Those “Certain” Years And Days Of ‘Daniel’s
People’
Part Two
“About The Times of the End, a body of men will be raised up who will turn their attention to the prophecies, and insist upon their literal interpretation, in the midst of much clamor and opposition.”
Sir Isaac Newton, 1643-1727
“For I dipped into the Future, far as human eye could see, saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be.”
Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1842
“And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all
manner of trees for food,
then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be
as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of. But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall
be holy to praise the LORD withal. And in the fifth year shall ye
eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof:
I am the LORD your God.”
Leviticus 19:23-25 KJV
“And the remnant that is escaped of the house of
II Kings
“And
thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine
hand, set magistrates and judges, which may
judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye
them that know them not.”
Ezra 7: 25 KJV
After previously laying the foundation for the concept that the Holy Spirit superimposed Daniel’s ’70 weeks’ upon Israel’s Sabbatical cycle, and in recognition that the ’70 weeks’ of years are 490 literal years, we now can begin to arrive at the date that the Lord intended for the beginning of Daniel’s important prophecy. The definition of ‘years’ used here is that of the nation of Israel, i.e. their years, that begin in the month of Tishri, as the Bible commands for the counting of Sabbatical and Jubilee years.
Because of the necessary imposition of the Sabbatical cycle upon this
prophecy, and the fact that 490 years equals ten Jubilee cycles of
49 years each, it is therefore an
absolute fact that Daniel’s prophecy must BEGIN and must END in a 49th
year !
***An important fact to remember
: Since ALL 490 years of
the prophecy of Daniel 9, were given to the nation of Israel under the
dispensation of LAW, and the 483rd year was completed at the end of
the 69th Sabbatical cycle on Tishri 1, 3787, then the remaining 7 years must also be completed within the
dispensation of LAW! And, this will indeed be the
case, as Jesus already fulfilled the first 3.5 years of the last
7 years of the prophecy in which both He and the ‘years’ were cut-off at the
Cross in the 486.5th year, which leaves the remaining
3.5 years to be fulfilled by the believing remnant of the Jews, after
the close of the Day of Grace, and the resurrection/rapture of the true saints
of the Church Age, before the opening of the FIRST
half of the 7 years of Tribulation, which will then return under
the dispensation of LAW.
Daniel 9 is concerned about the time period in which the earthly
sanctuary would be the center of worship with a
return to the keeping of the Law of God and of Moses.
Daniel was told in
The first decree
was a proclamation in Ezra 1, at the exact end of the 70
years of the Babylonian captivity…”Now
in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia,
that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD
stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king
of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom…and he hath
charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah…. Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the
priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up
to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.” Notice that this decree
directed the rebuilding of the
Bishop Ussher dates Nebuchadnezzar’s FIRST deportation of
We are not told in II Chronicles or in II Kings which month
Nebuchadnezzar first took Jehoiakim captive.
However, since Jeremiah’s prophecy was for 70 literal years, and since
II Samuel 11:1 says that “after the
year was expired, at the time kings go forth to battle,” (which
would have been at the beginning of Nisan, because after Exodus 12:1, all
biblical dating is on the Sacred calendar, from Nisan to Nisan), I believe the
Babylonian captivity actually began in the spring
of 606 b.c. (which
would have been 607.5 b.c.) Again by counting back
70 consecutive years, the spring of 606.b.c. would
have been Jewish year 3153 or 3153.5 (which had began in Tishri of 607 b.c.) By counting back consecutively from the
majority Sabbatical year of 540 b.c., (Jewish year 3220) we can know that 610 b.c.
was Jewish year 3150, (which divides
equally by 7) and was indeed a majority Sabbatical year. Since Jewish year 3153.5 was the spring of 607.5 b.c.,
and 3153.5 divides equally by 3.5, this
also proves that year was
indeed in
the MIDDLE of
a Sabbatical cycle.
An extremely important point emerges here: …The Jews were taken captive by
But, the angel Gabriel did NOT say “from the going forth of the commandment
to REBUILD THE
After the return of the people into
The whole theme of the book of Haggai deals with the Lord’s disgust directed towards His people because of the fact that they had all built their own houses but had neglected work on “His house” which had ceased !
Ezra 6 talks of the
second decree, that of King Darius I. Verses 11-2 say: “Also I have made a decree, that
whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and
being set up, let him be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill
for this. And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there destroy all
kings and people, that shall put to their hand to alter and to destroy this
house of God which is at
A majority of scholars agree that the date of the ‘second year’ of King Darius I was 520 b.c. Counting back consecutively from the majority Sabbatical year of 27 a.d. (Jewish year 3787) by 7’s, brings one to 519 b.c., which was a majority Sabbatical year, and is confirmed by scholars who study Sabbatical years. 519 b.c. was Jewish year 3241. That Sabbatical year began in Tishri of 520 b.c. which opened the Jewish year 3241.
The O.T. books of Haggai and Zechariah are the two most exact dated books in all of Scripture. Haggai 1: 1 begins with the words: “In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month...” We know the sixth month, the first day would have been Elul 1, Jewish year 3240, 29 days before the ‘turn of the (civil) year’ on Tishri 1, of New Year 3241. From the first verse of Haggai 2, thru the end of the book, all verses were written in the Jewish Sabbatical year of 3241 !
Zechariah 1:1 says: “In the eight month, in the second year of Darius, came the
word of the Lord….” We know this eight month
would have been Heshvan, after
the turn of the New Year, Jewish year 3241. Therefore,
the first six chapters of Zechariah were written in the Jewish Sabbatical year
of 3241, 519 b.c.!
Because we know that the “second year of Darius” was within the
beginning of the Sabbatical cycle which started on Tishri 1, 520 b.c. (Jewish
year 3241), 3.5/4 years
later would have been “the sixth year of Darius” and indeed, this is confirmed
by verse 15 of Ezra 6. “And this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar,
which was in the sixth year of the reign
of Darius the king.”
Therefore, THE BUILDING OF THE
SECOND TEMPLE WAS COMPLETED IN THE
MIDDLE OF SEVEN, which was in THE MIDDLE of a Sabbatical cycle in
Adar of 515 b.c., the spring of Jewish year 3244 (3244.5).
But, the angel
Gabriel did NOT say “from the going forth of the commandment to RESTART
THE BUILDING OF THE
The fourth and final ‘return to
Then Nehemiah asked king Artaxerxes for “letters” to be given to him granting safe passage, and for a letter written to Asaph the keeper of the forest, in verses 7-9. Please note…there is NO decree given, only the King’s permission for Nehemiah to return ….” If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters.”
Most scholars date Nehemiah’s return to
But, the angel Gabriel did NOT say “from the going forth of the
commandment to REBUILD THE BROKEN DOWN WALL, NOR THE GATES, NOR THE
You will have noted by this time that the “two returns” just noted, commanded by Cyrus and Darius, and the return of Nehemiah with letters written by Artaxerxes, were all accomplished IN THE MIDDLE OF SEVEN, in the MIDDLE of a Sabbatical cycle, not at the beginning of a Sabbatical cycle, a ‘7th’ year, and of course, surely not in a 49th year.
Now we come to the return of Ezra,
which is listed third in order in Scripture.
Remember, that the angel Gabriel’s key words
to Daniel as the beginning date of the 490 years…”from the going forth of the commandment TO
RESTORE and rebuild Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince….”
For some background on Ezra, from Bible Teaching Notes.com:
The first introduction to Ezra’s priestly pedigree was is Ezra chapter 7. “This was an
important matter to the Jews because it linked Ezra with
Ezra 7:
12-14 says: “Artaxerxes,
king of kings, unto Ezra the priest,
a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time. I make a
decree,
that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my
realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with
thee. Forasmuch as thou art sent
of the king, and of his seven
counsellers, to inquire concerning
“Ezra 7:11-26 is a record of the decree of King Artaxerxes. This decree spelled out the scope of Ezra’s
power and purpose. First, it
authorized the return of Ezra, and any Jews who wanted to accompany him to
Jerusalem. Second, it
authorized Ezra to investigate the state of affairs among the Jews in
Ezra the priest, Ezra the scribe was authorized to RESTORE JERUSALEM AND ITS PEOPLE!
How can we truly determine the date of King Artaxerxes’ decree to Ezra to calculate if indeed, this would fulfill the requirements of the angel Gabriel’s instructions?
First: from dedication.www3.50megs.com/456.html:
Quote: “Historians compare many things in history to make up a
historical calendar we can relate to. One of the more reliable ways is to
compare the Egyptian calendar with the Ptolemy's Canon or history record. The
Egyptian's did not adjust their calendar. They had exactly 365 days in each
year and didn't seem to worry if the calendar got ahead of the stars. Sir Isaac
Newton studying this historical evidence concluded that Ezra took the Artaxerxes' decree to
The Holy Spirit gives us clues to the answer of this question. First, Ezra 7:7-8 says: “And there went up some of
the children of
A majority of scholars agree that the ‘Artaxerxes’ of Ezra was the Persian king Artaxerxes I, who was also known as ‘Longimanus.’ It is a documentable, historical fact that his father, King Xerxes, was King Ahasuerus of the book of Esther. King Xerxes died in December of 465 b.c. At the time his son Artaxerxes I came to the throne, the Persians determined the year of their kings’ reign from spring to spring. The months preceding the first spring of their reign were considered to be the ‘ascension year.’
restoredcog/articles/witswo.html says the following:
“According to the Jews, the first year of Artaxerxes’ reign was from September, 464 b.c., to the following September, 463 b.c. Yet, Artaxerxes actually ascended to the throne in late December, 465 b.c. This means that the seventh year of Artaxerxes’ reign would have taken place from about September, 458 until September, 457 b.c. Since the trip of Ezra and his company took five months to complete and they arrived at Jerusalem during the fifth month (Ezra 7:8), therefore, the return still would have fallen within the seventh year of Artaxerxes’ reign.” [end of quote]
“Basically, from 536 b.c. to 457 b.c., the
Israelites were a struggling group of people with no real government, city or
well-defined country. They
built themselves houses and managed to build a temple. It wasn’t until Artaxerxes
came to the throne in 464 b.c. that we actually see them rebuilding the city. It was during Artaxerxes reign that the
adversaries (on the other side of the River
So we see Ezra receiving his decree from Artaxerxes in 457 b.c. (in the seventh
year of Artaxerxes). The decree gives further help in establishing
the temple, but it also
gives
Bible Teaching Notes.com
In recent years scholarly study has produced ten pieces of evidence for
the sabbatical cycle in postexilic times.
Plotting these particular years on a graph, they have extrapolated the
placement of each sabbatical year for the era of the second
Truly, Ezra the scribe, was the appointed man, in the appointed year, sent
under the appointed decree, issued
by the appointed King, to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, which
would mark the beginning date in which to calculate the EXACT
year that Y’shua the Messiah would come to the nation of Israel to begin His
ministry!
Just as Daniel was beseeching the Lord in his humble prayer for forgiveness of Israel’s national sin in Daniel 9:5-6…”We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land”…of course the Lord already had in mind the pious and holy man Ezra, who would attempt to restore the city of Jerusalem and its people back to the faith of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
One final word about the biblical text which reveals the divine decree which begins the wonderful count of the ’70 weeks’: one cannot escape noting the 7’s and factors of 7 contained in it:
1.
Ezra’s decree and departure from
2.
This event occurred in the 7th
year of King Artaxerxes’ reign
3.
King Artaxerxes had 7 advisors.
4.
The ‘restoration of
Also, from Ezra 5:13 to Ezra 7:21: in the KJV and the NASB, the word ‘decree’ is used a total of 9 times. Also, in both versions, the word ‘decree’ is only used regarding Ezra, never regarding Nehemiah.
In Part One of this paper, it
was shown how the attempted invasion by king Sennacherib, ‘the
Assyrian’ is historically documented in Jewish history as having
taken place in the majority Sabbatical year of
701 b.c. And, it was pointed out that because this is
recounted in II Kings 18/19, in which God told king Hezekiah…”this shall be a sign unto
you” and then proceeded to reiterate His own
provision principle of ‘four years’ from the 6th year, which is the
law of the Jubilee Year, that this provides strong evidence that 701 b.c. was not only a 7th year
but was also a 49th
year, the beginning of a Jubilee Year!
Since the Sabbatical year of 701 b.c.
(Jewish year 3059) began in
Tishri of 702 b.c., counting forward
consecutively by 7’s, one comes right to Tishri of
457 b.c. (Jewish year 3304) which is exactly 245 years.
245 years equals 5 Jubilee cycles of 49 years. Therefore, 456 b.c. was not only
the majority Sabbatical year but was also a 49th year! Because of this fact, the
beginning of the prophecy of Daniel’s ’70 weeks’ began in a 49th
year! After the passage of ten additional Jubilee cycles, the ’70 weeks’ will come to end
for ‘Thy People, Daniel” in
another 49th year, which will be the final 490th year of the
prophecy!
Now that we know the beginning date of Daniel’s wonderful prophecy, let’s begin to decode the ‘puzzle’:
1. Verse 25: “Know therefore and
understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to
build
7
x 7 years = 49 years
From
457/456 b.c. + 49 years
= 408/407 b.c. a
49th year
Seven ‘weeks’ or 49 years, a Jubilee cycle, forward from 457/456 b.c. (Jewish year 3304) brings us to another documentable, historical date, that of 408/407 b.c. (Jewish year 3353). Historians have found a preserved, written documented dated 408 b.c.
From newadvent.org/cathen/o8193a.htm: (and other historical sources)
“It had long been the opinion of most historians that the Artaxerxes of Nehemiah was certainly the first of that name, and that consequently the first mission of Nehemiah fell in the year B. C. 445. The Aramaic papyri of Elephantine, recently published by Sachau, put this date beyond the shadow of a doubt. For in the letter which they wrote to Bahohim, Governor of Judea, in the seventeenth year of Darius II ( B. C. 408 ), the Jewish priests of Elephantine say that they have also made an application to the sons of Sanaballat at Samaria. Now Sanaballat was a contemporary of Nehemiah, and the Artaxerxes of Nehemiah, therefore, was the predecessor, and not the successor, of Darius II. “ [end of quote]
From Bible Basics- Nehemiah:
“The book of Nehemiah, like Ezra, Ruth, Job, Esther, and others is
named after it's principle character. The Jews considered it to be one book
with Ezra, but the repetition of Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7 may indicate it was
originally two works. Although the author is not mentioned, it may have been an
autobiography by Nehemiah. It was possibly written by Nehemiah looking back on
his administration. The accuracy of
the history told in the book has been well established by the discovery of
the Elephantine papyri which mentions many of the same names and events
with dates. It can be also learned from these papyri that Nehemiah ceased to
be governor of
2. Verse 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….
62 x 7 years = 434 years
408/407 b.c. + 434 years = 26/27 a.d. (Jewish year 3787)
a Sabbatical year
3. Verse 26: “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself:….”
49 years + 434 years = 483 years or ’69 weeks’
From Tishri 457 b.c. to Tishri 1
of 26 a.d. = 483 years or the end of the ‘7 weeks’ + the ’62 weeks’ which totals the
’69 weeks’ !
Messiah was to be cut-off AFTER Tishri 1, 26 a.d…and He was...3.5/4 years after, at the Cross, in the spring of 30 a.d. (Jewish year: 3790 or 3790.5 ) in the middle of a Sabbatical cycle
Y’SHUA MESSIAH WAS CUT OFF IN THE
486.5th YEAR
OF DANIEL’S 490 YEARS !