Segment 6
– Daniel 9 –
“God’s Timing Is So
Perfect”
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Step
3
History reveals the
Jewish nation synchronized Nisan 1,
with the sighting of the first
crescent of a new moon at the time of
Christ. (Incidentally, this practice
has not changed since the time of
Christ.) Depending on the visibility
afforded by weather and the position
of Sun and the orbit of the moon, the
first sighting of the crescent of a
new moon in Jerusalem occurs between
sixteen and forty hours after
conjunction. Since it is impossible
to precisely determine when the
crescent of a new moon was sighted in
A.D. 30, we have to let Bible facts
help put the pieces together. The
following facts help us to determine
the correct date: 1) since the
sighting of a new moon crescent
usually occurs two days after a new
moon; 2) since Jesus was arrested on
the night after He ate the Passover
with His disciples; and 3) since the
Jews observed Nisan 15 on a
seventh-day Sabbath the year of
Christ’s death (John 19:14-31),
these facts indicate Nisan 1 (using
the Babylonian calendar) had to occur
on Sabbath (March 25), and the death
of Jesus occurred on Nisan 14, which
was Friday, April 7.
The Lamb of God died
on the cross about 3 p.m. Friday
afternoon (April 7) and was buried
before sundown because a special
Sabbath was about to begin. Special
or high Sabbaths occurred when two
Sabbath rests coincided. When
required feasts like the Passover
occurred on a seventh-day Sabbath, a
“high Sabbath” occurred.
(John 19:31) In summary, we know the
following facts: 1) We know the
astronomical positions of the Sun and
moon for A.D. 30; 2) We know that
Jesus properly observed the Passover
using God’s new moon reckoning
for the beginning of a month; 3) We
know that Jesus rested in the tomb
over Sabbath and rose on the first
day of the week (John 20:1; Acts
10:40); and 4) We know that A.D. 30
occurred in the middle of the
seventieth week. This information
leads to a solid conclusion: Jesus
was crucified on Friday, April 7 A.D.
30 (Nisan 14). The actions of Jesus
(such as eating Passover with His
disciples) and the astronomical
positions of the Sun and moon are two
witnesses that confirm the truth. No
wiggle room is left. A.D. 30 is
the only year during the seventieth
week that will satisfy all the
necessary specifications.
The
Seventy Weeks Nailed Down
If A.D. 30 is the year
of Christ’s death, the seventy
weeks prophecy has no wiggle room
left in it. There is amazing harmony
from several sides. Consider the
following:
- The
seventy weeks have to begin
with a Sunday year because a
week of years always begins
with a Sunday year. The
synchrony of the week of
years from the year of the
Exodus and A.D. 30 proves
that 457 B.C. is a Sunday
year.
- The
seventy weeks have to begin
with a Year of Jubilee
because of the specification
of “seven weeks and
sixty-two weeks.” The
synchrony of Jubilee cycles
from the year of the Exodus
confirms that 457 B.C. is a
year of Jubilee, and
according to Luke 3, Jesus
began His ministry 483 years
later, in the Sunday year of
the seventieth week, A.D. 27.
- The
appearance of the wise men at
the birth of Jesus affirms
their understanding of the
sixty-nine weeks mentioned in
Daniel 9. No other prophecy
in the Bible points to the
time of Christ’s birth.
- According
to Luke 1:17, John the
Baptist began his ministry
before Jesus appeared. The
baptism of Messiah occurred
during the fifteenth year of
Tiberius Caesar, which is
A.D. 27 – which is the
fist year of the seventieth
week.
- The
Jubilee calendar and the
decree of Artaxerxes in 457
B.C. forces A.D. 30 to be in
the middle year of the
seventieth week – Jesus
died at just the right time.
- The
astronomical position of the
Sun and moon in A.D. 30
confirms that Jesus and His
disciples ate Passover at the
correct time according to
God’s calendar.
- The
actions of the Jews and their
use of the moon’s first
crescent method are
consistent with the course of
events described in the four
gospels. Jesus was crucified
on the day when the national
Passover lamb was
slaughtered, Friday, April 7,
A.D. 30.
- Constantine
refers to the fact that Jews
frequently observed two
Passovers in the same year
and used this anomaly to
prevent Christians from
depending on the Jews to set
the date of Easter.
- The
writers of the four gospels
are in perfect harmony on the
timing of these events.
When these nine points
are woven together, all wiggle room
concerning the timing of the
seventieth week is eliminated. No
other time frame can meet or satisfy
the prophetic or astronomical
synchrony required for the seventieth
week. The overwhelming abundance
of harmonious facts supports the
conclusion that the seventieth week
occurred from Spring A.D. 27 to
Spring A.D. 34.
The Year of the
Lord’s Favor
Notice what Luke says
about the first days of Christ’s
public ministry in A.D. 27: “He
[Jesus] went to Nazareth,
where he had been brought up, and on
the Sabbath day he went into the
synagogue, as was his custom. And he
stood up to read. The scroll of the
prophet Isaiah was handed to him.
Unrolling it, he found the place
where it is written: ‘The Spirit
of the Lord is on me, because he has
anointed me to preach good news to
the poor. He has sent me to proclaim
freedom for the prisoners and
recovery of sight for the blind, to
release the oppressed, to proclaim
the year of the Lord’s
favor.’ Then he
rolled up the scroll, gave it back to
the attendant and sat down. The eyes
of everyone in the synagogue were
fastened on him, and he began by
saying to them, ‘Today this
scripture is fulfilled in your
hearing.’” (Luke
4:16-21, italics mine) Some people
twist these words to mean A.D. 27 is
a year of Jubilee. They claim Jesus
expressed the idea of freedom from
slavery in this passage because the
first year of His ministry was a year
of Jubilee. The trouble with this
argument is that slaves were not set
free in the year of Jubilee. They
were set free every seven years.
(Exodus 21:2; Jeremiah 34: 13-16)
Because the slaves were set free in
the forty-ninth year, there were no
slaves at the beginning of the
fiftieth year. Furthermore, if A.D.
27 were a year of Jubilee or even a
Sabbatical year, then several dating
changes would be required which
history and prophecy do not support.
The astronomical data for A.D. 30,
plus the harmony of the gospels, plus
the count of years established in Old
Testament prophecy makes an airtight
case. The words of Jesus in Luke 4
are to be understood within the
context that “the year of the
Lord’s favor” is the first
year of the seventieth week! The
prophecy of Daniel was fulfilled when
Jesus spoke these words. Messiah had
appeared!
Time
Is Constant
Time on Earth has been
constant since Creation. Therefore,
the positions of the Sun and moon can
be calculated over long spans of
time. Any deviation from this
constant requires massive changes in
planetary physics. Time is study and
unbroken continuum, and any tampering
with dates will distort everything
forward and backward in time. In Luke
3, we find that Jesus baptized in A.D
27, and in Luke 4, He began His
ministry with the declaration
recorded in verses 16-21. The
expression “to proclaim the year
of the Lord’s favor” that
Jesus used to indicate that He, God
in the flesh, had come from Heaven to
usher in the kingdom of God, if
Israel was willing.
Back
to Gabriel’s Statements, Numbers
4-6
Given the amount of
information examined so far, I may
need to remind you that we are still
studying Daniel 9. Gabriel’s
comments to Daniel were brief, but
they were full of meaning! Earlier in
this segment, I paraphrased
Gabriel’s remarks to Daniel as
six statements. Now that the purpose
of the seventy weeks has been
examined (Statement 1), and the
timing of Messiah’s ministry and
death during the seventieth week has
been examined (Statement 2 and 3),
Gabriel’s final statements about
Israel are very sad. Israel could
have done so well. Israel could have
sealed up this segment of the vision
and prophecy, but it failed to
cooperate with God.
Gabriel predicted:
4. After
they are rebuilt, Jerusalem and the
temple will be destroyed again.
5. Wars
and desolations have been decreed
upon the Jews and Jerusalem.
6. The
Destroyer will continue his deadly
work until the end of time.
Consider this text: “After
the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the
Anointed One will be cut off and will
have nothing. The people of the ruler
who will come will destroy the city
and the sanctuary. The end will come
like a flood: War will continue until
the end, and desolations have been
decreed.” (Daniel 9:26) This
verse says several things about Jesus
and Jerusalem. Verse 26 predicts that
Messiah will be rejected and disowned
(cut off from Israel, as in having no
inheritance). Then, Gabriel told
Daniel that Jerusalem and the rebuilt
temple would be destroyed again by “the
people of the ruler who will
come….” About six
hundred years later, Jesus Himself
predicted the second temple would be
destroyed when He said to His
disciples, ‘’Do you see
all these things [pointing toward
Jerusalem and the temple]?’
he asked. ‘I tell you the truth,
not one stone here will be left on
another; every one will be thrown
down.’” (Matthew 24:2,
insertion mine) The Romans fulfilled
this prophecy in A.D. 70. When they
broke through the walls of Jerusalem,
a soldier threw a firebrand into the
temple complex. Thousands of Jews
sealed themselves in the temple
thinking that God would not allow His
holy temple to be destroyed. They
were wrong. Fire quickly ignited the
cedar that generously adorned the
edifice. To escape the fire the Jews
threw open the huge temple doors. As
they ran to escape the fire, the
Romans slaughtered them. So many Jews
were killed that day that history
says blood flowed down the temple
steps like a river. Because of the
intense heat from the fire, millions
of dollars in gold ornamentation,
utensils and gold ware melted and the
liquid metal flowed into the cracks
of the stones used to construct the
temple. To recover the gold, Roman
soldiers literally pulled the temple
apart - stone by stone.
Another interesting
point is found in Gabriel’s
choice of words. He said, “The
people of the ruler who will come
will destroy the city and the
sanctuary….” Why did
Gabriel say, “The people of
the ruler….”? These
words have a context and meaning that
need to be understood. In the
previous verse, Gabriel said, “…
From the issuing of the decree to
restore and rebuild Jerusalem until
the Anointed One, the ruler,
comes…” Did you notice
that the Anointed One (Messiah) is
called a “ruler.” Gabriel
elevated the destruction of Jerusalem
in A.D. 70 to that of a divine decree
issued by “the ruler,”
Jesus Christ Himself. The Romans were
sent to destroy Jerusalem by One who
overrules. The Romans were unwitting
servants of God, just like the
Babylonians had been unwitting
servants of God (Jeremiah 25:9) when
they destroyed Jerusalem the first
time. If Israel had cooperated with
God, the world would have enjoyed a
glorious outcome when Jesus came to
Earth! The kingdom of God would have
been established. Israel would have
been a kingdom of priests, the head
of all nations and not the tail.
Unfortunately, Israel refused to
accept Messiah and submit to His
truth. Therefore, “the
Ruler” rejected them again
(Matthew 23:37,38), and in A.D. 70, He
destroyed Jerusalem.
The expression, “The
end will come like a
flood….” Accurately
portrays Rome’s destruction of
Jerusalem. The Romans literally
carried away everything of value as a
flood carries away everything in its
path. In ancient times, the most
destructive force known to the human
race was a flood of water. A pent
–up wall of snowmelt descending
down a mountain ravine in the spring
was an even more devastating force
than fire! Such a flood could remove
huge stonewalls and bury cities in
mud and debris, making recovery
impossible or impractical. (Hosea
5:10; Isaiah 59:19; Isaiah 8:6,7)
Gabriel’s words were fulfilled
in A.D. 70, when the destruction of
Jerusalem and its temple came like a
devastating flood.
Gabriel said, “War
will continue until the end, and
desolations have been decreed [upon
Jerusalem].” (Insertion
mine) The history of the city of
Jerusalem since A.D. 70 has been one
of war and bloodshed, and this will
continue until the end of time.
Contrary to every human effort,
Jerusalem has not been at peace and
it will never be peaceful. Jerusalem
is not the city of God. Two
cultures and religions cannot inhabit
the same space and be at peace. Men
may negotiate a temporary cease-fire,
and Lucifer may establish his throne
in Jerusalem when he appears on
Earth, but there will be no lasting
peace and safety in Jerusalem. God
has decreed it.
Gabriel said, “…
And on the wing of abominations will
come one who makes desolate, even
until a complete destruction, one
that is decreed, is poured out on the
one who makes desolate.” (Daniel
9:27, NASB, insertion mine) The last
portion of verse 27 is hard to
translate smoothly into English. This
explains why we find such diverse
wording in different translations of
the Bible. After reviewing several
respected translations, I have chosen
to use the New American Standard for
this particular verse, because the
ideas expressed in this translation
are easier to understand. Gabriel
predicts an unseen destroyer
[Lucifer] will continue to cause
desolations long after Jerusalem is
destroyed. His rage against
God’s people will not end until
God’s wrath is poured out upon
him. You may recall from Daniel 8,
that the stern-faced king will
eventually become visible. When he
appears, he will destroy everything
in his wake, even the holy people.
Daniel 8 also assures us that this
ruler will be brought to his end, but
not by human power.
A great tragedy is
predicted in Gabriel’s last
three statements. These statements
are compelling and sobering because
Israel’s disaster could have
been diverted. Jesus cried, “O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill
the prophets and stone those who sent
to you, how often I have longed to
gather your children together, as a
hen gathers her chicks under her
wings, but you were not willing.
Look, your house is left to you
desolate.” (Matthew
23:37,38) John summarized
Israel’s rebellion and their
rejection of Messiah in one verse
when he wrote, “He came to
that which was his own, but his own
did not receive him.” (John
1:11)
The
2,300 Evenings and Mornings
One final issue has to
be addressed before closing this
study on Daniel 9. In fact, the
timing of the 2,300 days of Daniel
8:14 cannot be established without
first understanding the seventy weeks
of Daniel 9. Let us revisit our
examination of the 2,300 evenings and
mornings by asking two questions:
Does God interpret the 2,300 days as
2,300 days or 2,300 years, and when
do they start? These are valid
questions and they deserve careful
answers.
The 2,300 days in
Daniel 8:14 share some similarity
with this time, times and half a time
(1,260 years) mentioned in Daniel
7:25, because neither of these
time-periods is given a starting
date. This is not a big problem
because both time-periods have a
definite length and end with an event
that can be identified. Therefore, we
can calculate backwards from the
event at the end of the starting
date.
Evidently, God did not
give a starting event in either of
these prophecies because the
information in Daniel was sealed up
until the time of the end. To be
blunt about it, the generation that
really needs to understand Daniel and
Revelation is the generation that
will experience the closing events of
Earth’s history. Given this
emphasis on the final generation, the
following steps have led me to
conclude that the 2,300 days of
Daniel 8:14 represent 2,300 years.
Furthermore, I conclude they began at
the same time as the seventy weeks of
Daniel 9 (457 B.C.).
Step
1
Daniel wrote, “While
I was speaking and praying,
confessing my sin and the sin of my
people Israel and making my request
to the Lord my god for his holy hill
– while I was still in prayer,
Gabriel, the man I had seen in the
earlier vision [Daniel 8], came
to me in swift flight about the time
of the evening sacrifice. He
instructed me and said to me,
‘Daniel, I have now come to give
you insight and understanding. As
soon as you began to pray, an answer
was given, which I have come to tell
you, for you are highly esteemed.
Therefore, consider the message and
understand the [earlier] vision.’”
(Daniel 9:20-23, insertion mine)
Daniel identifies Gabriel as the
“man” he had seen in his
earlier vision. (See Daniel 8:16-19.)
Gabriel told Daniel that he had come
to give Daniel insight and
understanding into the [earlier]
vision. Which vision? The previous
vision given to Daniel is recorded in
Daniel 8. This is the vision where
Daniel met Gabriel. It does not make
sense for Gabriel to say, “I
have just been sent to you to give
you insight and understanding about a
vision that does not yet exist.”
Gabriel’s remarks indicate that
Daniel 9 is intimately connected to
Daniel 8, which suggests there is a
relationship between the 2,300 days
in Daniel 8 and the seventy weeks in
Daniel 9.
Step
2
Notice the words of
Gabriel: “Seventy
‘sevens’ are decreed
for your people….” (Daniel
9:24, italics mine) The Hebrew word
translated decreed (NIV) or determined
(KJV) comes from the Hebrew word
chathak that means “to cut
off” or “to determine by
separation.” This Hebrew word is
used once in the Bible so by itself
it cannot resolve many questions.
However, it does make an important
contribution to our understanding of
the seventy weeks. The word indicates
that a smaller period of time
(seventy weeks) is “cut
off” or “separated”
from a larger unit of time (2,300
years). This may sound to simple, but
the following process is very
important. The Jubilee Calendar
forces seventy weeks to represent 490
years, and the Jubilee Calendar
forces the 2,300 days to represent
2,300 years. Therefore, the short
time-period of seventy weeks is cut
off from the larger time-period of
the 2,300 days. In other words, the
seventy weeks of Daniel 9 are
“separated” from the 2,300
years given in the “earlier
vision” of Daniel 8.
Gabriel was sent to
Daniel in the first vision to explain
the ram, goat and horn power (Daniel
8) and Gabriel was sent to Daniel in
the second vision with “an
answer” for Daniel’s
question. Daniel wanted to know how
Israel fit into God’s larger
picture. The details presented in
Daniel 9 concern the nation of Israel
and they belong within the larger
prophecy of Daniel 8. Since the
decree to restore Jerusalem and
rebuild the temple in Daniel 9 (457
B.C.) was issued during the time of
the kingdom of the ram in Daniel 8
(538-331 B.C.), there is a solid link
between the timing of Daniel 8 and
Daniel 9.
Here is an
illustration showing how the word
chathak functions in this context:
Suppose your son asks if he can go
play with the kids next door. You
notice the trashcan in the kitchen is
full, so you say, “You can play
for one hour, but your hour includes
taking out the trash.” In this
illustration, the time required to
take out the trash is “cut
off” or separated out of the
hour allotted with the kids next door
– and we know that in such a
situation, the trash will probably
disappear in the twinkling of an eye.
Of course, the word
chathak does not tell us if the
seventy weeks are separated from the
beginning or end of the 2,300 years,
but the word indicates the seventy
weeks are “cut off” from
the 2,300 years because there is no
other time-period in Daniel 8. More
will be said about starting both time
periods with the decree of Artaxerxes
(457 B.C.) in a moment.
Step
3
The 2,300 days have to
be interpreted as 2,300 years for two
reasons: First, Rule Four (mentioned
at the end of Segment 1) requires
days to be translated as years during
the operation of the Jubilee
Calendar. Second, if seventy weeks
amount to 490 years – using the
scale of a day for a year, then the
2,300 days have to use the same scale
and represent years as well, because
a person cannot separate 490 years
from 2,300 literal days (about six
years and four months). However, it
is possible to “cut off”
490 years from the 2,300 years. If
the seventy weeks are “cut
off” from the 2,300 years, this
forces the 2,300 years into the
operation of the Jubilee Calendar!
Interpreting the 2,300 days as 2,300
years is consistent with Rule Four,
which states, “God reckons
apocalyptic time in two ways: (a) a
day for a year, and (b) as literal
time. The presence or absence of the
Jubilee Calendar determines how God
measures time.”
The
Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9 “Cut
Off” from the 2,300 Days of
Daniel 8:14
Sometimes, an answer
to a prophetic question can be given
with a few words. However, there are
segments of Bible prophecy that
require a lot of background
information before an answer will
make much sense. The timing of the
2,300 years is such an issue. We have
examined a lot of details in this
study, and it is possible to miss
seeing the forest when studying a
tree. In this light, the following
observation is offered for your
consideration. Remember, that the
book of Daniel contains a set of
non-conditional prophecies. In other
words, everything given to Daniel is
an outline of God’s
predetermined plans for Earth. For
example, God determined that Babylon
would fall to the Medes and Persians
and Medo-Persia would fall to the
Greeks, and it was predicted the
saints would be handed over to the
little horn power for 1,260 years,
etc. All of the predicted events in
Daniel are non-conditional.
While Daniel was
receiving visions of non-conditional
events, Ezekiel was receiving a
series of conditional visions from
God. The visions were given to
Ezekiel are very different from the
visions given to Daniel. The visions
given to Ezekiel were conditional.
Ezekiel is in Babylon just like
Daniel, but God told this prophet
that 1) He destroyed Jerusalem and
the temple because Israel violated
Plan A. However, God also told
Ezekiel that he has a redemptive plan
for Israel (Plan B). The fulfillment
of Plan B requires Israel’s full
cooperation. God will give Israel one
more chance to accomplish all that He
wanted! Looking at the visions given
to both prophets, we find that God
places two conditions on Plan B.
First, the time allotted is seventy
weeks – counting from the decree
of Artaxerxes in 457 B.C. Second,
Plan B can be accomplished only if a
majority of people in Israel
experience the miracle of being born
again. (Ezekiel 36:25-27)
Consider the contrast
between Daniel’s prophecies and
Ezekiel’s prophecies. God told
Daniel what would be if Israel failed
to cooperate. God told Ezekiel what
would be if Israel cooperated. The
point is that God cuts off seventy
weeks from the 2,300 years to give
Israel a chance to terminate (seal
up) Daniel’s visions and
prophecy! If Israel would have
cooperated with God, the prophecies
of Daniel would not have come to
pass. The prophecies of Daniel would
have remained a secret forever. We
have seen God do this before. If
Israel had cooperated with God at the
time of the Exodus, the first
generation would have not had to die
in the wilderness. God was willing to
put the children of Israel in the
Promised Land within two years of
leaving Egypt!
When the 2,300 years
are seen in this light, it makes
sense that a benevolent God would cut
off seventy weeks from the beginning
of a longer prophecy to allow time
for Israel to cooperate. Even though
God told Daniel that Israel would
fail and that the city and the temple
would be destroyed again, God was
willing to give Israel one more
chance. What a patient God! What a
wonderful Savior! It is amazing to
realize that God does not treat us
according to His perfect
foreknowledge. He compassionately
treats us according to His marvelous
love. When we begin to see these
elements of God’s character
unfold from prophecy, we know we are
on the right track.
Step
5
Because God is the
architect of Bible prophecy, perfect
harmony is found in the sum of all
the parts. Remember, none of the
seventeen prophecies in Daniel and
Revelation stand-alone. Each prophecy
contributes something very important
to a much larger picture that spans
many centuries.
The seventy weeks in
Daniel 9 are not isolated from the
prophecies in Daniel 2, 7, 8 and
elsewhere! Each of the seventeen
prophecies reveals a piece of the big
picture. God is the designer of this
great matrix, which means the outcome
will be harmonious. Each prophecy
requires the others to be present,
and in turn, supports those around
it. I have often remarked, “A
person has to understand the whole
thing before he can appreciate
anything!”
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