While my last post addressed the fulfillment of Daniel’s 70-Weeks Prophecy, Daniel’s 2300-Day Prophecy has not yet been fulfilled. The 70-Weeks Prophecy pinpoints the arrival of Jesus’ first coming and its significance but the 2300 ‘Day” prophecy does not indicate when the 2nd coming will occur as according to Matthew 24:36 or Mark 13:32, But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. The 2300 Day Prophecy is about when the 3rd Temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem. We know this event will be relatively close to the Rapture and the 2nd coming of Christ. The 2nd coming of Christ should not be confused with the Rapture. We do know that the Rapture and the 2nd coming of Christ are related to the Tribulation period described in Daniel and Revelation as is the 3rd Temple in Jerusalem. Since God clearly intends His prophecies through Daniel to mark major events in the story of His Creation, the end of the 2300 Day period clearly is the end of a count that marks the beginning of something new and important. This post is not going to go into the significance of what may come after the timeline of this prophecy but simply calculate the time period correctly and its start which will add context to significant events juxtaposed to this cycle. Luke 12:38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. For more information on events following this prophecy, read my post, When is the Joel 2:31 Solar Eclipse? July 4, 2103.
It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated.
Daniel 8:13-14 & 23-26 – “13 Then I heard two holy ones talking to each other. One of them asked, “How long will the events of this vision last? How long will the rebellion that causes desecration stop the daily sacrifices? How long will the Temple and heaven’s army be trampled on?” 14 The other replied, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the Temple will be made right again.”
“23 At the end of their rule, when their sin is at its height, a fierce king, a master of intrigue, will rise to power. 24 He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause a shocking amount of destruction and succeed in everything he does. He will destroy powerful leaders and devastate the holy people. 25 He will be a master of deception and will become arrogant; he will destroy many without warning. He will even take on the Prince of princes in battle, but he will be broken, though not by human power. 26 “This vision about the 2,300 evenings and mornings is true. But none of these things will happen for a long time, so keep this vision a secret.”
The Old Testament Anti’Christ, Antiochus Epiphanes
There were several Syrian kings from 280 BC to 65 BC. The most notable of these was Antiochus the Great, who ascended the throne in 223 BC. He is regarded as the “king of the north” referred to in Dan. 11:13-19. He was succeeded (187 BC) by his son, Seleucus Philopater, spoken of by Daniel (11:20) as “a raiser of taxes”, in the Revised Version, “one that shall cause an exactor to pass through the glory of the kingdom.” Antiochus IV surnamed “Epiphanes” i.e., the Illustrious, succeeded his brother Seleucus (175 BC). His career and character are prophetically described by Daniel (11:21-32). He was a “vile person.” In a spirit of revenge, he organized an expedition against Jerusalem, which he destroyed, putting vast multitudes of its inhabitants to death in the cruelest manner. From this time the Jews began the great war of independence under their heroic Maccabean leaders with marked success, defeating the armies of Antiochus that were sent against them. Enraged at this, Antiochus marched against them in person, threatening utterly to exterminate the nation; but on the way, he was suddenly arrested by the hand of death (164 BC). (http://www.bible-history.com/eastons/A/Antiochus/)
The Prophecy deals with the desecration of the 2nd Temple and the timing of the eventual reconsecration of the 3rd Temple. Since the reconsecration of the 2nd temple was exactly 3 years to the day after it was desecrated, the 2300 days cannot be applied literally to this prophecy. Considering other Bible prophecies foretell of the desecration of the 3rd Temple by the New Testament Anti’Christ during the middle of the Tribulation, it becomes clear that the Old Testament Anti’Christ desecrates the 2nd Temple which is what starts the 2300-day prophecy. The best candidate for the Old Testament Anti’Christ is Antiochus Epiphanes. If you spend any amount of time understanding what Antiochus does to Jerusalem and the 2nd Temple, it becomes a very clear foreshadow to what the New Testament Anti’Christ will do to Jerusalem and the new 3rd Temple during the Tribulation.
The 2nd Temple was desecrated multiple times but one of those times stands out far beyond the rest which is the one this prophecy deals with specifically. On December 25, 168 BC, Antiochus Epiphanes erected a statue of Zeus inside the Temple and sacrificed a pig on the altar in honor of the birth of the sun god. Josephus writes, “Now it so fell out, that these things were done on the very same day on which their Divine worship had fallen off, and was reduced to a profane and common use, after three years’ time; for so it was, that the temple was made desolate by Antiochus, and so continued for three years. This desolation happened to the temple in the hundred forty and fifth year (i.e. of the Seleucid Era which began in 312 BC), on the twenty-fifth day of the month Apeliens (i.e. Kislev), and on the hundred fifty and third olympiad: but it was dedicated anew, on the same day, the twenty-fifth of the month Apeliens, on the hundred and forty-eighth year, and on the hundred and fifty-fourth olympiad. And this desolation came to pass according to the prophecy of Daniel, which was given four hundred and eight years before; for he declared that the Macedonians would dissolve that worship [for some time].” (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2848/2848-h/2848-h.htm#link122HCH0005)
The correct reckoning of the “hundred forty and fifth year” counts the years from 312 BC, starting with 312 and not 311. This is actually 144 years counted or 312 BC – 144 = 168 BC. (http://yahwehistruth.com/?p=144)
1 Maccabees 1:62 – “62 And on the five and twentieth day of the month they sacrificed upon the altar of the idol that was over against the altar of God.” (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Maccabees+1%3A62&version=DRA)
The twenty-fifth day of the month of Apeliens is the Jewish month Kislev. Kislev 25th, 168 BC is Gregorian date December 25th (sundown) – December 26th (sundown). (http://www.cgsf.org/dbeattie/calendar/?roman=-167)
December 25th is significant as it was the same day that the birth of the pagan sun god, Tummuz, was celebrated each year, which in hellanized Macedonia was the Greek god, Apollo; however, Zeus was the supreme Greek god worshipped in this same capacity. The worship of the sun god coincided with the Winter Solstice but since the sun reached its lowest point across the sky in December and did not move on the sundial for 3 days, they waited until the 4th day when the sun started its ascension back up the sundial which was analogous with its birth thus was December 25th. The only time of day that Kislev 25th and December 25th in 168 BC overlapped was between sundown-twilight and midnight or about 6+ hours that day.
Looking at a sunset calendar for Israel in the month of December of any year, the sun sets at approximately 4:40 pm local Israel time and twilight occurs about 1 hour later at 5:40 pm, which is the official start of the new Jewish date that time of year. (http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/israel/jerusalem?month=12&year=2015).
The start time and date of the 2300-day prophecy is sometime on December 25th between 5:40 pm and 11:59 pm, 168 BC.
The Prophetic 360-Day Year
Just like the 70 Week prophecy post, this prophecy is also given in the 360-day year. 2300 evenings and mornings is symbolically 2300 prophetic years where an ‘evening’ is the shortening of daylight in a day from the Summer Solstice to the Winter Solstice and a ‘morning’ is the lengthening of daylight in a day from the Winter Solstice to the Summer Solstice. Therefore, 2300 ‘evenings’ and ‘mornings’ or the period between each of the 2 solstices strongly suggests astronomical timing, which requires a conversion once again.
360-Day to 365.2422-Day Conversion
To perform the prophetic to astronomical conversion like the 70-week prophecy, we simply multiply 2300 prophetic years X 360-day prophetic year = 828,000 days. To complete the conversion, divide 828,000 days by the 365.2422 day tropical year to equal the actual length of the prophecy of 2266 tropical years, 361 days, 4 hours, 11 minutes and 42.72 seconds.
Anti’ochus -> Anti’Christ
Using our start date and time of December 25, 168 BC at 5:46 pm IST (Kislev 25), we start by adding 2266 years. Incidentally, exactly 3 years later on Kislev 25 in 165 BC when the Temple was retaken and reconsecrated by the Maccabean’s according to Josephus, what would have been the beginning of the Miracle of Hanakkah, was also the Winter Solstice or December 24, 165 BC! On December 25, 1 BC, 167 years have gone by and since there is no year ‘0’, on December 25, 1 AD, 168 years have occurred with 2098 years remaining. Add 2098 years to December 25, 1 AD and you land on December 25, 2099 AD. Now add 361 days and you land on December 21, 2100 AD. Add 4 hours to 5:46 pm IST plus 11 minutes, 42.72 seconds and the time would be 9:57:43 pm IST. The final date and time is December 21, 2100 AD, 9:57:43 PM IST. When you reference the significance of this time and date, it is the EXACT time of the astronomical Winter Solstice, December 21, 2100 AD, 9:57 PM IST! (http://www.cgsf.org/dbeattie/calendar/?roman=2100)
| Winter Solstice | (Kislev 20, 5861, 3 hours, 1028 parts) | December 21, 2100, 9:57 p.m. IST |
- Anti’ochus Epiphanes = OT Anti’Christ, (foreshadows NT Anti’Christ.)
- 2300 days = 2300 Prophetic Years X 360-day year = 828,000 days
- 828,000/365.2422 = 2266 tropical years, 361 days, 4 hours, 11 minutes, 43 secs.
- December 25, 168 BC, 5:37 pm IST = sundown-twilight, official start of Kislev 25.
- December 25, 168 BC, 5:46 pm IST = Desecration of 2nd Temple in Jerusalem.
- + 2266 years, 361 days, 4 hours, 11 minutes, 43 seconds.
- December 21, 2100 AD 9:57 pm IST (Kislev 20) = Reconsecration of the 3rd Temple in Jerusalem and the astronomical Winter Solstice.
- December 24, 165 BC (Kislev 25) = Reconsecration of the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem, the Miracle of Hanakkah and the Winter Solstice.
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