In the book of Daniel is an amazing prophecy revealing precisely WHEN the Messiah was to appear-as well as exactly WHAT He was to accomplish! Study this article carefully.
DO YOU KNOW Jesus is the Christ? Can you PROVE it - from Bible
prophecy?
Fundamentalists believe Jesus is the Christ. But many cannot
prove it! They believe the Bible is God's inspired Word - but, again, they are
hard put to produce any evidence. They have faith that God exists - but they can
not PROVE it! They accept these things on sheer faith. Such a "belief" - such a
"faith" - is weak, wishy-washy and utterly worthless, in God's sight! Empty
faith - DEAD faith, the kind held by most people, today - will not save anyone.
There is no need to assume that Jesus is the Christ. You can know!
The Old Testament is FULL of detailed, plain prophecies referring to the
coming of the "Messiah" or Christ, the "Anointed One." From Genesis to Malachi,
prophecies reveal many facets of both the first and second comings of Jesus
Christ. But, no Old Testament prophecy pinpoints the EXACT TIME of the coming of
Christ, and what would occur, as specifically as the book of Daniel.
Turn
in your Bible to Daniel 9, and read the prophecy for yourself. The prophet
Daniel lived during the days of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and on into the
reign of Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian. "In the first year of Darius the
son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes" (Dan. 9:1-2), Daniel set his face to
seek God, seeking Him through prayer and fasting (verses 3-4). Daniel confessed
his sins, and the sins of the people, and besought God for His forgiveness.
While Daniel was praying, God sent the archangel Gabriel, who told Daniel, "O
Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding... therefore
understand the matter, and consider the vision" (Dan. 9:21-23).
What was
this vision - this prophecy?
Beginning in verse 24, "Seventy 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."
"Seventy weeks" - how are they to he understood? The
day-for-a-year principle of Bible prophecy is understood by many students of the
Bible. In Numbers 14:34 God told the Israelites, "After 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. Thus, a day in Bible prophecy is often a
YEAR BEING FULFILLED!
This same prophetic principle is found in Ezekiel 4. Prophesying about
the punishment and siege of Israel, God told Ezekiel, "This shall be a sign to
the house of Israel. Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of
the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt
lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. For I have laid upon thee the years
of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety
days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 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"
(Ezek. 4:3-6).
Therefore, the seventy weeks in Daniel 9 represent 70 times 7 or 490 days - that is, since days stand for prophetic YEARS, a total of 490 YEARS. What was to happen at the end of these years? Let us continue the prophecy.
Daniel 9:25 explains, "Know therefore and understand, that from the going
forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem UNTO the MESSIAH the
Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be
built again, and the wall, even in troublous times."
What decree was
this? When was it given? In the seventh year of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, Ezra
came to Jerusalem (Ezra 7:1, 7-9). With him he had a letter containing the
DECREE of Artaxerxes, permitting the rebuilding and restoration of
Jerusalem!
"Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes
gave unto Ezra the priest. . . Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest,
a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time. I
make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and
Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to
Jerusalem, go with thee. Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his
seven counselors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem. . ." (verses
11-14).
In this decree Ezra was given authority to take with him all the
Jews wishing to return to Jerusalem and to REBUILD THE CITY, and beautify the
house of God, and to do whatever else God commanded (verses 15-26).
What
year was this decree given? What year was the "seventh year of Artaxerxes"? In
recent years an abundance of documents, business records, and astronomical
tablets, from the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, have been translated, and help us
determine when the decree of Artaxerxes was written. These records reveal that
Xerxes died late in December, 465 B.C. His death could not have occurred earlier
or later, because documents dated in the last month of his reign, and in the
first month of his successors have been found. Thus, his son, Artaxerxes, came
to the throne in December, 465 B.C; (Langer, Encyclopedia of World History, p.
53).
Since the Persians reckoned the years of their kings from spring to
spring, Artaxerxes' first year was from April, 464 B.C. to April, 463 B.C. The
preceeding months of his reign are simply called his "accession
year."
The Jews in Palestine in Ezra and Nehemiah's day, however, counted
civil years from FALL TO FALL. They always postdated the reigns of Gentile
rulers- that is, counted from the fall after the first year officially began.
Therefore, according to Jewish reckoning, the first "year" of the reign of
Artaxerxes would have been September, 464 to September, 463 B.C. This
information may be corroborated in The chronology of Ezra 7 by Siegfried Horn
and Lynn H. Wood, as well as other thorough books on archaeology dealing with
this period.
The SEVENTH YEAR of Artaxerxes, therefore, was September,
458 to September, 457 B.C., according to Jewish reckoning. Ezra left Babylon and
came to Jerusalem in Artaxerxes' seventh year, the year of the decree, his
journey lasting four months (Ezra 7:8-9), and occurring during the first five
months of the year - from Nisan in 457, corresponding to our April, to the month
Ab, corresponding to our August.
Now notice! The prophecy was that FROM
the year of the issuance of Artaxerxes' decree there would be "seven weeks, and
threescore and two weeks" - till the appearance of the Messiah! Why this
particular breakdown, "seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks"? This is
explained as we read on: "The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in
troublous times" (Dan. 9:25). It took seven prophetic weeks, or 49 years (a year
for a day) to complete this rebuilding. The troublous times are described in
Nehemiah 4. This carries us from 457 to 408 B.C. After 62 more weeks, or 434
years (from 408 B.C.), the Messiah is on the scene (verse 26).
In other
words, from 457 B.C., in the fall, till CHRIST appeared on the scene, there were
to be SIXTY-NINE PROPHETIC WEEKS (7 + 62) - a total of 69 times 7 or 483 years!
To what year does this bring us?
Figure it out yourself! Just 483 years after 457 B.C. brings us to exactly A.D. 27! Halley, for example, claimed, in his Handbook, the date the Messiah was to appear was 26 A.D. However, there is no year zero. Therefore, in crossing from B.C. to A.D. or vice versa, a year must be added to the total to arrive at the correct date! Notice:
483 years were to pass, beginning from
457 B.C. when the decree went forth, bringing us to
26 A.D. - however, one year must be added
1 in crossing from B.C. to A.D., bringing us to
27 A.D. since there is no year zero.
Notice carefully - there is no year zero - simply a year 1 B.C. and a
year 1 AD. Supposedly, between these two years the birth of Christ occurred!
This, however, is not true. The monk who gave us our present dating system made
a slight miscalculation in his figures. But, notice - for example - if you want
to count 30 years from 4 B.C., the year Jesus was born, simply by counting the
number of elapsed years, you come to 27 AD. However, if you subtract from the
number 30, 4 B.C. the result would, at first glance, seem to be 26 A.D.
Obviously, this is wrong, as simple counting shows. Therefore, you must ADD ONE
YEAR to arrive at the correct answer when subtracting - bringing you to 27 AD.!
Therefore, the year the Messiah was to appear was 27 AD.! What happened in 27
A.D.?
This was the historical year when Jesus Christ BEGAN His MINISTRY!
This was the very year He was baptized, was tempted by Satan the devil in the
wilderness, and BEGAN to call His disciples! Bible chronology and history prove
Christ began His ministry in 27 A.D. In 27 A.D. the MESSIAH appeared -JESUS
CHRIST! No one else came upon the scene in Palestine that year doing God's Work.
Jesus Christ began His ministry PRECISELY on schedule - exactly 483 years after
the decree of Artaxerxes! But that is not all. Now, notice the REST of the
prophecy!
Verse 26, Daniel 9, "And AFTER threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be CUT
OFF, but not for himself.
From the decree of Artaxerxes until the coming
of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, a total of sixty-nine prophetic weeks were to
pass. That is, 483 years. This explains the first sixty-nine weeks of Daniel's
prophecy, but the mysterious seventieth week still remains to be explained.
Let's continue the thread of the prophecy. In Daniel 9:26 we read that AFTER 483
years the Messiah was to be "cut off." What does this enigmatic statement
mean?
Turn to Isaiah 53 for the answer. Prophesying about the Messiah,
Isaiah declared, "Surely he hath borne our grief, and carried our sorrows. . .
But he was wounded for OUR transgressions, he was bruised for OUR iniquities. .
." (Isa. 53:4-5).
Further, Isaiah records, "He was taken from prison and
from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? For he was CUT OFF out of
the land of the living: for the TRANSGRESSION OF MY PEOPLE WAS HE STRICKEN"
(verse 8).
Christ, the Messiah, was "cut off." KILLED, CRUCIFIED not for
Himself, but for our sins! But how long "after" the sixty-nine weeks? The last
part of Daniel 9:26 shows that after Christ's crucifixion, "the people of the
prince" - that is, the Roman armies under Titus and Vespasian - "that shall come
shall DESTROY THE CITY and the sanctuary." This was fulfilled in 70 A.D., when
the Roman armies besieged Jerusalem, destroyed the inhabitants, burned the
temple, and razed the city to the ground! "And the end thereof shall be with a
flood, and unto the end of the WAR desolations are determined," Daniel concludes
(verse 26, last part). The Romans DESOLATED the city and the surrounding area!
But again, HOW LONG "after" the sixty-nine weeks was the Messiah to be "cut
off"?
Now read verse 27 of Daniel 9. "And he {Christ shall CONFIRM THE COVENANT
with many for one week; and in the MIDST OF THE WEEK he shall cause the
sacrifice and the oblation to cease Here the SEVENTIETH WEEK is mentioned! It
represents seven years! But, in the midst of this week Christ was to cause
sacrifices to cease. How? Turn to Hebrews for the answer.
"So Christ was
ONCE OFFERED to bear the sins of many" - remember? (Heb. 9:28.) He took our sins
upon Himself, Isaiah prophesied; He was to "make reconciliation for iniquity,"
and to "make an end of sins," Daniel wrote. "But this man, after he had offered
ONE SACRIFICE for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God" (Heb.
10:12).
How clear! Christ caused the sacrifices to cease because they
were NO LONGER NECESSARY! "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of
goats should take away sins" (Heb. 10:4). However, the blood of Christ covers
all sins!
When? When did Christ the, Messiah, accomplish this? "IN THE
MIDST OF THE WEEK "! That is dual
1) after fulfilling one half of the
seventieth week - after preaching the Gospel for THREE AND ONE-HALF YEARS-
Christ died for the sins of the world, after doing the Work of God for three and
one-half years, from autumn 27 A.D. until spring 31 A.D. And;
2) it also
indicates that Christ died for our sins in the middle of a literal week on a
Wednesday! And He was resurrected three days and three nights later near sunset
on the weekly Sabbath (Matt. 12:40), so that He HAD ARISEN already by sunrise
Sunday morning (Matt. 28:6; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:6). This is more fully explained
in our free booklet, The Crucifixion Was Not on Friday. It is available upon
your request.
Since Jesus died for the sins of man kind in the MIDST of
the week, the prophecy, "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one
week," has NOT YET been completely fulfilled. For three and one-half years,
during His ministry, He CONFIRMED THE COVENANT with His disciples. By dying for
our sins, He put the final stamp on the covenant. Through Him, ALL PEOPLE can
now enter into the covenant which God made with Abraham (Gal. 3:29), and become
heirs "according to the promise."
But as Daniel 9:26-27 reveals there yet
remains three and one-half years of Christ's ministry to be FULFILLED! When will
Christ fulfill it? When will He once again CONFIRM the covenant?
When Jesus Christ returns to this earth, He will CONFIRM the covenant He made
with His people. He will confirm the covenant He made with Abraham, promising
that his seed would inherit the entire WORLD (see Gen. 17:4-8; 22:16-18).
Abraham and his spiritual seed through Christ will inherit "THE WORLD" (Rom.
4:13). When Christ returns, Abraham and the saints will RISE to meet Him in the
air (I Thess. 4:13-17). They will then REIGN with Him, over the nations of the
earth (Rev. 2:26-27; 5:10).
And, at that time, Christ will make a NEW
covenant with His people Israel, and write His laws in their hearts and upon
their minds (Heb. 8:6-10). For three and one-half years, Christ will complete
His ministry to ISRAEL, teaching them His ways. Rebels will be purged out from
among His people, but the others, who repent of their sins and loathe themselves
for their evil deeds, will be forgiven and will come to KNOW GOD (Ezek.
20:35-38, 43-44).
Daniel 9, the "seventy weeks prophecy," has already - for the most part -
been fulfilled. History proves that Jesus Christ - and NONE OTHER - was the One
who fulfilled the prophecies of Daniel 9:24-27. He is the Messiah! No one else
appeared at the time mentioned, or did the things mentioned, DIED in the midst
of the week, and caused the sacrifices and offerings in the temple to
CEASE!
Truly, Jesus is the Christ! Bible PROPHECY proves this fact beyond
the faintest shadow of a doubt. There is no need to vaguely "assume" or "think"
that Jesus was FOR REAL. The PROOF is incontestable - irrefutable!
And
soon, now, that very same Jesus Christ is going to RETURN to this earth and
complete the fulfillment of Daniel 9, finish confirming the covenant with His
people and usher in "EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS" when He returns, "to seal up the
vision and prophecy" (verse 24).
The prophecy given in Daniel 9:24-27 is
truly one of the most amazing, startling prophecies in the entire Word of God!
It gives a pinpointed, detailed explanation of the FIRST coming of Jesus Christ
- even giving us the EXACT DATE HE WAS TO BEGIN His MINISTRY! It shows that
after three and one-half YEARS, He was to be "CUT OFF" crucified for our sins
giving His life for us, thereby causing the need for other sacrifices, given as
a picture of our need for forgiveness, to CEASE.
Soon, now, Christ will RETURN to complete this amazing prophecy and finish the LAST three and one-half years. He will finish confirming the covenant of God with many, all those who accept Him and obey Him! The truth is overwhelming! How thankful we should be that God is revealing the real meaning of Bible prophecy! How thankful, that our faith is NOT merely empty superstition or "belief," but is based on the proven and tested, SURE WORD OF GOD!
Will you be ready when Christ returns to COMPLETE His
ministry?