A) PROPHETIC TIME.

B) WHERE THIS PROPHECY ORIGINATED FROM.

C) FACTS FROM JAMES WHITE.

D) BIBLICAL EVIDENCE AND YOUR ARGUMENTS.

 

 

A) PROPHETIC TIME

 

 

In Prophetic time there are 360 days in a year (see First Samuel 20:6 & First Kings 1:1, where “years” is translated as “days,” then see Genesis 6:3).  For a day for a year in prophecy, see Genesis 29:27; Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6.  For additional Day/Year principles, see First Samuel 20:6; Psalm 90:10; then see Genesis 6:3.

 

 

B) WHERE THIS PROPHECY ORIGINATED FROM

 

 

The Prophecy can be said to originate from Seventh-Day Adventists.  Therefore, most arguments and references will be directed at them (please forgive me; but you may need this for your own references, as any doctrine that “supposedly” comes from God’s Word should be studied out).

 

The 2520-Year prophecy comes from Leviticus, Chapter 26, with the beginning date of the 2520-Year prophecy being discovered by Sylvester Bliss:

 

“From a further study of the Scriptures, I concluded that the seven times of Gentile supremacy must commence when the Jews ceased to be an independent nation, at the captivity of Manasseh, which the best chronologers assigned to B. C. 677; that the 2300 days commenced with the seventy weeks, which the best chronologers dated from B. C. 457; and that the 1335 days, commencing with the taking away of the daily, and the setting up of the abomination that maketh desolate, Dan. 12:11, were to be dated from the setting up of the Papal supremacy, after the taking away of Pagan abominations, and which, according to the best historians I could consult, should be dated from about A. D. 508.  Reckoning all these prophetic periods from the several dates assigned by the best chronologers for the events from which they should evidently be reckoned, they would all terminate together, about A. D. 1843.”

 

However, chronologists missed that historians do not count a zero year, thus the prophecy ends in 1844 A.D.

 

 

C) FACTS FROM JAMES WHITE

 

 

That being stated, here is the true facts, as written by James White [my highlighting], in, “JWe, ARSH:68,” January 26, 1864:

 

“The prophetic period of Lev. xxvi, or what has been supposed to be such, has been no small object of study among prophetical expositors.  It has been supposed that the expression, ‘seven times,’ in verses 18, 21, 24, 28, denoted a prophetic period of 2520 years, and that this period covered the time during which the throne of Israel should be and remain subverted and trodden down by oppressing powers.  To rightly fix the commencement and termination of this period, became therefore a matter of consequence.  Where does it commence? and where does it end? have been questions of much study, and perhaps some perplexity.

 

“These are not the questions, however, that we propose here to discuss; for there is a question lying back of these, which demands to be answered first; namely, Is there any prophetic period brought to view at all in Lev. xxvi?  We claim that there is not, and will offer a few of what are to us very conclusive reasons for this position:

 

“1. A series of judgments is threatened against Israel, in case they hearkened not unto God to do His Commandments, before the expression, seven times, is introduced.  Verses 14-17.  In these judgments is included being slain before their enemies, being reigned over by those that hated them, and fleeing when none pursued them.  Now if the seven timeswere meant to cover the period of God’s special judgments against Israel, especially of their captivity by foreign powers, these seven times should have been mentioned in connection with the first threatening of judgments of this kind.  But this, as we have seen, is not the case.

 

“2. After the threatening of these judgments, God says, verse 18, ‘And if ye will not for all this hearken unto Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.’  Then follows an enumeration of the judgments to come upon them in fulfillment of this, different from the items of the first threatening, and increasing in severity.

 

“3. If they would not for this hearken, seven times more plagues were threatened against them, ‘according to their sins.’  Verse 21.  Then again follows an enumeration of judgments to correspond, more severe still than any preceding.

 

“4. If they would not be reformed by these things, God threatened to punish them seven times more for their sins.  Verse 24.  And in like manner with the foregoing, an enumeration of the judgments to be inflicted in fulfillment, immediately follows, more fearful still.

 

“5. And if they would not hearken to God for all these things, He makes a final threat that would walk contrary to them in fury, and chastise them seven times for their sins.  Verse 28.  And an enumeration of the judgments to be inflicted, again immediately follows, outdoing all before, in their terrible severity.  Included among them were the eating of the flesh of their sons and daughters, making waste their cities, bringing the land into such desolation that their enemies should be astonished at it, scattering them among all nations, and drawing out a sword after them in all the lands of their dispersion.  With fearful minuteness all this has been fulfilled [making this a “fulfilled” prophecy, and not a Dual-Prophecy as James White will explain further down], even to the eating the flesh of their own children, as in the terrible sieges that preceded the downfall of Jerusalem.

 

“Thus we have, first, a series of judgments threatened against Israel, without the expression, seven times, and then the declaration four times made, that God would punish them seven times for their sins, each one on condition that the former did not lead to repentance, and each one containing its own specific enumeration of judgments, distinct from those that preceded, and regularly increasing in the severity of then denunciations.

 

“Now what is meant by this repeated expression of seven times?  We reply, It denotes, not the duration of the punishment, but its intensity and severity.  It is well expressed in the language of verse 21, thus:  ‘I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.’  The number seven denoting perfection, we are undoubtedly to understand by this expression, the fullness of their punishment; that the measure of their national sins, would in every case be fully equaled by the measure of their national calamities.  And this position is fully sustained by the original, as a brief criticism will show.

 

“In references to the Hebrew, we learn from the Hebrew Concordance that the expression, seven times, in Lev. xxvi, comes from sheh-vag; and this word is expressly set down by Gesenius, in those texts, as an adverb, also in Ps. cxix, 164; Prov. xxiv, 16.  In Dan. iv, 16, 25, the expression, seven times, twice occurs, where beyond question it means duration.  Nebuchadnezzar was to be driven from men, and make his dwelling with the beasts of the field, until seven times should pass over him.  There can be no mistaking that here the expression means a certain space of time; but here we find, not the adverb as in Lev. xxvi, but the noun, gid-dahn, defined by Gesenius, ‘Time, in prophetic language, for a year.’  In Dan. vii, 25, where a prophetic period is brought to view in the expression, “a time and times and the dividing of time,” the same word is used.

 

“In Dan. xii, 7, where the same period is again brought to view, and in about the same language, we have another word, moh-gehd, defined by Gesenius, ‘Appointment of time.  Spoken of a space of time, appointed and definite.  In the prophetic style for a year.’  It will be seen by this definition, that this word is synonymous with the one used in Dan. vii, 25, as above referred to.  Now if a period of time is meant by the expression, seven times, in Lev. xxvi, one of these words should and would most assuredly have been used.  And the fact that neither of these words is there used, but another word, and that an adverb [“sheba shibah”], places it beyond question that no such period is there intended.

 

“The Greek is equally definite.  The Septuagint has in Lev. xxvi, heptakis, which is an adverb, signifying seven times.  In Dan. iv, 16, 25, for Nebuchadnezzar’s seven times we have not heptakis, the adverb, but heptakairoi, a noun and its adjective.  And in all cases where the word time occurs, denoting a prophetic period, as in Dan. vii, 25; xii, 7; Rev. xii, 14, it is from the noun kairos.  Such a thing as a prophetic period based on an adverb is not to be found.

 

“So then, there is no prophetic period in Lev. xxvi; and those who imagine that such a thing exists, and are puzzling themselves over the adjustment of its several dates, are simply beating the air.  To ignore, or treat with neglect, a prophetic period where one is plainly given, is censurable in the extreme.  It is an equally futile, though not so heinous, a course, to endeavor to create one where none exists.”  January 26, 1864 JWe, ARSH 68; written by James White.

 

 

D) BIBLICAL EVIDENCE AND YOUR ARGUMENTS

 

 

Since Biblical evidence does not seem enough for the 2520 group, let’s explore their rebuttals, or arguments.  The most important and prominent appears to be that Ellen White endorsed the 1843 &1850 charts, which correlates to an endorsement of the 2520 questionable “prophecy.”  The following quote from Ellen White should suffice since another argument of the 2520 group is that James White is not inspired, and therefore has no value in this argument, especially since she is quite about it; i.e., being influenced by him (show me a prophet in the Bible whose prophecy was “influenced” by their spouse).  Here is her quote from GC:351:

 

“. . . Miller and his associates proclaimed that the longest and last prophetic period brought to view in the Bible was about to expire, that the judgment was at hand, and the everlasting kingdom was to be ushered in.  The preaching of the disciples in regard to time was based on the seventy weeks of Daniel 9.  The message given by Miller and his associates announced the termination of the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14, of which the seventy weeks form a part.  The preaching of each [catch that; “the longest and last prophetic period” & “the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14] was based upon the fulfillment of a different portion of the same great prophetic period.”

 

See also GC88:328 & 335 & 351 & 353; GC:328 & 335 & 351 & 353; or the 96 times Mrs. White discusses the 2300-Year prophecy, but NEVER the 2520-year prophecy.  And please do not use the excuse that her husband had enough influence over her that our Lord could not get this prophecy into her writings because of James White being the editor of the “Review and Harold.”

 

It should be clear that any prophecy more than 2300 days is excluded from her interpretation of the Bible.  Now we can see that Ellen White is correct to specify the 2300-Day/Year prophecy as “the longest and last prophetic period,” meaning that the 2520-Year prophecy is not a valid prophetic period.  Both cannot be correct.

 

Another thing to consider when relying upon Ellen Whites endorsement of the two prophetic charts (the other with the 2520 prophecy on it) is that Mrs. White did not always agree upon all points when graciously speaking favorably of those with whom she did not agree on all points.  Prime examples would be:

 

(1) It is well known and documented by herself that she highly praised John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress,” despite the fact that it teaches the immediate transport to Heaven at death; a doctrine she aggressively rejected and wrote against.

 

(2) She also spoke positively of the evangelist D.L. Moody, even though he preached eternal torment and Sunday sacredness.

 

(3) She praised the “Temperance Movement,” but surely you would not suggest that she bought into all their supposed doctrines.

 

(4) Comparable favorable endorsements of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other promoters of particular truths.  But that did not mean she accepted everything they preached or advocated.

 

(5) She spoke very highly of Uriah Smith, even though he later was a prominent part in the changing of her writings and aligned himself squarely against crucial aspects of the Gospel in 1888 A.D.

 

My point is this (if you don’t know already), that her positive statements about the Millerite charts do not equate to an endorsement of the 2520-year prophecy, but of chart making overall.

 

Consider this statement:  “The Lord showed me that Time had not been a test since 1844, and that time will never again be a test.”  RH, November 01, 1850.  Therefore, why are we discussing time (2520-Year prophecy) in a manner in which it is a test?