2,300 Day Prophecy
A prophecy that stretches into the 19th century with implications for people living today. Are you aware of it?
What does Daniel see in chapter eight?
Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.
The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
Daniel sees a two-horned lamb, which we later learn represents the kingdom of Medo-Persia. This same kingdom was represented by a bear in Daniel 7:5 since the Bible operates on the principle of “repeat and expand” where the prophecy is repeated and more detail is added.
What does he see next?
And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.
And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.
Daniel then sees a goat with a large horn moving so swiftly that its feet never touch the ground. The goat attacks the ram, conquers it, and the goat’s horn is then broken off and replaced with four other horns. We later learn this goat represents the kingdom of Greece. The great horn is none other than Alexander the Great, while the four horns it’s replaced by represent the four kingdoms into which his empire was divided. In Daniel 7:6 this same kingdom is represented by a leopard with four heads.
What does Daniel see next?
And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.
Next, Daniel sees a little horn emerge. Using the principle of “repeat and expand” this can be none other than Rome in both its pagan and papal forms because Daniel chapters 2 (see “Europe’s Future Revealed”) and 7 (see “Who Is the Antichrist?”) both point to Rome as the next kingdom after Greece. Later, this little horn is “broken without hand” (Daniel 8:25), meaning destroyed supernaturally by the coming of Christ, which is an echo of Daniel 2:34 where a stone “cut out without hands” puts an end to human civilization. This also fits with Daniel 7:24-27 where it says that papal Rome will be overcome by the kingdom of Christ.
Daniel 8:9 gives another clue when it describes the direction of little horn’s expansion, which fits the expansion of Rome perfectly: toward the south (Egypt), toward the east (Macedonia), and the “pleasant land” (Palestine). Furthermore, Daniel 8:4 describes Medo-Persia as becoming “great,” Greece becomes “very great” (Daniel 8:8), and the little horn becomes “exceeding great.” Rome is the only power following Greece that became “exceeding great.”
The little horn also “magnified himself even to the prince of the host” (Daniel 8:11), and verse 25 says it will “stand up against the Prince of princes” (Daniel 8:25). These are clear references to Jesus Christ, and once again, pagan Rome, being the power that crucified Him, fits these points. Papal Rome, on the other hand, effectively tries to replace Jesus’ ministry, as our High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews 8:1, 2), with an earthly priesthood claiming to forgive sins even though the Bible teaches Jesus is our only Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5), and only God can forgive sins (Luke 5:21). This casts the truth of the heavenly sanctuary to the ground (Daniel 8:11), trampling it underfoot (Daniel 8:13), thereby fulfilling those points as well.
How long would the sanctuary be trampled underfoot?
Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
The reply was that the sanctuary would be cleansed after 2,300 days, which is 2,300 literal years in Bible prophecy (Ezekiel 4:6; Numbers 14:34). We’ve already learned that in the time of ancient Israel the earthly sanctuary was cleansed on the Day of Atonement (see “Finding Hope in the Sanctuary”). This was a day when the camp of Israel was cleansed from sin because God’s true followers were identified and their sins removed, while those who clung to sin were separated from the camp. In the same manner, Daniel is shown here that sin and the little horn power would not control and oppress the world forever; instead, God would intervene after 2,300 years with the heavenly Day of Atonement during which the process of removing sin would begin.
To what time does this prophecy apply?
So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.
And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.
The angel made it clear that this prophecy dealt with end time events, which means it’s particularly relevant for us. Daniel was perplexed by the vision and actually fell ill after receiving it (Daniel 8:27), but in the next chapter God sent the angel Gabriel to explain the vision to him (Daniel 9:21-23).
How much time was alloted to Daniel’s people?
Seventy weeks 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.
The angel says that seventy weeks were alloted to the Jewish people, which would equal 490 days (70 * 7), which represent 490 years in Bible prophecy. At the time of the vision God’s people were in captivity in Medo-Persia, but soon they were to return home, and God was giving them 490 years out of the 2,300 as another opportunity to repent from their sins and be reconciled to Him.
What was the starting point for the prophecy?
Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.
And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
The starting point was a decree giving authorization to God’s people to rebuild Jerusalem. The decree was issued by King Artaxerxes in 457 B.C. on the seventh year of his reign and implemented in autumn of that year. The story is described in Ezra 7:7-26.
How many weeks were there until the Messiah?
Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.
The angel said that from 457 B.C. there would be 69 weeks or 483 days (69 * 7), which represent 483 literal years. So starting with -457 and adding 483 gives us 26, but since there is no year 0, we add one year, which brings us to the year A.D. 27, the baptism of Jesus (Luke 3:21, 22). The word “Messiah” means “anointed,” and it was during His baptism that He was anointed with the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38). The baptism year is confirmed in Luke 3:1 as the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar’s reign (A.D. 27), which is remarkable considering the prophecy was made over 500 years before! After His baptism Jesus began to preach that “the time is fulfilled” (Mark 1:14, 15), a clear reference to the 2,300 year prophecy and an indication of its importance. The prophecy, therefore, not only makes it plain that Jesus is the Messiah, but it also testifies that the Bible is divinely inspired!
When was the Messiah to be “cut off”?
And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then He shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.
Since there are 69 weeks from 457 B.C. to A.D. 27, there is one week left (7 days, that is, 7 years) in the 490 year prophecy. In the middle of that last week in A.D. 31, three and a half years after His baptism, Jesus was “cut off” (crucified) not for Himself, since He was sinless (1 Peter 2:22), but for us, thereby bringing an end to the system of animal sacrifices, which was confirmed by the veil in the temple being miraculously torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:50, 51). The One to whom all the sacrifices pointed gave Himself, as the great and true sacrifice, for the remission of our sins (Romans 3:25; 1 Corinthians 15:3), to heal us from the wound of sin!
By the way, the Passover lamb was sacrificed every year on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, and Jesus, our Passover Lamb, died exactly on that day! The priests were getting ready to sacrifice the Passover lamb as the true Lamb was hanging on the cross, about to be sacrificed for the sins of the world (1 Corinthians 5:7). And all of this was predicted before it even happened by a God who sees the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10)!
What significant event occured next?
Then He shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.
Once Jesus died and ascended to heaven, His earthly ministry ended, but He confirmed the covenant, to save His people from their sins (Hebrews 10:16, 17), through His disciples, whom He sent to preach to the Jewish nation first (Matthew 10:5, 6) because they still had three and a half years remaining as part of their 490-year opportunity to repent from their sins. This period came to an end in A.D. 34, three and a half years after Jesus’ death, when the testimony of Stephen was rejected by the Jewish religious leaders, and he ended up being stoned to death (Acts 7:54-60). This final, collective rejection of God’s plan to save them meant that the Jews could no longer be His exclusive people, and from A.D. 34, the disciples started preaching the gospel to all the nations of the world (Matthew 21:43; Acts 8:4; 13:46).
Who are God’s chosen people now?
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
God’s people are now those of any nation who choose to accept and serve Him, becoming spiritual Jews—spiritual descendants of Abraham, fulfilling the promise God gave to Abraham that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3). But, of course, spiritual Jews also include any Jewish person who individually accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior.
What happens at the end of the 2,300 year prophecy?
And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
After the 490 year prophecy ended in A.D. 34, there were 1,810 years remaining in the 2,300 year one (2,300 minus 490), which means it ended in 1844. According to Daniel, this was the year when the cleansing of the sanctuary began. We’ve already learned that when the system of animal sacrifices was made obsolete by the death of Jesus, the veil of the temple was torn by the divine hand of God. Shortly after, the temple itself was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70 and never rebuilt, so the sanctuary that is cleansed can only be the heavenly one, of which the earthly one was a symbol.
The cleansing of the earthly sanctuary always occured on the Day of Atonement (to “atone” means to be “at one” with God), which was a time of judgment during which God’s people examined their souls to make sure all of their sins were confessed, forsaken, and symbolically “blotted out” from the sanctuary (see “Finding Hope in the Sanctuary”); likewise, the heavenly judgment began in 1844 and the sins of God’s people began to be removed from the books of heaven (Daniel 7:10). In other words, prior to 1844, confessed and forsaken sins were forgiven by God because of Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice on the sinners behalf, but they remained on the books. After 1844, when the heavenly judgment began, God started to blot out even the very record of those confessed sins (Acts 3:19)!
What happens at the end of the 2,300 year prophecy?
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
The heavenly judgment that began in 1844 is the “pre-advent judgment,” the first phase, since it occurs before the second coming of Christ. Jesus returns with His reward (Revelation 22:11, 12), which means those who are saved have been identified and their reward determined. Just like in the earthly Day of Atonement judgment there was a separation of the unrepentant from the camp of Israel before sin was removed from the sanctuary (Leviticus 23:29), so in the heavenly sanctuary there is an identification of who is saved and who is lost during the pre-advent judgment before sin is removed from the universe.
This is why Peter says the judgment begins with the “house of God,” meaning the people of God. Anyone who has claimed to be a Christian, alive or dead, will be examined during this judgment. And it’s already in session, which is why we are called to put away our sins and be “at one” with God. We are the temple of God now that there is no longer an earthly sanctuary. It’s us that God wants to cleanse from sin because His desire is to abide in us through His Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20).
When is the second phase of the judgment?
Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
After Jesus takes the saved to heaven, they will participate in the second phase of the judgment (see “1,000 Years of Peace”), during which the life of every lost person, including Satan and his angels, will be examined and all questions will be answered. Ultimately, the saved will agree that Jesus’ judgments were not arbitrary, but just and true (Revelation 15:3). They will see that Jesus only confirms the decision that has already been made in a person’s heart to either serve Him or another (Revelation 22:11, 12).
When is the third phase of the judgment?
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I* saw the dead, small and great, stand before God*; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
The third phase of the judgment is for the lost of all ages, and it takes place after the 1,000 years (see “1,000 Years of Peace”). Every lost soul will look back on his or her life and remember God’s patient calls to repentance—the numerous convictions of the Holy Spirit that were repeatedly refused. The books will be opened and God’s attempts to save every person will be made plain. The lost will understand that God did everything He could to save them, and every person will fall on their knees, including Satan and his angels, in confession that God has been just and fair in His dealing with every soul (Philippians 2:10, 11; Romans 14:11). The lost will realize they can only blame their own resistance to God’s pleadings of mercy (Hosea 13:9), and they acknowledge His love, mercy, and justice, clearing Him of all false accusations.
What happens next?
And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
In the end, God will honor the choices of Satan, his angels, and all people who joined his rebellion and rejected His mercy (Revelation 22:11, 12). In order to cleanse the universe from sin, and because life cannot exist apart from the Life-Giver, the lives of those who chose to cling to sin, despite receiving numerous opportunities to be cleansed from it, will come to an end in the fire that will fall from heaven.
Ultimately, this is an act of mercy because sin only leads to pain, suffering, and sorrow; nevertheless, the act will bring immeasurable anguish to the heart of God (Ezekiel 33:11) because these are people whom He loved so much that He sent His only Son to die for them (John 3:16). No doubt Jesus will weep over those whom He wanted to save. Guardian angels will likely weep over the ones they served to protect. It will be a time of immense sorrow for the saved as well because it’s likely many will have a loved one in the fire. The good news is the fire does not burn forever (see “Is Hell Forever?”). The pain and suffering will come to an end, and God will create a new earth on which He will dwell with His people (Revelation 21:1-5). The harmony that existed between Adam, Eve, and their Creator will be restored, and sin will never rise up again (Nahum 1:9)!
What is the good news about the judgment?
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The judgment has been in session since 1844, and even though it may seem like a dreadful thing to many, it’s actually full of good news:
- The central purpose of the judgment is to vindicate God’s character and government before the universe, because Lucifer, in his rebellion, suggested that, if given the chance, he would establish a better form of government than God (see “Origin of Evil”), but in the end, every human and angel, including Satan, will bow in confession that God’s ways are love, mercy, and justice (Philippians 2:10, 11; Revelation 15:3).
- The judgment is declared in favor of God’s people (Daniel 7:21, 22) because all of their sins have been confessed, forgiven, and cleansed by Jesus (1 John 1:9); there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1).
- Those who rejected God’s mercy will not be tortured in hell endlessly (Malachi 4:1).
- Jesus presides as Judge (John 5:22); He is also the Advocate and the Witness for the saved (1 John 2:1; Revelation 3:14). With Jesus on my side, I have nothing to fear.
- The Father and the Son want every person to be saved (John 3:16; 13:1; 1 Timothy 2:3, 4); Satan is our only accusser (Revelation 12:10).
The judgment revolves around the atonement, being “at one” or reconciled with God, and Jesus is in the center of it all! He is the only One who can remove sin from our lives (Acts 4:12). If you haven’t done so, now is the time to get right with God and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior (2 Corinthians 6:2). God is still offering forgiveness and mercy to those who come to His throne (Hebrews 4:14-16; 7:25), and Jesus is still knocking (Revelation 3:20).