OF THE 70 WEEKS OF DANIEL
"....UNTIL MESSIAH THE PRINCE, there shall be
7 WEEKS + 62 WEEKS". (Dan.9:25).
This is 69 WEEKS
or 69 "SEVENS" of YEARS
69 x 7 x 360 = 173,880 DAYS.
Sir Robert Anderson's discovery that God keeps a holy
record of earthly days
based on a heavenly calendar of precisely twelve 30 day months and
a holy perfect year of 360 days was sheer, God inspired, brilliance.
This unlocked the mystery of Daniel's prophecy of the 70 weeks.
As we saw in the article on
Biblical time
and the Hebrew calendar time information is issued from the throne of God
as years of 360 days, seasons of 90 days, and months of 30 days.
This is the way prophetic information is passed down to earth from the the God of Israel.
The final half of the
70th week is certainly laid out in Holy Scripture in terms of 360 day years.
This, as we shall discover,
is also the way the first 69 weeks of the seventy weeks of Daniel is reckoned.
In this regard we have a wonderful discovery to report. We can show Biblical proof of biblical/prophetic time being issued as years of 360.0000 days. Revelation 12 lays out the exile and nurturing of the woman, (God's covenant people), during the latter half of the final seven years of this age. That 3.5 biblical year period is the final half of the 70th week of Daniel. The Holy Spirit has issued the time of the exile of the woman to us using two different time units. Rev.12:6 gives the timespan to us as 1260 days. Eight verses later there is a restatement of the feeding/nurturing of the woman. Rev.12:14 gives the timespan to us again. But this time it is given to us as a "time, times and a half a time" or three and a half years. The 1260 days divided by 3.5 = 360 days.
This passage is a hidden key to Bible prophecy. It is, in effect, a "Rosetta Stone" for biblical/prophetic time. This passage of scripture in Revelation 12 neatly and simply unlocks for us the timing puzzle for the Seventy Weeks. If the 70th week of Daniel is reckoned as 7 years of 360 days then we must conclude that the first 69 weeks of the Seventy weeks of Daniel will be the same. They too must also be years of 360 days.
Let us turn now to focus in on those first 69 weeks
of the seventy weeks of Daniel.
Let us take a look again at our scripture and in particular verse 25.
Daniel 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.
From this scripture we can deduce that the rebuilding of the walls
and restoration of the sovereignty of Jerusalem would take
7 x 7 = 49 prophetic years.
From that point on and for another 62 weeks or "sevens"
or 7 x 62 = 434 biblical years
the holy timeline would
travel forward without pause until it came to a
climactic moment in holy history. After the passage of 7 + 62 = 69 (weeks) or 69 x 7 = 483 biblical years
Israel would see their Messiah. On this special day
they could expect to see their Prince.
Their Messiah would be at the gate.
And was He?
PALM SUNDAY.
DAY 173,880 MARKS THE TERMINUS OF THE 69 WEEKS.
Jesus/Yeshua had been among His people for three and a half years.
He had ministered to them in many ways during that time.
But on this day it would be different.
As the Passover lambs were being inspected for sacrifice Israel's long promised
Sacrifice Lamb was also being presented for inspection before the priests of Israel that year.
On this day, (it was four days before the Passover),
Jesus Christ/Yeshua Hamashiach would finally reveal Himself
politically to His people.
On this very day, (and on no other), they would see their long awaited Messiah
come in through the eastern gate of Jerusalem, riding upon a donkey.
That day was "Palm Sunday".
It was day 173,880, and Messiah was arriving right on time.
It was the tenth day of the Nisan/Passover moon.
This was four days before our Lord Jesus Christ/Yeshua Hamashiach was crucified.
As we shall discover, that momentous year, (a year that saw a late Passover to fit in some of the 24.7
the extra days), was
32 A.D.
So what was the total number of weeks, (or "sevens", involved in the time period here? It was
7 + 62 = 69 weeksThis then, is that all important number that Scotland Yard Inspector Sir Robert Anderson arrived at for the 69 weeks. He did this work in the late 19th century and wrote the book, "The Coming Prince" outlining his discoveries. For a fuller outlining of the calculations involved for the first 69 weeks see article #8 in this series or click on the chart below. These are calculations you can verify yourself.or 69 "sevens"
69 x 7 = 483 prophetic years
As we discussed in the article on Biblical time each year of these 483 prophetic years as they were issued from the Throne of God were years of 360 days.
= 483 x 360 = 173,880 days
THE 70 WEEKS BEGINS WITH THE EDICT OF ARTAXERXES LONGINUS.
THE AUTHORITY TO RESTORE THE POLITICAL SOVEREIGNTY OF JERUSALEM WAS GIVEN TO NEHEMIAH.
And how would the 70 weeks begin?
On a certain special day in holy history a king would issue a
royal edict. The story is told in
Nehemiah chapter 2. (Click to go to the passage).
And as the new moon of Nisan came up that year Nehemiah, his cupbearer, laid out the burden of a scattered people
to the supreme ruler of Persia.
Nehemiah had been sad as he had remembered Israel's former Passovers in happier times.
Now the holy city was under the sovereignty of the Medo-Persians, the superpower of that time.
And in spite of a rebuilt temple and the return of many from Judah the city was still in ruins.
It was a day of high drama. In fear of his very life Nehemiah had asked the king for something of a very sensitive nature. He was asking Artaxerxes for permission to restore the city of Jerusalem, its walls and its gates. He was, in effect, asking for a royal edict allowing the Jewish House of Judah to return with supplies, money, and royal authority to restore the sovereignty of the Holy City as a self-governing city-state. This was a very tense moment. He could have been executed for this.
But Nehemiah found favor in the eyes of the king. And the Medo-Persian ruler Artaxerxes Longinus issued that all important decree. It was a stupendous day in holy history. The edict given by Artaxerxes in his 20th year was highly significant. It gave permission for the political restoration of the city of Jerusalem.
Medo-Persia was the world superpower of the time. This edict would give authority for returning Jews to do something they had not been able to do before. They were being given this edict in the peace, security, and and superpower protection of Artaxerxes to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. The City of Shalom, the city of the coming Prince of Peace was to be restored. Soon its walls and gates would be rebuilt. And it would function as a sovereign city-state.
The key to all this was the stipulating of restoration of "gates and walls". The "gates" were the entrance to the city. This was not just a portal for entry. It was an enclosed structure, the place where the town elders sat and judged in all sorts of governmental matters. This edict, would set in motion the restoration of the integrity and sovereignty of Jerusalem as a self-governing city-state.
King Cyrus has been mentioned in this context of the 70 weeks prophecy. But this earlier edict was given nearly 90 years earlier in 537 B.C.. The edict of Cyrus is outlined in Ezra chapter 1. The edict given by Cyrus was just to allow the rebuilding of the Temple. But there is no mention of the restoration of gates and walls of the city of Jerusalem. Cyrus had not given this critical permission for restoration of political sovereignty. That would come in the century to follow. This is an extremely important point overlooked by many Bible teachers.
These earlier edicts allowed the Jews to return to the land of Israel and to rebuild the Hebrew Temple in Jerusalem. And they did return, under Zerubbabel. He oversaw the rebuilding of the temple which after the exhortations of Habakkuk finally got under way in earnest in the time period 520 B.C. to 516 B.C.
The following century would see another significant event in 457 B.C.. It was the discovery of the scrolls of the Torah. Ezra, who was an administrator, read the Law to the people. This led to a spiritual revival and a further return of large numbers of former captives back to Jerusalem. It was Ezra who prepared the hearts of the people for the responsibilities that would come later when the city of Jerusalem finally enjoyed its political restoration.
We know that Zerubbabel and Ezra had not restored the walls and gates. Because when Nehemiah came along eight years after Ezra in 445 B.C. we read (in Nehemiah 2) that he had received the sad news that the gates of Jerusalem were still charred, burned with fire. And the walls of Jerusalem were still in shambles. This is what prompted him to approach the king as his cup-bearer and to pop the big question.
And so it was, that in 445 B.C., in the month of Nisan, the Persian King Artaxerxes Longinus in his 20th year would receive a petition from his Jewish butler. And he would issue a royal edict to restore Jerusalem, God's holy city. (Neh.1-2) This was not an obscure event. It was a highly significant event in holy history. This edict would set the clock ticking for the seventy weeks of Daniel.
173,880 days later, the people of God, and
the city of Jerusalem, would come to a pivotal and epic
moment in holy history.
In all of His three and a half year earthly ministry this particular day
would be a time like no other.
On this specific and momentous day, in the springtime of 32 A.D.,
in the month of Nisan, and on the 10th day of the moon,
they would see their coming Prince!
On this special day He would enter into His holy city!
On to Section 7
UNTO MESSIAH the PRINCE;
ADDRESSING the GAP BETWEEN the 69th and the 70th WEEK.
The FIRST COMING and the SECOND COMING.
Back to Section 5
The LUNAR CYCLES and the HEBREW CALENDAR.
Some more devotional articles on apocalyptic Biblical themes for the enquiring Christian.
