The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

III. Expositors From Josephus (1st cent.) to Eliezer (9th cent.)

The survey of prophetic interpretation, in Volume I, began with the key expositions of the Jews before Christ, which in turn were carried over into the Christian Era. We now trace the Jewish expositors of the Christian, or Common, Era. PFF2 193.3

1. JOSEPHUS CONCEALS VIEWS ON “BEASTS” AND “TIMES”

[1] ³² FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS (c. 37-c. 100 C.E.), although primarily a historian, indicates that he had a definite interpretation of both the “beasts” and “times” of Daniel. But these he deliberately withheld, in large part, from his readers ³³ evidently from fear of difficulty with the Roman state, which he indicated was the fourth prophetic power. But the available interpretations of Jo sephus—whose life paralleled the ministry of the apostles—are presented in Volume I of Prophetic Faith and are therefore omitted here. PFF2 193.4

2. JOHANAN DECLARES ROME THE FOURTH KINGDOM

[2] JOHANAN BEN ZAKKAI (1st cent. C.E.), of Palestine-some times called the “Upright Pillar”-was one of the greatest of the pupils of Hillel. The first president of the academy at Jabneh (near Joppa, only six miles from Jerusalem), he opposed rebellion against the Roman power, which Johanan recognized to be the fourth world power of the prophesied series of four. The Babylonian Talmud gives his interpretation of Daniel 7:23 thus: PFF2 195.1

“Because it is written (Daniel 7:23), ‘It shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.’ Rabbi Johanan said, This is guilt-laden Rome, whose influence has gone out over all the world.” ³⁴ PFF2 195.2

3. AKIBA RECOGNIZES YEAR-DAY PRINCIPLE AND FOUR EM PIRES

[3] AKIBA (AQIBA) BEN JOSEPH (c. 50-132), of Palestine, one of the most distinguished Jews of his time, was often called the father of rabbinical Judaism. ³⁵ He systematized Rabbinism, and created a scheme of multiple interpretation that was perfected by Rabbi Judah Hanasi, who committed the oral law to written form in the Mishnah. ³⁶ Akiba recognized both the year day principle and the four empires, and anticipated the world’s end in 6093 A.M. (anno mundi, “year of the world,” from creation). ³⁷ PFF2 195.3

This famous associate of the false messiah Bar Kochba, in the 132 to 135 C.E. revolt against Hadrian and the Romans, based his action on Messianic time expectation, and this in turn on the prophetic-time basis ³⁸—his faith in the expectation never wavering. He was taken prisoner and put to death by the Romans about 132 C.E. PFF2 195.4

Later the breakup of the Roman Empire in the fifth century and the imminence of the long-anticipated collapse led to a new hope of the appearance of the Messiah in Palestinian quarters. ³⁹ But the Messiah’s failure to appear dampened the ardor of interpretation for some time. As the Mohammedan period advanced, however, Messianic expectancy began to appear again in various anonymous writings. ⁴⁰ PFF2 196.1

4. NAHAWENDI APPLIES YEAR-DAY PRINCIPLE TO 1290 AND 2300 PERIODS

[4] BENJAMIN BEN MOSES NAHAWENDI (8th-9th centuries), the Karaite ⁴¹ with all that the name connotes—dated the 2300 year-days from the destruction of Shiloh (942 B.C.E.), and “from the time of the removal of the continual [sacrifice] (‘olath hatamidy—and likewise with the 1290 year-days, from the destruction of the second temple (70 C.E.)—thereby arriving at 1358 C.E. as the Messianic year. ⁴² PFF2 196.2