The one outstanding expositor of this period was Abarbanel (1447-1508). In his Wells of Salvation he attempted to interpret Messianic prophecy, especially those contained in the book of Daniel. The basis of his exposition was more that of the historical, grammatical type. In the main his explanations are sound and scholarly. On some points, however, he missed the true meaning. He saw in the metallic image-vision of Daniel 2 and the beast-vision of Daniel 7 a symbolic representation of the kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. Generally, he was correct in his interpretation of the ninth chapter of Daniel concerning the seventy weeks. He recognized the fact that they refer to years and not days. He adopted, however, the year-day theory.

At the same time he buttressed his argument by Gematria, for 1503 C.E. was the Messianic year according to his calculation. Time has disproved his contention.

Others attempted to decipher the signs of the times. No new methods, however, were introduced; hence there is no necessity for my calling attention to them.

There were always those in Israel who saw the mistake of setting dates for Messiah's appearance; hence they met Gematria with Gematria and argument with argument.

The outstanding pseudo-messiah of this period was Shabbetai Zebi. This man presented himself to many in Israel as the Messiah who would deliver the nation. His movement proved abortive and brought much suffering to Israel.

In this section it is well for us to take the case of Shabbetai Zebi and see how the controversialists met Gematria with Gematria.

"Rabbi Joshua Neneto of Alexandria, writing to the community of Leghorn, points to the numerous passages in the Bible which, per Gematriam, clearly establish the Messiahship of Shabbetai Zebi. He states that these passages are almost endless, and that they are sufficient and valid proof. This view was shared by all the adherents of Shabbetai Zebi. They pointed with conviction to the fact that the name of Shabbetai Zebi, שבתי צבי was equal to the name of God, שדי taken in its integrated form: ´ש´י´ן ד´ל´ת´ י´ו´ד equal 814. It is also equal to ´וש´נ´ת´ ג´א´ו´ל´י´ ב´א´ד equal 814. ('And my year of redemption is come'). Zebi (צבי) is also the Notarikon of וצ´דיק ב´אמונתו י´חיה ('the righteous shall live by his faith').

"The opponents countered by pointing out that שבתי צבי is equal to י´ו´דע´ צ´י´ד´  א´יש ש´ד´ה ('And he (Esau) was a cunning hunter, a man of the field'). Also that שבתי is equal to ב´ל´ע´ם´ ר´ש´ע= Balaam, the wicked. Also that שבתי צבי is equal to עמלק הרשע Amalek the wicked, and ´ר´ו´ח´ ש´ק´ר= the lying spirit.

"The year of Shabbetai Zebi's revelation was also established by Gematria. It was based on the Zoharitic Messianic year 1648, which in turn was based on the verse בשנת היובל הזאת תשובו equals 5408=1648 ('In this year of the Jubilee shall ye return'). This was the year when Shabbetai Zebi first began to reveal his true character to his disciples in Smyrna. It was in the eighth year of the Jubilee cycle. Within the remaining 42 years of that cycle, i.e. up to 1690, the restoration must take place. The year 1666, when Shabbetai again made public avowal of his Messiahship, was indicated in ישראל נ´ו´ש´ע´ בה equals 1666 ('0 Israel, thou art saved by the Lord'). Nathan of Gaza proclaimed that the restoration will take place before the year 5430 = 1670. When this year did not bring about the promised Redemption, the disciples found Gematria for other years: 1675, 1680, 1686, 1692, 1706, 1710."

With such a system as Gematria any one can find proof of most any position which he advocates. There is nothing scientific in the entire process. This fact has been established by history. Hence all cabalistic methods of determining chronology have failed.

In this brief survey of the efforts on the part of some of the leaders of Israel to ascertain the year of redemption, we have seen that every conceivable method has been employed to unravel the secret of the future. But all of these attempts have failed and those putting confidence in the calculations have been sorely disappointed by the non-fulfilment of their hopes.

In the preceding section we have had a cursory review of the disastrous results arising from Jewish Messianic speculations and date-setting. Israel's history, as Rabbi Abba Silver has pointed out, has been written in blood, through the centuries. Much of these horrors might have been avoided, had her leaders not incited the people, by unfounded hopes based upon false principles of interpretation, to fanatical acts, which only brought them into conflict with the political powers. But Israel has never had a monopoly on speculation and guessing relative to Messiah, the setting of dates, and the working out of schedules for God to follow. Some Christians have adopted the same and, in many instances, similar principles in an effort to map the course of events. It is needless to say that God does not run the affairs of the universe or of the world according to man-made time-tables. Throughout the Christian centuries various leaders have come forward with spectacular and sensational interpretations of prophecy. It is needless to say that time, the crucial tester of all things, has repudiated all such speculation and guessing.

Let us not hastily conclude that those brethren, beloved and honored, who have engaged in speculation, calculation, and guessing have been of mediocre ability or were insincere, for such has not been the case. Some of God's noblemen, men of purity, loyalty, and sincerity, have yielded to the temptation of trying to unravel the "riddle of the universe," especially of the future, by the methods just mentioned.

We respect and honor every one of these noble souls. At the same time we must walk in the light which we have and endeavor by God's grace to seek more truth.

It is in order for us to examine some of these hypotheses, which have had such a far-reaching influence in the interpretation of God's Word. An examination, therefore, of these various theories is not simply an effort to expose the fallacy of others, but is an honest attempt to see the mistakes that they have made in order that we might avoid committing the same errors.

There is that which is popularly known as the year-day theory for the interpretation of the prophetic Scriptures. In a word, this hypothesis asserts that in symbolic prophecy a day in the prediction foreshadows a year in history.

As proof of this position our attention is called to Numbers 13 and 14. Here we have an account of the spying out of Canaan by the men appointed by Moses at Kadesh-barnea. These twelve went throughout the length and breadth of the land for 40 days and returned to the camp. Joshua and Caleb reported that Israel could take the land in possession in obedience to the command of God. Ten of them, however, discouraged the people, saying that it was utterly impossible. Mutiny arose in the camp. Fear and disbelief gripped the hearts of the people. The Lord then said that they could not go into the land, but that they would have to wander around in the wilderness for 40 years, their journeyings being a year of experience for each day of the spying of the land. "After the number of the days in which ye spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my alienation" (Num. 14:34).

There can be no doubt that, since they spied out the land for 40 days, God selected that number to designate the years of their wilderness experiences. Such is the plain meaning of this passage. No one can possibly deny this fact.

The theory under consideration affirms that a day in prophecy foreshadows a year in history as set forth in symbolic prophecy. A close scrutiny of Numbers 13 and 14 will yield nothing symbolic or mystical about the record. These chapters are simply a plain statement of facts. There was a reason for God's selecting the number of years for their sojourn in the wilderness. He stated that they were to be there for this length of time in order that the generation disbelieving Him might pass on into eternity. It took 40 years for those who refused to enter at that time to live out their natural days. There is, therefore, nothing mystical in this passage. One must read the idea of symbolism into it in order to find it there.

In Ezekiel 4, however, we have a case that is somewhat similar to this one, but one in which the symbolic element figures very largely. The prophet was commanded to lie upon his left side for 390 days, which were to signify 390 years during which Israel was forced to suffer for her iniquities. When he completed this task, he was to lie upon his right side for 40 days, which in the same way signified the 40 years for the iniquity of Judah. There can be no doubt that the passage is symbolic. Yet it is not prophetic but retrospective, for it signified what had already occurred.

As absolute proof of the year-day theory our attention is called to Daniel 9, an exposition of which was found in Chapter XIII of this volume. As we have seen, the angel Gabriel told Daniel that 70 weeks were decreed upon his people and upon his Holy City (Jerusalem) for the fulfilment of 6 things, which, when studied in the light of other predictions, prove to characterize the great kingdom age. The advocates of this theory assume that these 70 weeks are 490 days, but they reason from the standpoint of the English. The usual meaning of the word week is a period of 7 days; but such is not the case of the word in the original text. As we have seen, it simply means 7. The things or the persons mentioned must be gathered from the context. It has a meaning similar to our word dozen, which connotes 12--12 of the things or persons under consideration. To assert that week here refers to days is to reason from the English point of view and to read into the original text something that is foreign to the context.

In chapter XIII we saw that Daniel had been reading about years (Daniel 9:1,2). He was thinking in terms of years. Without question he had been meditating upon the period of 70 years of Babylonian captivity. The angel Gabriel appeared to him and, making a play upon words, informed him that he was mistaken in the conclusion to which he had come. Instead of the coming of the great millennial blessings at the end of the 70 years of exile--this revelation was made to Daniel in the 68th year of the captivity--seventy sevens were decreed upon the Jewish people and Jerusalem for the bringing in of this glorious kingdom age. Since Daniel had been thinking of such years as are mentioned in the books he had been studying (Kings, Chronicles, Isaiah, Jeremiah), there was but one conclusion to which he could come; namely, that the seventy sevens or the 490 are ordinary years. From this conclusion there can be no escape.

The advocates of this theory see in this marvelous passage conclusive evidence of the year-day theory. This chapter to them is absolute and positive proof of the proposition that God outlines certain periods in history in a symbolic way. As an illustration of this so-called principle, attention is called to the blue prints which are made by architectural engineers for various projects. The plans and maps are drawn to a certain scale. For instance, an eighth or a quarter of an inch on the drawing may represent a foot in the project which is to be constructed. We are, therefore, told that Gabriel in this passage gave us a blue print of the time under consideration, drawn to the scale of 1 to 360, since a day in prophecy, as these men assert, stands for a prophetical year in history. Others claim that the scale is 1 to 354 (the lunar year) and 1 to 365 (the solar year).

This theory, ignoring the facts of the context, reads into this passage a symbolic meaning which never entered the mind of Gabriel or Daniel. At least, there is not the slightest indication in the context, which would lead one thus to believe. One should follow the rule of interpretation which asserts that, "When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the context indicate clearly otherwise."

In view of these facts let us never assume that a passage is symbolic unless the facts of the context thus indicate. To read such into a passage without warrant from the context is to do violence to Holy Writ.

In order to determine whether or not the theory is sound, let us apply it to the 400 years mentioned in Genesis 15, during which God said that Israel would be under foreign domination, and after the expiration of which period she would come forth into her own land. If a day in prophecy foreshadows a year in history, we must multiply these 400 by 360 days in order to determine the length of time the children of Israel would be under Egyptian domination. We have already learned that in reality they were there only 215 years. The historical facts, therefore, are a repudiation of the hypothesis.

If we apply this theory to the 70 years of Babylonian exile, we must multiply this number by 360 in order to determine how long Israel was to be in captivity (Jer. 25:8-14). Seventy years meant seventy years. At the expiration of that period of literal years, God stirred the heart of Cyrus to cause the Jews to return to their land. Those who desired to do so returned with Zerubbabel and Joshua. When the theory is applied to such a plain passage, it is apparent that it will not work. If we apply it to any period that is foretold in the Scriptures and examine the context of each, we shall see that it proves an absurdity.

The advocates of this hypothesis claim that this rule applies only to symbolic prophecy. According to certain leading proponents of this interpretation, Daniel 9 is the crowning proof of the theory; but, as we have just seen, there is absolutely no evidence in this passage supporting the hypothesis. There is no intimation of a symbolic or mystical meaning in the entire chapter. To read into it such fanciful ideas is to do violence to the context. On the other hand, the facts of Ezekiel 4 demand a symbolic significance. In reality, we are told in so many words that the prophet's actions were symbolic. Unless we have absolute and positive statements to such an effect, we are doing violence to the Scriptures in forcing upon them such an interpretation.

Those holding to this theory differ very greatly with reference to the initial date of the period under consideration and also the terminus thereof. One can always find some event or fact in history for the starting point of his calculation and can likewise locate a terminal date--to make the facts fit the theory. Usually there are as many starting points and ending places as there are outstanding exponents of the theory. It is never wise to force upon a passage of Scripture a meaning other than the plain, common-sense interpretation and to pin down a time-prophecy to any event unless the Scriptures really so indicate. Let us who endeavor to interpret the Word remember always that the Lord does not run the affairs of the universe or direct the course of history according to man made schedules.

Many Christians, following the Jewish interpreters, see in the 6 days mentioned in Genesis 1 a foreshadowing of 6000 years of human history. As proof of the position, reference is made to Psalm 90:4, "For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night." Does this passage in any wise lead one to believe that each of the days of reconstruction (Gen. 1) foreshadows a 1000 years? An examination of the context does not favor such an interpretation. In the beginning of the passage God speaks of His eternal existence. The same thought is presented by Isaiah 57:14. He is the one who "inhabits eternity." In contrast with the eternity of God, man's brief sojourn in this life is presented. Such is the flow of the thought in Psalm 90. There is not the least intimation here that those days foreshadow 6000 years in history.

Many Christian expositors see in II Peter 3:8 proof of this position. "But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." What meaning do the facts indicate? An examination of the context yields the following interpretation: Peter looked out into the future--to the last days--and saw that mockers would come denying the personal return of the Lord Jesus and, as a reason for their negative attitude, claiming that all things have continued from the time that the fathers (Christian leaders of the early church) fell asleep as they have been from the beginning of time. In other words, they deny the catastrophes of the past, such as the flood and the division of the earth as noted in chapter II. These mockers insist upon the uniformity of nature. Peter challenged this position and asserted that there was an interruption in the normal natural order at the time of the flood (vss. 5, 6). Following this, verse 7, he informed us that a great catastrophe is scheduled to come when God shall purge the world of all wickedness.

After making this prediction the apostle urged believers not to forget the fact that one day is with the Lord as a 1000 years and a 1000 years as one day. Following this statement he affirmed that the Lord is not slack concerning His promise--of His second coming. In the light of these facts, Peter, we see, was emphasizing the thought that God is different from men, and that He can and will fulfil a promise after a 1000 years have passed as faithfully and loyally as He will on the day that He makes it. There is, therefore, no support in this passage for the theory under consideration.

If those days of reconstruction foreshadowed 6000 years of world history, there is no indication to that effect anywhere in the Scriptures so far as I have been able to determine. They may have this symbolic meaning, but God has not indicated it. Let us remember that the things which are revealed are for us in order that we may conform our lives to His will, but the secret things which He has chosen not to make known to us belong to Him (Deut. 29:29).

By calculators and date-setters we are told that there are three types of years mentioned in the Scriptures: lunar, prophetic, and solar. The lunar year, speaking popularly, is 354 days long; the prophetic, 360; and the solar, 365.

Those advocating the lunar year and bringing it into the prophetic picture call our attention to the fact that the Jewish months were lunar. This is true. At the same time their year was corrected by the intercalation of a thirteenth month. Anstey has shown that the Hebrews constantly corrected their calendar by observation of the moon and the stage of the crops.

There is no indication, so far as I have been able to determine, leading one to believe that any of the years mentioned in the prophetic word could in any wise be interpreted as lunar.

In the Scriptures we read of the "times of the Gentiles," during which Jerusalem is trodden down (Luke 21:24). This expression is understood to refer to the same time set forth in the visions of Daniel 2 and 7. There can be no doubt about the correctness of this position. Determined efforts are made to ascertain its length. The calculation usually is based upon Leviticus 26, which gives the outline of Israel's history pre-written. In verses 1 and 2 God reiterated the fact that He had entered into covenant relationship with the Hebrew people. In verses 3-13 He foretold the blessings that He would shower upon them for obedience. In verses 14-39 He warned Israel of the punishment that would come in the event she was unfaithful to her covenant vow.

Four times Moses warned that in case of disobedience the Lord would punish Israel seven times for her iniquities. The expression seven times is interpreted in the light of Daniel 4:32,33, which states that Nebuchadnezzar was driven from his position as King of Babylon, and that he dwelt with the beasts of the field seven times. This period is interpreted in the light of Daniel 7:25 and Revelation 11:2,3 and 13:5. It is generally supposed that Nebuchadnezzar's insanity continued seven years. Thus the word time is understood to refer to a year. With this meaning of time, Leviticus 26, which refers to Israel's punishment seven times, is understood to foretell that God would punish her seven times--seven prophetic years. But how long is a prophetic year? This question is answered by studying Daniel 7:25 in connection with the Revelation passages. In the first of these we are told that the world dictator will speak words against the most high God and will persecute His saints; "and he will seek to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hands until a time and times and half a time." The word time is in the singular and times in the dual; hence they are equal to three times. Add the one-half and you have 3½ times or 3½ years.

Footnote:

*According to the Jewish Encyclopedia there are two cycles: the solar and the lunar. The former consists of twenty-eight years whereas the latter of nineteen. "The cycle of nineteen lunar years (the cycle of Meton) determines the sequence of common years and lead years in the Jewish calendar, because nineteen lunar years with seven extra months of seven leap years approximately equal nineteen solar years." See article Calendar Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol.3.

Continued on the next page