Studies in Daniel

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Mar 26, 1912

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 13.

Studies in Daniel

A Vision of Empires—VI

(Daniel 8 Continued)

2,300 Days

We have briefly considered most of the prophetic specifications concerning the little-horn power of Daniel 8. This study will be given to —

Specification Seventeen

the period of the 2,300 "evening-mornings" of verse 14. This definite time period does not necessarily denote the whole length of the time the little-horn power should exist, but the expiration of the period marks the closing of the influence of the little-horn power upon the host and truth of God. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that at that time (when that period ended) the daily, or continual, should be restored in the revelation of God concerning the sanctuary; for the question is not, How long shall the little-horn power endure? or, What will be the period of its existence? but the holy one asks, "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 underfoot?"

The close of the period marks the beginning of a new era of revelation in the truth of God. To learn its beginning and ending, to learn what will occur at the end, is of transcendent importance, and will justify the question of the holy one, asked for the sake of God's people, and the answer of Gabriel to Daniel, who stood there as a revealer of truth for the time of the end.

The Time

"Evening and morning" is the primary designation of a day. "The evening and the morning were the first day." See Gen. 1: 5, 8, 13, etc. The 2,300 evenings and mornings of the American Revised Version are rightly rendered "days" in the Common Version.

As a short-lived beast like a ram, or goat, stands for a long existing kingdom such as Medo-Persia or Grecia, so the term "day," a short period, in prophetic or symbolic prophecy stands for the longer period of a year. Consistency demands this. It would be incongruous to represent these long dynasties by a short-lived beast, and then use literal time for a long period in connection with them. The swiftly passing symbols of the beasts demand the shadow of a short period of time. The prophetic rule is "each day for a year." See Eze. 4: 4-6. The 2,300 days, therefore, represent 2,300 years, the longest prophetic period clearly named in the Bible, at the end of which the sanctuary should be cleansed.

Two Important Questions

1. When do the 2,300 days begin and end?

2. What is involved in the cleansing, or justifying (see margin) of the sanctuary?

We will study the first question in this issue, and the second in our next. When do the days begin? There is no answer to this question in chapter 8, but we do learn four things there which will greatly help us: (1) That Gabriel was commanded to make Daniel understand the vision. Verse 16. (2) Gabriel came to Daniel to do this, and told the prophet it belonged to the "time of the end," which would naturally include the 2,300 days; and the angel assured Daniel, "I will make thee know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation." Verse 19. (3) Yet Daniel says, "I wondered at the vision, but none understood." Verse 27. (4) Why he did not understand it is taken for granted — he was overpowered, became ill, and the angel could reveal to him no more.

Now it was not the meaning of the symbols — the ram, the goat, the little horn — that the prophet did not understand. He was clearly told their meaning; but the time and the important events connected therewith which gave name to the vision (see verse 26, A.R.V., "the vision of the evenings and mornings") was not explained; but explanation must be given, or the command to Gabriel was in vain, or Gabriel proved false, either supposition of which is unworthy of consideration. We may therefore believe that Daniel will desire the explanation, and that Gabriel will give it, according to the command of the Master.

Both these are set forth in the next chapter, given a few months later. The vision of chapter 8 was given in Belshazzar's third year. Verse 1. This was the last of the kingdom of Babylon. Medo-Persia immediately came to the throne of the world's empire, so that the very next year was the first of Darius. It may have been but a few months' time which elapsed between the two events. Daniel was becoming anxious. He had somehow connected the vision of chapter 8 with the awful predictions concerning the sufferings of his people, and the promise of restoration, with the return from the captivity to the Holy Land, as prophesied by Jeremiah and perhaps by Isaiah. Chapter 9: 1, 2. Therefore the prophet sought God, confessed his sin and the sins of his people, in the remarkable prayer found in Dan. 9: 4-19. Even while offering his earnest pleading to God, the angel Gabriel came to fulfil his appointed duty, came to acquaint Daniel with the vision; and his very first words refer to the vision left unexplained. Says Daniel:

Yea, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he instructed me [margin, "made me to understand"], and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee wisdom and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment went forth, and I am come to tell thee; for thou art greatly beloved [margin, "very precious"]: therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision.

Note, first, the angel came when Daniel was physically able, and desired to know. Second, the angel then came to give him skill and understanding. Third, he calls the prophet's attention to the vision — WITHOUT QUESTION the vision of the 8th chapter, the only vision in question. Fourth, he begins on the matter left unexplained, the time. Verse 23.

Verses 24 to 27 constitute the key to the situation, throw a flood of light upon the whole prophecy, demonstrate prophetic time periods, and are irrefutable proof of our Lord's divine mission.

Inasmuch as there is more or less of uncertainty regarding various readings of the following scripture, tho nothing contradictory, we give as noted by Dr. Adam Clarke, the learned Houbigant's translation, after a faithful comparison of very many copies of the original:

Verse 24. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and the city of thy sanctuary; that sin may be restrained, and transgressions have an end; that iniquity may be expiated, and an everlasting righteousness brought in; that visions and prophecies may be sealed up, and the holy of holies anointed.

Verse 25. Know therefore and understand: From the edict which shall be promulgated, to return and rebuild Jerusalem, there shall be seven weeks. Then it shall be fully rebuilt, with anxiety, in difficult times. Thence, to the prince Messiah, there shall be sixty-two weeks.

Verse 26. And after sixty-two weeks the Messiah shall be slain, and have no justice. Afterwards he shall waste the city and the sanctuary by the prince that is to come. And his end shall be in straits; and to the end of the war desolation is appointed.

Verse 27. And for one week he shall confirm a covenant with many; and in the middle of the week he shall abrogate sacrifice and offering; and in the temple there shall be the abomination of desolation, until the ruin which is decreed rush on after the desolation.

Let us —

Question the Text

(Our answers are from the American Revised Version. The reader can compare them with the Common Version.)

1. What were cut off, or decreed, upon Daniel's people?

Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city. Verse 24. Note 1.

2. For what purpose was this time allotted to Daniel's people?

To finish transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. Id. Note 2.

3. When was this period of seventy weeks to begin?

Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem. Verse 25. Note 3.

4. What are the first terminal points named in the prophecy?

Unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks. Id. Note 4.

5. What is said of Jerusalem?

It shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times. Id.

6. What will occur after the sixty-nine weeks? See note 4.

And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing. Verse 26. Note 5.

7. What will follow the cutting off of the anointed?

And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined. Verse 26. Note 6.

8. What would the anointed one do in the one week of years?

And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week. Verse 27. Note 7.

9. What will occur in the midst of the week?

And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. Id. Note 8.

10. How does the period end with Daniel's plea?

And upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate. Id. See note 6.

Note and Comment

1. SEVENTY WEEKS ARE DECREED.—As rendered by other versions, "determined," "cut off," "appointed," "shortened," "divided." These renderings are from Spurrell, Septuagint, Douay, Rotherham. On this Rotherham remarks: "Hathak—here only. Authorities are agreed that the primary meaning of hathak is 'to divide,' and it is a sound rule that, where the primary sense may well stand, another meaning should not be sought for." The word "determined" is of similar meaning—"marked off." Young defines, properly, "to cut off." Seventy weeks are cut off, determined, or divided, from what? It must be from the only period brought before Daniel in the vision concerning which he was seeking explanation, the vision of the evening-mornings, the 2,300 days; and when the angel tells him at the very first that "seventy weeks are marked off upon thy people," or "cut off upon thy people," the first thought which would occur to him would be, cut off from the 2,300 days, or literal years. The seventy weeks would be seventy weeks of the same thing—seventy weeks of years, or 490 years (see diagram), are cut off from the 2,300 years upon the people of Daniel—the Jews—during which time, or within which period, will occur the particular enumerations which follow. In other words, God would hold in special reserve His people during this period of time.

SEVENTY WEEKS, OR FOUR HUNDRED AND NINETY YEARS. DAN. 9: 24-27

"Know therefore and understand: From the edict . . . to return and rebuild Jerusalem, there shall be seven weeks. Then it shall be fully rebuilt. . . . Thence, to the prince Messiah, there shall be sixty-two weeks. . . . For one week He shall confirm a covenant with many; and in the middle of the week He shall abrogate sacrifice and offering."—Houbigant's Rendering.

2. TO FINISH TRANSGRESSION.—The margin reads, "to restrain transgression." Does it not mean that God in His great goodness during those seventy years did all in His power to keep back His people from the apostasy into which they at last fell to destruction? Or does it mean that during this time they would fill up their measure of iniquity until they should be set aside as the special servants of God in the giving of His Gospel to the world? There is recalled, as we read the passage, what the Lord told Abraham in Gen. 15: 16,—the children of Abraham should not take possession of the land of Canaan for generations, because "the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full." God restrained iniquity there, that He might save men; but there came a time when that iniquity was so full that the inhabitants of Palestine were set aside, and God gave it to the children of Israel. And the words of our Lord Himself are brought forcibly to mind, recorded in Matt. 23: 32, 33, spoken to the scribes and Pharisees: "Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. . . . How shall ye escape the judgment of hell?" And then He tells us that God had sent prophets, and wise men, and scribes—all that He could—to save them from the doom which they themselves had chosen. That measure of transgression was filled up, or finished, when they said, "Away with Him," "We have no king but Cæsar," and crucified the Lord of Glory. And the Lord Himself restrained, or held in check, the powers of evil, until the fullest light from heaven shone upon that people.

TO MAKE AN END OF SINS.—This expression may be complementary to the other. God restrained transgression. THAT people made an end of sins; that is, their sins were brought to the great climax when the nation itself should be set aside. And in that climax the Prince of life and righteousness was put to death to make reconciliation for iniquity (the margin is, "to purge away iniquity"). The reconciliation for iniquity centers in our Lord Jesus Christ. He "died for every man," "gave His life a ransom for many," "poured out His soul unto death." The New Testament abounds in expressions which show that our Lord Himself died upon the cross, as predicted in Isaiah 53, for the sins of humanity. The apostle declares that God had made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Cor. 5: 21.

AND TO BRING IN EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS.—This would not mean that everlasting righteousness had not been taught to the world. God had taught this from the beginning. The psalmist had said, "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Thy law is the truth." But sinful men could not obtain that righteousness in the law. But when our Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word, came, He lived the righteousness of the law, the righteousness required of God, the very character of God, in human flesh. Everlasting righteousness was brought in through Him, and everlasting righteousness assured to all those who will believe in Him.

AND TO SEAL UP THE VISION AND THE PROPHECY.—To seal up is to make sure, to confirm; and the seventy weeks, with its various subdivisions, would confirm the whole of the prophecy. That is, God would make sure the time given in the whole vision by the seventy weeks. And when these seventy weeks were fulfilled in the beginning of our Lord's ministry at His first advent, we would know as truly that the whole of the period from which the seventy weeks were cut off would be fulfilled also.

TO ANOINT THE MOST HOLY.—There are various opinions regarding the meaning of this, which we will not take time here to discuss. We would say that it is divided into three different classes: one class, who persist in making the little horn apply to Antiochus Epiphanes, confine it to the altar, to anoint the altar after its desecration by Antiochus. There are others who believe that it refers to a future temple. Still others make it apply to our Lord Jesus Christ. It seems unquestionable to us that it has one of the two latter applications. It certainly would be true if applied to our Lord Himself, for He was anointed, when He began His ministry, by the Holy Spirit (Acts 10: 38). It seems a clearer application, however, to us, that it would be the anointing of the heavenly sanctuary as He entered upon His work as Priest, as antitypical Priest of the Aaronic priesthood (see Hebrews 8 and 9).

After discussing various views, Keil says, in his "Book of Daniel:"

Much more satisfactory is the thought that in the words "to anoint a most holy," the reference is to the anointing of a new sanctuary, temple, or most holy place. The absence of the article forbids us, indeed, from thinking of the most holy place of the earthly temple which was rebuilt by Zerubbabel, since the most holy place of the tabernacle as well as of the temple is constantly called qodesh Haqqadashim. But it is not this definite holy of holies that is intended, but a new holy of holies which should be in the place of the holy of holies of the tabernacle and the temple of Solomon. . . . Anointing is the act by which the place is consecrated to be a holy place of the gracious presence and revelation of God. If thus the anointing of a most holy is here announced, then by it there is given the promise, not of the renewal of the place already existing from of old, but of the appointment of a new place of God's gracious presence among His people, a new sanctuary.—Page 348.

Wright says:

A true "holy of holies" would be anointed, and a real sanctuary consecrated, of which the language of the Apocalypse might well be used, "The temple of God was opened in heaven." Rev. 11: 19.

The anointing of this sanctuary will be considered in our next.

3. THE BEGINNING OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS.—The prophet fixes this very clearly. "Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem." When did this commandment go forth? and whose commandment was it? First, it seems clearly evident that the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem was of God. "The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men." This had been abundantly set forth by Jeremiah in his prophecy of the seventy years, and subsequently to that. Isaiah had predicted it in part at least, through Cyrus, in the 44th and 45th chapters; but Cyrus' decree, found in Ezra 1: 1-3, covered simply the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. This decree was renewed by Darius.

The fullest, clearest decree of all, in which there could be the full carrying out of the commandment of God, was given by Artaxerxes Longimanus in the seventh year of his reign, and this decree is found in full in Ezra 7. The first part of the chapter tells us of the company that went up with Ezra to Babylon; it tells us the very year in which they went up—in the seventh year of the king (verse 8). And from the 12th to the 26th verses, inclusive, is given the decree, not in Hebrew in the original, but in the Aramaic, the language in which it was written evidently. In this decree the very fullest freedom is given to Ezra. He is not only invested with the government of Jerusalem under the king, but with full power to carry it out, with power to levy taxes; even the death sentence itself was placed in his hand. It was not only the rebuilding of temple and city, but it was the restoration, really, of the government. And this, the last decree, was really the going forth of the commandment of the God of heaven, as stated in Daniel. And so we read in Ezra 6: 14: "And they builded and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia." The three decrees carried out the commandment, but the commandment was not complete until it included the restoration, the rebuilding of Jerusalem, all of which seems to be clearly implied in the decree of Artaxerxes.

What year was the first year of Artaxerxes?—B.C. 464. We know that it is given by some as B.C. 465. Wright, who discusses the thing from a purely critical standpoint, says that "the seventy weeks calculated from the going forth of Artaxerxes' commandment to restore Jerusalem unto the days of Christ fairly correspond. There are difficulties connected with that exposition, but it has the advantage of agreeing more closely with the terminus a quo laid down in verse 25, and with the terminus ad quem there referred to, than any other scheme yet proposed."—"Daniel and His Prophecies," pages 205, 206.

On page 230: "The third decree was issued in the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, B.C. 457, and is given in Ezra 7. Its importance lies in the fact that Ezra received the royal permission not only to rebuild the temple, but to reimpose upon the people the Levitical law, and to appoint magistrates to judge

offenders, with authority to punish evil-doers with fines and imprisonment, by banishment or death."

B.C. 457 being the seventh year of Artaxerxes, would make Artaxerxes' reign begin in B.C. 464.

There is a very full discussion of this in the "Review and Herald" of February 22, 1912, in which it is clearly shown that the first year of Artaxerxes was 464. Various authorities are quoted in proof of this. We quote as follows:

According to Ptolemy's Canon (the best and most impartial authority to which we can refer), the reign of Artaxerxes commenced in the year 284 of the Nabonassarean era, which began on December 17, 465 B.C., reckoning in Julian years. And the principle on which Ptolemy's Canon is constructed is to reckon each king's reign as beginning on the first day of the month (thoth) of the year in which that king succeeded to the throne; the number of years of each king's reign being limited to the number of complete years to which his reign extended, reckoning from that time. So that while, according to the principle of the canon, the reign of Artaxerxes is reckoned as beginning with the first day of the year 284 of the Nabonassarean era, we only know from it that the actual commencement of the reign was sometime in the course of that year.

Now the time of the year when he began to reign seems determinable from Ezra and Nehemiah. It appears from Neh. 1: 1 and 2: 1, that in the twentieth year of the reign of Artaxerxes, and consequently in the other years of his reign, the first Hebrew month, Nisan (March-April), came after the ninth, Chisleu (November-December). Consequently the date of his accession must have been sometime between Nisan and Chisleu. And from Ezra 7: 7-10 it follows that in the seventh and therefore in other years of his reign, the fifth month, Ab (July-August), came after the first, or Nisan. Therefore the accession of Artaxerxes was somewhere between the latter end of July and the former part of November; that is, somewhere about the summer of 464 B.C.

Therefore the seventh year of Artaxerxes was from the summer of 458 to the summer of 457.—Rev. W. Goode, D.D., F.S.A., in "Fulfilled Prophecy," pages 211-213.

The first thoth of Artaxerxes was equivalent to December 17, B.C. 465; consequently on the principles of the canon, his true accession was subsequent to that day, or at least not prior to it. That accession being preceded by the seven months of Artabanus, the death of Xerxes is carried back to some point in the year of Nabonassar 283, corresponding with the beginning of the year of Lysitheus; conformably to the date of Diodorus. We may place the death of Xerxes in the first month of that archon (July, B.C. 465), and the succession of Artaxerxes in the eighth month (February, B.C. 464).

This is confirmed by an abundance of authorities.

4. SIXTY-NINE WEEKS.—Beginning, then, in B.C. 457, seven weeks of years and threescore and two weeks of years should reach to Messiah the Prince. Or, as Houbigant's text clearly reads, "From the edict which shall be promulgated, to return and rebuild Jerusalem, there shall be seven weeks. Then it shall be fully rebuilt, with anxiety, in difficult times."

We have not space, nor is it needful, to explain all that is involved in the forty-nine years. Prideaux, in his "Connexion," enters elaborately into the matter, and shows that this was carried out under the last act of Nehemiah, and was consummated in the year 408 B.C., or forty-nine years from B.C. 457. "Thence, to the prince Messiah, there shall be sixty-two weeks," or 434 years additional, the two together making sixty-nine weeks, or 483 years. These years would reach to Messiah the Prince. "Messiah" in Hebrew is the same as "Christ" in Greek. The word means "anointed;" and our Lord Himself was anointed as the Messiah at the time of His baptism, as clearly shown by Luke 3: 22; 4: 18; and Acts 10: 38. The first scripture reads, "And the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form, as a dove, upon Him, and a voice came out of heaven, Thou art My beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased." In the second text Jesus said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor: He hath sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." And the complement of these scriptures is set forth in the last text: "Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him."

Therefore the 483 years from B.C. 457 extend to 27 A.D. Here Messiah was manifested. And right at this point of time He came into Galilee, proclaiming, "The time is fulfilled." Mark 1: 15. What time?—Why, the time given by the prophet Daniel more than five hundred years previously. This is the only time recorded predicting the manifestation of Messiah, and our Lord Himself declares that the time is fulfilled, the Messiah is Himself manifest. This is a second confirmation of the vision and the prophecy.

5. THE ANOINTED ONE BE CUT OFF.—After the threescore and two weeks added to the seven weeks, or after the 483 years, the Anointed One should be "cut off, and shall have nothing." As Houbigant puts it, "The Messiah shall be slain, and have no justice." And this is in harmony with what the prophet Isaiah declares in his 53d chapter concerning Christ. This occurred, of course, at the time of the crucifixion of our Lord, when the Jews utterly refused our Lord a fair trial, and said, "We have no king but Cæsar," and rejected the only one who could save them. They in that very sentence pronounced their doom. They turned from the God of Israel to Rome and to themselves. After that, of course, the desolation was determined. The prince that should come, the Roman power, would waste the city and the sanctuary. And to the end of that war desolation is appointed.

6. SHALL DESTROY.—This statement and the last of verse 27 refer to the calamities which came upon the Jews through the Romans.

7. ONE WEEK.—One week more remained of the seventy weeks. We have learned in a previous expression in the scripture that the Messiah should be slain AFTER the 483 years. We are told in this verse 27 just when that would occur,—in the middle of that week of years. It is generally understood by Biblical students that the ministry of our Lord upon the earth lasted three and one half years, beginning in the autumn of A.D. 27, and closing in the spring of A.D. 31, when He was crucified at the fourth Passover He attended. During this time He was to "confirm the covenant with many for one week," the first half of that week by His own teaching and work, the last half of the week through His disciples, in their special work for the Jews. Upon this Wright remarks: "A revival of religion took place. The Baptist, as well as the Christ, entered into a covenant alike with all classes of society, nobles and beggars, Levites, priests, and people. To all was preached the glad news of the kingdom of God. The nation as a nation was still under the bonds of the covenant. It was still the people of Jehovah. Jerusalem was the holy city, its temple still the house of the Father."—Pages 234, 235. Dr. Wright has also this foot-note: "Driver's assertion that Christ did not confirm a covenant with many for one week, because His ministry lasted, at most, over three years, leaves completely out of sight the fact that the early years of the Christian church were the most successful in winning the adhesion of Jews. Exact dates can not be assigned, as they are not given in the Acts of the Apostles. But the period after Pentecost was rich in blessings, especially to Israel. It is not, therefore, so arbitrary to explain the seven years as embracing partly the years of Christ's ministry and partly the times which immediately succeeded." The one week, therefore, included the ministry of Christ and the early apostles, concluding the last week of the seventy which was cut off upon the Jewish people. Seven weeks added to 27 A.D., when the Messiah was manifested, would bring us to 34 A.D. Immediately after this the apostle Paul was raised up for His ministry. The Jews themselves, in great numbers, were rejecting the Gospel, and the apostles turned to the Gentiles.

While no exact date, as intimated by Dr. Wright, is given, it seems quite clear that the week would end in the year A.D. 34. Upon this point we quote from Hales's Chronology, volume 1, page 100: "Eusebius dates the first half of the 'passion week' of years as beginning with our Lord's baptism, and ending with His crucifixion. The same period precisely is recorded by Peter, as including the duration of our Lord's personal ministry: 'All the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of [or by] John, until the day that He was taken up from us,' at His ascension, which was only forty-three days after the crucifixion. Acts 1: 21, 22. And the remaining half of the 'passion week' ended with the martyrdom of Stephen, in the seventh or last year of the week. For it is remarkable, that the year after, A.D. 35, began a new era in the church, namely, the conversion of Saul, or Paul the apostle, by the personal appearance of Christ to him on the road to Damascus, when he received his mission to the Gentiles, after the Jewish Sanhedrin had formally rejected Christ by persecuting His disciples. Acts 9: 1-18."

8. IN THE MIDST OF THE WEEK.—"In the midst of the week He [the Messiah] shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease." This was done by His death upon the cross. When the invisible hand rent the veil at the time of Christ's crucifixion, the period of sacrifices and offerings was forever past. The literal Lamb had met the antitypical lamb, the sacrifices of the past had met the great antitypical Sacrifice, Him who gave His life once for all a ransom for the world. That year, as before stated, was not A.D. 33, as given in the margin of some of our Bibles, but the year 31 A.D. As to the year 31, we quote from Dr. Hales as follows:

A total eclipse of the moon may occasion a privation of her light for an hour and a half, during her total immersion in the shadow; whereas, a total eclipse of the sun can never last in any particular place above four minutes, when the moon is nearest to the earth, and her shadow thickest. Hence it appears that the darkness which "overspread the whole land of Judea," at the time of our Lord's crucifixion, was preternatural, "from the sixth until the ninth hour," or from noon till three in the afternoon, in its duration, and also in its time, about full moon, when the moon could not possibly eclipse the sun. The time it happened, and the fact itself, are recorded in a curious and valuable passage of a respectable Roman consul, Aurelius Cassiodorius Senator, about A.D. 514.

"In the consulate of Tiberius Cæsar Aug. V and Ælius Sejanus (U.C. 784, A.D. 31) our Lord Jesus Christ suffered, on the 8th of the Calends of April (25th of March), when there happened such an eclipse of the sun as was never before nor since."

In this year, and in this day, agree also the Council of Cæsarea, A.D. 196, or 198; the Alexandrian Chronicle, Maximus Monachus, Nicophorus Constantinus, Cedrenus; and in this year, but on different days, concur Eusebius and Epiphanius, followed by Kepler, Bucher, Patinus, and Petavius, some reckoning it the 16th of the Calends of April, others the 13th. Amidst this variety of days, we may look on the 24 or 27th of March as the most probable, noticed in the foregoing article.—Volume 1, pages 69, 70.

This date is also given by Dimbleby in "All Past Time," page 93: "The crucifixion was at the beginning of 31 A.D." Thus we have the seventy weeks sealing up the vision and the prophecy, the seven weeks, the sixty and two weeks, the one half week, and the one week, all confirming what God had given five centuries before by the prophet Daniel. These were cut off from the 2,300 years. 490 from 2,300 leaves 1,810, and 1,810 added to A.D. 34 brings us to 1844. "Unto two thousand

and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."

What is the cleansing of the sanctuary? This is our second great question, which will be answered in our next.