We need all the prayer we can get, all the enlightenment the Holy Spirit can give us as we delve into these times, figuring the numbers. We need to do this NOT in order to pinpoint the day of Christ's return! NOT to do that ever! But because we were given these times to figure for a reason. God wants us to know beyond a doubt that HE is in control of all things. God knows the BIG picture. God has a timeline and it's NOT a timeline of our making but a timeline that He has allowed so that ultimately all sin will be wiped out and God's love and truth will prevail. There is an end to the insanity of life and NO ONE can tell me there isn't an insanity to our world the way it is now with sin reigning. And again, no one can tell me sin isn't reigning in our world- just pick up a newspaper, just open a news browser, just listen to the news for a short while and you'll know beyond a doubt that sin is paramount, ruling and running this world.
There is a plan for ridding the world of all evil. God's plan. And God has outlined that plan so we can know all along the way that He is in control. Especially now when we are living in the end time had people have come to believe that Christ will never return because it's been close to 2000 years since His death. We are blessed by these prophecies, blessed to be allowed to see how God's plan is unfolding, knowing if so much has already unfolded then NOTHING will stop the rest from unfolding, nothing!
So let's just do an overview of things then by the grace of God start putting pieces together.
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Dan 9:24 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.
Dan 9:25 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.
Dan 9:26 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.
Dan 9:27 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.
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We are told this- KNOW therefore and UNDERSTAND from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem.
There would be a commandment given as a starting point. Does our Bible tell us when that happened?
Ezr 7:11 Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel.
Ezr 7:12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time.
Ezr 7:13 I make a decree, 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.
Ezr 7:14 Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, to enquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand;
Ezr 7:15 And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem,
Ezr 7:16 And all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem:
Ezr 7:17 That thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.
Ezr 7:18 And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do after the will of your God.
Ezr 7:19 The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, those deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem.
Ezr 7:20 And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treasure house.
Ezr 7:21 And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily,
Ezr 7:22 Unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.
Ezr 7:23 Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?
Ezr 7:24 Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them.
Ezr 7:25 And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not.
Ezr 7:26 And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.
Ezr 7:27 Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem:
Ezr 7:28 And hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the king's mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.
So…. When did this happen?
Ezr 7:6 This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.
Ezr 7:7 And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
Ezr 7:8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.
Ezr 7:9 For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.
Ezr 7:10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.
In the 7th year of the king (Artaxerxes)
Ezra thereby left Babylon in the first month of the seventh year (~ 457 BC) of Artaxerxes' reign, at the head of a company of Jews that included priests and Levites. They arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month of the seventh year (Hebrew Calendar).
Pasted from
457 BC
We have a starting point for the prophecy-
Dan 9:25 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.
Seven weeks and three score and two weeks-
7 weeks = 7 * 7 = 49
60 weeks = 60 * 7 = 420
2 weeks = 2 * 7 = 14
49 + 420 = 469 + 14 = 483
So jumping from BC to AD let's see where that brings us.
483 - 457 = 26
26 AD but… we have to account for the transition year don't we? Seriously. Transition year being the 0 year. We have the year 100, 200, 1000, 2000 and we consider the year 2000 a millennium year, yes? But it's not 2000 years if there was never a zero year- a transition year. Our birthdays highlight this fact really. When we are 1 year old we've already lived 1 year and are entering our 2nd year. Anyway, people will contest this and have, but it makes sense, it really does in a 'time' sense going from a BC to an AD. We counted down to 1 and went right to 1? Even in our numerical lines there is the -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1+ 2+ 3+, right? This isn't a ludicrous idea here at all, so let's continue.
For the sake of this prophecy let's look at both 26 AD and 27 AD and note any momentous events concerning the Messiah.
In 27 AD our Savior was baptized by John and began His ministry. Our Savior was anointed. The Holy Spirit in the shape of a dove came down upon our Savior.
Mat 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Does this fit with prophecy?
Dan 9:25 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.
Jesus began His ministry in 27 AD.
God said this--
Mat 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
This was a MOMENTOUS occasion! Jesus had come! Jesus had begun His work for the salvation of mankind! What could have been more notable in that year? Nothing!
So if this prophecy is figured out correctly and the date is 27AD- it fits like a glove doesn’t it? And if this part fits the rest should fall into place too, right?
We'll study more of this tomorrow though, bit by bit is how it has to be, digesting it all slowly.
It's my sincere prayer the Lord continues to bless us fully as we strive to understand the messages He has for us who are living in the time before his second coming. We have to watch, we have to pray!
In His love!
Amen.
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