The Verdict of Reason
In PART XX we looked at a list of many of the Messianic Prophecies; scriptural passages written hundreds of years before Jesus’ appearance. These were not general prophecies but rather revealed precise details about the identity and life of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. We saw how they were fulfilled to the letter. Today we’ll look at just one more. It comes from the pen of the Prophet Daniel. It’s precision is likely to take your breath away.
DANIEL PREDICTS THE EXACT DAY !
In Daniel chapter 9, written just about 530 years or so before the birth of Christ, the prophet predicts Christ’s entry into his Kingdom to the very day. Check this out. Based on Daniel’s prophecy, 1st century rabbis, those writing when Jesus was alive, – expected the arrival of Messiah right around that time. The Magi arrived seeking Him partially informed by a detailed knowledge of Jewish Scripture which had been gained by Zoroastrian wise men and astrologers since the time of Daniel himself.[i] The Essenes, who produced the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, were another religious community that believed that the prophecy would shortly be fulfilled in first century Palestine.
Here’s the prophecy they were all exited about, Daniel 9:25-26: “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.”
It sounds confusing, so let’s start breaking it down. Sir Robert Anderson, a former head of Scotland Yard and a Christian scholar first researched the issue back in the 1890‟s. He made an amazing discovery. So let’s look at the timing: “from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.”
Here’s what we know: History tells us that King Artxerses Longimanus issued a decree to rebuild Jerusalem on the 1st day of the Jewish month of Nisan in the 20th year of his reign. Sir Robert used the Encyclopedia Britannica to begin his research, finding out just when King Artexerxes came to the throne. It was simple to calculate that the day the decree was issued was the 1st day of Nisan, 445 BC. That correlates with March 14th of that year.
“There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.” The Hebrew word used here is Shabuim, and means weeks of years or a 7-year period. Sixty-nine weeks of years multiplied by seven gives us 483 years. But these are Hebrew or prophetic years of 360 days each. So Anderson converted the years to days; multiplying the 483 years by the 360 days required by the Jewish calendar. That comes to exactly 173,880 days. He counted forward from the 1st of Nisan, 445 BC. Anderson and the scholars who checked his work all came up with the same answer: The 10th of Nisan, or April 6th, AD 32. We know from the Scripture that Jesus went up to the Temple to celebrate the Feast of Passover. Quoting Robert Anderson now: “In accordance with the Jewish custom, the Lord went up to Jerusalem on the 8th of Nisan, ‘six days before the Passover’”. Two days later, on the 10th of Nisan, (the date the prophecy indicated), Jesus made His triumphal entry into the Holy City.
That date was the original Palm Sunday. It was the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9. Now there had been more than one occasion that Jesus had refused the opportunity to be proclaimed King. This was the first and only time that Jesus the Messiah accepted his role of King. It occurred exactly 173,880 days from the day the decree was issued to rebuild Jerusalem; March 14, 445 BC.[ii] [iii] [iv]
Confirming Evidence: Historian, physician and Gospel writer Luke is a confirming witness. Luke is rated to be a scholar of impeccable historical accuracy. Here is his confirming testimony. In the 3rd chapter of Luke it states that Jesus was about 30 years of age when he was baptized by John in the Jordan River. Luke specifically identifies it as the “fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.” (Luke 3:1) That’s an easily traceable time period on which scholars can agree. It puts Jesus Baptism in the autumn of AD 28.
That puts the end of Jesus‟ three-and-a-half year ministry in the spring of AD 32. Christ’s final Passover then was on April 10, 32 AD. The Sunday before that was April 6th. That’s the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the acclamation of the crowds; proclaimed as King and Messiah. Again, that’s the very first Palm Sunday. Luke’s historical account lines up exactly with Daniel‟s prophetic one.[v] [vi]
[i] John MacArthur Study Bible, notes to Matthew 2:1, pg 1,394
[ii] Sir Robert Anderson, The Coming Prince
[iii] Chuck Missler, Confirming the Prophetic Date of 445 BC, taken from the book: Mark Eastman, M.D. and Chuck Missler,
The Creator Beyond Space and Time, 1996, The Word For Today. p.138,140-141
[iv] Dr Mark Eastman, Daniel‟s Prophecy Came True When Yeshua Entered Jerusalem, Messianic Times, April 1996
[v] Dr Mark Eastman, Daniel‟s Prophecy Came True When Yeshua Entered Jerusalem, Messianic Times, April 1996
[vi] Chuck Missler, Confirming the Prophetic Date of 445 BC, taken from the book: Mark Eastman, M.D. and Chuck Missler,
The Creator Beyond Space and Time, 1996, The Word For Today. p.138,140-141
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