By Desmond Ford
A Commentary on the Sabbath School Lesson for December 4–10, 2004
Since the dropping of the atom bomb in 1945, the whole Christian world—Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox—has been interested in eschatology. Prior to the early decades of the nineteenth century, eschatology was only a Johnny-come-lately, but then came the Miller movement and the Plymouth Brethren.
But truth has been virgin born only once. That was at Bethlehem long, long ago. Since then every man, woman, or movement that God has specially used to further the work of the gospel has been fallible and prone to error. Kai Arasola, formerly one of our Adventist conference presidents in Europe, has written a book, The End of Historicism, which details Miller’s errors.
None of the dates Miller proclaimed, and that we inherited, are supported either by Scripture or history.
Our church, like the Roman Catholic Church, is very reluctant to acknowledge error. It is exceedingly tardy in embracing clear-cut truth. And this hampers all true development.
The very fact that our scholars write practically nothing for the scholarly world on the debated topics shows where they stand.
The lesson from the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide assumes many things that are just not so. I will list a small number of these.
1. That Daniel 8:14 speaks of 2,300 DAYS. Although Daniel in several places does use the Hebrew word for days, it is not to be found in 8:14. Instead we have "evening-morning" (singular), referring to the evening and morning sacrifice referred to in the context. The Hebrew here is NOT identical with the reference to evening and morning in Genesis chapter one. The fact that we have the Hebrew article in the twenty-sixth verse before each term proves that they are to be taken as separate units.
2. That these 2,300 "days" represent 2,300 "years." The Consensus Statement at Glacier View confessed that the year-day principle is not explicit in Scripture. It is nowhere set forth as a principle of apocalyptic interpretation.
3. That these 2,300 "years" began centuries before the "little horn" began its attack on the sanctuary and its worshipers.
4. That the 2,300 "years" began at the same time as the seventy weeks. There is no Scripture that says so. The Hebrew term chathak in Daniel 9:24 means decreed or determined, though its root signifies "to cut." There are several Hebrew words in 9:24–27 that similarly have a root linked to cutting, but the usual translation is "decreed" or a synonym thereof.
5. That the decree of Artaxerxes recorded in Ezra 7 is from Artaxerxes the first. There were three kings with that name, and scholars do not agree as to which is which.
6. That the decree of Ezra 7 is the one intended by Daniel 9:25, though there is nothing in that chapter that speaks about the rebuilding the city.
7. That the 2,300 "years" end with the beginning of the antitypical Day of Atonement. But there was no atonement, no sacrificial offering, in 1844, and all Bible scholars agree that the Atonement took place at the Cross. See the last page of the Calvary chapter in The Desire of Ages.
8. That until the end of the 2,300 "years" Christ was doing his work in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary. Hebrews 9 makes it clear that the first apartment was a symbol of the Jewish age, and that the second represented the Christian dispensation. Christ went "within the veil" after his sacrificial death, and thus the New Testament twelve times refers to him being at the right hand of God since his ascension. See Hebrews 6:19 and 10:19, 20.
9. That the Hebrew word terminating 8:14 means "cleansed." As the Consensus Statement of Glacier View made clear, this is not the case. See all modern versions. There is no linguistic tie here with Leviticus 16.
10. That both testaments assume that there had to be over two thousand years of history after the Cross. This also is not the case, as again the Consensus Statement of Glacier View made plain, and as the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary points out in several places. At any time, had the Church fully grasped the gospel and given it to the world, the end could have come.
11. That the "cleansing" mentioned in 8:14 is the same as the judgment of chapter 7, although that chapter tells us that the judgment there referred to is upon the wicked Antichrist.
12. That Revelation 14:7 also has to do with an investigation into the sins of the saints, though the next verse and 18:10 make it clear that it is Babylon that is judged. In apocalyptic, judgment is ever upon wicked powers that the persecuted saints might be encouraged.
Daniel 9:24–27 fully deserves the attention the Sabbath school lesson gives it, and there are many good things expressed here in the notes, particularly the insight that while this prophecy first points to Christ’s ministry it finds its complete fulfillment at the Second Advent.
Daniel 9:24–27 with its grand portrayal of Christ’s work at both advents uses chronography. Chronography is a stylistic form that can run parallel to chronology, but is not confined or limited by it. (Matthew chapter one is another example, where many genealogical links are omitted in order to present symbolically truths relevant to the new David, the new King of Israel.) Four hundred and ninety years are ten Jubilees. The Jubilee was the time of redemption from debt and slavery and pointed to both advents. See Luke 4:18, 19.
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