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| Let's pray: |
| Father, Now that we understand the prophecy of the 70 weeks, which You gave Your servant Daniel, we ask You to enlighten us once again, as we study another prophetic period closely linked to the 70 weeks, that is, the 2300 days. In Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 2 |
The 2300 Days |
Daniel 9:22,23 |
Comments |
| [Gabriel] talked with me, and
said, «O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision.» |
In our last lesson, we have seen the angel Gabriel
giving Daniel the prophecy of the 70 weeks. This prophecy would help him «understand the vision», that is, the previous vision he had received and which was still unexplained: the 2300 days, subject of this lesson. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 3 |
The 2300 Days |
Daniel 8:1,10,11 |
Comments |
| In the third year of the reign
of King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me - to me, Daniel. (...) [The little horn] grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. |
The vision of the 2300 days is found in Daniel chapter 8, which we studied in the lesson «The Ram and the Goat». We then saw the misdeeds of a power, «the little horn», attacking God. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 4 |
The 2300 Days |
Daniel 8:12 |
Comments |
| Because of transgression, an
army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to
the ground. He did all this and prospered. |
This prophecy announces that the little horn would
attack the work of sacrifice Jesus performed for the salvation of men. It would succeed in darkening this perfect work, thus casting «truth down to the ground», and prospering in everything it would do. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 5 |
The 2300 Days |
Daniel 8:13,14 |
Comments |
| Then I heard a holy one
speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, «How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled under foot?» And he said to me, «For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.» |
In the heart of the prophecy of Daniel
8, as the disastrous work of the little horn is presented, a question is asked: «How long?» And the answer is: «For 2300 days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.» |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 6 |
The 2300 Days |
Daniel 8:14 |
Comments |
| And he said to me: «For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.» |
By applying the equivalence principle used in Bible prophecy, that is, «1 day = 1 year», we see that the 2300 days represent a period of 2300 years. |
Ezekiel 4:6 |
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| I have laid on you a day for each year. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 7 |
The 2300 Days |
Daniel 9:23-25 |
Comments |
| Understand the vision: Seventy
weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city (...). Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem (...). |
The next prophecy, that is, the 70 weeks, was
necessary in order to discover the starting point of this 2300-year period. In fact, our last lesson showed us that the Hebrew word «chathak», which is translated here as «determined», literally means «cut off». So Gabriel told Daniel that a period of 70 weeks had been cut off, but from what? |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 8 |
The 2300 Days |
Daniel 9:24,25 |
Comments |
| Seventy weeks are determined for
your people and for your holy city (...). From the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem (...). |
These 70 weeks, symbolizing a period of 490 years, can
only be cut off from a longer period, that is, the 2300 years. As we have already seen in our preceding lesson, the 70 weeks began in 457 B.C., that is, at «the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem», and ended in A.D. 34, when Stephen was stoned by the Jews. Now, to complete the period of 2300 years, we must add 1810 years (2300 - 490 = 1810) to A.D. 34, and we get to the year A.D. 1844. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 9 |
The 2300 Days |
Daniel 8:14,26 |
Comments |
| For two thousand three hundred
days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed. (...) The vision of the evenings and mornings which was told is true; therefore seal up the vision, for it refers to many days in the future. |
Since the 2300 days ended in the year 1844, we can
understand why the angel said to the prophet Daniel that his vision referred «to many days in the future»! Now, let's try to discover what this cleansing of the sanctuary, which began in 1844, consists of. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 10 |
The 2300 Days |
Revelation 10:10 |
Comments |
| And I took the little book out
of the angel's hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. |
To understand the meaning of the cleansing of the
sanctuary, we must remember the lesson «The Little
Open Book», in which we discovered that this little open book is the book of Daniel. As we saw during that lesson, the book of Daniel was first a source of joy and hope for those who studied it («as sweet as honey in my mouth»), but then brought about disappointment and discouragement («my stomach became bitter»). When did it happen? |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 11 |
The 2300 Days |
Daniel 8:13,14 |
Comments |
| «How long will the vision be,
concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both
the sanctuary and the host to be trampled under foot?» And he said to me, «For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.» |
During the nineteenth century, Christians throughout
the world studied the book of Daniel, and especially the prophecy of the 2300 days. Having calculated that the 2300 days were going to end in 1844, and believing that the foretold cleansing of the sanctuary corresponded with the return of Jesus who would cleanse the earth, they all zealously preached the gospel, eagerly waiting for 1844. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 12 |
The 2300 Days |
Revelation 10:10 |
Comments |
| [The little book] was as sweet
as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. |
But, as we have seen in the lesson «The Little Open Book», the sanctuary that had to be
cleansed at the end of the 2300 days was not the earth, but rather the heavenly sanctuary. So, as foretold by Revelation chapter 10, the sweet waiting of the years preceding 1844 was followed by a deep bitterness, when all those sincere Christians understood that they had not properly interpreted the content of the book of Daniel. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 13 |
The 2300 Days |
Revelation 10:10; 11:1,2 |
Comments |
| But when I had eaten [the little
book], my stomach became bitter. (...) Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, «Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it.» |
Here is the message God gave to the Christians, after
this great disappointment of 1844: we must «measure the temple of
God», that is, study more deeply the sanctuary, in order to understand the
prophecy of Daniel about the cleansing of the sanctuary. That's what we will do right now. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 14 |
The 2300 Days |
Numbers 28:3 |
Comments |
| This is the offering made by fire which you shall offer to the Lord: two male lambs in their first year without blemish, day by day, as a regular burnt offering. | In our lesson «The
Sanctuary», we have seen that God asked the people of Israel to build a sanctuary. Two services took place there: - First the daily service, in which lambs were sacrificed for each person's sins. Day after day, sins were thus moved to the sanctuary. - At the end of the religious year, a second service had to be performed to purify the sanctuary. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 15 |
The 2300 Days |
Leviticus 23:27-29 |
Comments |
| The tenth day of this seventh
month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. For any person who is not afflicted of soul on that same day, he shall be cut off from his people. |
The cleansing of the sanctuary took place once a year,
on the Day of Atonement. The sins of the truly repentant individuals were then totally erased. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 16 |
The 2300 Days |
Hebrews 9:24 |
Comments |
| Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself. | We have also seen that the earthly sanctuary was a
model of the heavenly sanctuary, where Jesus is now working. As the Lamb of God, He takes upon Himself the sins of repentant men, and transfers them to the heavenly sanctuary. So, will the heavenly sanctuary also have to be purified one day, just as the earthly sanctuary had to? |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 17 |
The 2300 Days |
Hebrews 9:23 |
Comments |
| Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. | Yes, the heavenly sanctuary must also be purified. According to the prophecy of Daniel, this purification began in 1844: this is the first phase of the judgment. Just as the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary concerned only the people of Israel, the purification of the heavenly sanctuary concerns only those professing to follow God. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 18 |
The 2300 Days |
1 Peter 4:17 |
Comments |
| For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? | The judgment began in the heavenly sanctuary in 1844
with the examination of each believer's case. On the day of the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary, each Jew who had persisted in his sins was cut off from his people, even if he had offered lambs all the year long. Likewise, many people claim to follow Christ, but the judgment will identify those who are truly converted. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 19 |
The 2300 Days |
2 Corinthians 5:10 |
Comments |
| For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. | Therefore, each person's case will be
brought to trial. Whether or not we profess to follow God, the Bible is clear: one day, we will be judged. |
Romans 14:10 |
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| We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. | |
Hebrews 10:30 |
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| The Lord will judge His people. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 20 |
The 2300 Days |
John 5:24 |
Comments |
| [Jesus said], «Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.» |
Now, how can Jesus declare that he who believes in Him
will not come into judgment, while the Word of God declares that we will all stand before
the judgment seat of God? Simply because those who accept God's salvation will be represented by Jesus Christ Himself, as their Advocate before the Father. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 21 |
The 2300 Days |
| If we really desire it, Jesus will plead and win our case before God! |
| «For Christ has not entered the
holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to
appear in the presence of God for us.» (HEBREWS 9:24) «We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.» (1 JOHN 2:1) «Much more then, having now been justified by [Christ's] blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.» (ROMANS 5:9) «Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.» (MATTHEW 10:32) «There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.» (ROMANS 8:1) |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 22 |
The 2300 Days |
Matthew 7:21-23 |
Comments |
| Not everyone who says to Me,
«Lord, Lord,» shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father
in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, «Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?» And then I will declare to them, «I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!» |
Since 1844, God's judgment has been separating true
Christians from false ones. Let's note that performing miracles is not absolute proof of a genuine conversion. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 23 |
The 2300 Days |
| The names of all false Christians will be erased from the Book of Life: |
| «He who overcomes shall be
clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life.»
(REVELATION 3:5) «The Lord said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book."» (EXODUS 32:33) «Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the rightous.» (PSALM 69:28) «But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.» (EZEKIEL 18:24) |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 24 |
The 2300 Days |
Daniel 7:9-11 |
Comments |
| I watched till thrones were put
in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair
of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire; a fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking. |
The prophecy of Daniel chapter 7
already indicated that the judgment would begin before the return of Jesus. In fact, this vision of the judgment takes place as the little horn is still committing its misdeeds on earth. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 25 |
The 2300 Days |
Revelation 22:11,12 |
Comments |
| He who is unjust, let him be
unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be
righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. |
The cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary will soon be
completed. This will put an end to the first part of the judgment, having separated the
true Christians from the false ones. The fate of each person will then be fixed, and Jesus Christ will finally return to gather His people. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 26 |
The 2300 Days |
Revelation 20:4 |
Comments |
| And I saw thrones, and they sat
on them, and judgment was committed to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. |
A period of 1000 years (also called «Millennium»,
subject of a future lesson) will follow the return of Jesus. This will be the second part of the judgment, during which the people of God will judge the wicked. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 27 |
The 2300 Days |
1 Corinthians 6:2 |
Comments |
| Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? | During these 1000 years, God's people will study the individual cases of the wicked, their responsibilities, their degree of guilt according to their thoughts, words, and deeds. |
Luke 22:29,30 |
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| [Jesus said], «I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.» |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 28 |
The 2300 Days |
Revelation 20:12,15 and 21:8 |
Comments |
| Books were opened. Another book
was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. (...) Anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (...) They shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. |
At the end of the 1000 years, the wicked will come
back to life to receive their verdict of guilt. Having rejected God's call to salvation, their sentence will be a total and final destruction. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 29 |
The 2300 Days |
Revelation 14:6,7 |
Comments |
| Then I saw another angel flying
in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the
earth - to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people - saying with a loud voice, «Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come.» |
Yes, the hour of God's judgment has come. Do we all rely on the only Advocate who can really help us, Jesus Christ, that He may appear before the throne of God for us, and obtain forgiveness for our sins? |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 30 |
The 2300 Days |
Acts 24:25 |
Comments |
| Now as [Paul] reasoned about
righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, «Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.» |
Or are we perhaps like Felix, afraid of the judgment because we have not yet put our lives into the hands of Jesus Christ, the one and only Savior and Lord? |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 31 |
The 2300 Days |
Ecclesiastes 12:13,14 |
Comments |
| Let us hear the conclusion of
the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it is good or whether it is evil. |
Let's remember that we must all appear before the
divine court. The only way to be acquitted is to accept Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord. His presence within us will enable us to keep God's commandments, which express His will for each one of us. |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 32 |
The 2300 Days |
| Summary of the 70 weeks prophecy and the 2300 days prophecy: |
| +----- «For
2300 days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.» -----+ | | +---- «70 weeks are determined for your people.» ----+ | | | | Arta- Restora- Baptism Cruci- Stoning Cleansing xerxes' tion of of fixion of of the decree Jerusalem Jesus of Jesus Stephen sanctuary |------------|-------------|------------|------------|-------------| Autumn Autumn Autumn Spring Autumn Autumn 457 B.C. 408 B.C. A.D. 27 A.D. 31 A.D. 34 1844 |-- 7 weeks -|-- 62 weeks -|-- ½ week --|-- ½ week --| | |- 49 years -|- 434 years -|- 3½ years -|- 3½ years -|--1810 years-| |
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Lesson 50 |
Screen 33 |
The 2300 Days |
| Let's thank God for inviting us to receive salvation: |
| Heavenly Father, We now know that Your judgment has already begun. Without a good Advocate, our case would be lost. But You loved us so much that You gave us Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, so that He may be our atoning sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins, and also our Advocate before Your throne. Now, as we pray, we want to accept Him as our personal Savior and Lord of our life. Through His presence within us, we want to do Your will from now on, so that our names may not be blotted out of Your Book of Life. In the precious name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. |
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The 2300 Days