Are Bible Prophecies Vague and Contemporary? — Daniel 9:24–27
In today’s installment of our ongoing series, we’re going to take a close look at Daniel’s predictions surrounding the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the coming and subsequent death of the Messiah and the destruction of the city, temple and all.
But is this all simply recorded history looking to pass itself off as something it’s not or are we reading bonafide prophecy? Was Daniel a charlatan or the real deal?
Let’s find out!
To get started let’s turn to Daniel 9:24–27 where we read:
24 “Seventy weeks of years are decreed concerning your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
25 Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat but in a troubled time.
26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end, there shall be war; desolations are decreed.
27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week; and for half of the week he shall cause sacrifice and offering to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”
Concerning the beginning of the prophetic seventy weeks, Nehemiah was given authorization by King Artaxerxes of Persia, in the twentieth year of his rule, in the month of Nisan, to reconstruct the walls along with the city of Jerusalem. ( Nehemiah 2:1, 5, 7, 8 ) In his calculations of the reign of Artaxerxes, Nehemiah evidently made use of a calendar year that commenced with the month Tishri ( September-October ), as does the Jews’ present civil calendar, and then concluded with the month Elul ( August-September ) as its 12th and final month.
To uncover the period corresponding to the twentieth annum of Artaxerxes, we must go back to the conclusion of the reign of his father and forerunner Xerxes, who perished in the latter part of 475 B.C.E. Artaxerxes’ accession year accordingly initiated in 475 B.C.E., and his very first regnal annum is counted from 474 B.C.E., as further historical facts tell us. Thus, the twentieth annum of Artaxerxes’ rulership would correspond to 455 B.C.E.
The prediction states there would be sixty-nine weeks of years “from the going forth of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Leader.” ( Daniel 9:25 ) Secular history, in conjunction with the Holy Bible, presents proof that Jesus visited John and was then baptized by him, thus becoming the Anointed One, Messiah the Leader, at the start of fall of 29 C.E. Computing back from this point in the historical past, we are able to determine that the sixty-nine weeks of years commenced in 455 B.C.E. In that year the pivotal “going forth of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem” occurred.
What’s so extraordinary about all of this is the fact that Daniel dates the outset of his book as “the third year of the kingship of Jehoiakim the king of Judah.” ( Daniel 1:1 ) This is to say, 618 B.C.E., Jehoiakim’s third year as tributary king to Nebuchadnezzar. And so, hundreds of years well in advance, Daniel’s prophecy pinpointed the precise year of the Messiah’s coming. Almost certainly the Jews in the first century C.E. had made such computations based on Daniel’s prediction and so were watchful for Messiah’s appearance. The Holy Bible declares: “Now as the people were in expectation and all were reasoning in their hearts about John: ‘May he perhaps be the Christ?’” ( Luke 3:15 ) While these were anticipating the Messiah, they, needless to say, were not able to calculate the specific month, week, or day of his advent. This is why, they puzzled over whether or not John was, in fact, the Christ.
Gabriel additionally informed Daniel: “After the sixty-two weeks Messiah will be cut off, with nothing for himself.” ( Daniel 9:26 ) It was soon after the conclusion of the ‘seven plus sixty-two weeks,’ basically three and a half years later, that Christ was cut off in death on a torture stake, sacrificing everything he was, as a ransom for humanity. ( Isaiah 53:8 ) Facts tell us that the Jesus invested the first half of the “week” in the ministry. At one time, in all probability in the autumn of 32 C.E., he presented an illustration wherein Jewish state was portrayed as a fig tree ( cf. Matthew 17:15–20; 21:18, 19, 43 ) that had borne absolutely no fruitage for “three years.” The vignaiolo told the proprietor of the vineyard: “Master, let it alone also this year, until I dig around it and put on manure; and if then it produces fruit in the future, well and good; but if not, you shall cut it down.” ( Luke 13:6–9 ) He might well have referred to the duration of his very own ministry to that apathetic country, which ministry had persisted by this time for at least three years and was to carry on into the fourth year.
It was subsequently after the 70 “weeks,” but nevertheless as an immediate consequence of the Jews’ rejection of Christ in the course of the 70th “week,” that the incidents described in the latter portions of Daniel 9:26 and 27 saw their fulfillment. History documents that Titus the son of Emperor Vespasian of Rome was the commander of the Roman armies that besieged Jerusalem. Like raging floodwaters, these legions stormed Jerusalem devastating the metropolis along with its holy place, the temple. The presence of these pagan armies in such a sacred place indeed made them a “disgusting thing.” ( Matthew 24:15 ) Every single one of the Israelite’s endeavors leading up to Jerusalem’s waterloo to calm the circumstances was ineffective simply because God Almighty’s decree was: “What is decided upon is desolations,” and “until an extermination, the very thing decided upon will go pouring out also upon the one lying desolate.” (Daniel 9:26, 27)
So what do you think? Is this all mere history written after the fact or is it true prophecy? Was Daniel trying to con us or was he exactly what he said he was, a prophet inspired by God? Share your thoughts below!
