Can Bible Numbers Be Used to Predict the Second Coming?
The Bible contains a lot of numbers.
Daniel speaks of:
70 weeks.
1,260 days.
1,290 days.
1,335 days.
A “time, times and half a time.”
Revelation gives us:
7 seals.
7 trumpets.
7 bowls.
12 tribes.
24 elders.
42 months.
1,260 days.
144,000.
666.
1,000 years.
Those numbers are there for a reason.
But what reason?
Are they pieces of a mathematical puzzle God expects us to solve?
Can we combine them with dates from history and calculate when Christ will return?
People have been trying to do exactly that for centuries.
And the results should teach us something important about how we study the Bible.
Numbers in the Bible Matter
We should not solve the problem by saying:
“They're just numbers. Ignore them.”
No.
If God put them in Scripture, they matter.
Seventy weeks means something in Daniel 9.
The 1,260 days mean something.
The 144,000 mean something.
The 1,000 years of Revelation 20 mean something.
The question is not:
“Do the numbers mean anything?”
The question is:
“How do we determine what they mean?”
That takes us to one of the most important principles of Bible study.
Exegesis or Eisegesis?
These two words sound complicated.
The difference is simple.
Exegesis attempts to draw the meaning out of the text.
We ask:
What was the writer talking about?
What does the context say?
How are these words and numbers used elsewhere in Scripture?
What would the original readers have understood?
What explanation does the biblical writer himself give us?
Eisegesis moves in the other direction.
Instead of drawing meaning out of the passage, we bring an idea into the passage and then look for a way to make the text support it.
That difference can completely change the way we interpret biblical numbers.
Here Is How It Can Happen
Suppose we find 1,260 days in a prophecy.
We decide that each day actually represents one year.
Now we have 1,260 years.
But where do we begin counting?
We choose an important historical event.
Add 1,260 years.
Now we have a date.
If that date doesn't produce what we expected, perhaps we chose the wrong starting event.
So we choose another.
Or perhaps we should use a different calendar.
Or perhaps part of the prophecy overlaps another prophecy.
Or perhaps another biblical number should be added or subtracted.
Before long, we can produce an impressive calculation.
There is only one problem.
Which parts of the calculation actually came from the text?
The Arithmetic Can Be Perfect
This is where number-based interpretations can become very persuasive.
The arithmetic may be completely correct.
1,260 + a starting date really does produce another date.
There is nothing wrong with the mathematics.
But mathematics cannot prove that:
a prophetic day equals a year,
our starting date is the correct one,
the number should be counted continuously,
we selected the correct calendar,
or the prophecy was intended to predict the Second Coming.
Those are not mathematical conclusions.
They are interpretive assumptions.
And that gives us an important rule:
You Can Do the Math Correctly and Still Interpret the Bible Incorrectly
Suppose I begin with the wrong starting date.
Perfect arithmetic will give me a perfectly calculated wrong answer.
Suppose 1,260 days are not intended to mean 1,260 years.
My calculator cannot discover that mistake.
Suppose the number is symbolic.
Again, arithmetic cannot tell me that.
The calculation is only as reliable as the interpretation underneath it.
Or put another way:
A calculation is only as biblical as the assumptions that produced it.
Daniel Gives Us Plenty of Numbers
Daniel is filled with numbers that have attracted interpreters for centuries.
Daniel 7 speaks of:
“a time, times and half a time.”
Daniel 8 gives us:
2,300 evenings and mornings.
Daniel 9 contains the famous:
seventy “sevens.”
Daniel 12 mentions:
1,290 days
and then:
1,335 days.
Those numbers naturally make us curious.
They should.
But curiosity can tempt us to begin calculating before we have finished reading.
Before asking:
“What date does this produce?”
we should ask:
“What was Daniel talking about?”
Revelation Gives Us Even More
Revelation uses numbers everywhere.
Seven churches.
Seven seals.
Seven trumpets.
Seven bowls.
Twelve tribes.
Twelve apostles.
Twenty-four elders.
144,000 servants of God.
Forty-two months.
1,260 days.
One thousand years.
Are we really supposed to put all of these into a calculator?
Or does John use numbers as part of the symbolic language of Revelation?
Consider just one example.
The New Jerusalem has twelve gates bearing the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Its foundations bear the names of the twelve apostles.
The city measures 12,000 stadia.
Its wall measures 144 cubits.
Twelve.
Twelve.
Twelve thousand.
One hundred forty-four — twelve times twelve.
That pattern should make us stop before treating every number in Revelation as nothing more than a measurement on a calendar.
John is communicating with numbers.
Our job is to discover what he is communicating.
Jesus Gave Us an Important Warning
Jesus said concerning His return:
“But about that day or hour no one knows...”
— Matthew 24:36
After His resurrection, the disciples asked Him about the restoration of the kingdom.
Jesus answered:
“It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.”
— Acts 1:7
That should make us cautious whenever someone claims to have discovered a date hidden in biblical numbers.
If Jesus said the day and hour were unknown, we should be very careful about claiming that a calculation has uncovered what Jesus said was not given to us.
But What About Prophetic Time Periods?
This does not mean prophetic time periods are meaningless.
Far from it.
Daniel's numbers meant something.
Revelation's numbers mean something.
But there is a major difference between saying:
“This number has meaning.”
and saying:
“This number gives us a formula for calculating the date of Christ's return.”
The second statement has to be demonstrated from Scripture.
We cannot simply assume it.
Ask Where the Formula Came From
Whenever you encounter a prophecy calculation, slow down and ask:
Where did the starting date come from?
Where does Scripture say these days should be converted into years?
Why was this particular historical event chosen?
Why is this calendar being used?
Does the biblical passage itself connect this number with the Second Coming?
Would the original readers have understood the passage this way?
These questions are not hostile.
They are simply Bible-study questions.
And sometimes they reveal something surprising.
The calculation may contain more information supplied by the interpreter than information supplied by the biblical writer.
That is exactly where eisegesis can begin.
Failed Dates Should Teach Us Something
Throughout history, sincere people have become convinced that biblical prophecy pointed to a particular time for the return of Christ or the events surrounding it.
The dates arrived.
Christ did not.
Then the calculations were revised.
Perhaps the starting point was wrong.
Perhaps the calendar was wrong.
Perhaps the event predicted was misunderstood.
Then another date appeared.
The important lesson is not:
“Look how foolish those people were.”
Many were serious Bible students trying to understand Scripture.
The better question is:
What went wrong with the method?
That question can teach all of us something.
Start With Meaning, Not Mathematics
When we encounter a number in prophecy, our first question should not be:
“What can I calculate from this?”
Start here:
What does the passage say?
Then:
What is the context?
What vision is being explained?
What question is being answered?
Does the writer explain the number?
Does another biblical passage help us understand it?
Is the surrounding language literal, symbolic, or a mixture of both?
Only after answering those questions are we ready to discuss what the number means.
That is exegesis.
The Difference Is Enormous
Eisegesis can begin with a modern event and search Scripture for numbers that seem to fit it.
Exegesis begins with Scripture and asks what Scripture itself is saying.
Eisegesis asks:
“How can I make these numbers reach my date?”
Exegesis asks:
“Why did the biblical writer give us these numbers?”
Those questions may sound similar.
They aren't.
One begins with our conclusion.
The other begins with the text.
Before You Reach for the Calculator...
Read the passage.
Read what comes before it.
Read what comes after it.
Look for the writer's explanation.
Look for the Old Testament background.
Ask what the number is doing within the vision.
Then—and only then—decide what conclusions the number will support.
Because biblical interpretation is not a mathematical scavenger hunt.
Numbers matter.
But context determines what those numbers mean.
And no amount of accurate arithmetic can rescue an interpretation built upon assumptions the text never gave us.
You can do the math correctly and still interpret the Bible incorrectly.
That's why the key to understanding prophecy is not finding a better calculator.
It is learning to read the text.
Read First. Conclude Later.