THE 1335 DAYS | AdventAI

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 2, 1867

THE 1335 DAYS.

We lay it down as a proposition which challenges refutation, that there is no prophetic period given in the word of God, reaching to the second advent of the Son of man. This is the great fundamental principle which has so securely guarded Seventh-day Adventists from the wild work of distraction, confusion, shameful shifting of dates, and setting of times, which has characterized most other bodies of Adventists since the passing of the time in 1844, and has given too much occasion to the enemies of the truth to heap contumely and reproach upon the Advent name and faith. Therefore we wish this proposition known to all; we want the world to understand it; and we want Adventists to disprove it if they can; that there is no prophetic period in the Bible reaching to the coming of Christ.

There are but two periods which are prominently urged as reaching to that event. These are the 2300 and 1335 days; the first supposed to reach to the end because it is said that at the end of it the sanctuary should be cleansed, and the second, because that is supposed to be the one at the end of which Daniel stands in his lot, which expression is again supposed to mean his resurrection.

But the cleansing of the sanctuary is not the coming of Christ. There is neither reason, type, nor scripture, to show that it is a work that renders necessary the personal appearing of the Saviour in the clouds of heaven; and this cleansing of the sanctuary being the only event said to transpire at the close of the 2300 days, there is consequently nothing to show that that period reaches to the coming of Christ. On the contrary, when the subject of the sanctuary is investigated, there is everything to show that it does not.

In regard to the 1335 days, we consider it by no means certain that they are the days at the end of which Daniel is to stand in his lot. In an article on this subject, in Review, Vol. xxvii, No. 13, we introduced the peculiar reading of the Septuagint in Dan. xii, 13, by which the mind is certainly carried back to the vision of chapter viii, and to the longer period of 2300 years there mentioned. But, says the objector, the 1335 days is the period last mentioned, and it seems most natural that that should be the one referred to, rather than the period of 2300 days which is not so much as once named in the chapter! We reply, What is mentioned in the chapter is not all that is to be here taken into consideration. For as we plainly showed in the article above referred to, the visions of Dan. ix, and onward to the end of the book, have reference to the vision of chapter viii, stating particulars more and more fully, and filling up the great outline of that vision more and more completely to the end. This being the case, the first vision with its long period of 2300 years would be continually in Daniel's mind, and the other periods mentioned, the 1260, 1290, and 1335 days, would come in merely as subdivisions of that. And now, when the angel closes his instruction to Daniel by saying that at the end of the days he should stand in his lot, it seems to us to be the most natural inference that he refers to the period contained in the vision to which all these subsequent instructions relate, namely, the 2300 days, and not to any of the shorter and minor periods, which have been brought in merely as subdivisions of it.

Again, the ending of the 1335 days must be shown by the event given to mark their termination. And what is that? It is expressed in these words: “Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.” This language must refer to the living. The waiting is done by them. This has not been denied, and cannot be denied. Blessed, then, are those who live to see the end of that period—blessed in comparison with the dead. But what is there in this to show that it reaches to the resurrection? Nothing; And what is urged to show that these days do not end till the resurrection? Answer. An event which does not pertain to the living at all, but to the dead; namely, Daniel shall stand in his lot, supposed to be his resurrection. The prophecy gives as the event to mark their termination, a blessing upon the living; but interpreters presume to fix their termination by an entirely different event, a blessing upon the dead. This is not logical. We showed in our former article that at the time of the resurrection, the living have no precedence over the dead; for a blessing is pronounced upon the dead who have part in the first resurrection; and the living shall not prevent, or go before, them which are asleep. Therefore we argue that the blessing which those who wait find at the close of the 1335 days, is a blessing to be enjoyed by them prior to the resurrection.

But, says the objector at this point, Is there not a blessing pronounced upon the living at the resurrection? Do we not read, Blessed is that servant who is found watching, and blessed is he who is found giving the household meat in due season, when the Lord appears? Very true; but blessed in comparison with whom? Simply in comparison with the unfaithful servants who are found in the neglect of these duties. But this is a very different thing from the blessing pronounced by the prophecy on those who wait or live to the close of the 1335 days, showing that the living are then blessed, in comparison of course, with those who are asleep; and those who bring up such scriptures to overthrow our position, simply betray an utter misapprehension of the argument.

In the article already alluded to in Vol. xxvii, No. 13, we showed that this period ended in 1843, and in harmony with the requirements of the prophecy, pointed out the blessing upon the church by which its termination was marked.

Lastly, the declaration to Daniel that he should stand in his lot at the end of the days, cannot by any just method of reasoning be made to mean his resurrection. This has been taken for granted, and adopted without thought, just as Adventists took it for granted in 1844 that the earth was the sanctuary. But this position, like that, is found upon examination to be untenable. It has been frequently noticed in the Review that there are two words in the Old Testament signifying lot; one meaning the lot of an inheritance exclusively; the other, chance, determination, or decision of Providence. This latter word is the one used in Dan. xii, 13. And its force is in no wise weakened from the fact that it came to have a secondary meaning of lot of inheritance because the possessions of Israel were divided by lot; for this division by lot always preceded the actual possession, and was what confirmed them in it and made it sure. But give this the utmost latitude of meaning it can have; let it mean, for the sake of the argument, literally the lot of an inheritance, and denote Daniel's actual possession; and what does it then prove? Simply that the 1335 days extend to the termination of the thousand years; for the saints do not enter upon the actual possession of the inheritance to which they are now heirs, the kingdom under the whole heaven, till that time.

This view, then, is not admissible. We have one to offer in place of it, which is scriptural, harmonious, and plain. The word lot, here means, as we have seen, the determination or decision of Providence. Now, just as the inheritance of the different tribes of Israel in the earthly Canaan were determined by lot, and thus confirmed and made sure to them previous to their actual possession, so the title of each saint to his possession in the antitypical Canaan is confirmed or made sure by the preliminary work of the investigative judgment, which constitutes the closing portion of the work of our great High Priest in the sanctuary in Heaven. There is a pleasing and striking analogy between these two events. Here the saints stand in their lots; that is, are successful in securing a title to their heavenly inheritance through the judicial decisions or determinations that result from this work. Here Daniel stands in his lot. His case is examined; he is found righteous; and his name is retained in the Lamb's book of life, as one whose title is good to a part in the everlasting kingdom. The ancient decisions by lot were no more than this applied to earthly things; and “standing in one's lot” could only mean, in that case, and can only signify in this, receiving a successful issue from the judicial or providential determinations in one's case. And this closing, sanctuary work did commence (see works on that subject) at the close of the 2300 days in 1844, the very period, at the end of which Daniel was to stand in his lot. Thus we find on this subject a harmony, the strength of which cannot easily be broken.

A passage tending to still further support the thoughts here expressed, is found in Ps. i. 5; “The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment.” We showed last week that the close of the sanctuary work is a work of judgment. The righteous stand in it, or are sustained by its decisions. The wicked do not stand. They there meet no successful issue. No reward is assigned to them as the result of its investigations, as in the case of Daniel, and all the righteous.

We will not extend our remarks on this subject further at this time. We have shown that of the two prophetic periods most confidently claimed to reach to the coming of Christ and the resurrection, the first, or 2300 days, only reaches to the cleansing of the sanctuary, which commenced in 1844; and the other, the 1335, does not necessarily reach to the resurrection; for, 1st. Being but a subdivision of the 2300 days, it must end before, or with, the longer period; and 2nd. They are not the days at the end of which Daniel was to stand in his lot; and 3rd. Daniel's standing in his lot, does not mean his resurrection.