Chapter 5 The Year-Day Principle Adventists use the Year-Day principle to interpret several apocalyptic prophecies, the main ones being the 2300 days of Dan 8:14, and the seven occurrences of the three-and-a-half year prophecy. The fulfillment of the 70 week prophecy of Daniel 9 serves as a foundation for applying the year-day principle. Conveying the application of a year for a day from Daniel 9 to Daniel 8 by our pioneers is based on the following concept: The 70 years of Babylonian captivity was coming to its end, and Daniel was concerned about the future. God had much more important future issues to share with Daniel. He gave him the vision of the cleansing of the Sanctuary (Dan 8). The 2300 evenings and mornings just seemed too long still into the future for Judah to return to Jerusalem. He fainted and fell down. Months later, God continued the vision, now relating details of the first part of this period of time, which was 70 weeks (490 years), recorded in Daniel 9. The fulfillment of Dan 9 extended the day-years to Dan 8 (2300 years). Starting in 457 BC, this time period ended in 1844. More recently historians have realised that 13 years elapsed between Dan 8 and Dan 9 (Mervyn Maxwell, “God Cares,” Vol 1). The two visions are unrelated. Daniel 9 is synchronized with the sabbatical and Jubilee system where the agricultural land rested every 7th year, and after 7 such cycles (49 years), the 50th year was Jubilee, in which land was returned to traditional owners, and slaves were liberated (Lev 25). 10 such Jubilee systems make up 490 years. Two such Jubilee clusters (2 x 490 years) had passed since the Exodus to the liberation of the Babylonian captives, and one more cluster would pass to terminate the status of Judah as God’s chosen nation in AD 34. Christ ministered in the first half of the last week (7 years) of that third cluster (AD 27 – 31), and the apostles ministered to Judah only, in the second half of that final week to AD 34. Applying the year-day principle to Dan 9, therefore, is based on the Jubilee system. However, Dan 8 does not refer to year-weeks, nor relates to agricultural sabbaticals. The words used in Dan 8 to describe time is different to those used in Dan 9. Dan 8:14 uses evenings and mornings. Some translations from the Hebrew turn it into 2300 days, other translations turn it into 1150 days, counting both the evenings and the mornings. The Scriptural references used for justifying the year-day principle is hermeneutically without foundation: Numbers 14:34 states that for every day the spies were in Canaan, the Israelites would spend a year in the wilderness, before displacing the Canaanites. This relationship between years and days has nothing to do with apocalyptic prophecy. The second passage used to justify the use of this principle is Eze 4:5, 6. Ezekiel was required by God to lie on his side in public a day for every year that first Israel, and then Judah had apostatised. This has nothing to do with prophecy either, since years are converted to days and not days to years, and not in a prophetic context either. The year-day principle is hermeneutically without justification and cannot be used outside of Dan 9. The 2300 evenings and mornings of Dan 9, the seven references to 42 months (time, times and dividing of time, and 1260 days), the 1290 days and 1335 days of Dan 12, the prophecies about the Ottoman Empire and the half hour of silence in heaven (Rev 8:1) can therefore not be converted to years. Another application of prophecy should therefore be found for all of these times in literal days and hours. Suggested alternative fulfilments to these prophecies will be provided in further chapters, but other symbols need to be visited first. May God bless you as we continue to study these interesting aspects of prophecy that He has given us to light our path during these dark times that are setting in on us. Note: An interesting study on the year-day principle can be found at (https://reachingadventistschristiansandothers.wordpress.com/2022/10/13/truth-about-the-year-day-principle/)