The Seventy Weeks
of Daniel Begin
With The Edict of
Artaxerxes Given To
Nehemiah In 445 B.C.
And The Command To
"Restore And Build
Jerusalem". (Dan.9:25)
The illustration of Nehemiah
appearing before Artaxerxes
is from the 1885 Bible.
This is an old section of the wall of
of Jerusalem constructed in 445 B.C.
under Nehemiah. The rebuilding of the
city's walls and gates restored Jerusalem
as a sovereign self-governing city-state.
DANIEL 9:24-25
24. "Seventy weeks are determined for your people
and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.
25. "Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command to
restore and build Jerusalem
until Messiah the Prince,
there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The street shall be built again, and the wall,
even in troublesome times.
The Edicts and their Timelines
IDENTIFYING THE CORRECT EDICT
INITIATING THE 69/70 WEEKS THAT
TAKES US TO "MESSIAH THE PRINCE".
THE EDICT OF CYRUS IS NOT THE ONE.
Cyrus issues his decree allowing the Jewish exiles to
return to Jerusalem in 538 B.C.
In the attempts to identify the starting point
of Daniel's prophecy of the seventy weeks there have been a number of
edicts put forward.
An old favorite has been the very early edict issued by Cyrus after his defeat of the Babylonians.
But this was way back in 538 B.C. This was in the
century before Nehemiah.
We are looking at a time-line
of 69 x 7 = 483 biblical years or 476.067 of our solar years.
We will place it's beginning day on an edict and look to see it
it will terminate on a day that is auspicious as the day of "Messiah the Prince".
A time line beginning in 538 B.C. will run out of days in 538-476 = 62 b.c.
This is decades before the birth of Christ.
Quite clearly this edict of Cyrus is not the correct one. It is far too early.
Yet Bible teachers still persist in talking about the Edict of Cyrus
as a starting place for the 70 Weeks of Daniel.
How they justify such a notion, (apart from its basis in church tradition),
is a mystery. It would seem that such teachers have not done their homework.
If they had studied the subject they might have noticed the 476.07 solar year timeline ended in no man's land.
Just some simple arithmetic would have shown them that this date
is far too early to make any connection whatsoever to Messiah.
69 weeks or "sevens" of Biblical years are 483 Biblical (360 day) years or 173,880 days.
173,880 days divided by 365.2422 days = 476.067 days,
which is 476 solar years plus 24 days.
So 538 - 476 = 62 B.C.
This date is far too early for any fulfillment of or appearance of "Messiah the Prince".
Even when
using solar years for the time line, (which is incorrect as we can clearly see from Revelation 12 where 3.5 biblical years = 1260 days),
the 69 sevens or 483 biblical years, (476 solar years), would have
run out by 538 - 483 = 45 B.C. with no Messiah in sight.
This earliest edict by the Persian ruler was significant.
And Cyrus had certainly allowed a number of
the exiles of Judah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple.
The 1st return under Sheshbazzar began soon afterward in 538 B.C. with
hopes of rebuilding the temple. These early attempts were
delayed however by enemies from the north.
A second return of exiles was led by Zerubbabel.
This was a few years later in 521 B.C.
This group of returnees was successful in rebuilding the temple during
the years 520-516 B.C..
The completed 2nd temple was rededicated in 516 B.C..
The completion of the second Temple was seventy years after the destruction of the former
temple of Solomon by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C..
THE EDICT GIVEN IN 457 B.C. DURING THE DAYS OF THE
REVIVAL UNDER EZRA. IT TOO DOES NOT MEET THE BIBLICAL
CRITERIA TO INITIATE DANIEL'S PROPHECY OF THE 70 WEEKS.
The temple had been rebuilt for the people. But the people were not ready
for the temple. They were not yet ready
to function as God's holy congregation, set apart for Him.
By God's grace the Book of the Law was rediscovered in the following century.
The scribe Ezra read the Law to the people. As usually happens when God's Word
is spread abroad it started a religious revival.
Soon afterwards, in 457 b.c. Artaxerxes was pleased to issue an edict giving encouragement
to many Jews in exile to return to the Holy City of Jerusalem.
The regathered people in Jerusalem, along with those back in exile in
Persia longed to see Judah regathered as an independent sovereign people.
And they dreamed of seeing Jerusalem restored to its former glory.
The 3rd return under Ezra to Jerusalem in 457 B.C. was certainly a joyous occasion.
And no doubt it did re-ignite longings to see the holy city of Jerusalem
restored and functioning again as a sovereign city-state.
But Ezra had received no such permission for this from the Persian powers.
There is no mention of this in the Book of Ezra at all.
The time for that higher level of favor would come 12 years later.
And that all important edict would come under the ministrations of Nehemiah.
Many have tried to tag the edict given to Ezra in 457 B.C.
as the beginning of the 70 weeks.
As we shall discover later on in this article, this is not
only incorrect but grievously so. Time lines tagged to this
edict open the door to some very very incorrect endpoints
for the 69 and 70th weeks. It also leads to
some particularly misleading conclusions as to who confirms the 7 year covenant
of Daniel 9:27 and
and whether none, part, or all of that 70th week is yet future.
All of the 70th Week is out there in the future, as we shall prove
from scripture. But
preterists and
partial preterists are rising up to become very active in the religious world right now.
And they are out to deny the reality of a future
70th Week if they can. The reason this is a matter of grievous concern
is that these false teachers are changing the signposts and giving false charts
to the saints as they travel on towards the climax of this age.
The pilgrims need good information from God's Word.
All too often they are being given misinformation by deceived agents
operating unwittingly for dark religious spirits with an agenda.
That agenda is to obfuscate and "cloak" the truth.
The principalities and powers of this present world system want to prevent the saints
from bringing in their "final witness" at the climax of this age
which of course is in Daniel's
70th week. This final seven year period is exceedingly important.
This awesome future time is staked out by the upcoming, yet to be fulfilled,
Fall Feasts of Israel.
The
70 Weeks prophecy is critically important.
We are admonished by the Apostle Paul to,
"Study, and be eager, and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved
(tested by trial). (A student of the scriptures is), a workman that has no cause to be ashamed,
correctly analyzing and accurately dividing,
(rightly handling and skillfully teaching)
the Word of Truth." 2Tim. 2:15 - AMPLIFIED BIBLE + GWF.
Dear saints,
as we study through the Holy Scriptures
regarding the seventy weeks of Daniel
we must do our homework meticulously.
We must get it right!
Because God has a critically important message for us here
as we seek to lay out the timeline for this prophecy.
As we shall discover, we are in an
information war.
The road ahead is dangerous with well concealed political and politico-religious pitfalls.
Many false trails lead nowhere except to great personal tragedy.
There is a lot of religious "noise" on the airwaves.
Religious crusaders and
Christian Dominionists are re-emerging into history again as they have done so often in times past.
They are filling the hearts and minds of many Christians
with erroneous, confusing, and misleading messages.
Religious disinformation is all around us.
The right guideposts and the Biblically correct trail markers must be placed on the road ahead.
These will be needed by the pilgrims as they go on to bring in the end-time witness.
When this is completed the returning Christ wrap up the history of this age.
We are entering into days of great deception. The principalities and powers want desperately to stop this end-time witness.
Many lives are at stake.
THE CORRECT EDICT THAT MEETS THE BIBLICAL CRITERIA
TO INITIATE THE TIME-LINE OF THE 69/70 WEEKS OF DANIEL
The information we need is not complicated. It is right there in our Bibles.
The angel Gabriel had brought the crucial message to the prophet Daniel
concerning the 70 Weeks. And in this message he made specific mention of the
restoration of the city of Jerusalem and its walls. As we shall discuss, these were the key
authorizing elements we should be mindful of in identifying the correct edict.
The graphic below lays out the first 69 weeks of years of the 70 week prophecy.
As can be readily seen, the edict of Artaxerxes Longimanus
given to Nehemiah in 445 B.C. sets forth the only time-line that fits.
It is the only edict that takes the 69 weeks of biblical years,
(476 solar years plus 27 days or 173,880 days),
and lays out that time-line in a way that connects to an auspicious event
noteworthy as the appearance of "Messiah the Prince". The time-line thus laid out
happens to be a perfect fit!
This faithful work was first done in the late 19th Century
by noted evangelical Scotland Yard Inspector
Sir Robert Anderson.
His landmark work is unsurpassed and exceedingly accurate,
(except for a very minor 2 day discrepancy).
His work is still available for study today and is set forth
in his book
'The Coming Prince' which is still in print.
The book is available for reading and download at this
online site. And hard copies can be purchased here
at Amazon as well as in good Christian bookstores.
It is true that after the decree of Cyrus many exiles had returned
to Jerusalem. By 516 B.C. the temple had been rebuilt.
The Ezra revival in 457 B.C. also saw much wonderful restoration
of the hearts of the people.
But in the times of these first three returns no
political restoration of Jerusalem as a sovereign
city-state had been permitted. These political elements
for the restoration of political sovereignty were very important. In fact the edict which broached this matter of
Judah's self-determination as a sovereign city state independent of Persia was a very sensitive matter.
Nehemiah could have been executed on the spot for merely bringing up the matter of Jerusalem's sovereignty.
The former returns involving emancipation from captivity, the rebuilding of the Hebrew temple, and the later Ezra revival
involved motivations that were predominantly religious in nature.
But the desire for independence and self-determination under YHVH-God by a nation of former captives
was something entirely different.
In fact the whole matter of the restoration of the streets, gates, and city walls was a political hot potato.
This is why the edict issued by Artaxerxes to Nehemiah was so important.
This was key to the initiation of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel.
We know this for a certainty that this political restoration of city sovereignty came late.
Because Nehemiah, writing 12 years
after Ezra in 445 B.C. had mourned over the fact that the walls
of the city were still in ruins at that late time
and the gates were burned with fire. - Neh.2:3
As Nehemiah considered the situation in Jerusalem it was truly a depressing scene.
It had been way back in that awful summer of 586 B.C. when the armies of King
Nebudchadnezzar had destroyed the city of Jerusalem.
Solomon's Temple had been burned and totally destroyed.
Now, a full 142 years later in 445 B.C, Nehemiah
reported that the walls and gates of the Holy City were still a broken down ruin.
Oh yes, the first return of the exiles had been allowed
under Cyrus in 538 B.C.. And the temple had also been rebuilt
back in the previous century under Zerubbabel in 516 B.C..
Then in the following century in 457 B.C. Ezra had read the law to the people
which had sparked a revival. Another wave of exiles returned at that time.
But now in the time of Nehemiah it was 445 B.C.. And the city still showed the ravages of that
earlier great destruction.
This is an important point. Jerusalem in 445 B.C. had still not been restored.
It was still just a territory, a communal campground of sorts,
a loosely knit community of returned exiles.
The exiles of Judah had gathered around their rebuilt temple.
There they tried to rebuild their lives and homes.
They found shelter in their houses.
But their houses still just existed inside the broken shell of city that once was.
Jerusalem, as a city, had not been restored.
But now, under the edict brought into operation by Nehemiah all that was about to change.
In that epic year when Nehemiah went to the king we need to appreciate this important fact.
Nehemiah's burden for Jerusalem was
a political one. It had to do with the proper authorizing of a charter for a city.
This is why Nehemiah feared for his life as he brought his burden
before King Artaxerxes Longinus of Persia.
When Nehemiah went to the king the beloved city of Jerusalem
was still a wrecked shell of a once great city.
It had no integrity to maintain itself. The walls of the city were a broken down ruin.
And its gates were burned with fire.
This was a big issue.
And for the inhabitants huddled around the rebuilt temple
there was little real protection.
Thieves could come in through the broken walls by night.
And with any determined sort of attack by
marauders or by an army the city would be overrun and ransacked.
The returnees were clearly in a tenuous situation.
They were just an encampment of returning exiles.
They eked out an existence
within the broken down walls of a once great city.
There was no real safety for the people.
There were no watchmen on the walls.
Nor were there elders or any political guardians serving at the gates.
So without security and without a sound basis for regulation of commerce the city at the time of Nehemiah
remained in a broken state.
Jerusalem was moribund. It could not be expected to function properly or to grow.
The gates of a city back in those times were in effect the "town hall".
They were the place where the city elders sat.
There the city magistrates enacted justice
and controlled trade.
But in 445 B.C. in the time of Nehemiah the walls of the city were still broken down.
And the gates were a blackened ruin.
Jerusalem was awaiting the fulfillment of a momentous prophecy.
And that prophecy would guarantee its restoration.
THE EDICT GIVEN TO NEHEMIAH BY ARTAXERXES LONGINUS IN HIS
20TH YEAR ON THE NEW MOON OF NISAN IN 445 B.C.. THIS EDICT
AUTHORIZED THE REBUILDING OF THE WALLS AND THE GATES OF
JERUSALEM THEREBY ENSURING ITS POLITICAL RESTORATION
AS A FULLY FUNCTIONING SOVEREIGN CITY-STATE.
The Edict of Artaxerxes as given to Nehemiah
in Nisan of 445 B.C.
As the pivotal year of 445 B.C. approached Nehemiah and
many of the exiles of Judah were still in the Persian city of Susa,
out in the eastern reaches of present day Iraq.
Susa was the capital of the Persian Empire, the superpower of the time.
As they heard the news of their homeland the exiles were in a melancholy mood.
The revival of Ezra had begun 13 years before. And their hopes had been stirred.
But the burden was great. The beloved city was still in a shambles.
But as with all spiritual revivals the hearts of many had begun to hope for better things.
The remnant of the southern kingdom of Judah had begun to
dream of a proper restoration of their homeland.
After the Ezra revival they yearned to go back to the land of their fathers.
But what security could they expect for their wives and for their children?
If they did return to Jerusalem just what sort of a future could they expect?
The exiles of Judah longed to return to Jerusalem and yes, to worship at the temple.
But more than this their heart's desire was to see their beloved city of Jerusalem
fully restored as a sovereign city-state. This was the all important political
matter at issue.
And it all came to a head in the days of Nehemiah.
The issue at that time was the restoration of the
city of Jerusalem including its gates and its walls.
As we saw in our scripture above, the restoration of the city and its walls was
specifically mentioned by the angel Gabriel as the initiator
of Daniel's prophecy of the 70 Weeks. (Dan.9:25)
The promise of this restoration of the city that was the key.
It was the mention of these key pointers to restoration of city sovereignty
that marked the event that fired the starting gun for the 70 weeks.
The date for the edict?
The Holy Spirit writes it out clearly for us in Nehemiah chapter 2.
The edict was delivered into the hand of Nehemiah in the 20th year of Artaxerxes.
The year of Artaxerxes ascension to the throne is a rock solid date in history.
And Nehemiah records that it was in the
Passover month of Nisan. So the time is fixed at the springtime month of Nisan in 445 B.C..
the Nisan month that came in the 20th year of Artaxerxes.
And as the equinoctial new moon came up to mark the beginning of that
epic month a blockbuster event of great importance were about to unfold.
Over in the royal quarters of the Persian city of Susa
the king was calling for his cup bearer.
And Nehemiah, a man of great faith, was about to make a momentous appeal to the king.
It was a moment of great drama.
Nehemiah had the burden. Indeed it had been given to Him by God.
And now he found himself in a precarious state, even a place of destiny.
God had promoted him to a position of influence with the king.
And now the Passover moon of Nisan was a thin crescent rising in the eastern dawn.
Back in those times the new moon was an auspicious time.
It marked the occasion for kings to proclaim their royal edicts.
Nehemiah was the king's cup bearer. But now he was beginning to tremble.
He was frightened and awed by what God had stirred up within him.
A critical moment of great opportunity and great danger had arrived.
And holy history was awaiting his response.
What was he supposed to do?
Nehemiah brought wine and set it before the king.
On that particular day Nehemiah could not conceal his true inner feelings.
He was burdened and gloomy.
This was a exceedingly dangerous state for a king's cupbearer
to appear in back in those days.
The position of royal cup bearer was a high one.
But if he displeased the king his good fortune could change in an instant.
A cup bearer in those times could lose his life very quickly.
But the fortunes of captive Judah were at stake here.
They were about to change, and turn for the better.
YHVH, the God of Israel, was at work.
Nehemiah had the kings favor; and his ear.
And God's holy purposes were about to unfold in a remarkable way.
Here is our scripture as Nehemiah takes up the story.
Notice his specific mention of the gates of Jerusalem
and the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem.
1. And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year
of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine
and gave it to the king.
Now I had never been sad in his presence before.
2. Therefore the king said to me, "Why is your face sad,
since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart."
So I became dreadfully afraid,
3. and said to the king,
"May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad,
when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste,
and its gates are burned with fire?"
4. Then the king said to me,
"What do you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.
5. And I said to the king, "If it pleases the king,
and if your servant has found favor in your sight,
I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs,
that I may rebuild it." -Neh. 2:1-5 NKJV
So in Nehemiah's late time, the city of Jerusalem still lay waste.
It had still not regained its political sovereignty.
The Medo-Persian superpower of the day, and the Babylonians before them,
had simply not given any sort of permission for this restoration of sovereignty.
That critical issue of the independence for Jerusalem was Nehemiah's burden.
All this is highly significant. And why?
Because the angel Gabriel had told Daniel that
"70 weeks were determined for,
1. "your people"
and
2. "your holy city".
Both the people of God and the city of Jerusalem
were the subject of the 70 week prophecy. So the edict permitting the
rebirth of Jerusalem with her own sovereignty
and self-governing integrity
as a city-state was the key.
The edict authorizing this restoration of the
city walls and gates was not just an architectural
restoration project.
This was the authorization that allowed Jerusalem to
have her city elders occupy the gates again
and regulate the laws, the politics, and the commerce
that came through those gates and what went to and fro into and out of the city.
This restoration of the Holy City
as a living sovereign city-state was the
crux of the prophecy as given to Daniel
by the angel Gabriel.
It was this edict with its implied
authority for political independence
that met the criteria and fired off the starting gun for
Daniel's
prophecy of the 70 weeks.
The mention of walls of Jerusalem being rebuilt in Daniel's
prophecy, (Dan.9:24-25), was a key to all this. It meant
that the edict initiating the 70 week prophecy would be the one
that would allow political independence from Medo-Persia
and full structural and functional restoration of the city of Jerusalem.
Here is the part of Daniel's prophecy giving specific mention
of the rebuilding of Jerusalem's streets and walls.
9:24 "Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for
your holy city,..............................................
9:25 "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the
command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince,
there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall
be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.
(Dan.9:24a-25)
In ancient times the "gates" of a city were not just large swinging doors.
They were more than this. They were also alcoved rooms attached to the entryway in the walls of the city.
These were places for travellers to 'check in' with city authorities as they prepared to enter the city.
Like our town halls today the gates of the city were the place of governmental power,
the place in which resided the city elders.
The city gates housed the offices of the magistrates who were the city's
rulers and the guardians of the city's sovereignty.
As well as being the portal of entry
into the city they were also the place where the city elders
sat to make judgment in matters of law.
Like today's city hall it
was here at the city gates where the laws protecting the integrity of the
city were enacted and the place where commerce was regulated.
The gates were the nerve center of a city and the
seat of its civic authority. So when Nehemiah went to the king he was asking for
more than just architectural repairs. He was asking for
permission to restore all the governmental workings of a city-state.
This was a tall order. Nehemiah trembled when he went to the king with this request.
Just broaching the subject of the gates and walls of Jerusalem with the king was a delicate matter.
Nehemiah was taking his life in his hands. He
was asking Artaxerxes for permission to not only restore the walls
and gates but also to restore the sovereign independence of Israel's ancient capital,
the Jewish city of Jerusalem.
This matter of the political restoration of Jerusalem was potentially a
very touchy subject.
It was far more problematical than just the
occupying superpower permitting a return of exiles to Jerusalem
or allowing the rebuilding of the Hebrew temple.
So this is why Nehemiah was afraid.
The people had been allowed to return
the century before under Cyrus. And they had their temple rebuilt.
But allowing political restoration of a homeland for the Jews
and the re-establishment of their beloved city of Jerusalem was a big issue.
The matter was far greater than the issues involved with the earlier edicts.
The Persian court might well have been expected to respond with indignation at Nehemiah's request.
They could have responded with, "What did these upstart Jews with all their 'hutspah' want now?"
Some in the Medo-Persian court might have expected the king to vent
his wrath on this cheeky Jewish cup bearer.
Some might have expected him to execute Nehemiah on the spot for
merely asking the question.
The nerve of the man! Persia was now the world superpower.
And Jerusalem was under Persian sovereignty and Persian control!
Why should the king give Nehemiah and these exiles of Judah
his authority and Persian finances to boot to go off and restore the sovereignty of their
Jewish city of all things? Nehemiah's request involved a major public works
and military protection program. It would cost Persia a lot of money.
And this Jewish upstart was going to ask the Persian king
to authorize and foot the bill for all this!
Persian traditionalists and right wingers in the Persian
court might have risen up in anger at this.
And Edomites in the kings court might have whispered in the king's ear.
That might have been the end of Nehemiah right then and there.
No wonder Nehemiah said that he was deathly afraid as he presented his case before Artaxerxes.
Well by the mercies of God Artaxerxes Longinus did give his favor to Nehemiah.
And early in the Nisan moon of 445 B.C. the king did give his permission.
The city of Jerusalem would indeed be rebuilt as a sovereign city-state.
Here is our scripture.
6. Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him),
"How long will your journey be? And when will you return?"
So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
7. Furthermore I said to the king,
"If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for
the governors of the region beyond the River, that
they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah,
8. and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest,
that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of
the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall,
and for the house that I will occupy."
And the king granted them to me according to the good
hand of my God upon me." Nehemiah 2:6-8 NKJV
Why did Artaxerxes authorize the rebuilding of Jerusalem?
And why did he finance it of all things?
It may have been something other than mere benevolence on his part.
As the reigning superpower perhaps the king was desirous
of having the glory of Jerusalem
as a jewel in his crown. We have seen that same desire of rulers
to embrace Jerusalem all through her history.
The Herods had desired to appear as benefactors
and protectors to Jerusalem. But they were actually
Edomites and enemies of the covenant people of God.
The crusades saw Godfrey de Boullion install himself
as "king of Jerusalem". Even today the crusading spirit is still with us.
We can readily see that the current
G-7 powers and the U.N. are quite preoccupied with Jerusalem.
And so it was that Artaxerxes judged the matter favorably for
his cup bearer Nehemiah.
He issued a royal edict.
This gave Nehemiah authority and finances for his great task.
Artaxerxes gave him letters of passage as well as
the money and materials to lead this historic 4th return.
This return of exiles from Persia.
would see the city of Jerusalem restored!
THE TIME OF THE EDICT OF ARTAXERXES TO NEHEMIAH
The year of the above edict, Nehemiah tells us,
was the 20th year of Artaxerxes.
-Nehemiah 2:1
Artaxerxes reigned from 465 B.C. to 425 B.C. This date is
very well established in secular history.
The 20th year of Artaxerxes and
the edict to rebuild Jerusalem was therefore in 445 B.C.
Nehemiah pinpointed the time further by giving us
the Hebrew month in which this event occurred.
He had set wine before the king
and received the famous edict in
the Passover month of Nisan of that year.
So astronomically we have a very good time fix.
We know when
Daniel's prophecy of the seventy weeks began.
It was early in the month of Nisan.
Nisan is the first month that presents
a full moon after the spring equinox.
We know this because that is how the rabbis
determined the Passover month of Nisan
and thus regulated their calendar every year.
And we may well suppose that it was in the first
days of that month, at the time of the new moon
when kings traditionally make royal edicts.
We know from astronomical data just when
that moon came through in that crucial year of 445 B.C..
The Seventy Weeks prophecy is directed at Daniel's holy people,
the saints of the Eternal God.
But significantly it was also directed at the holy city of Jerusalem.
And when the edict was delivered to Nehemiah,
the permission to restore and rebuild Jerusalem had finally come.
The stopwatch for the 70 weeks had been pressed.
And the time was ticking off.
The next stop? It would be the terminus of the
69 weeks.
And the event? The 69 weeks would terminate with the first coming of
Messiah the Prince.
It was a wonderful moment for Nehemiah and the ones returning with him!
The edict was in Nehemiah's hand.
He immediately proceeded with plans
to lead this great party of returning Jews back to restore the
city of Jerusalem.
The details of the ensuing expedition
has been laid out for us in the book of Nehemiah.
And so the final seventy weeks of God's determined dealings with
His covenant people were off and running.
But that was not all. With this edict the Gentile powers
had now covered, protected also laid a certain claim to the
sovereignty of Jerusalem. The 70 weeks of Daniel are in two time segments.
The first 69 weeks terminate with the
first coming of Messiah.
And the latter day
70th week, terminates with the second coming of Messiah.
Indeed, the 70 weeks terminate in a highly significant threshold of holy history.
They wrap up the Times of the Gentiles.
The edict Artaxerxes had given Nehemiah was far reaching in its implications.
The authority had been given to restore Jerusalem and provide a homeland for the Jewish exiles.
1. The Holy City of Jerusalem was in a new era.
2. And God's holy people were in a new era.
Things were different now.
The city of Jerusalem was no longer a ruin.
And the people of God, (the House of Judah at least),
would no longer be scattered and without cover.
The Holy City and the Holy People were now living
subject to the good pleasure of the Gentile superpowers.
The "Times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24)
were now an established reality. The domination of those
gentile nations would continue on until
the terminus of the 70 weeks and
the climax of the age.
Jesus said that Jerusalem would be trampled down by the Gentiles.....
For how long?
...... until the 'Times of the Gentiles' was fulfilled. (Luke 21:24)
And then Messiah would come.
THE EZRA DATE OF 457 B.C.. WHY IT IS WRONG AND WHAT THE
RELIGIOUS SPIRIT BEHIND THIS EARLIER DATE SEEKS TO DO IN
CLOAKING THE FIRST HALF OF THE FUTURE 70TH WEEK.
Many scholars, including Sir Isaac Newton, have tried to attach the
return under Ezra and the year 457 B.C. as the edict that started
off the seventy weeks of Daniel. Time-lines beginning at this date, however,
must use solar years to reach dates even approaching the time of Christ.
The correct use of biblical years (69 x 7 = 483 x 360 = 476 yrs + 25 days)
can set up a time-line from 457 B.C..
But it will fall short of the passion week and "Messiah the Prince" by a full
12 years.
457 B.C.(-456 A.D.) <------- 476 yrs +25 days --------> 20 A.D.
Even erroneously using solar years instead of biblical (360 day) years
falls short of the appearance of "Messiah the Prince" in 32 A.D. by a full 6 years.
457 B.C. (-456 A.D.)<-------483 yrs. ----------->26 A.D.
The numbers people try to use here are quite obviously way off the mark.
They can't even get into the correct year let alone the month or day.
But strangely, that does not stop these teachers.
The spirits driving them seem to have an agenda.
They insist on using the Ezra date
for the beginning of the 70 weeks prophecy.
They add a second error to their reckoning by attempting to tag
the terminus of the 69 weeks with the
baptism of Jesus and the beginning of His ministry.
But even this is two years too early. Jesus began His ministry in the fall of 28 A.D.
not 26 A.D.
How they think they can substitute His baptism for the true Palm Sunday
appearance of Jesus as "Messiah the Prince" which occurred at the
end of Jesus's ministry
three and a half years later is very intriguing.
It suggests that a dark religious spirit is at work here.
And that religious spirit has an agenda.
Sure enough, as we begin to look into this matter we begin to see
that agenda emerge from the fog. It is the false doctrine of
partial preterism.
Partial preterism is a heresy.
It claims that the 3.5 year ministry of Jesus has already fulfilled
the first half of the 70th week. This effectively "cloaks"
the first half of the 70th week. What are they hiding?
They are "cloaking" the reign of the
harlot in the first half of the
7 years.
The second half of the 70th Week is the 1260 day reign of the 666 Antichrist. (Rev.13:4)
The Ezra edict, no matter how it is handled by false teachers
still makes for a shoddy connection to their erroneous terminus
for the 69 weeks, (which they have decided is at the baptism of Jesus).
Their terminus of the 69 weeks is in 26 A.D..
This is clearly false.
It is two years short of the real date for the baptism of Jesus.
He began of His ministry in the autumn of 28 A.D.
We know this date for certain. Dr. Luke tells
us that the ministry of John the Baptist began
".... in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar's reign, .....".
-Luke 3:1 AMPL BIBLE.
Tiberius began to reign in the summer of
14 A.D. so his 15th year would have begun in the summer of 28 A.D.
John's ministry and Jesus's baptism would therefore
have been in the fall of 28 A.D. The first of the four passovers
Jesus would observe was in the following springtime of 29 A.D.
So what is really going on here with this attempt to connect
the return of Ezra as the beginning of the 70 weeks?
What is the religious spirit behind this
erroneous interpretation of God's Word?
What is its agenda?
I will submit that the hidden agenda behind timelines
starting with the Ezra revival
date of 457 B.C. serve a manifold purpose.
1. The first thing this doctine attempts to do is
to pull the 69 weeks backwards in time and
bring the terminus of the 69 weeks back to the baptism of Jesus.
Then they can continue the timeline on for another half a week
and say that the first half of the 70th week
was fulfilled in the 3.5 year ministry of Jesus.
This makes for a 69 and a half week terminus
rather than the correct terminus of 7 + 62 = 69 week terminus
for Messiah the Prince as given in Daniel 9:27.
The effect of this false doctrine is to
relegate the first half of the 70th week
to "past history". Thus they try to deny that there is a
full future 70th week. They say that there is just a half of one.
2. The second effect of this false chronology
is to lend credence to the outrageous contention that
Jesus was that "prince" who confirmed (past tense) the
"covenant with many for one week/seven"
and not the future antichrist. This is effectively places
a religious smokescreen over the future emergence
of the peacemaking Antichrist at the beginning of the future 70th week.
The spurious doctrine also hides the harlot who rides the 4th beast
for the first half of the 70th week.
This is religious skullduggery of the first order.
3. The next piece of dissinformation
is to try to say that
the 3.5 year ministry of Jesus fulfilled the
first half of the 70th week and therefore
we need not concern ourselves with it as a future reality.
This, of course, is a lie.
As Christian believers we should make it our business to
seek to understand what this first half of the 70th week,
is all about and what it means for us.
4. Another aspect to the partial preterist agenda is to
shield from view the future antichrist. He will
will come on the scene at the future Dan. 9:27
"covenant with many for one "seven", or seven year peace treaty
involving the sovereignty of Israel.
It is well known among evangelicals that this evil prince
will be "revealed" as the "beast" midway through the 7 years.
But this evil prince will
rule behind the scenes with the harlot
as global peacemaker during the first 3.5 years
of the
future 70th week.
Religious spirits
would very much like that information to be "cloaked".
We hear a lot about the tribulation in the 70th week.
But virtually nothing about the harlot who rules during those first 3.5 years
before the beast is revealed at midweek at the abomination of desolation.
5. There is a big smokescreen over the future harlot.
She will reign over ten global geopolitical regions during the first
3.5 years of the future 70th week.
The harlot rules as "beauty and the beast",
-Rev.17,
"sleeping with the enemy", her ultimate worldly lover/prince.
The Apostle John saw her come to an awful end. -Rev.17
Preterism, either the full 7 year preterism or
the increasingly popular partial 3.5 year
preterism is now appearing on the religious scene in a very big way.
This is spiritual dissinformation of the most grievous kind.
It is an attack by dark angels against the message God given to
us in Daniel 9:27. This concerns the signing of an
epic future 7 year covenant between
a profane peacemaker and Israel. Many other sovereign nations
will probably be involved. Dark religious spitits want to throw
a smokescreen over this message.
This is an important landmark along the
pathway of future holy history.
Brothers and sisters of Christ, this is no small matter.
God's people need this true and correct information on the correct
order of events in the end-time.
They need to know what God is doing in this time and
what they are expected to do.
We are to be His witnesses.
Dickering around with God's Holy Word is a grievous matter.
God has some very severe
things to say about those who would "remove the ancient landmarks".
-Prov.22:28
No one feels indifferent when someone has twisted around a roadsign
and they have been sent down the wrong road.
Christian teachers who espouse these doctrines
are in most cases quite sincere. And they may mean well.
But believing Christians who do not check up on what they are told
from scripture and "prove all things" can be badly deceived.
They then proceed to deceive others. They are not even aware
that they are being used by spirits of darkness with a hidden dark agenda
wrapped up in the doctrine.
They are deceived and are completely unaware of this.
Religious spirits are out to hide as much of the details of the
future 70th week
from evangelicals as they can get away with. If they cannot hide the
whole 70th week they will at least try to hide the first half of it.
Since the second half of the 7 years is so well documented their
current big push to say that the first half of the
70th week is "past history". This effectively "cloaks"
the future 7 year "covenant with many" which begins the 70th week.
This is the critical
signpost into the final 7 years of this age.- Dan. 9:27
Unfortunately many latter day Christians
are not studying the Bible. And they are not checking out
what the popular preachers have told them.
Preterist and partial preterist religious dissinformation
coming into the church from dark
angelic religious powers will use whomever they have duped
to promote their hidden agenda. The dark and wicked agenda
is keep the saints in the dark about future events
and have events catch them unprepared.
So what is the real agenda of partial preterism?
It is to hide, obscure, 'cloak', or put a smokescreen
over the future harlot system.
The harlot John saw in Revelation 17 & 18 will rule during
the first half of the 70th week.
This is what the spirits of darkness do not want Christians to know!
Yes, it can be a bit scary to realize this.
But here at this future time
we are looking at a grievously compromised established
"christian" religious system.
She will 'ride' a 'beast with ten horns'.
This would be a rulership over
the coming New World Order, a global
rulership over ten geo-political regions.
The harlot will rule until she loses power to the Antichrist
halfway through the seven years of the
70th week of Daniel.
At that time the Antichrist will be 'revealed'
as the Beast. He will no longer be 'Mr. Niceguy'.
He will stop the Temple sacrifices,(which will be restored by that time),
and commit the Abomination of Desolation.
This will involve an awful desecration of the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem.
At that point he will establish his 666 economic system which will require
an initiation. It will involve worship towards him and a mark,
a number, or perhaps an implanted chip
in the hand or forehead.
This is the 'Mark of the Beast'.
Yes
partial preterism
is bad news in that it is concealing the harlot.
Full preterism is even worse. It denies the whole future 70th week!
These false doctrines of preterism and partial preterism are
set up to blindside the saints.
These doctrines "cloak" the scriptures to prevent the saints from knowing
and preparing their hearts in Christ for what is going to happen.
Lucifer, the prince of darkness, seeks
to prevent God's people from knowing and embracing
their glorious destiny in the endtime.
All of these Ezra timelines are imprecise.
No Bible teachers using the Ezra date have even dared to
publish their timelines or show us the math to back up
their unfounded chronology.
They cannot make their timeline accurate to
the year let alone the month.
And they certainly have not laid out their timeline
accurate to within two days as Sir Robert Anderson has done for us with
his exceedinly
accurate timeline.
They only offer vague connections into the
rough vicinity of the years in question.
They fill in the gap in proper scholarship
with bluff and bravado and a loud amplification system.
These timelines of the 69 weeks based on Ezra are
simply teachings without Biblical foundation.
The real agenda in all this, as we saw,
is to offer a terminus date which leads to false
conclusions concerning the timing of events
in the endtime.
The key false conclusion the Ezra timelines end up with
is the erroneous idea that there is no future
70th week, only a half of a week. Such false information leaves the endtime
pilgrims without a chart
into the last days. It leaves the saints drifting, without encouragement,
in a state of confusion without hope, and without purpose.
It also leaves them open to end-time religious harlotry.
All this in a time when the saints will be going up onto
the stage of holy history.
They will bring their witness to Jesus Christ under increasing duress.
first by the harlot, and then by the Antichrist.
False information, as we see in these preterist doctrines,
is therefore
dissinformation
of the most grievous kind.
They amount to a betrayal of the congregation of God.
Such erroneous teachings leave the endtime saints bewildered and desolate.
This sets them up for
'the great falling away'
which our Apostle Paul warned us about. - 2Thes.2:3
The temple had been rebuilt for the people. But the people were not ready
for the temple. They were not yet ready
to function as God's holy congregation, set apart for Him.
By God's grace the Book of the Law was rediscovered in the following century.
The scribe Ezra read the Law to the people. As usually happens when God's Word
is spread abroad it started a religious revival.
Soon afterwards, in 457 b.c. Artaxerxes was pleased to issue an edict giving encouragement
to many Jews in exile to return to the Holy City of Jerusalem.
