Part III — The Treading of the Gentiles

Christ names the period — Luke 21:20-24:

• Luke 21:20. "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh." — Christ marks the desolation's onset, the pagan Roman armies, immediately before naming the long treading that follows. The treading begins in the pagan phase and runs through to its appointed end.
• Luke 21:24. "and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." — Christ's own name for the period. The treading of God's people is bounded — "until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" — a defined span with a terminus.
  • the times of the Gentiles = the whole 2520-year treading down of God's people and sanctuary under successive Gentile powers, pagan then papal — the era Christ names, fixed by an "until" and rooted in the covenant "seven times" (Luke 21:24; Lev. 26:18; Rom. 11:25; Dan. 8:14).
  • the treading (trodden down / trodden under foot) = the subjection of God's people, city, and sanctuary under the desolating powers — Scripture's own figure for the host and sanctuary "trodden under foot" (Dan. 8:13; Isa. 63:18; Dan. 8:10; Rev. 11:2; Ps. 79:1; Lam. 1:10).

The treading is bounded — not endless — Rom. 11:25; Lev. 26:18:

• Rom. 11:25. "blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." — Paul's parallel "until," like Luke 21:24's. The Gentile period is bounded and terminates: the treading is a defined era with an appointed close, not endless.
• Lev. 26:18. "then I will punish you seven times more for your sins." — the covenant root of the "seven times." The treading down of God's people is the covenant chastisement of "seven times" (Lev. 26:18, 21, 24, 28) — the seven prophetic times = 2520 years that the times of the Gentiles measure. (The reckoning is built in "A Time Is 360, Seven Times Is 2520 — the Reckoning.")

Scripture's own picture of the treading — Isa. 63:18; Ps. 79:1; Lam. 1:10:

• Isa. 63:18. "The people of thy holiness have possessed [it] but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary." — the treading named directly, defining the figure of Dan. 8:13 from within Scripture: the sanctuary trodden by the desolating powers.
• Ps. 79:1. "O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps." — the heathen (Gentiles) treading the inheritance and defiling the temple, Scripture's own picture of Jerusalem trodden down of the Gentiles.
• Lam. 1:10. "for she hath seen [that] the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command [that] they should not enter into thy congregation." — the heathen "entered into her sanctuary," the same desolation defined across the canon (cf. Dan. 8:13; Isa. 63:18).

The treading measured — the angel's "how long" — Dan. 8:13-14:

• Dan. 8:13. "How long [shall be] the vision [concerning] the daily [sacrifice], and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?" — the angel's question "how long" frames the whole treading. TWO desolating agencies are named — the daily (paganism — the successive heathen desolators climaxing in pagan Rome) and the transgression of desolation (papal) — together they "give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot." The rod passes from pagan to papal hands.
  • the two desolating powers = the two successive treaders Dan. 8:13 couples — the daily (paganism — the successive heathen desolators climaxing in pagan Rome) and the transgression of desolation (papal Rome) — which together tread the sanctuary and host; one continuous treading, the rod passing from pagan to papal hands (Dan. 8:13; Dan. 8:11-12; Dan. 8:23-25; Dan. 9:26-27; Dan. 7:25; Rev. 11:2).
• Dan. 8:14. "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." — the answer to "how long": the longest time-prophecy, within whose span the treading runs. The treading ends not in Gentile triumph but in the sanctuary cleansed.

The treading defined in act — pagan then papal — Dan. 8:9-12:

• Dan. 8:9-10. "out of one of them came forth a little horn... And it waxed great, [even] to the host of heaven; and it cast down [some] of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them." — the treading defined in act: the little horn "stamped upon" the host.
• Dan. 8:11-12. "and by him the daily [sacrifice] was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given [him] against the daily... and it cast down the truth to the ground." — the daily is "taken away" and a transgression succeeds it: the two-stage desolation, pagan then papal, the rod passing from one Gentile hand to the next.

The second treader — Dan. 8:23-25:

• Dan. 8:23-25. "a king of fierce countenance... shall destroy the mighty and the holy people... and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand." — the papal phase of the treading that follows the pagan: a power that "shall destroy the mighty and the holy people" and "stand up against the Prince of princes" — both phases broken at last "without hand."

The papal half measured — Dan. 7:25; 12:7; Rev. 11:2:

• Dan. 7:25. "and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." — the papal treading measured: the saints "given into his hand" to be "worn out" for a time, times, and half a time (1260 years) — the papal half of the long treading, paralleling Rev. 11:2's forty-two months.
• Dan. 12:7. "[it shall be] for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these [things] shall be finished." — the treading defined as the scattering of the power of the holy people, bounded by the oath-sworn period that has a defined end.
• Rev. 11:2. "the holy city shall they tread under foot forty [and] two months." — the New Testament treading: the holy city "given unto the Gentiles" to "tread under foot forty and two months" (1260 years) — the papal half, the same trampling Daniel saw, now of the gospel church.

The pagan-Roman phase — the literal treading of Jerusalem — Dan. 9:26-27:

• Dan. 9:26-27. "the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary... and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation." — "the people of the prince" destroy "the city and the sanctuary" (A.D. 70): the literal treading down of Jerusalem of Luke 21:20-24, opening the long Gentile desolation "even until the consummation." (The chronology of the termini is worked in "Two Captivities, Two Termini — 677 to 1844, 723 to 1798.")

Pioneer confirmation (after Scripture):

• WitnessMWV2 39.8. Miller, on Dan. 8:13: "the 'daily sacrifice' means Pagan rites and sacrifices, and the transgression of desolation, the Papal; and both together shall tread under foot the 'sanctuary and host'... which was trodden underfoot by the Pagan kingdoms of the world... and lastly by the Romans." — confirms the two desolating powers, paganism (the daily, climaxing in pagan Rome) and papal Rome (the transgression of desolation), both treading the sanctuary and host, expressly anchored on Rev. 11:2 and Isa. 63:18. (Miller's fuller statement traces the earlier treaders too — Chaldeans, Medo-Persians, Greeks — successive Gentile desolators; this section foregrounds the Roman phases. Miller, unlike Smith, held the 2520; Smith's DAR may be cited for the daily, but he rejected the period itself.)
• HST October 2, 1844, page 70.6. The Advent Herald: "The seven times of the Gentile domination over the church of God spoken of in Leviticus 26, began with the breaking of the pride of their power, at the captivity of Manasseh, king of Judah, B. C. 677." — a periodical witness naming the period: "the seven times of the Gentiles" = the Gentile domination (treading) over the church of God of Lev. 26, the whole 2520-year span anchored at the 677 B.C. captivity. (The chronology is worked in "Two Captivities, Two Termini — 677 to 1844, 723 to 1798.")

The source figure — the covenant "seven times":

• Lev. 26:18. "then I will punish you seven times more for your sins" — the threatened sevenfold chastisement, the figure both captivities will execute and measure.
  • the seven times = the 2520-year covenant scattering of God's people (Lev. 26:18, 28, the fourth and climactic "seven times" of the curse; Lev. 26:33, its content named: "I will scatter you among the heathen") — defined in “Seven Times for Your Sins — the Fourfold Sentence” and reckoned to 2520 years in "A Time Is 360, Seven Times Is 2520 — the Reckoning."
• Lev. 26:28. "I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins" — the fourth and climactic "seven times," the prophetic period the captivities begin to measure.
• Lev. 26:33. "And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste" — scattering is the content of the seven times; both captivities, Judah to Babylon and Israel to Assyria, are this one scattering, and the two termini mark where its measured span runs out.

The rule that scales the figure — a day for a year:

• Num. 14:34. "each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities" — the rule that converts the seven times (7 × 360 = 2520 prophetic days) into 2520 literal years; without it neither 1844 nor 1798 can be reached.
  • day = a year, in measuring prophecy (Num. 14:34; Eze. 4:6) — defined and applied in "A Time Is 360, Seven Times Is 2520 — the Reckoning."
• Eze. 4:6. "I have appointed thee each day for a year" — a second witness, applied by name to "the house of Judah," confirming the principle that scales the 2520 to years.

The first captivity — Judah carried to Babylon (B.C. 677):

• 2 Chron. 33:11. "which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon" — Judah's anchor: the carrying-away of her king to Babylon, the first captivity that starts Judah's seven times.
  • the captivity of Manasseh = the carrying-away of Judah's king to Babylon (2 Chron. 33:11), dated B.C. 677, the starting-point of Judah's 2520 years reaching A.D. 1844.
• 2 Chron. 33:12-13. "And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly... and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God" — the captivity was real and dated, yet redemptive; the same Scripture that fixes the start of the chastisement shows its merciful intent, the seven-times pattern of Lev. 26 in motion.
  • Confirmation (historical-fact), after Scripture. William Miller: "In the year 677 before Christ; see 2 Chronicles 33:9-13... Then take 677 years, which were before Christ, from 2520 years... and the remainder will be 1843 after Christ" (MWV2 262.2). Note the convention candidly: Miller's plain subtraction lands on 1843 — he never wrote 1844; the missing year zero (there is no year 0 between B.C. 1 and A.D. 1) carries Judah's terminus one year on, to A.D. 1844. The verse names the captivity, not the date; the B.C. 677 is supplied by Bible chronology as Miller applies it.

The second captivity — Israel carried to Assyria (~B.C. 723/722):

• 2 Kings 18:9. "Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it" — Israel's anchor: the opening of the parallel and earlier reckoning, the siege of the northern kingdom, ~B.C. 723.
  • the captivity of Samaria = the fall of the northern kingdom to Shalmaneser of Assyria (2 Kings 18:9-12; 2 Kings 17:18), ~B.C. 723/722, the start of the parallel 2520 years reaching A.D. 1798.
• 2 Kings 18:10. "And at the end of three years they took it" — the fall of Samaria; 2520 years from this terminus reach A.D. 1798, when papal dominion was broken.
• 2 Kings 18:11. "And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes" — the carrying-away of Israel, the exact parallel to Manasseh's carrying to Babylon: two captivities, two clocks.
• 2 Kings 18:12. "Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded" — Scripture names the cause as covenant-breaking, tying Samaria's captivity straight back to the Lev. 26 seven-times curse Moses pronounced.
• 2 Kings 17:18. "removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only" — the northern kingdom's removal; Samaria's count runs to 1798, leaving Judah's separate count to run to 1844.
• 2 Kings 17:6. "In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria" — Scripture's own synchronism, dating the fall to "the ninth year of Hoshea," fixing the ~B.C. 722 terminus.
• 2 Kings 17:23. "as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria" — Scripture stamps the removal as the prophesied seven-times judgment, not mere politics.
  • Confirmation (historical-fact), after Scripture. The Advent Herald: "The second siege of Samaria, by Shalmanezar B. C. 722, which corresponds with A. D. 1798, when the Pope was first taken prisoner" (HST March 20, 1844, page 55.8) — the 1844 periodical's own statement of the Israel/Samaria parallel terminus, B.C. 722 to A.D. 1798, the year papal dominion was broken.

Where the two clocks run out:

• Judah: B.C. 677 + 2520 years, by the no-year-zero rule, = A.D. 1844 — Judah's terminus. (2520 − 677 = 1843; +1 for the missing year zero = 1844.)
• Israel: B.C. 723 + 2520 years, by the no-year-zero rule, = A.D. 1798 — Israel's terminus, the year papal dominion was broken. (2520 − 723 = 1797; +1 for the missing year zero = 1798.) The periodical reaches the identical 1798 by a different route: it anchors at B.C. 722 and subtracts plainly (2520 − 722 = 1798), with no year-zero step. So the handbook anchors a year earlier (~723) and applies the no-year-zero rule, while the periodical anchors at 722 and subtracts plainly — the one-year anchor difference absorbs the year-zero step, and both land Samaria's clock on A.D. 1798. (The two paths to 1798 thus differ in both anchor and convention; the same is not claimed of Judah's 677 → 1844, which takes the +1 step.)
• Dan. 8:14. "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" — Judah's terminus converges here: the 2520 from B.C. 677 and the 2300 of Dan. 8:14 close on one year, 1844.
• Luke 21:24. "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" — the New Testament name for the long span of Gentile treading the two captivities began to measure, fulfilled at the termini of the seven times — pagan treading, then papal, ending at the two ends.