Jesus The Messiah?

[Webers_Home]

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Our primary sources for this explanation are "Things To Come" by J. Dwight
Pentecost and "The Coming Prince" by Sir Robert Anderson.

Our point of reference is Daniel 9:25-26 where it's said:

"So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore
and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and
sixty-two weeks. After the sixty-two weeks Messiah will be cut off."

Now; a technicality to be aware of is that those sixty-nine weeks are not
heptads of days, rather, of years; which when added up come to 483.

A further technicality to be aware of is that those 483 years aren't normal
years, rather, they're prophetic years, which are only 360 days apiece
compared to normal years which are roughly 364¼ days apiece.

So, in normal years, the sixty-nine weeks add up to only 477.

Turning to Neh 1:1-2:18, we find our hero depressed and upset because his
home town, the very city where his relatives are buried, was in ruins; its
wall broken down, and its gates ashes. So, with a goodly amount of
butterflies in his stomach, Nehemiah petitioned his boss for a leave of
absence to go and rebuild Jerusalem.

Artaxerxes gave him permission, supported by official memorandums, in the
month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of his reign. So it is in Neh 2 that we
find the only actual Bible record of a royal permit to rebuild the city of
Jerusalem. This, then, is our choice for the beginning of Daniel's prediction.

[ If perchance someone out there feels like computing Messiah's first visit on
their own, just be sure to begin your dating with the commission to rebuild
the city of Jerusalem rather than the Temple because those two projects
weren't taken up simultaneously.]

Fortunately, the date of Artaxerxes reign can be easily and definitely
ascertained-- not from the elaborate investigative treatises of biblical
commentators and prophetic writers; but from ordinary history books.
Artaxerxes-- a.k.a. Artaxerxes 1 --reigned from 465-425 BCE.

According to Nehemiah, the Persian edict, which gave him permission to
rebuild Jerusalem, was issued during the Jewish month of Nisan in the
twentieth year of Artaxerxes. Unfortunately the exact day is not given. It is
very possible the decree was dated the 1st of Nisan; but that's not really
important as long as we come close enough for practical consideration. The
sixty-nine weeks then, within reason, and close enough for our purposes,
will therefore be calculated from the 1st of Nisan 445 BCE.

Counting 477 normal years forward from 445 BC drops us off at 32 CE
which, if correct, becomes the year that Daniel predicted Messiah would be
cut off. That figure appears to be in the ball park; and here's why:

According to Luke 3:1-3, Tiberius was the emperor in Rome when John the
Baptist began his public ministry.

Tiberius' reign spanned 14 CE to 37 CE and according to Luke, John's
ministry began sometime in 29 CE. Precisely on what day Jesus was
baptized by John we don't know for sure, but we do know that he was about
thirty years old at the time. (Luke 3:21-23)

Jesus' own ministry ran about three years before he was cut off. So if we
add 3 to 29 we get 32 CE.

* We're not trying to prove that Jesus was the Messiah predicted by Daniel
9:25 26. We're only explaining why we believe he's a reasonable candidate
due to the fact that his life and times coincide remarkably well with Daniel's
time element.
_

 

[Randy Kluth]

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Our primary sources for this explanation are "Things To Come" by J. Dwight
Pentecost and "The Coming Prince" by Sir Robert Anderson.

Our point of reference is Daniel 9:25-26 where it's said:

"So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore
and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and
sixty-two weeks. After the sixty-two weeks Messiah will be cut off."

Now; a technicality to be aware of is that those sixty-nine weeks are not
heptads of days, rather, of years; which when added up come to 483.

A further technicality to be aware of is that those 483 years aren't normal
years, rather, they're prophetic years, which are only 360 days apiece
compared to normal years which are roughly 364¼ days apiece.

So, in normal years, the sixty-nine weeks add up to only 477.

This is, I think, an assumption that the prophecy neither indicates nor requires. A week of years doesn't require that a year be defined by the number of days in it. It is a cycle of 4 seasons, period. We average it out to be 365 days a year. So turning this into a different set of days removes the sense of each week representing a set of 7 years. Bad interpretation!

Fortunately, the date of Artaxerxes reign can be easily and definitely
ascertained-- not from the elaborate investigative treatises of biblical
commentators and prophetic writers; but from ordinary history books.
Artaxerxes-- a.k.a. Artaxerxes 1 --reigned from 465-425 BCE.

Here is a good random explanation from the Web: CLICK
In Artaxerxes' 7th year, in 458 BC, Ezra requested permission to go to Jerusalem. Artaxerxes granted Ezra everything he requested.[5] This may have included rebuilding Jerusalem. The decree in Ezra 7 is broad enough to include the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Further evidence of this is that when Nehemiah heard 13 years later that the walls of Jerusalem were still destroyed, he was extremely saddened. He may have expected the walls to have been rebuilt by then, since they had the permission to do so. If so, then the 483 years could have began in Artaxerxes 7th year. The 483 years would then end at AD 26. This was when Jesus started his ministry, which can be described as the coming of the Anointed One. It would then be a few years afterwards when Jesus died.

But the way your guy calculates things he comes to roughly the same time period. All good... Jesus is the Messiah who was cut off, followed by the destruction of "the city and the sanctuary" (Dan 9.26).

 

[Webers_Home]

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Apparently quite a few people back then were expecting Messiah to show
up; even a Samaritan woman who I would've never guessed to be familiar
with prophecy.

• John 4:25 . .The woman said: I know that Messiah (called Christ) is
coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.

* Samaria represented the northern half of David's kingdom. It was
sometimes called Israel whilst the southern half was called Judah.

It was to the Samaritans-- a.k.a. Israel --that God said: "You are not my
people, and I will not be your God. (Hosea 1:8-11)
_

 

[Keraz]

Our primary sources for this explanation are "Things To Come" by J. Dwight
Pentecost and "The Coming Prince" by Sir Robert Anderson.

For both of them; it was doubly impossible to know the truths of Gods plans for the end times.
Daniel 12:9 ...the Words [of Prophecy] are to be kept secret and sealed until the time of the end.
Matthew 11:25 ....these things, [the Prophecies] are hidden from the learned and wise and revealed to the uneducated.

A further technicality to be aware of is that those 483 years aren't normal
years, rather, they're prophetic years, which are only 360 days apiece
compared to normal years which are roughly 364¼ days apiece.

This is not correct. A year is the time the earth takes to orbit the sun.
Which in ancient times was 360 days, but after the close bypass of Comet typhon, during the time of the Exodus, the earth was slowed on its orbital track by 5 1/4 days. This may change again on the Lord's Day of wrath; the forthcoming Sixth Seal world changing event.

 

[Keraz]

It was to the Samarians-- a.k.a. Israel --that God said: "You are not my
people, and I will not be your God. (Hosea 1:8-11)

The Samaritans are quite a different people to the Northern ten tribes of the House of Israel.

 

[Randy Kluth]

.
Apparently quite a few people back then were expecting Messiah to show
up; even a Samaritan woman who I would've never guessed to be familiar
with prophecy.

• John 4:25 . .The woman said: I know that Messiah (called Christ) is
coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.

* Samaria represented the northern half of David's kingdom. It was
sometimes called Israel whilst the southern half was called Judah.

It was to the Samarians-- a.k.a. Israel --that God said: "You are not my
people, and I will not be your God. (Hosea 1:8-11)
_

Yes, who knows what the Samaritans knew, or if they knew anything about Daniel's prophecy? The fact is, the Jewish People were desperate for deliverance. They just weren't expecting what deliverance required.

 

[Webers_Home]

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• Dan 12:9 . . Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and
sealed until the time of the end.

It's becoming more and more common online to encounter sincere Bible
students who honestly believe "closed up and sealed" indicates Daniel's
prophecy is a coded message requiring an Enigma machine, of sorts, to
figure it out.

You know why those sincere Bible students feel that way? Because they're
deprived the assistance of an expert who knows the code.

• Luke 24:26 . . And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, Jesus
explained to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures.

If perchance "all the prophets" omits Daniel, then the word "all" shouldn't be
used because it would be misleading.
_

 

[Keraz]

.
• Dan 12:9 . . Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and
sealed until the time of the end.

It's becoming more and more common online to encounter sincere Bible
students who honestly believe "closed up and sealed" indicates Daniel's
prophecy is a coded message requiring an Enigma machine, of sorts, to
figure it out.

You know why those sincere Bible students feel that way? Because they're
deprived the assistance of an expert who knows the code.

• Luke 24:26 . . And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, Jesus
explained to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures.

If perchance "all the prophets" omits Daniel, then the word "all" shouldn't be
used because it would be misleading.
_

To understand the Prophesies requires two things;
1/ To be living close to or in the end times.
2/ To have an open mind. As Isaiah 29:9-12 tells us; Those who have confused themselves by believing false theories and wrong doctrines, will be locked into them. Only as events happen, will most people finally be able to understand what God's plans are. Isaiah 35:4-5, Isaiah 29:18