The 2520 Prophecy: Is It a Missing Part of the Advent Message?

We occasionally receive questions regarding the 2520 year prophecy whether it is a missing part of the Seventh-day Adventist message that we need to understand. This is the result of the aggressive promotion of this teaching and its associated doctrines by a small but persistent group of advocates within the church body. The background, history, and doctrinal soundness of the teachings surrounding this message has been thoroughly refuted by a number of individuals and thus we have no need to go over these points again except to point to a few details that are left unanswered such as the proper understanding of the “daily” found in Daniel 8:12. These responses have been conveniently compiled in in a single PDF document which can be viewed below and download to your own computer for your own investigation. We will summarize some of the principle claims of the 2520 advocates and the reasons why these positions are untenable with that which is found in scripture and the writings of Ellen White.

The 2520 Year Prophecy Advocates claim that:

• The longest time prophecy in the Bible is not the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:14, but rather an obsolete teaching from Leviticus chapter 26 located in the Bible study charts of the SDA pioneers, specifically the 1843 and 1856 study charts.
• That the first Millerite study chart from 1843 contained the 2520 year prophecy and Ellen White said that we are not to alter anything on this chart since God had His hand over it.

The following points show some of the many conflicts of the 2520 year prophecy advocates with inspiration and history:

• James White and Uriah Smith refuted the idea that the 2520 years found in Leviticus 26 was actually subject to “a day for a year” interpretation.
• Ellen White in all of her published writings is silent on the subject of a 2520 year time prophecy.
• In the Great Controversy Ellen White devotes much attention to the life of William Miller and how he discovered the 2,300-day prophecy, yet she never mentions the 2520 even once!
• The standard prophecy chart of the SDA church was revised in 1863 by James White and does not contain any reference to the 2520 as a time prophecy. This has been the official church position ever since.

Regarding the “daily” found in Daniel 8:14 the proponents of the 2520 year prophecy do have one valid criticism of the official SDA teaching that this term incorrectly refers to Christ’s ministry as the High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary. However, their suggestion that we need to go back to the Millerite view that the “daily” represents “paganism” is not the solution to understanding what the Bible is teaching. In this sense there is an impasse since the defenders of the official church teaching are unable to provide a sound answer from the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy to contradict the “paganism” position. Fortunately, God has not forsaken His people to be left to the whims of man’s private interpretations, but has provided a most excellent and sound exposition of the whole chapter of Daniel 8 which includes an explanation of the “daily” that can only be heaven sent as it make clear what is its relation to the oft misunderstood subject of the “abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet” (Dan. 8:13, 11:31, 12:11; Matt. 24:15). Come and see what good things God has prepared from them that love Him. (please click the chart image below)

Tagged as: 2520 prophecy, Jeff Pippenger, path of the just