The Sanctuary doctrine: answering objections 

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Objection 5:  The start date of the 2300 days (457 BC) is not warranted in Scripture - thus the 2300 days prophecy does not point to 1844

The 2300 days prophecy is at the heart of the Sanctuary doctrine (the Cleansing of the Heavenly Sanctuary). If this objection is shown to be valid, the Sanctuary doctrine itself is false.

The 2300 days prophecy:

Da 8:13,14  Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? 

14  And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

Supporters of the Sanctuary doctrine regard the prophetic days of the prophecy as equating to 2300 actual years (see prophetic time), which reach to 1844 AD.  Most objectors deny this understanding.

The event (v14 above) pointed to by the 2300 days prophecy: the ‘cleansing of the sanctuary’, is the underlying reason for this objection.

Sanctuary doctrine supporters teach that the ‘cleansing’ refers to Christ’s final Atonement, which, beginning in 1844 AD, eradicates sin (see study: ‘The Cleansing of the Heavenly Sanctuary: fitting the redeemed for Heaven’).  Most of the Christian world, however, disputes that meaning - hence the objection.

To determine whether the 2300 days are indeed literal years pointing to 1844 AD, we must establish a viable start date.

Understanding the start date of the 2300 days hangs upon the meaning of the Hebrew word ‘chatak’, which appears only once in Scripture, and is translated in the KJV as ‘determined’: 

Da 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined [Strong’s H2852 ‘chatak’, a primitive root; properly to cut off, i.e. (figuratively) to decree:—determine]….

This is the first verse of the 70 weeks prophecy, which points to the Messiah and the Cross.  In study: 'The 70 weeks prophecy: Christ in History',2.3 we see that the 70 weeks  began in the autumn of 457 BC.  The 70 weeks prophecy in fact confirms the prophetic year/day principle.

The meaning of ‘chatak’

Supporters of the 1844 AD end date of the 2300 days prophecy maintain that 'chatak' properly means 'cut off', and that the 70 weeks are ‘cut off’ from the 2300 days, thus giving the same start date for both prophecies: 457 BC. 

Objectors deny that 'chatak' is properly understood as 'cut off'. Thus we need to investigate how ‘chatak’ is best translated.

'Chatak' is discussed in The meaning of 'chatak', which, after examining the word itself and other factors, concludes that because ‘chatak’ is unique to Da 9:24 it has a special meaning, specific to that verse.  ‘Chatak’ thus has a meaning alternative to ‘determined’ - the only other possible rendering is ‘cut off’.  Thus 'chatak' is indeed better understood as 'cut off'.

In the context of Da 9:24, understanding ‘cut off’ as the meaning of the Hebrew ‘chatak’ confirms that the 70 weeks of the Daniel 9 (70 weeks) prophecy are indeed ‘cut off’ from the 2300 days prophecy.  In fact, the sequence of the prophecies (the 2300 days prophecy first) confirms that this is the intention.

Thus both prophecies have the same start date: 457 BC, and consequently the 1844 AD end date of the 2300 days/years is correct. 

Objection 5, therefore, is not valid.