Mathematics is an exact science. In the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation regarding the judgment, the Holy Spirit revealed to the prophets very specific mathematical proof that the Word of God can be trusted. In this week’s lesson, we will examine some of this evidence.
Daniel 9 is one of the most remarkable chapters in all the Bible. It clearly reveals the time for the baptism of Jesus, His death on the cross, and the proclamation of the gospel to the Gentiles. These prophecies are not merely given in vague or broad terms. When confronted with the accuracy of these prophecies, many skeptics, upon understanding their significance, have become committed followers of Jesus.
Daniel 9 is a response to Daniel’s vision in Daniel 8:27: “I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it” (NKJV). The vision in Daniel 8 is the vision of the domination of Greece over Media-Persia, depicted as the collision of the ram and the he-goat. A little horn (papal Rome) then arises and dominates the political and religious landscape. This little-horn power eventually distorts the truth about Jesus and, according to Daniel 8:12, casts “truth down to the ground” (NKJV). Then Daniel hears the angel ask, “How long . . . ?” (Dan. 8:13)—that is, how long would error triumph? How long would evil reign? When would the truth be restored to its rightful place among God’s people? When would righteousness reign and wickedness end? The answer is found in Daniel 8:14: “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”
Part II: Commentary
The Hebrew word for “cleansed” in Daniel 8:14 is nisdaq. Translators have rendered this word in a range of meanings, including “restored,” “made right,” “purified,” “cleansed,” “justified,” and “vindicated.” The Hebrew word nisdaq likely includes the full range of meanings listed here.
A free-flowing translation of Daniel 8:13, 14 might read: “At what point will the sanctuary be restored to its rightful place, when will it be cleansed or purified of sin, when will God’s name be vindicated, His truth exalted, and all things be made right again?” The angel answers, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed” (Dan. 8:14). The complete answer to this question is not found in Daniel 8. At the end of the chapter, as the angel is explaining the vision to Daniel, the prophet faints (Dan. 8:27). Years pass. Then, in Daniel 9, the prophet prays for understanding, and the angel returns to explain the unexplained portion of the vision (Dan. 9:20). In Daniel 9:24, the angel states, “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people.”
The 70 weeks of Daniel 9 are “determined” from the longer prophecy of the 2,300 days, in Daniel 8:14. The Hebrew word for “determined” appears only here in the Hebrew Old Testament. It can be literally translated “cut off.” The rabbis used this word to describe something severed, or amputated, from a longer period. Severance is precisely the meaning here. The future of the Jewish people, the temple, and Jerusalem are also outlined in this prophecy. The 70 weeks were to be a time of probation to restore Israel to full favor with God. During this period, the Messiah would come to “bring in everlasting righteousness” (Dan. 9:24).
The question may be asked, What evidence do we have in the text itself that the 70 weeks are not literal weeks or 490 literal days? The Hebrew expression for “weeks” here is also used as a group of days and can be translated as 70 sevens. Because the events prophesied take place in a much longer period than 490 literal days and, in fact, span centuries—this time period must be understood in the context of the day/year principle (Ezek. 4:6, Num. 14:34); that is, one prophetic day equals one literal year.
Gerhard Pfandl of the Seventh-day Adventist Biblical Research Institute makes this insightful comment on Numbers 14:34: “God deliberately used the day for a year principle as a teaching device: ‘According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know my rejection’ (Numbers 14:34). And in an acted-out parable the prophet Ezekiel was told to lie 390 days on his left side and 40 days on his right side, ‘I have laid on you a day for each year’ (Ezekiel 4:6). However, Numbers 14 and Ezekiel 4 are not apocalyptic texts. God, therefore, spells it out—one day stands for one year. In apocalyptic texts this is never stated, it is an underlying principle.”—Journal of the Adventist Theological Society 23, no. 1 (2012), p. 9. This principle applies in the time prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. When you apply the principle that one prophetic day equals one literal year, the prophecy is unlocked. The events predicted on the prophetic time line fall into place.
The 70 weeks of Daniel 9:24, 25 compute to 490 prophetic days or 490 literal years. This 70-week period begins with the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. When Babylon was defeated by the Medes and the Persians, eventually the new rulers passed three separate decrees, allowing the Jews to return from Babylonian captivity to Jerusalem. The first two decrees, issued by Cyrus (Ezra 1:1–4) and Darius (Ezra 6:1–12), respectively, did not fully include each of the following: the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the restoration of the temple, and the legitimization of Israel as a judicial system. The last of the three decrees, issued by Artaxerxes in 457 b.c., not only allowed the Jewish people to return to their homeland, but it also provided provisions for them to do so and mandated the city of Jerusalem as their civil, judicial, and religious center.
A Prophetic Time Line
Beginning in 457 b.c., the prophecy carries us down the centuries for 69 prophetic weeks, or 483 years, to a.d. 27. According to the prophecy, this prophetic period would culminate in the coming of Messiah the Prince. “Messiah” means “the anointed one.” In a.d. 27 (the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar), Jesus Christ, the Messiah, was baptized, or anointed, for His ministry (Luke 3:1–3, 15, 16, 21, 22), exactly as prophesied.
Messiah to Be Cut Off in the Middle of the Week
Daniel predicted hundreds of years in advance the exact date for the baptism of Christ. Gabriel’s explanation to Daniel about Christ continues. As this week’s lesson clearly reveals, the Messiah would be “cut off,” or crucified, in the middle of the last week of the 70-week prophecy. Jesus was crucified in a.d. 31, just as Daniel’s prophecy predicted.
According to Gabriel’s explanation to Daniel, God’s covenant specifically with the Jewish nation itself, as a nation, would cease at the end of the 70 prophetic weeks, a.d. 34. The covenant was now offered to everyone—to the Jew first, and then to the Gentile (see Rom. 1:16; Rom. 2:6, 10)—who accepted Jesus as their Savior.
Meanwhile, the sanctuary services were object lessons, illustrating the sacrifice of Jesus and the plan of salvation. When He died, the sanctuary services were no longer relevant. They had served their purpose. Now, sinners no longer needed to sacrifice a lamb in the temple; they could come directly to Jesus and accept His blood to cover their sins. Jesus is God’s Lamb, slain for us, exactly on time, as Bible prophecy predicted.
The Remaining Portion of the 2,300 Years
As you will recall, the 70 weeks are only the first 490 years of the 2,300 years of Daniel’s prophecy. This portion relates to the Jewish people and nation. The remaining portion of the 2,300 years extends to the time of the end. The events connected with the first part of the prophecy came true with amazing accuracy. Such accuracy gives us assurance that the events of the remaining part of the prophecy will also be fulfilled exactly as predicted.
The entire prophecy begins with the decree to “restore and build Jerusalem,” in 457 b.c. (Dan. 9:25). If you begin at 457 b.c. and move forward 2,300 years on history’s time line (including the move from 1 b.c. to a.d. 1, which does not include a year 0), you arrive at a.d. 1844. This date ushers in the cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven and the work of judgment, prefigured by the Day of Atonement.
Part III: Life Application
Ask your students to reflect on the following question: Why is it significant that we are living in the day of judgment, the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary, the antitypical day of atonement?
Invite class members to reflect on the following three important truths from their study this week:
First: The Bible can be trusted. It is mathematically precise. It is accurate in all its details. It reveals precise dates on the time line of history, convincing even skeptics of its veracity. Thus, prophecy bolsters our confidence in the trustworthiness of God’s Word.
Second: The judgment-hour message is an appeal to our hearts to strive for a deeper commitment to Jesus as Lord of our lives. During this time of the end, God’s people will examine their hearts, asking God to forgive their sins and cleanse them from any attitude or practice in their lives not in harmony with God’s will. His people will plead with God to cover them with the robe of Christ’s righteousness (Isa. 61:10).
Third: The urgency of the hour is a call for God’s people to witness, with renewed fervency, to their relatives, friends, neighbors, and working associates. The judgment-hour call is heaven’s final message to a sin-sick world, a message that will prepare hearts for the coming of Jesus.
Conclude class with these practical questions, asking your students to reflect personally on the answers in the coming week:
1. Have I fully surrendered my life to Christ in this critical time of earth’s history? If not, what is keeping me from Him?
2. Do I know for certain that my salvation is secure in Jesus? Why, or why not? Why must I trust in His righteousness alone? What does it mean to do that? Is my hope totally and absolutely anchored in Him? If not, what must I do to fully anchor myself in Him?
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Mathematics is an exact science. In the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation regarding the judgment, the Holy Spirit revealed to the prophets very specific mathematical proof that the Word of God can be trusted. In this week’s lesson, we will examine some of this evidence.
Daniel 9 is one of the most remarkable chapters in all the Bible. It clearly reveals the time for the baptism of Jesus, His death on the cross, and the proclamation of the gospel to the Gentiles. These prophecies are not merely given in vague or broad terms. When confronted with the accuracy of these prophecies, many skeptics, upon understanding their significance, have become committed followers of Jesus.
Daniel 9 is a response to Daniel’s vision in Daniel 8:27: “I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it” (NKJV). The vision in Daniel 8 is the vision of the domination of Greece over Media-Persia, depicted as the collision of the ram and the he-goat. A little horn (papal Rome) then arises and dominates the political and religious landscape. This little-horn power eventually distorts the truth about Jesus and, according to Daniel 8:12, casts “truth down to the ground” (NKJV). Then Daniel hears the angel ask, “How long . . . ?” (Dan. 8:13)—that is, how long would error triumph? How long would evil reign? When would the truth be restored to its rightful place among God’s people? When would righteousness reign and wickedness end? The answer is found in Daniel 8:14: “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”
Part II: Commentary
The Hebrew word for “cleansed” in Daniel 8:14 is nisdaq. Translators have rendered this word in a range of meanings, including “restored,” “made right,” “purified,” “cleansed,” “justified,” and “vindicated.” The Hebrew word nisdaq likely includes the full range of meanings listed here.
A free-flowing translation of Daniel 8:13, 14 might read: “At what point will the sanctuary be restored to its rightful place, when will it be cleansed or purified of sin, when will God’s name be vindicated, His truth exalted, and all things be made right again?” The angel answers, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed” (Dan. 8:14). The complete answer to this question is not found in Daniel 8. At the end of the chapter, as the angel is explaining the vision to Daniel, the prophet faints (Dan. 8:27). Years pass. Then, in Daniel 9, the prophet prays for understanding, and the angel returns to explain the unexplained portion of the vision (Dan. 9:20). In Daniel 9:24, the angel states, “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people.”
The 70 weeks of Daniel 9 are “determined” from the longer prophecy of the 2,300 days, in Daniel 8:14. The Hebrew word for “determined” appears only here in the Hebrew Old Testament. It can be literally translated “cut off.” The rabbis used this word to describe something severed, or amputated, from a longer period. Severance is precisely the meaning here. The future of the Jewish people, the temple, and Jerusalem are also outlined in this prophecy. The 70 weeks were to be a time of probation to restore Israel to full favor with God. During this period, the Messiah would come to “bring in everlasting righteousness” (Dan. 9:24).
The question may be asked, What evidence do we have in the text itself that the 70 weeks are not literal weeks or 490 literal days? The Hebrew expression for “weeks” here is also used as a group of days and can be translated as 70 sevens. Because the events prophesied take place in a much longer period than 490 literal days and, in fact, span centuries—this time period must be understood in the context of the day/year principle (Ezek. 4:6, Num. 14:34); that is, one prophetic day equals one literal year.
Gerhard Pfandl of the Seventh-day Adventist Biblical Research Institute makes this insightful comment on Numbers 14:34: “God deliberately used the day for a year principle as a teaching device: ‘According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know my rejection’ (Numbers 14:34). And in an acted-out parable the prophet Ezekiel was told to lie 390 days on his left side and 40 days on his right side, ‘I have laid on you a day for each year’ (Ezekiel 4:6). However, Numbers 14 and Ezekiel 4 are not apocalyptic texts. God, therefore, spells it out—one day stands for one year. In apocalyptic texts this is never stated, it is an underlying principle.”—Journal of the Adventist Theological Society 23, no. 1 (2012), p. 9. This principle applies in the time prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. When you apply the principle that one prophetic day equals one literal year, the prophecy is unlocked. The events predicted on the prophetic time line fall into place.
The 70 weeks of Daniel 9:24, 25 compute to 490 prophetic days or 490 literal years. This 70-week period begins with the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. When Babylon was defeated by the Medes and the Persians, eventually the new rulers passed three separate decrees, allowing the Jews to return from Babylonian captivity to Jerusalem. The first two decrees, issued by Cyrus (Ezra 1:1–4) and Darius (Ezra 6:1–12), respectively, did not fully include each of the following: the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the restoration of the temple, and the legitimization of Israel as a judicial system. The last of the three decrees, issued by Artaxerxes in 457 b.c., not only allowed the Jewish people to return to their homeland, but it also provided provisions for them to do so and mandated the city of Jerusalem as their civil, judicial, and religious center.
A Prophetic Time Line
Beginning in 457 b.c., the prophecy carries us down the centuries for 69 prophetic weeks, or 483 years, to a.d. 27. According to the prophecy, this prophetic period would culminate in the coming of Messiah the Prince. “Messiah” means “the anointed one.” In a.d. 27 (the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar), Jesus Christ, the Messiah, was baptized, or anointed, for His ministry (Luke 3:1–3, 15, 16, 21, 22), exactly as prophesied.
Messiah to Be Cut Off in the Middle of the Week
Daniel predicted hundreds of years in advance the exact date for the baptism of Christ. Gabriel’s explanation to Daniel about Christ continues. As this week’s lesson clearly reveals, the Messiah would be “cut off,” or crucified, in the middle of the last week of the 70-week prophecy. Jesus was crucified in a.d. 31, just as Daniel’s prophecy predicted.
According to Gabriel’s explanation to Daniel, God’s covenant specifically with the Jewish nation itself, as a nation, would cease at the end of the 70 prophetic weeks, a.d. 34. The covenant was now offered to everyone—to the Jew first, and then to the Gentile (see Rom. 1:16; Rom. 2:6, 10)—who accepted Jesus as their Savior.
Meanwhile, the sanctuary services were object lessons, illustrating the sacrifice of Jesus and the plan of salvation. When He died, the sanctuary services were no longer relevant. They had served their purpose. Now, sinners no longer needed to sacrifice a lamb in the temple; they could come directly to Jesus and accept His blood to cover their sins. Jesus is God’s Lamb, slain for us, exactly on time, as Bible prophecy predicted.
The Remaining Portion of the 2,300 Years
As you will recall, the 70 weeks are only the first 490 years of the 2,300 years of Daniel’s prophecy. This portion relates to the Jewish people and nation. The remaining portion of the 2,300 years extends to the time of the end. The events connected with the first part of the prophecy came true with amazing accuracy. Such accuracy gives us assurance that the events of the remaining part of the prophecy will also be fulfilled exactly as predicted.
The entire prophecy begins with the decree to “restore and build Jerusalem,” in 457 b.c. (Dan. 9:25). If you begin at 457 b.c. and move forward 2,300 years on history’s time line (including the move from 1 b.c. to a.d. 1, which does not include a year 0), you arrive at a.d. 1844. This date ushers in the cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven and the work of judgment, prefigured by the Day of Atonement.
Part III: Life Application
Ask your students to reflect on the following question: Why is it significant that we are living in the day of judgment, the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary, the antitypical day of atonement?
Invite class members to reflect on the following three important truths from their study this week:
First: The Bible can be trusted. It is mathematically precise. It is accurate in all its details. It reveals precise dates on the time line of history, convincing even skeptics of its veracity. Thus, prophecy bolsters our confidence in the trustworthiness of God’s Word.
Second: The judgment-hour message is an appeal to our hearts to strive for a deeper commitment to Jesus as Lord of our lives. During this time of the end, God’s people will examine their hearts, asking God to forgive their sins and cleanse them from any attitude or practice in their lives not in harmony with God’s will. His people will plead with God to cover them with the robe of Christ’s righteousness (Isa. 61:10).
Third: The urgency of the hour is a call for God’s people to witness, with renewed fervency, to their relatives, friends, neighbors, and working associates. The judgment-hour call is heaven’s final message to a sin-sick world, a message that will prepare hearts for the coming of Jesus.
Conclude class with these practical questions, asking your students to reflect personally on the answers in the coming week:
1. Have I fully surrendered my life to Christ in this critical time of earth’s history? If not, what is keeping me from Him?
2. Do I know for certain that my salvation is secure in Jesus? Why, or why not? Why must I trust in His righteousness alone? What does it mean to do that? Is my hope totally and absolutely anchored in Him? If not, what must I do to fully anchor myself in Him?