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Daniel 12:11, 12

Author:Ángel Manuel RodríguezAre the time periods mentioned in Daniel 12:11, 12 (1290 days and 1 ! days" to#e understood literally or sym#oli$ally%

Adventists follow the historicist method of prophetic interpretation, by which theprophecies received by Daniel span the time from the days of the prophet to theestablishment of God’s kingdom. According to this approach the year-day principle (E e. !"#$is %sed to interpret prophetic periods. &he historicist approach claims that those periods wereyears, and that they fo%nd their f%lfillment d%ring the late 'iddle Ages. ome Adventists now arg%e that the year-day principle does not apply to these twoprophecies, and that these prophetic periods sho%ld be %nderstood as literal days of eventsto be f%lfilled before )es%s’ ret%rn. &hey are forced to spec%late abo%t which events will markthe completion of those periods. *et’s e+amine the conte+t of the passage for g%idance.

1. Immediate Context and the Time of the End. ot everything described in Daniel "/-0 is related to the time of the end. 1or instance, the sealing of the book and the increase inknowledge begin before that time (verses !, 2$3 it is before the time of the end that theheavenly being swears 4by him who lives forever5 (verse 6$, the breaking of the power of theholy people occ%rs, and the 4wonders5 come to an end (verse 7$. &he refinement of God’speople takes place thro%gho%t history, not simply at the time of the end (verse 8$.&herefore, it is incorrect to say that beca%se the immediate conte+t mentions the time of theend, the prophetic periods belong to that same time. 2. Prophetic Periods in Daniel: Even if we were to recogni e that prophetic time periodsare in a conte+t in which there are no visions and that the lang%age is predominantly literal,that wo%ld not mean the days themselves are literal. 9n Daniel prophetic periods are nevergiven in a vis%al form. &he prophet hears or is told them by a heavenly being. 9n Daniel 6" /

the 0: times is introd%ced not d%ring the vision, b%t d%ring the angel’s e+planation of thevision. 9n Daniel 7" ! the 088 days are given in the conte+t of a revelation in which thelang%age is predominantly literal. 1inally, in Daniel 2 we find the prophecy of the 68 weeksgiven to Daniel thro%gh an oral e+planation. 9n all those cases the lang%age %sed in theinterpretation of the vision is basically literal, b%t the prophetic periods are not. &hey areintrod%ced after the vision as additional information, b%t their symbolic content is not f%llye+plained. &his is e+actly what we find in Daniel " , . D%ring the oral presentationprophetic periods are given witho%t a detailed interpretation. Daniel is %nable to %nderstandthem, b%t he is led to believe that God’s people will %nderstand them in the f%t%re. 3. Connection Between the Time Periods: &he 28 days are an e+tension of the #8days mentioned in Daniel 6" / and "6 as a 4time, times, and half a time.5 &he difference inDaniel " is 08 days, s%ggesting that an additional month has been added to e+tend the

period (a common practice in l%nar calendars$. ;eca%se the period of 28 days is based onthe #8 days, and beca%se it is acknowledged by historicist interpreters that the #8 daysare years, we have to concl%de that the year-day principle also applies to the 28 days. &he reference to the #8 days in Daniel 6" / emphasi ed the time d%ring which God’speople wo%ld s%ffer persec%tion. Daniel "6 emphasi es the moment when the activities ofGod’s enemies wo%ld come to an end. &he 28 days in Daniel " emphasi e the momentwhen prophetic time begins. 9n order to synchroni e the beginning of the prophecy with aspecific event, the period is e+tended by adding an e+tra month

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https://www.adventistbiblicalresearch.org/materials/bible-ot-texts/daniel-1211-12