Daniel chapter 9: The time of Messiah foretold

For the first part of this chapter, Daniel is praying in earnest for the forgiveness of his and his people's sins - However this part is not what we will be focusing on. Feel free of course to read this in scripture, however for now, let us put our attentions to what Daniel speaks of as occuring in that prayer:

Daniel 9:21. Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. 22. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. 23. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.

What vision? Daniel refers to the man Gabriel, who he saw in "the vision" at the beginning. And what vision? No vision is given to Daniel in this chapter. We then must try and figure out what vision it is that Daniel had seen previously, which involved Gabriel - The only vision that fits this criteria is in the chapter immediately preceeding, Daniel chapter 8. In this vision there is a "Little horn" which "waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered." (Daniel 8:10-12)

And what follows this? Something that will become of much importance to us soon.

"Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." (Daniel 8:13-14)

And what after? "And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision." (Daniel 8:15-16)

We now have Gabriel for the first time, appearing to Daniel to explain the vision he had just seen - Of the Antichrist, and what he shall do. However the topic of this is to prove the Christ, not the Antichrist, so let us see Daniel's condition after Gabriel explains to Daniel the vision, concerning 2300 days.

"And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it." (Daniel 8:27)

Its safe to 'assume' from this that Daniel obviously did not understand the vision - As he was seeking for others to help to understand it, but none did. We then can see why it makes perfect sense that Gabriel, once again, was dispatched to Daniel in his prayer, to make understood this vision. Now let's return to Daniel chapter 9, the prophecy at hand, to see what becomes of this meeting.

"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy."

The word 'Decreed' here is the Hebrew word 'Chathak,' it means more properly to cut off. To cut off from what, one would ask? Most obviously, from the 2300 days of the previous vision. However this even in itself is not neccesary to our understanding - The next verse more is where the majority of our study will center.

"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. And after threescore and two weeks 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. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week 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 9:25-27)

Ahh, here it becomes interesting. :) According to scripture, 70 total "weeks" are alotted to the people of Israel, starting at the going forth of the command to rebuild Jerusalem. Reading the nest verses we find that after 7 of those weeks the temple *will* be rebuilt, even in troublous times, leaving us with threescore and two, or 62, weeks until Messiah the Prince. Let us see if scripture, prophecy in particular, has a secondary, or symbollic meaning for a day:

"After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise." (Numbers 14:34)

"And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year." (Ezekiel 4:6)

So then, we find in scripture it is not 'uncommon' but actually a practice used more than once, to use a day as a symbol of a year. If we assume the same applies to prophecy, (As the studies on the other chapters of Daniel more than clearly support) then we come out with 7 weeks of years until Jerusalem is rebuilt after the decree, or 49 years - Since 7x7 is 49.

History tells us that the decree to rebuild the temple was completed and enacted by king Artaxerxes and given to Ezra, in the year 457 B.C. (See Ezra 7 for a copy of the decree) If we then go from this date of 457 B.C. when the decree was enacted, and go to 49 years later, we come to 408 B.C. - The year the temple was completed in Jerusalem.

I will not go into too much detail proving these dates - They can be easily established from history should anyone seek to do so, and most of the Jewish community will readily agree with their validity. Continuing then, we find this criteria of the prophecy is fulfilled. What of the next part of this prophetic measuring rod?

Well, we now have the 7 weeks finished - This leaves us with 62 weeks until the coming of Messiah. Oo, now it gets interesting. :) If we apply the same method as before, and there is no logical reason we should not, this would be 62 weeks of years - Or 434 years. What happened 434 years after 408 B.C. - Or 27 A.D.?

Well, according to history, Yahshua (Jesus) was not in fact born on December 24th, 0 A.D. The dating method of the Romans who changed the system to B.C. / A.D. was found to be off by about 3 or 4 years, not too long after it was instituted. It is believed then that He was in fact born sometime between 3 B.C. and 4 B.C. If we simply turn then, to the chapter of Luke (New Testament I know, but bear with me) we find this record of Yahshua's baptism:

"Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli," (Luke 3:21-23)

Resting then only on the dating, which was never contended by any historian of the Apostle's period, even such as Josephus who was a strict Pharisee of the Jewish faith, we find that Jesus / Yahshua was baptized when he was 30 years of age - Bringing us to exactly 27 A.D, the announced appearence of the Messiah, and the beginning of His ministry.

But, there is more to the ruler, is there not? This is convincing as is, but there is much of the prophecy left unsaid. We have covered a lot since then, so let's re-check what the next criteria for the accuracy of this prophecy, and the Messiahship of Christ is.

"And after threescore and two weeks 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. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week 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 9:26-27)

Here we find the last of the 70 weeks that are determined to the people of Israel, as stated before - The first 7 were until the rebuilding, the next 62 (62+7=69) are until the annointing of Messiah, the beginning of Christ's ministry as we have shown, and now we enter into the 7th week - However the Messiah Himself will be cut off in the middle of that 70th week, but not for himself.

If we, as there is no reason not to, take this to mean a week of years, one half of a week would be equal to one half of 7 years, or 3 1/2 years. This was the exact time that Yahshua's ministry lasted - His crucifixion was in the year 31 A.D. If you are vaguely familiar with Christianity, you should know immediately what "But not for Himself" would signify - The crucifixion being for the redemption and sins/crimes of Yah's people, but not for His own, as He had none.

But this leaves us with 3 1/2 years to the 70 allotted to Jerusalem, the literal Isrealite nation - And the Messiah was to confirm to covenant for another 3 1/2 after His being cut off. What happened then, 3 1/2 years after 31 A.D.? What happened that would signify the nation of Israel's allotted time having ended? What could possibley meet this criteria?

In the year 34 A.D., Stephen, the deacon chosen by the apostles was stoned by the religious leaders. At this point the message of Yahshua went out from Israel, and the apostles set to preaching to the gentiles. Thus ends the 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel 9. Let us recap what we have so far:

70 weeks are given to Israel. The starting into motion of these 70 weeks is 457 B.C, the decree being enacted for the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. 7 weeks later, as the prophecy pre-recorded, the city was indeed completed, the wall and temple rebuilt. 62 weeks later the Messiah is to come - 27 A.D., the year of Yahshua's baptism and beginning of His ministry. One week left - Halfway into the week the Messiah is to be cut off - After 3 1/2 years, Yahshua is crucified, and "Not for Himself." 3 1/2 years later the 70 weeks allotted to Israel are to end - 3 1/2 years later, Stephen is stoned by the Isrealite religious leaders, and the gospel goes out to the world.

I have not gone over the parts of the prophecy that do not deal with the Messiahship of Christ - If you would like to see a more in depth study of the chapter, the previous chapter and others, please visit the prophecy section, and the link to the book "Daniel & the Revelation." For now, however, I believe I have shown beyond a doubt how scripturally, historically, and prophetically by Daniel's vision, Yahshua of 'Nazareth' is indeed the Messiah, having risen from the tomb the third day, His soul not left in the grave nor His body seeing corruption.

Yah bless as always,

- Luke