FRIDAY MORNING MANNA
Biblical Numerology: NUMBER SEVEN (No. 42)
The 1335 Prophetic Days and the Critical Year 1843
Verse 12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and and five and thirty days. 13 But go thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days. Daniel 12: 12, 13, K.J.V.
From Daniel and the Revelation by Uriah Smith, pp. 330-332:
The 1335 Prophetic Days. – After the 1290 prophetic days which considered the interpretation of earlier, “still another prophetic period is here introduced, denoting 1335 days. Can we tell when this period begins and ends? The only clue we have to the solution of this questions is the fact that it is spoken of in immediate connection with the 1290 years, which began in 508 as shown [earlier]. From that point, there shall be, says the prophet [Daniel], 1290 days. The very next sentence reads, ‘Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the 1335 days.’ Q. From what point?—From the same point, undoubtedly, as that from which the 1290 date, namely, A.D. 508. Unless they are to be reckoned from this point, it is impossible to locate them, and they must be excepted from the prophecy of Daniel when we apply it to the words of Christ, ‘Whoso readeth, let him understand.’ Matt. 24: 15. From this point, they would extend to 1843, for 1335 added to 508 make 1843. Beginning in the spring of the former year, they ended in the spring of the latter [to make a full year].
“But how can it be that they have ended, it may be asked, since at the end of these days Daniel stands in his lot, which is by some supposed to his resurrection from the dead? This question is founded on a misapprehension in two respects: First, that the days at the end of which Daniel stands in his lot are the 1335 days; and second, that the standing of Daniel in his lot is his resurrection, which also cannot be sustained. The only things promised at the end of the 1335 days is a blessing to those who wait and come to that time; that, those who are then living!
“What is this blessing? Looking at the year 1843, when these years expired, what do we behold? We see a remarkable fulfillment of prophecy in the great proclamation of the second coming of Christ! Forty-five years before this, the time of the end [1798] began, the book [of Daniel, specifically dealing with prophetic time] was unsealed, and light began to increase[ [‘Knowledge shall increase; men shall run to and fro.’]. About the year 1843, there was grand culmination of all the light that had been shed on prophetic subjects up to that time. The proclamation went forth in power. The new and stirring doctrine of the setting up of the kingdom of God shook the world. [1] New life was imparted to the true disciples of Christ. [2] The unbelieving were condemned, [3] the churches were tested, and [4] a spirit of revival was awakened which had no parallel since.
“Was this the blessing? Listen to the Savior’s words: ‘Blessed are your eyes,’ He said to His disciples, ‘for they see; and your ears, for they hear.’ Matthew 13: 16. Again he told His followers that prophets and kings had desired to see the things which they saw and, and had not seen them. But ‘blessed,’ said He to them, ‘are the eyes which see the things that ye see.” Luke 10: 23, 24. If a new and glorious truth was a blessing in the days of Christ to those who received it [many did not, particularly the religious leaders of the nation], why was it not equally so in 1843?
“It may be objected that those who engaged in this movement were disappointed in their expectations; [but] so were the disciples of Christ at His first advent, in an equal degree. They shouted before Him as He rode into Jerusalem, expecting that he would then take the [temporal] kingdom [from the Romans]. But the only throne to which He then went was the cross, and instead of being hailed as king in a royal palace, He was laid a lifeless form in Joseph’s new sepulcher. Nevertheless they were ‘blessed’ in receiving the truths they had heard!
“It may be objected further that this was not a sufficient blessing to be marked by a prophetic period. Why not, since the period in which it was to occur, the time of the end [from 1798], is introduced by a prophetic period [the 1260 days/42 months/ 3 ½ years, time, times, and half a time, a time, times and a dividing of times—all totaling 1, 260 years of the Dark Ages of papal world rule]; since our Lord, in verse 14 of His great prophecy of Matthew 24, makes a special announcement of this movement; and since it is further set forth in Revelation 14: 6, 7, under the symbol of an angel flying through midheaven with a special announcement of the everlasting gospel to the inhabitants of the earth? Surely the Bible gives great prominence to this movement!
“Two more questions remain to be noticed briefly: What days are referred to in verse 13? What is meant by Daniel standing in his lot? Those claim that the days are the 1335, are led to that application by looking back no further than to the preceding verse, where the 1335 days are mentioned; whereas, in making application these days so indefinitely introduced, the whole scope of the prophecy should be taken in from Daniel 8. [NOTE: It is critical to peg our prophetic study on the 2300 days of Daniel 8: 14, not on any other such as the alleged “2590 days” which we will discuss later]. Chapters 9, 10, 11, and 12 are clearly a continuation and explanation of the vision of Daniel 8; hence we may say that in the vision of chapter 8, as carried out and explained, there are four prophetic periods: the 2300, 1260, 1290, and 1335 days. The first is the principal and longest period; the others are but intermediate parts and subdivisions of this. Now, when the angel tells Daniel at the conclusions of his instructions that he ‘shall stand in his lot at the end of the days,’ without specifying which period was meant, would not Daniel’s mind naturally turn to the principal and longest period, the 2300 days, rather than to any of its subdivisions? If this is so, the 2300 days are the days intended. The reading of the Septuagint seems to look plainly in this direction; ‘But go thy way and rest; for there are yet days and seasons to the full accomplishment [of these things]; and thou shalt stand in thy lot at the end of the days.’ This certainly carries the mind back to the long period contained in the first vision, in relation to which the subsequent instructions were given.
“The 2300 days, as has been already shown, terminated in 1844, and brought us to the cleansing of the sanctuary. Q. How did Daniel at that time ‘stand in his lot’? Ans. In the person of His Advocate, our great High Priest, as He presents the cases of the righteous for acceptance to the Father. The word here translated ‘lot’ does not mean a piece of real estate, a ‘lot’ of land, but ‘the decisions of chance’ or the ‘determinations of Providence.’ At the end of the days, the lot, so to speak, was to be cast. In other words, a determination was to be made in reference to those who should be accounted worthy of a possession in a heavenly inheritance. When Daniel’s case comes up for examination, he is found righteous, stands in his lot, is assigned a place in the heavenly Canaan [this is a true teaching of the Second Advent doctrine].
“When Israel was about to enter he [earthly] Promised Land, the lot was cast, and the possession of each tribe was assigned. The tribes thus stood in their respective ‘lots’ long before they entered upon the actual possession of the land. The time of the cleansing of the sanctuary corresponds to this period of Israel’s history. We now stand at the borders of heavenly Canaan, and decisions are being made, assigning some a place in the eternal kingdom, and barring others forever. In the decision of his case, Daniel’ portion in the celestial inheritance will be made sure to him. With him all the faithful will also stand. When this devoted servant of God [study his life history the as the quintessential statesman of God], who filled up a long life with the noblest deeds of service to his Maker though cumbered with the weightiest cares of this life [prime minister in three different successive pagan monarchies!], shall enter upon his reward for well-doing, we too may enter with him to into rest.” – D & R 330-334.
Charles Fitch and the 1843 Chart Based on Habakkuk’s Prophecy
“I have seen that the 1843 chart was directed by the hand of the Lord, and that it should not be altered; that the figures were as He wanted them; that His hand was over and hid the mistake in some of the figures, so that none could see it, until His hand was removed. – E. G. White, Early Writings, p. 74.
“As early as 1842, the Spirit of God had moved upon Charles Fitch to devise the prophetic chart, which was generally regarded by Adventists as a fulfillment of the command given by the prophet Habakkuk, to ‘write the vision and make it plain upon the tables.’ No one, however, saw the tarrying time, which was brought to view in the same prophecy. After the disappointment [in 1843], the meaning of this Scripture became apparent. Thus speaks the prophet: ‘Write the vision, and make it plain upon the tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie; though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry.’ Habakkuk 2: 2, 3.”- E. G. White, Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 402 (1884).
“God designed to prove His people [at that pivotal time in end-time prophecy]. His hand covered a mistake in the reckoning of the prophetic periods. Adventists [SDA Church not yet organized till 1863] did not discover the error, nor was it discovered by the most learned of their opponents . . . . The time of expectation passed, and Christ did not appear for the deliverance of His people. Those who had sincere faith and love had looked for their Savior, experienced a bitter disappointment [in 1844], yet the Lord had accomplished His purpose; he had tested the hearts of those who professed to be waiting for His appearing [as the “5 foolish virgins].” – Ibid, p. 228.
“It was to separate the church of Christ from the corrupting influence of the world that the first angel’s message was given.”
“When the churches spurned the counsel of God by rejecting the advent message, the Lord rejected them. The first angel was followed by the second, proclaiming, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city ‘. . . This message [second] was understood by Adventists to be an announcement of the moral fall of the churches in consequence of their rejection of the first message. The proclamation, ‘Babylon is fallen,’ was given in the summer of 1844, and as a result, about fifty-thousand withdrew from these churches.” – Ibid, pp. 231, 232.
NOTE: This is why a blessing was pronounced on those who ‘waiteth and cometh to the 1335 days”! They would hear the giving of the first angel’s message of Revelation 14 that was designed to ‘separate the church of Christ from the corrupting influence of the world.” This was a preparatory step for the people of God at that that time for the “tarrying time.”
“When the year 1843 entirely passed away unmarked by the advent of Jesus, those who had looked in faith for His appearing were for a time left in doubt in perplexity. But notwithstanding their disappointment, many continued to search the Scriptures examining anew the evidence of their faith, and carefully studying the prophecies to obtain further light.”- Ibid, p. 241.
“In the summer of 1844, Adventists discovered the mistake of their former reckoning of the prophetic periods, and settled upon the correct position. The 2300 days of Daniel 8: 14, which all believed to extend to the second coming of Christ, had been thought to end in the spring of 1844, but it was now seen that this period extended to the autumn of the same year, and the minds of the Adventists were fixed upon this point as the time for the Lord’s appearing. The proclamation of this time message was another step in fulfillment of the parable of the marriage, whose application to the Adventists had already been clearly seen.” – Ibid, p. 248.
(Continued next week)