AND HE SAID UNTO ME, UNTO TWO THOUSAND AND THREE HUNDRED DAYS; THEN SHALL THE SANCTUARY BE CLEANSED.

Daniel 8:14!1

THE 490 YEARS ARE CUT FROM THE 2300 TIME SPAN.

!2

!3

The burden of Christ’s preaching was, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe the

gospel.” Thus the gospel message, as given by the Saviour Himself, was based on the prophecies. The “time” which He declared to be fulfilled was the period made known by the

angel Gabriel to Daniel. “Seventy weeks,” said the angel, “are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make

reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to

anoint the most holy.” Daniel 9:24. (DA 233.1)

!4

For seven years after the Saviour entered on His ministry, the gospel was to be preached especially to the Jews; for three and a half

years by Christ Himself; and afterward by the apostles. (DA 233.2)

!5

“In the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” Daniel 9:27. In the spring of

A. D. 31, Christ the true sacrifice was offered on Calvary. Then the veil of the temple was rent in twain,

showing that the sacredness and significance of the sacrificial service had departed. The time had come for the earthly sacrifice and oblation to cease. (DA 233.2)

THE STARTING DATE

!6

Daniel 8:14

Daniel 9:19–23!7

!8

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and

threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. (Daniel 9:27)

There are three decrees in Ezra.  The first is Ezra 1:1–4.  This is a decree of Cyrus that the Jews can go back to Judah and Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.  This decree is about 537 BC.  There is no mention of re-building the city.

The second decree is that of Darius in Ezra 6:1–12.  This comes from about 518 BC.  It is essentially a renewal of Cyrus’ decree to rebuild the temple, not the city.

The third decree in Ezra is that of Artaxerxes in Ezra 7:11–28.  This is a decree to rebuild the city.  The decree comes from the seventh year of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:8).  We date this to 457 BC, and it resulted in the rebuilding of Jerusalem under Nehemiah.

!9

Daniel 8:14

Daniel 9:19–23!10

457 BC Daniel 9:27

Ezra 7

!11

A day in prophecy stands for a year. See Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6. The seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety days, represent four hundred

and ninety years. A starting point for this period is given: “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the

commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks,” sixty-nine

weeks, or four hundred and eighty-three years. Daniel 9:25. The commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, as completed by the

decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus (see Ezra 6:14; 7:1, 9, margin), went into effect in the autumn of B. C. 457. From this time four hundred and eighty-three years extend to the autumn of A. D. 27. According to the

prophecy, this period was to reach to the Messiah, the Anointed One. In A. D. 27, Jesus at His baptism received the anointing of the Holy Spirit,

and soon afterward began His ministry. Then the message was proclaimed. “The time is fulfilled.” (DA 233.1)

!12

The time of Christ’s coming, His anointing by the Holy Spirit, His death, and the giving of the gospel to the Gentiles, were

definitely pointed out. It was the privilege of the Jewish people to understand these prophecies, and to recognize their

fulfillment in the mission of Jesus. Christ urged upon His disciples the importance of prophetic study. Referring to the

prophecy given to Daniel in regard to their time, He said, “Whoso readeth, let him understand.” Matthew 24:15. After His resurrection He explained to the disciples in “all the prophets” “the things concerning Himself.” Luke 24:27. The Saviour had

spoken through all the prophets. “The Spirit of Christ which was in them” “testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and

the glory that should follow.” 1 Peter 1:11. (DA 234.1)

!13

The light that Daniel received direct from God was given especially for these last days. The visions he saw by the banks of the Ulai and the Hiddekel, the great rivers of

Shinar, are now in process of fulfillment, and all the events foretold will soon have come to pass (Letter 57, 1896).

(4BC 1166.5)

!14

The one week—seven years—ended in A. D. 34. Then by the stoning of Stephen the Jews finally sealed their rejection of

the gospel; the disciples who were scattered abroad by persecution “went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts

8:4); and shortly after, Saul the persecutor was converted, and became Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. (DA 233.3)

!15

It was Gabriel, the angel next in rank to the Son of God, who came with the divine message to Daniel. It was Gabriel, “His angel,” whom Christ sent to open the future to the beloved John; and a blessing is pronounced on those who read and

hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things written therein. Revelation 1:3. (DA 234.2)

!16

As the message of Christ’s first advent announced the kingdom of His grace, so the message of His second advent announces the kingdom of

His glory. And the second message, like the first, is based on the prophecies. The words of the angel to Daniel relating to the last days

were to be understood in the time of the end. At that time, “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” “The wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall

understand.” Daniel 12:4, 10. The Saviour Himself has given signs of His coming, and He says, “When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” “And take heed to yourselves,

lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be

accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21:31, 34, 36. (DA 234.4)

!17

We have reached the period foretold in these scriptures. The time of the end is come, the visions of the prophets are

unsealed, and their solemn warnings point us to our Lord’s coming in glory as near at hand. (DA 235.1)

S0…

Daniel saw the mareh of Daniel 8, during which he heard the announcement of the 2300 days (8:26), he was faint, sick, and astonished at the mareh (v. 27) and did not understand it; and Gabriel came to give him understanding of the mareh (9:23) because he was greatly beloved.

Daniel 9:23

!18

!19

Inasmuch as the 70 weeks, or 490 years, are part of the longer period of 2300 years, and inasmuch as the first 490 years of the period extend to the autumn of A.D. 34, it is possible to calculate the ending date of the 2300 years. Adding the remaining 1810 years of the 2300 years to A.D. 34 brings us to the autumn of 1844 as the time when the heavenly sanctuary would

be “cleansed.” (SDA BC)

!20

GERHARD HASEL

Masculine plural form of the noun “weeks”—šābûa means week. Adding “im” to it makes it plural. (šābûa-im)

The masculine plural ending -im is not used outside the book of Daniel in the OT as a plural for šābûa “week.” The plural for “weeks” elsewhere in the OT employs the -ot form, [šābûa-ot], the feminine plural termination

This word [šābûa-im] stands in first position in the Hebrew sentence of Dan 9:24, that is, it stands before the numeral “seventy," seemingly for emphasis.

!21

!22

“Sometimes a word out of its normal order is used to emphasis it by drawing attention to it. (“Emphasis in

Biblical Hebrew” at The Paraclete Forum Archive, http://paracleteforum.org/archive/email/bible/hebrew_emphasis/

dialogue.html)

!23

Furthermore, on the basis of Hebrew grammar and syntax and the specific usage of the masculine plural ending of the double-gender noun under discussion, it is a given

that the period of “seventy weeks” is limited in chronological time and cannot be stretched into

something indefinite in historical time. It is inappropriate . . . to separate the sum total of the “seventy-week” period

of time into sixty-nine weeks that are continuous and a last week that is separated from them by a “gap,”

“parenthesis,” or some other time element which places the seventieth week in the future. (GERHARD F. HASEL, “THE

HEBREW MASCULINE PLURAL FOR “WEEKS” IN THE EXPRESSION “SEVENTY WEEKS” IN DANIEL 9:24; https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f968/

e64d92c9411482a145643d9efd5784423ee2.pdf)

!24

In conclusion, on the basis of our observations concerning the grammar, syntax, and function of the Hebrew language

as manifested in double-gender nouns, we have a better grasp of the true intentionality of the “seventy weeks” as

signifying an uninterrupted chronological time unit whose sum total is determined by God and is to be “cut off” for the people of Israel and the holy city. This period of time

stands for 490 years of historical time, as has been the consensus of interpreters for centuries. (GERHARD F. HASEL, “THE

HEBREW MASCULINE PLURAL FOR “WEEKS” IN THE EXPRESSION “SEVENTY WEEKS” IN DANIEL 9:24; https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f968/

e64d92c9411482a145643d9efd5784423ee2.pdf)