The Day Of Judgment

8. The Seventy Weeks

Daniel 9: Gabriel Returns To Explain The 2,300 Days

The time was almost over for the Chaldeans to hold the reins of leading their world. Daniel understood from the words of prophet Jeremiah that the people of God will be liberated after 70 years, that they will be permitted again to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. He interceded for his people. First, he admitted that their punishment is due to their rebellion but he knows God is also merciful and faithful to His promises. Yet the vision about the 2,300 days denoted a longer period of time before the restoration. He thought that God might extend their captivity and so he pleaded to God, "Lord, do not delay."

As he was still praying, Angel Gabriel returned to give him more insights and understanding about the vision.

He said to him:

"Seventy weeks are decreed* for your people and for your holy city to end transgressions, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up visions and prophecies, and to anoint the most holy."

*Decreed or designated. Separated, assigned, or appointed from the longer 2,300 days to be used for a special purpose.

"Know and understand this: From the issuance of the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah the Prince, comes, there will be 7 weeks, and 62 weeks. It will be rebuild even in times of trouble."

That is 69 weeks all in all or 483 days, or 483 years. There are seven years left to complete the 490 days or 70 weeks. What will happen during these last 7 days or 7 years?

After these 483 days/years, the Christ will be cut off. During the last 7 years, he will confirm a covenant with many, that is, the new covenant. And in the midst of this 7 years, he will fulfill the sacrifices and offerings by giving himself to be the final and complete sacrifice and offering to God. He will fulfill all what was written for God's people to do because he was made as one among them and he is their appointed leader.

At the end of these 490 years, the remaining 1,810 years from the 2,300 years, will commence. It was described as the coming of a flood-like war. The people of an abominable ruler will come to the city to make it desolate and will continue to progress in all of his works until the set time for him to fall down will come.
Yes, the holy city of God, the saints, will be deserted by their people! A rebellion.

According to history, there were four issuances of decree in the times of the kings of Media and Persia
to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem:

1st) 537 BC - by Cyrus

2nd) 520 BC - by Darius

3rd) 457 BC* - by Artaxerxes in his 7th year on the throne.... this decree did not only include the restoration of the temple but also the restoration and the city itself so that it can stand and walk again according to its own laws.

4rth) 444 BC - Artaxerxes re-issued the decree to rebuild the city walls.

*There is a controversy, however, about the 7th year of Artaxerxes' reign. Some computes his first year earlier compared to other computations because there is a so-called evidence that he was already ruling along with his father 10 years before the death of the king in 464 BC. Our friends under Watchtower Society believe that Artaxerxes' first year on the throne was 474 BC. The 7th year, for them, was on 467 BC. This date cannot coincide with the 490 years in the prophecy, because like 537 BC and 520 BC, it will not reach the time when Jesus started his ministry which was about 30 AD, when he was about 30 years of age.
(Luke 3:23)

So, the only remaining choice was the 20th year of his reign from 474 BC, and that was 454 BC.

But there is a problem. It was found out that the arrangement of our present calendar year is faulty. Jesus was not really born on AD 1. It was found out that he was born earlier and that was perhaps 2 BC to 6 BC. It is already late to alter the calendar year arrangement so they are just informing now the readers by their book's footnotes.

Some Christians teach that Jesus started his ministry on 29 AD, the end of the first 483 years, when he was about 30 years of age, and confirmed the new covenant within the last 7 years of the 490 years allotted to his city and his people.

But if Jesus was really born earlier, he was already 30 years old or more on 29 AD, isn't it? And that will contradict Luke 3:23 statement that he was about thirty or near thirty years old when he began his ministry.

Anyway, whether we start the 2,300 years from 457 BC or 454 BC, the fact still remains: The vision has ended on either 1844 AD or 1847 AD.

Around the 1800's, the signs of the transition of times was seen.
Just like the years when the Lord has visited the earth in the first century AD, the signs of the bright times appeared.

But first, we will have a bit briefing in world's history from the times of the kings of Persia down to our present time.