CHAPTER X THE FIVE METHODS Messianic calculators may be said to have employed five methods in their technique. A. THE BOOK OF DANIEL The most common and the earliest was to decipher the specific dates given in the Book of Daniel. As early as the first century, men were already engaged in this work. The Book of Daniel gives at least six Messianic dates:1 (1) time, times and half a time, (2) 2300, (3) 70 weeks (also 7 weeks, 62 weeks and 1 week), (4) season, seasons and half a season, (5) 1290 days, (6) 1335 days. These were challenging and tantalizing figures. What were the terminals of these cryptic dates? Surely they cannot be mutually exclusive. They must all be graded historical moments in the great drama of Israel's Redemption leading up to the ultimate Messianic day. Do the days mean years? Do the weeks mean seven years? How long is "time"? Is "times" the same as "seasons"? Is "time, times and half a time" equal to two and a half, or three and a half times? Were there perhaps more than one Redemption year given, dependent upon the merit of the people? What are the four kingdoms and the four beasts? And who is "the little horn"? And who is the king of the South and the king of the North, and all the other persons and powers alluded to in the revelations? Above all, what is the starting point from which all these periods of time are to be reckoned? These and numerous other questions presented themselves to those who embarked upon the fascinating enterprise of unraveling the great mystery. 1 See supra, p. 124. B. OTHER BIBLICAL TEXTS A second method was to determine from Scriptural passages (other than those of Daniel), phrases or words, especially those alluding to the future and redolent of promise, the length of the Messianic age, and to fix upon a certain important moment in the history of the people as the starting point from which to reckon this age. Many such termini a quo were fixed upon by the calculators through the ages. C. OTHER EXILES The third method was to turn to the earlier exiles, the Egyptian and the Babylonian, and from their duration and attendant circumstances learn the secret of the third exile. Clearly there was some divine logic in fixing the term of the Egyptian exile to 400 (also 210 and 430) years, and that of the Babylonian to 70 (also 52) years. A similar logic undoubtedly controls the duration of this last exile. What is it? D. GEMATRIA One of the most fruitful methods employed by Jewish adventists in their calculations was Gematria (the interpretation of a word according to the numerical value of its letters), and its related pseudo-sciences, Notarikon (taking each letter of a word as the initial of some other word = acrostics), Ziruf or Hiluf (the interpretation of a word by transposing its letters = anagram), and Temurah (substituting one letter for another). Gematria was a never-failing medium and its scope was limited only by the ingenuity of the speculator. It was a time-honored device, and the medieval student had ample authority for employing it. R. Eliezer ben Jose, the Galilean (second half of 2 c.), had included Gematria among the thirty-two hermeneutic rules by which the Torah may be interpreted. R. Yoḥanan ben Zakkai studied Gematria. This device was actually used 2 B. B., p. 134a. in connection with redemption from exile in this case the Egyptian exile. R. Abba bar Kahana interpreted the word3 177 as indicating the number of years (210, in Gematria) which the children of Israel would remain in Egypt. R. Levi pointed out that the word indicated the length of the duration of the first Temple, 410 years. It is of interest that both of these Gematriot were frequently used by later calculators. בזאת R. Yohanan, quoting R. Jose ben Zimra, proved that Notarikon is found in the Torah." There are close to a hundred and fifty cases of Gematria in Talmudic literature. The science of Ziruf was employed in discovering the will of God through the Urim and Tumim. R. Yoḥanan declared that the answer to the High Priests' query was given by the letters thrusting themselves upward. Resh Lakish said by the automatic combinations of the letters. That number mysticism was also employed by the early Christians in connection with the Messiah is evident by the sharp and lengthy criticism which Irenaeus (2 c.) directs against it." Under the influence of Kabbala this science was highly developed and elaborated in post-Talmudic times. The Sefer Yezirah, the Otiot de R. Akiba and many other treatises on alphabetic theosophy gave great impetus to Gematria. The Sefer Yezirah declared, "By means of 32 mysterious paths of wisdom did the Lord of hosts ordain and create his universe" (i. e. the 22 letters, plus 10 sefirot, or vowels).10 "The 22 fundamental letters God appointed, established, combined, weighed and changed them, and through them He formed all things existent and see also the six Notarikons given ;מנין ללשון נוטריקון מן התורה :Sab. 105a כיצד נעשית: רבי יוחנן אומר בולטות. ריש לקיש אומר מצטרפות 8 in that passage. (Yoma 73b). "Against Heresies," Bk. II, Chaps. XXIV-XXV in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, I. 10 Op. cit., 1.1. |