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Prophetic Perfection – From Exile to Exaltation
Episode 62 – Prophetic Perfection – From Exile to Exaltation
Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.
Script: (Bible quotes from the God’s Word Translation)
While I was praying, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the first vision, came to me about the time of the evening sacrifice. … I have come to give you the reply because you are highly respected. So study the message, and understand the vision. "Seventy sets of seven time periods have been assigned for your people and your holy city. ... Learn, then, and understand that from the time the command is given to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the anointed prince comes, seven sets of seven time periods and sixty-two sets of seven time periods will pass. Jerusalem will be restored and rebuilt with a city square and a moat during the troubles of those times. But after the sixty-two sets of seven time periods, the Anointed One will be cut off and have nothing.
Daniel, Chapter 9, verses 21 through 26, God’s Word Translation
On the next day the large crowd that had come to the Passover festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took palm branches and went to meet him. They were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel!" Jesus obtained a donkey and sat on it, as Scripture says: "Don't be afraid, people of Zion! Your king is coming. He is riding on a donkey's colt."
The Gospel of John, Chapter 12, verses 12 through 15, God’s Word Translation
********
VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, author and founder of Crystal Sea Books. Today we’re going to wrap up the series that we’ve been doing on Biblical prophets and prophecy with a focus on the book of Daniel. RD, you said today that you want to spend most of the show on what you consider to be perhaps the most amazing example of fulfilled prophecy in the entire Bible – the so-called prophecy of seventy weeks that’s found in Daniel chapter 9. Would you care to give us a hint of what’s coming up?
RD: Sure. As we often talk about on Anchored by Truth, one of the strongest lines of evidence that the Bible has a supernatural origin is that there is a large body of prophecy contained in various books. We live in an era more than 2,000 years after the time of Christ. So, we can see from history that a large number of those prophecies have come to pass. And not only were the prophecies fulfilled but they were fulfilled with a degree of precision that makes it impossible that any human being could have made the prophecy unless they were being inspired by an omniscient God who not only knows everything that has happened but also everything that will happen.
VK: Yes. Isaiah 46 verses 9 and 10 say “I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.” So, of course, if God discloses the future to one of his servants, that lets us know that God was directly inspiring that person. From a human standpoint we don’t know who will win the next ball game or election but God does. That’s why He’s the only one worthy of worship. Well, before we get too far into the details of what God revealed to Daniel in chapter 9 and how it was fulfilled let’s listen to one of Crystal Seas Life Lessons with a Laugh. This one is all about the many titles for Jesus that are used in different parts of scripture.
---- Life Lessons – Jesus Names 5 – Immanuel
VK: Wow. Who knew you and Jerry could rap … sort of.
RD: ... Jerry and I have many hidden talents. We can …
VK: Well, as excited as I’m sure the listeners would be to hear about your hidden … um, talents … we’ve got a lot to get today. So let’s get to it. Now in our opening scriptures we heard the prophecy from Daniel chapter 9 but we also heard a verse from the Gospel of John about Palm Sunday. So, I’m guessing that you see that there’s a connection between those two.
RD: Well, I think it would be fair to say that a lot of Biblical commentators have seen a direct connection between Daniel’s prophecy of the “70 weeks” and Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem that is commemorated in what we now call Palm Sunday. One of those commentators is Dr. Harold Hoehner who was the Chairman of the Department of New Testament Literature and Exegesis at Dallas Theological Seminary. He wrote a fantastic book called Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ. I’d highly recommend that listeners consider getting a copy of that book. We’ll be taking a lot of information for today’s discussion from Dr. Hoehner’s book. In that book Dr. Hoehner devotes an entire chapter just to Daniel’s 70-weeks prophecy and demonstrates a degree of prophetic precision which is just mind-boggling.
VK: Alright then. Let’s start our examination by seeing exactly what the prophecy predicted would happen. Now we heard in the early part of the Daniel scripture that there would a command given to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. That was necessary because at the time Daniel received this prophecy Jerusalem was in ruins having been completely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. – about 50 years earlier.
RD: Precisely. At the time Daniel received the prophecy we heard in our first scripture Daniel himself had been in captivity close to 70 years because he was part of the first group of Jews to be deported which probably occurred around 605 B.C. But, at that time the Babylonians didn’t destroy Jerusalem. They just installed a vassal king and collected taxes. Ultimately, though, after continued rebellions the completely razed the city and all the population except for a few very poor people either went into exile or were scattered. So, even the news that Jerusalem was to be rebuilt would have been as astonishing as being welcome. In the ancient world conquerors didn’t go around rebuilding cities and nations they had destroyed.
VK: But, of course, Jerusalem had a special role to play in God’s plan of redemption so God was going to be sure that it was rebuilt. It didn’t matter how pagan emperors might ordinarily behave. Kings and empires are all going to do whatever God tells them to. So, how did Jerusalem get rebuilt?
RD: When the Medo-Persian confederation conquered Babylon the Persian emperor, Cyrus, gave the first of four decrees that ultimately would result in Jerusalem’s complete restoration. Cyrus’s initial decree in 538 B.C. allowed the Jews to return to their homeland but primarily concerned the rebuilding of the temple. Over the next not-quite 100 years three more decrees followed, the final of the four coming in 444 B.C. from the Persian emperor Artaxerxes.
VK: Well, how can we be sure which of those four decrees started the prophetic time clock ticking and exactly what time period are we concerned with?
RD: Let’s take the second part of your question first. Commentators are pretty much universally agreed that when the angel Gabriel, who delivered the prophecy to Daniel, referred to “Seventy sets of seven time periods” he was referring to 70 seven-year periods. Some translations refer to 70 “weeks” but for a variety of reasons, which Dr. Hoehner covers thoroughly, most commentators agree the prophecy concerns a total period 490 years or 70 seven-year periods. But notice that this is not one continuous period of 490 years, the total period is broken into 3 smaller periods: a 49-year period (7 times 7), a 434-year period (62 times 7), and one final seven-year period for a total of 70 seven year periods. And notice that it’s after the end of 62 seven-year period that the Anointed One, or Messiah, will be cut off. But before that happens two of the three periods will have elapsed: the 49 year period and the 434 year period or a total of 483 years.
VK: In other words, 483 years were prophesied to elapse between the decree issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem and the cutting off of the Messiah? So, to evaluate the prophecy’s accuracy we need to know which of those four Persian decrees started that 483 year time clock ticking.
RD: Right. As Dr. Hoehner discusses in his book, only one of those decrees, the last of the four, really meets the criteria given in Daniel chapter 9. That was the decree discussed in Nehemiah, chapter 2, verses 1 through 8. The first three decrees either had to do with rebuilding the temple or the ratification of the first decree when local opposition arose to rebuilding the temple and some surrounding locals tried to get it stopped. Only the Nehemiah decree talked about rebuilding the city’s walls which would have been an essential part to having a safe city which is implied in the prophecy’s discussion of the city square and moat. The “city square” implies a broad open place that is protected within the city and the moat would be a supplement to the defensive fortification a wall provides. According to Dr. Hoehner’s calculations Artaxerxes issued his decree, based on our calendar, on either March 4th or 5th of 444 B.C.
VK: So that takes care of the start of the time clock and how long the clock would run, right?
RD: Well, not quite. Remember that the ancient Jews did not use the Gregorian calendar which is the one we use. The Gregorian and Julian calendar both use a 365 day period for a year based on the solar cycle – the earth’s period of revolution around the sun. Now, of course, every 4th year in the Gregorian calendar is a so-called “leap year” to account for the fact that the solar cycle is actually slightly longer than 365 days. The ancient Hebrews used a calendar for a year that consisted of twelve even periods of 30-days. So, our current solar calendar year is not identical to the ancient Jewish calendar’s year.
VK: In other words the ancient Jews year was 360 days long and not 365 days like ours. And so to make our calculation correctly we have to convert the years to days. So, 483 years times the 360 days the ancient Jews used for their calendar comes out to 173,880 days. So according to the prophecy 173,880 days would elapse between issuing the decree to restore Jerusalem and the Messiah being “cut off.” Are we just about ready to check Daniel’s accuracy?
RD: Just about – one more detail. Today we actually know that the solar year is actually slightly longer than 365 and a quarter days. The solar year is actually 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45.975 seconds.
VK: And 45.975 seconds? Yeah. Don’t want to forget those.
RD: No you don’t because God didn’t. So let’s now see what happens if you add those 173,880 days to March 5th of 444 B.C. and translate that result to our Gregorian calendar. You come out to March 30th of 33 A.D. which is the day that we call Palm Sunday – the day Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem that we heard about in our second scripture. Palm Sunday occurred just before Jesus’s crucifixion. Naturally, being crucified is a pretty dramatic way of being “cut off” and “having nothing.” A great many New Testament commentators agree that it was on Palm Sunday when Jesus’s role as the Messiah, the Anointed One became most visible during his pre-resurrection lifetime. On Palm Sunday Jesus visibly fulfilled a number of Old Testament prophecies including Zachariah 9:9 which prophesied that the Messiah would come to his people riding on the foal of a donkey.
VK: This is starting to be another one of those moments that, when you think about it very much, gives you a headache. Let’s review for just a second. Sometime around 535 B.C. the angel Gabriel visited Daniel who was still in exile and far outside his homeland. Gabriel told Daniel that at some point in the future a decree would be issued that would allow the Jews to rebuild their city including the walls that would permit it to have a safe city square and interior. Then, 483 of their years after the issuance of that decree, the Jewish Messiah would appear to the people only to be “cut off and have nothing.”
RD: Exactamundo, as I sometimes say to Jerry.
VK: And we now know from history that all that unfolded exactly as Gabriel told Daniel that it would. Almost 100 year after Gabriel visited Daniel the Persian emperor Artaxerxes issued a decree that’s recorded in Nehemiah chapter 2 and for which secular history provides confirmation. Then another 476 plus of our years go by and the prophecy is fulfilled on the exact day that was foretold – taking into account that the solar year actually contains 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45.975 seconds that we never pay attention to. That’s not amazing. That’s mind boggling in the most literal meaning of the term.
RD: That’s God. He is mind boggling – literally. But there’s one more thought I want to cover that is almost even more amazing than the prophetic precision we’ve just been talking about.
VK: Not sure we can take much more. What we’ve already learned is a lot to meditate about for days.
RD: Well, I think one more aspect of this prophecy needs to be emphasized. Clearly, only an omniscient and omnipotent God could give such a prophecy to one of His people and then orchestrate the events to bring it about. So the prophecy and its fulfillment alone illustrate that the Bible has a supernatural origin. But think about this. When Daniel heard about the prophecy, his world didn’t even know that the earth revolved around the sun much less know its orbital period. But God did and so do we. That means we can see the amazing accuracy of God’s activity within history that Daniel couldn’t. For that matter, from our vantage point within redemptive history, we have evidence of God’s existence, power, and faithfulness that even Jesus’s disciples didn’t possess.
VK: Oh. I think I see where you’re going with this. Sometimes, Christians in our era will say to themselves how much stronger their faith would be if they had only seen Jesus turn the water into wine or feed 5,000 people with only a few loaves and fish. But, in an oddly ironic way, we have evidence to support our faith that even the people who lived alongside Daniel or Jesus didn’t possess.
RD: Precisely. The Bible is so commonplace in our society that sometimes we miss the amazing attributes it possesses. Jesus’s audiences had access to the Old Testament so they could verify His claims about being the Messiah from the prophecies contained in it. But on Palm Sunday – the day He actually entered Jerusalem as the foretold Messiah – there probably wasn’t anyone in the crowd, including his own disciples, who had the same degree of information we have about the amazing display of prophetic perfection that was occurring right before their very eyes. But we have that – if we will take the time to get to know the Bible and to do a little bit of investigation about the astounding evidence that the Bible contains that it is the very word of God. The Bible not only tells about God and Jesus but properly studied, used, and understood it helps provide confirmation for its claims and our faith. In other words, contrary to some modern believers’ contentions, we have evidence that supports our faith that can be just as compelling as those who witnessed the water turning to wine or the loaves and fishes being multiplied. In an odd way we may have better evidence.
VK: I see what you’re saying. Even if you had been standing next to Jesus and saw the water being poured into the barrel and then saw the lid being lifted and the wine drawn out – that would have been a single experience. It would have been a powerful experience, to be sure, but over time memories fade. Many of the witnesses to Jesus’s miracles might have had only that single experience with him. With the passage of time even the power of their experience might start to dim. But we have the Bible with us all the time and we can go to it daily or even multiple times a day. And every time we do we can have our faith reinforced not only by the comforting passages – like the fact that God will never leave us or forsake us. But by the fact that the Bible displays in every book the fact that God has given us evidence and reason to support and sustain our belief in Him. Sounds like a great time for a prayer. How about if today we pray a prayer of adoration for the Holy Spirit who is the one who attests, in our hearts, that Jesus came to bring us salvation.
---- PRAYER FOR THE 4TH OF JULY (#45)
VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.”
If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!”
(Bible Quotes from the God’s Word Translation)
Daniel, Chapter 7, verses 2 through 7, God’s Word Translation
https://www.adefenceofthebible.com/2018/10/14/alexander-the-great-conquered-the-known-world-but-he-spared-jerusalem-why/
https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/1293/the-arrival-of-the-king
So, it’ll be 483 years of 360 days. Now, the only way we can figure it out is we have to convert into our kind of years, with our kind of days, so we’ll just multiply to get how many days it would be. You multiply it out, and its 173,880 days. You say, “The Bible can’t be this specific.” Well, you’ll find out in a moment - 173,880 days. The decree comes on March 14th, 445 BC. Sir Robert Anderson, who particularly did monumental work on this prophecy of the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ, has identified, by looking at the Jewish calendars of Passovers and so forth, that the time in which Passover was held can be determined rather easily, at least through using his method.
And he finds, backing up from that, the triumphal entry of Jesus must have occurred on April 6, 32 A.D.; April 6, 32 A.D.; the month of Nisan. And so, all we need to do is calculate a little bit. If Daniel is correct, from March 14, 445 B.C., to April 6, 32 A.D., is going to be 173,880 days. Well, let’s think about it. From March 14, 445, to April 6, 32 A.D., is only 477 years and 24 days; so we’re a few years short. We have to deduct a year, because 1 B.C. and 1 A.D. is the same year, so we really have 476 years and 24 days. Now, we have to convert to our calendar of 365 days, so we multiply that all out, plus 24 days, and we get 173,764; and we’re still short. But we have leap year every four years. So, 476 divided by 4, gives us 119 leap years, so we add 119 more days to 173,664, and we get 173,883 days - 3 days too many.
You say, “Oh, close is good enough for me.” Close is not good enough for God. Sir Robert Anderson went to the Royal Observatory in England, and he found out that, according to their solar calculations, a year is 1/128 of a day longer on the calendar than a solar year; 1/128 of a day longer. So every 128 years, we have to lose a day. And if you’re dealing with 483 years, there’ll be 3 of those, so you drop those out. And you have 173,880 days, just exactly as the Word of God said. Now, it has been interesting. In recent years, Dr. Harold Hoehner has written a book called The Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ. And when I heard that somebody else had done work on this, I was a little bit nervous to find out whether or not he would come up with the same answer.
So, Hoehner did his work - and I tell you this because it’s the truth, and you must know it so that you can understand the issue - he decided the that the first year of Artaxerxes had to be an accession year, so you couldn’t count it, so the decree had to happen March 5 of 444 B.C. so he moved it a year back - a year up, rather, going this way. He also calculated, from his New Testament studies - and he is the top of the list of New Testament study scholars and chronology - that the Lord was crucified on April 3, 33 A.D. So, he backed up from there to the triumphal entry, started calculating from March 5, 444, to his established date in 33 A.D., came up with exactly the same figure, 173,880 days - so either way.
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Episode 62 – Prophetic Perfection – From Exile to Exaltation
Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.
Script: (Bible quotes from the God’s Word Translation)
While I was praying, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the first vision, came to me about the time of the evening sacrifice. … I have come to give you the reply because you are highly respected. So study the message, and understand the vision. "Seventy sets of seven time periods have been assigned for your people and your holy city. ... Learn, then, and understand that from the time the command is given to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the anointed prince comes, seven sets of seven time periods and sixty-two sets of seven time periods will pass. Jerusalem will be restored and rebuilt with a city square and a moat during the troubles of those times. But after the sixty-two sets of seven time periods, the Anointed One will be cut off and have nothing.
Daniel, Chapter 9, verses 21 through 26, God’s Word Translation
On the next day the large crowd that had come to the Passover festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took palm branches and went to meet him. They were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel!" Jesus obtained a donkey and sat on it, as Scripture says: "Don't be afraid, people of Zion! Your king is coming. He is riding on a donkey's colt."
The Gospel of John, Chapter 12, verses 12 through 15, God’s Word Translation
********
VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, author and founder of Crystal Sea Books. Today we’re going to wrap up the series that we’ve been doing on Biblical prophets and prophecy with a focus on the book of Daniel. RD, you said today that you want to spend most of the show on what you consider to be perhaps the most amazing example of fulfilled prophecy in the entire Bible – the so-called prophecy of seventy weeks that’s found in Daniel chapter 9. Would you care to give us a hint of what’s coming up?
RD: Sure. As we often talk about on Anchored by Truth, one of the strongest lines of evidence that the Bible has a supernatural origin is that there is a large body of prophecy contained in various books. We live in an era more than 2,000 years after the time of Christ. So, we can see from history that a large number of those prophecies have come to pass. And not only were the prophecies fulfilled but they were fulfilled with a degree of precision that makes it impossible that any human being could have made the prophecy unless they were being inspired by an omniscient God who not only knows everything that has happened but also everything that will happen.
VK: Yes. Isaiah 46 verses 9 and 10 say “I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.” So, of course, if God discloses the future to one of his servants, that lets us know that God was directly inspiring that person. From a human standpoint we don’t know who will win the next ball game or election but God does. That’s why He’s the only one worthy of worship. Well, before we get too far into the details of what God revealed to Daniel in chapter 9 and how it was fulfilled let’s listen to one of Crystal Seas Life Lessons with a Laugh. This one is all about the many titles for Jesus that are used in different parts of scripture.
---- Life Lessons – Jesus Names 5 – Immanuel
VK: Wow. Who knew you and Jerry could rap … sort of.
RD: ... Jerry and I have many hidden talents. We can …
VK: Well, as excited as I’m sure the listeners would be to hear about your hidden … um, talents … we’ve got a lot to get today. So let’s get to it. Now in our opening scriptures we heard the prophecy from Daniel chapter 9 but we also heard a verse from the Gospel of John about Palm Sunday. So, I’m guessing that you see that there’s a connection between those two.
RD: Well, I think it would be fair to say that a lot of Biblical commentators have seen a direct connection between Daniel’s prophecy of the “70 weeks” and Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem that is commemorated in what we now call Palm Sunday. One of those commentators is Dr. Harold Hoehner who was the Chairman of the Department of New Testament Literature and Exegesis at Dallas Theological Seminary. He wrote a fantastic book called Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ. I’d highly recommend that listeners consider getting a copy of that book. We’ll be taking a lot of information for today’s discussion from Dr. Hoehner’s book. In that book Dr. Hoehner devotes an entire chapter just to Daniel’s 70-weeks prophecy and demonstrates a degree of prophetic precision which is just mind-boggling.
VK: Alright then. Let’s start our examination by seeing exactly what the prophecy predicted would happen. Now we heard in the early part of the Daniel scripture that there would a command given to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. That was necessary because at the time Daniel received this prophecy Jerusalem was in ruins having been completely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. – about 50 years earlier.
RD: Precisely. At the time Daniel received the prophecy we heard in our first scripture Daniel himself had been in captivity close to 70 years because he was part of the first group of Jews to be deported which probably occurred around 605 B.C. But, at that time the Babylonians didn’t destroy Jerusalem. They just installed a vassal king and collected taxes. Ultimately, though, after continued rebellions the completely razed the city and all the population except for a few very poor people either went into exile or were scattered. So, even the news that Jerusalem was to be rebuilt would have been as astonishing as being welcome. In the ancient world conquerors didn’t go around rebuilding cities and nations they had destroyed.
VK: But, of course, Jerusalem had a special role to play in God’s plan of redemption so God was going to be sure that it was rebuilt. It didn’t matter how pagan emperors might ordinarily behave. Kings and empires are all going to do whatever God tells them to. So, how did Jerusalem get rebuilt?
RD: When the Medo-Persian confederation conquered Babylon the Persian emperor, Cyrus, gave the first of four decrees that ultimately would result in Jerusalem’s complete restoration. Cyrus’s initial decree in 538 B.C. allowed the Jews to return to their homeland but primarily concerned the rebuilding of the temple. Over the next not-quite 100 years three more decrees followed, the final of the four coming in 444 B.C. from the Persian emperor Artaxerxes.
VK: Well, how can we be sure which of those four decrees started the prophetic time clock ticking and exactly what time period are we concerned with?
RD: Let’s take the second part of your question first. Commentators are pretty much universally agreed that when the angel Gabriel, who delivered the prophecy to Daniel, referred to “Seventy sets of seven time periods” he was referring to 70 seven-year periods. Some translations refer to 70 “weeks” but for a variety of reasons, which Dr. Hoehner covers thoroughly, most commentators agree the prophecy concerns a total period 490 years or 70 seven-year periods. But notice that this is not one continuous period of 490 years, the total period is broken into 3 smaller periods: a 49-year period (7 times 7), a 434-year period (62 times 7), and one final seven-year period for a total of 70 seven year periods. And notice that it’s after the end of 62 seven-year period that the Anointed One, or Messiah, will be cut off. But before that happens two of the three periods will have elapsed: the 49 year period and the 434 year period or a total of 483 years.
VK: In other words, 483 years were prophesied to elapse between the decree issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem and the cutting off of the Messiah? So, to evaluate the prophecy’s accuracy we need to know which of those four Persian decrees started that 483 year time clock ticking.
RD: Right. As Dr. Hoehner discusses in his book, only one of those decrees, the last of the four, really meets the criteria given in Daniel chapter 9. That was the decree discussed in Nehemiah, chapter 2, verses 1 through 8. The first three decrees either had to do with rebuilding the temple or the ratification of the first decree when local opposition arose to rebuilding the temple and some surrounding locals tried to get it stopped. Only the Nehemiah decree talked about rebuilding the city’s walls which would have been an essential part to having a safe city which is implied in the prophecy’s discussion of the city square and moat. The “city square” implies a broad open place that is protected within the city and the moat would be a supplement to the defensive fortification a wall provides. According to Dr. Hoehner’s calculations Artaxerxes issued his decree, based on our calendar, on either March 4th or 5th of 444 B.C.
VK: So that takes care of the start of the time clock and how long the clock would run, right?
RD: Well, not quite. Remember that the ancient Jews did not use the Gregorian calendar which is the one we use. The Gregorian and Julian calendar both use a 365 day period for a year based on the solar cycle – the earth’s period of revolution around the sun. Now, of course, every 4th year in the Gregorian calendar is a so-called “leap year” to account for the fact that the solar cycle is actually slightly longer than 365 days. The ancient Hebrews used a calendar for a year that consisted of twelve even periods of 30-days. So, our current solar calendar year is not identical to the ancient Jewish calendar’s year.
VK: In other words the ancient Jews year was 360 days long and not 365 days like ours. And so to make our calculation correctly we have to convert the years to days. So, 483 years times the 360 days the ancient Jews used for their calendar comes out to 173,880 days. So according to the prophecy 173,880 days would elapse between issuing the decree to restore Jerusalem and the Messiah being “cut off.” Are we just about ready to check Daniel’s accuracy?
RD: Just about – one more detail. Today we actually know that the solar year is actually slightly longer than 365 and a quarter days. The solar year is actually 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45.975 seconds.
VK: And 45.975 seconds? Yeah. Don’t want to forget those.
RD: No you don’t because God didn’t. So let’s now see what happens if you add those 173,880 days to March 5th of 444 B.C. and translate that result to our Gregorian calendar. You come out to March 30th of 33 A.D. which is the day that we call Palm Sunday – the day Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem that we heard about in our second scripture. Palm Sunday occurred just before Jesus’s crucifixion. Naturally, being crucified is a pretty dramatic way of being “cut off” and “having nothing.” A great many New Testament commentators agree that it was on Palm Sunday when Jesus’s role as the Messiah, the Anointed One became most visible during his pre-resurrection lifetime. On Palm Sunday Jesus visibly fulfilled a number of Old Testament prophecies including Zachariah 9:9 which prophesied that the Messiah would come to his people riding on the foal of a donkey.
VK: This is starting to be another one of those moments that, when you think about it very much, gives you a headache. Let’s review for just a second. Sometime around 535 B.C. the angel Gabriel visited Daniel who was still in exile and far outside his homeland. Gabriel told Daniel that at some point in the future a decree would be issued that would allow the Jews to rebuild their city including the walls that would permit it to have a safe city square and interior. Then, 483 of their years after the issuance of that decree, the Jewish Messiah would appear to the people only to be “cut off and have nothing.”
RD: Exactamundo, as I sometimes say to Jerry.
VK: And we now know from history that all that unfolded exactly as Gabriel told Daniel that it would. Almost 100 year after Gabriel visited Daniel the Persian emperor Artaxerxes issued a decree that’s recorded in Nehemiah chapter 2 and for which secular history provides confirmation. Then another 476 plus of our years go by and the prophecy is fulfilled on the exact day that was foretold – taking into account that the solar year actually contains 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45.975 seconds that we never pay attention to. That’s not amazing. That’s mind boggling in the most literal meaning of the term.
RD: That’s God. He is mind boggling – literally. But there’s one more thought I want to cover that is almost even more amazing than the prophetic precision we’ve just been talking about.
VK: Not sure we can take much more. What we’ve already learned is a lot to meditate about for days.
RD: Well, I think one more aspect of this prophecy needs to be emphasized. Clearly, only an omniscient and omnipotent God could give such a prophecy to one of His people and then orchestrate the events to bring it about. So the prophecy and its fulfillment alone illustrate that the Bible has a supernatural origin. But think about this. When Daniel heard about the prophecy, his world didn’t even know that the earth revolved around the sun much less know its orbital period. But God did and so do we. That means we can see the amazing accuracy of God’s activity within history that Daniel couldn’t. For that matter, from our vantage point within redemptive history, we have evidence of God’s existence, power, and faithfulness that even Jesus’s disciples didn’t possess.
VK: Oh. I think I see where you’re going with this. Sometimes, Christians in our era will say to themselves how much stronger their faith would be if they had only seen Jesus turn the water into wine or feed 5,000 people with only a few loaves and fish. But, in an oddly ironic way, we have evidence to support our faith that even the people who lived alongside Daniel or Jesus didn’t possess.
RD: Precisely. The Bible is so commonplace in our society that sometimes we miss the amazing attributes it possesses. Jesus’s audiences had access to the Old Testament so they could verify His claims about being the Messiah from the prophecies contained in it. But on Palm Sunday – the day He actually entered Jerusalem as the foretold Messiah – there probably wasn’t anyone in the crowd, including his own disciples, who had the same degree of information we have about the amazing display of prophetic perfection that was occurring right before their very eyes. But we have that – if we will take the time to get to know the Bible and to do a little bit of investigation about the astounding evidence that the Bible contains that it is the very word of God. The Bible not only tells about God and Jesus but properly studied, used, and understood it helps provide confirmation for its claims and our faith. In other words, contrary to some modern believers’ contentions, we have evidence that supports our faith that can be just as compelling as those who witnessed the water turning to wine or the loaves and fishes being multiplied. In an odd way we may have better evidence.
VK: I see what you’re saying. Even if you had been standing next to Jesus and saw the water being poured into the barrel and then saw the lid being lifted and the wine drawn out – that would have been a single experience. It would have been a powerful experience, to be sure, but over time memories fade. Many of the witnesses to Jesus’s miracles might have had only that single experience with him. With the passage of time even the power of their experience might start to dim. But we have the Bible with us all the time and we can go to it daily or even multiple times a day. And every time we do we can have our faith reinforced not only by the comforting passages – like the fact that God will never leave us or forsake us. But by the fact that the Bible displays in every book the fact that God has given us evidence and reason to support and sustain our belief in Him. Sounds like a great time for a prayer. How about if today we pray a prayer of adoration for the Holy Spirit who is the one who attests, in our hearts, that Jesus came to bring us salvation.
---- PRAYER FOR THE 4TH OF JULY (#45)
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(Bible Quotes from the God’s Word Translation)
Daniel, Chapter 7, verses 2 through 7, God’s Word Translation
https://www.adefenceofthebible.com/2018/10/14/alexander-the-great-conquered-the-known-world-but-he-spared-jerusalem-why/
https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/1293/the-arrival-of-the-king
So, it’ll be 483 years of 360 days. Now, the only way we can figure it out is we have to convert into our kind of years, with our kind of days, so we’ll just multiply to get how many days it would be. You multiply it out, and its 173,880 days. You say, “The Bible can’t be this specific.” Well, you’ll find out in a moment - 173,880 days. The decree comes on March 14th, 445 BC. Sir Robert Anderson, who particularly did monumental work on this prophecy of the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ, has identified, by looking at the Jewish calendars of Passovers and so forth, that the time in which Passover was held can be determined rather easily, at least through using his method.
And he finds, backing up from that, the triumphal entry of Jesus must have occurred on April 6, 32 A.D.; April 6, 32 A.D.; the month of Nisan. And so, all we need to do is calculate a little bit. If Daniel is correct, from March 14, 445 B.C., to April 6, 32 A.D., is going to be 173,880 days. Well, let’s think about it. From March 14, 445, to April 6, 32 A.D., is only 477 years and 24 days; so we’re a few years short. We have to deduct a year, because 1 B.C. and 1 A.D. is the same year, so we really have 476 years and 24 days. Now, we have to convert to our calendar of 365 days, so we multiply that all out, plus 24 days, and we get 173,764; and we’re still short. But we have leap year every four years. So, 476 divided by 4, gives us 119 leap years, so we add 119 more days to 173,664, and we get 173,883 days - 3 days too many.
You say, “Oh, close is good enough for me.” Close is not good enough for God. Sir Robert Anderson went to the Royal Observatory in England, and he found out that, according to their solar calculations, a year is 1/128 of a day longer on the calendar than a solar year; 1/128 of a day longer. So every 128 years, we have to lose a day. And if you’re dealing with 483 years, there’ll be 3 of those, so you drop those out. And you have 173,880 days, just exactly as the Word of God said. Now, it has been interesting. In recent years, Dr. Harold Hoehner has written a book called The Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ. And when I heard that somebody else had done work on this, I was a little bit nervous to find out whether or not he would come up with the same answer.
So, Hoehner did his work - and I tell you this because it’s the truth, and you must know it so that you can understand the issue - he decided the that the first year of Artaxerxes had to be an accession year, so you couldn’t count it, so the decree had to happen March 5 of 444 B.C. so he moved it a year back - a year up, rather, going this way. He also calculated, from his New Testament studies - and he is the top of the list of New Testament study scholars and chronology - that the Lord was crucified on April 3, 33 A.D. So, he backed up from there to the triumphal entry, started calculating from March 5, 444, to his established date in 33 A.D., came up with exactly the same figure, 173,880 days - so either way.