|
About
607 B.C. Daniel said 70 Weeks
(before the Window closes for the Jews)
As we know, the "Lost Sheep of Israel" was their Messiah's
(Mashiach ben David) main focus/ministry.
After 490 years
exactly to the day, the Gentiles became the main focus because the
Jews had missed the time of their own visitation.
If only the First
Century Jerusalem Jews had studied their own Scripture,
and recognized the "day of their visitation" of
their own Messiah, history may have been very different.
Writing in about 607 BC, the Prophet
Daniel prophesized the exact date the Messiah
(Jesus) would
ride into Jerusalem on a colt.
Who else claiming
to be the Messiah, and doing many wondrous miracles rode
into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey on Palm Sunday,
April 6, 32 A.D.?
This was a very singular moment in the history of Israel.
I do not know if you are aware of this, but when our Lord was riding down that
mountain on a donkey into the city of Jerusalem, it was an historic event, in fulfillment of
several prophecies of the Old Testament.
According to the reckoning of Sir
Robert Anderson, former head of Scotland Yard, an English layman with a great
knowledge of the Bible, the precise date on which Daniel's prophecy was to be
fulfilled was this day. According to the actual time which had elapsed, if
Israel had been aware of it, this was the predicted hour, to the very second, in
which our Lord was to present himself as King to Israel.
The 70th weeks of Daniel
Delusion - A prophecy that Jesus already fulfilled.
We at Bible Probe believe that the 70 weeks of the Daniel Prophecy have nothing to do with
tribulation and the antichrist. There is no text in the
Bible that teaches a 7-year tribulation. Daniel 9:27 speaks
of
nothing to do with an antichrist, a rebuilt Jewish Temple,
or even tribulation. Nothing! That's because it is all about
Jesus Christ, the Messiah AND the Jewish people. And it does
not speak of an Antichrist making or breaking a covenant. It
speaks of Jesus Christ confirming the covenant or "the
promises made to the fathers (see Romans 15:8 and Galatians
3:17). Jesus said, this is My blood of the new covenant.
During His 3.5
years of ministry Jesus was Himself focused on saving "the
lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 10:6).
This accounts for what we (Gentiles) often
think strange --that is that the Lord was adamant in His saying
basically ---His work was with/for the Jews who were treating him
badly, and not for Non-Jews.
Daniel 9:27 says; "He 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".
We believe that many (especially Evangelicals) have
wrongfully applied this somehow to the coming Antichrist, when in
reality, Daniel is speaking of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This
misinterpretation goes back to erroneous teachings of the Christian
Church about the end times --back at least 300 years.
The Antichrist
is an altogether different matter addressed in Revelation.
By offering Himself as
the perfect sacrifice, Jesus put an end to the Levitical
sacrifices --which ceased to be pleasing to God the moment
Jesus died on the cross and the veil in the Jewish Temple
was torn (Matthew 27:51).
One week refers to seven years in bible time. This seven
weeks was 3.5 years given to the Jews during Christ's
earthly ministry. and 3.5 years after His crucifixion.
Many Evangelicals and other Christians and Christian book
writers are also deluded to think the 70th week of Daniel
went on hold for 2000 years. When in fact it happened just
like clockwork and ended when Stephen (the first martyr) was
"officially" stoned by the direction of the Jewish Sanhedrin
at the end of the 70th week (3.5 yrs after Christ's
crucifixion). This is the 7-year period spoken of.
Gabriel's message to Daniel the prophet
subdivided the period into three smaller periods of seven weeks
(verse 25), sixty-two weeks in verse 25, and one week (in verse 27).
So, 7+62+1=70. This has caused much confusion since verse 26 tells
us the Messiah was to be cut off in the 69th week (483 years from
the starting point). So, what happened to the 70th week? There
simply is no precedent for extending the 69-70th week over 2000
years as a lot of Christians and rapture promoters do. There is no
example in Scripture of a stated time period starting, stopping, and
then starting again.
GOSPEL SWITCHES TO THE GENTILES AFTER 70th WEEK OF DANIEL
"National Rejection"
The second 3.5 years of the "70th week" was also given to
the Jews as a second chance (Acts 1-6), but this 7 years of
ministry officially ended when the Jewish Sanhedrin (highest
Jewish office) rejected Jesus and His Gospel a second time
and they stoned Stephen. Immediately the 70th week ended, and the
Gospel then went to the Gentiles. You will recall also, that
the great Jewish man named Paul was "recruited" at the end of this 7 years to minister
to the Gentiles. His name was changed from the Jewish Saul
to the Gentile Paul (Romans 11:13) which signified the new
focus. Also, at this time God gave Peter a vision
indicating it was
now time to preach to the Gentiles (Acts 10:1-28)
Regarding the "abomination of desolation". Jesus was
either speaking of the time in 70 AD when his followers were to
flee Jerusalem, because the Roman armies under Titus would
attack Jerusalem and destroy the 2nd Temple. In
Matthew 24:15 Jesus told His followers, "When you see
Jerusalem surrounded by
armies (Roman armies) then know that its desolation is
near". Why did this happen? In Matthew 23-38 Jesus
told the Pharisees: "See! Your house is left to you
desolate". That's because of the "abominations" of the
Pharisees. Interesting enough, we know from history
that Christians took the Lord's advice and had left the city.
1 million Jews were massacred in Jerusalem under Titus. But no
Christians were killed there. Or, a better candidate for this
is that Jesus was speaking of the pagan monstrosity that sits atop
the top of the Temple Mount even today. Of course I am
speaking of the Dome of the Rock and , built during the 685 to 705
AD period . Jewish Rabbis know this structure makes the temple
mount desolate.
See reference for the below paragraph,
here:
An "abomination" is a sin committed before the face of God that
causes God to spew the sinner out of His presence. Abominations can
only be committed by those who have near access to God, particularly
priests but more generally the whole of Israel as the priestly
people. When Israel is guilty of "abominations," they are in danger
of "desolations." Pharisees and scribes had been putting stumbling
blocks ("scandals") in the way of the "little ones" of Israel.
The Pharisees were guilty of mocking Jesus and His teachings.
Though the Pharisees try to make themselves appear righteous before
God, they are in fact abominable. Addressing His disciples, Jesus warns them in very strong terms not
to follow their example: Better that they were drowned in the sea,
than to cause one to sin.
JEWISH SCHOLARS FAILED MISERABLY IN THE 1st CENTURY:
They failed to see that Jesus Christ was the one predicted
by Daniel and He would die in the middle of the 70th week,
per Daniel 9:27.
The challenge to us right now, is the same
challenge the 1st century Jews had in vis-à-vis the coming of the
Messiah. In retrospect, we wonder how the devout leadership of
Israel could have missed these clear signs from prophecy, especially
Daniel's prophecy. Yet they did. It wasn’t that these Jews
were not on the lookout and watching for the signs given in Torah.
They were just looking for the wrong kind of signs. They
thought there would be something sensational. The Jews of this
time wanted a sign from Heaven. What they got was the Word of
God, the 2nd person of the Triune God, the builder of heaven and
earth Himself.
THE BOOK OF DANIEL IS AWESOME! It was written
by Daniel from a prophecy the angel Gabriel gave him while
he and the Jews were undergoing their exile in Babylon. It
tells the Jews that God had given them a second chance to
return to Israel and rebuild their Temple to get ready
to ultimately receive their Messiah (Jesus Christ). It is an
actual blueprint to the day Jesus would ride into Jerusalem
on a donkey, and the first day (Psalm Sunday) Jesus (a son
of David) would allow them to proclaim Him King
-- the actual day He would die on the cross - to the actual
day (end of 70th week-3.5 years after His crucifixion) that
the door would slam shut on the Jews.
DANIEL 9:24-27:
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. 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. And after threescore and two
weeks shall Messiah be cut off,
but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall
come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end
thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war
desolations are determined. And he 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,
and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it
desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined
shall be poured upon the desolate.
According to Sir Robert Anderson this edict to rebuild Jerusalem was issued on March 14, 445
BC by Artaxerxes Longimanus of Persia. Exactly 173,880 days
later
Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. This was the first
time
Jesus allowed Himself to be publicly proclaimed as the
Messiah
and King. As you will recall, prior to this Jesus was always
saying go and tell no one (about his miracles). He was afraid
that the people would believe Him only for His signs/miracles. A week later Jesus was "cut off" or crucified.
We know that this happened between 445-444 BC
This prophesy refers to weeks of years, or 483 biblical
years. Beginning with the exact day on which Persian King
Artaxerxes gave the decree to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem
(March 14, 445), exactly 173,880 days later--Palm Sunday,
April 6, 32 A.D. This is the precise number of days spanning
483 biblical years, which were then measured as 12 months of
30 days each.
Old Testament prophecies were given in old
testament years, which had 360 days.
The formula for this is converting Old
Testament years into what we are
on (solar years-or 365.24 days) is this:
OT prophetic years of 483 times .9857 =
476 solar years
Artaxerxes' decree in 444 BC
+ 476 years would mean the Messiah would be "cut off" in 32 AD, but
not later than 34 AD.
The prophet Malachi wrote the last Old
Testament book in about 396 BC. This completed the Old
Testament to the Jews. From 396 BC till the arrival of Jesus
the Jews would not be in communication with God. One Jewish
Rabbi said in 200 BC; " The Holy Spirit has departed from Israel".
Romans 11:8 says that God blinded the Jews' eyes so that they would
not recognize their own Messiah (Yeshua). They have been
spiritually blinded ever since 396 BC.
Daniel's prophecy is based on seventy (70) periods of seven
year cycles. Literally, the Old Testament called for the
land in Israel to lie idle every seventh year. "Six years
you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your
vineyard and gather in its crop, but during the seventh year
the land shall have a Sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the Lord. .
. . the land shall have a sabbatical year" (Lev. 25:3-5).
Keeping the seven year cycles in mind, Daniel's prophecy
reveals that seven "cycles of seven years" would be counted
to start the prophecy, which equals 49 years. So the first
segment of Daniel's "time-oriented" prophecy culminated in a
year of Jubilee, the 50th year.
The second time span in Daniel's prophecy calls for a period
of sixty-two (62) "cycles of seven years," which equals 434
years. Adding the initial 49 years to the 434 years equals
483 Old Testament years.
According to Daniel's prophecy, the Messiah was to be killed
in Jerusalem 483 Old Testament years after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem.
Let's multiply the 483 years by the number of days in a
year. Our solar calendar has 365¼ days each year. The Hebrew
lunar calendar contains 354 days in a normal year or 383
days in a leap year. Which length is correct? Let's assume
that the length of a year revealed in the Bible is correct.
What will we find?
When Jesus was asked if one should forgive
their neighbors 7 times --don't you find Jesus' answer
prophetically curious? His answer; no forgive them 70 times 7
(=490) prophetical vis-à-vis Jesus knew that from the prophecy of
Daniel that God had given the Jews only 490 years (483 from decree
to rebuild Jerusalem + 7 more yrs) to recognize and accept their
Messiah.
The Bible uses 360 days for a biblical year. We find the 360
days in the books of Genesis [Noah], the Torah [Moses],
Daniel, and Revelation. Consider the 360 day year found in
the book of Revelation. They [Gentiles] will trample on the
holy city for 42 months. And I will give power to my two
witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in
sackcloth (Rev. 11:2-3).
By this verse, 1,260 days equal 42 months. We divide the
1,260 days by 42 months to arrive at 30 days in a month.
Since there are 12 months in a year, we multiply 30 x 12 to
equal 360 days in a year.
Now we can get the exact length of Daniel's time line. We
must multiply 483 years by 360 days in a year to get 173,880
days.
The prophet Zechariah wrote in about 520 BC (Zechariah 9:9) :
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem:
behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation;
lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
Daniel 9:25
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 (69 weeks
= 483 yrs x 360 days = 173,880 days): the
street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
We know that Nehemiah had a terrible troubling time rebuilding the
walls of Jerusalem (see Neh 4:1-23).
Daniel also says below that two startling historical things would
follow Messiah's appearance. First, Messiah would be cut off.
Second, the city of Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed
shortly thereafter. The Romans "flooded" into Jerusalem and
massacred hundreds of thousands of Jews. See Josephus'
"Antiquities" for details on the Romans "flooding" into Jerusalem.
Daniel 9:26
(Speaking of the first Prince-Jesus) And after threescore and two weeks (32
years - the age Jesus was) shall Messiah be cut off, but not
for himself: (speaking of the second "Prince" Romans)
and the people of the prince that shall come shall
destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be
with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are
determined.
I think reading into anything the Jewish
prophets said as somehow having anything to do with anything other
than Israel is wrong. The prophets were focused on Israel and most
often, Jerusalem, specifically. Revelation and the Antichrist is a
different matter/focus altogether.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 is probably speaking of the Second Coming of
the Lord Jesus.
| For the
Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of
God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:
and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians
4:16-17 |
Dome of the Rock is the
"Abomination of Desolation"
|
What to do with Daniel 12:11-13's 1290 days and 1335
days?
|
11 And from the time that
the daily sacrifice shall be taken away,
and the abomination that maketh desolate
set up, there shall be a thousand two
hundred and ninety days. 12 Blessed
is he that waiteth, and cometh to the
thousand three hundred and five and
thirty days. 13 But go
thou thy way till the end be: for thou
shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the
end of the days. |
1290 & 1335 days of
Daniel
The "abomination of
desolation" already happened exactly on
schedule (Daniel's 1290 day prophecy).
When the pagan Islamic Dome of the Rock and the
al-Aksa Mosque were built on the temple mount,
it made the temple mount "desolated" or
contaminated. This was built
during the 685 to
705 AD period. During Daniel's day, we
know that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the First
Temple in 586 BC. We also know from
Jeremiah that sacrifices occurred on the temple
mount for a year or so after it was destroyed.
|
Jeremiah 41:5: That there came
certain from Shechem, from Shiloh,
and from Samaria, even fourscore
men, having their beards shaven, and
their clothes rent, and having cut
themselves, with offerings and
incense in their hand, to bring them
to the house of the LORD. |
So what happened 1290 old
testament years in a period of several years
surrounding 586 BC? The Muslim Dome of
the Rock was built on the Temple Mount!
This abomination was
built during the 685 to 705 AD period.
During Daniel's day, we know that
Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the First Temple in
586 BC. We also know from Jeremiah 41:5 that
sacrifices occurred on the temple mount for
a year or so after The first Jewish Temple
it was destroyed.
The formula for this is converting Old
Testament years (360 days a year) into what
we are on (solar years-or 365.24 days) is
this:
OT prophetic years of 1290 times .9857 =
1271 solar years.
Take 705 AD as the year for the Dome of the
Rock and add 586 and you get 1291. That's
Exactly as Daniel said when you add the
short time Jews visited the mount to make
sacrifices after it was destroyed.
1335 - the
"double check" number:
It
gets even better than this. The Prophet Daniel
gave us another number that when added with
the same formula, takes us exactly to 1948
--when the Jews were restored to the land.
Remember 1948 was their Independence Day
when they officially became a nation again
after 2500 years.
1335 times .9857 = 1316.
1948 (when Israel became a nation) minus
1316, brings us back to another date the God
of prophecy wants us to be mindful of.
That equals 632 AD, the date that
Muhammad of Islam died.
|
|
Summary
|
A chronological summary of
Daniel 9:24-26 |
1. There would be a decree to rebuild
Jerusalem.
2. Jerusalem and the Temple would be rebuilt.
3. Then an anointed one (messiah) would be
enter Jerusalem as king, and then "cut off" (an
idiom for "rejected" or "killed").
4. Then Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed
again.
|
|
What
Happened |
All of these events later
happened, in the same order in which they are
described in Daniel 9:24-26:
1. After the Medo-Persians had
conquered the Babylonian empire about 2540 years
ago, they ruled a vast empire that included the land
of Israel. About 445 BC, Persian king Artaxerxes
gave permission to the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem,
which was still in ruins after having been destroyed
earlier by the Babylonians.
2. The Jews rebuilt the Temple and the city of
Jerusalem.
3. Then, in about 32-33 AD, Jesus entered Jerusalem
as the Messiah on the
173,880th day. That
day (Psalm Sunday) was the first time Jesus ever
allowed anyone to address Him as king. This
was the Messiah (Mashiach
ben David), who had been
promised by Old Testament prophets. But, many people
rejected Jesus as the Messiah and He was crucified
by the Romans. But death could not contain
Him. He rose and was witnessed by many.
4. About 40 years after Jesus was crucified, the
Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. The
Romans flooded in, murdering hundreds of thousands.
The Temple has not been rebuilt since then.
|
History:
Jews were commanded in
Leviticus (Leviticus means "The Law") 25:1-7 to
let their land lie unused every seventh year. These
Jews honored their sabbatical days - by not working or plowing
on the Sabbath day. But because their hearts were
greedy and not right or believing - they decided to plant
and harvest even on this sabbatical year (7th year). God,
acting like a Father who still loves the Jews - chastised
the Jews of that time by sending them into bondage in Babylon
for 490 years - the exact amount of time they ignored God's
sabbatical years Law. Astonishing enough - God's prophet
Jeremiah warned them of this in Jeremiah 25:9-11 which
reads in part:
|
Behold, I
will send and take all families of the north,
saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar the king
of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them
against this land, and against the inhabitants
thereof, and against all the nations round about......
And this whole
land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment;
and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon
seventy years.
|
Toward the end of their
captivity in Babylon, some Jews visited Israel and found
it in desolation. They requested of the King of Babylon
that they be helped in rebuilding Jerusalem, including its
wall.
Speaking of the rebuilding
of Jerusalem, the
prophet Nehemiah
2:1 says; "And it came
to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of
Artaxerxes the king....." Note: No exact day
in the month of Nisan was given. But according to
Jewish tradition - when no exact day is given the first
day of the month is assumed (the first day of Nisan would
be March 14, 445 B.C.).
Artaxerxes came to power
in 465 B.C., 20 years later would make this 445 B.C., or
March 14, 445 B.C. So, on March 14, 445 B.C. the rebuilding
of Jerusalem began.
It took "Seven weeks
(or 49 years)" to rebuild Jerusalem and its walls.
Daniel also said Messiah would be cut off
and the city of Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed
shortly thereafter.
|
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.
|
| Jesus Comes from
Galilee and teaches in Caparnum
Isaiah 9:1-2 (written: 712 BC
Before Christ)
"Nevertheless, the dimness shall not be such as
was in her vexation, when at first he lightly
afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of
Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously
afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond
Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The
people that walked in darkness have seen a great
light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow
of death, upon them hath the light shined."
Jesus
Teaching in Capernaum:
Matthew 4:12-16 "Now when Jesus had
heard that John was cast into prison, he
departed into Galilee; And leaving Nazareth he
came and dwelt in to
Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and dwelt
in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in
the borders of Zebulon and Nephthalim: That it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias
the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon and the
land of
Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond
Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people
which sat in darkness saw great light; and to
them which sat in the region and shadow of death
light is sprung up." |
The first time Jesus ever
allowed his apostles or the Jews to call Him King was the
day He rode into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey. This
was Psalm Sunday, April 6, 32 A.D., exactly 173,880 days
(69 weeks = 483 yrs x 360 days = 173,880 days) after
the command to rebuild Jerusalem.
|
Zechariah wrote in about 520 BC (Zechariah 9:9):
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem:
behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation;
lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
|
| Speaking
of the Psalm Sunday Jesus rode into
Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey:
John 12:13-15 [they] Took
branches of palm trees, and went forth
to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed
is the King of Israel that cometh in the
name of the Lord. And jesus, when he had
found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is
written, Fear not, daughter of Sion:
behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an
ass's colt.
|
|
