On January 10 we saw that the secular data eliminated A.D. 36 for the crucifixion and left us with 1 April 33. We now wish to show that Scrip- ture, i.e., the seventy weeks of Daniel 9, backs up our choice of 33:
24Seventy weeks (shābûa, translated nineteen times as "week" and once as "seven") are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make re- conciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25Know 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 (shābûa) and threescore and two weeks (shābûa): the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26And after threescore and two weeks (shābûa) 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. 27And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (shābûa): and in the midst of the week (shābûa) 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).
To reconcile these verses with our timeline we have to figure out when this commandment was given to restore and to build Jerusalem (in verse 25). The date begins the seven weeks (or sevens) and threescore and two weeks (or sevens) unto the Messiah the Prince. We then have a week added in verse 27 for a total of 70 (= 7 + 60 + 2 + 1) weeks (or sevens).
The Messiah of course is Christ; so we suspect this 70 weeks ends at some significant date in respect to Him. If we ask when did Jesus finish the transgression, and…make an end of sins, and…make reconciliation for iniquity (in Daniel 9:24), we know this verse refers to the cross. At that time He showed how he paid for the sins of the elect and cause(d) the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. All previous animal sacrifices couldn't save anyone; they only pointed to the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. The cross made any further sacrifices unnec- essary (see Colossians 2:16). We explain this closure more fully on Jan- uary 21.
If we were to take Daniel 9:24-27 literally and consult our Biblical cal- endar, we would find two possible dates for rebuilding the city (if that's how we are to understand the phrase, to restore and to build Jerusalem in Daniel 9)
10474….The Jews return to Jerusalem
to rebuild the temple….....…............……537
10568….Artaxerxes I grants Nehemiah permission
to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall.…445
We see from our Biblical calendar that in B.C. 537 the Jews begin to re- build. In Ezra 1 Cyrus commands the Hebrews to 3…go up to Jerusa- lem…and build the house of the LORD…in Jerusalem.
4And…let the men…help him with silver, and…gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God…in Jerusalem (Ezra 1; see December 15). So we have here in Ezra 1 a commandment to build the house of the LORD…in Jerusalem that seems to satisfy the com- mandment to restore and to build Jerusalem (of Daniel 9:25).
To check if B.C. 537 might possibly satisfy Daniel 9:25, we look at the number of years between B.C. 537, and the crucifixion—either A.D. 33 or A.D. 36—to see if they somehow relate to the 70 weeks (or sevens).
We have, |-537 – 33| – 1 = |-570| –1 = 569 and
we have, |-537 – 36| – 1 = |-573| – 1 = 572
(For an explanation of the arithmetic here see December 8.)
The number 569, a prime number (i.e., it's divisible only by itself and 1), doesn't have anything to do with 70—or for that matter anything else.
The number 572 = 2 x 2 x 11 x 13 appears to contain significant (para- bolic) factorization that would have metaphoric meaning in other circum- stances, but it still doesn't have anything to do with the seventy-weeks or sevens of Daniel 9. If A.D. 37 is not the correct date for the crucifixion—and it's not—then these factors of 572 leave us only with a meaningless coincidence.
We can also look at the inclusive numbers: 573 = 3 x 191 and 570 = 10 x 57 = 2 x 5 x 57. The Bible uses the numbers 2, 3, 5, and 10 to signify spiritual content; but in no way do the numbers 57, 570 or 191 have anything to do with the 70 weeks of Daniel 9 or anything else. We can now reject B.C. 537 as a year that might satisfy Daniel 9:25.
The next possible date from our Biblical calendar is B.C. 445, when Ne- hemiah, cup bearer to the king, Artaxerxes, gets permission to return to Judah and begin rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. But note that Daniel 9:25 reads,...from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince. Neither the king nor anyone else commanded Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem. Nehemiah sought per- mission and Artaxerxes granted him leave (Nehemiah 2:5-6; see De- cember 15). Therefore we have to reject B.C. 445 as a date for satisfying Daniel 9.
We now appear at a dead end. Indeed, many previous theologians couldn't reconcile Daniel 9 with anything. But instead of noting the dif- ference between a date and the crucifixion, then trying to relate that to the 70 weeks, we recall that the transliteration shābûa can mean sevens as well as weeks. The Bible is its own dictionary (Corollary 3c; see June 11) and Ezekiel 45:21 defines shābûa as seven: 21In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven (shābûa) days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.
Since seventy sevens (rather than seventy weeks) is 490, we first look at, |a – 36| – 1= 490 → a = -455. When we check our Biblical calendar we find no significant event occurring in B.C. 445 and have no way of satisfying Daniel 9:25.
So we look at |a – 33| – 1= 490 → a = -458 and wonder what's with -458. From December 15 and our calendar we get,
10555….Artaxerxes 1 commands Ezra to return to
reestablish the law in Jerusalem...458
Interesting. Note that we have a command that could refer to that in Dan- iel 9: 25…from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem. We find this commandment in Ezra 7: 12Artaxerxes…unto Ezra…13I make a decree, that all they of…Israel…which…of their own freewill to go…to Jerusalem, go with thee…14…23Whatsoever is commanded by…God…let it be… done for the house of…God…26And whosoever will not do the law of…God, and the law of the king, let judg- ment be executed…upon him, whether…death, … banishment…con-fiscation of goods, or…imprisonment.
Some readers may object that Ezra didn't go to Jerusalem to rebuild any- thing; rather he returned to reestablish the law. But Scripture is para- bolic (see June 14); rebuilding the wall represents constructing God's eternal church (Matthew 16:18). By bringing God's law, the Gospel, to Jerusalem the elect hear the Word and, according to Romans 10:17, become saved to make up the temple of God in Revelation 11:2. We ex- pand this metaphor on January 14. For now we can scratch out 36 as the year of the cross and accept A.D. 33. As we showed on January 10, 3793 Nisan 14 converts to 1 April 33 for the crucifixion.
Leviticus 23 regards the feast of Pentecost: 16Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. Fifty days after the Sabbath following the cross puts us on May 22, 33 for the first Pentecostal Sunday (= 28 (days in April) + 21 (days in May) and one more day to make 50).
Though we havn't figured out much of Daniel 9:24-27, we still have its confirmation for the crucifixion on 1 April 33 and the first Pentecost on May 22, 33. But we still need to show how the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem (Daniel 9:25) equates with reestablish(ing) the law in Jerusalem. On January 14 we look at two definitions of Jerusalem in Galatians 4:24-26.