September 16, 2009

  • Daniel’s 70 weeks

    Last time we left our Galatians study (it was the blog from August
    12 entitled “The Substance of Shadows”) we looked at an interesting
    verse in Colossians 2.

    Col 2: 16,17 “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” 

    The emphasis in this verse is that all of these feast instructions
    written by Moses so long ago were actually pointing to Christ and His
    work here on earth and in our hearts.  I thought it was very
    fascinating however that Paul also talked about the festivals being a
    shadow of  things to come.   This was certainly
    true of the feast of Passover.  Christ fulfilled this with his perfect
    sacrifice as the Lamb of God on that very feast day…. exactly as Daniel
    had prophesied… Then He arose on the feast of First Fruits!  The
    timing is amazing!!! 

    During this season of “Feasts” (which begins this Friday Sept 18th with
    Rosh Hashanah) let’s dig into what the “substance” really is within
    these feasts….  Some have been fulfilled and some are yet to come. 
    First the ones that have been fulfilled… namely Passover and how
    Daniel prophesied the exact time in which Messiah would be “cut off”.

    Blessings, Bee

    Daniel’s 70 Weeks


    There are a few different variations of these calculations but suffice
    it to say, all are very close to the date that Messiah was “cut off” or
    crucified, “but not for himself”, it was for us.

    Jesus Christ died for our sins as the perfect Passover sacrifice according to the Scriptures!

    Isaiah 53:5,6

    But He was wounded for our transgressions,


    He was bruised for our iniquities;


    The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,


    And by His stripes we are healed.


    All we like sheep have gone astray;


    We have turned, every one, to his own way;


    And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.


    Daniel Chapter 9


    24 “ Seventy weeks are determined

    For your people and for your holy city,


    To finish the transgression,


    To make an end of sins,


    To make reconciliation for iniquity,


    To bring in everlasting righteousness,


    To seal up vision and prophecy,


    And to anoint the Most Holy.


    25 “ 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.


    26 “ And after the sixty-two weeks


    Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself”……….


    First of all, to understand this prophecy we need to note these are 70
    “weeks of years”. The length of a “prophetic year” being only 360 days
    instead of 365! These 70 weeks will begin with the decree to rebuild
    and restore Jerusalem completely (“with streets”, not just the wall.)
    We know this date from the documentation of the decree in Nehemiah 2:1
    “And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of
    King Artaxerxes,” Most historians know when this twentieth year was and
    understand this date to be around March 5th 444 BC. Keep this date in
    mind.

    Now let’s work the numbers… and let’s use “days” right now instead of
    years because of the difference in the length of the year.

    7 weeks of years = 17,640 days (or 49 “prophetic years”)

    62 weeks of years = 156,240 days (or 434 “prophetic years”)

    Let’s add these, the total so far is 69 weeks which is = 173,880 days (or 483 “prophetic years”)

    Now let’s add those 173,880 days to the date 444 BC and what do we come
    up with? First we need to convert those days into OUR calendar years to
    get our present day date.

    173,880 days divided by 365 = 476.38 modern day years, (I will round it down.)

    444 BC + 476 years minus the 0 year for the BC/AD shift and you get …

    33 AD The same year our Lord was crucified, or very close to it!

    Some have figured the exact “days” and have come up with the
    calculation from March 5th,444 BC add 173,880 days and you will get to
    Nisan 10 or March 30, 33 AD which according to Luke 19:29-40 is the day
    Messiah entered Jerusalem on a donkey and all were singing Hosanna to
    the Son of David!….  Just a few days later Messiah was crucified.

    BTW… There is a “leftover” 70th week or to use the “day = 1 year formula” it is a 7 year time period.  This is a time yet to come in prophecy.

    Zechariah 9:9

    “ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!


    Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!


    Behold, your King is coming to you;


    He is just and having salvation,


    Lowly and riding on a donkey,


    A colt, the foal of a donkey.”


Comments (5)

  • I find these things very confusing a times, but also very interesting. I’d like to learn about all of the Feasts and what they mean to us today. Are you doing the Beth Moore Daniel study? It’s a really good one.

  • @proudmom87 - 

    I really enjoyed Beth’s study on Daniel a couple of years ago… have you gone through chpt 9 yet?

  • I did the study 3 years ago, so….yes!  lol

  • I’ve seen all that days thing calculated out before. It is all interesting, but the whole “prophetic month” things always sounded kind of hokey to me. Then again, the math works I suppose. I’m not sure the specific dates listed in this post are exactly on, but certainly close enough to make your point.

  • Yup, I did one of these posts, too – called it “Messiah Math”, I think.

    Problem is, ARE there seven years left at this point? Or less? And is His second coming foretold here the ‘End’, or the rapture? Because He comes in the clouds, and we meet Him in the air… and that’s a coming. So is when He stands on Mt. Zion at Armegeddon (not so much in the air as on land).

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