Daniel's Prophecy on the 1290^th^ Day

Daniel prophesized the time of setting up the abomination of desolation. The detailed prophecy was recorded in Daniel 12:9-11 (JB2000):

The prophecy was fulfilled perfectly in the Dome of the Rock, construction of which was finished in May of 692 AD. The Dome of the Rock has been sitting on or near the most holy site, the temple site of God. This building should be an abomination of desolation to the God of Israel. The daily sacrifice was taken away in the spring of 598 BC, as we will show below in detail. The 1290^th year from the spring of 598 BC was between the spring of 692 AD to the spring of 693 AD, within which the construction of the Dome of the Rock was finished. This prophecy was fulfilled perfectly.

Daily sacrifices (burnt offerings) were suspended several times, as recorded in the Hebrew Bible. The first one was recorded in 2 Chronicles 28:24-25, "Ahaz gathered together the furnishings from the temple of God and cut them in pieces. He shut the doors of Yehowah's temple and set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem. In every town in Judah he built high places to burn sacrifices to other gods and aroused the anger of Yehowah, the God of his ancestors." The second one was in the time of Ezekiel's exile to Babylon, which was implicitly recorded in 2 Chronicles 36:6-9; Jeremiah 29:1-2; Jeremiah 52:28; and in Antiq. Jews bk. 10, ch. 6. From these Biblical verses and Josephus' accounts along with the Jerusalem Chronology, we can figure out the time when the continual daily sacrifice was suspended in the time of Ezekiel.

When was Ezekiel the priest and prophet of God carried into Babylon? Ezekiel 40:1 says: "In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city—on that very day the hand of Yehowah was on me and he took me there."

This verse provides us with a clear hint about when Ezekiel and his companions were exiled to Babylon. We have unambiguously shown that the fall of Jerusalem was in the fifth month of 587 BC (Chapters 10 and 11). This allows us to deduce that the 14^th year of the fall of Jerusalem was from the 5^th month of 574 BC to the 5^th month of 573 BC. Then the very day of Nisan 10 that the hand of Yehowah was upon Ezekiel must have fallen on Nisan 10 of 573 BC. Since Nisan 10 of 573 BC was in the 25^th year of Ezekiel's exile, he must have been exiled between Nisan 10 and Av 9 of 598 BC, which is different from the time when Jehoiachin king of Judah was exiled (March 16, 597 BC). This is consistent with the verses (Jeremiah 29:1-2) which imply that the priests and prophets had already been carried into Babylon before Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin, the officers and fighting men, and the craftsmen and artisans—a total of ten thousand (2 Kings 24:14). There were no priests nor prophets in the composition of the ten-thousand captives on March 16 of 597 BC.

Ezekiel gave further hints about his exile in Ezekiel 33:21: "In the twelfth [12^th] year of our exile, in the tenth month on the fifth day, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, 'The city has fallen!'" After the fall of Jerusalem in the fifth month of 587 BC, a man escaped from Jerusalem and arrived in Babylon on Tebet 5 of 587 BC. It took about 5 months for the man to run/walk from Jerusalem to Babylon. Since Tebet 5 of 587 BC was in the 12^th year of Ezekiel's exile, he must have been exiled after Tebet 5 of 599 BC.

This is consistent with ABC 5 (Jerusalem Chronology) which states: "[Rev.9'] In the sixth year [599/598] in the month of Kislîmu [the 10^th month] the king of Akkad mustered his army and marched to the Hatti-land. From the Hatti-land he sent out his companies, [Rev.10'] and scouring the desert they took much plunder from the Arabs, their possessions, animals and gods. In the month of Addaru the king returned to his own land."

This campaign was about one year before the campaign in the spring of 597 BC and should have been related to the siege of Jerusalem when Jehoiakim was king of Judah. The verse in 1 Esdras 1:45 confirms that Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin one year after he took Jehoiakim.

According to Josephus, Jehoiakim submitted to Nebuchadnezzar without resistance immediately after he arrived in Jerusalem (Antiq., bk. 10, ch. 6, 96-97). It is possible that Nebuchadnezzar arrived in Jerusalem in Addaru (the 12^th month), and after some days, bound Jehoiakim with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon (2 Chronicles 36:6) in Addaru of 599 BC, corresponding to the Hebrew month of Nisan in 598 BC. Therefore, Ezekiel's exile should have been between 10 and 30 Nisan 598 BC, about one year before Jehoiachin's exile (1 Esdras 1:45).

Josephus said that he also took the principal persons in dignity as captives, 3,000 in number, and led them away to Babylon. Among them was the prophet Ezekiel (Antiq., bk. 10, ch. 6, 98). Nisan 10-30 of 598 BC was also in the 7^th year of Nebuchadnezzar according to Jeremiah's anniversary reckoning method but in the 6^th year according to the Babylonian non-ascension-year method. Jeremiah also mentioned that in the 7^th year of Nebuchadnezzar, 3,023 Jews were carried into exile (Jeremiah 52:28), in agreement with Josephus' account. In the 8^th year of Nebuchadnezzar, ten thousand Jews were taken into Babylon along with Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:14). Biblical authors in different books talk about two different exiles in different times (separated by about one year).

Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Josephus, and the scribe of the Jerusalem Chronology consistently tell us that about 3,000 principal Jews in dignity were exiled on Nisan 10-30, 598 BC. By besieging Jerusalem, taking away articles in the temple of Yehowah, and carrying away many priests and prophets, Nebuchadnezzar must have trampled down the temple and caused the daily sacrifices to cease in the spring of 598 BC.

There was around a 10-month gap between Jehoiakim's exile and Jehoiachin's reign. A possible explanation is as follows. Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiakim and his son Jehoiachin together into Babylon, and Jehoiakim died on the way to Babylon. The death of Jehoiakim was recorded in the book of 2 Chronicles 36:6, "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ... bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon." Jeremiah prophesied that he died without a proper funeral, describing the people of Judah "shall not lament for him, saying, 'Alas, master!' or 'Alas, his glory!' He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, dragged and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem." (Jeremiah 22:18-19) "and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night." (Jeremiah 36:30). After Jehoiachin arrived in Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar decided to let Jehoiachin reign in Judah. It could have taken 10 months for the round trip between Jerusalem and Babylon, as inferred from Ezekiel 33:21, which suggests a 5-month distance between Jerusalem and Babylon. Therefore, it is clear that the daily sacrifices were suspended in the spring of 598 BC by Nebuchadnezzar. He might have stopped it again in the spring of 597 BC and again in the summer of 587 BC.

The phrase "abomination of desolation (Hebrew Transliteration: shqutzim mshmm)" is found in three places in the book of Daniel. The first place is in Daniel 9:27, "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease (fail), and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." The second place is in Daniel 11:31, "And forces shall appear on his part, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate." The third place is in Daniel 12:11 (YLTV): "and from the time of the turning aside of the perpetual [sacrifice], and to the giving out of the desolating abomination, [are] days a thousand, two hundred, and ninety." In the Gospel of Matthew, the phrase was also used by Yeshua in the Olivet discourse (Matthew 24:15-16): "When you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoever reads, let him understand) then let them who are in Judea flee into the mountains."

Daniel and Yeshua used this phrase to speak about an important message concerning the great tribulation in the future or in the end times. The abomination of desolation is a great sign for the coming of the Messiah in the end times, so a correct interpretation to this phrase is crucial to the understanding of the prophecies of Daniel and Yeshua concerning the end times.

The prophecy in Daniel 11:31 was fulfilled in 168 BC when the holy temple was desecrated by the erection of Zeus' statue in its sacred precincts by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The "abomination of desolation," Yeshua spoke of in Matthew 24:15-16 cannot refer to the one in 168 BC. Although the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD could have been a fulfillment of the prophecy foretold by Yeshua, the "abomination of desolation" is a proverbial phrase that could include multiple events and allow for multiple fulfillments.

Now we focus on Daniel 12 where Daniel prophesizes the events related to the end times. If one can identify the "abomination of desolation" in Daniel 12:11, one should be able to figure out the timeline of the end. One of the candidates for the "abomination of desolation" is the Islamic Dome of the Rock, which has been standing on the holiest site of Jerusalem since 692 AD. The building itself is abominable to the Jews because it substitutes the holiest site. To the true Christians, the inscriptions on the wall of the structure are abominable. The inscription given in 692 AD made mosaic declarations: "O you People of the Book, overstep not bounds in your religion, and of Allah speak only the truth. The Messiah, Yeshua, son of Mary, is only an apostle of Allah, and his Word which he conveyed unto Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from him. Believe therefore in God and his apostles, and say not Three. It will be better for you. Allah is only one God. Far be it from His transcendent majesty that he should have a son."

In 1 John 2:22-2, John declares: "Who is a liar but he that denies that Yeshua is the Messiah? He is anti-messiah, that denies the Father and the Son. Whosoever denies the Son, the same has not the Father: [but] he that confesses the Son has the Father also." These inscriptions truly represent the anti-messiah's spirit who denies Yeshua to be the Son of God. The incarnation of the anti-messiah's spirit will in the last day open his mouth in blasphemy against God, His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven (Revelation 13:6).

When did the construction of the Dome of the Rock begin? Historians such as Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi (1256 AD) say that the construction of the Dome of the Rock began in 69 AH (after the Hijra) and finished in 72 AH. The inscriptions were placed on the walls of the Dome of the Rock in 72 AH. Creswell thinks that placing the inscriptions marks completion of the Dome of the Rock. His thought is consistent with the passage, "The work of construction began in 688 AD and the building work lasted four years, from 688 AD to 692 AD." (A History of Palestine, 634-1099 by Moshe Gil, 1997, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521599849, page 92). In order to match a total of four years for completion, the construction should have started from the beginning of 69 AH and completed at the end of 72 AH.

Therefore, the construction of the Dome of the Rock should have started from the first month of 69 AH (5 July-3 August 688 AD) and ended in the 12^th Islamic month (Dhu al-Hijjah) of 72 AH during which Muslim pilgrims should have congregated. The Hajj is performed on the eighth, the ninth, and the tenth of this month. The day of Arafah takes place on the ninth of the month. Eid al-Adha, the "Festival of the Sacrifice," begins on the tenth day and lasts for 4 days (please see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_al-Adha). In all likelihood, the Islamic inscriptions may have been displayed on the 14^th day of Dhu al-Hijjah right after the end of "Festival of the Sacrifice" on the 13^th day of the month.

The first day of an Islamic lunar month is a day when a new crescent is seen in the western sky after sunset (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_calendar). The Stellarium Program shows that a new crescent could barely be seen in the western sky in the evening of April 23 of 692 AD (the visibility was only 1.8%). If this crescent was actually observed, the first day of Dhu al-Hijjah of 72 AH was on April 24 of 692 AD and the 14^th day on May 7. If this crescent was too dim to be observed, the first day should have been on April 25 and the 14^th day on May 8 (JD 1973938). From May 8 of 692 AD to May 12 of 2027 (JD 2461537), there are 487,599 days = 1,335×365.2427 days, which are exactly equal to 1,335 solar years.

We believe that Daniel 12:11 has been mistranslated in most English-translated versions of the Bible. By comparing with the interlinear Hebrew-English version, we find that Young's literal translation and the Jubilee Bible 2000 are the correct translations. Young's literal translation of Daniel 12:11 reads, "and from the time of the turning aside of the perpetual [sacrifice], and to the giving out of the desolating abomination, [are] days a thousand, two hundred, and ninety." The phrase "from A" is in parallel to the phrase "to B" and they should always be used together when one talks about a time interval from "time A" to "time B." In most English translated versions of the Bible, the sentence does not have "to time B" for a time interval of 1290 days, which is incorrect structurally. In Daniel 12:11, the literally translated phrase "and to B" is awkward in English but natural in Hebrew. Another example can be found in Jeremiah 12:12 (ASV): "Destroyers are come upon all the bare heights in the wilderness; for the sword of Jehovah devours from the one end of the land and to the other end of the land: no flesh has peace." Here, the Hebrew word "and" is translated into "even" in some English translations. In most English translations, the Hebrew word "and" is simply omitted.

Therefore, Daniel 12:11 should be better translated as, "The setup of the desolating abomination shall be in the 1290^th day from the time of the turning aside of the perpetual sacrifice." The Hebrew phrase "days 1290" should be understood as the 1290^th day, similar to the case for the phrase "weeks 69" (see discussion in Chapter 16). The phrase "days 1335" in Daniel 12:12 should also be understood as the 1335^th day. A similar phrase can be found in Jeremiah 52:29 (literally): "In year(s) 18 of Nebuchadnezzar, he carried away captive from Jerusalem 832." Here, the Hebrew word "שָׁנֶה" has been translated into "year" for 318 times and into "years" for 451 times by NASB translation. The phrase "year(s) 18" has been translated as the 18^th year.

The prophecy in Daniel 12:11 thus means that the time period from the turning aside of the perpetual sacrifice to setting up the "desolation of abomination" should have been between 1,289 and 1,290 years.

We have shown above that the time that the perpetual sacrifice was turned aside was in the spring of 598 BC. From the time when the perpetual sacrifice was turned aside in the spring of 598 BC to the time when the construction of the Dome of the Rock was finished in May of 692 AD, there was about 1,289.2 years (between 1,289 and 1,290 years). Therefore, the prophecy on the 1290^th day in Daniel 12:11 was fulfilled perfectly in the completion of the Dome of the Rock. The prophecy on the 1335^th day has not been yet fulfilled. We will discuss it in Chapter 37.