Here’s an interesting way to remember the significance of the Bible’s 2300 day prophecy. This is by no means the prophet Daniel’s intended interpretation. But noteworthy nonetheless.
The Doomsday Clock. Source: phys.org
It relates to the doomsday clock, by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. According to these eminent scientists, the threat of human caused global catastrophe due to nuclear weapons and climate change is so high that they characterise it using the time 23:57.
The closest we have come to midnight by this clock was 23:58, at the height of the Cold War.
As that threat receded the doomsday clock wound back as far as 23:43 but has since climbed back to 23:57 in 2015, and stayed there notwithstanding the recent Paris climate agreement.
Pretty precarious times, these.
Now, back to the 2300 day prophecy. Let’s ignore the units and the start period of the 2300 day prophecy for a moment.
What does “twenty-three hundred” bring to mind?
One hour to midnight? If so, good! As they say about great minds… Never mind. Just let me say I think this provides a helpful way to remember the significance of the prophecy, even if not its intended interpretation.
According to Daniel 7, 8 and 9, the 2300 day prophecy brings us to within the period of time we know as the “time of the end.” We could metaphorically call this stage of Earth’s history the time approaching midnight.
Now, if the 2300 days does indeed bring us to 1844, and a day does indeed represent a year, when would midnight be? Simple extrapolation brings us to the denouement of World War II. The year 1944 included one of the last major turning points in Europe: D-Day. But there were bigger turning points in the preceding 3 years, where the threat of Third Reich global domination was largely averted.
Needless to say, we sailed perilously close to midnight during World War II, even before the Doomsday clock started plotting our situation from 1947.
And we have flirted with midnight for quite some time, now.
The progression toward midnight has not been uniform at all. It is as though there are opposing forces driving us both toward and away from disaster.
It reminds me of Bible passages that talk about God holding back the “four winds” of strife, and that there appears to be a delay in His return. All for the sake of not allowing any to perish without having the chance to be rescued.
Even if not the original intention, I find the “twenty-three hundred” nomenclature significant in highlighting how close we are to the end. The Bible and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists have common ground on this point. But only the Bible presents a glorious rescue plan and future for humanity, if we choose it.
For other recent posts on the Investigative Judgment, see: