Daniel 12:11 "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the
abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days."
When was the daily sacrifice taken away? In other words, when was the last time that the Jews were allowed to worship on the Temple Mount?
Answer: 583 B.C.
But some will ask, “Didn’t Babylon invade Judah in 586 B.C. and destroy the Jewish Temple?”
Answer: Yes, it was 586 B.C., but some Jews continued to go the the Temple Mount for three more years and perform daily sacrifices. So . . .the exact date when the “daily sacrifice” was taken away was the year 583 B.C. The Babylonians took Jews to Babylon three different times. The last time is recorded in Jeremiah 52:30, and that date was 583 B.C. Check it out!
Jeremiah 41:4 tells us that sacrifices were made after the Temple was destroyed.
Notice! "Daniel did not say from the time the Temple was destroyed"; he said, "from the time the daily sacrifices were stopped". There is a time difference of three years.
The 23rd year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign was 583 B.C.
But using this date (583 B.C.), however, makes no sense. Adding Daniel’s number (1,290 days) to 583 B.C. brings us to 707 A.D.
Is there anything significant about the 707 A.D. date?
Answer: No. There is nothing significant about the 707 A.D. date. (Pope John VII died that year, and so did Japanese Emperor Momu at 24-years of age after a ten-year reign, but these events have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with this study.)
So what do we do with Daniel’s prediction? Should we just throw it out or dig a little deeper?
Some folks overlook a very important fact. The Jews use a different calendar than we do. Their calendar has 360 days in a year. Our calendar (The Gregorian Calendar) has 365.24 days in a year.
So this means we have to do some very simple math.
(360 times 1290 equals 464,400 divided by 365.24 equals 1271.5)
The 1290 days in Daniel are actually 1271.5 days according to our calendar.
Now, with this knowledge, let’s do the math: 583 B.C. plus 1271 years brings us to the year 688 A.D.
Did anything significant take place in 688 A.D.?
Yes. The Dome of the Rock was built in 688 A.D.! Califah Abd el Malik ibn Marwan began construction of the Dome of the rock that year.
We call it The Dome of the Rock, but Daniel called it “The Abomination of Desolation”.
Why is this building and what it represents an abomination? There are several reasons. The main one is that it stands on the Temple Mount just south of where the Jewish Temple once stood.Written outside and inside of this building is the phrase, “God forbid that he should have a son.” ***
God doesn’t have a son? This one phrase erases the very truth of the Christian message. If God does not have a Son then we might as well throw our Bibles away!
But someone may ask, “Daniel used the word “days” not “years”.
Answer: Yes, this is absolutely true.
However, the Bible gives us a couple clues in Psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8.
“For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.”
“A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.”
It is very easy for those of us who take these verses literally to accept the “day-for-a-year theory”.
So when Daniel said 1,290 “days” he was speaking to us of “years”.
I hope this helps you in your understanding of these Last Days and End Time Truth.
For those who are CURIOUS about the lateness of the hour . . . time to dig in and do some serious study and prayer, and to be aware of how Islam plays a major role in the last days.
Feel free to contact me if you have further questions: wesed@hotmail.com
***
Yes, we know that Antiochus IV Epiphanes put a temporary stop to the daily sacrifice in 175 B.C., and even sacrificed pigs to Zeus on an altar he erected in the Temple. But through the brave efforts of Judas Maccabeus those sacrifices were resumed again. Hanukkah emerged from this time because the candelabra burned for eight days when there was only enough oil for one day.
This year Hanukkah is December 20-28; in 2012 it will be December 8-16.
Inside the Dome of the Rock in classical Arabic is inscribed, "O you People of the Book, overstep not bounds in your religion, and of God speak only the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, is only an apostle of God, and his Word which he conveyed unto Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from him. Believe therefore in God and his apostles, and say not Three. It will be better for you. God is only one God. Far be it from his glory that he should have a son."
Jewish Bible commentators: Rashi: 11th century, France; Maimonides: 12th century, Egypt; Nahmanides: 13th century, Spain.