“And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days” (Daniel 12:11, 12).
This language of the revealing angel, announcing two additional chronological periods, was obviously not intended for the Prophet’s benefit, particularly, but for the “wise” of the Lord’s people who would be living at the time when the closing events of the prophecy were being fulfilled. As Mr. Barnes truly observes, the period referred to was far distant from Daniel’s day.
“Important events were to intervene. The affairs of the world were to move on for ages before the ‘end’ should come. There would be scenes of revolution, commotion, and tumult — momentous changes before that consummation would be reached. But during that long interval Daniel would ‘rest.’ He would quietly and calmly ‘sleep in the dust of the earth’ — in the grave. He would be agitated by none of these troubles; disturbed by none of these changes for he would peacefully slumber in the hope of being awaked in the resurrection.”
There are probably no utterances in the whole range of prophecy that have been so closely studied and examined as these words of the revealing angel. Many and varied are the calculations that have been made. It is well known that one class of expositors interpret these time periods to mean literal days (instead of a day for a year) and apply them to an epoch prior to the Advent of Christ, to “the period when Antiochus by his military agent, Apollonius, took possession of Jerusalem and put a stop to the temple worship there.” Professor Stuart, who is of this class of expositors, refers to the historian’s account of the capture of Jerusalem by the agent of Antiochus in the year 168 BC, and the widespread devastation which ensued. Quoting the historian: “They shed innocent blood around the sanctuary and defiled the holy place; and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled away; the sanctuary thereof was made desolate; her feasts were turned into mourning, her sadness into reproach, and her honor into disgrace.” And it is the claim of this expositor that it is at this particular time that the “days” begin to count. The historian is further cited to show that a climax of this siege was reached when the death of Antiochus took place, approximately 1335 days from the time that Jerusalem was captured. Then Professor Stuart goes on to say, “No wonder that the angel pronounced those of the pious and believing Jews to be blessed, who lived to see such a day of deliverance.”
It seems unnecessary to go into any extended refutation of the above application of the prophetic periods. In the first place the events referred to in the life of Antiochus are not of sufficient importance to constitute a fulfilment and to correspond with the solemn manner in which the angel gave the announcement. As another has observed, if the persecutions and death of Antiochus were all that were intended to be referred to, the whole matter was entirely too meager to be worthy of such a formal and solemn revelation from God.
“In other words, if this was all, there was no correspondence between the importance of the events, and the solemn manner in which the terms of the communication were made. There was no such importance in these three periods as to make these separate disclosures necessary. If this were all, the statements were such indeed as might be made by a weak man attaching importance to trifles, but not such as would be made by an inspired angel professing to communicate great and momentous truths.”
Then when we consider further the fact that Daniel had just had communicated to him the history of human events from the days of the kingdom of Persia until the time of the standing up of Michael, at which time there would be marvelous and stupendous events, such as the resurrection of the dead and the punishment of the wicked, we must conclude that beyond question the angel’s solemn asseveration in these three announcements refers to something of far greater importance than anything that happened in the time of Antiochus. Mr. Barnes again very appropriately observes:
“The angel had his eye on three great and important epochs lying apparently far in the future, and constituting important periods in the history of the Church and the world. These were, respectively, composed of 1260, 1290, and 1335 prophetic days, that is years. Whether they had the same beginning or point of reckoning — termini a quo — and whether they would, as far as they would respectively extend, cover the same space of time, he does not inti- mate with any certainty, and, of course, if this is the correct view, it would be impossible now to determine, and the development is to be left to the times specified.”
There is another class of expositors who apply these periods to an epoch that is still future, and, like the class of expositors just mentioned, interpret the days to be literal. They look for a literal Antichrist, an individual man who, backed by the supernatural power of the Adversary, will cause all the world to fall at his feet for three and a half years, and who finally, after 1335 literal days, approximately three years and eight months, will be overwhelmed by the literal Advent of the Redeemer. As this view has already been alluded to in a previous chapter, and also in our exposition of the Book of Revelation, we will not use further space in examining it here.
Having investigated carefully and pondered well the writings of many expositors on this matter, we have not up to this time found any interpretation that will in all particulars meet all the requirements. In making this statement we of course refer to the chronological features alone. For as the prophecy indicates, the disclosures given to the Prophet in these verses regarding the end, show distinctly that the end of the things is not so revealed that men shall be able to know them with certainty until completely fulfilled.
In taking up the consideration of these time prophecies, we are reminded of the words of one who wrote in the early part of the nineteenth century:
“It is indeed no wonder that we cannot fully understand and explain these things: for as the angel said to Daniel himself, verses 4 and 9, though ‘many should run to and fro,’ should inquire and examine into these things, and thereby ‘knowledge should be increased’; yet the full understanding of them is reserved for the time of the end. As Prideaux judiciously observes, ‘It is the nature of such prophecies not to be thoroughly understood till they are thoroughly fulfilled.’ ”
In our examination of these chronological periods with which the prophecy of Daniel is concluded, we must take our stand on what has been abundantly proved by many godly and learned writers, and what we have also in our previous examination of the “day” time periods demonstrated to be the key and correct method of interpretation, namely that in symbolic prophecy a “day” is the symbol of a year, and a “time” of 360 years; and we need not enlarge upon this particular feature here.
It is of more than usual significance that those who understand these time features to be symbolical (that is, that the “days” or “times” are to be counted as years — “a time, times, and a half,” signifying 1260 years; 1290 days signifying 1290 years; and 1335 days, 1335 years), apply them to either one or the other of two great powers of evil, namely the great Papal Apostasy, or the great Mohammedan scourge. Indeed it must be admitted that each one of them occupies a place of prominence and importance in the Divine permission of evil, and in its relationship to the interests of God’s professed people, both fleshly and spiritual Israel, sufficient to be deserving of a reference by a revealing angel commissioned of God to make a revelation of future events or to make certain solemn statements concerning developments future from Daniel’s day.
We have seen in our study of the preceding chapters of Daniel’s prophecy, as well as of the Book of Revelation, that the Papacy in Western Europe, and Mohammedanism in Eastern Europe are distinctly referred to and are given great prominence; they are presented to us as the last forms of Gentile power that dominate during the period of the “times of the Gentiles.”
“They are symbolized by two ‘little horns,’ the one described in the seventh and the other in the eighth chapter of Daniel — two politico-religious dynasties which would exercise a vast and exceedingly evil influence in the latter half of this Gentile dispensation.”
Mr. Guinness’ question and answer in this connection are interesting:
“Does any one inquire why these two powers, the Papal and the Mohammedan, should occupy so prominent a position in the predictions of Scripture as regards this Gentile dispensation? The reply is easy. No power ever exercised on earth has proved, on the whole, so injurious to mankind and so antagonistic to the redeeming purposes of God, as the Papacy. Its reign has been long, its sphere has been wide, its power has been vast. It has usurped the headship of the Christian Church, and the titles and prerogatives of Deity. It has corrupted the Gospel, suppressed the Bible, and turned Christianity into a mere baptized heathenism. Idolatries and false doctrines have been inculcated and promulgated throughout Christendom by its instrumentality. For centuries it made war with the saints, and overcame them. Millions of evangelical martyrs have been slain by its authority. It has injuriously affected countless myriads of human beings, during its course of more than 1,200 years, thirty or forty generations having suffered under it, either in the way of corruption or persecution. In a word, it has vindicated its title to be considered that system of supernatural and soul-destroying error, that dire and dreadful apostasy revealed by prophecy as the principal power of evil, to arise between the First and Second Advents of Christ.
“Could sacred prophecy have passed by unnoticed this gigantic and universally influential power, which ruled the whole of Christendom with despotic sway, and with inconceivably evil results, for more than a thousand years? No; to lead the people of God to shun all connection with it, ample and repeated descriptions of it are given, and unparalleled denunciations are made against it.
“And as to the power of Islam, when it is remembered that, not only did it exterminate Christianity in northern Africa, leaving but a feeble and ignorant remnant of the Coptic Church in Egypt, but that the professing Christians of the Greek Church fell by millions before the invasion of its savage and devouring hordes, its myriad horsemen from Central Asia, and that millions more of subject Christian races have groaned under its cruel oppression and destructive exactions; when we remember that it has put out the light of the Gospel in the lands where it had its birth, and that moreover it has devastated Palestine and trodden down Jerusalem, carried war and bloodshed to the gates of Vienna and the northern slopes of the Pyrenees, threatening the very existence of Christendom; when we remember that to this day [1886] it dominates 150,000,000 of mankind, involving them in the darkness of fatal error and anti-Christian unbelief; can we wonder that the spirit of prophecy should indicate beforehand its rise and its career, and announce its final doom?”
In tracing the history of these two great apostasies, the Papal and the Mohammedan, the remarkable fact is disclosed that they came into existence at practically the same point of time, and flourished during the same general period. One of them, the Papal, trampled down and overran the true mystical sanctuary of truth, and cruelly persecuted the holy people of God during a long period; the other, the Mohammedan, trampled under foot rejected fleshly Israel during about the same period, taking possession of the literal city of Jerusalem and its sanctuary. It also persecuted the true Christians as well as constituted a scourge on apostate Christendom. It can truthfully be said that both of these powers polluted the holy place and set up “the abomination that maketh desolate” — the one at Rome, the other at Jerusalem.
The Mysterious Three and a Half Times
Reverting now to the time periods of Daniel 12:7, 11, and 12, and inquiring how they may be applied, it will be readily recalled that in our examination of Chapter Seven in which the “little horn” is mentioned as springing up amongst the ten horns of Western Rome, a similar, mysterious expression, “a time and times and the dividing of time” is used, and in this instance there can be no question but that the Papal Apostasy is referred to. There we learned that the three and a half times signifies three and a half prophetic years, or 1260 years. And undoubtedly these are the same mystical three and a half times that are referred to in the Book of Revelation as covering the era of the Papal supremacy— the “forty and two months” during which the holy city was trodden under foot, and the “thousand two hundred and threescore days” during which the two witnesses prophesied, clothed in sackcloth (Revelation 11:2,3, 12:12).
Many expositors are in agreement that these symbolical three and one half times or 1260 years are properly applied as commencing in 539 AD, when the famous decretal letter of the Roman Emperor Justinian constituting the Bishop of Rome “head of all the holy churches and of all the holy priests of God” substantially went into effect. There the Roman Papacy in a very important sense began the exercise of its power. Twelve hundred and sixty years from that point bring us to 1799, which marks an important point in history. The era closing with 1799, marked by Napoleon’s campaign, sealed and defined the limit of Papal dominion over the nations. Since that time there have been other events marking additional steps of decline in the power and influence of that system.
Some expositors who do not see Mohammedanism at all in prophecy apply the mystical three and a half times of Daniel 12:7, as also the added periods of 1290 and 1335 years, to Papacy, thus making two later endings — 1829 and 1874. While both of these years mark important eras in the arousing and awakening of the Lord’s people to a study of the time prophecies and to a vastly clearer appreciation of the Divine truth as a whole, yet neither the date 1829 nor the date 1874 marks any particular events associated with the decline of Papacy.
What Was the Occasion of the Three Chronological Predictions?
At this particular juncture we raise what we believe to be an important and logical question: What was the occasion for the three chronological announcements noted in verses 7, 11, and 12? What was it that led to the question by one of the angels in verse 6, and later the question by Daniel in verse 8? In reply we would say that while the Papal system is referred to in the prophecy just rehearsed by the angel in Chapter Eleven, particularly in verses 31-39, yet the prophecy at verse 40 apparently introduces immediately another great power, which arose at this time and which, to our understanding, is Mohammedanism, with its two divisions — the Saracenic and the Ottoman-Turks, the “king of the south,” and the “king of the north.” It seems clear that the question that lay most heavily on the heart of the Prophet was the duration of the great troubles and distresses that he had heard the angel describe, particularly those referred to in verses 40-45, of Chapter Eleven — troubles and distresses that related to his own land and people; the desolations of Jerusalem and the oppressions of his own nation. To give the Prophet assurance that these oppressions and distresses of his people would cease when the end had been accomplished, which was their purification, Daniel was permitted to view this scene and listen to the conversation of these heavenly beings.
Pausing at this point to note the general significance of this reply, we call attention to the fact that it had been said before by the revealing angel in verse 40 of the previous chapter, that “at the time of the end,” or as Fenton translates the words, “at the end of the period,” “shall the king of the south push at [contend with] him; and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind,” etc. It would seem that it was the events described in these verses that suggested the question, “How long shall it be to these latter times, or latter wonders?” The answer is given in a most solemn manner: “It shall be for a time, times, and an half.”
The Two Powers Arose Contemporaneously
If we are correct in applying the words of verse 40, “the time of the end” or the “appointed time,” to the beginning of the Mohammedan scourge against Eastern Christendom, then we have a clue as to when this time period would begin. This would be when Mohammedanism became a judgment scourge. The same period of time is therefore assigned to the troubles and distresses and oppressions of Eastern Christendom by the Mohammedan scourge as that assigned to the tyranny and oppressions of the little horn in Western Christendom; and it is certainly most remarkable that “the doctrine of Mohammed was first forged at Mecca, and the supremacy of the pope was [fully] established by virtue of a grant from the wicked tyrant Phocas, in the very same year of Christ, 606.” It is true, however, as we have seen, that it was by a decree of Justinian, that the bishop of Rome was first officially recognized as the supreme head over all other bishops. This was in March 533. This famous letter recognized the bishop of Rome as the head and practically the dictator over all the churches; and the Emperor expressed the earnest desire to assist the pope in putting down heresy and in establishing unity in the church. It is evident, however, that it was not till 539 that this decree went into effect, for the reason that at this time Rome, and Italy in general, was under the sway of another kingdom — the Ostrogoths — who did not recognize the bishop of Rome as supreme pontiff; for they were mainly Arians in faith. Papacy, therefore, was exalted and advantaged in name only, by the Emperor’s recognition, until the fall of the Ostrogothic monarchy, when its exaltation became an actual fact. Indeed, as if by a preconcerted arrangement, the Emperor at once (AD 534) sent Belisarius and an army into Italy, and in six years after the pope’s recognition by the Emperor, the Ostrogothic power was vanquished, and their king Vitiges and the flower of his army were taken with other trophies to Justinian’s feet. This was in AD 539, which is therefore the point of time from which we should reckon the (Papal) “desolating abomination set up.” Papacy there had its small beginning. There the peculiar “little horn,” (Daniel 7:8,11,20-22,25) began to push itself up, upon the Roman beast.
Concerning the famous decree of Justinian, Bower, in his History of the Popes, says:
“Baronius in commenting on the letter which Justinian wrote on this occasion to the pope, makes long descants on the extraordinary deference which he paid to his holiness. But that little or no account ought to be made of that extraordinary deference, will soon appear. Justinian indeed paid great deference to the pope, as well as to all the other bishops when they agreed with him; but none at all, when they did not; thinking himself at least as well qualified as the best of them, and so he certainly was, to decide controversies concerning the faith; and we shall soon see him entering the lists with his holiness himself.”
This famous decree was given by Justinian as a reward for this pope’s agreeing with him in a decision concerning a dogma under dispute. In proof that up to 537 Justinian reserved to himself the power to set up or remove the bishops of Rome, we cite the following: In 537 Belisarius had through the orders of Justinian’s wife, unknown to Justinian, removed Pope Sylverius on a (false) charge of conspiring with the Gothic ruler who was besieging Rome (Belisarius having taken possession of it in 536). Justinian …
“ inquired into all the particulars of a bishop of Patara; but found the bishop knew no more than what he had learned from Sylverius the deposed pope himself. However, that he might have an opportunity, if he were really innocent, of making his innocence appear, he commanded that he be remanded back to Italy and his cause to be there examined anew. If he cleared himself from the treason laid to his charge, he was by the emperor’s order to be restored to his former dignity; but should he be found guilty, he was to be removed from the Roman to some other See.”
However, we learn from the records of history, that there was considerable opposition to Papacy’s claim until the confirmatory decree of Phocas was issued in 606; and it is therefore seen that while this date does not mark the beginning of the exercise of the Papal power, it marks a most important era in its rise to supremacy and the full establishment of the Roman pontiff over Christendom, and is deserving of such comparison as is made above with the rise of the Mohammedan power, at approximately the same time. Mr. Newton quotes Dean Prideaux in his Life of Mahomet as saying:
“It is to be observed that Mahomet began this imposture about the same time that the bishop of Rome, by virtue of a grant from the wicked tyrant Phocas, first assumed the title of Universal Pastor, and thereon claimed to himself that supremacy which he hath been ever since endeavoring to usurp over the Christian Church. And from this time both having conspired to found themselves an empire in imposture, their followers have been ever since endeavoring by the same methods, that is, of fire and sword, to propagate it among mankind; so that Antichrist seems at this time to have set both his feet upon Christendom together, the one in the East, and the other in the West; and how much each hath trampled upon the Church of Christ, the ages ever since succeeding have abundantly experienced.”
It is claimed that Luther used to say, that “the pope and the Turk came up together.” And Mr. Guinness observes in this connection that “the seventh century was the one in which the Papal power was fully developed, in which the spiritual ‘abomination that maketh desolate’ was established in the spiritual temple, or the Christian Church, while a literal ‘abomination of desolation’ was established in the literal sanctuary, by the erection of the Mosque of Omar on the site of the temple in Jerusalem, where it continues to this day.”
Time of Deliverance of the Holy People Draws Near
In looking for a satisfactory application of the three time periods of Daniel 12:7, 11, and 12, one that would seem to meet the requirements, it is most essential that we keep in mind the subject that was under discussion by the angel in Chapter Eleven, just prior to the question of verse 6, and the chrono- logical prediction that followed. Daniel was concerned about the bondage and deliverance of his own people, and the angel who had foretold certain distresses and sufferings of Daniel’s people, in the closing verses of Chapter Eleven, was offering, what must have been to the Prophet, certain obscure intimations respecting the time when the “indignation” would be over and the desolation cease. We have been impressed up to this point in our examination to believe that verses 40-45 of Chapter Eleven are descriptive of the Mohammedan Apostasy and its desolating work in Eastern Rome; that it is one of the chief features of this prediction; and for this reason it seems proper to apply all three of these chronological periods to Mohammedanism. In doing so we find that their beginning and ending touch notable events in the history of that great power of evil. It is recalled too, as noted foregoing, that the Western Papal Apostasy arose contemporaneously with the Eastern.
We believe there is a hint given by the heavenly messenger concerning what event will mark the completion of these time predictions associated in this connection. The words, like others of the vision, are variously translated: “And when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished”; that is “when he,” the Mohammedan power, shall have reached that limit of time divinely predetermined, in which he has been permitted to oppress and overrun the holy people — rejected fleshly Israel — and in which he has been permitted to rob them of their liberties and privileges; in other words, when the Jews shall be recalled from their dispersion — then the prophecy will have been fulfilled.
It will not be necessary at this point to go into a fresh examination of the history of the sufferings and oppressions of the Jews in fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy; nor of the history of the cruel and terrible Islam, as during long centuries it has desolated and trodden down Jerusalem and the Jews. These matters have been gone into in considerable detail and are well established by indisputable facts and evidences. Another, briefly summing up in a rapid glance the twenty-five centuries of Jewish history which have elapsed since the days of Nebuchadnezzar and the beginning of the Times of the Gentiles, wrote in 1886:
“Never since the days when that monarch subdued the Jews have they been independent of Gentile authority, though for five centuries a remnant of them were restored to a tributary condition in their land.
“That since their rejection of ‘Messiah the Prince’ total dispersion among the Gentiles has been the lot of their whole nation, and desolation the portion of their land.
“That the 1,000 years of the Middle Ages, and especially the seven centuries from the tenth to the seventeenth centuries, were to them a time of unspeakable degradation and suffering in all lands of their exile.”
Let the fact be clearly seen, therefore, that it is as the “desolator of Jerusalem” and the “oppressor of Judea” for more than twelve centuries that this Moslem power principally affects Israel. It has occupied the Holy Land and trodden down Jerusalem during all this time. We learn from the historian that:
“Mohammedanism, or the great apostasy of the East, rose also towards the close of this period [toward the close of the first half of the 2520 years of Gentile times]. It was in AD 622 that the so-called ‘flight’ of Mahomet took place, an event which forms the era of the Hegira, the terminus a quo of the Mohammedan calendar to this day. He fled from Mecca to Medina, where he was received as a prophet and prince. The conquering career of his Saracenic followers commenced the year of his death, AD 632. The Caliph Omar led his army into Syria in the course of that year; in August AD 634, Damascus was taken. At the battle of Yermouk the eastern Roman armies were over- thrown, and the fate of Syria determined; and in the year AD 637 Jerusalem was captured after a four months’ siege. The Patriarch Sophronius, who was governor of the city at the time, had to surrender to Omar; and all the other towns in Syria followed his example. The conquest was completed in 638, and the Mosque of Omar was erected on the site of the temple.”
The central and all-important year with the Mohammedan power, therefore, is that known as the Hegira itself, 622; the date from which the entire Moslem world reckons to this day, as we do from Anno Domini. This being true, what more striking fulfilment of the words of the angel concerning the “abomination that maketh desolate” could we look for than that which we find fulfilled in the Moslem power since 622 AD?
The Prophet Daniel, not sufficiently understanding the answer of the angel in verse 7, asked what or how long shall be these latter times or latter wonders, and it is answered again (verse 11), that from the time of the taking away of the daily sacrifice and the setting up of the abomination that maketh desolate there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Surely these “days” are still prophetic days or years.
The following by Mr. Newton concerning the use of the expression “abomination of desolation,” is in perfect harmony with the several uses of this expression in the Scriptures:
“ ‘The setting up of the abomination of desolation,’ appears to be a general phrase, and comprehensive of various events. It is applied by the writer of the first Book of Maccabees 1:54, to the profanation of the [Jewish] temple by Antiochus, and his setting up the image of Jupiter Olympius upon the altar of God. It is applied by our Savior (Matthew 24:15), to the destruction of the city and temple by the Romans, under the conduct of Titus, in the reign of Vespasian. [Compare with Luke 21:20.] It may for the same reason be applied to the Roman emperor Adrian’s building a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus, in the same place where the temple of God had stood; and to the misery of the Jews, and the desolation of Judea that followed. It may with equal justice be applied to the Mohammedans invading and desolating Christendom, and converting the churches into mosques; and this latter event seemeth to have been particularly intended in this passage. If this interpretation be true, the religion of Mohammed will prevail in the East the space of 1260 years, and then a great and glorious revolution will follow; perhaps the restoration of the Jews, perhaps the destruction of Antichrist; but another still greater and more glorious will succeed; and what can this be so probable as the full conversion of the Gentiles to the Church of Christ and the beginning of the Millennium or reign of the saints upon earth? for verse 12, ‘Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.’ Here are then three different periods assigned, 1260 years, 1290 years, and 1335 years; and what is the precise time of their beginning, and consequently of their ending, as well as what are the great and signal events, which will take place at the end of each period, we can only conjecture, time alone can with certainty discover.”
As we have seen how the Papal Apostasy set up in the West a mystical abomination that maketh desolate, when it substituted the perversions and blasphemous doctrines of the Mass, etc., for the holy doctrines of Christ and the Apostles, so the Mohammedan Apostasy set up in the East the abomination that maketh desolate when it took possession of Jerusalem and desolated its literal sanctuary, erecting the Mosque of Omar in the place of the holy temple. And as has also been seen, as there is a definite beginning of Papal power, so there is a definite beginning of Mohammedan power, 622 AD, from which point the Mohammedans reckon all their chronological matters, although there were stages of its development prior to that time. Moreover, Mohammedanism is seen as a cruel desolating power, establishing itself not only in Jerusalem but throughout many countries of so-called Christendom during the Middle Ages, overthrowing professed Christian society and Christian worship; and herein we recognize further the appropriateness of the designation, “the abomination that maketh desolate.”
In verse 11 of this chapter under consideration, it is noted that the word “sacrifice” is supplied by the translator; without this word the verse reads: “the daily shall be taken away.” The word “daily” would represent all the services instituted by Christ and the Apostles; indeed all that goes to make up Christian worship. It should be remembered that these at the time referred to in the vision had become perverted and defiled. The taking away of these services, and the substitution of the Mohammedan religious rites in their place, was, as all students of history know, a characteristic of the Mohammedan conquests in those eastern countries.
We saw in our discussion of Chapter Eight the same thought indicated: “A host shall be given up, together with the daily service, because of transgressions.” In the explanation of these words of the angel recorded in verse 23, it is stated that in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, this “little horn” power’s ravaging desolations were to meet their fulfilment. The statement is also that it will be because of transgressions that its depredations will take place.
As we have observed in our study of Chapter Eight, the various features here indicated were fulfilled in the Mohammedan system in its conquests of Eastern Christendom. On account of the transgression, this cruel system, the Mohammedan little horn, was permitted to exercise great power. In other words it was permitted as a judgment scourge on nominal Eastern Christendom. Under the fifth and sixth trumpets of the Apocalypse the term “woe” is used to describe its activities against Apostate Christendom. It is stated that the little horn sought to destroy the “mighty and the holy people,” which to our understanding, viewing the expression in its relation to other associated descriptions, would refer to holy, or mighty ones, Christians by profession, but who, from the true stand- point, would be “transgressors” of the covenant.
Now concerning the ravages and desolations brought upon the Jews, it is interesting to read in this connection an extract from Oakley’s History of the Saracens:
“Jerusalem, once the glory of the East, was forced to submit to a heavier yoke than ever it had borne before. For though the number of the slain, and the calamities of the besieged, were greater when it was taken by the Romans: yet the servitude of those who survived was nothing comparable to this, either in respect of the circumstances or the duration. For however it might seem to be utterly ruined and destroyed by Titus, yet by Hadrian’s time it had greatly recovered itself. Now it fell, as it were, once for all, into the hands of the most mortal enemies of the Christian religion, and has continued so ever since; with the exception of a brief interval of about ninety years during which it was held by the Christians in the holy war.”
No wonder it has been said:
“The Moslem power has merited judgment as much as the Roman Apostasy. Its cruelties, its corruptions, its massacres, and its Oppressions, its opposition to the truth, its persecutions, its wide dominion and long duration make it a marvelously suitable companion to the Papacy. But its sphere is the East, and not the West; its city is Constantinople, and not Rome; and its destruction bears a closer relation to Jewish questions than to Christian ones.”
An incident occurring in connection with the fall of Jerusalem into the hands of the Saracens in 637 AD is worthy of notice: When its professed Christian defenders yielded to the Saracens, “the Patriarch Sophronius appeared on the walls, and by the voice of an interpreter, demanded a conference. After a vain attempt to dissuade the lieutenant of the Caliph from his impious enterprise, he proposed in the name of the people a fair capitulation, with this extraordinary clause, that the articles of security should be ratified by the authority and presence of Omar himself [the successor of Abubecker, who was successor of Mohammed]. The question was debated in the council of Medina; the sanctity of the place and the advice of Ali persuaded the Caliph to gratify the wishes of his soldiers and enemies.” The Caliph Omar came and put his signature to the articles of capitulation, and then entered the city. “Sophronius bowed before his new master, and secretly muttered, in the words of Daniel, ‘The abomination of desolation is in the holy place.’ ” By a command of the Caliph, the ground of the Temple was prepared for the foundation of the Mosque which takes Omar’s name, where it still rests today.
Fitting the Three Chronological Predictions
Now we come to the application of the three chronological predictions, and we submit, not what we consider to be the last word on this subject, but what seems to us a reasonable method of fitting these periods into this great Eastern Mohammedan Apostasy. We urge nothing upon any, but merely ask the reader’s careful consideration of what is offered; each must decide for himself. Considering the vast importance of the Hegira era, 622 AD (and indeed the desolation commenced soon after this), we believe that all three of these chronological predictions can be seen to have a general starting point at this date. However, as has heretofore been shown, an important consideration is before us, namely that the times or years of the Eastern Apostasy are lunar. The Mohammedan calendar was and still is reckoned in lunar time. They have never had any other method of reckoning their year. Therefore we compute these symbolical periods according to the Eastern and Mohammedan method of reckoning — lunar time.
1260 lunar years equal 1222½ solar.
1222½ solar years reckoned from 622, the year of the Hegira,
brings us to 1844: 1222½ + 622 = 1844.
1290 lunar years equal 1252 solar.
1252 solar years reckoned from 622
brings us to 1874: 1252 + 622 = 1874.
1335 lunar years equal 1295 solar.
1295 solar years reckoned from 622
brings us to 1917: 1295 + 622 = 1917.
Looking now at the endings of these respective periods, we find the first, that of 1844, marking a most important point in the loss and decline of the Mohammedan power. It was the year in which the united powers of Europe obliged the Turkish government to cease the practice of execution for apostasy. At first the Turkish government refused the request made by European powers.
“The grand vizier, in a correspondence with the English Government on this subject, says: ‘The laws of the Koran are inexorable as regards any Mussulman who is convicted of having renounced his faith. No consideration can produce a commutation of the capital punishment to which the law condemns him without mercy.’ The only reply was: ‘Her Majesty’s Government require the Porte to abandon once for all so revolting a principle. If the Porte has any regard for the friendship of England, it must renounce absolutely and without equivocation the barbarous practice which has called forth the remonstrance now addressed to it.’ Russia wrote with similar distinctness, ‘We positively expect no longer to witness executions which excite the indignation of all Christendom.’ Even after similar appeals from all the great powers the Porte would have put them off with the statement that ‘the law did not admit of any change,’ but the ambassadors would not receive it. At last a concession was obtained with the greatest difficulty, and only by the firmest resolution, and the following official declaration was published: ‘The Sublime Porte engages to take effectual measures to prevent hence forward the execution and putting to death of the Christian who is an apostate. Hence forward neither shall Christianity be insulted in my dominions, nor shall Christians be in any way persecuted for their religion.’ ”
This was indeed a most patent proof that Ottoman independence was gone, for it meant a “compulsory sheathing of the sword of persecution, which had been relentlessly wielded for over twelve centuries, a most marked era in the overthrow of Mohammedan power.”
The year 1874, while not marking any particular event in the fall of Mohammedanism (indeed the angel did not indicate what might be expected at the end of the 1290 days, years), does mark a very important era in the history of both fleshly and spiritual Israel. We are brought down to the time when there are marked signs of returning favor to the Jews, and the gradual removal of the yoke of bondage; and as for the true Israel of God, spiritual Israel, the year 1874 has marked a most wonderful era of special enlightenment occasioned by the unveiling of prophecy and in a general way the harmonization of the Truth as it relates to the Divine Plan of the Ages.
Nineteen hundred and seventeen, or the ending of the 1335 lunar years, brings us to a most interesting point, namely the complete loss of the control of Palestine by the Moslem power. An English writer, noting this fact from the prophetic standpoint, observes:
“October 28, 1916, celebrated the New Year day of their year 1335. That year, a lunar one came to an end in October 16, 1917, and exactly a fortnight later, General Allenby burst through the Turkish lines at Beersheba and commenced the glorious campaign that resulted on December 9, 1917, in the retaking of the holy city. Happy indeed, yea, blessed above many, was the [believing] descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who lived to see that day for which his forefathers so ardently longed!”
Who could for a moment dispute the importance of this ending — 1917? Marking as it does the complete liberation of the Jews from the Turkish power— a power that has reigned supreme over Israel for nearly thirteen centuries! Are we not indeed brought close up to the fulfilment of the words, “When he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished”?
There is still another interesting application: the capture of Jerusalem by Omar took place in 637 AD; at this time the city came into the possession of the Mohammedan power and the literal sanctuary was desecrated. The 1335 lunar years (1295 solar) reckoned from this point bring us to the year 1933, which has been observed from the standpoint of a general review of the chronology, to indicate the complete close of Gentile dominion or times of the Gentiles, when we might reasonably expect the utter and complete fall of the Mohammedan power, when “he shall come to his end and none shall help him.”
And now as indicating the significance of the dates 1917 and 1934, we quote the following from Mr. Guinness which, to say the least, is remarkable and worthy of consideration:
“It was in the year BC 606 that Nebuchadnezzar first came against Judah, and carried Daniel and the Hebrew children among others captive. At this time he was acting on behalf of his father, and it was not until nearly two years later, BC 604, that he himself acceded to the throne. That year is consequently, properly speaking, the first of Nebuchadnezzar … This year has therefore some special claims to be considered as a very principal starting point of the ‘times of the Gentiles.’ Measured from it the period runs out in AD 1917, and it is a very notable fact that a second most remarkable period does the same. The 1335 years of Daniel 12:12, the ne plus ultra of prophetic chronology, which is evidently eastern in character, and consequently lunar in scale, measured back from this year 1917, lead up to the great Hegira era of Mohammedanism, the starting point of the Mohammedan calendar, the birthday of the power which has for more than twelve centuries desolated Palestine and trodden down Jerusalem.”
BC 604 ————— 2520 solar years ————— AD 1917
AD 622 ————— 1335 lunar years ————— AD 1917
There is another feature which is remarkably significant in connection with the exact date that General Allenby captured Jerusalem. The date was December 9, 1917. It is well known that the Jews keep a lunar calendar, and as this event had an especial bearing on Jewish history, a student of chronological prophecy was led to consult the Jewish calendar, and the discovery was made that this date corresponds with the 24th day of their 9th month. The significant feature is that this date marks the anniversary of the day that God’s blessing began to come upon them about sixteen years after their return from the captivity in Babylon, as we read:
“In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the Prophet, saying Consider now from this day and upward [onward], from the day that the foundation of
the Lord’s temple was laid [See Haggai 1:13,14], consider it. Is the seed yet in the barn? Yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranite, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you” (Haggai 2:10,18,19).
As we recall the great rejoicing on the part of the orthodox Jews over the world when the news was heralded that Jerusalem was taken, and the zealous efforts that have been going on since that time to rehabilitate Palestine as a home for the scattered and dispersed ones, we cannot but be reminded of the effect that the words of Haggai, “From this day will I bless you,” had in encouraging the Jews in his day to build their temple and resume the worship of Jehovah at Jerusalem.
“The year 1917 is consequently doubly indicated as a final crisis date, in which the ‘seven times’ run out, as measured from two opening events, both of which are clearly most critical in connection with Israel, and whose dates are both absolutely certain and unquestionable. The 1,335 years’ measure is, as we before pointed out, the half week, or 1,260 years, plus the additional seventy-five, which in the prophecy is added in two sections of thirty and forty-five years. The passage in which these periods are announced gives no distinct indication of the events to which they lead, nor does it state whether lunar or solar years are intended. Prophecy indeed never does this; but the astronomic features of this period seem to indicate distinctly that lunar years are intended, for seventy-five years is exactly the difference between seven times lunar and seven times solar, and hence the addition of seventy-five years to the lunar measurement of the period makes it equal to the solar measurement. We have before stated that both Jewish and Mohammedan chronology are strictly lunar, and that chronological periods connected with Eastern events seem to be always calculated on this scale, while those connected with Western or Papal events are measured by the solar year.
“The coincidence of the close of these two periods seems to answer a question which will occur to every reflective mind, the question, Are the supplementary seventy-five years of the last verses of Daniel to be added to the latest solar terminus of the seven times? The answer is, They may be; it is possible; but it seems extremely unlikely, because of the astronomic fact just indicated.
“The year in which these two periods — the one of over twenty-five centuries, and the other of over thirteen centuries — run out together is astronomically a notable one. We have before met, in the course of our investigation, years such as 1848, in which several prophetic periods meet; but they were only those from more incipient starting — points, and minus the seventy-five terminal years. Here, on the contrary, we have a main starting-point, the first of Nebuchadnezzar, as our terminus a quo for the one period, and the acknowledged commencing date of the great Eastern Apostasy, Mohammedanism, as that of the other; and we see that the latter in its extended form meets the former, and expires with it in the future year AD 1917.¹
“Thoughtful readers will weigh the facts and draw their own conclusions, asking themselves, in the light of all the chronological facts mentioned in this work, if the year BC 604 witnessed the rise of the typical Babylon, the supremacy over the typical Israel, what event is the corresponding year in this time of the end likely to witness? The fall of the antitypical Babylon — the extinction of Gentile supremacy on earth, and the restoration of Judah’s throne in the person of Christ? The secret things belong to God; it is not for us to say; but there can be no question that those who live to see this year 1917 will have reached one of the most important, perhaps the most momentous, of these terminal years of crisis.
“Yet we must also call attention to a further interesting fact connected with the last possible measure of this comprehensive and wonderful ‘seven times,’ that starting from the capture of Zedekiah and the burning of the temple in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar [588 BC], and terminating in AD 1934. The termination of the ‘times of the Gentiles’ meets at this point the 1335 lunar years [1295 solar], dated from the Omar capture of Jerusalem [637 AD] — an event more momentous in its effects on Palestine and Jerusalem than the Hegira era of the commencement of Mohammedanism. No chronologic prophecy of Scripture indicates any date whatever beyond this year, as astronomic considerations forbid the thought that the supplementary seventy-five is to be added to these solar measures.”
The Night Is Far Spent; The Day Is At Hand
In our examination of the inspired message to Daniel in reply to his question, “What shall be the end of these things?” or as some render it, “What shall be the last of these things?” we reach the point at verse 12 in this chapter where the angel’s mysterious chronological predictions abruptly end. It is evident that while Daniel, prior to receiving the information, may have had his mind on matters and events that were then on the horizon or that he supposed were closely approaching, the angel evidently had his eye on scenes and developments of far greater magnitude and in the then remote future.
That the matters were not to be clearly apprehended by Daniel or by any one else in his time is also obvious. The whole setting of the prophecy, the conduct of the messengers, the peculiar language in which the predictions are stated, the detached and fragmentary character of what was said, then the sudden end of the prophecy without details in explanation of the strange predictions — all of these items contributed to the air of mystery which is thrown over the whole matter by the angel, as if he were reluctant to make the communication; as if something more was meant than the words expressed; as if he shrank from disclosing all that he knew or that might be said. As expressed by another:
“There is much apparent abruptness in all these expressions, and what the angel says in these closing and additional communications has much the appearance of a fragmentary character, of hints, or detached and unexplained thoughts thrown out, on which he was not disposed to enlarge, and which for some reason he was not inclined to explain.”
It is as if to convey the impression that matters were being alluded to not then due to be understood, but that as time should go on and later dispensations should usher in the events, then their significance would become obvious and plain to the watchers.
Gradually as down the stream of time the various actors in this great drama of the ages have appeared upon the stage, as empires and dynasties have arisen and fallen, fulfilling their appointed seasons, and as kings, emperors, and warriors have each played their parts, the pages of history have been written and turned one after another. Looking carefully now at the historian’s account of transactions and occurrences during the twenty-five centuries of time since, it is without doubt possible now to comprehend to a large extent, the significance of those mysterious prophetic visions and chronological predictions.
In the careful and reverent review that has been made of the historian’s account and the comparison with the sacred prophetic forecast, we have discovered how most obviously the history of God’s people, natural and spiritual Israel prior and subsequent to Messiah’s First Advent, is ingeniously interwoven with the history of world powers, both Gentile and professed Christian. It could not be otherwise and yet accomplish the Divine purposes. Prior as well as subsequent to our Lord’s First Advent the Jewish nation was undergoing special punishment for national sin. Additionally, Divine providence was operating that the nation might receive special and severe discipline which would prepare at least a remnant for Messiah’s coming. The subjugation of the nation to foreign, heathen powers, therefore, entailing as it did humiliation and suffering to that people, was all a part of the necessary program until Messiah should come. Still further steps of progress in the Plan of God subsequent to the Advent and death of the Redeemer, namely the calling, training, and developing of the Church of the Firstborn, who are to share the throne of Messiah at his Second Advent, were all to find their place in the present dispensation, while various Satanic powers were in control.
In the examination made we have observed unmistakably two outstanding forces or powers, both positively anti-Christian in character, known as the Roman Papal Apostasy of the West, and the Mohammedan Moslem Apostasy of the East. The ravages wrought by both of these cruel apostasies on natural and spiritual Israel in this Age have been such as to be almost beyond description by tongue or pen. Both of these empires of evil have been most bitter in their attacks and persecutions of the saints. So that it is no marvel that the angel included in his prediction: “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried.” Ah yes, the fires of persecution burned fiercely through those dark periods, the records of which so sadly stain the pages of history. Every conceivable means was applied to cause suffering and to try the faith of God’s people, as well as to test their loyalty to Him. But under the providence of Almighty God these who loved not their lives unto death were sustained and kept by His mighty power, whilst their suffering contributed to their purification and development of character in preparation for that blessed day of glorification in the Kingdom of God.
But how encouraging the fact that those mysterious messengers who communicated in obscure terms the information concerning those dark and eventful times future from Daniel’s day, included certain chronological predictions indicating bounds and limitations beyond which these dreaded forces of Satan should not be permitted to go — times and seasons that should in no uncertain manner mark the closing up and conclusion of the records of evil, thus signifying the final and last overthrow of the empire of Satan with all it implies of sin, wickedness, crime, and death. This will prepare the way for that grand eternal Kingdom for which Jesus taught his followers to pray, “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.”
It is these chronological predictions indicating times and seasons and containing strong hints of the approaching end of the reign of evil, when the Prince of Darkness shall be bound and the King of Glory come in, that are of thrilling interest to the people of God today. In studying the closing verses of Daniel’s prophecy we have found ourselves face to face with some unmistakable evidences and proofs that the night is far spent and the day is at hand.
In consulting the historian we have found the fulfilment of those predictions clearly recorded. The two great anti-Christian powers that have so long oppressed the people of God have been seen to be rapidly on the wane for the last two centuries. Careful students, in following the events of the past two hundred years, are in full accord in recognizing that they have been years of decay and fall, both to the Papal and the Mohammedan powers. They have been conspicuously and undeniably such, and the facts admit of no question; so that no previous period of the entire history of these powers presents anything at all similar or approaching to the course of events.
“What historian, what statesman, what newspaper editor, what well educated person [asks Mr. Guinness, in 1886] could hesitate for a single moment to grant that the last two centuries have been a time of special, and previously unparalleled, decay and fall to the Papacy and to the Porte; so that these two great politico-religious dynasties, before whom for so many centuries western and eastern Europe trembled and bowed down in abject submission, are now scarcely practical factors at all in European politics? Has not the king of Italy instead of the pope ruled at Rome for the last sixteen years? Is not Italy respected as a power of at least secondary importance, while ‘the States of the Church’ and the patrimony of Peter have long since disappeared from the map of Europe? The pope is now simply a priest; he is a monarch no longer. As to the Porte, every one knows that it is an effete kingdom, ‘a sick man’ already at the last gasp! Step by step within the period we are considering both these dynasties have fallen from their once high estate, losing first power, then independence, then tribute, and at last, as far as the temporal sovereignty of the Papacy is concerned, existence itself.”
Again another one of the essentially important signs, as has been seen, is that of the approaching deliverance of God’s ancient people — the theme so largely dealt with by many of the Old Testament Prophets. All the Prophets tell the one story of not only the long period in which they have been overrun and down trodden by Gentile powers, but also the story of their redemption and deliverance when they shall as a nation be received back again into Divine favor with added glory, power, and dominion. The prophecies are replete with references to the time when blindness and disfavor shall begin to be turned away and when there shall be marked evidences or signs of their restoration. And lo, in these last days to which the closing chronological predictions of Daniel’s prophecy refer, we behold pronounced evidences of the fulfilment of the long deferred hopes of Israel.
None can deny that for the past hundred years or more we have been witnessing a literal fulfilment of the prediction that “the yoke of the Gentiles shall be taken off the neck of Israel and their bonds burst.” Throughout the largest part of Christendom the change in the civil position of the Jews is to be noted and is indeed one of the most characteristic features of the history of the past century.
“Since the middle of the last century [writes Mr. Guinness], a complete change has passed over their condition, and they have been everywhere uplifted, emancipated, recognized as equals by all nations, given rights and privileges as citizens, a share in popular representation, seats in councils and senates, a position among the aristocracy, and in the national administration of the countries where they reside; that they have risen to eminence in finance, in literature, in music, in war, in government, in politics, and in education; that their wealth has become enormous, their position secure, their influence great, and their scattered families reunited in one great national organization.”
It is recalled that in 1860 there was formed the “Universal Israelite Alliance” …
“… an organization which has for its object the promotion and completion of the emancipation of the Jews in all lands, and their intellectual and moral elevation, as also the development of Jewish colonization in the Holy Land. … In the prophecy of Ezekiel we have, in the vision of the valley of dry bones, and its interpretation, a very full account of the final restoration and conversion of Israel (Ezekiel 37:7-14). According to the representation of that vision the restoration is to take place in successive and perfectly distinct stages. Thus the Prophet saw that, before the giving of life to the dry bones, which symbolized the house of Israel, before the clothing of them with flesh, sinews, and skin, there was first of all ‘a noise and a shaking, and bone came to bone, each bone to his fellow’; that is, he saw in the first place a preliminary organization, the necessary antecedent of all that followed. If this feature of the vision means anything, it would seem that it can mean nothing else than this, that a tendency to external organization in the scattered nation was to be looked for, antecedent and preparatory to their actual reinstatement in their land, and conversion to God, by the power of the Spirit of life.”
As to the beginning of the final restoration, this prediction is approaching literal fulfilment, for in the very recent past, as all are aware, the breaking of the Moslem yoke from Palestine is indeed a marked step, for this has opened the way for fresh impetus to the Zionist movement and for the encouragement of the Jews in all parts of the world to look in the direction of their home land with the possibility in view of once more obtaining completely their national existence and independence as a nation, as in the ancient time. Consequently the daily press is constantly presenting evidences of quickening interest and the turning of the Jewish mind in the direction of this which to them is the all-important and burning question.
Evidences therefore are before us that so far as any one may be able to judge, it can be a matter of but a very few years till the last obstructive feature is passed over, namely the period of Jacob’s trouble, a last great scourge of trouble that has been predicted to take place before the fulness of the Divine promises is realized in the returning of the ancient Prophets and the establishment of the Kingdom of God (Jeremiah 30:7-11, Ezekiel 38:11-23).
Beholding then the rapidly accumulating evidences of these days, the words of the revealing angel to Daniel are filled with new and intense interest: “Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.” Is there not to be seen a clear relationship between the angel’s words, “Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh,” and the fulfilment of the Savior’s prayer! Was not the beloved Prophet by these words borne forward to the time when there should be an end of all these desolating powers — to the time when Daniel’s people should be delivered and Messiah’s Kingdom fully inaugurated? Surely this is the inference to be drawn, and the blessedness promised was to give ground for a “patient expectation of an event that was to occur, and for the happy state of him who would reach it.”
The inference further is that the end of the 1,335 days would mark a certain consummation most desirable, and the angel pronounces him blessed who should be permitted to see it. “The idea here is of one looking out on this as a happy period, and that he would be regarded as a happy man who should live in that Age.” The words, “and cometh to,” signify literally, “touches,” which would mean to reach unto that time, either by being among those who have existence in that generation, or who, by being awakened from the sleep of death, are on the scene to behold the new dispensation with its changed conditions and happy outlook. Are not those who now in advance of the complete inauguration of the new dispensation, see the coming glories, given by faith to taste of the blessed- ness of “him that waiteth!” Thus reading in the light of the lamp of prophecy the progress of the Plan of God and seeing that we are in the midst of these great and momentous changes, such do realize blessed consolation and blessed joy while they note that the Kingdom of God is nigh, even at the door.
Mr. Guinness, in briefly summing up the conclusions of these closing predictions of Daniel’s prophecy, has in a very choice manner expressed our viewpoint:
“Here then we reach the close of this long chronological section of our endeavor, like Daniel, to understand by books the number of the years whereof the Lord hath spoken; and here, like that holy Prophet, when he was convinced that the end was close at hand, may we set our faces to the Lord our God, to seek by prayer and supplication with confession that He will fulfil His own Word, and cause His face to shine once more upon His sanctuary, which has so long lain desolate, and on His people, who have so long been a reproach; that He will do as He has said, and speedily send Jesus Christ, whom the heaven must receive until the times of the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets since the world began — that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord! “What is the result of our investigation? Is it not a strong confirmation of our blessed hope? Is it not a conviction that we may well lift up our heads, because our redemption draweth nigh? Slowly and cautiously we have descended the long stream of time, with its turnings and windings, and confluences with many tributaries. It has flowed through broad Assyrian and Babylonian channels, through Persian plains and Grecian islands and Roman provinces; it has rushed in revolutionary rapids, and broadened in lacustrine empires; it has divided itself into a tenfold delta, and is moving on to mingle its waters with those of the ocean. We have carefully noted each chronological waymark as we passed it by, and compared its position with that assigned to it in the chart of sacred prophecy. Already we have verified nine-tenths of such waymarks; the few remaining ones lie close together on the chart, and close ahead: can we question that they will do so in the facts of history? Can we doubt that the ‘times of the Gentiles’ are all but over? We have not been in this investigation following cunningly devised fables, nor elaborating fantastic and baseless theories; we have been studying the mutual relations of three sets of unquestionable facts: the occurrences of history and their dates, the astronomic measures of periods of time, and the sacred prophecies of the Word of God. We have been studying facts written large in the book of providence, the book of nature, and the book of revelation.”
(1) “The Greek and Arabic render this, ‘Hear the vision of my dream.’ This accords better with the probable meaning of the passage, though the word “hear” is not in the Chaldee” (Albert Barnes).