The 2,300 Days/Years Prophecy
In this topic, we will discuss the unexplained portion of the vision left in chapter 8 concerning the 2,300 days/years.
What was left unexplained by Angel Gabriel in Daniel chapter 8?
Answer:
"And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Dan. 8:14
Note: The portion Gabriel omitted or left unexplained in chapter 8 is about time prophecy. The given number is 2,300 days. The endpoint of the number will bring us to the starting point when the Sanctuary will be cleansed. To know the definite time of the cleansing of the Sanctuary is by determining when it started. The Cleansing of the Sanctuary will be dealt with in the topic "The Ministration of Christ."
Is 2,300 days literal?
Answer:
"After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise." Num. 14:34
"And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year." Eze. 4:6
Note: Based on the two texts, one day is equivalent to 1 year. Therefore, it is symbolic. It would be inconsistent to interpret the beast and the little horn as symbolic, but the 2,300 days are literal.
Did God give the command to Angel Gabriel to let Daniel know about the unexplained portion of the vision?
Answer:
"At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision." Dan. 9: 23
What is in the vision that he needs to consider?
Answer:
"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy." Dan 9:24
Note: As promised, Gabriel gave Daniel the meaning of the vision by bringing him to 70 weeks or 490 days/years prophecy. This portion of time is for the people of Israel. The time to make themselves right before God and to finish their transgression. These seventy weeks are to be cut off or removed from any longer time because the word determined is the only word in the Bible that means cut off. Cut off where? The nearest possibility is from 2,300 years, the longest-time prophecy given in a vision to Daniel. Therefore the starting point of the seventy weeks must also be the same as the 2,300 years.
When was the 70 weeks or 490 years started?
Answer:
"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times." Dan. 9:25
Note: The angel told Daniel that the commencement of the seventy weeks is from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem. Therefore that is the point where the 2,300 years started. Ezra 7 records the decree made by King Artaxerxes, and it says, "Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of Heaven,.. I make a decree," the 7th year of Artaxerxes' reign, (Ezra 7:8) that is 457 B.C. (the decree took effect at the autumn of that same year). According to the text, seventy weeks is to extend to Messiah the Prince, there are seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks, which is equal to 483 years. Therefore if we count 483 years from the autumn of 457 B.C., it will bring us to the autumn of A.D. 27, the year Jesus was baptized and entered His mission and preached concerning the 'time', the 70 weeks given for His people "to finish their transgression."
What happened after 69 weeks?
Answer:
"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,.." "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off..." Dan. 9: 27, 26,
Note: After three and half years of preaching, Jesus was crucified (autumn of 31 A.D.) by it He confirmed the covenant, and the ministration of the earthly sanctuary stopped. Forward from the crucifixion three and a half years, it will bring us to A.D.34, the ending point of the entire time of the seventy weeks. This date is known as the date of the martyrdom of Stephen. It marks the rejection of the Jewish Church with the Gospel of Jesus. Therefore, His disciples directed their missionary work to the Gentiles. (For more information, click here.)
If the endpoint of 70 weeks or 490 years is the autumn of AD 34, then we still have 1810 years left to complete the 2300 days/years. So, continuing counting from 34 AD by adding 1810 years, will bring us to the autumn of 1844 (click here to see its diagram). The autumn of 1844, therefore, is the year pointed out in Dan. 8: 14 to be the starting year of the cleansing of the Sanctuary. The weight of the subject "Cleansing of the Sanctuary" will be learned in the topic "The Ministration of Christ."