The purpose of this blog is to review some of our prophetic beliefs about Daniel; formulated by our honest and sincere pioneers, approximately 170 years ago. The aforementioned review is not intended to question or divide the church, but to motivate an investigation, both personal and corporate, of the foundation of these beliefs. The undersigned, an Adventist for more than 55 years, is grateful to the Lord, to our church, and to the counsel of Sister White, which served as a guide to shape my family and who I am. However, I believe that as a denomination, we have lacked to periodically review some of our prophetic beliefs, which over time may have lost relevance; as has happened during the two millennia of our era; where the religious world has changed its interpretations.
Two examples of this are: A- That during the first fifteen centuries, most of prophecy scholars interpreted that the seventy weeks prophecy had begun in the year 444 BC during the time of Nehemiah; but starting from the Reformation, this prophecy began to be reinterpreted, affirming that it had started in the year 457 BC during Ezra’s time. B- That in the early nineteenth century, most religious denominations believed that with the capture and exile of Pope Pius VI to France, the 1,260 days prophecy of Daniel 7 had been fulfilled, a belief that over time has been discarded due to lack of biblical and historical foundation.
To the above, it must be added that we find some inconsistencies in our traditional prophetic interpretation of Daniel, which we cannot satisfactorily explain both within and outside our church. Such is the case of our assertion that the prophecy of the 2,300 evenings and mornings began with the desecration of the sanctuary – in the year 457 BC–; although we cannot explain which power desecrated the sanctuary in the mentioned year because Rome, whom we have identified as the little horn of Daniel 8, could not have desecrated the sanctuary in the year 457 BC, as that nation began to emerge as a world power approximately three hundred years after the sanctuary was profaned in the year mentioned. On the other hand, we must not forget that the little horn of Daniel 8, which, according to verses 11, 13; would profane the sanctuary – in the year 457 BC–; to begin the 2,300 evenings and mornings that would end in 1844, had to do so during the Persian Empire when Christianity did not yet exist; approximately 1,000 years before the papacy represented a political-religious persecuting power.
We must seek honest and sincere explanations for both the aforementioned inconsistency and the many others we will find in the development of this blog. We end by reminding that a characteristic of a Christian is to be a constant seeker of truth, it doesn’t matter if at a certain point he finds out he’s been wrong; in which case, the simplest and correct thing to do is to proceed with an honorable rectification. Blessings.
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