The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

III. Wide Study and Concern Over 2300 Years

1. JEWS AND PIETISTS AGITATED OVER APPROACHING TERMI NUS

In an anonymous treatise in 1702, titled Aufrichtiges Bedencken (Sincere Doubts), by a Pietist, the writings of GEORGHERMANN GIBLEHR, pastor at Aspach, are cited and discussed. The propriety of studying prophetic time periods and dates is stressed, and mention made of a belief among certain Polish Jews who, around 1700, looked for the judgment day on the basis of Daniel 8:14. Hildebert of Nürnberg is quoted concerning 120 Jews who had left Poland for Palestine, believing the day of their salvation was drawing nigh. The writer then emphasizes the universal study of the last days among Pietists, as well as other scholars in Germany, Italy, Spain, France, England, and America. Expositors such as Jurieu, Beverley, and Giblehr, all look for the ending of the great prophetic period around 1715, 1740, 1772, or 1785—thus differing only a few years in their expectancy. ¹⁷ PFF2 701.1

Emphasis is given to the belief that “we today” (the people at that time) live in the “Philadelphia Age” of the seven churches, and the belief of Pietists, such as Spener and Petersen, is set forth, that the 2300 days are literal years. ¹⁸ The first and second resurrections are also stressed, as bounding the millennium. ¹⁹ PFF2 701.2

2. GIBLEHR ANTICIPATES JUDGMENT AT 2300 YEAR’S END

In a religious periodical called Unschuldige Nachrichten von Alten und Neuen Theologischen Sachen (Unbiased Reports of Old and New Theological Matters), issued in 1708 by “Servants of the Divine Word,” Giblehr’s tractate on the time of the last judgment, issued in 1702, is reviewed. The tract was reprinted several times within the year. ²⁰ Giblehr is cited as stating, on page 36, that the cleansing, or justifying, of the sanctuary and the end of the 2300 literal years mean the last judgment, and that he looked to 1760 as the supreme year. ²¹ Giblehr is then quoted concerning the 1260 days of Daniel 7:25 and 12:2, and Revelation 11:2; 12:14; and 13:6; with the statement that they all refer to the 1260 literal years of the oriental and occidental Antichrist, with the 1335 years beginning in A.D. 425, when Pope Anaceleto (Celestine I) started the reign of Antichrist, which will continue till the last judgment. ²² PFF2 701.3