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Light for Today From the Sanctuary Service

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Lesson 12 Sabbath, June 18, 2011

The First Part of Daniel’s Vision Explained

“I am come to shew thee; for thou are greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision” (Daniel 9:23).

“There was one important point in the vision of chapter 8 which had been left unexplained, namely, that relating to time—the period of the 2300 days; therefore the angel, in resuming his explanation, dwells chiefly upon the subject of time.”—The Great Controversy, p. 325.

Suggested Reading:   Ibid., pp. 324–328

Sunday June 12

1. DANIEL TRIES TO UNDERSTAND THE VISION

a. What happened to Daniel before the angel Gabriel could finish explaining the 2300 prophetic days in connection with the little horn causing desolation and treading the sanctuary underfoot? Daniel 8:25–27.

b. After the departure of Gabriel, what was Daniel’s great concern? What answer was he trying to find in the prophetic writings of Jeremiah? What was the burden of his prayers? Daniel 9:2, 17–19.

c. What should we learn from Daniel’s attitude in approaching the Almighty with his supplication? Daniel 9:3–11.

“Come now, while mercy lingers; come with confession, come with contrition of soul, and God will abundantly pardon. . . .

“Wait in deep humiliation before God. From this hour resolve to be the Lord’s, doing your whole duty, trusting implicitly in the great atonement. Do this and you will have nothing to fear.”—Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 353.


Monday June 13

2. GABRIEL RETURNS TO EXPLAIN THE VISION

a. How did God respond to Daniel’s prayer of contrition? Daniel 9:20, 21.

b. Since Gabriel explained only part of the vision (Daniel 8:11–14, 25, 26), for what purpose did he return? Daniel 9:22, 23.

“The angel had been sent to Daniel for the express purpose of explaining to him the point which he had failed to understand in the vision of the eighth chapter, the statement relative to time—‘unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed’ (Daniel 8:14).”—The Great Controversy, p. 326.

c. How did Gabriel explain the first part of the 2300 prophetic days? Daniel 9:24.

“After bidding Daniel ‘understand the matter, and consider the vision,’ the very first words of the angel are: ‘Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy Holy City’ (Daniel 9:23, 24). The word here translated ‘determined’ literally signifies ‘cut off.’ Seventy weeks, representing 490 years, are declared by the angel to be cut off, as specially pertaining to the Jews. But from what were they cut off? As the 2300 days was the only period of time mentioned in chapter 8, it must be the period from which the seventy weeks were cut off; the seventy weeks must therefore be a part of the 2300 days, and the two periods must begin together. The seventy weeks were declared by the angel to date from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem. If the date of this commandment could be found, then the starting point for the great period of the 2300 days would be ascertained.

“In the seventh chapter of Ezra the decree is found. (Verses 12–26). In its completest form it was issued by Artaxerxes, king of Persia, 457 B.C. But in Ezra 6:14 the house of the Lord at Jerusalem is said to have been built ‘according to the commandment [‘decree,’ margin] of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.’ These three kings, in originating, reaffirming, and completing the decree, brought it to the perfection required by the prophecy to mark the beginning of the 2300 years. Taking 457 B.C., the time when the decree was completed, as the date of the commandment, every specification of the prophecy concerning the seventy weeks was seen to have been fulfilled.”—Ibid., pp. 326, 327.


Tuesday June 14

3. KEY PROPHECIES FULFILLED

a. How did God’s messenger divide the seventy prophetic years in the vision given to Daniel? Daniel 9:25.

“The decree of Artaxerxes went into effect in the autumn of 457 B.C. From this date [69 prophetic weeks or], 483 years extend to the autumn of A.D. 27. . . . At that time this prophecy was fulfilled. The word ‘Messiah’ signifies ‘the Anointed One.’ In the autumn of A.D. 27 Christ was baptized by John and received the anointing of the Spirit. The apostle Peter testifies that ‘God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power’ (Acts 10:38).”—The Great Controversy, p. 327.

b. How did the angel explain the last prophetic week of the 490 years allotted to the Jewish people? Daniel 9:27 (first part).

“‘And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week’ (Daniel 9:27). The ‘week’ here brought to view is the last one of the seventy; it is the last seven years of the period allotted especially to the Jews. During this time, extending from A.D. 27 to A.D. 34, Christ, at first in person and afterward by His disciples, extended the gospel invitation especially to the Jews. As the apostles went forth with the good tidings of the kingdom, the Saviour’s direction was: ‘Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel’ (Matthew 10:5, 6).”—Ibid.

c. What happened in the middle of the last prophetic week? Daniel 9:27 (middle part).

“‘In the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease’ (Daniel 9:27). In A.D. 31, three and a half years after His baptism, our Lord was crucified. With the great sacrifice offered upon Calvary, ended that system of offerings which for four thousand years had pointed forward to the Lamb of God. Type had met antitype, and all the sacrifices and oblations of the ceremonial system were there to cease.”—Ibid., pp. 327, 328.


Wednesday June 15

4. THE SEVENTY WEEKS CONCLUDED

a. What happened at the end of the last prophetic week? Acts 7:59, 60; 8:1–5; 13:46, 47; 22:21.

“The seventy weeks, or 490 years, especially allotted to the Jews, ended, as we have seen, in A.D. 34. At that time, through the action of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the nation sealed its rejection of the gospel by the martyrdom of Stephen and the persecution of the followers of Christ. Then the message of salvation, no longer restricted to the chosen people, was given to the world.”—The Great Controversy, p. 328.

b. After the seventy prophetic weeks of years ended in 34 AD, what happened to the city of Jerusalem and to the temple? Daniel 9:26, 27; Matthew 24:15, 16, 1, 2.

“Both the city and the temple were razed to their foundations, and the ground upon which the holy house had stood was ‘plowed like a field’ (Jeremiah 26:18). In the siege and the slaughter that followed, more than a million of the people perished; the survivors were carried away as captives, sold as slaves, dragged to Rome to grace the conqueror’s triumph, thrown to wild beasts in the amphitheaters, or scattered as homeless wanderers throughout the earth.”—Ibid., p. 35.

c. What responsibility did the Jews of Jesus’ day take upon themselves by shouting, “His blood be on us and on our children?” Matthew 27:25.

“Looking upon the smitten Lamb of God, the Jews had cried, ‘His blood be on us, and on our children’ (Matthew 27:25). That awful cry ascended to the throne of God. That sentence, pronounced upon themselves, was written in heaven. That prayer was heard. The blood of the Son of God was upon their children and their children’s children, a perpetual curse.

“Terribly was it realized in the destruction of Jerusalem. Terribly has it been manifested in the condition of the Jewish nation.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 739.


Thursday June 16

5. EARNEST SEEKERS REWARDED

a. What did the angel of the Lord say about the 2,300 days? Daniel 8:26. How did the Advent pioneers find the end of the 2300 prophetic days in 1844? What lesson can we gain from this experience? Deuteronomy 4:29; 29:29; John 7:17.

“Thus far every specification of the prophecies is strikingly fulfilled, and the beginning of the seventy weeks is fixed beyond question at 457 B.C., and their expiration in A.D 34. From this data there is no difficulty in finding the termination of the 2300 days. The seventy weeks–490 days–having been cut off from the 2300, there were 1810 days remaining. After the end of 490 days, the 1810 days were still to be fulfilled. From A.D. 34, 1810 years extend to 1844. Consequently the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14 terminate in 1844. At the expiration of this great prophetic period, upon the testimony of the angel of God, ‘the sanctuary shall be cleansed’ (Daniel 8:14).”—The Great Controversy, p. 328.

“[Christ] will make plain His word to all who seek Him in sincerity of heart. Those who study the word of God with hearts open to the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, will not remain in darkness as to the meaning of the word. [John 7:17, RV quoted.] All who come to Christ for a clearer knowledge of the truth will receive it. He will unfold to them the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, and these mysteries will be understood by the heart that longs to know the truth.”—Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 36.


Friday June 17

PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS

a. What was Daniel’s concern about the vision referred to in Daniel 8:11–14, 25, 26? Where did he try to find the explanation of this vision?

b. Summarize the significance of Daniel’s prayer.

c. What explanation did Gabriel, God’s messenger, give about the first part of the 2300 prophetic days?

d. What was the fate of Jerusalem and the temple shortly after the end of the seventy prophetic weeks?

e. Why can we be encouraged by the way the Advent pioneers found that the 2300 prophetic days of Daniel 8:14 ended in 1844?

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