by Brian Godawa
“What Jeremiah describes is the impending Babylonian invasion and the destruction of Jerusalem, attended by dreadful suffering and loss of life. The Valley of Hinnom is a metonymy for this catastrophic judgment on Judah and Jerusalem; it becomes a symbol for God’s wrath against his people.
“So if Jesus warns the Jews – not all humankind – that they risk being thrown into Gehenna, and if we allow that elsewhere he prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple within a few decades, why not make the historical assumption that in his mind Gehenna was no less a symbol of concrete judgment on Israel than it was for Jeremiah? Why should we allow theology to overrule the historical reading at this point?”
Perriman, Andrew. Hell and Heaven in Narrative Perspective (K-Locations 398-418). P.OST. K-Edition.
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CHAPTER 51
There are a few different interpretations of when the 1290 days of Daniel 12:11 occurs:
The ceasing of the daily sacrifice and the abomination being set up in the holy land are two starting points for the 1290 days that ends in the shattering of the power of the holy people. So the ceasing of the sacrifice on behalf of Caesar, which started the war, is the first part in mid-AD 66. But the 1290 days does not start until the second part, the abomination of desolation, is “set up” in the holy land in AD 67. I am basically using the first one, but the second one is just as viable.
“TWO STARTING POINTS FOR THE 1,290 DAYS: Daniel 12:11 gives two starting points to the 1,290 days, seemingly without an end point: “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.” Because it is unusual to have two beginning points, some view the taking away of the sacrifice as the beginning of the 1,290 days, with the abomination of desolation happening at the end of the 1,290 days. J. E. H. Thomson notes the following on how the grammatical construction of this verse does not support this interpretation:
And the abomination that maketh desolate set up. At first sight the reader is inclined to… regard this as a statement of the terminus ad quem [end point]. The grammatical difficulties against this view are forcible…Yet it seems strange that two termini a quo [starting points] should be assigned and no terminus ad quem.
That Daniel 12:11 gives two starting points for the 1,290 days (the daily sacrifice taken away and the abomination of desolation) is not as strange as it first seems. The end point has already been supplied in v. 7; it would be the shattering of Daniel’s people. Thus, the glorious Man was saying from the time that the daily sacrifice was removed and the one who would make the Jewish nation desolate came (the abomination of desolation) to the shattering of the Jewish nation would be 1,290 days or 43 months.
“I believe the removal of the daily sacrifice that Daniel 12:11 speaks of is not the cessation of sacrifice that happened near the end of the Jewish war (in late July of AD 70) but the removal of the sacrifice the Jews offered twice a day on behalf of the emperor (Josephus, The Jewish War 2, 10, 4); this occurred in the summer of AD 66. This change in the sacrifice marked the beginning of the Jewish war with Rome.”
McKenzie PhD, Duncan W.. The Antichrist and the Second Coming: A Preterist Examination Volume I (K-Locations 3672-3685). Xulon Press. K-Edition.
“The primary indicator of the Jewish rebellion involved the leaders of the revolt refusing to allow any sacrifices in the Temple from Gentiles. This resulted in the taking away of the daily sacrifice that was being offered for the emperor. According to Josephus, “This action laid the foundation of the war with Rome; for they renounced in consequence the sacrifices offered for Rome and the emperor.”
“The outcome of this taking away of the daily sacrifice for the emperor was the coming of the one who would make the Jewish nation desolate; this was the abomination of desolation (Dan. 9:27). Responding to Nero’s order to crush the Jewish rebellion, Titus marched the fifteenth legion from Egypt up the length of the Holy Land to rendezvous with his father at Ptolemais on the western border of Galilee. This coming of Titus happened around February of AD 67 as he marched a wing of the Roman army through the sacred land of Israel. This was the abomination of desolation that Jesus warned those in Judea to flee from; all hell literally broke loose at this time (Matt. 24:15-24; cf. Rev. 6).
“Titus’s coming was the beginning of the great tribulation; this culminated in the shattering of the Jewish nation 1,290 days later, in August/September of AD 70 (Dan. 12:1-7).
“I thus propose that the starting point for the 1,290 days of Daniel 12:11 involved two stages. The first stage was the taking away of the daily sacrifice for the emperor (c. August AD 66); this marked the beginning of the Jewish rebellion. The second stage (which happened about six months later, c. February AD 67) was the abomination of desolation, the coming of the one who would make Israel desolate (Dan. 9:27). It was 1,290 days after Titus’s coming to the Holy Land that the Jewish nation was shattered and dispersed into the nations. We thus see the meaning of Daniel 12:11 as follows: From the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away and the abomination of desolation is set up [i.e., the coming of the one who would make Israel desolate, Dan. 9:27], [to the time of the end, the shattering of the Jewish nation, Dan. 12:6-8] there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.”
McKenzie PhD, Duncan W.. The Antichrist and the Second Coming: A Preterist Examination Volume I (K-Locations 3705-3714). Xulon Press. K-Edition.
A second possibility for the 1290 days:
“It is to be noted that the two measures of time here given, 1290 days and 1335 days, both fall within the period of three years and a part, given in verse 7 as the full measure of the time of the end. This tends still further to confirm the view that by "a time, times, and a part" is meant three full rounds of the annual feasts of the Jews, and part of a fourth.
“It will further be seen from this answer that Daniel’s question had reference to the very last epoch of Jewish history; for it was in that very last stage of their national existence that the daily sacrifice was caused to cease, which was by them regarded (when it came to pass in the days of the siege of Jerusalem, as we shall presently show) the harbinger of some dire calamity.
“THE TAKING AWAY OF THE DAILY SACRIFICE
“We take the marginal reading (which is the more literal) as giving the sense, the words of the margin being "and to set up the abomination, " &c. This reading would make the 1290 days the measure of time between the two specified events. But we have lately seen an interpretation, based on the text of the A. V., which makes the taking away of the daily sacrifice, and the setting up of the abomination that maketh desolate, simultaneous events, both governed by the preposition "from." But this obviously leaves the verse without meaning; for it gives a measure of time from two specified events, without stating to what that measure brings us.
“The "daily sacrifice" was the sacrifice of a lamb every morning and evening. This was to be kept up by the children of Israel throughout all their generations, and a special promise was given upon condition that this offering be continued (Ex 29: 38-45). (It should be observed that the causing of the sacrifice and oblation to cease, as foretold in (Da 9: 27), is a very different thing.)
“Now, as a matter of historic fact, the daily sacrifice was taken away during the siege of Jerusalem; and this was counted by the Jews an event of such importance, and such a portent of approaching disaster, that Josephus has recorded the very date on which it occurred, saying: “And now Titus gave orders to his soldiers that were with him to dig up the foundations of the tower of Antonia, and make a ready passage for his army to come up, while he himself had Josephus brought to him; for he had been informed that, on that very day, which was the seventeenth day of Panemus, the sacrifice called ’the daily sacrifice’ had failed, and had not been offered to God for want of men to offer it; and that the people were grievously troubled at it" (Wars, VI. 2.1.).”
“The Roman army, which, by comparison of the Lord’s word
s in (Mt 24: 15,16 Lu 21: 20,21, ) is clearly seen to be "the abomination which maketh desolate, " encompassed Jerusalem before the failure of the daily sacrifice; whereas it might appear from the wording of the prophecy that those events occurred in the reverse order. But Mr. Farquharson shows that "there is nothing whatever in the verbs of the sentence to indicate which of the events should precede the other; the interval of time between them only is expressed."
“The first approach of the Roman armies under Cestius is described by Josephus in his book of Wars, II 17, 10. This was in the month corresponding to our November, A.D. 66. The taking away of the daily sacrifice was in the month Panemus, corresponding to the Hebrew Tammuz, and our July, A.D. 70 (Hartwell Horne’s Chronological Table). Thus the measure of time between the two events was three years, and part of a fourth.
“But more than this: the measure 1290 days is exactly 43 great months (30 days each, according to the Hebrew method of reckoning), and inasmuch as their practice was to reckon by even weeks, months, and years the fulfilment of this part of the prophecy is seen in the fact that it is just 43 even months between the two events, ignoring the parts of the two months in which the events severally occurred.”
Mauro, Philip. The Seventy Weeks and the Great Tribulation (K-Locations 2288-2319). K-Edition.
A third view is that the Abomination of desolation being set up is the Roman armies surrounding Jerusalem:
“Around the 6th of Av of A.D. 66, Eleazar terminated the daily sacrifice to Caesar fulfilling part of v. 11.12 According to Josephus, this act “was the true beginning of our war with the Romans.” Hearing about this act of sedition, Agrippa immediately dispatched three thousand horsemen who seized the upper city, Mt. Zion, where they attacked the Jewish rebels who possessed the lower city and Temple. The Roman army with their idols to Zeus, Caesar and Rome is the abomination that causes desolation… Thus immediately after Eleazar put an end to the daily sacrifice to Caesar, Roman auxiliaries, the abomination that causes desolation, entered Jerusalem. Thus the starting point of the 1,290 days is the termination of the daily sacrifice to Caesar and the consequent abomination that causes desolation which occurred immediately thereafter.
“Counting 1290 days from these two events ends on Shabat of A.D. 70. This is the month in which the Roman army arrived outside of Jerusalem to begin preparations for what would end up being the final siege of Jerusalem. Remember, the Roman army with their idols to Zeus, Caesar and Rome is the abomination that causes desolation. Here one can see that there appears to have been 1,290 days from the cessation of the daily sacrifice to Caesar and the resulting abomination that causes desolation when the Roman auxiliaries fought the rebels inside Jerusalem until the Roman army, the abomination that causes desolation, arrived outside of Jerusalem again in preparation for their final assault on the city.”
Daniel Chapter 12: A Preterist Commentary online. http://revelationrevolution.org/daniel-chapter-12-a-preterist-commentary/
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John of Gischala distributed the gold of the temple and its sacred foodstuffs to his men: Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews 5.13.6, §562-566.
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The infamous story of cannibalism in Jerusalem during the siege:
Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews 6.3.3-4, §199-213
There was a certain woman that dwelt beyond Jordan, her name was Mary…What she had treasured up besides, as also what food she had contrived to save, had been also carried off by the rapacious guards, who came every day running into her house for that purpose… She then attempted a most unnatural thing; (205) and snatching up her son, who was a child sucking at her breast, she said, “O, thou miserable infant! For whom shall I preserve thee in this war, this famine, and this sedition? (206) As to the war with the Romans, if they preserve our lives, we must be slaves! This famine also will destroy us, even before that slavery comes upon us: – yet are these seditious rogues more terrible than both the other. (207) Come on; be thou my food, and be thou a fury to these seditious varlets and a byword to the world, which is all that is now wanting to complete the calamities of us Jews.” (208) As soon as she had said this she slew her son; and then roasted him, and ate the one half of him, and kept the other half by her concealed. (209) Upon this the seditous came in presently, and smelling the horrid scent of this food, they threatened her, that they would cut her throat immediately if she did not show them what food she had gotten ready. She replied, that she had saved a very fine portion of it for them; and withal uncovered what was left of her son. (210) Hereupon they were seized with a horror and amazement of mind, and stood astonished at the sight; when she said to them, “This is my own son; and what hath been done was mine own doing! Come, eat of this food; for I have eaten of it myself! (211) Do not you pretend to be either more tender than a woman, or more compassionate than a mother; but if you be so scrupulous and do abominate this my sacrifice, as I have eaten the one half, let the rest be reserved for me also.” (212) After which, those men went out trembling, being never so much affrighted at anything as they were at this, and with some difficulty they left the rest of that meat to the mother.”
Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987), 737–738.
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A haunt for unclean spirits: This phraseology was often used to pronounce judgment on places like Babylon and Edom. And then in Revelation it is used of Jerusalem.
Take a look at these prophecies of Isaiah referencing the destruction of Edom and Babylon.
Isaiah 34:11–15 (The destruction of Edom)
11But the hawk and the porcupine shall possess it, the owl and the raven shall dwell in it… 13Thorns shall grow over its strongholds, nettles and thistles in its fortresses. It shall be the haunt of jackals, an abode for ostriches. 14And wild animals shall meet with hyenas; the wild goat (seirim) shall cry to his fellow; indeed, there the night bird settles and finds for herself a resting place. 15There the owl nests and lays and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow; indeed, there the hawks are gathered, each one with her mate.
Isaiah 13:21–22 (The destruction of Babylon)
21But wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will dwell, and there wild goats (seirim) will dance. 22Hyenas will cry in its towers, and jackals in the pleasant palaces; its time is close at hand and its days will not be prolonged.
The passages above speak of God’s judgment upon the nations of Babylon and Edom (symbols of all that is against Israel and Yahweh). A cursory reading of the texts seem to indicate a common word picture of Yahweh destroying these nations so thoroughly that they end up a desert wasteland with wild animals and birds inhabiting them because the evil people will be no more.
I explain in my book When Giants Were Upon the Earth, that these animals are symbols of demons.
A look at the Septuagint (LXX) translation into Greek made by ancient Jews in the second century before Christ, reveals the hint of that different picture.
Isaiah 34:13-14 (LXX)
11 and for a long time birds and hedgehogs, and ibises and ravens shall dwell in it: and the measuring line of desolation shall be cast over it, and satyrs shall dwell in it…13 And thorns shall spring up in their cities, and in her strong holds: and they shall be habitations of monsters, and a court for ostriches. 14 And devils shall meet with satyrs, and they shall cry one to the other: there shall satyrs rest, having found for themselves a place of rest.
Isaiah 13:21-22 (LXX)
But wild beasts shall rest there; and the houses shall be filled with howling; and monsters shall rest there, and devils shall dance there, 22 and satyrs shall dwell there.
The Hebrew for the words “wild animals” and “hyenas” are not readily identifiable, so the ESV translators simply guessed according to their anti-mythical bias and filled in their translations with naturalistic words like “wild animals” and “hyenas.” But of these words, Bible
commentator Hans Wildberger says,
“Whereas (jackals) and (ostriches), mentioned in v. 13, are certainly well-known animals, the creatures that are mentioned in v. 14 cannot be identified zoologically, not because we are not provided with enough information, but because they refer to fairy tale and mythical beings. Siyyim are demons, the kind that do their mischief by the ruins of Babylon, according to [Isaiah] 13:21. They are mentioned along with the iyyim (goblins) in this passage.
The demons and goblins that Wildberger makes reference to in Isaiah 13:21-22 and 34:14 are the Hebrew words siyyim and iyyim, a phonetic play on words that is echoed in Jeremiah’s prophecy against Babylon as well:
Jeremiah 50:39
39 “Therefore wild beasts (siyyim) shall dwell with hyenas (iyyim) in Babylon, and ostriches shall dwell in her. She shall never again have people, nor be inhabited for all generations.
The Dictionary of Biblical Languages (DBL) admits that another interpretation of iyyim other than howling desert animals is “spirit, ghost, goblin, i.e., a night demon or dead spirit (Isa. 13:22; 34:14; Jer. 50:39), note: this would be one from the distant lands, i.e., referring to the nether worlds.” One could say that siyyim and iyyim are similar to our own play on words, “ghosts and goblins.”
