Daniel 9:1-26 “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans-- (2) in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. (3) Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes…. (20) Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God, (21) yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. (22) And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. (23) At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision: (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. (26) “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself."
The next key event that we will discuss is the first coming of the Messiah. The ultimate prophetic event that has already been fulfilled is the first coming of Jesus the Messiah, His death, His burial, and His resurrection. Although there are a multitude of prophetic scriptures dealing with this particular event, in this section we will nevertheless only discuss the passage of scripture quoted above. The reason for that is because this particular passage ties the nation of Israel, which is the subject of this series, directly to the first coming of the Messiah. The context of this passage is that Daniel tells us, that in the first year of King Darius the son of Ahasuerus, the Lord revealed to him Jeremiah's prophecy about the Jewish exile ending after seventy years. The Bible mentions two Kings Darius', i.e. Darius the Mede (Daniel 5:31) and Darius the Persian (Nehemiah 12:22). Darius the son of Ahasuerus, (Darius the Mede) reigned between 542 and 539 BC[1], and Darius the Persian, (Darius the Great) reigned between 522 and 486 BC[2]. And so we see that the passage of scripture quoted above refers to King Darius the Mede. Historical records reveal to us that the first year of the reign of King Darius the Mede took place in approximately the year 542 BC. And so we see that because Daniel knew that Judah’s exile began in the year 609 BC, i.e. during the reign of Necho King of Egypt, he therefore understood that the Jews seventy year exile period would be completed in the year 539 BC, which at the time of Daniel’s petition, was just three years away. And so Daniel began to petition the Lord to bring Jeremiah’s prophecy to fulfilment. In response to Daniel’s prayer, God dispatched the angel Gabriel, who appeared to Daniel in a vision. In the vision Gabriel spoke to Daniel, giving him revelation knowledge about two future events; the first event was the restoration of Jerusalem, and the second event was the coming of the Messiah. In the vision, Gabriel spoke about three specific timelines, i.e. 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and 70 weeks. It is self-evident that each week in this passage represented 7 years. And so the 7 weeks equated to 49 years, the 62 weeks equated to 434 years and the 70 weeks equated to 490 years. Gabriel then linked each of the three timelines to one specific starting point, i.e. the command to restore and build Jerusalem. We have already seen that there were a total of four edicts issued to restore and build Jerusalem: the first edict was issued by King Cyrus of Persia in 539 BC (Ezra 1), the second edict was issued by King Darius I of Persia in 520 BC (Ezra 6), and the third edict was issued by King Artaxerxes I of Persia in 458 BC (Ezra 7), and the fourth and final edict was issued again by King Artaxerxes in 444 BC (Nehemiah 2). Of the four edicts issued, three were original and one was a repeat. The three original edicts were issued by Cyrus and Artaxerxes, while Darius' edict was issued in confirmation of Cyrus' original edict (Ezra 6:1-8). As we will see in this section, each of the three original edicts issued was linked to one of the three timelines mentioned by the angel Gabriel. We will also see in this section that the first timeline of 7 weeks was linked to the restoration of Jerusalem, and the other two timelines of 62 and 70 weeks, were linked to the coming of the Messiah. So for us to understand the vision, we will discuss each timeline separately.
Ezra 1:1-2 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, (2) Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah.
Because it deals specifically with Daniel's inquiry about the ending of the Jewish exile, we will discuss the 7-week timeline first. In the previous passage, we saw that Gabriel linked the 7-week timeline with a command to restore and build Jerusalem. And so we see that Gabriel informed Daniel that 7 weeks (49 years) after Jerusalem’s destruction, the command would be given for Jerusalem to be rebuilt; thus assuring Daniel that, just as Jeremiah had prophesied, the Jewish exile was about to end. We have already established that Jerusalem was destroyed in the year 587 BC. And so in fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy, King Cyrus issued the above-quoted edict to restore and rebuild Jerusalem in the year 539 BC. The year 539 BC was exactly 49 years (7 weeks) after the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place in the year 587 BC; and the year 539 BC was exactly 70 years after the first exile of the Jews, which took place in the year 609 BC. And so we see that in the year 539 BC, the 7-week timeline was fulfilled exactly as Gabriel had predicted.
Ezra 7:1-27 Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, … (8) And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. … (11) This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave Ezra the priest, the scribe, expert in the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of His statutes to Israel: (12) Artaxerxes, king of kings, To Ezra the priest, a scribe of the Law of the God of heaven: Perfect peace, and so forth. (13) I issue a decree that all those of the people of Israel and the priests and Levites in my realm, who volunteer to go up to Jerusalem, may go with you. … (19) Also the articles that are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem. (20) And whatever more may be needed for the house of your God, which you may have occasion to provide, pay for it from the king's treasury. (21) And I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the region beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, let it be done diligently, … (27) Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem,
As I have already mentioned, both the 62 and 70-week timelines are linked to the coming of the Messiah. Of the two timelines, the 70-week timeline is the one most commonly recognised in the church, and so we will discuss that timeline first. In the passage of scripture describing Daniel’s vision, we saw that Gabriel told Daniel that 70 weeks were determined when transgressions and sins would come to an end, because there would be reconciliation for iniquity and the bringing in of everlasting righteousness, and that vision and prophecy would be sealed up and that the Most Holy would be anointed. The Most Holy in this passage is referring to Jesus the Messiah. Gabriel then continued in that passage to tell Daniel that when this future event took place, the Messiah would be cut off, but not for Himself. In other words, He would be cut off for the sins of the world. And so we see that Gabriel was revealing that the event of the Messiah’s crucifixion would take place 490 years (70 weeks) into the future. Gabriel then gave us the starting date from which to calculate the 490 years, by linking it to the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. We have already established that there were three original edicts which were issued for the restoration of Jerusalem, i.e. one issued by King Cyrus and two issued by King Artaxerxes. And so the question is asked, of the three, which edict was linked to the 70-week timeline? We have already established that King Cyrus' edict was linked to the 7-week timeline, and so that leaves the two edicts issued by King Artaxerxes. As we will see in this section, Gabriel linked the 70-week timeline with the first edict issued by King Artaxerxes I of Persia. The above-quoted passage of scripture is a record of the first edict issued by Artaxerxes King of Persia, authorizing the Jews to restore the city of Jerusalem and the Second Temple. This passage reveals to us that this decree was issued in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes of Persia. Historical records reveal to us that the seventh year of the reign of King Artaxerxes took place in the year 458 BC[3]. And so if we calculate 490 years into the future, using the year 458 BC as the starting point, it equates to the year 31 AD. In other words, Gabriel predicted that the Lord Jesus would be crucified in the year 31 AD, i.e. the Messiah would be cut off, but not for Himself. Both scriptural and historical accounts concur that 31 AD was the year that the Lord Jesus was crucified[4].
Michael E.B. Maher
[4] https://renewaljournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/WOODBRIDGE-2022-When-was-Jesus-crucified-Evidence-pointing-to-31-AD.pdf
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