- Western Union internal memo,
1876
The prophecies in the Bible, that many people are concerned about being fulfilled today, were made
many centuries ago. Is it possible that there can actually be this kind of accurate prophecy? And yet, there in the Bible was the Prophecy and Promise for the Jews that they would return to Israel and it became true
centuries later.
Now here is another prophecy that was made to the Jews centuries before it came true. Prophecy and the Prophetic Times associated with it are difficult for many people to see, and therefore many people do not recognize its fulfillment even when it has occurred.
Such was the case with Jesus. He claimed to be the Messiah promised to the Jews. In fact that was the basis of His claim to fame. If He was not THAT One then, so far as they were concerned, it made no difference who He was. But, for two thousand years the Christians were not able to prove to the Jews who Jesus was while the mathematical proof lay right there in the Jews' own Book of Daniel. This is the reason that we are examining the 4 verses in The Book of Daniel (9:24-27).
It is surely not too much to take and comprehend four Bible verses. (Read them for yourself - as Jesus commanded).
DANIEL
9:24 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.
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: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
9:26 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.
9:27 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.
Verse 24 mentions 70 weeks.
Verse 25 says 69 of these weeks are comprised of:
7 weeks
3 score weeks and
2 weeks and
Verse 27
adds
Everyone should know, from the Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address -
"Four score years ... ago our fathers brought forth on this continent....."
that a score is 20 so 3 score is 60. What we have therefore is:
7 weeks
60 weeks
2 weeks
1 week
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70 weeks total as stated in Verse 24.
"Seventy weeks to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy"
70 weeks
x7 days is of course
----------
490 days in Prophetic Terms,
(or as we discussed in the previous essay)
To measure a time, one must know from where to begin and verse 9:25 tells us that this time begins from:
"the going forth of the commandment
to restore and build Jerusalem".
That historical date you can obtain from a number of different sources such as some encyclopedias (especially Bible encyclopedias) or the marginal notes of some Bibles, or other similar references. (It can be looked up in many places.)
The event is referenced in Ezra 7:13 and most scholars (Christian, Jewish and otherwise) agree that it occurred in 457 BC.
The prophetic date of 70 weeks is broken up into blocks. Basically, if we look at 69 weeks plus the one last week we can see the dates that interest us.
Again a Bible Reference will tell you that this is when Jesus began His ministry. (He was born in 4 BC and 26 plus 4 makes Him 30 years old -
when He began it, which is the age, under Rabbinical Law that a man could become a Rabbi or Teacher).
Again look in a reference and you will find that Jesus was crucified 7 years later in 33 AD. Seven years is the same as one Prophetic Week
and this means that He fulfilled the Covenant (The Promise) to the Jews for one week and just exactly at the time as the Scriptures had prophesized.
(Do read the whole 4 verses in Daniel - which tell about the Messiah being cut off - but not for Himself - because He was a sacrifice for the whole of mankind).
But down through the centuries, the Christians were never able to show this prophecy to the Jews, because as The Book of Daniel says, it was a sealed book and the meaning was not opened until the 'Time of the End'. There are many details about this prophecy that one could discuss for hours, but we are not going into details here. The following is a chart that will give you an overall view.
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Ezra 7:13
457 BC
|
Dan 9:25 |___7 weeks____408 BC completion of rebuilding
| (49 years)
|
|
Dan :25 |___7 weeks__&_62 weeks___=__69_weeks__26 AD John
| (49 years) & (434 years)=_(483 years) the Baptist
|
|
Dan 9:27 |__________69 weeks___________________&_1_week=_70_weeks
| (483 years) 7 years=490 years
|
|
Dan 9:24 |_______________70_weeks______________________33 AD
| (490 years) Christ
|
|____________________________________________________
The Prophecy of the Time of Christ