What is the 2300 day prophecy?

Introduction

I have always been fascinated by the tabernacle and Jewish temple and in 2013, we got to visit a life-size replica of the tabernacle in southern Israel.  In the Bible, there is a fascinating yet relevant prophecy concerning the temple or sanctuary as it is also called.

This 2300 day prophecy concerns an obscure passage of Scripture in Daniel and is related to the destruction of the temple in the end times.¹  The 2300 day prophecy is 2300 mornings and evenings which equates to exactly half the number of days which equals 1150 days because there is 1 morning and 1 evening in each day.  It’s a weird observation and you probably wouldn’t even notice it if you just took a cursory glance, but verse 14 of Daniel 8 starts with evenings and follows with mornings.  That is because the day in Hebrew thinking starts at sunset or evening and ends the following evening.  This follows the pattern set right back in Genesis where each day of creation starts with the evening and lists morning as following the evening.²  Strange to us Greco-Roman-inspired westerners as our day starts and ends at midnight each day.  Also relevant is the fact that each day there were two sacrifice times: 3 pm evening sacrifice and 9 am morning sacrifice.  So because there were two sacrifices per day, that equates for the 2300 day prophecy to equal 1150 days.

Where does the 1150 day prophecy fit in?

So where does the 1150 day prophecy fit into the scheme of things?  Well, it seems to fit into both Bible history and Bible prophecy!  Funny that, but from my previous posts you will remember and understand that prophecy and history are two sides of the same coin.  All prophecy eventually becomes history and the Bible even uses the tense that scholars call “prophetic past tense”.  Daniel uses it here as well in verses 11-13 of chapter 8 when describing what the future little horn will do but it is described as having already happened hence the “prophetic past tense”.

In verse 9 we see that a small horn will grow in strength and he will set himself up as God Himself. The world will worship him as God.  He will subdue the Earth.  Verse 11 tells us that he will take away or stop the daily sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem.  The sanctuary will be brought low and the saints will lose their daily sacrifice which was established at the start of the last seven year period.  There will be a rebellion and a desolation of the temple or sanctuary. In other words, a state of complete emptiness or destruction.  The little horn (Antichrist/beast) prospered in everything it did and truth was thrown to the ground.

Dual prophecies

But an important point to keep in mind is that there is a dual fulfillment of prophecy here. One is history as we see it and one is a prophecy yet to be fulfilled.  That happens often in Scripture where there are dual fulfillments.

Bible history tells us that in 168 BC, the evil Greek ruler Antiochus Epiphanes IV set up an “Abomination of Desolation” in the Jewish temple.  He is also a small horn from the north.  He was an evil ruler or king 8th inline from the Seleucid Empire.  In 168 BC he set up an image of the Greek god Zeus in the temple and he sacrificed a pig on the altar (an unclean and abhorrent animal to the Jews).  Historians tell us that Judas Maccabeus (Judas the Hammer) led a rebellion and later recaptured Jerusalem and reconsecrated the temple and altar, amazingly, 1150 days (just over 3 years) later in 165 BC.  You have to remember that when Daniel wrote this prophecy in the 6th century BC this secondary fulfillment about Antiochus was also prophecy.  So in effect, there are two prophecies but now only the prime fulfillment in that of the little horn of the tribulation period is still in the future.  Confusing?  Let’s now concentrate on the yet to be fulfilled prophecy of the end…

The two witnesses will be overpowered

The small horn that grows big is also the Antichrist and he comes from the north and is called the “king of the North” too in Daniel 11.  He is the same man but has many titles.  He is sent by God whose throne is in the north and he comes to destroy and wage war against Israel in the Beautiful Land.  At this time when he defeats the saints and they have to surrender the sanctuary, there will be 1150 days also until the temple can be reconsecrated on the Feast of Tabernacles after Christ returns.  So the temple will be rebuilt probably in or before the first half when there will be a Jewish revival of the Old Testament sacrificial system under the guidance of the two witnesses.  They will kick things off.  But towards the end of their 1260 day ministry, the abyss will be opened, and eventually, the beast will overpower the two witnesses.  Initially I believe there will be great joy in Israel as the two witnesses are overpowered.  Rev. 11:10 tells us that there will be gift giving and celebration because these two prophets had been tormenting the whole world.  Ten days later, the beast will seat himself on the throne of God in the newly rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and there, just like in Antiochus Epiphanes’ day, will be the abomination of desolation.

The Jews will now realise that their worst nightmare has occurred because of the sacrilege committed by the beast and so will commence a great battle around the newly reconstructed temple.  To the Jews, the temple is everything and they will not give in easily but after 150 days, “the place of his sanctuary will be brought low.”³  This period of 150 days or 5 months will be the first woe when there will be a worldwide demonic scourge of the earth.⁴  This is because finally they are let loose from the Abyss and the devil and his angels will do everything they can to initially gain control over man and his institutions.  However they will not be able to touch those with the seal of God on their foreheads which seem to be believers in Jesus who have not fled to the safe place in the wilderness.⁵  I liken this period when a powerful hail storm initially hits an area.  There is a great wind and hail and lightning and thunder and very heavy rain.  After a while, the storm settles down a bit.  The demonic locust scourge will be so great that “during those days men will seek death, but will not find it;”⁶

It is during this first five months or 150 days of the beastly reign that I am postulating that the beast kills the two witnesses, gains control by forcing mankind to take his mark, and gains control of the temple area.  There is a precedence in history when in AD 70 the Jews fought the Roman army tooth and nail, in hand-to-hand combat before eventually, the great doors of the temple caught fire, and eventually the temple was ‘brought low’ and completely demolished.  It looks like this battle for control will happen again and the Antichrist will have his way but only for a short period.

The sanctuary will be reconsecrated

Then in verse 13, the question comes from a holy one, “How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled?”  How long will Israel be without their temple and sacrificial offerings?  The response in verse 14 is, 2300 evenings and mornings and then everything will be reconsecrated or made holy again.  That is 1150 days.  That takes us to the end of the second half of the Great Tribulation when starting on the Day of Atonement and ending after 14 days,⁷ the sanctuary will be reconsecrated or made holy again just as in the days of King Solomon when he consecrated the newly built first temple of the Jews with 22,000 head of cattle and 120,000 goats and sheep.⁸

Conclusion

So, in conclusion, the 150 days of demonic locusts⁴ + 1150 days = 1300 days.  This takes us from when the abyss is opened until when the sanctuary will be reconsecrated.  See my timeline for details.  The 1150 days prophecy covers both historically Antiochus Epiphanes and his desecration of the temple with the pig offered to Zeus in 168 BC and also in the future as well when the beast will desecrate the future temple for the same amount of time.  One passage, two fulfillments!