what the prophecy actually says, rather than
blindly
follow someone else's interpretation.
Why would Daniel be interested in a ritual temple sacrifice, when
there
was no temple in his time? Would it make any sense for God be so upset
about the lapse of a ritual sacrifice of the Jews for a few years, that
meant the survival of a few thousand lambs, which would otherwise have
been slaughtered? Of what cosmic significance would it be, that those
lambs
survived? How is it important for us to know about it at the end time?
Daniel
8:10 mentions stars, and the host of heaven, which includes various
astronomical objects. The "host of heaven" refers to the sun and moon,
and planets, and galaxies, constellations, and other celestial things.
So if it is not a ritual "daily sacrifice" that was taken away in vs
11,
what could it be? I think it means the knowledge of the earth's diurnal
rotation, that was stamped out by Antiochus IV. What is more
"constant,"
after all, than the earth's rotation?
Daniel's prophecy shows that the idea of a rigid, rotating heaven is
foreign to the Bible, and identifies statements supporting it in the
Old
Testament as corruptions dating from the time of Antiochus IV in the
hellenistic
period. The notion of a rigid sky, a closed shell centered on the
earth,
was dominant in the hellenistic age. It is a concept typical of the
ancient
Greeks, and in fact the idea of a solid sky and geocentricism was the
focus
of their religion and philosophy. The idea of a solid sky can be traced
back to the poems of Homer. Since the scientific revolution, everyone
now
knows there is no rigid shell or firmament centered on the earth.
Daniel foretold in symbolic language the revolution in astronomy
which
came 23 centuries after his time, in Daniel
8:14. After 2,300 "days," or "evening mornings," (which I take to
represent
2,300 years) the heavenly "sanctuary" would be cleansed or justified.
God's
sanctuary is heaven, or the universe. I suggest this refers to the old
concept of a rigid rotating firmament, and the system of planetary
spheres
centered on the earth, being abandoned as a result of scientific
discoveries,
in the mid eighteenth century.
Man's view of the heavens was "set right" in the eighteenth century,
23 centuries after Daniel's vision. This was the heavenly sanctuary
being
"set right" as foretold in Daniel
8:14.
Aren't the stars in Daniel 8:10 Israelites?
A. In Daniel
8:10, the topic of the prophecy is cosmology. Stars, and the host
of
heaven, are astronomical objects. The "host of heaven" refers to the
sun
and moon, and planets, and galaxies, constellations, and other
celestial
things. In my interpretation Daniel's prophecy in chapter 8 refers to
changes
in the cosmology of the Bible.
The interpretation proposed by some scholars, that "stars" in vs. 10
represent the Jewish people, is implausible because nations are
represented
by animals in Daniel's vision. Daniel
8:20-21 identifies the two horns of the ram as symbols representing
the kings of Media and Persia, and the goat as the Grecian kingdom, and
its large horn is stated to be the first king, unmistakable as
Alexander
the Great. Since nations are represented by animals, and kings are
represented
by horns on the animals, if the nation of the Jews were being referred
to, couldn't Daniel could have easily chosen another animal, (such as a
cow, or a horse, or a camel, for example) to represent the Jews? Stars
representing the Jews would be out of place, being inconsistent with
the
previous symbolism.
Scholars attempting to interpret Daniel have struggled and failed to
make sense of it. Only since the scientific revolution is it possible
to
understand what has happened, and how the Bible's cosmology has been
corrupted.
When do the 2,300 days start?
A. Since no start date is
mentioned, the
period must begin at the time the words were spoken. Supposing the
period
began at some later time has no basis. The question in Daniel
8:13 was:
How long
shall be the vision concerning the Constant, and
the
transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to
be trodden under foot?
The answer in Daniel
8:14 was:
Unto two thousand
and three hundred days; then shall
the
sanctuary be cleansed.
Note that there is no mention of 'sacrifice' in the Hebrew, which
occurs
in the KJV in italics. The question referred to the vision Daniel saw
in
the third year of the reign of Belshazzar, so that's what the period of
2,300 evening mornings refers to. These are best interpreted as years.
The "evening mornings" are symbolic. They date the scientific
revolution
in astronomy, 2,300 years from Daniel's vision.
When do the 2,300 days end?
A. The "target" of the 2,300
years
was the mid eighteenth century. This was the period, more so than any
other
time in history, when the old idea of a rigid rotating heavenly
"firmament"
was abolished, and man's thinking about cosmology was "set right".
The scientific revolution in astronomy began with the work of
Copernicus,
Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, and Newton. At the beginning of the
eighteenth
century, most people still supposed the heavens consisted of a rigid
firmament,
which rotated around the earth. A revolution in man's thinking about
cosmology
and astronomy occurred during the eighteenth century, as predictions
based
on Newton's Principia were confirmed. Consider these
developments:
- In 1720, Jacob van 'sGravesande published his Mathematical
elements
of natural philosophy confirmed by experiments, or an introduction to
Sir
Isaac Newton's philosophy.
- The third edition of Newton's Principia was published in
1726, when
Newton was 80 years old.
- In 1736 Pierre
Louis
Moreau de Maupertuis led an expedition to Lapland to measure the
length
of a degree along the meridian. The results verified Newton's concept
of
gravity, which required that the earth is an oblate spheroid, flattened
in polar regions.
- Francesco Algarotti published his Il newtonianismo per le dame
[Newtonianism
for the Ladies] in 1736, on Newton's optics. It became one of the
most
popular accounts of Newton's philosophy.
- Voltaire (Francios Marie Arounet) and Madame du Chatelet
(Emilie
de Breteuil) wrote a popular exposition of Newton's discoveries, "Elements
of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophy". Both French and English editions
were published in 1738.
- In 1743 Alexis
Claude Clairaut explained the figure of the earth by his theorem
connecting
gravity at points on the surface of a rotating ellipsoid with the
centrifugal
force at the equator. In 1747 Claurault wrote about a "great
revolution
in physics" caused by Newton's Principia. The idea that a
scientific
revolution in astronomy was underway became prevalent in the second
half
of the eighteenth century. It was the basis for Kant's description of
the
time as "the age of enlightenment."
- In 1744 the Roman Catholic Church allowed the printing of
Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the
Two Chief World Systems. It still remained on the Index of
Prohibited Books, and inclusion of Galileo's recantation of Copernican
theory was required in the same volume.
- In 1747 Emilie
de Breteuil and Alexis Clairaut began translating Newton's Principia
into French; the work was published in 1759.
- In 1749 Clairaut showed that Newton's theory of gravity was
confirmed by
observations of the motion of the moon.
- Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, who had studied at Freiberg,
introduced
the new astronomy and the Copernican theory at the Academy of St.
Petersburg
in Russia, beginning about 1750. In 1755 he founded Moscow University.
- In 1750 Thomas
Wright published An Original Theory and New Hypothesis of the
Universe in which he proposed that the Sun and
stars form a giant system rotating around a common center, thus
describing the modern view of the Milky Way.
- In 1755 Immanuel Kant suggested that nebulae are large star
systems like the Milky Way.
- In 1757, the Congregation of the Index "secretly allowed the
ideas of Copernicus
to be tolerated." Also, Lutheran theologians in Germany opposed the
Copernican
theory during the first part of the eighteenth century, claiming it was
opposed to scripture, "yet at the middle of the century we find some of
the clearest-headed of them aware of the fact that their cause was
lost."
[A. D. White, Warfare of Science with Theology, Chapter III:
Astronomy. http://www.santafe.edu/~shalizi/White/astronomy/results-of-victory.html]
- In 1757, musician William
Herschel of Hanover migrated to England, where he became interested
in astronomy. His improved telescope design led to many discoveries.
- The return of Halley's comet, which reached perihelion on March
12, 1759,
was regarded as a great triumph for the Newtonian theory. Its
reappearance
in 1758 had been predicted by Edmund Halley.
- French mathematician Jean
Lerond d'Alembert wrote in 1759: "Our century is called ... the
century
of philosophy par excellence ... The discovery and application of a new
method of philosophizing, the kind of enthusiasm which accompanies
discoveries,
a certain exaltation of ideas which the spectacle of the universe
produces
in us - all these causes have brought about a lively fermentation of
minds,
spreading through nature in all directions like a river which has burst
its dams." [Quoted in: Hankins, Thomas L. 1985. Science and the
Enlightenment.
Cambridge University Press, p. 1.]
When was belief in the firmament abandoned?
A. Copernicus mentioned the idea
of infinite space but did not commit himself to it. His diagram of the
heliocentric system showed the firmament as the sphere of the fixed
stars, which he thought was large enough to account for the absence of
stellar parallax.
Frances R. Johnson wrote that Thomas Digges "...clearly perceived that,
the moment the rotation of the earth was conceded, there was no longer
any necessity for picturing the stars as attached to a huge, rotating
sphere at a definite distance from the earth... Digges had the courage
to break completely with the older cosmologies by shattering the finite
outer wall of the universe. He was the first modern astronomer of note
to portray an infinite, heliocentric universe, with the stars scattered
at varying distances throughout infinite space."
Similar views were held by Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno
(1548-1600). Bruno was in constant conflict with traditional doctrines.
His book 'On the Infinite Universe
and Worlds', in which he argued that there are many other
inhabited worlds, was published in 1584. Bruno believed that man's
perception of the world is relative to the position in space and time
from which he views it, and so, there are as many possible modes of
viewing the world as there are possible positions. He was tried for
heresy by the Inquisition in 1591, and after being imprisoned in Rome,
he was burnt to death in 1600.
In 1576 Thomas Digges (1546-1595) contributed a supplement containing
sections of Book 1 of De
Revolutionibus by Copernicus translated into English, in a
posthumous edition of his father Leonard Digges's book, 'Prognostication euerlasting'.
The universe was described as extending infinitely. Thomas suggested
the resulting astronomical system was more than just a mathematical
hypothesis, but was "a Perfit
Description of the Caelestiall Orbes." He sought to have these
ideas tested by experiment and observation.
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) calculated the distance to the starry
firmament. His Epitome Astronomiae was published in 1621. He calculated
the distance of the firmament to be four million sun diameters, which
was 2,000 times greater than Ptolemy's universe. Its thickness he
estimated as nine English miles, which meant the stars contained in it
would be quite small.
John Milton (1608-1674) included a starry firmament in his cosmology.
The Ptolemaic system of concentric planetary spheres and a stationary
earth was the cosmological setting for his Paradise Lost (1667). He
placed the waters above the firmament in a crystalline sphere which
enclosed the sphere of the stars. The empyrean Heaven was separated
from the spheres of the world by a floor of immense dimensions. Chaos
and Hell were also located in the region beyond the universe.
Thomas Burnet (1635-1715), in the first edition of his 'Sacred Theory
of the Earth', "seems to have advanced the suggestion that the
firmament was the earth crust itself, which separated the waters of the
abyss from those on the surface; but he receded from this position in
later editions."
Joseph Addison (1672–1719) wrote this, which is still a popular hymn,
which refers to a rigid firmament revolving around the earth.
The spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue ethereal sky,
And spangled heavens, a shining frame
Their great Original proclaim.
Th’unwearied sun, from day to day,
Does his Creator’s powers display,
And publishes to every land
The work of an Almighty Hand.
Soon as the evening shades prevail
The moon takes up the wondrous tale,
And nightly to the listening earth
Repeats the story of her birth;
While all the stars that round her burn
And all the planets in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll,
And spread the truth from pole to pole.
What though in solemn silence all
Move round the dark terrestrial ball?
What though no real voice nor sound
Amid the radiant orbs be found?
In reason’s ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice,
Forever singing as they shine,
“The hand that made us is divine.”
It is said that the dons at Oxford University took 50 years to abandon
their old doctrines and accept Newton's Theory.
A century after the publication of Newton's Principia, academics at the
University of Salamanca in Spain were still holding out for Aristotle's
cosmology; they claimed "The principles of Newton... and Cartesio do
not resemble the revealed truth as much as do those of Aristotle."
[Durant, Will and Ariel. 1967. Rousseau and Revolution. Simon and
Schuster, N.Y., p. 294]
From:
http://www.huntington.org/LibraryDiv/Newton/Newtonexhibit.htm
A NEW WORLDVIEW
EMERGES
The diffusion of Newtonian ideas before Newton’s death in 1727 was
confined to the domain of mathematicians and natural philosophers as
well as to a small circle of educated men who had acquired a taste for
such studies. Wider dissemination required the unique genius of
Voltaire and of Francesco Algarotti. What made Voltaire so effective an
agent — apart from an unparalleled ability to seduce an audience by a
masterful combination of shock and wit — was that he was neither a
mathematician nor a physicist, but a literary giant aloof from the
academic disputes over Newtonian ideas. In other words, Voltaire’s
stature as an amateur in matters of science was the source of his
contemporary appeal, demonstrating for the first time the accessibility
of Newton’s ideas to non-specialists. Equally successful was
Algarotti’s transmutation of Newtonian ideas into an agreeable dialogue
format, specifically intended to appeal to women, which mitigated the
dryness of the subject matter with amusing digressions. Other popular
texts soon came on the market, ensuring that by the middle of the
eighteenth century Newtonian science became a topic of general
conversation. Women and children emerged as the audience of choice for
publishers of popular scientific and philosophical works, while
fashionable salons throughout Europe became pivotal venues for the
discussion and dissemination of new scientific ideas.
The revolution in astronomy, when the old cosmology was replaced by the
new, was accomplished in the mid 18th century, as foretold by the
prophet Daniel 2,300 years before.
Why does Daniel mention an 'Abomination of
Desolation'?
A. The erection of a Zeus
image and the conversion of the holy temple
at
Jerusalem to a shrine of Zeus Olympus was called the "abomination that
makes desolation" in the prophecies of Daniel. The introduction of the
essential elements of the flawed cosmology of the Greeks into the
scriptures in the hellenistic period was the subject of the first part
of Daniel's prophecy in chapter 8, which foretold the duration of the
geocentric cosmology; it would end after 2,300 years. Dan
8:13-14:
Then I heard one
saint
speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake,
How long shall be the vision concerning the constant, and the
transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to
be trodden under foot?
And he said
unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred
days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
In this prophecy, days or "evening-mornings' represent years. Daniel
says the "constant" or "continual" would be taken away. The rough goat
represents the Greek empire, and the little horn which grows tall is
the Seleucid king Antiochus IV.
In the KJV, and in many other versions, there is a reference to a
"daily sacrifice" being taken away, but the real meaning is "continual"
or "constant", and the word "sacrifice" has been added by translators
who incorrectly interpreted the prophecy as referring to ritual
sacrifices. However the lapse of such sacrifices some time in the
future were not of any concern to Daniel at a time when there was no
temple, and the city of Jerusalem was in ruins.
The little horn of the goat, which represents Antiochus IV, grows up,
very high, past the tree tops, past the clouds, up to the stars! It
casts stars and the host of heaven down to the earth.
There are several things cast down to the earth by the horn which grows
great: the stars, the place of God's sanctuary (heaven), the host of
heaven (sun and moon, constellations, planets, etc.), and the truth.
The "constant" which was taken away refers to the diurnal rotation of
the earth, the knowledge of which was stamped out in the time of
Antiochus IV.
Antiochus actively promoted the worship of Zeus Olympus, the sky god of
the Greeks. Greek religion was very much tied to cosmology. The main
gods were the 12 Olympians of Homer. The Greek cosmology was
geocentric, and assumed the sky revolved around the earth. Zeus was
identified with the rigid sky, (also called Olympus) which held up all
the stars, sun and moon, planets, etc.
In the second century BC some astronomers questioned the reality of a
rigid sky. Plutarch says Seleucus of Babylon supported a heliocentric
cosmology, and claimed it was "not just a hypothesis, but a fact." Such
a claim would threaten the Greek religion and cosmology which Antiochus
supported.
Antiochus financed the construction of a huge temple of Zeus in Athens,
the ruins of which are still there; it was said to be the largest
temple in all of Greece. He built a temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in
Antioch, and had a statue of Zeus made for the temple of Apollo at
Daphne, a copy of the one at Olympia in Elis. He had several temples
converted to temples of Zeus including the Jerusalem temple and the one
in Samaria.
Antiochus and his agents stamped out the knowledge of the earth's
diurnal rotation, and established the supremacy of the geocentric
cosmology of the Greeks, with its system of rigid spheres. Daniel's
prophecy said the heavenly sanctuary would be "cleansed" after 2,300
evening-mornings. This can be interpreted as 2,300 years, so the
prophecy indicates the heavens would be cleansed 23 centuries after it
was given. The start date for the 2,300 years should be taken to be
when the angel spoke the words, as no other start date is given, and
Daniel 8:1 says it was in the third year of Belshazzar, which was in
the mid sixth century BC.
After 2,300 years, in the mid 18th century, the old cosmology was
abandoned, and men realised it is the earth that moves, not the sky.
The rigid heavenly firmament and the planetary spheres were swept away
like old cobwebs, when the discoveries of Newton and Galileo and
Copernicus and Kepler and others were finally accepted. It was the
scientific revolution that Daniel foretold.
Around 1750 AD, belief in the old cosmology ended, and the world became
aware of the Newtonian system. Several translations of the "Principia"
appeared around that time. Newton's theory was confirmed in a
spectacular way by the reappearance of Halley's comet in 1758 which
Edmond Halley had predicted in 1705 on the basis of Newton's Principia.
Don't the 2,300 evening mornings begin after
the "little horn"
(Antiochus
Epiphanes) appears?
A. The question was, in Daniel
8:13, "For how long is the vision concerning the
Constant..?"
So the 2,300 evening mornings is the duration of the vision, until it
was
fulfilled by the cleansing of the sanctuary. The vision originated in
the
3rd year of the reign of Belshazzar, Daniel
8:1, so that would be the most natural start date of the 2,300
evening
mornings.
Why does Daniel
8:17 say the vision is for the "time of the end"?
A. The information provided by
Daniel
gives us insight into the role of Antiochus IV in corrupting the
cosmology
of scripture, and more. Antiochus presents a rather fascinating figure,
unique because of his prominence in the prophecies of Daniel.
Apparently, in the prophecies of Daniel, Antiochus IV is the type of
the spiritual ruler of the world system, which destroys the saints at
the
end time. The history of the Jews of Jerusalem in the 2nd century BC
provides
a type of these end time saints. So I see events in those days as a
metaphor
for ours. We can notice many parallels between the influence of
hellenism
on the Jews of Jerusalem in those days, and the influence of modern
materialistic
society on Christians in our time. The Jews of the 2nd century BC who
embraced
hellenism or compromised their traditional beliefs compare to "modern"
or "liberal" Christians, while the hasidim, the conservative
party
among the Jews, who opposed the hellenizers and the reforms of
Antiochus,
correspond to the conservative Christians.
Notice Daniel
8:23-25 where a "king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark
sentences" arises. I take this to mean the invisible spirit represented
by Antiochus; it tries to suppress truth by means of fraud,
intimidation,
and ferocious scowls, sneers, and derision. These are a typical
response
to attempts by Christians to uphold the message of the Bible.
Daniel says this king "destroys wonderfully." The destruction is
probably
accomplished by means of modern technology; consider the pollution, the
species have become extinct, the destruction of forests, etc. There has
also been an attack on the credibility of the scriptures.
He "destroys the mighty and holy people," referring to the weakening
of the faith of saints. Just as some among the Jews in the time of
Antiochus
changed their names to Greek names, and even hid or reversed their
circumcision,
there are Christians who have become ashamed of their faith. In
Daniel's
prophecy, Antiochus typifies the materialistic, human point of view,
which
opposes the spirit of God: "he shall also stand up against the Prince
of
Princes; but he shall be broken without hand" [vs
25].
Daniel's prophecies refer to an "abomination" which was to cause
desolation
of God's sanctuary. It was something initiated by Antiochus IV, who is
generally recognized as the "little horn" of Daniel chapter 8, which
grows
up to the stars.
The "sanctuary" referred to by Daniel is assumed by most scholars to
mean the temple in Jerusalem. However, in Daniel's time, when he saw
his
vision, there was no temple in Jerusalem, as the city lay in ruins.
Another
sanctuary of God that is mentioned in the Old Testament is heaven,
i.e.,
the universe, where the stars and galaxies are located. The prophecy
about
the little horn says it grew up to the height of the stars, and cast
the
stars and the "host of heaven" (sun, moon, planets, constellations,
etc.)
down to the earth. So it appears most likely that the sanctuary which
was
cast down in Daniel's prophecy was not the temple in Jerusalem, but the
starry heaven. This is evident simply by reading the prophecy in Daniel
chapter 8:8-14.
And the
he-goat magnified himself exceedingly: and when he
was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up
four notable horns toward the four winds of heaven. And out of one of
them
came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the
south,
and toward the east, and toward the glorious land. And it waxed great,
even to the host of heaven; and some of the host and of the stars it
cast
down to the ground, and trampled upon them. Yea, it magnified itself,
even
to the prince of the host; and the continual was taken away from him
and
the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And the host was given over
to
it together with the continual through transgression; and it cast down
truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered.
Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said unto
that
certain one who spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the
continual,
and the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary
and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two
thousand
and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be
cleansed
(justified).
The prophecy says the little horn grew great, and cast stars, and the
host
of heaven to the earth. It "magnified itself" against the prince of the
host, a reference to God. It cast God's sanctuary (identified in
scripture
as heaven, or what we call the universe) to the ground, along with the
truth. Notice there were 4 things cast to the ground by the little
horn:
- the stars
- the host of heaven
- the place of God's sanctuary
- the truth
Bible scholars have had difficulty making sense of this, and have felt
compelled to read into the prophecy their own opinions about what
Daniel
might have meant. So the translators have added the word "sacrifice" or
"burnt offering" after the word "continual," which obscures the true
meaning.
Daniel was not referring to a sacrifice being discontinued in this
prophecy,
but his reference to the "continual" being taken away probably meant
the
knowledge of the earth's rotation being stamped out.
The books of Maccabees report that Antiochus IV introduced an image
of Zeus Olympus into the temple at Jerusalem and polluted the altar by
his offerings to pagan deities. This would certainly be an abomination,
but its duration was not 2,300 days; the temple was restored precisely
three years after it was desecrated. The prophecy of Daniel 8 shows the
sanctuary which was made desolate by the policies of Antiochus was the
sanctuary of heaven, where the stars are located, not the temple site
in
Jerusalem.
Antiochus is the "little horn" which grows great, transgresses
against
God, and casts the "place of his sanctuary" and the "host of heaven" to
the ground, and tramples them, in Daniel
8:10-12.
I suggest the introduction of celestial spheres of the hellenistic
cosmology
in scripture was the abomination that Daniel referred to. One of them
was
the rigid rotating firmament containing the stars. The belief in a
rigid
firmament persisted until about the mid eighteenth century. Only when
Isaac
Newton's discoveries about gravity and the laws of motion were
generally
understood, was belief in the rigid heavenly "firmament" abandoned,
about
2,300 years after Daniel's vision.
The stars, host of heaven, and God's sanctuary being cast to the
ground
was accomplished by a corruption inserted in Genesis 1, that identified
the "raqia" or earth's crust, made in the primeval waters, with the
sky.
Antiochus was the source of the statement "God called the firmament
Heaven"
in Genesis
1:8 [KJV].
The presence of cosmological concepts from the hellenistic age in
scripture
led to the Bible being discredited during the period known as the
"enlightenment"
in the eighteenth century, and its message was rejected by many.
Daniel's
prophecy reveals the reason for the flawed cosmological statements in
the
Bible; they are due to a revision of the cosmology of the OT, that
began
about 168 BC, and continued in the following centuries, a process
initiated
by Antiochus IV.
Isn't the "sanctuary" in Daniel 8:12 &
14
the Jerusalem temple?
A. The interpretation of Daniel
8:14 which supposes the "sanctuary"
referred to is the Jerusalem temple (which did not even exist when
Daniel wrote his prophecy) has many problems. The 2,300 "days" don't
work out; the scholars supporting this interpretation have not figured
out Daniel's statement that the little horn (representing Antiochus IV)
grew up to the sky and cast stars and the host of heaven to the ground,
and their view makes the lapse of a ritual sacrifice the focus of
Daniel's prophecy, which makes no sense. These scholars think the
problems are defects in Daniel's prophecy, but it not not Daniel's
prophecy which is flawed, it is their interpretations. They have failed
to understand what Daniel's prophecy was talking about.
The "sanctuary" in Daniel 8 is no doubt the heavenly one, the
universe,
where the stars and host of heaven are located. It was figuratively
"cast
down" to the earth when Antiochus altered Genesis 1, identifying the
'raqia'
or the earth's crust with the rigid sky. This interpretation of the
sanctuary
fits the context of astronomical objects, such as the stars, planets,
and
constellations, or the host of heaven mentioned in verse 10 of the
prophecy.
Daniel's prophecy makes very good sense, and accurately predicted the
scientific
revolution in astronomy, and the duration of the geocentric system, as
well as the corruption of the Bible's cosmology by Antiochus IV, in my
interpretation.
Why do some scholars claim the 2,300 evening
mornings are 1150
days?
A. Some Bible scholars have
supposed
that Daniel's prophecy referred to the number of lapsed ritual
sacrifices
in the temple service. This view is supported by the insertion of the
word
"sacrifice" in Daniel
8:12-14, suggesting the main subject of the prophecy was the ritual
morning and evening sacrifice. Others think the claim that 2,300
evenings
mornings is 1,150 days is flawed; in Genesis 1, where the phrase "the
evening
and the morning" is mentioned, it is defined as one "day". So 2,300
"evening
mornings" would point to 2,300 "days," not 1,150 days.
The temple in Jerusalem was restored by Maccabeus on the anniversary
of its desecration, so 1,150 days does not work out. There is no way
that
1,150 days could be made to work out, either. This interpretation
proposed
by some scholars implies Daniel's prophecy fails miserably. 2
Maccabees 10:5 says:
It
happened that on the same day on which the sanctuary had
been profaned by the foreigners, the purification of the sanctuary took
place, that is, on the twenty fifth day of the same month, which was
Chislev.
The Jewish calendar was a lunar calendar in which some years had an
extra
month. Leap years with an extra month occurred about once every three
years.
[More precisely, there were 7 leap years in 19 years.] For 3 years to
equal
1150 days, there would need to be three leap years in succession. In
that
case, three leap years with 13 months (assuming a month is 29.5 days) =
13 * 3 * 29.5 = 1150.5 days. But it is very unlikely that three leap
years
would occur in succession. Even two leap years in succession would be
very
rare, though not completely impossible, perhaps. So this interpretation
requires the unlikely occurrence of three leap years in a row.
Jesus referred to people seeing the "abomination which makes
desolate"
that Daniel wrote about as something yet future from his time, in
Matthew
24:15. Why would he refer to it as future, if Daniel's prophecy
referred
only to a desecration of the temple in the time of Antiochus IV? Jesus
was probably referring to the recognition of the cosmological
corruptions
that Antiochus introduced into the Bible, which Daniel's prophecy
reveals.
The presence of the old hellenistic idea of a rigid rotating sky or
'firmament'
in the creation account of Genesis is one of the abominations that is
exposed
by Daniel's vision.
Why does Daniel
8:14 refer to 2,300 "evening mornings" rather than days?
A. In the prophecy about
the 2,300 evening-mornings of Dan 8:14 the KJV says "days", but many
have interpreted them as years. [Dan 8:13-14]
Then
I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said
unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision
concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to
give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
And he said
unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the
sanctuary be cleansed.
The literal translation is "unto two thousand and three hundred evening
mornings". Referring to Genesis 1, where an evening and a morning is
called a day, the KJV translation seems reasonable, but there is some
loss of information and detail in this, because the KJV translators
have attempted to interpret the prophecy.
Not only have they interpreted the "evening mornings", but also the
word "tamiyd" or "constant" in vs 13, which they rendered as "daily
sacrifice". But the prophecy is not referring to an obscure ritual
sacrifice as they supposed. The proper word here is 'constant', or
'continual', and the reader should omit the word 'sacrifice' in the
KJV, which is usually italicised to indicate it is an added word that
was not in the original. So for vs 13 we should read [Dan 8:13]:
Then
I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said
unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision
concerning the CONSTANT, and the transgression of desolation, to give
both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
The word CONSTANT could be a reference to the earth's diurnal rotation,
or the knowledge of it, as the context of the prophecy is astronomical,
and cosmological knowledge.
Genesis 1 is the only other place where the phrase 'evening morning'
occurs, besides Dan 8:14.
Does the identification of 'evening mornings' with days in Genesis 1
explain the evening mornings of Dan 8:14? Or, is Dan 8:14 a clue for
interpreting the days of Genesis 1?
What we can say in both cases is that the evening mornings are
symbolic, rather than literal days. The days of creation in Genesis 1
are clearly not 24 hour days, as the creation "week" encompasses the
whole creation; for instance, stars being created now are included in
the creation "week". [Ex 20:11]:
For in six days the
LORD made heaven and earth, the sea,
and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD
blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Not only stars, but sunspots, snowflakes, meteors, volcanoes, clouds,
hurricanes, and earthquake faults are included in "all that in them
is."
So clearly the 'days' of Genesis 1 are symbolic, and this suggests the
same is true of the evening mornings of Dan 8:14. If the latter were
literal days, the period specified in the prophecy would have expired
just a few years after the prophecy was given in the 3rd year of
Belshazzar, approximately 550 BC, and so it would come to nothing. The
"evening
mornings" may refer to a specific evening and a specific morning, that
occur
only once a year, such as new year's eve, and the first morning of a
new
year. In this case, 2,300 of these "evening mornings" would span of
2,300
years. There was no start date given for the 2,300 evening mornings, so
the
period must begin when the prophecy was given. Taking these to
represent years, it ends about 1750 AD.
This was when the "sanctuary" of God, heaven, or the universe, was
'cleansed' or 'justified', in the sense that belief in the old
cosmology was abandoned, the rigid firmament revolving around the earth
was abolished, along with the homocentric planetary spheres, and the
true nature of the universe was understood, as the discoveries of
Kepler, Galileo, and Newton, and others were accepted and proven.
The prophecy of Dan 8:14 foretold the scientific revolution in
astronomy, which occurred 2,300 years after the prophecy was given.
Daniel's prophecy refers to evening mornings because the
phrase
points us to Genesis 1. Daniel's prophecy provides us with crucial
information
needed for understanding Genesis 1, as it was in the creation account
that
a major cosmological corruption introduced by Antiochus occurs, that
identifies
the "raqia" with heaven.
What about William Miller?
A. Miller was a 19th century
American farmer turned evangelist. He and about 50,000 followers called
'Millerites' expected the end of the world to happen between 21 March
1843 and 21 March 1844. Miller believed the "sanctuary" of Daniel 8:14
meant the earth, which was to be "cleansed" by fire that would consume
the wicked. They based their calculation on the prophecy of the 2,300
days, but they had the wrong start date. They assumed the period
started when Ezra returned from Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem, in 457
BC. When the end did not come as they expected, the date was revised,
and set for 22 October 1844, but they were again disappointed.
Afterwards, a theory was developed by some of Miller's followers, which
claimed that in fact something had happened; in that year, Jesus had
begun the cleansing of the "heavenly sanctuary", preparing it for the
future kingdom. Writing about this view, Jacques B. Doukham says
[Daniel: A Vision of the End. Andrews Univ. Press, Berrien Springs Mi.
1987, p. 43]:
One may wonder about the nature of this
event which is taking place in heaven, which the Bible describes with
the strange term of Kippur. Does this mean that there, as in the
ancient city of Israel, a tent is pitched, with a roof and curtains,
and that in 1844 a personage vested with the function of High Priest
passed from one compartment to another as prescribed in the Levitical
system (cf Lev. 16:2)? This scene is difficult to imagine because it
seems to point to a theatrical performance rather than to the activity
of a God dealing with man's salvation. This sounds awkward and against
the familiar idea of a God who is beyond space and time.
But, in spite of our uneasyness and philosophical presuppositions, we
must admit that God may very well have played this game, and the
irrationality of a fact does not challenge the reality of that fact...
There is no need to guess when the 2,300 years began, as Miller and his
followers did. The 2,300 days prophecy is a prediction about the
duration of
the geocentric cosmology with its system of rigid heavenly spheres. It
began when the prophecy was given, the 3rd year of Belshazzar in the
mid 6th century BC, and ended 2,300 years later, around 1750 AD.
What is the 2,300 Year Luni-solar Cycle?
The 2,300 years span the period from when Daniel saw the vision
described in chapter 8, to the mid eighteenth century, when the
"sanctuary" was cleansed. At that time, men understood the truth about
the heavens, and belief in the rigid heavenly firmament rapidly
declined.
The 2,300 years is the period of a lunisolar cycle, described by
astronomer E. W. Maunder in the article quoted below, from the International
Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
The
Luni-solar Cycles of Daniel.
To the same prophet Daniel a further
chronological vision was given,
and a yet more perfect cycle indicated. In answer to the question, "How
long shall be the vision concerning the continual burnt-offering, and
the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary and
the host to be trodden under foot?" the answer was returned, "Unto two
thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the
sanctuary be cleansed" (
Daniel 8:13,14).
Whatever may be the prophetic significance of the passage its
astronomical significance is clear:
840,057 days are precisely 2,300 solar
years, or 28,447 lunar
months, or 30,487 anomalistic months, the anomalistic month being the
period in which the moon travels from perigee to perigee. It is the
most perfect lunisolar cycle known, and restores the two great lights
exactly to their former relationship. This fullest "season" indicated
by the sun and moon is given as that for the cleansing of the
sanctuary, for the bringing in, as it were, of the full and perfect
Jubilee.
It is not possible at present to decide
as to whether the Jews
had learnt of this cycle and its significance from their astronomical
observations. If so, they must have been far in advance in mathematical
science of all other nations of antiquity. If not, then it must have
been given to them by Divine revelation, and its astronomical
significance has been left for modern science to reveal.
The following calculations help to demonstrate.
T = 2,300 years
TD = 840,057 days
SM = 29.53059 days =
Synodic month
AM = 27.55455 days =
Anomalistic month
L = 28447 = Number of lunar months in T
A = 30487 = Number of anomalistic months in T
From the above data,
TD/T = 365.2422
L*SM/T = 365.2420
A*AM/T = 365.2416
These last 3 numbers approximate to the number of days in a solar year;
the close correspondence demonstrates the astronomical cycle of 2,300
years.
The 2,300 year luni-solar cycle was discovered by astronomer Jean-Philippe
Loys de Cheseaux
(1718-1751) of Lausanne, Switzerland. Cheseaux discovered several
nebulae, and made detailed observations on comets in 1743, 1744, and
another one called "Comet 1746 De Chéseaux", which was named
after him.
Observations on comets at this period were highly significant for
establishing the truth of the Newtonian system. Cheseaux also
discovered what later became known as Olber's paradox, which says the
night sky should be bright. Cheseaux found the remarkable lunisolar
cycle of 2,300 years when he was investigating the date of the
crucifixion and Daniel's prophecies, as related in the account of this
discovery by Henry
Grattan Guiness provided below.
The discovery of the lunisolar cycle of 2,300 years by Cheseaux
occurred right at the time that the prophecy of Daniel 8:14 was
fulfilled, 2,300 years after Daniel heard the words of the angelic
messenger, in the mid 6th century BC. [Daniel 8:13-14]:
Then I heard one
saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which
spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the constant , and the
transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to
be trodden under foot?
And he said
unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the
sanctuary be cleansed.
Unknown to Cheseaux, Daniel's prophecy about the "cleansing" of
heaven, the sanctuary of God, foretold the demise of the old geocentric
system, and the discoveries in astonomy that were then taking place!
Belief in the old system of
homocentric spheres and the idea of rigid "firmament" that revolved
around the earth carrying the stars ceased, as Newton's discoveries
were confirmed by astronomers like Cheseaux. The account of his
discovery of the 2,300 year lunisolar cycle provided below is from The Approaching End of the Age Viewed in
the Light of History, Prophecy, and Science by H. Grattan
Guinness (1879) Section III.
M.de Cheseaux was engaged in some chronological researches, and in
order to fix with certainty the date of the Crucifixion, he was led to
examine certain parts of Scripture, and especially the Book of Daniel.
The first portion of his essay is purely chronological, and unimportant
to our subject, we may say, however, that he clearly perceived that the
" time times and a half-" of Dan. vii. meant a period of 1260 years.
"The importance of this conclusion and of some of the foregoing
principles," he adds, "will be perceived, when we show how it led to a
discovery of the singular relation which exists between this period of
Daniel, and the facts of astronomy. However strange it may seem, I can
positively deduce from the periods of Daniel, as accurately as by the
best astronomical methods, and even more so, the five elements of the
solar theory."
He goes on to explain what a cycle is: "a period which brings into
harmony different celestial revolutions, containing a certain definite
number of each, without remainder or fraction," and he shows that there
are four different kinds of cycles connected with the sun, moon, and
earth.
1. Those harmonizing the solar day and year.
2. Those harmonizing the solar year and lunar month.
3. Those harmonizing the solar day and lunar month.
4. Those harmonizing all three, day, month, and year.
M. de Cheseaux adds," the discovery of such cycles has always been a
great object with astronomers and chronologists. They have considered
it so difficult a matter, that they have almost laid it down as a
principle that it is impossible, at any rate as regards those of the
fourth class. Till now, the discovery of a cycle of this kind has been
to astronomers,-like perpetual motion to mechanicians,-a sort of
philosopher’s stone. Anxious to settle whether the thing were really
impossible, I began some time ago to try for a cycle of the second
kind."
M. de Cheseaux then describes the process by which he was led to the
discovery that 315 years is such a soli-lunar cycle, ten times more
exact than the nineteen years Metonic cycle in use by the ancients; the
sun and moon coming after a lapse of that period, to within three hours
twenty-four seconds of absolute agreement: and he proceeds,- "I had no
sooner discovered this cycle, than I observed that it was a quarter of
the 1260 years of Daniel and the Apocalypse, and that consequently,
this period is itself a soli-lunar cycle;" after which the sun and moon
return, within less than half a degree, to the same point of the
ecliptic precisely, and that within an hour of each other.
"The relation of this period, assigned by the Holy Spirit as the limit
of certain political events, to the most notable movements of the
heavenly bodies, made me think it might be the same with the 2300
years. By the aid of the astronomic tables I examined this latter, and
found that at the end of 2300 Gregorian years, minus six hours fourteen
seconds, the sun and the moon return to within half a degree of the
place from which they started, and that an hour later the sun has
reached its exact starting point on the ecliptic: whence it follows
that the prophetic period of 2300 years, is a cyclical period (also
remarkable for the number of its aliquot parts, and for containing a
complete number of cycles) and one so perfect, that though it is thirty
times longer than the celebrated cycle of Calippus, it has an error of
only thirteen hours, a seventeenth part of the error of that ancient
cycle.
"The exact similarity of the error of these two cycles of 1260 and 2300
years, made me soon conclude that the difference between them, 1040
years, ought to be a perfect cycle, free from all error; and all the
more remarkable as uniting the three kinds of cycles, and furnishing
consequently a cycle of that fourth kind, so long sought in vain, and
finally concluded to be chimerical, impossible to find.
"On examination of this period of 1040 years by the best modem
astronomic tables I found that it was even so. Its error is absolutely
imperceptible, in so long a period, and may indeed be accounted for by
errors in the tables themselves, owing to the inaccuracy of some of the
ancient observations on which they are founded..
"This period of 1040 years, indicated indirectly by the Holy Ghost, is
a cycle at once solar, lunar, and diurnal or terrestrial of the most
perfect accuracy. I subsequently discovered two singular confirmations
of this fact, which I will explain presently, when I have adduced all
my purely astronomic proofs; may I in the meantime be- permitted to
give to this new cycle, the name of THE DANIEL CYCLE."
M. de Cheseaux then goes into full astronomic detail, of a kind that
would fail to interest our readers, though proving the very remarkable
nature of this cycle: and he subsequently continues, "As I before said,
a cycle of this kind had long been sought in vain; no astronomer or
chronologist, had been able to light upon one for nineteen centuries;
and yet for two thousand three hundred years, there it has been,
written in characters legible enough, in the Book of Daniel: legible,
that is, to him who was willing to take the trouble of comparing the
great prophetic periods, with the movements of the heavenly bodies; in
other words, to him, who compared the book of nature with the book of
revelation."
"The slightest error, even of a few seconds, in -the determination of
the true length of the solar year, would remove altogether from these
numbers, their cyclical character. Only the perfection of modern
astronomical instruments in fact, can demonstrate it at all. So that we
have the problem, How did Daniel, or the author of the Book of Daniel,
whoever he was (if, as some assert, the prophecy is of a later date
than Daniel), light upon these undiscoverable and undiscovered, yet
excessively accurate celestial cycles, at a time when there were no
instruments in existence capable of measuring solar revolutions with
sufficient accuracy, to reveal the cyclical character of the periods?"
M. de Cheseaux adds, "I must close with one observation. For many ages
the Book of Daniel, and especially these passages of it, have been
quoted and commented on by numerous and varied authors, so that it is
impossible for a moment to call in question their antiquity. Who can
have taught their author the marvellous relation of the periods he
selected with soli-lunar revolutions? Is it possible, considering all
these points, to fail to recognise in the Author of the Book of Daniel,
the Creator of the heavens and all their hosts, of the earth and the
things that are therein?"
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Douglas Cox
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