Famous among Bible students, and at the same time one of the most enigmatic chronological prophecies of the Bible, foretells the cleansing of the temple in the period of 2,300 evenings and mornings. Hence there are three basic variables which, properly defined, will determine the time, place and manner of the fulfillment of prophecy. First of all, according to the translation of the Modernized King James Version, prophecy concerns the temple. The Hebrew noun qōḏeš [H6944] describes holiness in relation to God, places or things. In the second case, the holy place in Israel was the Tabernacle, followed by the temple, where the priests and Levites served. Examples of the above use of qōḏeš can be found e.g. in Ex. 40:9; Num. 3:28; 1 Chronicles 24:5; 2 Chronicles 29:5,7. The choice of this meaning in Daniel 8:14 is unanimous among translators and dictated by the immediate context of Daniel 8.
The temple - priests and Levites - type and antitype
The announcement of the purification of the temple does not have to apply to - and in my opinion does not apply - to the temple in Jerusalem. Significant in this context is Dan. 8:17 stating that "the vision is for the time of the end", which is still ahead of us. Meanwhile, there is no physical building or priesthood ministry in Israel that can be purified. We also know from the New Testament records that the Law Covenant was replaced in Christ by the New Covenant, of which He is the Mediator, and which He secured with His only effective redemptive sacrifice (Heb. 7:11-19, 8:10-13, 9:11,12,15-17,25-27). Under the Law Covenant the spirit of the Lord 'dwelt' in a temple of stone; under the New Covenant the dwelling place of the spirit is in the minds of the called, as prophesied by Jer. 31:33,34, and later repeated by the apostle Paul in Heb. 8:10-12. Therefore he will write to believers in 1 Cor. 3:16-17: "Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (17) If anyone defiles the temple of God, God shall destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which you are." "You also as living stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 2:5).
The New Testament explains how God's spirit 'dwells' in us. The basis of this indwelling is God's agape love — the love of truth that "has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 5:5). It awakens in those called the desire to know and act on God's Word (2 Cor. 5:14,15; 1 Jn. 5:3,20; 2 Jn. 4-6). This desire, when one submits to it in harmony with the spirit of the Lord, leads to an increase in the understanding of the truth and, through its practice, to a change of character to the Lord's image (Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18; Jas. 1:22-25). Since the character in the Scripture is also referred to as the flesh, its formation after the likeness of Jesus Christ is referred to as the new birth or birth of the spirit, whereas the warming of the symbolic heart by the love of the truth, which is to bring about the new birth, as the begettal of the spirit. Since birth of the spirit signifies the symbolic transfer of the pattern of truth from mind to character, the Bible also speaks of sealing in this context. The spirit-born, on the other hand, experience baptism in the spirit, being immersed in the depth of understanding of the Word in its various types, prophecies, and symbols (see the lecture on the New creation and transformation of the inward man).
This brief summary of the spiritual development of the called seems to be appropriate here because of its importance for the interpretation of prophecy. For we know that in the Tabernacle, the service was placed in the hands of the tribe of Levi. The Levites, taken in exchange for the firstborn of Israel, had exclusive service in the Tabernacle (later in the temple), whereas from among the Levites, Aaron and his descendants served as priests (see Numbers chapters 3 and 4). This information is important from the standpoint of the antitype because we know that the first-born under the New Covenant are born of the spirit (Jas. 1:18). Thus they are antitypical Levites. The antitypical priests, on the other hand, are those of the people of truth who experience baptism in the spirit, symbolized in the Tabernacle by the service in the Holy (see the study on The people, Levites and priests of the Gospel Age). The cleansing of the temple referred to in Dan. 8:14, therefore, applies only to these two spirit-born classes. Here, however, an additional word of explanation is needed, for the translators, when applying the Hebrew ṣāḏaq [H6663] to the temple, naturally translate it as 'purification'. But it means justice or justification – bringing to justice.
Cleansing of the antitypical temple
The action, then, referred to in Dan. 8:14 in respect to the antitypical temple, is its justification - not only washing away sin, but also developing good works. The Bride of Christ is said in the book of Revelation to "be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints" (Rev. 19:8). To illustrate the dual nature of justification, the New Testament speaks of repentance and conversion; repentance in the sense of turning away from sin; conversion in the sense of accepting the principles of justice. Along the same lines, the apostle Paul will write in Eph. 4:20-24 and Col. 3:8-11 about the need to "put off the old man" and to "put on the new man, who according to God was created in righteousness and true holiness." It is not surprising that the Scriptures present the subject this way: the Gospel is a promise of immortality in the divine nature to those who faithfully walk in the footsteps of Christ (1 Pet. 1:3,4). Moreover, during the millennium of Christ's reign, they will be the judges of mankind - they will teach God's law, make laws of a lower order, and decide whether the law is kept (Rev. 20:4-6; Mt. 16:18,19; Jn. 20:21-23). Such tasks will require the highest level of development in the knowledge and application of the truth.
However, this does not mean that all requirements are measured by the same yardstick. The apostle Paul writes that "in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor" (2 Tim. 2:20). By the same token, in the Kingdom of God, different responsibilities fall to different classes of the Lord's people according to their ability. "And truly He gave some to be apostles, and some to be prophets, and some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, (12) for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" (Eph. 4:11,12). In the parable of the talents, our Lord evidently showed that different degrees of power and responsibility in the Kingdom will come according to the talents obtained - in proportion as we use the possessions which we have at our disposal at the present time. It is worth emphasizing, however, that the amount of the yield was not the basis of the Lord's praise in the parable - he who had less capital naturally gained less. However, it was important whether he made use of what he had at his disposal. If so, he turned out to be a good servant. A bad one only if he neglected what he had.
2,300 evenings and mornings
Each of the called has talents which will make them fit for a proper position in the Kingdom. In the case of the Spiritual Temple, we can speak only of positions in the Bride (priesthood) or among the antitypical Levites. From the point of view of time, however, it is important that just as the calling to the Church had its beginning, so it will also have its end. The Gospel age will end with the parousia (second advent) of Christ, which will run from April 13, 2029 to April 13, 2036 (see the commentary on Mt. 24:23-31 and the lecture Parousia - apocalypse - epiphany, or the scenario of Christ's second coming). Parousia is a New Testament synonym for Daniel's term 'the time of the end', which we find e.g. in Daniel 8:17. We know from this verse that the period of 2,300 evenings and mornings was to be fulfilled during this time. If we assume that 'evening and morning' mark one day, then 2,300 evenings and mornings = 2,300 days = 6.4 years = 6 years and 5 months. Counting from the beginning of parousia, the sealing of the antitypical priests and Levites would then be completed in September 2035, which is exactly in harmony with our Lord's statement recorded in Mt. 24:32-35.
One can see the reason why this particular sealing period of the elect is indicated separately in the prophecy. The gathering of the Church has been going on since the times of Jesus. The sealing of some as priests and others as Levites has been taking place throughout the Gospel Age, but at the close of it there was to be a significant change marked chronologically in the prophecy, i.e. in the commentary on Rev. 14:1-5 I wrote based on the type of 70 judges of Moses that the sealing of the priests would end in 2029. If this interpretation is correct, then the 2,300 evenings and mornings are the time allotted to complete the sealing of the Levites. This thought is further corroborated by the prophet Malachi, who foretells the cleansing of the Levites at the time of the Lord's coming: "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap. (3) And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. And He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may be offerers of a food offering in righteousness to Jehovah" (Mal. 3:2,3). The prophecy does not say anything similar about the priests, who are to be sealed and complete at the Lord's coming in his parousia (Rev. 7:1-3).
Additional information that harmonizes with the above concerns the time of the end of the high calling. In my lecture on Abraham's parallels I wrote on the basis of the parallelism of death of the "father of all those believing", that the end of the calling, i.e. the time when the last member of the Church was to be begotten of the spirit, falls in the prophecy in 2015. The last of the called, therefore, has 14 years to secure his position amongst the antitypical priests. Whoever does not do so at that time (become a part of the cleansed Temple) will have the 2,300 evenings and mornings mentioned in Dan. 8:14 to find himself among the antitypical Levites. The prophet Daniel foretells in Dan. 12:4 that in the time of the end (parousia) "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased". Many of the called who had neglected their consecration to some extent up to the time of the Lord's return, will 'awake', revive their faith and begin to seek understanding of the situation in God's Word when the great tribulation begins. Many will succeed – "Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried" (Dan. 12:10) – but the doors of the Holy will be closed to them at that time. Thus they will be revealed as the antitypical Levites.