Reaching the Marketplace for Jes

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. 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. 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. 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. (Daniel 9:24-27)

If my sister, whom I haven’t seen in years, called from California and told me she would be in town a week from Friday I’d be rude not to get ready for her visit. After all, she’s told me way ahead of time when she would show up. She told me the reference, or start, time (Friday) and she told me how long from that time (one week). I know everything I need to know to anticipate her arrival. God has done the same thing for Israel in the book of Daniel. He has announced the coming of their Messiah. He told them the reference, or start, time (from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem) and He told them how long from that time (unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks). Should the Nation of Israel have been ready for their Messiah? Should they have known the exact date (down to the precise day) He would come into their midst?

This paper will examine the Daniel 9:25-26 and, in particular, Daniel’s prediction that Jesus would arrive in Jerusalem to be rejected on March 30, 33 AD – Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This paper contends that not only did they know the general timeframe of the arrival of their Messiah, they knew the exact day. We will show this in a three step process. We will look at the reference date – from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem. Can we, 2500 years later, determine this date and, from inference, should the first century Jews have known this date? Next we will look at the length of time from the reference date the Messiah was to appear – unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks.

Before we jump into this, we need to deal with the term threescore. A score is an old English measurement which stands for twenty. So,

This tells us that we have 69 weeks. How long is 69 weeks, anyway? Finally, we will look at what this means for the predicted date of the Messiah’s arrival into Jerusalem.

The first step in calculating any length (be it a measurement of distance or time) is to know the starting point – where do I lay the front of the tape measure? In this case Daniel has told us the reference point to use – from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem. The question is, when did this happen? When did the command go out to restore and to build Jerusalem? There are four different theories for the start date.

The Decree of Cyrus. Cyrus gave a decree to rebuild the temple (2 Chr 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4; 6:3-5). Note that it is obvious in the decree that Cyrus was talking about rebuilding the temple and not the entire city of Jerusalem. Therefore, this decree does not fit the description in Daniel 9:25.

The Decree of Darius. Later Darius reviewed the decree of Cyrus and issued his own decree. Again, this was just to rebuild the temple (Ezra 5:1-17). This decree also fails to meet the description of Daniel 9:25.

The Decree of Artaxerxes to Ezra. This decree of Artaxerxes to Ezra was to just encourage more Jews to migrate back to Israel (7:11-26). Again, this decree does not really fit the description of Daniel 9:25.

The Decree of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah. In Nehemiah 2:1-8 Artaxerxes decrees that Nehemiah should rebuild Jerusalem.

⁵ And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it. ⁶ And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. (Nehemiah 2:5-6)

This is the decree spoken of by Daniel. This is the only decree in the Old Testament that speaks of rebuilding the actual city of Jerusalem. But, when did this happen? Nehemiah tells us that he spoke to the king in the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of king Artaxerxes (Neh 2:1).

How does this translate onto our calendar? Extra-biblical records show that king Xerxes died shortly after December 17, 465 BC. King Xerxes was Artaxerxes’ father. When Xerxes died, Artaxerxes would take over.

Twenty years later puts us at December 17, 445 BC. Nisan is a few months later in 444 BC. This would put the decree in Nisan (March/April) 444 BC. If we assume (since no day of the month was given) that the date is Nisan 1 then the date in the Julian calendar is actually March 5, 444 BC.

There have been volumes written on what Daniel meant by sevens – the word translated weeks in the text. It is the contention of this paper (offered without proof) that Daniel was talking about groups of seven years. The question now becomes, what type of year was he referring to? There are really only three top choices – solar years, lunar years or prophetic years. A solar year is 365.24219879 days long (365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 45.975 seconds – this is why there is a leap year almost every 4 years). A lunar year is 354.37 days long. A prophetic year is 360 days long.

By comparing passages in Revelation referring to the last group of seven years do we see that a prophetic year is in mind. Compare Daniel 9:27; 7:24-25; Revelation 12:14; 13:5.

First, we have a prediction (by Daniel) of the antichrist coming in the middle of the last week (group of seven years).

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. (Daniel 9:27)

Next, we have Daniel giving the same prediction but saying it is a time and times and half a time.

²⁴ And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. ²⁵ And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. (Daniel 7:24-25)

Now we see John use the same reference (a time, times and half a time) in Revelation.

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. (Revelation 12:14)

Now we see John refer to the antichrist coming into power (the same as Daniel) but John says it happens for 42 months (Daniel said in the midst of the week).

And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. (Revelation 13:5)

Stay with me, we’re almost there. Now we have John referring to the woman (from Rev 12:14) being in the wilderness for 1,260 days (recall threescore equals sixty).

And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. (Revelation 12:6)

Thus, we see it is 360 days/year. Or, in other words, we are using the prophetic year.

This says that the Messiah will enter Jerusalem and be cut off exactly 173,880 days after king Artaxerxes made his decree to restore Jerusalem.

We know the reference date (Nisan 1, 444 BC, this is probably March 5, 444 BC) and we know the number of days from that date (173,880 days). Now, how do we convert this to the Julian calendar that we use today and place the arrival of the Messiah with respect to that calendar?

In order to avoid having to calculate leap years, we will use the more exact definition of a solar year of 365.24219879 days (as opposed to 365 days). This gives us the number of years on the Julian calendar of:

So that the time from Artaxerxes’ decree to rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah is cut off is, in solar years (the calendar we use):

Notice 444 BC plus 476 years places us in 33 AD (add one year to take into account the fact that there is no zero year).

Now, adding 25 days to March 5 (the start date) gives us an entry into Jerusalem of March 30, 33 AD. If we convert this back to the Jewish calendar this would be Nisan 10, 33 AD. This is the Sunday before the Passover that year. Just a coincidence that this is the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem before the crucifixion? (Matt 21:1-11; Mark 11:1- ; 11; Luke 19:28-44; John 12:1-19)

This does not prove that Jesus is the messiah. It does prove, however, that the Messiah came to Jerusalem in 33 AD. If Jesus is not the Messiah then everyone missed Him. Even if you allow for a mistake on the date of Artaxerxes decree of plus or minus 10 years and allow for either a solar or lunar year, the Messiah still would have had to appear on the scene in the first half of the first century AD.

[1] The majority of the research and structure for this article comes from Harold W. Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1977) 115-140.