Ángel
Manuel Rodríguez
I heard recently that according to Daniel 7:25 the apostasy of the Christian
church meant not only the rejection of the Sabbath but also the Israelite
festivals. Is this true?
Some well-intended Adventists promote the observance of ancient Israelite
festivals. They argue that Daniel 7:25 mentions a change in God's law and
also
of "times," which they take to refer to the Israelite
festivals. Their basic argument is that the Aramaic word zeman ("times")
is the equivalent of the Hebrew word mocadîm used
to refer to God's "appointed
festivals." Let's examine these
Aramaic and Hebrew terms.
1. The
meaning of zeman: The linguistic argument put
forth by these individuals presupposes that zeman means "appointed
festivals," but the Aramaic noun zeman is never used in
the Old Testament to refer to feasts. It is used to designate "a fixed
time" (Dan.
7:12, 22), an extension of time to accomplish something (Dan. 2:16), a
moment (Dan. 3:8), simultaneity of an action ("at the same time";
Dan. 4:33; Ezra 5:3), ''as soon as'' (Dan. 3:7), and "time" in
general (Dan. 6:10, 14; Neh. 9:28). The term is found in ancient inscriptions
but it never designates a religious festival. It simply means "time,
a moment in time."
2. The
Aramaic noun zeman is not the equivalent
of the Hebrew mocadîm: In fact the same Aramaic root
is found in the Hebrew Bible both as a verb and as a noun. The Hebrew verb zaman means "to
appoint a time" for a particular activity
(Ezra 10:14; Neh.10:35; 13:31). The Hebrew noun zeman means "appointed
time, hour" in the sense of a time when something is to be done (Neh.
2:6). There are two passages in which it is used to designate the time
when Purim was to be celebrated (Esther 9:27, 31). That usage is the closest
the Hebrew noun comes to being associated with a feast, a non-Mosaic feast
at that. This suggests that we should avoid assigning the meaning "appointed
festival" to
the Aramaic noun in Daniel 7:25.
3. Daniel's
usage of the term zeman: Instead of formulating
our own meaning for the term "times" in Daniel 7:25, we should
be informed by the way Daniel used that term. He consistently employed zeman ("times")
to designate time in general (e.g., Dan. 2:16, 21; 3:7, 8; 6:10, 13). We
should pay particular attention to the way it was used in Daniel 7. The
first time it appears is in verse 12: "The other beasts had been stripped
of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time."* The
passive form of the verb suggests that God is in control, extending the
life of the beasts for a period of time (zeman). This
has nothing to do with festivals, but has much to do with God as the One
who controls the moment, the specific time when historical events take
place. This is reinforced
in verse 22: "The Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in
favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time [zeman]came
when they possessed the kingdom:” The noun zeman refers
to the moment when specific aspects of God's plan occur. In this
particular case it designates the time when the kingdom of God is given
to God's people.
That
usage of the term helps us to understand Daniel 7:25: "He will speak
against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set
times [zeman] and the laws [Aramaic: d_th, "law:' singular]." D_th
emphasizes the royal nature of God's law. This power attempts to gain control
over that which is under God's exclusive control, namely the law of God
and of His plan within time. God is the One who "changes times and
seasons"; that is
to say, the One who "sets up kings and deposes them" (2:21).
He is the only One who determines when His kingdom will be established.
In trying to gain control over "times" the little horn uses
persecution to change the flow of history and to claim that it has the
power to establish the equivalent of God's kingdom on earth. Based on the
terminology used in Daniel, it is clear that 7:25 is not dealing with the
appointed feasts of the Old Testament.
*Bible texts in this column are
quoted from the New International Version. Italics
supplied.
12/06
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