Read Daniel 9:23. What specific instruction does the angel give to Daniel? Why is this significant in understanding the meaning of the cleansing of the sanctuary in Daniel 8:14?

The angel plainly instructed Daniel to “consider the matter, and understand the vision” (Daniel 9:23, NKJV). What matter, and what vision? Because there is no vision recorded in Daniel 9:1-27, the angel Gabriel must be speaking of the portion of the vision in Daniel 8:1-27 that the prophet did not understand — the vision of the 2,300 days (Daniel 8:27).

Gabriel continues in Daniel 9:24-27. What events in the life and ministry of Jesus is this talking about?

Image © Review and Herald Publishing collection at GoodSalt.com

The first portion of this prophecy relates to God’s people, the Jews. “Seventy weeks are determined for your people” — the Jewish nation (Daniel 9:24, NKJV). In Bible prophecy, one prophetic day equals one literal prophetic year (Ezekiel 4:6, Numbers 14:34). In Daniel and Revelation when you have symbolic imagery, you usually have a symbolic time prophecy, as well. One of the ways we can be certain that the day-year principle of prophecy applies here is that when we use it in Daniel’s prophecy, each event on the time line comes out perfectly (see tomorrow’s lesson). If we apply this principle, 70 weeks are composed of 490 days. Since one prophetic day equals one literal year, 490 days are 490 literal years.

Gabriel tells Daniel that 490 years are “cut off” (the literal meaning of the Hebrew word chathak, sometimes translated “determined”). Cut off from what? It could be the only other time prophecy alluded to here: the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:14. These 490 years, a time prophecy, is directly linked back to the time prophecy of Daniel 8:14, the only part of the vision left unexplained in Daniel 8:1-27 and the only time prophecy in Daniel 8:1-27, as well. Thus, we can see that Gabriel with this prophecy is coming to help Daniel understand what he didn’t understand in the previous chapter: the 2,300 days.

<–Monday Wednesday–>

Amen!(1)

The post Tuesday: The Angel’s Instruction to Daniel appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/tuesday-angels-instruction-to-daniel/

Read Daniel 8:17, Daniel 8:19, Daniel 8:26. What time period does the angel declare that the vision of Daniel 8:1-27 and the 2,300 days apply to, and why is that important to understand?

Some argue that the 2300 days are literal days.

Image © Philippians McKay at Goodsalt.com

They also believe that this little horn of Daniel 8:1-27 applies to the Seleucid military leader Antiochus Epiphanes (216 B.C. – 164 B.C.), who attacked Jerusalem and defiled the Jewish temple, even though 2,300 days does not fit even his time frame. This interpretation, however, is contrary to the angel’s clear instruction that the vision applies to the “time of the end.” Antiochus certainly did not live at the time of the end.

In Daniel 8:1-27, Gabriel begins his explanation of the 2,300-day prophecy. He names the ram as representing Media-Persia and the male goat as representing Greece (Daniel 8:20-21). Though not named, as were the two powers before it, the next entity, the little horn, is obviously Rome (Daniel 8:9, Daniel 8:23-24). He then depicts a kind of religio-political phase of Rome, which would “cast down the truth to the ground” (Daniel 8:10-12, Daniel 8:25) and interfere with Christ’s heavenly ministry (Daniel 8:10-12). The cleansing of the sanctuary in Daniel 8:14, the climax of the chapter, is God’s answer to the challenge of earthly and religious powers that have attempted to usurp the authority of God. It is part of God’s divine solution to the sin problem.

Gabriel is ready to explain the details in God’s prophetic timetable. At the end of Daniel 8:1-27, we can clearly see that Daniel did not understand the part of the vision about the 2300 days (Daniel 8:27). The earlier part about the ram, the goat, and the little horn had all been explained, even with the first two powers outright identified by name (Daniel 8:20-21). The cleansing of the sanctuary was, however, not explained.

The angel Gabriel, who appeared in Daniel 8:1-27, appears now in Daniel 9:1-27 and says to him: “At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision“ (Daniel 9:23, NKJV). What vision? As we will see tomorrow, the vision of the 2,300 days, the only part of the previous vision, in Daniel 8:1-27, that he hadn’t explained yet to Daniel.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

Amen!(0)

The post Monday: The 2,300 Days and the End Time appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/monday-2300-days-and-end-time/