The Cleansing of the Sanctuary and the 2300-Day Prophecy
The events of the French Revolution, towards the end of the eighteenth century, saw many Christians beginning to correlate world history with biblical prophecy. They saw the imprisonment of the Pope as the infliction of the “deadly wound” of Revelation 13:3 and the fulfillment of the 1260-day/year prophecies of Daniel and Revelation (Daniel 7:25; Revelation 12:6,14; 13:5). This time prophecy ended in the year 1798. Observed prophetic fulfilment together with celestial events and natural disasters were seen as the beginning of the “time of the end” (Daniel 12:4).
The Day-Year Principle in Prophecy
To interpret these timelines, scholars relied on a specific biblical method. These interpretations of time prophecies in the Bible relied on seeing a day in prophecy as a symbol for a literal year. This can be established throughout the Bible, but one does not have to leave the book of Daniel to see that days in his prophecies symbolise years. For example, the 70-year captivity of the Jews by the Babylonians was a result of failing to observe Sabbath years (2 Chronicles 36:21). God had instructed His people to let the land rest every seven years. The timespan required to accumulate 70 failings in observing Sabbath years amounts to 490 years.
The 70-Week and 2300-Day Timelines
Following the Babylonian captivity, Daniel is told that there will be another period of 490 before another reckoning (Daniel 9:24). This period is described as 490 prophetic days, but we can infer it represents literal years as it parallels the 490 years of grace leading up to the Babylonian captivity. Furthermore, the events culminating with the arrival of the Messiah cannot fit into 490 literal days but fit perfectly when measured in years. This time period runs from 457 BC to AD 34 (Daniel 9:25).
While the 490-year period is long past, there is yet another prophecy in Daniel that spans a much longer period. That is the 2300-day/year prophecy of Daniel 8:14, which also began in 457 BC and ended in AD 1844. It describes something dramatic and cosmic happening to the sanctuary: “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed” (Daniel 8:14, NKJV).
| Prophecy Period | Reference | Start Year | End Year | Event / Significance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1260 Days/Years | Daniel 7:25 | - | 1798 | End of the “deadly wound” |
| 490 Days/Years | Daniel 9:24 | 457 BC | AD 34 | Arrival of the Messiah |
| 2300 Days/Years | Daniel 8:14 | 457 BC | AD 1844 | Sanctuary shall be cleansed |
The Millerite Movement and the Great Disappointment
The question arises, what is the sanctuary and what will happen to it? The Millerite movement thought the sanctuary in this verse pointed to this earth and its cleansing as a purification by fire before a new earth emerges. This meant that Daniel 8:14 referred to the second coming of Jesus. Needless to say, they were very disappointed when Christ did not return in 1844. But this did not put an end to Adventism—the expectation that the second advent of Jesus is near. Some of the disappointed Christians did not throw away their faith or return to previous traditions. They began to search the Bible more thoroughly with a strong determination to never rely on human traditions, but rather to base their faith entirely on the Bible and to let the Bible interpret itself. Some of these Adventists eventually formalised into the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
The Heavenly Sanctuary and Linguistic Origins
So how did the Adventists interpret Daniel 8:14? They saw the sanctuary as a reference to Christ’s ministry in a heavenly sanctuary referred to in Hebrews and in Revelation (Hebrews 9:11-10:12; Revelation 11:19). And since they were relying on available English Bible translations, they saw the word “cleansed” as a connection to the Day of Atonement. After all, it was only on this day that the sanctuary was cleansed and this must mean that Daniel 8:14 tells us that the year 1844 began a Day of Atonement in the sanctuary in heaven.
A look into the Hebrew text of Daniel 8:14, however, reveals that the word “cleansed” does not appear in the original language. The term “cleansed” probably made its way into the King James Version (KJV) Bible through the Greek Septuagint translation, which uses katharisthesetai. In the Hebrew, the thing that happens to the sanctuary in Daniel 8:14 is nitzdak. It is the passive form of tzedek which means right/righteous/justify. It is telling us that the sanctuary will be put right or justified.