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Daniel 12:11-12: From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days. (NIV)
What do the 1290 and 1335 days mean in these verses? Do they refer to the "great tribulation" that is yet to come?
My goal here is not to answer or even attempt to answer those interpretations that are based on hermeneutics such as amillennialism or other eclectic systems of eschatology. It is to affirm a consistently literal hermeneutic.
The immediate context of Dan. 12:11-12 is Daniel 12:9-13, which comes after Daniel's question in Dan. 12:8.This places the larger context as beginning in Dan. 12:1. This helps a great deal because it gives a great deal of information about the time period being referred to in Dan. 12:11-12.
1) For Daniel there would be a future period that is described as unique in its ferocity (Dan. 12:1). "There shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation."
2) That time period with be marked by the deliverance of Daniel's people Israel ("thy people" mentioned twice in Dan. 12:1).
3) Following the time of trouble there will be partial resurrection and a judgment that will follow for those who have been resurrected. The Hebrew term rab (rendered here as "many") serves to limit the number of those who will be resurrected, as there are terms such as kōl that expresses the concept of totality, meaning all or everyone had it been used in the context of Dan. 12:2. The "thy people" people of verse also limits this resurrection to the people of Israel. Incidentally this is a strong argument, along with Isaiah 26 and 1 Thess. 4:13-17 against the idea of a single general resurrection of both the saved and the lost.
4) Michael the archangel limits these events to the "time of the end." This would prohibit this from having already taken place (from our perspective) when Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the temple in 167 BC or in 70 AD at the hands of the Romans.
5) Daniel 12:5-13 is linked to Dan. 12:1-4 by the question made by one of the two men Daniel saw in Dan. 12:6, "How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?"
6) The man clothed in white linen describes the time of the end, which was earlier called the "time of trouble" as a time period that extends for "it shall be for a time, times, and an half." Some like myself suggest that this is defined elsewhere as 3 1/2 years. There are a number of passages that describe a period of 3 1/2 years:(Dan. 7:25; Dan. 12:7; Rev. 11:2; Rev. 12:6, 14; Rev. 13:5;).
7) In Dan. 12:11 there are two events that are actually distinct that are often put together in terms of time:(1) the daily sacrifice will be taken away, and (2) there will be an "abomination that maketh desolate." If there is a split in time between these two events this may partially explain the differences in days that are found in the various passages. Some of the dates are counted from the stopping of the sacrifices and others from the desecration of the temple.
8) One of the events in Dan. 12:11 is the "abomination that maketh desolate" which is commonly called the abomination of desolation. In Matthew 24:15, Jesus refers to a future event that he calls "abomination of desolation" and even adds that this was previously spoken by the prophet Daniel. So in 33 AD Jesus said that Daniel 12:11 would be fulfilled in the future. This prohibits this from having been fulfilled in 167 BC at the hands of Antiochus Epiphanes, unless one calls Jesus a liar or they deny that Jesus actually spoke those words. Since I hold to the doctrine of inspiration and inerrancy that is simply not possible. As already noted in Daniel 12:1-4 this period is followed by a resurrection so that prohibits assigning this to 70 AD as well (see the next point).
9) To assign Matthew 24:15 and with it Dan. 12:11 to 70 AD requires a couple of problems. The events described in the larger context of Matthew 24:4-14 must be spirtualized or ignored. There would be a time when a great number of wars and rumors of wars are taking place. The context of the Jewish rebellion doesn't fit this description. These wars will involve many nations, not the two nations of Rome and Israel that were present in the Jewish rebellion of 70 AD. A great deal of physical judgments will come in the form of "famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places," all suggesting a larger context than the narrow context surrounding Jerusalem in 70 AD.
10) The strongest argument for a yet still future time period is the description that follows Matthew 24:15 in Matthew 24:16-31. The abomination of desolation marks the beginning of a period not the end of it. The temple is destroyed at the end of the siege of Jerusalem and therefore it would have made no sense for Jesus to tell people to flee once they saw the abomination. In 70 AD it would have been too late, the Romans had by then already surrounded and destroyed the city. Jesus (Matt. 24:21) also calls this a period of unequal ferocity with the added phrase that it will occur once -- οὐδʼ οὐ μὴ γένηται (and never will be). While the events of 70 AD were terrible in their ferocity and suffering we have seen numerous times where the suffering has far exceeded the events of 70 AD. Once again, to make Dan. 12:11 as having taken place in 70 AD requires the idea that Jesus was wrong when he said there would never again be a time period as horrific as the "Great Tribulation."
11) The events of Matthew 24:4-14 actually have a great deal of similarity with the initial judgments of Rev. 6, where they are just summarized in Matthew and then given more details in the judgments of Revelation. This is one of the weaker arguments here, which is why it was added later.
Therefore, I would conclude that Daniel 12:1-13 is coincides with the time period known as the Great Tribulation and the events right after the tribulation. As there are events that will happen upon His second coming, such as the sheep and goat judgment this too may explain some of the differences in the number of days. There are quite a few other passages that could also be used to show the consistency in Scripture of describing a future time period. In the context of those passages are descriptions of other events that when taken literally can only be seen as a yet future event. As it is this is a very long answer so I will leave the rest for another day.
In short a possible explanation, sacrifices stop at the destruction of the temple 600 bc, 1290 days = 1290 years, then the building of the abomination - dome of the rock build in Jesusalem on the holy place 691 ad (year zero is the mission 1), then from the dome of the rock it is 1,335 (1335 years) to 2026 (return of christ)
Context, Context! The plain answer to this question is made manifest by consideration of the context in which these numbers appear. By contrast, we note that Daniel 8 prophesied of the Persian and Greek eras of Israeli history. The angel interpreted that for us, so no mystery there. And the mean dude of the Dioduchi, Antiochus Epiphanes, a Seleucid, is described with his persecution lasting 2300 days. It was concluded by the Rededication of the Temple by Judas Maccabee, and that day became the Jewish Festival of Lights (John 10:22).
Daniel 11-12 The number of days in this query are set in a prophetic history that covers the entire SECOND TEMPLE ERA of Judaism. It relates the Persian kings...to the conquest of Alexander the Great...to the break-up of that empire into the Diodochi...to the rise of Antiochus Epiphanes and the Maccabees...to the Roman conquest of the East...to Herod the Great...to the final Destruction of Judea by the Roman generals and the Zealots!
Some of the final verses in this vast prophecy are referred to by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse (Dan. 12:1,11; Matt.24:15,21). The interpretation, then, of these number of days must fit into this first century time period (the End of the Second Temple Era).
Abomination of Desolation According to the synoptic section in Luke, the Abomination of Desolation (...that makes desolate) was the Roman Legions (Luke 21:20). And the number of Days that those armies tromped up and down the land of Judea was 1290! Recall that Jesus warned His disciples to flee JUDEA, not just Jerusalem. This devastation was wide-spread with villages being torched in Galilee, Perea, Samaria, and Judea proper, with supply lines cut off from Jerusalem. When the soldiers finally besieged Jerusalem their fate was sealed, literally! All of this time period, with dates, is recorded by ay an eye-witness Jewish general, Flavius Josephus, who had been captured.
The 1335th Day The city of Jerusalem had its three defensive walls breached. The inhabitants were slaughtered. The Temple was burned and torn down just like Jesus said. Everything was trampled down...EXCEPT for a Herodian palace in the Upper City where the last Jews barricaded themselves and refused to surrender. It is estimated that they had plenty of water and food supplies to last for an indeterminant period of time. The walls were so thick the Roman General, Titus, decided to wait it out.
But amazingly, the remaining Zealots opened the gates on the 1335th day of this war! Note the remarks of Josephus's history concerning Titus's surprise:
Now when Titus came into this (upper city), he admired not only some other places of strength in it, but particularly those strong towers which the tyrants in their bad conduct had relinquished; for when he saw their altitude, and the largeness of their several stones, and the exactness of their joints, and also how great was their breadth, and how extensive their length, he expressed himself...'We have certainly had God for our assistant in this war, and it was no other than God who ejected the Jews out of these fortifications; for what could the hands of man or any machine do towards overthrowing these towers?' (Wars, VI,9:1)
Note that if the tyrants had stayed in the fortress, the Roman Legions would have stayed around the territory and continued to massacre the Jewish people. The soldiers had seen the despicable display of gross inhumanity the Zealots committed on each other and innocent people, and they had no mercy for them. But as Jesus said, with the mysterious surrender, the killing would stop:
And except those days be shortened, there would no flesh be saved, but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. (Matthew 24:21-22)
Conclusion These days, 1290 and 1335, are seen fulfilled by recorded history. There is no need for guessing or speculation. They fit the time period required by the chapters 11-12...which end with the topic of the Ending of the Jewish Era. It is this same topic that Jesus dealt with in the first half of the Olivet Discourse, which Jesus said was to occur within that generation: 30-70 A.D.
So, NO, these days do not refer to any Great Tribulation at the End of the World. These Days prophesied, were fulfilled, to the day, in the first century! And they are important because they mark the End of the Old Testament economy, and the beginning of the fantastic Kingdom of God! (Hebrews 8:13, Luke 13:35, 16:16; actually the years 30-70 A.D. were transitioning times.)
{And these days are not referring to Antiochus Epiphanes. He is the topic of Daniel 8, and only part of chapter 11. The events of chapter 11 and 12 speak of a continuous history beyond Antiochus. ALSO, many do not see this continuous history because they cannot get a grasp on the imagery found in the verses 1-4 of chapter 12. But one must read as a Jew, not as a Shakespeare from England. E.g. compare John 5:24 and Eph. 2:1 concerning resurrection.}
They are related in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes IV.
He is the little horn of Daniel 7
He is listed in the kings of Daniel 11
https://www.neverthirsty.org/bible-studies/bible-book- studies-daniel/the-amazing-prophecies
Daniel describes various Anti-Christs (Against Christ) but in the period before Christ are the tyrants who raise against God's people. Each are a prototype of the man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12 coming in the endtimes. This period of the great tribulation will last the often specified period of 3 1/2 years or 42 months or here of about 1290 days.
In Daniel 12:11-12, 1290 days = 1150 days after daily sacrifices taken away + 140 days when abomination set up. 45 days later the temple is cleansed. Antiochus Epiphanes dies. These are the days of the Maccabean revolt.
167 – 164 BC, 2300 evening and morning sacrifices taken away (1150 days) by Antiochus Epiphanes (Daniel 8:14)
See Commentary on the Old Testament C F Kell Franz Delitzsch You can find this in a Google search "1290 days antiochus"
I have given a more in depth answer to a similar question : How should the 2300 evenings and mornings be understood in Daniel 8:13-14?
Another pointer to 2026 is based on the 70x7x7 Jubilee cycle that started when the 40 years in the wilderness ended in 1405 BC. That started a 7x7 Jubilee cycle n 70 of those brings us to 2026 in the fall.
691 is a definite number for the Dome of the Rock and the Ark was removed 599 BC by Jeremiah we believe (daily came to an end -see 1 Chronicles16:37) and was 1290 years exactly to 691. Then the 1335 brings us to 2026 in the fall.
Pray about that...
May this bless the wise https://youtu.be/uAZ6Ev9buNA
Understand the question https://www.evernote.com/shard/s421/nl/70769568/9471acc2-bc05-4e9c-9088-35ad5cf2b00b/
Professional answer very detailed https://www.evernote.com/shard/s421/nl/70769568/58e2a21b-24cc-494e-a963-809a60ab9884/
About the 2300 Prophecy https://www.evernote.com/shard/s421/nl/70769568/8ce361c9-d528-43d2-878c-e617e93af70d/
About the 70 week prophecy https://www.evernote.com/shard/s421/nl/70769568/8e1fdfc0-4383-4345-9e06-dca65cb847d8/
Lastly Daniel spoke to The Son of GOD https://www.evernote.com/shard/s421/nl/70769568/59509eab-7201-4110-849d-05af308863bf/
The numbers all have the same symmetry, we are so busy looking at these great riddles we simply forget that God's symmetry doesn't change in the middle of a passage. I came to understand what these numbers meant while doing an Exegesis of Dan. 11 and 12 where I studied who every king was and how they came to power i.e. the Palace intrigue.
In Daniel 12:1 we see that the time is at the very end, so its the 70th week. We also see that the man in linen {I think its Jesus} says that from the time the holy people's power is scattered {Jeusalem conquered} it will be 1260 days {time, times half} until all these wonders end. OK, well what ends these things Daniel was seeing? Well, the Second Coming of course would end all these things Daniel was shown.
So, the same question was asked by Daniel in verse 8, so why do we expect different symmetry by God there? Basically, we should know what it means, but not know what {at first anyway} the dates represent. The meanings both have to be the exact same as the first answer, how long until these wonders end, or as Daniel says, what are the end of these things. Daniel is then told that the Sacrifice will be taken away and the AoD placed in the temple at the 1290, which means it will happen 1290 days before the Second Coming. The 1335 is likewise an event that happens before both of these events, 1335 days before the Second Coming, its a blessing to Israel.
The problem is figuring out what these two events are, we know the 1290 can't be the Anti-Christ because he can only rule for 1260 days over Israel/Mediterranean Sea Region. So, instead of going through all my studies and what brought me to my conclusions, I will just tell you what these two events are.
The 1335 represents the Two-witnesses showing up {a Blessing} to turn Israel back unto God before the Day of the Lord (Malachi 4:5-6) and we know the DOTL is the 1260 event. Thus Israel has repented as the 70th-week prophecy prophesied would happen, the Jews are now worshipping their Messiah {at least 1/3 of them do, see Zechariah 13:8-9} and thus I would assume they are doing this in the temple of God. We see that 1/3 of the Jews repent and 2/3 refuse to repent and thus will be cut-off or perish.
So, in Israel, the Jewish High Priest {False Prophet} is the top dog in the temple. This man will be seething with anger that all these people are worshiping Jesus Christ in "their" Gods temple, so he will ban Jesus Worship at the 1290 event {TAKE AWAY THE Sacrifice/Jesus} and then out of spite place the E.U. Presidents image in the temple. This fits Rev. 13, it says the False Prophet places an image of the Beast in the temple and demands all men to worship the image.
So, when these Jews who have repented see this AoD sign they thus flee Judea and head to Petra as Matt. 24:15-17 calls for them to do. The sign thus gives the Jews a 30 day window to flee Judea, which also makes sense in two ways, 1. How else would the Jews know to flee Judea if they had not read Matt. 24 and if the Two-prophets had not preached unto them. 2. Why would God ever give a sign as the Jews were being conquered by the Anti-Christ? That just never made sense to me.
My studies on every King in Daniel and all the players therein led me to a man named Jason whose real name was Yeshua, he bribed Antiochus to become the Jewish high priest having his Pious brother Onias III killed, and he then tried to Hellenize the Jews leading to the Maccabean Revolt. That was the key moment for me, I realized Antiochus was a TYPE Anti-Christ, but I had also found his TYPE False Prophet in Jason and he was a Jewish High Priest, now does the Rev. 13 quote make more sense? He has two horns like a Lamb but speaks as a Dragon !! The future False Prophet, like Jason, will try to get the Jews to forsake their God also.
Great question, especially considering the end of these days is now upon us it would seem.
The meaning of these days is to tell us when “the end of the days” (last verse of Daniel i.e. 12:13) will be and they are “sealed till the time of the end.” (Daniel 12:9)
The important thing here is to establish the start of these days i.e. the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away (Daniel 12:11). Daniel I’m sure would have been well aware if the daily sacrifice had stopped prior to the destruction of the temple as there were communications back and forth between the captivity and the faithful in Jerusalem.
Gabriel, Scott and Michael’s answers I believe are close to the mark but Scott’s answer seems to me to be the closest except Scott doesn’t give evidence of the removal of the ark by Jeremiah in the year 599 BC.
I’m drawing upon Archbishop Ussher’s Annals and Josephus’ Antiquities and of course on the Bible itself.
The daily sacrifice being removed was probably not due to the destruction of the temple (which was circa 587 BC) but because of events prior to that.
There are 3 main stages to the captivity:-
After the battle of Carchemish, Nebuchadnezzar made an expedition to Jerusalem, as the newly appointed King of Babylon (because his father recently passed away after Carchemish). This was in the 3rd year of Jehoiakim’s reign (Daniel 1:1). Daniel and his fellow countrymen are taken as hostages so that Jehoiakim pays the tribute. This is 607 BC according to Ussher (Use the year to find the relevant sections in the Annals).
Some time later Jehoiakim decides to withhold the tribute (604 BC Annals) and Nebuchadnezzar lays siege and eventually captures Jerusalem (599 BC Annals). Jehoiakim is killed, Jeconiah (aka Jehoiachin) his son is made king by Nebuchadnezzar who “also took the principal persons in dignity for captives, three thousand in number, and led them away to Babylon. Among which was the Prophet Ezekiel” (Antiquities X-6-3 (Book X, Chapter 6, Paragraph 3)). Very soon after Nebuchadnezzar returned and “gave orders to his generals to take all that were in the city captives; both the youth, and the handycrafts men; and bring them bound to him: their number was ten thousand, eight hundred, thirty two: as also Jehoiachin, and his mother and friends. And when these were brought to him, he kept them in custody, and appointed Jehoiachin’s uncle Zedekiah to be King” (Antiquities X-7-1). Nebuchadnezzar also “took from there all the treasure, both of the temple and of the king's house. He broke in pieces all the golden vessels and furniture, which Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord, just as the Lord, Isa 39:6 had foretold” and “Among the captives was Mordecai of the tribe of Benjamin, the son of Jair, Es 2:5,6 and Ezekiel the priest” (599 BC Annals)
Zedekiah revolts and Nebuchadnezzar lays siege again, this time destroying the city and the temple (588 BC Annals).
It is likely that the daily sacrifice ended at the 2nd of these captivities for 3 reasons:-
So the start of these days is likely 599 BC. Add 1290 and 1335 to 599 BC and that brings you to 2026 AD approximately, “the end of the days”.
In these days when many forsake waiting upon God, “blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to … the end of the days”.
The passage in the question, which I will repeat to emphasize a key part:
“From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days!” (Dan 12:11-12)
refers to this passage about the 70th week within the prophecy of the 70 weeks previously revealed to Daniel by the angel Gabriel:
“And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” (Dan 9:27)
The book of Daniel assumes the same calendar that is assumed to be in effect up to, and during, the Flood in the Priestly narrative, namely one consisting of 30-days months in which an additional month is added every 6 years and a further additional half-month is added every 60 years, so that the average year length is 365.25 days. The plausibility of the last addition is clear: since 365.25 is 365;15 in sexagesimal notation, it is immediately evident for anyone using a base-60 numerical system that achieving an average year length of 365;15 days requires adding 15 additional days every 60 years. Thus, this calendar has regular years of 360 days, leap years of 390 days every 6 years (except the 60th) and extra-leap years of 405 days every 60 years.
The reason for the interval of 1290 days that may extend to 1335 days is that, since the intercalation cycle runs since Creation, unless you know the absolute number of a particular year since Creation, i.e. its AM value, you cannot know whether that year is regular, leap or extra-leap. Therefore, if you reckon the middle of a "week of years" on the basis of 3.5 regular years, i.e. as comprising 1260 days, there are 4 possible values for the number of days till the end of that "week of years", depending on the respective week's case:
6 regular + 1 leap: 6 · 360 + 390 = 2550 = 1260 + 1290 (Probability 3/4)
6 reg + 1 extra-leap: 6 · 360 + 405 = 2565 = 1260 + 1305 (Probability 1/12)
5 regular + 2 leap: 5 · 360 + 2 · 390 = 2580 = 1260 + 1320 (Probability 2/15)
5 reg + 1 leap + 1 extra-leap: 5 · 360 + 390 + 405 = 2595 = 1260 + 1335 (Probability 1/30)
Therefore, a priori there is a 75 % probability that the time from the middle of the week of years in question - reckoned by counting 1260 days from the week's beginning - to the end of that week will be 1290 days, but there is a 3.33 % probability that it will be 1335 days.
PD: For the calculation of the probability of each case see https://www.academia.edu/44143168/
Reading Gabriel's comments I found very interesting.
I thought Nebucadnezzar took Jerusalem in 586 BC and destroyed the temple in that year.
Add 1290 years to get to 704 which is 13 years after the Dome of the Rock was completed.
Add 1335 years to 704 and we get to 2039.
Yes I think Hosea 6:2 holds a key with 2000 years being added to Yahshua's crucifixion year which many believe was 31A.D based on historical record of Luke 3:1.
I believe the "after 2 days he will receive us" may refer to John the Baptist returning to prepare the way and fulfill the 2nd part of Malachi 4's prophecy to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers as he didn't do this in his first coming. Mark chapter 6 14-16 seems to prophesy that John will be raised from the dead.
So could it mean that he needs 8 years to prepare the way and awaken the descendants of the so called lost tribes of Israel out of their slumber and command them to repent of their sins and those that do will be raised up on the 3rd day as Hosea 6:2 says.
