Segment 6 - Daniel 9
“God’s Timing Is So Perfect”
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“… Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the
the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no God
apart from me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but me.”
Isaiah 45:21

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Mark 14:16 clearly indicate that Jesus ate the Passover with His disciples before going to His death. The sequence of events went like this: Jesus ate the Passover on Thursday night. On Thursday (the light part of Thursday follows the night part of Thursday) Jesus spent the day with His disciples on the Mount of Olives. (Mark 14:26) As Friday, night settled upon them, Jesus and three disciples went into the Garden of Gethsemane. (Mark 14:32) Jesus was arrested that night while in the garden. His trial began that night and lasted until morning on Friday. (Mark 15:25,34) About the time Jesus expired, the Jews celebrated the slaying of the national Passover lamb at the temple, and to their astonishment, the veil was torn from top to bottom by unseen hands. The Jews hurried home from the temple to kill their own Passover lambs so they could observe the feast at midnight (Nisan 15). Remember, Sabbath night comes before Sabbath light, so the Jews ate Passover on Sabbath night (or Friday night).

The Bible does not indicate anything unusual about Jesus eating Passover or beginning the Feast of Unleavened Bread at a time that was not in harmony with the national Passover. (Compare Matthew 26:17 with Mark 14:12.) The Bible does not offer any justification for killing the Passover lamb on late Wednesday afternoon and eating the Passover on Thursday night, even though the national Passover lamb was killed two days later on Friday. This silence is for two reasons. First, the dating of the Passover was a common conflict, one of many conflicts among religious sects in Israel; therefore, a discussion about the presence of two calendars is not included in the gospels. Second, the gospel writers did not attempt to include for our understanding everything that was common knowledge in their day. However, with a little background investigation, we find that John dated the Passion Week of Jesus with the Babylonian Calendar (John 12) and Mark used the new moon calendar. (Mark 14) This explains why there is an apparent conflict between some of the things Mark and John wrote. Once we understand which calendar they are using, the writings of Mark and John are in perfect harmony.

The Bible clearly indicates two Passovers were celebrated during the year that Jesus was crucified. It would be blasphemous to assert the Creator did not know the true time for Passover. Actually, Jesus’ actions affirm what is Truth, for He is Truth. (John 14:6) Jesus correctly observed Passover with His disciples in the upper room on Thursday night, the 15^th day of Nisan – using God’s synchrony for determining monthly cycles (conjunction). The Creator’s actions perfectly synchronize with the instructions that Moses recorded in Exodus 12. The timing of the new moon (the USNO tables) and the testimony of the gospel writers confirm it!

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:

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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)

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