He said to me, "It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated." – Daniel 8:14

Today's Scripture Reading (August 10, 2020): Daniel 8

December 25, 165 B.C.E. It was a significant day in history. It was over 150 years before the birth of Jesus (and no, Jesus was not born on December 25) and almost exactly 500 years before the first Christmas was celebrated by Christians of the Roman Empire (December 25, 336 C.E.). But on this day, the Temple in Jerusalem was reconsecrated.

By this time, Jerusalem's second Temple, Zerubbabel's Temple, had already been around for a few centuries. The first Temple, Solomon's Temple, had been physically destroyed by the Babylonians in the early years of the sixth-century B.C.E. It had been rebuilt as a mere shadow of itself as the people began to return from their time spent in Babylon. And, for a time, even conquering kings left the new Temple in Jerusalem alone. But that was before the rise of Antiochus Epiphanes.

Antiochus Epiphanes was a Greek ruler whose name means "God Manifest." And apparently, Antiochus Epiphanes believed in his name. He was God, and everything had been built to honor and worship him. That included Zerubbabel's Temple. The respect that previous Kings had given to the Temple was gone. During his reign, Antiochus persecuted the Jews and desecrated the Temple. The persecution and desecration became the primary cause for the Maccabean Revolt (167 to 160 B.C.E.). The desecration meant that while the Temple still stood, it had been spiritually destroyed and could no longer be used for its primary purpose.

So, on December 25, 165 B.C.E., during the revolt against the Antiochus Epiphanes's Seleucid Empire, the Temple was reconsecrated. The reconsecration of the Temple made this prophecy of Daniel, one where the endpoint was known. Daniel, speaking before Zerubbabel's Temple was even built, had already told us that the Temple would need to be reconsecrated at some future time.

But there is also mystery associated with prophecy. Daniel says 2,300 evening and mornings, which could mean that the Temple would be reconsecrated after 2,300 days, or after 1,150 mornings and 1,150 evenings. While we know the endpoint, the difference changes the original event from which Daniel began to count. But either date actually works. If it was 2,300 days, then that dates back to the beginning of Antiochus's persecution of the Jews. If it is 1,150 days, then it dates back to the desecration of the Temple itself. And, maybe, Daniel phrased it the way he did because both were in mind.

Several scholars have tried to force this verse into a prophecy of the return of the Messiah, but, so far, none of those efforts have proved correct. But we do know what happened in the second century B.C.E., and on December 25, 165 B.C.E. And, for this prophecy, maybe that is enough.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Daniel 9