The 1,335 days

[Jack Ryan]

“Happy is the one who keeps in expectation and who arrives at the 1,335 days!" - Daniel 12:12

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What is our current understanding of the start and end date for these days?

What is it exactly that will make one "happy"?

 

[io.porog]

September 1922 to May 1926 Daniel Prophecy Bk

 

[JW Insider]

Recopied and reformatted from the answer previously written here: http://www.jw-archive.org/post/117698071183/idea-daniel-121112-the-daily-sacrifice-will-be

Most of the prophecies that we have said were fulfilled on specific dates between 1919 and all the way up to 1942 have been less emphasized in the last few decades, but were never explicitly changed. (The recent change in type-antitype explanations refers to parables and narratives, not prophecies themselves.)

...

For about half-a-century the Watchtower taught that the 1,335 days, for example, ended in 1874. (1,335 years from 539 C.E. to 1874 C.E.) After several adjustments over the years, the most specific explanation (that is still consistent with the current teaching) was in the book by F W Franz in 1977, "Our Incoming World Government - God's Kingdom." (A revision of the earlier "Your Will Be Done On Earth.") In this book:

The 1260 days ran from December 28, 1914 to June 21, 1918. (1271 days)

1260=1271

The 1290 days ran from January 18, 1919 to September 9, 1922. (1330 days)

1290=1330

The 1335 days ran from September 14, 1922 to May 19, 1926. (1343 days)

1335=1343

This period is considered one of the most important in BS/IBSA/JW/Watchtower history. The book shows how the calculations started with the importance of June 21, 1918. That's the date that the Governing Body was imprisoned under the 1918 Sedition Act for what was considered anti-draft propaganda. Working backwards from June 21, 1918 (the pivotal date) 1260 days would bring us back to date in January 8, 1915 when "nothing" happened.

To bring this back into the year 1914, Franz needed at least 9 more days, so he used some possible adjustments by translating 1,260 days to one of many ways to calculate 3 lunar years and 6 lunar months. This offers a lot more flexibility because 7 out of every 19 lunar years have 384 days, and 12 out of every 19 lunar years have 354 days. And even a 6-month period, if it includes the "spring" season, might be 177 days, or might be 207 days. This flexibility is what resulted in the 1,290 days being closer to 1,335 days. (The 1,290 days ended, in our explanation, actutally ended up being closer to 1,335 days, which is, in fact, closer to 1,335 than our explanation of the ACTUAL 1,335 days).

So he squeezed a 1914 date out of the 1260, but It still doesn't land on any special day in 1914. That didn't matter so much because significance was seen in the fact that the Photo-Drama of Creation was still being shown for most of that year.

The 1,290 days started on one of the "formation" days of the League of Nations. This is also a significant time, because many religions had spoken of the League of Nations as the political expression of God's kingdom on earth. (Detractors have noticed that the Watchtower also supported the League of Nations using this same type of language, but only for a short period of time.) By using the peace conference in Versailles, France as the event that paved the way for the League, we have the January 18, 1919 date. Using one of the lunar methods, mentioned, the 1,290 days can be stretched to 1,330 days so that it lands in the middle of the famous 1922 Cedar Point, Ohio convention that gets mentioned a lot in JW history.

If the 1,335 days can start the day AFTER that same assembly was over, then the lunar method can stretch it to 1,343 days. That doesn't land it in the middle of a major USA convention, but at least it manages to land right between two of the European conventions -- just a few days after the German convention is over and a few days before the London convention would start. Here's the quote:

*** go chap. 8 pp. 140-141 pars. 43-44 Marked Days During the “Time of the End” ***
    The second Cedar Point convention ended on September 13, 1922. If, now, we count from the next day, September 14, or, Elul 21, 1922, Bible calendar time, when would the 1,335 days end? As the 1,290 days amounted to three lunar years and seven months, so the 1,335 days would amount to three lunar years, eight months and fifteen days. Counting now from Elul 21 (or, September 14), 1922, we find that three lunar years from that date would end on Elul 20 (or, September 9), 1925. To this we add eight lunar months and fifteen days and arrive at the date Sivan 6 (or, May 19), 1926. That day was the 1,893rd anniversary of the happy day of Pentecost of 33 C.E., when the holy spirit was poured out upon Jesus’ disciples at Jerusalem.
    Just prior to this, on May 13-16, 1926, a general assembly had taken place in Magdeburg, Germany, at which the president of the Watch Tower Society had addressed a public audience of 25,000 on the subject “Comfort for the People.” Now, on May 19, preparations moved ahead for the holding of the outstanding international convention of 1926, that at Alexandra Palace, London, England, May 25-31. Many happy delegates came from distant lands. *** end of quote ***

The more recent explanations continue to acknowledge the same years but say less and less about the specifics days. By 1993, the months were kept but the exact day of the month was not mentioned except for the pivotal date, the date of federal imprisonment. In 1993, it was also the first time that the happiness was tied to not looking forward to specific dates any more, and the fact that the "Deliverance" book was released in 1926, one of many that would soon replace the "Studies in the Scriptures."