If you have been a student of the Book of Daniel and found that it is a little difficult to understand when it comes to chapter 9, you are not alone. I have been studying this amazing book and specifically chapter 9 for almost 36 years. From the moment that I first heard the prophecy of the 70 weeks taught, I was held captive by it’s mystery.
To consider that the Lord revealed the exact date of His first coming to earth as being on Palm Sunday, April 6, 32 a.d amazed me.
For any serious student of the Bible, the study of Biblical Prophecy is the most fascinating aspects of devoting yourself to diligent Bible Study. Any person who can claim that the Bible is not the Word of God and has no relevance for today, has never studied the prophecies of Daniel chapter 9.
In some of the former commentaries on the Book of Daniel, there has been several errors in interpreting chapter 9 in relation to the actual historical events surrounding Daniel’s Prophecy.
One of these errors was that the 70 years of Israel’s captivity by Babylon was to end with the coming of the Messiah. We know from history that the actual captivity lasted only 62 years. According to Daniel chapter 9:25, the period of time from the captivity until the coming of the Messiah was 62 weeks of years plus 7 weeks of years.
The 70 weeks of years foretold by Daniel’s prophecy, or 490 years are actually related to the “Desolation’s of Israel”.
These errors came from the fact that some former interpreters of Daniel’s Prophecy did not distinguish between:
1. The Servitude of Israel.
2. The Captivity of Israel.
3. The Desolations of Israel.
Because the entire nation of Israel forgot the Lord and did not obey His Word, their national sin caused the whole nation to come under the first part of the Prophecy of Daniel: “The Servitude”.
For 70 years Israel was brought under the Servitude of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and placed it under “Servitude” to him. Nebuchadnezzar left the city of Jerusalem and the majority of the people alone and took back to Babylon only Daniel and a few other select young men for his court. The King of Jerusalem, Jehoiakim was allowed to remain as the “Vassal King” of Jerusalem but he rebelled in his third year against Nebuchadnezzar’s rule over him. . These events are recorded in history and the Bible, as being the “Third year of King Jehoiakim” in 606 b.c.
2Kings 24:1 “In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.”
The people who lived in Jerusalem and were left there by Nebuchadnezzar, would not submit to his rulership and continued in their rebellion against the Prophets who warned that the Servitude to Babylon was God’s judgment for their sin of rejecting and forgetting Him.
In 598 b.c., the second judgment called “The Captivity” came upon Israel. On his second coming to Israel, Nebuchadnezzar now took captive most all of those who remained in Jerusalem, back to Babylon.
Those who had been removed from Jerusalem and taken to Babylon continued in their rebellion and un repentance to God, despite the warnings from:
Jeremiah remaining in Jerusalem.
Ezekiel in Babylon prophesying to those taken captive.
Nine years passed until the third and final judgement of “The Desolation’s” That God spoke to Israel through Jeremiah, telling them that this judgment would last for 70 years.
In 589 b.c. the Babylonian army invaded Judea and the City of Jerusalem destroying the city and burning the Temple.
Both “The Servitude” and “The Captivity” judgements ended by the decree of Cyrus in 536 b.c This decree permitted those taken from Jerusalem to Babylon, to return to Jerusalem.
Daniel Chapter 9, verse 2 states that “The Desolations” were to last for 70 years and that this would be the basis for the prophecy of the 70 weeks of Daniel. The beginning of the 70 weeks of years started on the day that the people returned to Jerusalem and inhabited the city.
Daniel 9:2 “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.“
From history we know that on the Jewish calendar, the Desolations began on the 1oth day of “Tebeth”. The Bible confirms this date as being “The 9th year of Zedekiah the King”
2Kings 25:1-9 “Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around. So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled at night by way of the gate between two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were still encamped all around against the city. And the king went by way of the plain. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him. So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment on him. Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon. And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month (which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the LORD and the king’s house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire.“
We know from studying the books of Revelation and Daniel that the prophecies of the last days in which Daniel speaks are based on the Babylonian calendar of 360 days.
If we compute the formula given by Gabriel to Daniel in the Prophecy of chapter 9, we see that “Seventy Weeks are determined for the nation of Israel”. We know from Genesis Chapter 29 that when Laban tells Jacob to work another 7 years to pay the dowery of Rachel, he uses the Old Testament phrase “Fulfill her week”…serve me still another seven years.”
Genesis 29:27 “Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also (Rachel) for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.”
A prophetic week then is seven years.
Seventy Weeks of years is 70 x 7 or 490 years.
If we take the prophetic 360 days per year and times this by the 70 years of the captivity, we get 25,200 days.
Again from Jewish history we know that the 13th of December is the Julian calendar date that corresponds to the Jewish calendar date of 10th of “Tebeth” in 589 b.c., the date that the “Desolations of Israel”began.
The Desolation’s of Israel ended on December 17, 520 b.c. This was the 24th day of the 9th month, of the 2nd year of Darius the King of Persia. Interesting that history and the Bible both tell us that this is the exact date that the foundation of the second temple was laid.
Haggai 2:18-19 “Consider now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the LORD’S temple was laid—consider it: Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit. But from this day I will bless you.”
Most people do not know that when a Persian king made a law or decree, that law could not be broken even by the king himself who made it. Kings of Persia were considered to be “gods” and as such their words could not be changed once they were spoken.
When Cyrus, King of Persia made the decree to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, that order was not carried out for another 17 years because of the government red tape and bureaucracy.
How is it possible that the word of a living god/king which cannot be changed under any curcumstance, was delayed by 17 years from the time he uttered the words?
Because, the Lord would not allow the foundation of the second temple to be laid until He had completed “The Desolation’s of Israel”, as He had spoken. The Word of God always supersedes the words of kings and all men.
This brings us to the Prophecy of Daniel chapter 9:
Daniel 9:24 “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. “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. “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”
First: The beginning of the 70 weeks of years is to begin upon the decree to “Restore and Rebuild” Jerusalem.
Second: In recorded history there is only one such decree ever recorded.
Third: This decree is a matter of history and happened on March 14, 445 b.c., being issued by Artaxerxes the King of Persia.
Fourth: In recorded history we know that the city of Jerusalem was rebuilt starting on that exact day.
Fifth: The Julian calendar date of the 1st of Nissan is the 14th day of March, 445 b.c
Sixth: If we take 69 times 7 weeks of years, we get 483 years. Times this by 360 days per year, we get 173,880 days.
Seventh: Taking the date that Artaxerxes issued the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem as March 14, 445 b.c. and adding 173,880 days, we come to April 6th, 32 a.d. This is the exact day recorded in the Bible as being the Palm Sunday before Jesus was crucified when He rode into Jerusalem and for the first time ever, allowed Himself to be proclaimed as “The Messiah”.
Matthew 21:4 “All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”to the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! Hosanna in the highest!”
Every other time that Jesus had been encouraged to announce to the world that He was the long awaited Messiah He refused stating that “His time had not yet come…” Jesus was waiting to fulfill the day prophesied by Daniel 9 and Zechariah 9:9 as being the date the Messiah would come riding into Jerusalem, “lowly and riding on the foal of a donkey“. Jesus came on this date and fulfilled Daniel and Zechariah’s prophecies, thereby proving that He is the Messiah, the King of the Jews and Savior of the World.
Rob Robinson
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