The Seventh Day Adventist understanding of the 2300 days born out of the Great Disappointment, is really the only one that makes any biblical and historical sense. You guys need to study that in order to dispel the confusion. But kudos to everyone for the effort put in. Some interesting perspectives, but too much over-thinking. The answer is really quite simple. Did you know that Gabriel appears only 4 times in Bible history? Twice to Daniel, once to the father of John the Baptist , once to the mum of Jesus. All extremely important visits and messages. And no one that I noticed took any notice of his role in Daniel's vision. I suggest you focus on that, because it is Gabriel who has the answers. His discourse on the 70 weeks was his answer to Daniel's plea for understanding on the 2300 days. Start there.
Thanks for your suggestion but the SDA folks have made this prophecy about them rather than on the most important event in the history of mankind- the coming of the Messiah and His fulfillment of His God given mission by His Father.
This was a very difficult prophecy to interpret (for me). This alone may have taken months to discover, but only after much praying to God for His help.
So, I think you will agree there are not more than a few attempts by scholars, academics or theologians to interpret this… it is so difficult.
The SDA folks have converted this time element to years using the day-for-a-year principle. In fact, they apply this for all of the time elements in Daniel. But despite there can be shown a “relationship” in two earlier passages of the Scriptures where days are seen in years to other passages, there is no such thing as a “day-for-a-year principle.” Each time prophecy must be understood based on its own context. Each author and each book of the Bible has its own interpretation to give. And again, even within Daniel, the 5 time elements each are very specific and must speak to their respective prophecies.
First, there is no reason they have converted days to years, unless one considers it is necessary to have / make the prophecy meet their needs- in other words, it will come about when it impacts or can be especially tied to THEIR perceived appointment in God’s plan of salvation. It was / is not about them, it is about the Messiah.
Others have attempted to apply this time element to AE by cutting this in half to 1150 days. And still others contend it is an end time prophecy at least one in days and another in years… but both occurring at the time of the end.
Regardless in how they “do the math,” most seem to try and match this prophecy to the destruction of the Temple- either by AE, the 70 AD destruction or the destruction of a 3rd Temple in the still future (never going to happen despite the Jews desires). The exception of course, is the one by the SDA folks.
It is not until we accept that this time element is speaking about God and His mission on earth will we find the meaning of this prophecy. Daniel is not a history book, but is a revealing of God’s plan of restoration for His people and His city (70 weeks of years prophecy) as that is being told as His people travel THROUGH these 4 kingdoms. The kingdoms, their kings and conflicts are not the story. This is the storyline of how God reveals His plan of salvation by the coming of His Messiah. If you look for Him in these prophecies you will find Him. If you look to match these actors and events in Daniel, you will be able to find some that certainly match to those in our history books. But God is purposefully giving us these very easily identifiable actors and kingdoms to ensure we can follow His prophecies- as His people travel through them and recognize the time of His coming.
There are only 3 parts of this prophecy that must be unpacked:
1) what is the purpose of the prophecy? This is very clear- to cleanse the Sanctuary. So one must ask themselves how is the Sanctuary cleansed? That can be easily found in Leviticus. Now, once that is understood, it should be clear it cannot be accomplished by the destruction of the Temple or the Sanctuary! It can only be cleansed by the “blood.” And if the Levitical ceremonies were a “type” of the “fulfillments” of the coming Messiah, then it must speak to His mission.
2) because God gave us the UNIQUE qualifier of “evenings and mornings,” this prophecy can ONLY be discussing the “daily” sacrifices at 9AM and 3PM each day. And we should not need to convert this time element to years or any other unit of measurement. It reveals this prophecy is within the removal of sin within the ceremonial rituals given to Moses by God.
3) So we have identified the “purpose” of this prophecy - to cleanse the Sanctuary of all sin. We have the time element given as 2300 literal days, and now the only remaining item to address is when will this prophecy be fulfilled? And the ONLY answer to that is to look to the ONLY one who could fulfill that - it is the Messiah. And the 70 weeks of years prophecy provides us with the prophecy this specific time element and purpose can be identified.
There is a long term “vision” given by Gabriel in Daniel. It is called the “Chazon” vision (although in our translated Bibles, all use only the word “vision.” This covers the prophetic period from 457 BC (start of the 70 weeks prophecy) to His second coming. The next vision is found in Chapter 8 where it will be Jesus Himself who gives Daniel the 2300 days prophecy. This is termed then “Mareh” vision because it is a short term vision as opposed to the long term “Chazon” vision. It is a “appearance type vision, or a “sight” vision. And this is perfectly suited to speak to the “sight or appearance” of the coming Messiah. Gabriel asks God a series of questions but Jesus does not respond to Gabriel but speaks specifically to the “cleansing of the Sanctuary.” That was not what Gabriel was asking Him. Gabriel would soon be given the 70 weeks of years prophecy that would address his questions and he would give them to Daniel.
Then, in Chapter 9, Gabriel gives Daniel the 70 weeks of years prophecy.
So, the “Chazon” vision is from 457 BC to His second coming. The 70 weeks of years prophecy is from 457 BC to 33/34 AD (literal 490 years). And the “Mareh” vision is found to take place WITHIN the 70 weeks of years prophecy. Specifically, it will take place WITHIN the last week of the 70 weeks of years prophecy when the Messiah will arrive on the first day of this 70th week to begin His ministry. This final 7 years were set aside by God for His Messiah to complete His mission (9:24) and set up His church. Only Jesus could “cleanse the Sanctuary.”
If you look at the many prophecies in Daniel, they all point to God’s coming Messiah. The 2300 days prophecy, the 1290 and 1335 days prophecy are all speaking to the Messiah- not a physical thing. The “time, times, and 1/2 time” prophecy is speaking about His Word. And the “7 times” prophecy in Chapter 4 is “days” not years.
Having said all of this, I would ask that you might interpret these 2300 (literal days) to the mission given to Jesus to fulfill during the last week of the 70 weeks of years prophecy! What was He asked to do by God regarding the cleansing of the Sanctuary?
Sorry my SDA folks, this prophecy WAS fulfilled by Jesus during the last week. And to another important point, the purpose of Stephen was NOT to mark the last 3.5 years of the final week to a close. He was martyred after the cross but he was not to play a part IN THE MAREH VISION - It was Jesus alone who would fulfill 9:24.
But God did give Stephen a more important mission of his own/ when He was stoned, he looked up and saw Jesus standing beside the Father. This was purposeful! It was to confirm that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross as our Passover Lamb was indeed accepted by God - providing absolute proof the “heavenly Sanctuary” was cleansed by the sacrifice of Jesus…. On the cross, Jesus would call out, “It is finished.”
