THOSE WHO read the article in last week's SIGNS entitled, "The Little Horn of Daniel 8," will remember that while the angel made known to the prophet the meaning of the various symbols employed in that chapter, he did not explain the date of the 2,300 days, or years, of verse 14, at the end of which time it was declared the sanctuary should be cleansed. The prophet was shown the terrible persecutions which the people of God were to suffer, and the cruel death of the Son of God, and he could endure no more, but fainted and was sick certain days; and the angel left him for a season, and then returned to supply that which was lacking in the explanation of the vision, namely, the date of the 2,300 days. It appears from the chronology given in the margin of our Bibles, that the vision of Daniel 8 was in 553 B. C., and that the vision of the ninth chapter was in 538 B. C., fifteen years later, but this is a mistake. The fact is that these visions were less than two years apart, indeed, it seems probable that they were both given in the same year, namely, in 538 B. C. The mistake in Archbishop Usher's chronology arises from the supposition which prevailed until quite recently, that Belshazzar, the last king of Babylon, and Nabonadius were both one and the same person. Daniel's vision in the eighth chapter of his prophecy was in the third year of Belshazzar, and his vision of the ninth chapter was in the first year of Darius. It is a well-established fact that the last king of Babylon reigned eighteen years, and it was formerly supposed that Belshazzar was that king, hence the conclusion that fifteen years elapsed between the visions. But it is now known that when Babylon fell there were two kings reigning in that kingdom, though only one of them, Belshazzar, was in the city at the time of the siege. Nabonadius was king of Babylon and began to reign B. C. 555, and reigned as sole monarch fifteen years; he then associated with him in the kingdom his son Belshazzar; hence the third year of Belshazzar, instead of being 553 B. C., was 538 B. C. Smith's Bible Dictionary, art. "Belshazzar," says: "Belshazzar's position as joint ruler with his father harmonizes with Daniel's being the third ruler in the kingdom (Dan. 5: 16, 29), the highest position then tenable by a subject." But it is not necessary to spend time with further evidence upon this point, since the recent discoveries of Sir Henry Rawlinson have put the facts as here stated beyond question. If, however, any wish to examine the subject critically, they will find it treated at length in Rawlinson's "Historical Evidences." But to return to the prophet and the unexplained vision. Some months had elapsed, we know not how many, but they had been eventful ones. Babylon had fallen, and Darius reigned over the realm of the Chaldeans. However, the captive prophet was still prime minister, but though burdened with the cares of State, his mind dwelt upon the unexplained vision, and he sought by study, by prayer, and by fasting, to arrive at an understanding of the mysterious 2,300 days. He says: "I understood by books the number of years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." But though he knew that the seventy years of Babylonish captivity were about to expire, the prophet could get no light on the date of the 2,300 days—or years, as we know that they were—and which he naturally connected with the Jewish people. So in his perplexity he prayed and fasted before the Lord, and in answer to his prayer, Gabriel is again sent (verse 21) to instruct him. Said the angel: "I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved; therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city." The angel said, "Consider the vision." What vision? Evidently the one that was previously left only partially explained. And having directed the prophet's attention to the vision, the angel told him that only seventy weeks, or 490 years, of the 2,300 years, belonged to the Jews. He then proceeded to tell him that those seventy weeks were to be divided into three parts, namely, "seven weeks," "threescore and two weeks" (verse 25), and "one week." Verse 27. The first seven weeks were to be devoted to rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem; then threescore and two weeks more were to reach to Messiah the Prince, or to Christ, and after that, Messiah was to be cut off, that is, Christ was to be crucified. The threescore and two weeks were to follow the seven weeks, and as Christ was to be crucified after the threescore and two weeks, it follows that his crucifixion was to take place in the last or seventh week of that period. Indeed the next verse (27) says plainly that he was to confirm the covenant with many for one week, and that in the midst of the week he, Christ, was to cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, which he did by giving himself a sacrifice for sins. The angel not only told the prophet what was to occur during the seventy weeks, but he also told him the event from which they were to date, namely, "from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem." Verse 25. A note in the margin of our Bibles says that the seventy weeks date from the 20th of Artaxerxes, which was, according to the chronology in the margin of Ezra 4: 6, to which reference is made, B. C. 529. But this is manifestly an error, as 69½ weeks, or 486½ years, were to reach to the cutting off of the Messiah, which was the crucifixion of Christ; and by no possibility can it be made to appear that 486½ years could reach from B. C. 529 to A. D. 31. Furthermore, the makers of the note evidently did not understand the matter, as is shown by their reference to Ezra 4: 6, for the first Artaxerxes (there were three kings of that name) did not begin to reign until 465 B. C., 64 years after the date given in the margin of Ezra 4: 6, the text to which they refer to support their note.154But we are not left in doubt about this important matter. The date of the going forth of the decree to restore and to build Jerusalem can be easily ascertained from the Scriptures. This commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem was not simply the decree of an earthly monarch, but it was, as we learn from Ezra 6: 14, "the commandment of the God of Israel," "and the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes King of Persia," or, in other words, it was a threefold commandment given by three succeeding kings, who in giving it were simply fulfilling the will of God. It was God's purpose that Jerusalem should be restored, and this purpose was accomplished through these three kings; and when the last of them had contributed his share, when he had signed the decree and published it to those concerned in it, his decree, together with the two which had gone before, constituted "the commandment of the God of Israel" to restore and to build Jerusalem; and from that time the 2,300 years were to date. The first part of this threefold commandment, i. e., the part given through Cyrus, is recorded in the first chapter of Ezra, and was, as the reader will see from a careful reading of that chapter, simply a decree giving the Jews permission to rebuild the temple. The second part, i. e., that given through Darius, is recorded in Ezra 6, and is simply a confirmation of the decree of Cyrus. The third part, that given through Artaxerxes, is found in Ezra 7, and is a complete charter for the full restoration of Jerusalem, as may be seen by reading the decree, which was published in the seventh of Artaxerxes, B. C. 457. This, then, is the date from which the seventy weeks, and of course the 2,300 days also, must be reckoned. And so we shall show next week, counting from this date, that prophecy harmonizes perfectly with the history of its fulfillment, both in the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the crucifixion of Christ, and in the other several events referred to in it.