Summary: In this episodes, Tim Kauffman answers some questions from a listener about the books of the Maccabees and the historicist school of eschatology, and then introduces us to the concept of intercalation, the Jewish practice of adding an additional month to the calendar every few years, as well as the ancient Jewish practice of commemorating the Akedah, or the Binding of Isaac, or the “ashes of Isaac” on Rosh Hashanah. With these two key concepts of intercalation and the Binding of Isaac, we are able to pinpoint to the day exactly when the first armed conflict took place against the Jews and the Temple during the 70th week of Daniel, and with that information, we can show that there would have been 2,300 literal days from the time of the first assault on the temple on Rosh Hashanah in 170 BC until the rededication of the altar in 164 BC as prophesied in Daniel 8:14. Also, by understanding the concept of intercalation, we are able to show why a 3 1/2 year period in Daniel 12:7 is described as 1,290 days in Daniel 12:11, instead of the 1,260 as we might have expected. Using this information we are able to show that Antiochus the IV's decree to forbid sacrifices to anyone else but Jupiter would have occurred on the Ides of June, the Festival of Jupiter Invictus, in 167 BC., 1290 days prior to the rededication of the temple.
