STANDING IN THE LOT

From the time that Daniel heard the saint say, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,” ^{17Daniel 8:14.} his mind was filled with anxiety as to what should be “the end of these things,” and as to how long it should be. ^{18Daniel 12:6, 8.} Finally, he is given to understand that a knowledge of the time is not for his day. It is said to him, “Go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.” ^{19Daniel 12:13.}LDT 40.3

Some have supposed this language to refer to the final end of the world, and that at that time Daniel, with the rest of the Lord’s people, would receive their reward, and stand in their lot of inheritance. The Hebrew word for lot of inheritance, region of country, etc., we are told is geh vehl. That is not the word translated “lot” in this scripture. The word is goh rahl. Hebrew scholars tell us that this word occurs seventy-six times in the Old Testament. It is the same word that is used in speaking of the typical cleansing of the sanctuary, where “lots” were cast to determine which of the two goats was to be slain. As the high priest took the blood of the Lord’s goat, and went into the sanctuary to perform the work of cleansing, all Israel stood without, afflicting their souls, and confessing their sins, that they might stand clear, and receive the blessing of the high priest as he would come out of the sanctuary, instead of being classed with the rejected ones, who would be cut off from among the people. Thus, on that day, Israel stood in their lot.LDT 40.4

When the final cleansing of the sanctuary should come, at the close of the twenty-three hundred days (which comes down a little further than any other prophetic period, at the end of which it could be said, “The end of the days”), Daniel’s case, with the cases of all the righteous dead, would come in review before God. So Daniel would stand in his lot.LDT 41.1

Thus it is seen that the great period of twenty-three hundred days brings us to the investigative judgment. As in the Jewish temple service the sanctuary was cleansed once every year, it must have been apparent to Daniel that this cleansing at the end of the twenty-three hundred days must relate to something besides the yearly typical service. The Lord had instructed His people that when using symbols in prophecy, the time given was counted “each day for a year,” ^{20Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6.} so this period of twenty-three hundred years would reach far into the future from Daniel’s time.LDT 41.2

In the twelfth chapter, this anxious inquiry is found: “How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?” and, “O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?” ^{21Daniel 12:6, 8.}LDT 42.1