Preface: The following post is from June of 2023. We know about Isaac Newton's reputation as a great mind....but if I remember correctly....and I think that I do....the Encyclopedia Britannica once described Jonathan Edwards as the greatest mind in America in the 18th century. Edwards studied much on prophecy....and that of the "times of the Gentiles." God's Word encourages us....indeed commands us to stay awake as far as the signs of the times. The following is just a mental exercise....which is the title that I gave the post at the time:
[Isaac] Newton's brain was certainly in a league with only a few others.....and during his life he wrote more about religion than any other field of study....not more than all of them combined....but more than any other individual field of study.
I'm writing this post because I saw an article earlier today on Newton....and his calculated prediction that the year 2060 would be the key end times year. Many of you are probably familiar with this aspect of Isaac Newton's personality and character. Newton essentially took the 1260 days from Daniel 12:7....time, times, and a half a time....and turned them into years....1260 years. He chose the year 800 A. D. to add those 1260 years to....and that is how he came up with 2060. He chose that year....800 A. D....because it was the revival of the Roman Empire and beginning of the term Holy Roman Empire
OK....that's old news to those who study prophecy.....1260 days as 3 1/2 years. I had in the past exercised my mind slightly differently. Daniel also tells us in Chapter 12 verse 11...."And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1290 days." Why now the 1290 days. We can speculate but we do not know. To complicate things more....Daniel goes on in verse 12...."Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days." Why the additional 45 days? Once again....we do not know.
What is that daily sacrifice as it relates to this passage of Daniel? We may be dealing with when Antiochus IV sacrificed a pig in the temple at Jerusalem? It may deal with when the Antichrist takes power during the Tribulation....and it may also include something altogether different? I'm posting this thought just to keep us thinking. Jews....small bands of various Jews....apparently would offer a burnt offering on Mount Moriah for centuries after the temple was destroyed.....but once the Mohammedans built the Dome of the Rock on the former temple mount....which still stands today....there would be no one sneaking up there to offer any sacrifices. The year of completion for the Dome of the Rock varies somewhat....but Wikipedia has it as 691-692. Adding here the 1335 days of Daniel 12:12 would be 2027. Just something to think about....I'll have another cup of coffee please.
I'm writing this post because I saw an article earlier today on Newton....and his calculated prediction that the year 2060 would be the key end times year. Many of you are probably familiar with this aspect of Isaac Newton's personality and character. Newton essentially took the 1260 days from Daniel 12:7....time, times, and a half a time....and turned them into years....1260 years. He chose the year 800 A. D. to add those 1260 years to....and that is how he came up with 2060. He chose that year....800 A. D....because it was the revival of the Roman Empire and beginning of the term Holy Roman Empire
OK....that's old news to those who study prophecy.....1260 days as 3 1/2 years. I had in the past exercised my mind slightly differently. Daniel also tells us in Chapter 12 verse 11...."And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1290 days." Why now the 1290 days. We can speculate but we do not know. To complicate things more....Daniel goes on in verse 12...."Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days." Why the additional 45 days? Once again....we do not know.
What is that daily sacrifice as it relates to this passage of Daniel? We may be dealing with when Antiochus IV sacrificed a pig in the temple at Jerusalem? It may deal with when the Antichrist takes power during the Tribulation....and it may also include something altogether different? I'm posting this thought just to keep us thinking. Jews....small bands of various Jews....apparently would offer a burnt offering on Mount Moriah for centuries after the temple was destroyed.....but once the Mohammedans built the Dome of the Rock on the former temple mount....which still stands today....there would be no one sneaking up there to offer any sacrifices. The year of completion for the Dome of the Rock varies somewhat....but Wikipedia has it as 691-692. Adding here the 1335 days of Daniel 12:12 would be 2027. Just something to think about....I'll have another cup of coffee please.
Afterthought: We have to mix in a few things when studying Bible prophecy. We need to be careful not to be overconfident with the concept of times and seasons....but then we have to mix in with that the Bible's command to us to search the scriptures and be aware of the seasons and the signs....for even Revelation says that those with wisdom....at some time....will...."calculate the number of the beast"....but there is another thing to mix in here. We are familiar with when Bela Lugosi as Dracula in old films would....as he approached a victim....that victim might hold up a cross....and the vampire would immediately shield his face and leave. Well....that is what we often do today when someone mentions prophecy....as it is as if we immediately form a cross with our two forefingers....and back away in fear.
