Bible Prophecy Numbers:
The Writing on the Wall
Ch. 2j
Endnotes
"How Long?"
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ch. 2k
(notes)
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Endnotes (1-11) for Chapter Two
{1}
Perhaps the two witnesses at the banks of the river are the two witnesses of Revelation 11 since Revelation 11 flows out from the previous chapter
which in turn is a virtual repeat of Daniel 12 here under discussion?
And who are these "two witnesses"? This is a question that might as well be answered now since it has great bearing on the numbers.
They represent all those, before and after Christ, who have the Spirit of Christ and testify to the Christ by walking ideally in the footsteps of Moses and Elijah, however weakly that might be.
Will the "two witnesses" culminate in two literal personages at "the time of end"?
Likely. As said, the "two witnesses" are patterned after "Moses" and "Elijah," (Revelation 11; cf. Mal. 4:4-6). And we know that John the Baptist "came in the spirit and power of Elijah,"
(Luke 1:17; cf. Matt. 11:14); and we know that Jesus was that "prophet liken unto Moses," (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18) even as the Apostle Peter said: "For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your
God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me…" (Acts 3:22; cf. 7:37).
Therefore, just as John and Jesus are explicitly likened unto Elijah and Moses––thus it may be that two other literal persons ("witnesses") may arise "in the time of the end" who will likewise be comparable to Moses and Elijah. (Also
note "Zerubbabel" and "Joshua" of Zech. 4 with Revelation 1:4.)
But whatever happens, let us fix our eyes on "Jesus alone" as His Father commanded at the Mount of transfiguration, (Matt. 17:1-13; cf. 2Pet. 1:16-18).
{See next note too.}
{4}
"All countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was sore in all the earth"
(Genesis 41:57). The household of Israel entered Egypt and sojourned there "430 years," (Exodus 12:40, 41). They entered Egypt two years into the seven-year famine, i.e., in the spr. of 1876 BC (Genesis 45:6).
{5}
"Fall of Egypt" in the sense that "Egypt was ruined" by the plagues of Moses, (Exodus
10:7); or as Isaiah puts it, "Rehab" (Egypt) was "cut to pieces," (Isaiah 51:9-10).
{6}
Steve Gregg in his parallel commentary on the four main Protestant views of Revelation lists a number of outstanding theologians who have held the
"historicist" view. (The "historicist" regards the Book of Revelation as a survey of the whole of Church history. Personally, I find that all four views compliment one another.)
Concerning the historicist view, Gregg says: "A unique characteristic of this line of interpretation is its advocacy of what is called the "year-for-a-day principle."’" He lists the following among the adherents of this view:
"John Wycliffe, John Knox, William Tyndale, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, Phillip Melanchthon, Sir Isaac Newton, Jan Huss, John Foxe, John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Charles Finney, C. H. Spurgeon, Matthew Henry, Adam
Clarke, Albert Barnes, E. B. Elliot, H. Grattan Guinness, and Bishop Thomas Newton." (S. Gregg, "Revelation: Four Views," Nashville: Thomas Nelson Pub, 1997, p. 34.)
{7}
Daniel 9:27 divides the last "week" of the full "seventy-weeks" in half (i.e., one
week = 3½ + 3½ days). In Daniel’s subsequent vision, this half-a-week is specified as "1290 days"––equaling 3½ years, (Daniel12:11,12). Thus, half a "week" converts to "3½ years."
Revelation 11:3,9 brings this out most clearly. After they prophesy 1260 days (i.e., 3½ years), the two witnesses are put to death but rise again 3½ days later––thus placing years in direct parallel with days. What
we have here evidently, is a narrowing down "like birth pains" (Matt. 24:8,15) of the 3½ period––1260 years, (i.e., 3½ years of years) + 1260 days (i.e., 3½ years) + 3½ days.
The equivalence of "1290 days" (Daniel 12:11) with three cycles of Ezekiel's "430–day–years" further implies this day-year conversion; (i.e., 430 x 3 day-years implies 1290 day-years too).
{8}
The numbers "70," "40," and "65," are mere subparts of these primary numbers and therefore not
included in this list. The number "70" (Jeremiah 25:11,12; 29:10; Zech. 7:5) and "40" (Ezekiel 29:11-13 etc.) are explicitly identified in the Bible as subparts of the major numbers "490" (Daniel 9:2,24) and "430" (Ezekiel
4:6).
Likewise, "seven-years" is a subpart of the "490" (Daniel 9:27), and is divided in half as 3½ + 3½ years, which in turn is the same as 1260 days (Revelation 11:3; 12:6) + 1290 days (Daniel 12:11), etc.
The number "65" is mentioned only once in the Bible (Isaiah 7:8) and is part of the "390" (which in turn belongs to the "430"). The "65" is 390 divided by 6. It will be looked at much later.
Eventually, however, it will be observed that even the major bible prophecy numbers are related to one another like a giant jigsaw puzzle!
{9}
It is generally believed that the "2300 evenings and mornings" was
fulfilled when Antiochus Epiphanies ("a little horn," Daniel 8:9) desecrated the temple, which remained defiled exactly 3 years [Kislev 25 (Dec.), 168 BC, to Kislev 25, 165 BC]. Jews today celebrate the temples restoration with The Feast of Hanukkah,
mentioned in John 10:22.
Because this 3–year desecration lasted a little less than the specified 1150 days (i.e., Daniel 8:14), it is presumed by many that the missing two months be due to Antiochus having removed the Lord’s altar shortly before he desecrated it, (and thereby
removing "the evening and morning" sacrifices too). Thus, we compute the 1150 days as 70 days (without sacrifices) plus 3 x 360 days (without sacrifices and defiled as well) = 1150 days. (The "360"-days-in-a-year is the standard year of the
prophets. Compare the "70" here with the previous endnote).
{10}
E.g., The Good News Bible reads "1150 days."
The dividing of the nearly seven years ("2300 days") in half (i.e., 1150 days), accords well with the dividing of the seven years ("week") of Daniel 9:27 (i.e., 1260 x 2). To be consistent, the dividing of the one number necessitates the
dividing of the other, even without the textual clue to the same, (viz. "evenings and mornings" of sacrifices).
Furthermore, since the "2300" of Antiochus (see previous note) is understood by scholars to be the Bible-Prophecy archetype of the coming antichrist (whose career shall last one-half of seven years, Revelation 13:5), surely then, the 2300 should
likewise be halved––which in any case agrees with the actual historic length of Antiochus’ desolation, about 1150 days.
Also, compare the striking similarity between the 2300 of Daniel 8:13,14 with that of "the dividing of a ‘seven’" of Daniel 9:27––the accounts are virtually the same! Therefore, the number, context, historical fulfillment, and parallel
textual study, all validate the optional dividing of the 2300 in half.
{11}
This "rough" margin is in keeping with the current margin of 1335 days established in Daniel 12:12. I.e., "1335 days" are in excess
of an exact 3½ years (i.e., 1260 days) almost as much as the "1150" are short. ( Also see previous endnote).
To remaining endnotes for this chapter