Sir Robert Anderson and the Hebrew Calendar

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David505
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Sir Robert Anderson and the Hebrew Calendar

Post by David505 »

This is a tough question (at least, for me).

Many of us are familiar with the work of Sir Robert Anderson regarding Daniel's prophecy of the 70 weeks:

24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 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.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 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, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate (Daniel 9: 24-27).

In his landmark 1894 treatise: “The Coming Prince,” Sir Robert asserted the 70 weeks prophecy delimited a term of seventy seven-year “weeks” of years (490 years altogether).* Sir Robert also postulated a long parenthesis of time between the 69th week in expectation of Christ's crucifixion, and the 70th week in expectation of Christ's second coming. Furthermore, Sir Robert insisted the years of Daniel's prophecy correspond to equal length 360-day “prophetic years” according to time notations from the books of Genesis, Daniel, and Revelation, particularly with regard to the following notations in relation to Daniel's 70th week:

A time and times and the dividing of time (Dan. 7:25)

A time, times, and an half (Dan. 12:7)

Forty and two months (Rev. 11:2)

A thousand two hundred and threescore days (Rev. 11:3)

A time, and times, and half a time (Rev. 12:14)

Forty and two months (Rev. 13:5)

To complicate Sir Robert's proposed chronology, Daniel stipulates three supplementary time notations in relation to the 70th week as follows:

2,300 days (Dan. 8: 13-14)

1,290 days (Dan. 12: 11)

1,335 days (Dan. 12: 12)

Although Sir Robert made a good case for himself, and continues to attract a large following, disagreement arises regarding Sir Robert's proposed 360-day “prophetic years” versus the variable Hebrew calendar. You can click the following link for a Hebrew calendar primer:

http://www.templesanjose.org/JudaismInf ... lendar.pdf

I've been trying (unsuccessfully) to reconcile all of the preceding time notations within the context of a variable Hebrew calendar in relation to Daniel's 70th week. I'm also familiar with a lot of the work that's been done in this area. I don't think anyone's figured this out. What do you think?

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