Daniel 9 Explained - Clifford Goldstein Bible Study

Below is a transcript of a bible study on the book of Daniel chapter 9 by Clifford Goldstein an American Jew. Daniel 9 Explained.

Daniel 9 Explained: Clifford Goldstein Bible Study

1844 Made Simple. Welcome to part three. Let’s join Clifford Goldstein as we open our Bibles to Daniel chapter 9.

Before we go to Daniel 9, let me remind you that Daniel 2 consisted of a dream and there was a complete explanation for that dream. You remember that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had a dream which he couldn’t remember and Daniel came by and he explained to him everything.

He told him about the dream, what the dream was, what the head of gold was, what the arms stood for, and what the belly and legs were and so on and so forth. So in Daniel 2, you have a dream and a complete explanation of that dream.

Daniel 9 explained. Clifford Goldstein — Clifford Goldstein

In Daniel seven, Daniel has a dream, a vision in which four beasts come up and so forth then he’s given an explanation. So he has a vision and he gets an explanation. He is told that this animal is this, this other animal is that and so forth and then there’s going to be this judgment scene and so forth.

So like Daniel 2, Daniel 7 is a dream and a full explanation. Okay, Daniel 2, Daniel 7 both have dreams or visions and both have full explanations.

When you get to Daniel 8 however things are a little bit different. What did we have in Daniel 8? We had Daniel who had a vision of the ram, the goat, the Little Horn, and the sanctuary being cleansed.

Then Gabriel comes to give him an explanation of that vision. He explained to him the meaning of the ram, the goat, and the little horn.

Daniel 2, 7 and 8 from Daniel 9 explained. — Daniel 2, 7 and 8 Interpretation

But what was the one thing in Daniel eight that was not explained? The vision about the twenty-three hundred days.

Remember Daniel says “and I was astonished by the vision of the evenings and mornings” a vision about the twenty-three hundred days, “but none understood it”. We’ll look at that more closely.

The point I’m trying to bring out here and oh one other point when we go to Daniel 9 as we’re going to do we’re going to find something very interesting in Daniel nine. Daniel 9 has no dream. Daniel nine has no vision.

All you have in Daniel 9 is an explanation. Remember that. So Daniel 2, dream, vision, complete explanation. Daniel 7. dream, vision, complete explanation. Daniel 8, dream, vision and a partial explanation. Now we get to Daniel 9, we look at Daniel nine and all we have is an explanation.

Now we’re going to look at Daniel 9.

Now the question is what was Daniel 9 explaining? Now if you read Daniel 9, the bulk of Daniel 9, the essence of Daniel nine is really Daniel’s prayer for the deliverance of Israel. He’s praying for Israel.

In Daniel 9 verses 4 and 5 he says, “O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments”.

Then later on the prayer is for God, to quote Daniel 9:16, to “let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain”. And that’s basically the essence of what Daniel is praying in his prayer here.

Now the important point about Daniel’s prayer is that nowhere in Daniel’s prayer is Daniel asking for any kind of explanation.

Nowhere in the prayer is Daniel saying oh God why did this happen, why did that happen, why did the Babylonians come down, why is the temple destroyed, why this, why that. Nowhere is he asking for any kind of explanation.

Daniel knows why all that happened. In Daniel 9:16 he says “because of our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers Jerusalem and my people are become a reproach to all that are about us”.

So he knows why. So the point is, Daniel asked no questions in the prayer. He sought no understanding.

The last time we see Daniel not understanding something, the last time we see Daniel in darkness not understanding is in the end of Daniel 8 dealing with the vision of the 2,300 days.

He says “I was astonished at the vision and none understood it”. Everything else in Daniel 8 was explained except the 2300 days. So the last place we see Daniel not having an explanation is concerning the 2300 days.

Daniel 9 Explained: Angel Gabriel Comes Down To See Daniel and Explain the Vision

Now what happens next. Daniel 9:21 “Yes, while I was speaking in prayer, even 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”.

So who comes? Gabriel. Last time we saw Gabriel was in Daniel 8. Gabriel was the angel that came to Daniel in Daniel 8 to give him an explanation about the vision.

Gabriel was told, “make this man understand the vision”. So you’ve got the same angel that Daniel had earlier. Daniel was referring back when he says even the man Gabriel seen in the vision at the beginning.

So he is pointing back to the earlier vision and Gabriel was an angel there. The same angel comes back to Daniel again in Daniel 9. And remember Gabriel was told to go to make this man understand the vision in Daniel 8. At the end of Daniel 8, not everything was explained.

Now at this point, a quick look at the Hebrew is going to come very helpful to us. I am not going to go into heavy Hebrew. I was going to bring out one or two words in the Hebrew which I think will help make this thing much more simpler for you.

**Daniel 9 Commentary: Two Hebrew Words For Vision in The Book of Daniel (Hazon and Mar’eh)**

Two different words in Daniel are used for the word vision. Two different Hebrew words are translated by the same word, vision.

If you go to Hebrews Daniel 8:1, in the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me. Next verse says and I was in vision and I saw in vision. Now the word for vision there is hazon. It comes from an ancient Semitic word hazar “see a vision”.

So in Daniel 8 verse one. “and I was in vision [hazon] I saw in the vision [hazon]” then Daniel goes on and describes the vision the ram, the goat, the little horn, sanctuary being cleansed. That’s the word for vision there.

If you look on your charts that you’ve got number fifteen look up the top corner Daniel 8:1,2 you’ll see in the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision [hazon] appeared unto me referring to a whole vision a complete vision. That’s the word for vision used in that part of Daniel.

Now when you go towards the end of that chapter when you get to the chapter Daniel 8:26 the word vision is used there again but you have another word for vision that’s used there. Daniel 8:26 the first part “And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true”.

So he’s talking specifically now about the 2300 evening and morning. Okay “and the vision of the evening and mornings which was told is true”.

Then if you look at the end of verse twenty-six “and I was astonished at the vision but none understood it”. Now the word for vision there in both those parts of verse twenty-six “and the vision of the evening and morning which was told is true”, the Hebrew word there is mar’eh. It comes from the Hebrew word …… which means to see just to see and sometimes it’s translated in the Bible as appearance.

In Genesis Joseph was said to be beautiful of mar’eh. A lot of times in Hebrew you take a verb and you stick a meme in front of it it becomes a noun.

So you’ve got this word here for mar’eh “and the vision [mar’eh] of the evening and morning as told is true” and then he goes at the end of the chapter “and I was astonished at the mar’eh but none understood”.

So really if you see that it helps you understand that in Daniel 8 the part about the twenty-three hundred days is the part he did not understand. All rest of the hazon he understood as we saw yesterday because everything was explained to him very very carefully.

Anyway, two different words appeared for vision in Daniel chapter eight. Hazon referring to the whole vision of the chapter and mar’eh referring specifically to the part of the twenty-three hundred days that Daniel did not understand. Is this clear?

Now interestingly enough when we go to Daniel 9 these two words for vision are used in Daniel 9 and when you see how they’re used in Daniel 8 it’s very very helpful.

Let’s look at that. Daniel 9:21, 22 “Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel [the angel you saw in Daniel 8], whom I had seen in the vision [hazon] at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.

22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding”.

Remember nowhere in Daniel’s prayer is he asking for skill or is he asking for understanding. The last time he did not understand we saw in Daniel 8 concerned the 2300 days.

So the same angel comes back and he points him back. Points him back by saying, “I’ve come to give the skill and understanding”. Daniel says the angel I had seen in the hazon, in the whole vision at the beginning.

Daniel 9 Explained: Mar’eh The Hebrew Word Used For Vision in Daniel 9:23

Now listen carefully. Now notice a specific part of the vision that Gabriel points him to. Daniel 9:23 “At the beginning of your supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show you; for you are greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision [mar’eh]”.

The Hebrew word there translated vision is mar’eh. What mar’eh? Obviously the mar’eh [the vision] of the twenty-three hundred days that Daniel did not understand in chapter 8.

Can you see that? You’ve got those two words in Daniel 8 and got the same words in Daniel 9. He point him back to hazon [the whole vision] and then specifically points him to the mar’eh and says I’ve come to give you understanding.

So we have the same angel interpreter of Daniel 8, Gabriel, who appeared in Daniel 8. Gabriel then promises to give Daniel skill and understanding. The last place Daniel did not have skill and understanding concerned the 2300 days.

And then the angel specifically points him back to the mar’eh, uses that word, he says, therefore, understand the mar’eh consider the mar’eh. Look at your chart number sixteen the corner sixteen, “O Daniel I’ve come forth to give thee skill and understanding, therefore, understand the matter and consider the mar’eh”.

Obviously the mar’eh the vision of the 2300 days that he did not understand. Is that clear now? What type of prophecy was the mar’eh of the 2300 days? What kind of prophecy is the “unto 2300 days then shall the sanctuary be cleansed?. It’s a time prophecy.

So the same angel that he saw in the previous vision previous chapter comes back to him and points him right back to the previous vision the whole vision and specifically to the time prophecy of the mar’eh.

And then what is the very next thing that angel gives to Daniel? What is the next thing he says to him? “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people”. What kind of prophecy is the seventy weeks? It’s a time prophecy as well.

He points and right back to the time prophecy of the previous vision and then he gives him another time prophecy. So can you see how we’re linking Daniel 9, that explanation in Daniel 9, to what was not explained in Daniel 8. Can you see he is pointing him right back there?

Other links exist between these chapters and will look at them more but the crucial thing is to see the links between these two chapters.

Interpretation of the Seventy Weeks Prophecy of Daniel 9: Mar’eh

Now we’re going to look now at the mar’eh. We’re going to look now at the seventy-week prophecy of Daniel 9. Because that’s helping to explain what was not explained in Daniel 8. Is this clear so far?

Now let’s look at this the first line starts out Daniel 9:24-27, “seventy weeks are determined upon thy people”. That’s the King James translation.

Now people who argue against our message they say we say the literal word is really “cut off” the seventy weeks are cut off, and as you’ll see only place they could possibly be cut off from is the larger time prophecy but people say no no no the word is not “cut off” it’s “determined”. Therefore they say you don’t cut off the seventy weeks from the 2300 days. They go further by saying, therefore, they’re not linked therefore your understanding of 1844 is a fairy tale.

What about that word? what is the better translation determined or cut off? Well the word that’s used there, the root word there is chatak. Unfortunately, it’s not found anywhere else in the Bible.

What we would normally do is it say okay here’s what let’s go back to the concordance and lexicons. We would then say well see it’s used in Genesis to mean this and it’s used in Deuteronomy to mean this. Maybe you could find its use in a later book about the time of Daniel perhaps in Jeremiah or something and compare and see how it’s used in context; you see how it’s translated and then we can get an idea of what the word meant. Unfortunately, we can’t do that with chatak because it’s not used anywhere else in the Bible so we have a problem.

Now it’s interesting though because a number of other words that can be translated determined or decreed are found in the Bible even in Daniel. In those cases, they use a completely different word. They don’t use chatak. They use more common words.

So the question is why is this more obscure word used here? What does this word mean? Why wasn’t more common word given to mean, to determine, to decree if that’s what it was supposed to mean?

However, though the word chatak doesn’t appear in the Hebrew Bible it does appear numerous times in the Talmud and in the Mishnah.

You may be asking what is the Talmud? How can you describe it, I don’t want to call it the Jewish spirit of prophecy but it’s just like a compilation of Jewish explanation of the Bible. You see the Jews believe that Moses was given not only the written law at Sinai but the oral law the oral traditions. Throughout the centuries this was carried down and but it was not until the first few centuries after Christ that this was this codified or put together. These massive volumes are called the Talmud.

I’ve got a complete commentary in my office. These are huge volumes that take up four times this the space of the SDA Bible commentary. And that is just the Babylonian Talmud not even counting the Jerusalem Talmud which is not as big as the Babylonian.

These massive volumes of Jewish Talmud deal with issues such as how to keep the Sabbath. They are authoritative in explaining the laws and so forth and very interesting insights as we saw yesterday we could get in some of these books. Anyway most of it was written in Hebrew and though it’s not exactly Biblical Hebrew it’s very similar to Biblical Hebrew.

And the word chatak is found in the Mishnah and of the twelve times, the verb chatak is used in the Mishnah in the verb form, ten of the twelve times it refers to the cutting off of the different parts of the animals according to the dietary traditions. You know the animals had to be killed a certain way and in ten out of twelve times it means cutting off.

It’s only later on that this verb takes on the idea of being decreed or determined. In the early version, it means cutting off. Of the nineteen times, it was used in a noun form eighteen times that word chatak was used to mean that which is cut off. So again this idea of determined or decreed is only a later meaning. It didn’t come until later this idea of the determined or decreed.

Strong’s Concordance gives the primary root of chatak as to cut off. Whiting’s translation translates it cut off. The standard Hebrew lexigrapher defines that as to cut off. The Rabbinic dictionary of stoicism defines it as to cut, to cut away, to cut in pieces, to cut and engrave, to cut off.

The earliest versions of the Vulgate in the Septuagint translate the verb as cutting off. The Greek version translates it cut off. And I can go on and on but you should get the point that cut off is clearly the proper translation for that. OK Can you see the point there about cutting off? And the validity of our understanding of the word meaning cut off?

So this 70 weeks time prophecy that we’re dealing with is going to be cut off. Remember Gabriel comes to him and points him right back to the 2300 days time prophecy then gives him a time prophecy of seventy weeks and says the seventy weeks are cut off.

Well, it’s obvious what they must be cut off. It has to be from the only thing they could possibly be cut off from i.e. the twenty-three hundred days. I just can’t cut it off out of nowhere.

Interpretation of the 70 Weeks Prophecy of Daniel 9

Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

So let’s look though for a few minutes at the seventy weeks prophecy. I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this. I’m assuming the most avid of us would be for familiar with this. If you’re not familiar with the seventy weeks prophecy you ought to fear for your own soul.

I’m serious I mean at this stage of the game to be in this church with a light that we have and not know the seventy weeks prophecy that would tell me that maybe my priorities aren’t straight in my life. Maybe I am spending too much time in front of the tube or something rather than studying my Bible,

Anyway, let’s look at the seventy weeks prophecy for just a few minutes. Daniel 9 verse 24 “seventy weeks are cut off upon my people and upon my holy city to finish the transgression to make end of sins to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring an everlasting righteousness and to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy”.

So this starts out with the seventy week period. They’re given the seventy week period in which certain things are to happen i.e. anointing the most holy bringing an everlasting righteousness, seal up the vision and prophecy.

Just imagine in your mind this block of time of seventy weeks. Now again I talked about the year-day principle yesterday and I’m not going to go into explaining now the validity of the year they principle. When we’re done with this we’ll take a break and we’ll come back and we will spend a few minutes and I will show you how beyond question the year-day principle must be functioning in these prophecies.

Right now I don’t want to get bogged down into it because I want to get done with this and then we’ll go back and we’ll look at some of the detailed arguments that come up. But we’re going to apply the year-day principle here to the seventy weeks prophecy.

So if we apply seventy weeks prophecy using the year-day principle we come out to 490 years. Does everybody understand that? So they’re given this block of time of 490 years.

So that first verse says 490 years are determined upon thy people and upon my holy city for such and such. But the question is 490 years from when? They’ve got this block of time but from where does it come from. Next verse, Daniel 9:25 “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: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times”.

So right here you’ve got the starting point of the prophecy, “from the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be…” and he gives sixty-nine weeks. So what you have here not only the starting point of the seventy weeks prophecy but you’ve got sixty-nine of the weeks are already taken care of right from the start.

So sixty-nine of the seventy weeks or explained right there in the very next verse. So from the command to restore rebuild Jerusalem, which has been destroyed by the Babylonians, until the coming of the Messiah the Prince, which we know is Jesus, would be sixty-nine prophetic weeks or 483 years.

Okay what the verse basically says then is that from the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Jesus the Messiah will be four hundred eighty-three years. That’s simple enough. From the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah Jesus sixty-nine weeks. Year day principle 483 years from that command.

When Was The Command To Restore and Rebuild Jerusalem Given?

What about the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem? Now I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time arguing over this because you can go around in circles on this forever. But what’s important is that many Bible expositors including non-Adventists all have placed the decree for the restoring and rebuilding of Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. That you can get from Ezra 7.

I mean almost everybody agrees on that. Some people argue with the date of that but they’ll say that the seventh year of Artaxerxes is the time for the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. That seventh year begins in the reign of Medo-Persia just as the visions of Daniel 8 begin with the reign of Medo-Persia

Why isn’t Babylon mentioned in Daniel 8? We’ve had Daniel 2 Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Daniel 7, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome but when we go to Daniel 8 there’s no Babylon just Medo-Persia. Greece and Rome.

So Daniel 8 starts out in the reign of Medo-Persia and it’s interesting that the prophecy of Daniel 9 starts out in the reign of Medo-Persia. So these are just more links between these two chapters.

I think why Babylon was not mentioned is because it wants to emphasize that this began during the time of Medo-Persia. Daniel 8 begins in the reign of Medo-Persia. Daniel 9 the time prophecy begins in the reign of Medo- Persia.

Anyway, when was the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes when did this command go forth. What year did this go forth? You know there is a big debate in the scholarly world about this. I didn’t take any of this stuff for granted when an Adventist did a study of this stuff with me years ago showing me that the seventy weeks prophecy and its proof about Jesus as the Messiah.

I went back and I did some study and I discovered that the big debate by the scholars is over either 457 BC or 458 BC. That’s what they’re they’re haggling over. What I can remember about eight years ago when I first studied this I thought 457 or 458 who cares it’s close enough for me.

I was not going to worry about that. I was amazed I went to secular sources and dug this out and found these dates there 457 BC and 458 BC. So I just wasn’t going to pass it with that.

Now some people try to place the date thirty or forty years later but there is a problem with that argument. We’ll look at that in a little while. You see, if you put the starting point thirty or forty years later what are you going to do with Jesus? You will see later on that this prophecy is rock solid on Christ and I’ll talk about that too in a little while.

Well anyway, the debate between 457 BC or 458 BC really deals over which calendar you believe the Jews used. Now I don’t know if you’ve ever seen this book I can’t believe it’s out of print. It took me a long time to even get a hold of it.

Some of you know what I’m talking about it is called the Chronology of Ezra 7 by Horne and Wood These men using numerous extra-biblical sources to Ptolemy’s cannon etc put together chronology and showed that the Jews used a fall to fall calendar.

Therefore counting the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes using the fall to fall calendar you come up with the year 457 as the starting point of that this prophecy. Now again this is not just Adventists who see 457 you can find even non-Adventist accepting 457 B.C. as the starting point of the seventy-week prophecy.

Now again I don’t want to get bogged down in a whole long time about that because there’s a lot of information that’s out there on this. We see 457 B.C. then as the starting date of the seventy weeks prophecy.

We say that from the command to restore and build Jerusalem 457 B.C. until the Messiah the Prince Jesus is going to be 483 years. Okay, you see what we’ve got that so far. We say that from the command to restore and build Jerusalem 457 B.C. until the Messiah the Prince Jesus is going to be 483 years. Can you see what we’ve got that so far? We say that from the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem 457 until the Messiah the Prince Jesus shall be 483 years. So if you use your calendar you come up to the date 27 AD

Now if you use just plain math if you’re not looking at a calendar you will come to AD 26. You should, however, remember that you are going from BC to AD and there is no zero year when moving from BC to AD you go from one to one. So if you yank that one zero year out and that will bring you to 27 AD when we know that Jesus was baptized.

Therefore from the command to restore rebuild Jerusalem 457 B.C. until the coming of Jesus the Messiah would be 483 years to 27 AD. We know that in 27 A.D. Jesus was baptized and began his ministry. Please look at number seventeen on your chart and I’ll put it up here for you to look at. We’ll look at this chart a little longer 457 B.C. adding 483 years brings you to 27 AD.

Now, this takes care of sixty-nine of the seventy weeks but we still got that last week left in the prophecy. Let’s look at the next verse shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: You see when I first studied that I got confused with that “after threescore and two weeks” which is just sixty-two weeks. So I thought after sixty-two weeks the Messiah is cut off so you still got that seven weeks.

I, however, realized it’s an after seven weeks plus threescore and two weeks. You’ve got the first seven weeks and then you’ve got the next sixty-two weeks. So it’s really after sixty-nine weeks shall Messiah be cut off.

You’ve got the seven weeks then the threescore and two weeks which equal sixty-nine weeks. So after the threescore and two weeks shall the Messiah be cut off but not for himself and the people of the prince shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary and the end thereof shall be with the flood and then to the end of the war desolations are determined.

Anyway, after the sixty-nine weeks after the threescore and two weeks which comes out to 27 AD Messiah is going to be cut off. Now that’s the last verse deal specifically with the last week. Daniel 9:27 and he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week.

Okay, one week. We’re dealing with prophetic time so how many years is one prophetic week? Seven years. Then he shall confirm the covenant with many for seven years. We’ve got our last week right here last seven years.

And he 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, and for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

OK Anyway very quickly in the midst of that last week of the seven years he shall cause the sacrifice and ablations to cease. In the midst of a week which is three and a half years, that’s half of seven years comes out to 31 A.D. Jesus was cut off, crucified not for himself.

Now it says sacrifice and oblation shall cease. They continue to do animal sacrifices you still have people in the Middle East doing animal sacrifices. The Samaritans still do animal sacrifices but after the death of Jesus, we know that they had no more meaning. There had no any kind of importance whatsoever at all. The whole sacrificial system no longer had significance.

And we understand that 34 AD marks the end of the seventieth week. We put that down at the stoning of Stephen. The official rejection of Israel as a nation as a whole finishing, ending of the covenant relationship and the Gospel went to the Gentiles. Now again which is dealing with national Israel, not individual Jews which I’m very thankful for but just Israel as a whole ended and we’ve got to the end of the seventy week period.

Now again there’s a lot done on the seventy week period there’s a lot involved here I don’t want to get into a long discussion on this but again go back and study the seventy weeks prophecy so you could see this for yourself.

Anyway, let’s review before we go any further. We saw that the 2300 days of Daniel 8 was the only part not explained by Gabriel everything else was explained in chapter 8. In Daniel 9 there is no vision just an explanation.

Gabriel the same angel interpreter that he had in Daniel 8 comes to offer him an explanation and the only place we saw Daniel needing an explanation was regarding the 2,300 days.

Gabriel then points him back specifically to the mar’eh the vision of the 2,300 days. Says I’m going to give you understanding and then he gives him another time prophecy the seventy weeks prophecy which he says is cut off. And the only place it could possibly be cut off from is the 2,300 days. Are you able to follow me on this?

And we’ve just looked at the seventy weeks prophecy. The point is, what we’re doing here is we are really dealing now with two-time elements. If you look on number eighteen on your charts or you could look up here two-time element we’re dealing with 2,300 days which is this point and were not given the starting point or an ending point for the 2,300 days in and of itself from Daniel 8 alone.

490 years of the 2300. Daniel 9 explained

There’s no beginning or ending point you just say unto two thousand three hundred days then shall the sanctuary the cleansed. That’s the one time prophecy that we’re dealing with.

The other time prophecy that we’re dealing with is the seventy weeks prophecy where we are given a definite starting point a prophecy that is centered on Jesus Christ Himself and this has a beginning point. And because it has a beginning point it has an ending point. 27 AD begins here and 34 A D ends here. So what we have now are these two-time prophecies.

Why Should The 490 Years Be Cut Off From The Beginning and not The End of The 2300 days (years)?

Now three or five years ago somebody said to me, “Cliff I have no problem seeing how the seventy weeks must be cut off from the twenty-three hundred days. I mean it’s obvious that they have to be cut off and the only thing they could possibly be cut off from is the larger time prophecy.” He asked what I thought was a good question and he had me pondering for a little while. He said how do you know for sure that you cut it off from the beginning of the twenty-three hundred days. Why don’t we cut off from the end of the twenty-three hundred days?

He said it’s going to be cut off from either one or the other the beginning or the end why don’t we cut off on the end of the twenty-three hundred days? And you know I want as many loose ends tied up as I can on something like this. I want many questions answered as I possibly can and I thought well you know you have a point there. And I thought about it after some prayer and some study.

Let’s show you why you cannot cut off from the end. If you look at number nineteen and you could look up here if you cut off at the end of the 2300 day that means the twenty-three hundred days will end in 34 AD. In this case, the 457BC to 34 AD the seventy weeks comes at the end of the longer period the 2,300 days. Therefore the 2,300 days would have to end 34 A D.

You see that that’s when it ends. Now if it ends there where do we put the beginning point of the twenty-three hundred days. Well, the first problem you’ve got is it puts the beginning point of the twenty-three hundred days in 2267 BC. So we see why this is so completely off as it takes us to the earliest days of the founding of Babylon.

Remember we said Daniel 2 forms the basis and that includes Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome. If you cut it off at the end you have to put the beginning of the twenty-three hundred days all the way in 2267 B.C. I mean we’re going back thousands of years to probably the time of Abraham even before Abraham. It so completely out of the picture and doesn’t fit at all in what we’re doing. That’s the first problem.

Now the other problem which struck me just about two weeks ago when I was giving the seminar in my home church this is the 2,300 days comes from Daniel 8. Daniel 8 we saw encompasses Medo-Persian Greece, Rome to the time of the end. Okay, that’s the essence of Daniel 8. The 2,300 days is involved in this time frame of Daniel 8.

If you put cut off the seventy weeks at the end of the 2,300 days that would put the beginning of the 2,300 days thousands and thousands of years early. That’s almost two thousand years before Medo-Persia.

You see what I’m saying. The vision has got to deal with Medo-Persia and go to the end. If you cut off at the end you put it so far out of even Daniel 8 that it doesn’t make sense.

The final reason, the most important one, why you can’t cut it off at the end is where would that put the cleansing of the sanctuary? 34 A D. right? Now, what did we see yesterday? What dates must the cleansing of the sanctuary occur between? After 1798 and before the second coming.

Remember we saw that because we paralleled Daniel 7 and Daniel 8. We showed how the cleansing of the sanctuary in Daniel 8 and the judgment scene of Daniel 7 had to occur after 1798 before the second coming. If we cut from the 2300 days, the seventy weeks off at the end that puts the sanctuary being cleansed in 34 AD and it just doesn’t work.

So then the only other explanation, the only other logical place you could cut it off from is the beginning which is logical to start with. So remember you’ve got these two-time frames here these two-time prophecies, the seventy weeks and the twenty-three hundred days.

Beyond question, the seventy weeks are cut off from the twenty-three hundred days. You can’t cut off from the end because it doesn’t work so the only other place it can be cut off from is the beginning. So that puts the beginning of the twenty-three hundred days in 457 BC.

And if you put it that way there are two ways you do this. You’re all familiar with this you can look at it in two ways you can go from 457 B.C. to 34 AD. You cover 490 years that leave you 1810 years left from 34 AD. Because you’ve got 490 years of the 2300 days you add the 1810 years left to 34 AD that brings you out to 1844.

And then we saw what time the judgment has to occur? Between what dates? 1798 and before the second coming. 1844 fits that perfectly.

Or if you don’t want to go that way if you want to go direct. If you just want to start from the starting date 457 BC that’s the starting date of the 2300 days and just add 2300 days or 2300 literal years. You do this remembering the problem with the zero year and do a jump that way all the way across you come out to the same date 1844 which fits the criteria perfectly.

Either way, you do it you get 1844. Remember we said the judgment had to occur after the cross, comes after 1798, comes before the second coming of Jesus, and 1844 fits these perfectly.

Daniel 9 Explained: Adventist Understanding

See what I’m saying. It was linked to the most important messianic prophecy in all of Scripture. And if you think about it too Seventh-day Adventists are the only people in the world who do have an understanding of the 2300 day prophecy. We are the only ones that really do anything with it. We are the only ones that know anything about it at all.

What the rest of the protestant world does with the 2300 day prophecy is absolutely ludicrous and so nonsensical. This 2300 day prophecy makes me realize, as I said earlier, beyond question that this is the remnant church of Bible prophecy.

People could come up and bring up arguments about this and we’re going to deal with some of the arguments later on.

I told the people the other day that my work, my interest, is reaching Jewish people. I would assume here that everybody here believes that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. Okay, are you sure about that?

Okay, what I would like you to do is someday sit down with some of these Orthodox rabbis. Some of these Orthodox Jews that I have to deal with whose job is to do nothing but get people like me out of Christianity. You would think that you’ve got it nailed that you understand Jesus as Messiah until you meet these people.

I believe you when you say you believe that Jesus is the messiah but I’m telling you these guys will bring up arguments and things and I almost guarantee you that you might not have answers for. I’m not saying their arguments are valid. I’m not saying all but I can tell you that I’ve dealt with these people before and they brought up things that I don’t have answers for and I said I have to get back to you on that one.

Now the point I’m trying to say is if somebody might be able to come along at some point and bring up some argument on some point about this that you might not have a clear cut answer for. But the fact is when you go back and you study this stuff the massive weight of evidence points unmistakably to the truth of this teaching.

As I said in the first meeting if you were to use the Bible without any Ellen White you have as much evidence just using the Old Testament alone. Even without using the New Testament, you have as much evidence for 1844 investigative judgment as you do for Jesus of Nazareth being the Messiah. And you could see that the main prophecy pointing to Jesus is linked to the prophecy dealing with the 2300 days.

Again I stress if you don’t understand, the things aren’t clear, review, go back study these things out. Sooner or later we are going to be hit by a shaking and things that will make everything before look like a joke.

I know from my own experience that being grounded in this teaching has given me irrefutable proof and irrefutable confidence that this message is everything that we have been proclaiming and professing for over 150 years now.

Daniel 9 Explained: Concluding Prayer

Shall we pray? Lord, again I just thank you for the privilege of being able to give this study and to get more confirmed in my own heart every time I give it. Lord God, I just pray that if there’s anybody here that’s not solid in this, that is having questions, that you’ll just open their heart and have them to be humble seekers for truth.

And have them seek truth not to try to fortify their own preconceived notions but instead come before you as a small child realizing their own helplessness, their own needs. That they’ll plead before you for an understanding of these truths and to know these things and to be so firmly grounded in these things that nothing will be able to shake them at all.

Lord, I’m thankful for your word and I’m thankful for the clear prophetic outlining of your word. Lord help us to be grounded upon the rock; to be prepared for the storm which we know is soon going to break upon us. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Prophecies of Daniel: An Introduction To The Book of Daniel

Who Is The King of The North in Daniel 11 – Dwight Nelson Sermon

Prophet Daniel: Studies into Book of Daniel 8 by Dr William H Shea

Book of Daniel chapter 7 Commentary and Study by William H Shea

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