From: towfiq@justice.UUCP (Mark Towfiq)
Date: 24 Jan 93 10:07:49
Organization: Towfiq System
In-reply-to: Steven Timm's message of Fri, 22 Jan 1993 19:32:55 -0500 
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc,alt.messianic
Subject: Re: Daniel's Prophecy and the 360 day year (was Re: Length of years)
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Distribution: world

>>>>> On Fri, 22 Jan 1993 19:32:55 -0500 , Steven Timm
>>>>> <st0o+@andrew.cmu.edu> said:

st> For all these reasons and more, it seems most straightforward to
st> just count calendar years when dealing with prophetic years (and I
st> believe he and I agree that the "seventy weeks" of Daniel
st> represent seventy weeks of years.)  If you start in 457 BC when
st> the decree was given to restore and build Jerusalem, the last week
st> ends in 34AD because there is no zero year.

  That's really good.  Now, what about extending this reasoning to the
other periods of time Daniel mentions?

  In the eighth chapter of the Book of Daniel, verse thirteen, it
says: 

    Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that
    certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning
    the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give
    both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?

  Then he answered (v. 14): "Unto two thousand and three hundred days;
then shall the sanctuary be cleansed"; (v. 17) "But he said unto
me.... at the time of the end shall be the vision."  In other words,
how long will this misfortune, this ruin, this abasement and
degradation last?  Then he answered, "Two thousand and three hundred
days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."

  Using the same logic as was used above, these 2300 days really refer
to 2300 years.  So 2300 years after the date of the issuing of the
edict of Artaxerxes to rebuild Jerusalem brings us to 1844 A.D.  That
is to say, the fulfillment of the vision of Daniel took place in that
year.

  In Matthew, chapter 24, verse 3, Christ clearly says that what
Daniel meant by this prophecy was the date of his return:

    As He sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him
    privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be?  and what
    shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?

  One of the explanations He gave them in reply was this (v. 15):
"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of
by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let
him understand)."  In this answer He referred them to the eighth
chapter of the Book of Daniel, saying that everyone who reads it will
understand that it is this time that is spoken of.

  Some may also find it interesting that 1844 A.D. is the year 1260 in
the Muslim calendar (A.H.), and this number (1260) is mentioned in
many places in the Book of Revelation, alternately as 43 weeks, 1260
days, and "a time, times, and a half" (= 1 + 2 + 1/2 = 3 1/2, and 3.5
x 360 days in a year is 1260 days).

  I should now tell you that 1844 A.D. is the year the Bab declared
His Mission, coinciding with the actual text of the Book of Daniel.
You may not know who the Bab (which means "gate") is, but I encourage
you to find out, considering how clearly the manifestation of the Bab
is spoken of in the Old Testament and in the Gospel.
--
Mark Towfiq				towfiq%justice@eingedi.newton.ma.us

"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens" -- Baha'u'llah