Prophetic Day

It is a common biblical principle that a day is for a year.  This principle is spoken of in  Numbers 14:34.

³⁴After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.

The children of Israel had just returned from searching out the land of promise. They were there for forty days and had not believed God’s at His word.

Again this principle is in Ezekiel 4:6:

⁶ And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.

This was true in the life of Jacob when he served for Rachel. After he had awaken in the morning, having had too much to drink, he found he had Leah instead of Rachel, Genesis 29:25-27.

²⁵ And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? ²⁶ And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. ²⁷ Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.

After Jacob had served seven years for Rachel, yet wound up with Leah, Laban said he could fulfill Rachel’s week.  This required serving yet another seven years). Again you have a year for a day.

Daniel 9:24 is the prophecy of the 70 weeks, Daniel 9:24.

²⁴Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

Gabriel tells Daniel that 70 weeks are determined.  This represents a specific span of time.  Most Biblical scholars would agree that these are weeks of years as oppose to weeks of days.  This can be determined by comparing to Daniel 9:24 to Daniel 10:2.

² In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.

It makes sense that Daniel 10:2 is weeks of days.  Daniel would not survive if he fasted for 21 years.  Conversely if Daniel 9:24 were weeks of days, that would mean that the events described in Daniel 9 would have occurred in a little over a one year period.  That would make no sense.  As should be obvious to the read as per the context.

Three different ways this principle was applied above in scriptures.

• If one sinned, they were punished a day for a year.
• If it had to do with serving, it was a day for a year.
• Prophetically, as in Daniel Nine, there was a day for a year.

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