BLOG

Daniel 12: Cycle of Blessing

The angelic revelation concludes in Daniel 12:12,

¹² How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days.

No explanation is given for this time cycle. We are not told if it stands alone or if it is 45 days after a 1290 year cycle. All we can do is observe how it has been fulfilled in history, because when we deal with prophecy, history is its fulfillment and explanation.

I have a coin (replica) from the Ottoman Empire that is dated on both sides, as is the case with many coins from the Mideast. On one side the coin is dated according to the Western calendar: 1917. On the reverse side it is dated by the Islamic calendar: 1335.

In other words, in 1917, when General Allenby took Jerusalem from the Ottoman Empire, it was the year 1335 on the Islamic lunar calendar. Their lunar calendar began with the “Hegira,” or Mohammed’s flight from Mecca, in 622 A.D. The space of 1335 lunar years is just 1295 solar years. (622 + 1295 = 1917)

The year 1917, then, is the most obvious cycle of 1335, when viewed as an independent cycle that is not attached to a previous 1290-year period. This cycle does not appear to be an extension of the 1260 or 1290 cycles, although in general terms, we could make the case that they marked declines in the Ottoman Empire. In fact, by the mid-1800’s it was known as “the sick man of Europe,” a term coined by the Russian Tsar in 1853.

1844 was 1260 lunar years after the Hegira in 622 A.D.

1874 was 1290 lunar years after the Hegira in 622 A.D.

1917 was 1335 lunar years after the Hegira in 622 A.D.

The Ottoman Empire was a factor in biblical prophecy, depicted mostly in Revelation 9, where we are given the time of its rise (or dominance) as “the hour and day and month and year” (Revelation 9:15). In prophecy this is 391 years. (1 day = 1 year; 1 month = 30 years; 1 year = 360 years) Dating from 1453, when the Ottomans conquered Constantinople (now Istanbul), 391 years later came to the year 1844 was when the Ottoman Empire began to decline.

As this decline intensified, a movement arose which demanded the end of the absolute rule of the Sultan and the establishment of a Constitutional Monarchy. A constitution was finally written in 1876, which may well have been due to key political efforts in 1874 (i.e., 1290 years after the Hegira). It is close enough to be significant.

Lastly, as I already showed, Jerusalem was taken from the Ottoman Empire in 1917, and after World War 1 the Ottoman Empire was broken up. The Republic of Turkey was established in its place in 1923, having much less territory.

1335 Lunar Years from 688 (Dome of the Rock)

We have already shown the importance of 688 A.D., when construction began on the Dome of the Rock (also known as the Mosque of Omar) in Jerusalem. 688 A.D. was 1290 lunar years after the sacrifices ended in Solomon’s temple.

If we use 688 as a starting point, we can calculate:

688 A.D. + 1260 lunar years = 1910 A.D.

688 A.D. + 1290 lunar years = 1940 A.D.

688 A.D. + 1335 lunar years = 1983 A.D.

The Ottoman Empire became a Constitutional Monarchy in 1876-1878, but this lasted only for a short time. The same Constitution was re-adopted in 1908 at the insistence of the Young Turk Movement. This is very close to 1910 A.D., which was 1260 lunar years after 688 A.D.

The year 1940, of course, brings us to World War 2. Turkey was neutral until 1945 when it joined the Allies against Germany just before the end of the war.

More significant, perhaps, was the year 1983, which was 1335 lunar years after 688 A.D. This year was also seventy years after the passage of the Federal Reserve Act (1913). In the early 1980’s, when I was doing my first major study in the book of Daniel, it appeared to me that Mystery Babylon would fall in 1983. At the time I did not understand how the Hezekiah Factor would add ten years to the major prophetic cycles of time.

1983 10 years = 1993, which was the 40^th Jubilee of the Church under Pentecost. Even then, Mystery Babylon did not fall. Instead, we were given divine authorization to begin the Jubilee Prayer Campaign to petition the divine court for the transfer of authority to the saints of the Most High. In other words, God did not just overthrow Babylon all by Himself. He chose to allow us to participate in that overthrow, and this took another 21 years to 2014.

Prophetic Cycles Dating from 754 A.D.

We have already shown how it was 1260 years from The Donation of Pepin (754) to the full transfer of authority (2014). It may be that the 1290 year cycle will prove to be significant in 2044, as well as the 1335 year cycle in 2089. At the present time, we cannot concern ourselves with those dates, for that will be the task of later generations, if history continues to those days.

However, we should mention the lunar endpoints from 754 A.D., since two of these relate to our own time.

754 A.D. + 1260 lunar years = 1976

754 A.D. + 1290 lunar years = 2005/6

754 A.D. + 1335 lunar years = 2049

I am unsure if the importance of 1976 is seen in any public events. Most likely, it was important for certain decisions or events behind the scenes, which are yet to be made public. The problem with the times in which we live is that Mystery Babylon has too many secrets.

The year 2006, however, is clearly an important year. On March 15, 2006 we reached the 2,520^th anniversary of the completion of the Second Temple in 515 B.C. Later that year we completed the Jubilee Prayer Campaign on October 7, 2006 with the declaration “It is done,” spoken at Babylon, New York.

As for the year 2049, if this is to be a “Blessed” date after 1335 lunar years, others will have to take note of it at that time.

Conclusion

There are many time cycles that weave together in a complex tapestry of prophetic history. It is not always easy to grasp the links between them all, because one must have some understanding of history, the difference between lunar and solar years, and the meaning of numbers. Not many are equipped for such studies.

To compound the problem, the angel did not offer much explanation to Daniel. Hence, in order to understand the final chapter of Daniel, one must study the book of Revelation, where we are given more details of the last half of the 2,520 years of tribulation.

In that sense, Daniel is an incomplete book, or at least an incomplete revelation. Its main flow of historical revelation ends with the overthrow Antiochus Epiphanes and the end of the Greek beast empire, whose dominion was cut short by a century.

Daniel 9 also revealed the 70-week period leading to the great climax of history—the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is no doubt that this event was the most important climax of Daniel’s revelation. Every revelation beyond the ministry of Christ was hidden behind veils, as if to await a future generation whose prophets could see with greater clarity.

Perhaps the divine reason was to keep the two comings of Christ hidden until the time of the apostles. If the angel had clearly revealed the events beyond the first coming of Christ, it would have been readily apparent that the Kingdom would not be established in His first appearance. Then they might have surmised that two comings of Christ were necessary, and from that they might have understood the laws of the two birds (Leviticus 14) and the two goats (Leviticus 16) that depict Christ’s two works.

Instead, it seemed good to the Father to hide many things even in the midst of revelation, so that His purposes would be fulfilled in the earth. Such progressive revelation made it necessary for John to write his book of Revelation. Even then, because he wrote in sign language. “He sent and signified it by His angel” (Revelation 1:1 KJV). In the first century it was hardly possible for anyone to know how those prophecies were to be fulfilled in history. Only the unfolding of historical events would reveal the interpretation of the book of Revelation and allow men to understand the last half of the 2,520 years of tribulation.

We are fortunate to live at the end of this tribulation, where we are able to see the full picture of what has been revealed by Daniel and John. Yet it requires much knowledge of history to be able to interpret the various “beasts” and symbolic language.

It is most important to understand that Daniel 11 (and to some extent Daniel 12) had a historical fulfillment. The prophet gave us a detailed history of the Grecian Empire as it related to Judea. This was meant to orient our thinking toward the historical interpretation of the book of Revelation, which is the second half of the overall revelation. There is no 2000-year “gap” in prophecy between the two comings of Christ. The two books flow seamlessly as Prophecy I and Prophecy II.

We now find ourselves at the end of a very long tribulation cycle brought about by Judah’s refusal to keep the law of God as they had vowed to do at Mount Horeb. The Dominion Mandate was taken from Judah and given to the various beast nations during this long tribulation cycle. This is now ending between 2014 and 2017, and the divine mandate has passed to the saints of the Most High, as Daniel prophesied.

We are now called to prepare for a new day in which the Kingdom of God will emerge as a great “stone” that will soon fill the whole earth.

Happy New Year (Rosh Hoshana).