DID THE PROPHECIES INDICATE WHEN CHRIST WOULD RETURN?
Although the Gospel clearly stated that no one but the Father knew the exact time of Christ's return, many prophecies hinted at 1844 and 1863 - and can be confirmed in hindsight.
1. In Judaism, it was predicted that after 2,520 years of exile (Leviticus 26:14-33) the Jews would be free. 2,520 years from the captivity of King Manasseh (and the tribe of Judah) in 677 - 676 B.C. by Esarhaddon, the king of Assyria and Babylon, was 1844 A.D.
Note: On March 21 (which also is the Baha'i New Year - called Naw Ruz),1844, in Persia, the Turkish government (Turkey then controlled Palestine) signed into law "The Edict of Toleration." This edict allowed Jews to worship freely and return home to the Promised Land (Palestine) after exactly 2,520 prophesied years!
2. Daniel has a 2520 year prophecy which points to 1844 from a completely different starting point! Daniel prophesied a "seven-times" (Daniel 4:23) span from the year 602 BC.
"Seven-times" is repeated three times in Daniel 4 which indicates that a hidden prophecy is contained here. Daniel 4:29 mentions "after twelve months" which calls our attention to the word 'month' or 'moonth' - and hints that the lunar (moon) calendar is in use for unsealing this prophecy. It states that "after twelve months" Nebuchadnezzar goes insane and "seven-times" are to pass over him.
A time is 360 years, a year of years. Seven times is 2520 'lunar' years ... which is 2445 solar years from 602 BC (1 solar year = 1.03069 lunar years). Accounting for the missing year zero in the common calendar, the date for the fulfillment of the "seven-times"
becomes 2445 - 602 + 1 = 1844 AD.
To confirm 602 BC as the starting point of this prophecy, we start with 605 BC - the year that Nebuchadnezzar became king. Daniel 2:1 says that in the second year of his reign (603 BC), Nebuchadnezzar began to have dreams. No further dates are given until Daniel 4:29 already sited, where it reads "after twelve months" when Nebuchadnezzar goes insane and the "seven-times" are to pass over him. The additional twelve months from 603 BC = 602 BC. (Courtesy of author Robert Riggs)
a. 2,520 is a number that has fascinated many religious scholars - Christian, Baha'i and others. 2,520 is the least common denominator of all integers (numbers 1 through 9). Half of 2,520 is 1,260. Numeric significance is often found in religious scripture. In the Christian book of Revelation, 1,260 is sited as a prophetic span of time.
1,260 is also the exact number of years (on the Muslim calender) between Islam and the Baha'i faith. The year 1260 on the Muslim calender is 1844 A.D. - the year that the Baha'i faith commenced. The numerical equivalent of "Baha" is 9. (9 is referred to by Baha'is as "the number of Baha.") 9 is the sum of 1,260 (1+2+6+0 = 9) as well as the sum of 2,520 (2+5+2+0= 9).
b. The Gospel states that Peter caught 153 fish: (John 21:11)
The sum of 1+5+3 = 9, (the number of Baha) and in Baha'u'llah's "Hidden Words" (one of His first books) He wrote exactly 153 passages. In scripture, food is often symbolic of spiritual food: How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread ... (Matthew 16:11). Could the 153 fish symbolize the spiritual food of the 153 Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah?
c. On March 21, 1844, astronomers discovered that Sirius, the brightest star observable to man, was not one but two stars that orbit one another. Could this have been a sign from the 'visible' heavens of the advent of the two Promised Ones from the 'invisible' heavens?: Know thou verily that many an astronomer hath announced the appearance of its star in the visible heaven. ... before the revelation of each of the Mirrors reflecting the divine Essence, the signs heralding their advent must needs be revealed in the visible heaven as well as in the invisible ... (Baha'u'llah: The Kitab-i-Iqan, pages 65-66)
3. Islamic tradition prophesied the coming of a Prophet in the Islamic year "sixty" (i.e. '1260' on the Muslim calender ... or 1844 A.D.): According to the tradition, Mufaddal asked Sadiq saying: "What of the sign of His manifestation, O my master?" He made reply: "In the year sixty, His Cause shall be made manifest, and His Name shall be proclaimed." (Baha'u'llah: The Kitab-i-Iqan, pgs 253-254)
a. The '3 1/2 times' prophecy of Daniel 7:25 refers to 1260 lunar years, just 1/2 of the "seven- times" of Daniel 4 (see #2 above). This referred to the lunar calendar of Islam that was to be in force at that moment. 1260 AH in the Muslim lunar calendar = 1844 AD. (The 1260 lunar years is again specified in Daniel 12:7) (Courtesy of author Robert Riggs)
4. Buddha promised to return 2,500 years after his birth in 560 B.C. (i.e. 1863 A.D. on the Muslim lunar calendar into which Baha'u'llah was born). Buddha also foretold the span between His teachings and Christ - 500 years! (Buddhism - Religion, Scripture Spirituality, Carmichael Carmichael, Inc. 1994)
5. American Indian traditions predicted a "Savior from the East" who was to inaugurate "a reign of peace" and "a new spiritual order" in the "13th Toltec Era," which began in 1844 A.D. Then a second promised one - a "great Spiritual Being" was expected to appear in "the twelfth tun," that is, between 1862 and 1863 A.D. (Motlagh, Hushidar: I Shall Come Again, pages 357-357. Global Perspective: Mt. Pleasant, MI 1992.)
a. Ancient Hopi Indian prophecies mention two religions that would come to the Americas. The first parallels Christianity. But while it was supposed to usher in unity, the prophecies state that if it fails, A SECOND RELIGION WOULD COME - and its followers would be known as "Bahani" - the people of Baha! ("North American Indian Prophecies" - a talk by Lee Brown; 1986 Continental Indigenous Council; Tanana Valley Fairgrounds; Fairbanks, Alaska)
b. Ancient Navajo chants refer to a rising sun in the east, that will inaugurate a New Day and a New Spirit. The chants refer to two signs of this New Spirit that people should look for. One sign is that of a 9 POINTED STAR. [Editor's note: Guess where I saw that star last night: the Dish announcing a Catholic program.] Like Baha'is, the Navajos associate the number 9 with "unity" - since all of the numbers are found in the number 9. A prominent Baha'i symbol is exactly that, a nine pointed star ... and the numerical significance of "Baha" is 9! A second sign is that there will be a great chief in the east who will wear (symbolically) a headress of 12 feathers. It is interesting that the Herald of Baha'u'llah, the Bab, is recognized by Baha'is as the 12th Imam of Islam. (Four Remarkable Indian Prophecies; Annie Kahn, Olin Karch, Blu Mundy; @1963 Naturegraph Co. Healdsburg, CA)
6. Joseph Smith learned in a vision that he was to herald the return of Christ. Smith indicated that this returned Christ spirit was already alive when he was having these visions. In 1831 Smith penned,"I am in your midst and ye cannot see me; But the day soon cometh that ye shall see me ..." (Doctrine Covenants, section 38:7,8). The Bab and Baha'u'llah were both alive in 1831, but hadn't proclaimed themselves until 'soon' after (1844 and 1863)!
7. In Christianity, it was predicted that the spirit of Christ would return after the "times of the Gentiles" were fulfilled: (Luke 21:24). The Edict of Toleration already referred to above, signaled to many Christians last century the end of the "times of the Gentiles."
8. (Matthew 24:3)
Note:* "End of the World" ... The first Christian Bibles were written in Greek. The original Greek word used for "world" was "aion" - which meant "age" or "Messianic period" - and did not suggest the end of the "physical" world as some Christians who espouse a literal reading of the Bible (in its translated English versions) assert. The Greek word for the literal, physical world would have been "kosmos," but was never used in the Bible regarding the end times.
9. (Matthew 24:14)
a.'Christian missions began their activities amongst the African people in 1844.' (Year Book Guide to East Africa; Robert Hale Ltd.)
b. 'It was in 1842 that five treaty-ports in China were opened to commerce and to missions - advance steps in the opening of all China to the Gospel...' (Our Day in the Light of Prophecy; Spicer)
... after 19 centuries, the Gospel was finally being preached on all continents.
10. (Matthew 24:15) ... This passage in particular focused the attention of 19th century Christian scholars on the Jewish Book of Daniel. There we find:
11. (Daniel 9:24)
a. ...From this passage in particular, 19th century scholars anticipated 1843 and 1844 as the time of Christ's return. For it first confirmed Christ's own Mission:
b. (Numbers 14:34)
(Ezekiel 4:6)
c. 70 weeks = 490 days = 490 years
d. 490 years from when? (Daniel 9:24),(Ezra 7).
e. 457 B.C. + 490 years = 34 A.D. The most Holy, Jesus Christ, was anointed with His death and resurrection in approximately 34 AD. (This prophecy also allows for a 7 year ["one week"] margin of error to allow for the discrepancies by Biblical scholars as to the exact dates of Christ's birth, death and resurrection.)

12. The following passages from Daniel change the order of the prophetic weeks as found above, but the end result works out the same - with amazing precision:
a. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Mes-si'-ah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks (i.e. 62 weeks)(Daniel 9:25-27)
b. 7 weeks = 49 years 62 weeks = 434 years 1 week = 7 years
c. 457 B.C. + 49 years = 408 B.C. Completion of rebuilding of Jerusalem under Edict
408 B.C. + 434 years = 27 A.D. (26 + missing year "0" A.D.) Christ begins public ministry
27 A.D. + within 7 years ("in the midst of the week") the sacrifice (i.e. Christ) ceases with Christ's death and resurrection.

13. And now it pinpoints from this same starting point (the Edict of 457 B.C.) what Biblical scholars of the 19th Century unequivocally believed to be the time of Christ's second coming:
a. (Daniel 8:13-14;17)
b. 2300 days = 2300 years ... 457 B.C. + 2300 years = 1844A.D.!!! (1843 + 1 for "0" A.D.)
Note: The 2300 'evenings and mornings' prophecy of Daniel 8:14 refers to exactly 2300 solar years and begins at the first of the Jewish month of Nissan 457 BC. The starting point of this and other prophecies is revealed by Gabriel in Daniel 9:25 (NIV)
The Persian decree was a document signed by the king (e.g. Daniel 6:8), and the first successful decree was that of Artaxerxes in 457 BC recorded in Ezra 7, and addended by the signed letter given to Nehemiah in Neh 2:8. (The restoration of the Temple implied the restoration of Jerusalem also.) The exact date of the "going forth" of the decree is given in Ezra 7:9 as the first of Nissan, 457 BC.
Computing the exact date implied by the 2300 exact years, and accounting for the missing zeroth year in the comon calendar, produces 2300 - 457 +1 = the first of Nissan, 1844 AD. This was the exact date of the Edict of Toleration that permitted the Jews to resettle the Holy Land. This Edict repealed the agreement between Caliph Umar I and Sophronius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, that banned the Jews from the Holy Land in 637 AD. The first of Nissan, 1844, was the end date of "the time of the Gentiles." (Courtesy of author Robert Riggs)
14. Consider how the prophecies correspond to one another. In the Apocalypse, the appearance of the Promised One is appointed after forty-two months, and Daniel expresses it as three times and a half, which is also forty-two months, which are twelve hundred and sixty days. In another passage of John's Revelation it is clearly spoken of as twelve hundred and sixty days, and in the Holy Book it is said that each day signifies one year. Nothing could be clearer than this agreement of the prophecies with one another. The Bab appeared in the year 1260 of the Hejira of Muhammad, which is the beginning of the universal era-reckoning of all Islam. There are no clearer proofs than this in the Holy Books for any Manifestation. For him who is just, the agreement of the times indicated by the tongues of the Great Ones is the most conclusive proof. There is no other possible explanation of these prophecies. (`Abdu'l-Baha: Some Answered Questions, page 71)