The Book of Daniel
The Book of Daniel, the famous prophet and interpreter of dreams, is an obvious place to begin. Right at the end of this book, there is the date for the End Times, providing you know the dates of some other events.
When Jesus' disciples asked him when the 'time of the end' would be (Matthew 24:3), he referred them to Daniel and quoted part of the relevant section (see Matthew 24:15).
Another famous person who studied Daniel was Sir Isaac Newton. Newton was not only a genius in the fields of Mathematics and Science but he also learned many languages including Hebrew. Newton's commentary, Observations upon the Prophesies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John, is still considered one of the best published. Interestingly, Newton believed that parts of the Hebrew Bible were coded, and he spent many years trying to crack the code. He also said the books had been written in a way that would encourage the predicted events to occur.
One notable prediction by Newton, based on Daniel, was the future restoration of a Jewish state at the hand of a friendly nation, which turned out to be the USA. He also predicted that these writings would not be fully understandable until the time at the end.
Daniel was born into the nobility in Jerusalem, but he was captured and exiled when palestine fell to the Babylonians in 605 BC. At first he was employed as a scholar but soon became an advisor to the king.
Daniel was contacted by angels, (these are discussed in more detail in the chapter about Enoch), and they provided Daniel with details about the future.
The section that interests us here (Daniel 12:5 onwards) is at the end of Daniel's book. The angel is asked how long will it be before these things happen.
The angel's first reply is a time times and a half. This could be an evasive way of saying two and a half thousand years. Like us, Daniel is not sure what this means, so then the angel says that this information is closed up, and sealed (coded), until the time of the end.
He then reveals the answer, but in the form of a riddle. This riddle is only solvable by someone with accurate historical knowledge about Judaism and events on the Temple Mount. This information is now available.
From the moment that the perpetual sacrifice is abolished...
This refers to the reforms under King Josiah in 620 BC. These reforms came about because Judaism had been devastated under the rule of the previous king, Manassah, who had tried to convert Israel to the religion of his mother, and he carried out bloody purges against the priesthood and prophets who spoke out against him. The Levites, who had been appointed by Moses to look after the Ark of the Covenant, fled the country and took the Ark with them. The events of this time are well researched and presented by Graham Hancock in his book The Sign and the Seal.
King Josiah meant to do well, but fifty years had passed and many things had been lost. There was no-one left from the old order to provide guidance, so the new Judaism was somewhat different.
The Judaism of Moses demanded that sacrifices take place at the place where the Ark was kept, but Jews who lived in times and places where the Ark was inaccessible would sacrifice at small local shrines instead.
Probably in an attempt to discourage rumours that the Ark was missing, the new Judaism of Josiah forbade any sacrifices apart from those done at the Temple. Consequently, when the Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, not many years later, ritual sacrifices ended completely.
...and the appalling abomination set up: a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
The
time scale is obviously not days, so if we add 1,290 years to 620 BC
we get 671AD (there was no year 0). If we turn our attention to what
was happening at this time on the Temple Mount, we find there is a newly
built Mosque.
AD 638 - Omar I
captures Jerusalem, leaves the Christian shrines alone, starts to build
on the Temple Mount (derelict since the Roman destruction of AD 135),
and permits Jews to return to Jerusalem.
The prophet Mohammed died in 632 AD, in the years after his death his followers gained control of most of the Middle East. Jerusalem fell in 638 AD to Caliph Omar. At this time the Temple Mount was in ruins. At first a wooden Mosque was built, then in 691 AD, the Dome of the Rock was commissioned, to replace the previous wooden structure. I do not have exact dates for the first Mosque, but the timing for the replacement of the Temple by a different religion is remarkably accurate.
Blessed is he who perseveres and attains one thousand three hundred and thirty five days.
(Quotes from the New Jerusalem Bible, Readers Edition.)
Adding on a further 1,335 years to 671 AD gives the year 2006, this is also the date revealed by the Bible Code.
In the New Testament Mark 13:14 - Jesus says: "When you see the 'abomination that causes desolation' standing where it does not belong - let the reader understand - then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains."
