THE SANCTUARY, ITS SERVICE, ETC.
The End of the 2300 Days.
(Lesson 10.—Sabbath, March 13.) WHAT were the first words uttered by the angel in explanation of the 2300 days? “Seventy weeks are determined [cut off] upon thy people.” Dan. 9: 24. What event was to mark the beginning of this first part of the great prophetic period? “The going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.” Verse 25. What decree completed this commandment? The decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus, which is recorded in Ezra 7: 11–26. This decree was issued in the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7: 7, 8), which was in the year B. C. 457. How many weeks of prophetic time were to reach from this date to Messiah the Prince? “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.” Dan. 9: 25. Sixty-nine prophetic weeks, or 483 literal years, were to reach from the going forth of the commandment concerning Jerusalem in B. C. 457, to the Messiah the Prince. What is the meaning of the word Messiah? “Messiah” is the Hebrew word for “anointed.” It corresponds to the word “Christ,” which is from the Greek. See John 1: 41, and margin. When was Christ anointed? Peter says (Acts 10: 37, 38) that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost; in Matt. 3: 16, 17; Mark 1: 10; Luke 3: 21, 22, we are told that at the baptism of Jesus the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove rested upon him, and he was publicly acknowledged from Heaven as the beloved Son of God; we therefore conclude that the anointing of Jesus was at his baptism. This conclusion is fortified by Peter, who connects the anointing of Jesus with the baptism which John preached, and says that he then “went about doing good.” At the baptism of Jesus, therefore, he was anointed by the Holy Spirit for his ministry; before his baptism he could not be termed the Messiah, or the anointed one. In the spring of A. D. 27. It was in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Cæsar (Luke 1: 1); and Tiberius began to reign in A. D. 12. The date in the margin of the Bibles varies, being 26 in some and 27 in others. This was just at the expiration of the 69 weeks, or 483 years beginning in B. C. 457. Why were the 69 weeks reaching from the commandment to the baptism of Christ divided into two parts? Because the first seven weeks, or 49 years, were to be covered by the restoration of Jerusalem. The wall of Jerusalem was completed, according to Prideaux, in the fifteenth year of Darius Nothus, just 49 years after the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus. What was to be accomplished during the remaining week of the seventy? “And he [Messiah the Prince] 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.” Dan. 7: 27. By confirming the covenant is evidently meant the preaching of the gospel by Christ, and those whom he sent; but especially the ratification of the covenant by the shedding of Christ’s blood on the cross. Paul says that salvation “was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him” (Heb. 2: 3), and this was virtually the work of Christ; because he sent them personally, and was with them in an especial manner. What events marked the termination of the seventy weeks? The termination of this period is marked by the murder of Stephen and the conversion of Paul. The 490 years began in 457, or 456 full years and a fraction, before the Christian era. Then at the beginning of the Christian era there would still remain of the 490 years, thirty-three full years and a fraction of a year, which would make the period end in A. D. 34. We learn that after Paul’s conversion he went into Arabia, and “after three years” he went up to Jerusalem. Gal. 1: 15–18. “Then fourteen years after I went up to Jerusalem.” Gal. 2: 1. This visit was on the occasion of the council of the apostles and elders, which is recorded in the fifteenth chapter of Acts, and which was in A. D. 51. As this was seventeen years after Paul’s conversion, we find that he was converted in A. D. 34. It is certainly more than a coincidence that at the termination of the 490 years allotted especially to the Jewish people, God raised up the great apostle to the Gentiles. How may we be certain that the seventy weeks were the first part of the 2300 days? Having shown that the angel’s words in the ninth chapter of Daniel are an interpretation of that portion of the vision of the eighth chapter which was left unexplained, we know that whatever time is mentioned must be a part of the 2300 days, for that is all that was left unexplained. Now in the interpretation in the eighth chapter, where did the angel begin? was it with the goat? No; it was with the ram; for that was the first thing seen. Would we expect him to give the signification of the ram, and then skip to the little horn? Certainly not; we would expect him to take everything in the order that it was seen. Otherwise the vision could not be understood. And so we find he did. The angel explained the symbols in the order in which they came; first the ram, then the goat and its notable horn, then the four horns, next the little horn. Then next comes the 2300 days, and, as a matter of course, the first part of it would be the part first spoken of. Then since the seventy weeks (490 years) are the first part of the 2300 days (years), it follows that the 2300 years begin with the beginning of the 490 years, which was in the year 457 B. C. We have already seen that the 490 years ended in the year 34 A. D. Four hundred and ninety from 2300 leaves 1810; that is, when the 490 years closed, there yet remained 1810 years of the 2300. And since the 490 years ended in 34 A. D., the whole period of 2300 years would end 1810 years later, or in 1844 A. D. The result may be arrived at in a more direct way. The 2300 years begin with the 490 years, in 457 B. C. At the beginning of the Christian era, therefore, something over 456 years of this period had elapsed. There then remained a fraction over 1843 years, which would bring the close of the 2300 years in the year 1844 A. D. At the close of the 2300 years, according to Dan. 8: 14, the sanctuary was to be cleansed. This cleansing work has therefore been going on since 1844, or forty-two years.