Part 4: Daniel 11-12:
The book of Daniel was written in two languages, Hebrew and Aramaic. Daniel chapter 1 thru 8, and chapter 12 were written in Hebrew. Chapters 2 thru 7 were written in Aramaic. Therefore, when studying the book, one needs to examine many of the words closely, because in certain instances they do not mean what they appear to mean in our modern English.
Daniel 11:40 to 45 concerns end time events that lead into the 7 years of tribulation. Daniel was a Jew of the tribe of Judah; taken into captivity in 606 B.C., spent most of his captivity in Babylon under king Nebuchadnezzar; then eventually under Cyrus the Greats authority.
The book concerns the Gentile world empires; their interaction with the Jews, the land of Israel; the temple and their religion. The book covers the period between 605 B.C. until the end of the age when Christ returns and sets up his kingdom; still future. In this article we will examine the verses that are relevant to end time prophesy.
This post will take a look into the last few verses in Daniel 11-then a more detailed study of Daniel 12. But first, we must lay the groundwork that will eventually bring us to the end of the age when Jesus sets up the kingdom.
Daniel 11:41 tells us in the end days, the antichrist will enter into the Promised land. After the rapture of the church, Israel will be without any political or military allies. They will also be surrounded by their Islamic enemies, Jordan, Libya, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Lebanon, Sudan and Ethiopia. Even America, without any Christian presence because of the rapture, America will no longer support Israel.
Today, Russia is supplying weapons to many Middle Eastern countries, and China’s is also developing interests in the Middle East.
Daniel 11:45, “And he (the antichrist) shall plant the tabernacles (his chief residence) between the seas (Mediterranean and Dead seas) in the glorious holy mountain (Mt. Moriah where the Dome of the Rock (the abomination of desolation) stands); yet he shall come to his end (destruction), and none shall help him.”
Daniel 12:1, “And at that time (tribulation period) shall Michael (God’s Holy messenger) stand up, the great prince which stands for the children of your (Daniel’s) people: and there shall be a time of trouble (Jacob’s trouble, the great tribulation), such as never was since there was a nation (of Israel) even to the same time: and at that time your (Daniel’s) people shall be delivered, every on one that shall be found written in the book.”
In verse 5, Daniel sees two men one on each side of a riverbank. Verse 6, he also sees a man clothed in linen standing upon the waters of the river. One of the two asks the one standing on water, “How long shall it be to the end of these wonders.?”
The man standing on the water’s replies,
Verse 7, “that it shall be for a time, times, and a half (3 ½ years) and when he (God) shall have accomplished to scatter (disperse) the power (meaning a part of) of the holy people (saved Jews), all these things shall be finished.”
There will be a small number of Jews saved during the tribulation. “shall” in the above verse is in the 3ed person and implies a promise or determination that shall be fulfilled, and, that the Lord has the will to enforce his promises.
The meaning of the word “time” in the above verse represents the time (1 year) between the same feast; as from a particular feast to the following year’s feast: it’s a set time of a solemn feast: total time involved, 3 ½ years.
The text of verse 7 lies in the context of the last 3 ½ years of the tribulation. Verse 1, it will be “A time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation (speaking of Israel) even to the same time:”
Jeremiah 30:7, speaks of the last days, “Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble:”
Over the centuries, Israel’s has had many wars, catastrophes, and purges, each bringing with them, destruction, death, slavery and dispersion. To say the last 3 ½ years of the tribulation will bring upon them a catastrophe like no other in their history, is unimaginable. But it must be so, for it is written and emphasized and described in Matthew 24:21; Revelation 2:22 and, 7:14, as “The great tribulation.” Tribulation as in distress and affliction like never before or ever shall be after.
The angel Gabriel gives the answer to the question, “how long?” verse 7, “a time, times and half,” meaning 3 ½ years between one of the most important feast or festivals of the Jews; possibly, Passover, Pentecost or feast of Tabernacles. Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, not sure which one these Gabriel is speaking of.
Passover, also known as the Festival of Unleavened Bread, is a spring holiday commemorating the Exodus. It’s a foundation for all Jewish beliefs.
Pentecost or Shavuot occurred fifty days after the offering of the barley sheaf during the Passover feast.
Sukkot, also known as the “Festival of Booths,” the seasoning of rejoicing.
Also, there are two High Holy days, the first is Rosh Hashanah meaning, “Head of the year.” It’s the day on which the year changes, from 2024 to 2025.
Yom Kippur is celebrated this year 2024 on September 10th and is the most important and solemn of Jewish holidays.
During Christ’s earthly ministry which lasted exactly 3 ½ years, Jesus brought to the Jews a new covenant beginning sometime between the 15th and 30th of October 27 A.D., soon after his baptism, and his forty-day wilderness experience with the devil.
Jeremiah 31:31, “Behold, the days come (future), said the LORD, that I will make (make here means to cut off the old and make) a new covenant with the house of Israel (10 tribes) and with the house of Judah (2 tribes).”
This is the same promise the LORD made with the Jews in,
Ezekiel 37:19, “Thus saith the Lord God; behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel (speaking of the 10 Northern tribes) his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah (2 Southern tribes) and make them one stick (one nation), and they shall be one in mine (God’s) hand.”
In order to fulfill this promise of confirming the new covenant, the 12 tribes had/have to be gathered together as one people in their own land. This was the condition of the Jews before the Romans came into the land and destroyed the Temple and the city of Jerusalem.
During the 3 ½ years of Christ’s earthly ministry, all 12 tribes were present in the land. After the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 A.D. the Jews would be scattered to every nation, as prophesied. And for the next 1878 Years, they were a people without a country. During that time, they were called ‘The wandering Jews!”
You can read about the prophesies in the following verses. Deuteronomy 30:4-5: Ezekiel 37:21-28: Isaiah 11:10-16: Amos 8:14-15: And,
Hosea 3:4-5, “The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice … Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king (symbolic of Christ); and shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the Latter days.”
It was officially on May 14th, 1948, God began to breathe life back into the people, drawing the 12 tribes back to the land. On May 13th, 2025, the Jewish people will celebrate a full 77 years in the land. Today, over 8 million Jews live and work in Israel.
This number includes the twelve tribes, there are no lost tribes! Israel’s existence and future are in the Lord’s hands, He said, “all these things shall be finished” verse 7.
And for the most part the people of Israel still reject Jesus as their Messiah, therefore they remain under law and will be judged by the law. Over the past 70 years, they have and continue to commit the same transgression they did before their captivity in Babylonians. What was that transgression? They have not rested the land, and yet reject the Lord as their King and High Priest.
Revelation 2:10, “You (those who go into the tribulation) shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death;” ten days translates in English to “a short time,” or 7 years of tribulation.
During Jesus earthly ministry, he had been cut off by the religious elite, not at the cross, but during the 3 ½ year he spent healing the sick, feeding the hungry, raising the dead and showing many other signs and wonders.
At the cross, the Lord cut the people of Israel off except for the few who received him as their Messiah. For 3 ½ years, Jesus was considered too be a rebellious son by the religious leaders, and so they rejected him, as did the people. Those in authority made several attempted to arrest him, then kill him.
John 5:18, “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.”
To the Jews, this was Blaspheme, a sin worthy of being stoned to death. Again in,
John 7:30-32, “Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.” Verse 32, “The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.”
Also, during his ministry, Jesus was accused of having a devil; He endured the contradiction of sinners; he lived in poverty, was falsely accused; had no place to rest his head; his Father’s house was made a house of merchandise; He was run out of the temple, betrayed, mocked, spit on, beaten, then hung on the cross as any common criminal would. At the cross the people shook their fists at him and said to him as he hung there, mocking him,
Matthew 27:40, “You that destroys the temple, and (claim to) build it (back) in three days, save yourself, if you be the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
His enemies took great satisfaction in his death. Yet while hanging on the cross, he looked down on the religious leaders and the people he came to save, and said,
Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Also, as he looked down on the crowd standing before him, mocking him repeated the words of David,
Mark 15:34, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Even the 11 apostles, Mark 14:50, “they all forsook (abandoned) him.”
There are those who teach Jesus was talking to the Father when he said “MY God, My God, why have you forsaken me? That’s nuts! What the Lord did was to repeat the words David spoke 1000 years earlier in Psalms 22:1. By speaking these words, “My God, My God,” Jesus fulfilled prophesy, and the religious leaders know it. The Father had sent his Son: Jesus came of his own free will, to do what? To do the will of His Father and finish the work of His Father. He said in,
John 19:30, “It is finished.”
Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of man fulfilled the demands of the law: His obedience to the Father’s will was even unto death, the death of the cross: the promise of deliverance was finished: Redemption was completed: He had finished the transgression and made reconciliation for iniquity and brought in everlasting righteousness. He had fulfilled everything that had been written by the prophets. And the way to the Holy of Holies in heaven was made manifest to all who believe.
In Revelation 13:8, it was said of Jesus, He is “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” This was God’s plan from before the creation, and neither the Father nor Son was caught by surprise, they expected Jesus to die that death, because they knew the hearts of men were evil continually.
Hebrews 12:2; Jesus is said to be, “The author and finisher of our faith; who for the JOY that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (His Father).”
To say the Son was speaking to the Father when he said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” makes no sense. Because it was by him, the author of our faith who centuries before, had it written concerning his own death by those he came to save. The three, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit knew exactly what was going to happen, and the three are witnesses in heaven. Also, he spoke to the apostles about his death before the cross, but,
Mark 9:32, “They understood none of these things,” that’s why the 11 abandoned him. His Father loved his Son, and he loved his Father, and with his last breath, He said,
Luke 23:46, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Doesn’t sound to me as if the Father had abandoned his Son.
So, after the 3 ½ years of Jesus ministry to the Jews proclaiming his new covenant, there remains 3 ½ years to finish the conformation of this new covenant with the Jewish people. So, the question remains, when?
The final 3 ½ years will be fulfilled by the two witnesses of God, Revelation 11. Before they begin their ministry, they will be marked with God’s seal so there will be NO MISTAKING THEM.
Revelation 11:3, “I (the LORD) will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days (3 ½ years.)”
What are the two going to do during the 3 ½ years? Their words will be to finish confirming the new covenant Jesus brought with him. And in so doing, fulfill,
Daniel 9:27, “He (the Lord) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (7 years): and in the middle of the week (3 ½ years) he shall cause the sacrifices and oblation to cease,” Jesus found the Jews sitting in darkness, and except for a precious few, left them sitting in darkness, and to this day, they remain a blind people, a people sitting in darkness.
When the two witnesses finish their testimony, they will be murdered. But after three-days, they will be raised to life and taken into heaven.
The verse in Daniel 9:27, in no way is speaking of the antichrist making a covenant with the Jews, that’s nonsense! I understand the Dome of the Rock is going to be his Temple in Jerusalem. It sits at the top God’s Holy Mountain, Mt. Moriah, and as long as it remains there, it will be an abomination to the LORD. Daniel 12:11-12 explains it.
Part 5:
Parts 1-2-3-4 can be found in the left-hand column under the title of 2027 A.D.
In this post we will cover Daniel 12:11-12-13. Before we move ahead, keep in mind, these verses are written for Daniel’s people the Jews, not for the church. Also, every bit of information we get from Daniel’s book, is to fit within the time frame of Nebuchadnezzar’s image found in Daniel 2. From the head of gold, 605 B.C. to the feet of iron and miry clay. Today, the world is standing in the shoes of the image’s feet of iron and clay.
Daniel 12:11, “And from the time (appointed time) that the daily sacrifice (which was to be a perpetual sacrifice) shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.”
Verse 12-13, “Blessed is he that waits and comes to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way till the end be; for thou (Daniel) shalt rest (die), and stand (be raised) in thy lot at the end of the days.”
The word “days” in the above verses is the Hebrew word “yom.” We must be careful how the word is understood. The Jews were particular in defining time. When the word “day” or “yom” was used with an adjective, as in, one day, or the second day, it meant from sunset to sunset (24 hours). If there is no adjective, the time is then uncertain, and the event or context that it’s written in must explain it.
As far as I can see, the text sits within the context of a long period of time, from the head of gold to the feet of iron and clay. The daily sacrifice which was to be a perpetual sacrifice, and a perpetual fire in the brazen altar was never to be extinguished, but both were taken from the Jews authoritatively by God when He sent king Nebuchadnezzar armies to remove the sacred vessels, including the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat from the Temple to Babylon, the year, 598 B.C.
Jeremiah 25:9, “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land (Israel),”
2 Chronicles 36:17, “Therefore he (the LORD) brought upon them (the Jews) the king of the Chaldees (Nebuchadnezzar), who slew their young men —- Verse 18, “And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, —– all these he (Nebuchadnezzar) brought to Babylon.”
2 Kings 25:13, “And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD (temple), and the bases, and the brazen sea (meaning the great bronze laver in the temple) that was in the house of the LORD, did the Chaldees break in pieces and carried the brass of them to Babylon.”
The following year, in 598 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar returned to Israel and took captive king Jehoiakim, see 2 Chronicles 36:6.
Hosea 3:4-5, “The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, (meaning Jesus Christ) and without a sacrifice (no Temple)… Afterward (in the latter days) shall the children of Israel return (May 14, 1948), and seek the LORD their God (after the tribulation), and David their king (symbolic of Christ); and shall fear (seek after) the LORD and His goodness in the Latter days (last days).”
The Jews may have continued on with the daily sacrifice after Nebuchadnezzar removed the sacred vessels, but, without the ark, the mercy seat, the brazen altar and eternal fire, their offerings were of no value to God, therefore the sacrifices were simply ritualistic and ceremonial.
It’s even more obvious that the LORD was dissatisfied with this people when he speaks of them as “Daniel’s people,” and of Jerusalem as, Daniel’s “holy city,” not saying, “my people, or my holy city.” We see it written this way in Daniel 9:24, 12:1 and in other verses.
Hosea 1:9, “For you are NOT my people, and I will not be your God.”
Now let’s examine, Daniel 12:11, “And from the time the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set-up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.”
God has given to us a specified period of time, 1290 years between the daily sacrifice being taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up. Two questions pop up.
First, what is the “abomination that makes desolate?” Secondly, when was this abominable that makes desolate set up?
We do have our start point, the year 598 B.C. when the “daily sacrifice” was taken away, and all the treasures of gold, silver, and bronze of the Temple were removed to Babylon.
To be set up means, something is to be set in place, a thing established. I would have to say this thing has to be obvious to the world so God can be glorified in these prophesies. Following is an example in scripture of something being set up, or set in place:
Genesis 1:17, “God set them (sun and moon) in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth,”
1 Kings 6:19, “to set there (in the Temple) the ark of the covenant of the LORD.”
Now, what is meant by “to be made desolate”? It will be something that will be set in place where once the Holies of holies was in Solomon’s temple, and where the daily sacrifices were made and presented to the LORD.
It was the room where the LORD showed himself once a year over the mercy seat, communicating with the high priest from within the Holy of Holies; or concerning the “daily sacrifice” (two times each day), God would communicate with the priests. God on the inside of the curtain that hung in front of the Holy place, and the priest making an offering on the outside of the curtain.
Now because of the idolatry of the Jews, in His anger, the LORD had the Roman armies sent in to destroy Jerusalem and the temple, the year, 70 A.D. To this day, Islam’s Dome of the Rock, sits as an abomination unto the LORD, a thing for all the world to see. The Muslim and pagan world thinking is, if the Jews God is so powerful, why is our god’s temple sitting on their holy mountain?”
Many commentators claim it was the altar, or the idol which Antiochus IV Epiphanies erected in the temple in 145 B.C. Antiochus’s actions may have served as a type, but as far as I can make out in the verse, the abomination was still far into the future, well beyond the years of Antiochus the 4th.
So, in the year 692 A.D., Islam’s Dome of the Rock had been completed at the top of Mount Moriah; the very spot King David purchased for the house of the LORD, and where Solomon built the Temple.
This parcel of land was purchased by king David sometime between 974 or 973 B.C. during the Philistine wars. David paid out 600 shekels of gold by weight for the property. The sole purpose of the purchase was to build the house for the LORD. And because of the idolatry of the people, God threw the Jews out, had their Temple destroyed, and temporally gave the Temple Mt. over to the Gentiles. Now the question remains, for how long?
Luke 21:24, Jesus is speaking to certain scribes when he said, “And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Compare with,
Daniel 9:27, “And he (Jesus) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week, he shall cause the sacrifice (animal sacrifice) and oblation (gift offering) to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation and the determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”
As mentioned above, “The Jews daily sacrifices and offerings were of no value to God, therefore, they had only a ritualistic and ceremonial value. And when the Roman Legions finished with the Jews, even their Temple was destroyed.
Now we know what the “daily sacrifice” was, and when it was taken away; the year, 598 B.C. We also know what the “abomination that makes desolate is. It’s the Dome of the Rock also known as, Qubbat al-Ṣakhrah mosque. Lastly, we know when this abomination was set up and established, the year, 692 A.D. It’s revealed in Daniel there would be a long period of time between these two events, the daily sacrifice taken away and the abomination of desolation set up; exactly, 1290 years, not days according to the evidence provided in the text and in the context.
So, let’s do a little math, 598 B.C., when the daily sacrifice was taken away. Walking forward in history exactly 1290 years we arrive in the year, 692 A.D., the same year the Dome of the Rock was finished by the Muslims.
Now there are those who study end time prophesy that teach the 1290 days actually means 1260 days + an additional 30 days. If you ask them, “what’s the extra 30 days for?” they have NO answer, none! It doesn’t work that way! If God meant 1260 or 3 ½ years, he would NOT have had Daniel write 1290. God is not the author of confusion.
John wrote 1260 days in Revelation 11:3; 12:6, some 700 years after Daniel wrote. I’m sure if the Lord had meant 1290 days, He would have had John clarify it, but he didn’t. John’s words concerned 1260 days, 3 1/2 years concern a different matter that falls during the time of tribulation.
Back to Daniel 12:12, “Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days (1335).”
Michael gave Daniel two sets of numbers, 1290 and 1335. Because there were to be two specific events at two different specified periods, both numbers combined would bring us to the end of 2625 years, beginning in 598 B.C.
Questions concerning the 1335 years. To “wait from when to when? and for what?” The 1335 years has to begin from the last year of the 1290 years, 692 A.D., when the Dome of the Rock was built then moves us forward from there, 1235 years.
Second question, “cometh” to what? Answer, to the end of the 1335 years, or Daniel 12:13, “the end of days.” I will use the same reasoning I used for the 1335 days that I used for the 1290 day. The context in Daniel 12 can not refer to days, it would make no sense.
So, when the daily sacrifice ended in 598 B.C., until the time the Dome of the Rock was completed in 692 A.D., 1290 years had passed. Now we can continue a full 1335 years into the future. What year would that take us to? From 692 A.D. to the end of the 1335 years would fall in 2027 A.D., ending at Yom Kippur in September 2027, this according to the Jewish calendar.
Daniel 12:10 is speaking to the Jews after the great tribulation is over. “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand: but the wise shall understand.”
The word “purified” in the Hebrew means to be purged from the defilement of idolatry and sin, to be reformed.
During these 7 years of Tribulation, many Jews will call on the name of the Lord Jesus. In so doing, they will reject the mark of the beast but will have to sacrifice their lives. And when the tribulation is finished, they will be a raised to life, Revelation 20:4.
But their destruction can be avoided if they receive Jesus now as their Messiah, receive him before the body of Christ is caught up to meet the Lord in the air, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.
To be “made white.” Let’s look at a few other verses that clarify the meaning of “To be made white.”
Revelation 3:5, Jesus is speaking, “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment–.”
Revelation 6:11, “And white robes were given unto every one of them;”
This speaks of the end of the tribulation when,
Revelation 20:4, John writes, “I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived (were resurrected) and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
Well, each of you can examine the evidence put forth, and compare it with the the teaching of others.
Phillip LaSpino www.seekfirstwisdom.com
Part 6 of 2027 A.D.
This post concerns Daniel 9:25. Let’s begin by establishing the year Daniel wrote the following,
Daniel 9:1-2, “In the first year of Darius (521 B.C.) the son of Ahasuerus,–.”
Verse 2, “Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he (God) would accomplish seventy years (either 606 B.C. when Daniel was taken captive, or in 605 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar became sole ruler of Babylon) in the desolations of Jerusalem.”
In Daniel 9:21; the angel Gabriel spoke to Daniel concerning the vision he had seen in Daniel 8:1. Question, what did the vision concern?
In Daniel 8:1, we read that it was in the 3ed year of king Belshazzar, 550 B.C. The whole of the vision concerned a ram having two horns (Medes and Persians) one higher (Medes) than the other. The Medio Persian empire lasted from 539 B.C. until 333 B.C. when they were defeated by Alexander the Great. In verse 5, Daniel sees the He-goat having a notable horn between his eyes. The He-goat symbolizes Alexander.
Next, in verse 8 the he-goat’s horn is broken off, this representing Alexander’s untimely death in 323 B.C.
Then up from the broken horn comes four notable ones (horns), these representing the four generals that had marched and fought with Alexander. Then, from out of one of the four horns comes a little horn, this was the beginning of the family of Antiochus, beginning in the latter part of the year 281 B.C., when king Seleucid died, and his son Antiochus the 1st Sotor became king.
The Seleucid Empire was a Hellenistic state ruled by the Seleucid dynasty which existed from 312 B.C. to 63 B.C. Seleucus 1st Nicator founded it following the division of the Macedonian Empire. Hellenistic relates to Greek history, language, and culture from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. to the defeat of Cleopatra and Mark Antony by Octavian in 31 B.C.
In this period, Greek culture flourished, spreading through the Mediterranean, Near East and Asia from Alexandria in Egypt to Pergamum in Turkey.
This little horn that would wax (grow in power and authority) exceeding great. The generations of Antiochus ruled the Seleucid empire for some 200 years. The empire fell about 68 B.C. when Rome pushed the Greeks back to their Island nation.
Following are the verses under discussion: Daniel 9:24-25,
In verse 24, we are told, “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy (Daniel’s) people (the Jews) and upon thy holy city (Jerusalem) to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness,”
But Daniel is then told to, “Seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy (meaning the Holy Spirit anointing of our Lord Jesus in October of 27 A.D. at the river Jordan. This happened when Jesus was thirty-years of age, Luke 3:23.
The verse reveals to us that 70 weeks of years represents 490 years from its beginning, until the transgression is finished and when there is an “end of sin.”
Obviously, to this day, we have not reached the time when sin is at its end. As we read on, we find that the 490 years has been broken down into three specific periods of time.
Verse 25, It began when there was a “going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto (until) the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks (49 Years) and threescore and two weeks (434 Years): the street shall be built again, and the wall even in troublous times.”
OK, let’s first break down four words in the above. The four words are, “Restore; build; street; and wall.”
The 1st word, restore: In most commentaries I have read, the word “restore” has been miss-represented. It’s true meaning in Hebrew speaks of the Jews returning to their land, to the place of their original habitation. So, to restore means to return from captivity.
Now, the second word, “build,” means to construct, repair, restore, raise up and reestablish. So, the Jews were given permission from the king to return to Israel and to “build” or repair and reestablish their city, the wall, moat and street.
Third word is “Street. This is the open square in Jerusalem that was also in need of repair.
The fourth word is, “Wall.” The wall refers to the ditch or moat, and the stone wall surrounding Jerusalem. Obviously, after 70 years in captivity, both the walls of the moat and the stone walls would be in need of repair.
In verse 25, only two of the three periods of time are noted; they are the first week, or 49 years that would precede the 434 years, both totaling 483 years, with seven years remaining.
Ezra’s return from Persia to Jerusalem, marked the restoration of the city, the Jews nationality and the law.
Let’s summarize Daniel 9:25. The prophesy declares, when the command goes forth, the Jews who had been in captivity for 70 years would be given permission to return to Israel in order to repair, raise up and reestablish Jerusalem. To repair the open square, the wall and the moat around Jerusalem. This would be finished by the time Messiah the Prince is revealed to the religious leaders and the people of Israel.
The prophesied Messiah was made known in October of 27 A.D. after Jesus had turned 30 years old, by Andrew, Peter and John the Baptist. He was baptized with water according to law in the river Jordan, then anointed by the Holy Spirit as Messiah, the “most Holy.” He was anointed King and High Priest of Israel, after the order of Melchizedek, legally doing away with the Levitical priesthood as prophesied. But Jesus was rejected as both the King of the Jews and as the High Priest of Israel.
Soon after His baptism, Andrew would be the first to understand that he had found the Messiah of Israel. This is important because Daniel’s prophesy said, “Unto the Messiah the Prince.”
John 1:41, “He (Andrew) first finds his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, we (John the Baptist and I) have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.” This happened sometime in late October of 27 A.D.
Matthew 18:16, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.”
Concerning the decree for the Jews to return to the land, there is much confusion and many opinions concerning which decree, and by whom it was made. Why? because there were four decrees ordered over a period of 86 years. The first came from King Cyrus, followed by Darius then the following two by Artaxerxes, all rulers over the Persian empire.
Cyrus’s decree came in 538 B.C., see 2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4; Ezra 5:13.
The 2ed was from Darius in 512 B.C., see Ezra 6:1 and verse 12. Darius had only confirmed Cyrus’s decree.
The third came from Artaxerxes who ruled from 465 to 423 B.C. His decree came in 457 B.C., see Ezra 7:11-26.
The 4th decree also came from Artaxerxes on March 5th 444 B.C., see Nehemiah 2:1-8.
Because of the wording found in Daniel 9:25 concerning the decree several questions arise. I took the last part of the prophesy where it reads, “until Messiah the Prince.” The time of this one event is sure! Jesus was baptized and introduced to the Jews as Messiah the Prince sometime in the middle to end of October 27 A.D., at the age of 30. Now because Jesus was born in 4 B.C., if we add 30 completed years, Luke 3:23, we will arrive sometime in October of 27 A.D.
Now, if we take the second period of time found in Daniel, that being, 434 years and go backward from 27 A.D. we would come to the year 407 B.C. This is the year Malachi finished his book which is the last book of the Bible, or it may be the year Malachi died, or both. What we do know is, Malachi was written between 436 and as late as 400 B.C. There would be a 400-year gap between God’s final message to Malachi and John the Baptist. John’s birth was followed by the Lord’s birth 6 months after in October of 4 B.C.
Now if we take this date of October, 27 A.D., when Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit, then go back in time the full 483 years, 434 + 49 as prophesied, we will arrive when Artaxerxes had made his decree, 457 B.C., the same year the king gave Ezra a copy of the letter concerning the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel.
Ezra 7:13, “I make a decree (457 B.C), that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee (meaning Ezra).”
Now when Ezra arrived in Jerusalem “was the Temple, the street, wall and moat already under repair, but not finished, or were both finished”? Even if the Temple and brazen altar were rebuilt, there still was no Ark of the Covenant or Mercy Seat for the Jews to have any legal sacrifices as prescribed by the law in Leviticus.
The Jews were still under law when they began their return in 457 B.C. Was the Temple finished? You can make up your own mind, but before you do, consider the following verses,
Verses 16-17, before the Jews returned to Israel according to the decree of 457 B.C., they were to take with them silver and gold and offerings, “willingly FOR the house (meaning the Temple) of their God WHICH IS in Jerusalem: That they may buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their food offerings and their drink offerings and offer them upon the (brazen) altar of the house (Temple) of your God which is in Jerusalem.”
It reads as if the Temple and the brazen altar had already been rebuilt. And the silver and gold Ezra took with him to Jerusalem would be used to purchase animals for sacrifice and possibly for breeding stock for all future offerings to God, and to reestablish their religion and nationality.
Concerning the brazen altar, when a person entered through the court gate of the tabernacle, the first thing they would see was the brazen altar. So, it appears the Temple and the brazen altar were both standing, as well as certain repairs having been made in the city, on the walls, moat and street.
It seems as if Artaxerxes decree in 457 B.C., to return and to rebuild is what Daniel 9:25 is referring to.
After 3 1/2 years when Jesus finished confirming the first half of his new covenant, 3 1/2 years remain. This will be accomplished by the two witnesses of Revelation 11. There is an overlapping of time, the two witnesses 3 1/2 years will end Daniel’s prophesy of 490 years. Now the beginning of the seven years of tribulation also begins with the two witnesses but continues on for another 3 1/2 years after the two witnesses are murdered, raised from the dead and taken up into heaven. What remains is the time of punishment for both the Jews and rest of the Gentile world. A time of ‘Great tribulation.’
What we do know is, when the seven years of tribulation ends, the last part of Daniel 9:24 would be fulfilled, “to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sin, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness.” Since Christ’s anointing, we are almost at 2000 years, or in God’s mind, 2 days, which brings us to,
Hosea 5:15; 6:1-2, “I (the Lord Jesus) will go and return to my place (in heaven), until they (the Jews) acknowledge their offence, and see my face: in their affliction (time of tribulation) they will see me early. Come, and let us (the Jews) return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten (stricken) and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us (make the Jews alive literally and spiritually): in the third day he (Jesus) will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight (in 1000 reign of Christ.)”
If we can use 2 Peter 3:8, and Psalms 90:4, as a guide to how God perceives time, we can then draw a correct understanding of what Hosea was prophesying.
2 Peter 3:8, “Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
Psalms 90:4, “For a thousand years in thy (God’s) sight are but as yesterday (one day) when it is past, —”
We are not to be ignorant of these facts, that God is not slow in keeping his promises, and for God, a day is as a thousand years. Jehovah knows no distinction between a day and a thousand years. All time, past, present and future are forever before Him; and both Psalms and Peter speak of time as the LORD sees time. Hosea has marked time the way God perceives it, 2 days to God are as 2000 years for us. And the last 1000 years would be God’s third day.
Bottom line! From that day in October of 27 A.D., Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit as King and Hight Priest; but the Jews fought against him and rejected his Messiahship.
We know, after he had turned 30, He was made known to two of his disciples, soon after, the chief priests, the Pharisees, and the Jewish people as the promised Messiah. It was at this time, in October of 27 A.D. the Lord began to confirm the first 3 ½ years of his new covenant to his people, Jeremiah 31:31, but he was rejected. Then in April of 31 A.D., 3 ½ years later, He was cut off at the cross as prophesied in Daniel 9:26, leaving 3 ½ years to finish the conformation of His new covenant with Israel.
This final chapter has been left to God’s two witnesses of,
Revelation 11:3, “And I (Jesus) will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days (3 ½ years), clothed in sackcloth.”
Phillip Lapino www.seekfirstwisdom.com