WHEN IN HISTORY?
The pronouncement, “the hour of His judgment has come” emphasizes the arrival of a specific historical "hour" that will determine the eternal destiny of mankind. When in human history does this “hour of His judgment” take place? This message does not specify, but the fulfillment of other prophecies enables those who live in the time of the judgment to know that they have arrived at that critical time.
In chapter four this same judgment was introduced with the words, “Behold, a door standing open in heaven” (Revelation 4:1). There we saw that the open door referred to the door into the Holy of Holies in the heavenly sanctuary which Jesus, our great High Priest, enters on the Day of Atonement. The only other place where this exact Greek phrase for open door is used is in the message to the Philadelphia Church (“I have set before you an open door” Revelation 3:8). This links the beginning of the(“I have set before you an open door” Revelation 3:8). This links the beginning of the Day of Atonement (the judgment) to the
This same judgment was the focus of the vision of Daniel 7, “The court was seated and the books were opened” (Daniel 7:10). Daniel saw four beasts arising from the sea, representing the world empires that would oppress God’s people through history (See 13: The Wild Animals of Daniel 7). Out of the fourth beast came a “little horn” that became large and aggressive and persecuted God’s people. Daniel described this oppressive reign: “He [the little horn] shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time” [2] (Daniel 7:25). In previous chapters[3] we have seen that this represents the 1,260 years of papal oppression during the Middle Ages that began in the early 6th century and lasted until the end of the 18th century. But after this period “the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it forever, then the kingdom and dominion… shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High” (Daniel 7:27). In other words, the investigative judgment would take place in the 19th century after the 1,260 years of papal oppression were over. Again the time frame of the
An even more specific date can be calculated from the prophecy of the 2,300 days of Daniel 8. The vision of Daniel 8 is parallel to that of Daniel 7, showing the succession of empires that subjugated God’s people, but focusing on the oppressive papal reign of the Middle Ages. Daniel saw a ram that symbolized the
The context of chapter 8 is the rise and fall of empires from Daniel’s day until the time of the end. This shows that the 2,300 days are prophetic days, each of which stands for a year. [5] But in chapter 8 no starting point was given for the 2,300 years. The angel Gabriel came to explain the vision in chapter 8, but Daniel was so overwhelmed that he could not understand all of it. Specifically, he did not understand the significance of the 2,300 days. Gabriel returned in chapter 9 to finish his explanation. He did so by stating that 70 prophetic weeks (490 years) were “cut off” or designated for Daniel’s people, the Jews. The 490 years were cut off from the longer 2,300-year period. This period of probation for the Jews would end with the Messiah (Jesus).[6]
The beginning of both the 490 years and the 2,300 years would be “the command to restore and build
The following illustrations show the relationship between the prophecies of Daniel 7 and Daniel 8 and between the 70 Weeks of Daniel 9 and the 2300 days of Daniel 8.
Continue to next section: DIAGRAMS: DANIEL 7 AND 8, 70 WEEKS, 2300 DAYS
[1] See 3:
[2] This time period is the same as the “one thousand two hundred and sixty days” of Revelation 13:6 and the “forty two months” of Revelation 11:2. A time is a year, times is two years and half a time is half a year. The Hebrew year was 360 days, so this equaled 1260 prophetic days, a day representing a year.
[4] Many commentators interpret the little horn as Antiochus Epiphanes, a Syrian king who ruled from 175-164 BC. See 3: The Day of Atonement, 2300 Days, footnote for an analysis of the Antiochus theory.
[5] The day-for-a-year principle is obvious from the prophecies of Daniel. For example, the seventy weeks (490 days) of Daniel 9 was to start with “the command to restore and build Jerusalem” (which was in 457 BC) and would extend “until Messiah the Prince” [Jesus] (Daniel 9:25). The prophecy of 2,300 days in chapter 8 began with “the kings of Media and
[6] For an explanation of the 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel 9 see Appendix 4: The Secret Rapture.
[7] For a discussion of the decree to rebuild