vanity , wickedness and oppression , would come to an end ;" when the curse would be " removed from off the earth , death be destroyed , reward be given to the servants of God , the prophets and saints , and them who fear His name , and those be destroyed that destroy the earth ." --Bliss , page 76 .
With a new and deeper earnestness , Miller continued the examination of the prophecies , whole nights as well as days being devoted to the study of what now appeared of such stupendous importance and all-absorbing interest . In the eighth chapter of Daniel he could find no clue to the starting point of the 2300 days ; the angel Gabriel , though commanded to make Daniel understand the vision , gave him only a partial explanation . As the terrible persecution to befall the church was unfolded to the prophet ' s vision , physical strength gave way . He could endure no more , and the angel left him for a time . Daniel " fainted , and was sick certain days ." " And I was astonished at the vision ," he says , " but none understood it ."
Yet God had bidden His messenger : " Make this man to understand the vision ." That commission must be fulfilled . In obedience to it , the angel , some time afterward , returned to Daniel , saying : " I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding ;" " therefore understand the matter , and consider the vision ." Daniel 8:27 , 16 ; 9:22 , 23 , 25-27 . There was one important point in the vision of chapter 8 which had been left unexplained , namely , that relating to time--the period of the 2300 days ; therefore the angel , in resuming his explanation , dwells chiefly upon the subject of time :
" Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy Holy City . . . . Know therefore and understand , that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks , and threescore and two weeks : the street shall be built again , and the wall , even in troublous times . And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off , but not for Himself . . . . 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 oblation to cease ."
The angel had been sent to Daniel for the express purpose of explaining to him the point which he had failed to understand in the vision of the eighth chapter , the statement relative to time-- " unto two thousand and three hundred days ; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed ." After bidding Daniel " understand the matter , and consider the vision ," the very first words of the angel are : " Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy Holy City ." The word here translated " determined " literally signifies " cut off ." Seventy weeks , representing 490 years , are declared by the angel to be cut off , as specially pertaining to the Jews . But from what were they cut off ? As the 2300 days was the only period of time mentioned in chapter 8 , it must be the period from which the seventy weeks were cut off ; the seventy weeks must therefore be a part of the 2300 days , and the two periods must begin together . The seventy weeks were declared by the angel to date from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem . If the date of this commandment could be found , then the starting point for the great period of the 2300 days would be ascertained .
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