Forensic Analysis of Newton’s Notes, Part 4

Therefore, the 2300 years do not end before the year 2132 nor after 2370 [AD].
The time, times and half time do not end before 2060 [AD] nor after [missing factor]
The 1290 days do not begin before 2090[entry partially illegible because of crease in the parchment] nor after 1374 [AD]

Newton’s Notes

Both Whiston and Newton, under the influence of Edmond Halley, came to believe in cometary orbits and that the Great Comet of 1680, as that of the famous “Halley’s Comet,” had a recurring orbital period. As said above, Whiston believed that the orbital period of the Great Comet was 575 years. Four orbital periods of 575 years equals 2,300 years – perfectly matching Daniel’s 2300 prophetic days under discussion here.

It is reasonable to believe that Whiston and Newton were aware of this coincidence and believed that this comet was a cosmological sign pertinent to Daniel’s prophecies. Whiston also believed that comets, after their encounter with the Sun’s atmosphere, were capable of bringing worldwide cataclysms to Earth on their way back out to space. Whiston believed that the phenomenon of Sun-Diving comets was the origin of the ancient Phoenix legends, and that sometimes, they are not only signs of portending doom, but also the antecedent of that doom:

https://2046ad.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/whiston05062023.pdf

(Astronomical Principles of Religion, Natural and Revealed, 1717. Note: Whiston’s “Learned friend of mine” – who suggested this correlation between the Great Comet with the Phoenix legend – was none other than Newton himself).

In the deductions formed by Newton in his notes as cited above and which can be found in facsimile form here:

https://2046ad.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/NewtonPapers2AP_800x1041.jpg

an end of the 2300 year prophetic period would occur no later then 2370 AD (exactly 2300 years after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD) or in 2132 AD, marking a period dating from 168 BC. In all of his discussions, Newton does not identify the significance of 168 BC in particular, except that it was derived from the Ptolemaic age of Egypt which succeeded as one of the great four kingdoms following the death of Alexander the Great. This is referenced in Proposition #1: the Ptolemaic kingdom represented the “little horn” (Ptolemy) of the “he goat” (Alexander) and in his published Observations (p. 37-40),

which grew mighty but not by his own power, a horn which rose up and grew potent under a foreign power, the power of the Romans.

It should be mentioned that 168 BC was a notable year for the defeat of the Macedonians by the Romans in the Battle of Pydna, and the reconquest of Jerusalem by Antiochus, then ruler of Egypt and a Ptolemian.

In our previous discussions on the Christmas Star, it was associated with a comet which appeared at the birth of Christ and also over 500 years prior in the time of Daniel. This comet appeared from the constellation sign of Capricorn – the Goat – and suggests that certain comets which come from Capricorn are meant to be considered as signs punctuating this prophetic period.

It is unlikely that the ancients would have known the orbital periods of comets, only that their appearances occurred with some regularity and coincided with momentous historical events. Consequently, the appearance of a comet from the Capricornus constellation should not be expected to be the very same comet, only that in Daniel’s prophecies, such an apparition would be a sign.

This astrological association also suggests that Daniel’s visions of kingdoms represented by animals – e.g. the bear, the ram, and the goat, – all could be matched to constellations such as Ursa Major, Aries, and Capricornus. Cometary signs might have come in conjunction with the rise and fall of these kingdoms.

The Roman Empire was not represented by any known creature or constellation, but was depicted as a freakish monster. This suggests, as says the Prophet Daniel and as interpreted by Newton, that Rome was really a continuation of the Greek Empire in its Hellenizing influence upon the ancient world. Culturally, Rome was a continuation of Greece – “whose deadly wound was healed.” A comet from Capricorn would remain a sign of this kingdom and could be expected to close the 2,300 year period as it did in opening it. . .

to be continued

JWS, May 6th, 2023