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The Prophecy of 70 Sevens

Welcome!

This blog is my tribute to Yahweh the living God of the Bible and His majestic redemptive plan that is displayed throughout the 66 books we call the Bible. In the Biblical record this redemptive plan for all mankind is realized through the Jewish Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth.

Yeshua – which means Yahweh’s Salvation, is testified to in many ways through the Old and New Testaments. Of these testimonies, the most pivotal is what is know as the prophecy of 70 “Weeks” or more accurately as the prophecy of 70 Sevens. This is the only prophecy in the Bible which gives a specific and datable timeline for the coming of the Bible’s promised redeemer.

If you are interested in learning more about Daniel 9 and the prophecy of 70 Sevens you might appreciate my book Daniel’s 70 Weeks: The Keystone of Bible Prophecy. You can download the book for free from one of the links below.

You’ll also find at this blog various articles that dig deep into the context, chronology, and symbolism of the 70 Sevens prophecy. May this information inspire you to search the Scriptures to “see if these things be so”.

William Struse

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Book synopsis:
For centuries scholars have argued about the authenticity of the lineage of Yeshua (Jesus), as found in Matthew 1. Many have asked why the apostle Matthew failed to mention four of the Messiah’s ancestors. Others have asked why this famous lineage was arranged more like a cipher than a straight forward listing of Yeshua’s generations.

In The 13th Enumeration: Key to the Bible’s Messianic Symbolism, William Struse takes you on Biblical adventure in search of answers. In this thrilling investigation of one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Bible you’ll learn the reasons why:

  • The supposed inaccurate lineage of Yeshua, as found in Matthew 1, is one of the greatest expressions of Messianic symbolism found in the Bible.
  • The missing names in Matthew’s list are the key to a stunning Biblical cipher.
  • The Biblical lunar/solar cycles reflect an amazing pattern which is connected to the Bible’s sacrificial system.
  • The 13th month, as found in the book of Ezekiel, symbolizes the Bible’s promised Messianic reconciliation and confirms the unique nature of the Biblical calendar.
  • The nature and order of the sacrificial system as given to Israel, has distinctive messianic symbolism.
  • The numerical order of the priestly courses of ancient Israel confirm a messianic thread woven into the Biblical record.
  • How Circles, Cubits, and Context are essential to understanding Biblical “time” as it relates to the prophecies of the Bible.
  • The wonderful messianic symbolism of the 14th sacrifice found in the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
  • The number 13 in the Bible is connected to an ancient superstition, a biblical heroine, and an April fool.The
  • Messianic symbolism of 2nd temple and apostle Paul’s “middle wall of partition”.

From the first page to the last, William Struse will take you on an adventure of Biblical proportions that will forever change your view of the Bible’s Messianic symbolism and remind you of our Creators plan of reconciliation for all mankind through Yeshua, the Messiah promised in the Scripture.

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Book Synopsis:
Did the Bible really predict the coming of the Messiah before it happened? To answer that question William Struse takes you on a Biblical adventure in search of the promised Messiah. Of all the prophetic texts in the Bible, and by some counts there are over 2000, there is only one prophecy which gives a specific datable timeline for the coming of the Messiah. That prophecy found in the 9th chapter of the book of Daniel is commonly called Daniel’s 70 Weeks.

Did you know?

1.The prophecy of 70 Weeks gives the date for the birth the Messiah.
2.The prophecy also tells of the Messiah’s death and his resurrection.
3.The prophecy warns of the destruction of Jerusalem and its desolation.
4.The prophecy confirms the “covenant and mercy” promised to Abraham and his descendants, the Jewish people.

In a world where some question the Jewish people’s ancestral rights to the land of Israel, the prophecy of 70 Weeks proves mathematically that indeed YHWH’s oath which he swore with Abraham and his “seed” is in fact true, literal, and eternal.

Did you know?

1.That the “covenant and mercy” mentioned in Daniel 9:4 refers to the oath YHWH swore with Abraham and his “seed” in Genesis 22.
2.That the word swore in Genesis 22 comes from the Hebrew shaba and is the very root for the Hebrew word shabuwa (weeks) as in Daniel’s 70 Weeks (Shabuwa).
3.That this covenant made with Abraham is the first recorded covenant YHWH swore (shaba) with any man in the Bible.
4.That this oath of sevens is an underlying covenantal theme of the entire Biblical record.

As you explore the Biblical record in this book, you’ll see why the prophecy of 70 Weeks is the keystone between the Old and New Testaments (Covenants). Quite literally, this prophecy bridges the Old Testament Torah and Prophets, which speak of a coming Messiah, with the New Testament Apostles who record the fulfillment of those very prophecies in the person of a first century Jewish man named Yeshua.

So if you’ve ever wondered whether the Bible’s prophecies which speak of a coming Messiah are true, by the time you have finished Daniel’s 70 Weeks: The Keystone of Bible Prophecy you’ll have an answer to that question and you will know why the Bible is truly different than any other religious text recorded by man.

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Book Synopsis:
Today, thanks in large part to several bestselling books on the subject, a whole new generation has been introduced to the Biblical Sabbath (Shemitah) and Jubilee cycles. All sorts of amazing claims have been made the past couple of years regarding the relevance of these ancient cycles to those of us today. The claims have included predicting stock market cycles, to the timing of the 2nd coming of Christ, and the rapture. In all the sensationalism, an important part of the subject has been overlooked.

•What does the Bible actually say about the Biblical Sabbath and Jubilee cycles?
•Can these cycles be dated with any certainty?
•Are they really relevant to us today?

To answer these important questions, William Struse takes you on an adventure that will forever change your view of the Bible’s chronological record. Building upon a reasonable and defensible rendering of the Old Testament chronology, Mr. Struse identifies and synchronizes two Biblical Shemitah and a Biblical Jubilee cycle with secular chronology.

These synchronizations then allow the reader to see Biblical history in the light of what Mr. Struse calls Prophetic Milestones. Did you know that Sabbath and Jubilee cycles mark some of the most important events in Yahweh’s redemptive plan for mankind? Events like:

•The creation of Adam
•Enoch
•The flood
•The birth and call of Abraham
•The birth of Isaac
•The times of the Hebrew people relative to the times of the Gentiles
•The 70 years captivity
•Daniel 9 and the divine word to return and build Jerusalem
•The death and resurrection of Yeshua
•The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple
•The 41st Jubilee cycle as it relates to our generation
•The 123rd Jubilee cycle (3×41) as it relates to the millennium
•The 144th Jubilee cycle as it relates to the New Jerusalem and the restitution of all things

By the time you are finished The Jubilee Code: Prophetic Milestones in Yahweh’s Redemptive Plan, you will have a whole new appreciation for our Creator’s guiding hand in history working out His Yeshua, (YHWH’s Salvation) for all mankind. So, if you love Biblical history and Bible prophecy take a few hours to read The Jubilee Code and see Yahweh’s love for mankind demonstrated in a bold and thrilling new way.

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The Jubilee Code: PDF Download

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Book IV – Shadows and Types of the Second Coming is to be released. Be sure to subscribe to my blog and I’ll notify you when it is available for free download.

I hope you’ll join the adventure!

If you prefer to download directly from Amazon or if you would like to write a review once you’ve read the book, please visit my Amazon author page here: Amazon.

Christian Fiction by William Struse

If you like action packed Christian fiction you might enjoy reading my novel The 13th Enumeration. This thrilling novel is Biblical history and Bible prophecy like you’ve never read it before. Since 2013 over 60,000 copies have been downloaded. Don’t take my word for it, read one of the 296 reviews on Amazon. Subscribers to my blog can download the Kindle version for free by clicking on the image below:

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“Imagine The Da Vinci Code Written By A Biblical Scholar” … The twist is that Struse plays for the other team. He approaches the Scriptures with a bias towards belief, and yet with an open-mindedness and curiosity which leads him to find secrets hidden in these texts in plain sight.” – Amram Shapiro

Synopsis

The Adventure begins with Book I – The 13th Enumeration

In 43 AD, Levi ben Cheleph, a Roman customs official, composes a controversial genealogy of Jesus. For the next nineteen centuries, this list becomes one of the most disputed texts of the New Testament and the basis for one of the most important biblical secrets of all time. The 13th Enumeration is the key to that forgotten secret.

Darius Zaridast, CEO of Aquarius Elemental Solutions, is on a quest to destroy those he believes are responsible for the death of his father and the status of his homeland, Persia, as a third-world dictatorship ruled by religious fanatics. Darius finds evidence that this group, which he calls the Order, is also part of a centuries-old conspiracy to keep the secret of the 13th Enumeration. This secret, he learns, is their greatest fear because it is the key to information that could destroy them.

His research into this secretive group of people is compiled in a dossier he calls FILE-13. Darius believes some of history’s most influential men are somehow connected to the secret:


Sir Isaac Newton, one of the most influential scientists of all time, spent a good portion of his life looking for a hidden biblical code.

Charles Thomson, one of only two signers of the original Declaration of Independence, was responsible for the most notorious symbols in American history. This symbol, known by only a few, is a key to the secret.


William Frishmuth, a chemist and secret agent for Abraham Lincoln, was so valued for his services he was paid two hundred dollars from Abraham Lincoln’s private purse.

William Colgate of Colgate/Palmolive, one of America’s early entrepreneurs, owned a building which featured an unsolved brick symbol–a symbol which today is known as the “American Da Vinci Code.” This cipher holds the key to the forgotten secret.


Sir Robert Anderson, commissioner of Scotland Yard during the Ripper murders, almost discovered the secret.


Benjamin Franklin, writer, inventor, philosopher, and statesman, may have been involved in guarding this ancient knowledge.

As Darius’s plot for revenge matures, he initiates the most devastating attack in the history of New York’s financial district. With Manhattan Island a ghost town, Darius uses the ensuing events to perpetrate the greatest financial manipulation of all time. Just when he has the world convinced he is its savior, Darius Zarindast destroys his entire corporate empire, causing the largest financial meltdown in history. He has finally realized his revenge. The only bitterness in his cup of retribution is his inability to solve the secret of the 13th Enumeration.

In this battlefield of revenge, conspiracy, and superstition, an archeology discovery is made in Capernaum, Israel–a discovery which will forever change the way the prophecies of the Bible are understood. Zane Harrison, a dig volunteer, and Rachael Neumann, daughter of the director of Israeli Antiquities, unwittingly stumble upon an incredible treasure of artifacts. Their find leads to the rediscovery of the 13th Enumeration. They soon learn their discovery is the key to a mathematical cipher found in the very first chapter of the New Testament, an ancient code which has profound implications regarding the status of Jesus Christ as the biblical Messiah. The unearthing of this ancient secret places them directly in the crosshairs of the Order. Will they be able to share their discovery with the world before the Order destroys the evidence and once again erases all knowledge of the 13th Enumeration from the pages of history?

The 13th Enumeration is a thrilling page-turner which weaves little-known historical and biblical facts into a plot that could have been taken from today’s headlines. The explosive conclusions of this story will leave the secular and Christian reader alike wondering if this is really a work of fiction–or the greatest discovery of our generation.

Seven, 70, & Sevens: Daniel 9 & the Bible’s Messianic Symbolism

Did you know that the Bible tells us that someday all mankind will offer an oath of seven to YHWH, the living God of the Bible? This week we’ll learn about this oath, a covenant made with Abraham, the prophecy of 70 “Weeks”, and how all share a common thread in the Bible’s messianic symbolism.

In the past several articles we’ve explored the amazing influence the law of Moses has had on Bible prophecy in general and the Bible’s messianic symbolism in particular. We can say with the Apostle Paul that indeed the “law” is a shadow of good things to come.

If you haven’t read the other articles in this series I’d encourage you to do so. They provide important context for the thrilling information I’m going to share in today’s blog post.

Bible Prophecy and the Law of Moses
Part I – The Bible’s Holy Days: Pictures of the Messiah
Part II (a) – The Messiah Factors: Numerical Evidence of Yahweh’s Redemptive Plan
Part II (b) – The Messiah Factors: Numerical Evidence of Yahweh’s Redemptive Plan
Part III – Seven, 70, & Sevens: Daniel 9 & the Bible’s Messianic Symbolism

At the heart of the Bible’s messianic symbolism, that is entwined into the law of Moses, are what I’ve termed in these articles, the Messiah Factors. The Messiah Factors are the numbers 7, 13 & 14, and they are part of the Bible’s messianic symbolism that points us to Yahweh’s redemptive plan for mankind through Yeshua (Yahweh’s Salvation). These numerical symbols exemplify divine perfection, the messiah, atonement, and redemption.

As amazing as this exploration has been so far, I now want to show you another reason these numbers were chosen by Yahweh to represent His Yeshua (salvation) to mankind and why Continue reading

The Numerical Structure of Daniel 9 & the Prophecy of 70 Sevens

This week I have some wonderful information to share with you about Daniel 9 and the prophecy of 70 Sevens. I guarantee that after reading this article you’ll never look at Daniel 9 the same way again. My real hope though is that by the time you’ve finished this article you’ll have a new and fuller understanding of Yahweh’s redemptive plan for mankind and how richly He has woven that redemptive thread throughout the Biblical record. I hope you are prepared for an amazing adventure in Yahweh’s words. To begin lets talk about the power of words.

Words are powerful!

But have you ever thought about what makes them powerful?

Words are powerful because they convey meaning, right? But meaning alone doesn’t make words powerful. Words are powerful when they are arranged in specific ways to convey thoughts, emotions, and ideas. If we dig even deeper, we realize the same about the letters that make up those words. Letters are merely symbols (with meaning) which we arrange to make words.

Let me give you an example of why words, even though individually they have meaning, are only truly powerful when arranged with an intent to express thoughts or ideas. See if the following words have any noteworthy meaning to you.

Spot saw nor I never moor a in of how I the certain
I heather the saw given as spoke know
the with if visited a never were be what god never looks
I and heaven I charts yet am wave the sea yet.

While each of these words in the above sentence has a meaning, as they are currently arranged, they certainly are not what we would consider powerful or moving. In fact, as a whole they do not make much sense at all. Now take a look at those same words as they were arranged by the poet Emily Dickinson:

Chartless

I never saw a moor,
I never saw the sea;
Yet know I how the heather looks,
And what a wave must be.

I never spoke with God,
Nor visited in heaven;
Yet certain am I of the spot
As if the chart were given.

– Emily Dickinson

As you can see those are some powerful words once they have been imbued with order. That is what I want to talk about today – the order and design of words in the Bible.

Did you know that the Hebrew authors of the Old Testament were masters at arranging words to make powerful literary statements? Scholars have long realized that many passages in the Bible have been arranged in specific ways to bring meaning to the text. For example, many passages of the Bible are arranged a chiastic pattern. Chiasm refers to a crosswise arrangement of concepts or words that are repeated in reverse order. This chiastic arrangement of the text allows the author to emphasis important parts of the passage in an artistic and more meaningful way.

Psalm 119 is a classic example of another literary devices used by Hebrew wordsmiths. This 22 stanza Hebrew poem is ordered acrostically. Each stanza beginning with a Hebrew word whose first letter is one of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet (arranged alphabetically). Further each stanza is exactly 8 verses. In total there are 1063 words to Psalm 119. There are 533 words in the first 11 stanzas and 530 words in the second. The numerical center of this Psalm is the three words of verse 88b which in English translates to:

“so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.”

This three Hebrew word statement situated in the exact middle (530+3+530) of Psalm 119 perfect summarizes what this Psalm is all about. Now that is a powerful numerical and literary statement! For more on the numerical arrangement of Psalm 119 I’d encourage you to read Casper Labuschagne’s logotechnical analysis of Psalm 119 here: Psalm 119

You see the Hebrew authors not only arranged many of the Biblical passages chiastically and poetically, but in some instances, they also structured them numerically to emphasize a word, verse, a larger passage, or an idea. As Casper Labuschange and others have demonstrated, many of the books of the Bible have a distinctive numerical structure which their authors used to emphasize their divine authorship.

Biblical scholars have noted that the Jewish scribes who painstakingly copied the Hebrew text meticulously counted the verses, words, and letters of the Hebrew Bible. As demonstrated by the Leningrad Codex, these summations were noted in margins of the text. One particularly interesting feature of these scribal notes is that they noted the exact numerical center word and often the letter of the Biblical books and even some passages. The significance of this has been debated but as demonstrated with Psalm 119 there is often a numerically structured design to the books of the Bible and many of its passages that focuses on the center of the passage.

If you think about it this propensity to mark the numerical center of a Hebrew passage, it could be seen as a type of encryption key which locked in the number of words in the particular passage in question because that numerical center was fixed relative to the entire passage. Just one wrong letter or word would change the entire numerical structure of the text. This precise layout of the Hebrew text also makes it hard for those who claim the Hebrew text of the Bible was corrupted to make their case. In a way you could look at as Yahweh’s way of numerically sealing the books and passages of the Bible.

In the modern era this numerical analysis of the Old Testament is in its nascent stages of rediscovery. I only recently stumbled upon this logotechnical analysis of the Hebrew Bible after reading an article by Israel Kohl on Academia.edu entitled: Solving the Mystery of Genesis 49:10b? – The Numerical Key. That article argued that the controversy surrounding Genesis 49:10b might be solved by looking at the overall numerical structure of the text. Professor Kohl’s makes his argument to good effect. In his article he referenced Casper Labuschange and his work. Mr. Labuschagne extensive research into the numerical structure of the Bible can be found at his website: Casper Labuschagne or at this Academia.edu page here: casperlabuschagne.academia.edu/research For what it is worth Mr. Labuschange would probably be considered a “liberal” scholar and does not share a “fundamentalist” (as he calls it) view of the Scriptures. Nevertheless, his work provides compelling evidence that the Hebrew MT text of the Scripture was intentionally designed to glorify Yahweh the living God of the Bible.

A Numerical (logotechnical) Analysis of Daniel 9
For those of you who have read my book The 13th Enumeration, I’ve long believed that the numbers 13 and 14 have special significance related to the Bible’s messianic message. Specifically, I’ve proposed that these numbers were incorporated into the Bible in order to show that Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth was the Bible’s promised Messiah. In fact, I’ve shown that a reasonable case can be made that these numbers identify Yeshua as the Bible’s prophesied Messiah and that they can be used to calculate the coming of the Messiah as prophesied in Daniel 9 and its 70 Sevens prophecy.

What I didn’t know until this past month is that Daniel 9 is designed to emphasize the numbers 7 & 13 (and their derivatives 14 & 26) in relation to the 70 Sevens Prophecy. Last week I shared with you a chart of 100 Hebrew words arranged into 49+2+49 word groups. I asked if any of you could tell me its significance. Some of you correctly identified the chart as Daniel 9:22-27. As you can see below the 13 & 14 words of verse 25 (the center verse) of that 100 words 5 verse passage were the words 70 Sevens (49). So like Psalm 119 and many other passages in the Bible, Daniel 9:22-27 was arranged to emphasize the very heart of the prophecy of 70 Sevens. But that’s not all that is special about Daniel 9. (A special thanks to NR for providing me with the English translation for the Hebrew words):

Please note the following chart is read right to left.

 

In this article I want to share with you something truly special about how Daniel 9 in general and the prophecy of 70 sevens in particular was arranged by the prophet Daniel under what I have to believe is divine inspiration, in order to provide you and me with the basis to prove that Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth was the Bible promised Messiah.

Let’s start by looking at the numerical structure of Daniel 9 and its use of the numbers 7 & 13 in the Daniel’s efforts to show that the prophecy of 70 Sevens was of divine origins. Based upon the work of Labuschagne and others this exploration also shows how the numerical center of Daniel 9 provides the pivot around which the entire chapter is organized. Further this organization brings to light the incredibly complex and intricate nature of the passage.

To start with Daniel 9, as given in the Hebrew (MT) text, has 462 words. The 18 words of verse 15 are the exact numerical center of this passage. There are 222 words before Daniel 9:15 and 222 words after. Daniel 9:15 reads as follows:

Daniel 9:15
5 And now, O Lord our God,
that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt

with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown,
as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

Thematically, Daniel 9:15 is the climax of Daniel’s confession and admission of guilt on behalf of himself and his people. Daniel opens his moving intercessory prayer in verse 4 with a plea for YHWH to remember his “covenant and mercy to them that love him and keep his commandments”. This “covenant and mercy” is a direct quote from Deut. 7:9 and Moses’ admonitions to Israel before they were to cross over into the promised land.

It’s important to note for the sake of context here, that Moses’ “covenant and mercy” is a reference to the oath (shabuwa’) YHWH swore (shaba) with Abraham in Genesis 22:16. This was the first recorded oath sworn with any man in the Bible.

Also note that the Hebrew word sware (shaba) is phonetically identical to the word seven (sheba). This has led some Bible commentators to acknowledge that Yahweh’s oath with Abraham could rightly be called a swaring of sevens. (For more on this please see my article: Seven, 70, & Sevens: Daniel 9 & the Bible’s Messianic Symbolism)

Daniel’s confessions on behalf of his people reaches its final climactic admission of guilt in verse 15 with the words “we have sinned, we have done wickedly”.

After verse 15, Daniel shifts his pleadings to YHWH from admissions of their collective guilt, to a petition for unmerited mercy and forgiveness. Verse 21 acknowledges that while Daniel was still in prayer the angel Gabriel came to answer Daniel’s petition with a prophecy of 70 Sevens. So with that general overview of the passage, we can now dig into the author’s arrangement of the passage.

In the chart below you can see that once the numerical center of Daniel 9 is acknowledged the passage then naturally organizes into three 7 verse groups and a final five verses in which the angel Gabriel’s gives a 14 words introduction followed by the prophecy of 70 Sevens.

It’s fascinating, I dare say mind boggling, the obvious effort that went into the design of this passage. Its verses are arranged into groups of 7+7+1+7+5. As becomes apparent each 7 verse grouping has its own numerical center of 13 (or 2×13) groups of words.

The Proper Name of YHWH in Daniel 9
The three 7 verse groupings also have another unique characteristic in common. They are the only places where the proper name of YHWH is found in the entire book of Daniel. YHWH is used 8 times in the book of Daniel and all 8 occurrences are found in Daniel 9 in one of the 7 verse groups, each of which have a numerical center of 13 or 26 (2×13) words – numbers which underline the numerical structure of YHWH’s name. Of these eight occurrences, 2 occurrences are found in the first 7 verses of Daniel 9. Five occurrences are found in the 2nd grouping of 7 verses of Daniel 9, and the final occurrence of YHWH is found in verse 20 in the final grouping of seven verses.

Using a symbolic flourish, the Daniel bookends or seals the use of the name of YHWH by numerically highlighting the first and last usage of the name. The first occurrence of YHWH is the 13th word of Daniel 9:2. The last occurrence of YHWH in Daniel 9 is found 18 verses later in verse 20 and again it is the 13th word of that verse as well. The fourth occurrence of YHWH in Daniel 9 is also interesting, it is the 130 word of the chapter.

The name YHWH is used three times (5th, 6th, 7th) in a unique 15-word pattern running through verses 13 and 14. There the first and last occurrence of the name is separated by 13 words and the 2nd and 3rd occurrences are each 7th successive words from the next. In other words, it is written: (YHWH + 6 + YHWH + 6 + YHWH). Again, this pattern bridges the 13th and 14th verses of the chapter.

Finally, the 6th and 7th usage of the name are the 206th and 213thwords of the passage. Call it a coincidence, if you will, but the numbers 206 and 113 both remind the reader of the divine name numbers of YHWH. Even discounting some of these usages as coincidental, there is sufficient reason to see an effort by Daniel in Daniel 9 to emphasize the name of YHWH and its numerical basis in the number 13.

The Numerical Middle of the 7 Verse Groupings
Next let’s turn our attention to the Daniel’s use of 13 and 26 as the numerical centers of the 7-verse groupings as described in the following chart.

Once again, the Daniel’s amazing efforts are on bold display. The numerical center of the first 7 verses of Daniel 9 are the 13 words in which Daniel pleads with YHWH to remember his “covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments.”

Daniel 9:4
….and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God,
keeping the covenant and mercy

to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;

This 13-word numerical center begins with the 49th word of Daniel 9:23-27 – thus again linking the numbers 13 & 49. Those 13 words are proceeded by 48 words and are followed by the same. (48+13+48)

To repeat, this “covenant and mercy” mentioned by Daniel is a quote taken from Deut. 7 and Moses’ admonitions to Israel before entry into the promised land. Note also, that Deut. 7:7-12 (quoted below) mentions the “mighty hand” of YHWH which brought Israel out of Egypt – the very same sentiments highlighted by the numerical center of Daniel 9. So, we can see that Daniel is framing his plea for Israel’s deliverance in terms that shadow Israel’s Exodus from Egypt.

Further, a close reading of Deut. 7-9 reveals that Moses’ mention of YHWH’s “covenant and mercy” (as mentioned above) finds its source in the oath (shabuwa’) that YHWH personally sware (shaba) with Abraham in Geneses 22:16. (see also Gen. 26:3-4, Deut. 9:5, Luke 1:67-80, Acts 3:25-26, Hebrews 6:13-20) This oath which promised, in part, that through Abraham’s seed “all nations of the earth would be blessed”.

While this oath with Abraham was seen from an Old Testament perspective as primarily a promise of Israel’s national restoration, the New Testament authors saw the fulfillment of this oath, primarily as a restoration of Israel’s spiritual fortunes through the Messiah and only after this spiritual restoration would come the fulfillment of the other promises made to Abraham. This is important to note because the Prophecy of 70 Sevens, found in the final verses of Daniel 9 speak primarily to this redemptive nature of Israel’s future restoration.

Deuteronomy 7:7-12
7 YHWH did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: 8 But because YHWH loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath YHWH brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

9 Know therefore that YHWH thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; 10 And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. 11 Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.

12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that YHWH thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:

Genesis 22:16-18
6 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith YHWH, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

 

 

The 2nd Seven
The 2nd seven verse group also has a numerical center of 13 words. Here there are 50 words before and 50 words after the numerical center. Just as the numerical center of the 1st seven verse group harkened back to words of Moses, so do these 13 words. They are as follows:

Daniel 9:11-12
…because we have sinned against him.

And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us,
and against our judges that judged us,..

The context here are the words of YHWH as given through Moses. They related to the curses pronounced upon Israel by Moses if they departed from YHWH’s righteous instructions. Daniel is acknowledging their deserved nature.

As demonstrated, both of these 13-word numerical centers find their context in the words of YHWH through Moses. To emphasis this Moses is mentioned just before and just after this center point. Here is the fuller context:

Daniel 9:11-13
11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, – – – because we have sinned against him. 12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, – – – by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the YHWH our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.

The 3rd Seven Verse Grouping
The final seven verse grouping are verses 16-22. The numerical center are the 26 (2×13) words that bridge verses 18-19. In this passage there are 48 words before and 48 words after (48+26+48). They are as follows:

Daniel 9:18-19
…for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses,
but for thy great mercies.
O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do;
defer not, for thine own sake, O my God…. called by thy name.

[note here the reading in English is not exactly the same as in Hebrew. To get the full sense of the passage and its order it is better to read the Hebrew provided at the bottom of this paper.]

There are several neatly congruent things about this passage. First, these 26 words have their own numerical center. That center is the 13 & 14 words “O Lord hear”. (12+2+12) These two words begin a uniquely emphatic triplet phrase of petition,

“O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do…”

Another neat aspect of this passage is now that we are on the back side of the 18-word numerical center of Daniel 9:15 (the numerical center of the entire chapter), Daniel is petitioning YHWH to remember his people, sanctuary, and city – not because Israel deserves it, but rather for YHWH’s righteous name sake. Here are verses 18-19 in full. Notice the emphasis on YHWH’s holy name:

Daniel 9:18-19
O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

You have to admit, it is incredibly congruent in light of the Daniel’s emphasis on “the name” in this seven verse grouping that He makes the numerical center of this passage 26 words in length. As most know the proper name of YHWH has a Hebrew letter numerical value of 26.

Further adding to the congruency, is just as the numerical center of the first seven verses appealed to YHWH to remember his “covenant and mercy”, these 26 words also emphasize the importance of that plea by not just pleading for YHWH’s mercy but His forgiveness as well.

Summary of the Seven
In summary, by acknowledging the 18 words of Daniel 9:15 as the numerical center of Chapter 9, the three groups of seven verses stand out as individual mini-themes in their own right. Further each of these passages have their own numerical center emphasizing the particularly important aspect of the seven verses in which they are centered. All three of these three 7-verse groupings build to the coming revelation of the 70 Sevens prophecy.

  • The heart of the first seven verses called to remembrance YHWH’s “covenant and mercy” – that oath of sevens which He sware with Abraham in Gen. 22:16.
  • The 2nd seven verses confess the individual and national guilt of Israel.
  • The final group of seven verses requests YHWH divine intervention.

The final 5 verses of chapter 9 then provide YHWH’s answer to Daniel. Let’s look at the response Daniel received in light of its numerical structure.

The Prophecy of 70 Sevens
Now we turn to the final 5 verses of Daniel 9 and the prophecy of 70 Sevens as given by Gabriel to Daniel. If we looked at the first 22 verses of Daniel 9 as “the problem” the final five verses represent the solution. Daniel’s people were captives in Babylon, Jerusalem was destroyed, and YHWH’s house desolate. Daniel raises these issues with YHWH, acknowledges the reasons for them and then pleads for YHWH to intervene. The 70 Seven’s prophecy is YHWH’s answer to Daniel.

The passage includes verses 23-27 of chapter 9. Curiously, the word count develops as a countdown of sorts:

Verse 23 = 14 words
Verse 24 = 23 words
Verse 25 = 22 words
Verse 26 = 21 words
Verse 27 = 20 words

These final five verses of Daniel 9 begin in Daniel 9:23 with 14 words. The 13th and 14th word of which are key to “understanding” the prophecy. In English it is as follows:

Daniel 9:23
23 At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.

The 14 words which begin Gabriel’s introduction to the prophecy of 70 Sevens start with the Hebrew word techillah (begining) and end with the words biyn mar’eh which means discern/ understand the vision / prophecy. The fact that the Hebrew word biyn to discern or understand is the 13th word of verse 23 and has the numerical value of 713 might seem like a pretty neat coincidence but as the numerical structure of the passage is more fully explored, one might instead see this 13th word as a numerical key for this prophecy.

We’ve already seen the two numbers 7 & 13 and its factors prominently displayed in the numerical structure of the first 22 verses of Daniel 9 (used alternatively as 14, 49 & 26). As we dig deeper here, it will become more apparent that not only were the numbers 7 and 13 (and their derivatives) an important part of the numerical structure of the first 22 verses but they also appear to be numerical keys that demonstrate the exquisite symbolism of the 70 Sevens prophecy and the means by which we also find a unique numerical solution.

The Numerical Center of the 70 Sevens
So the prophecy opens with an introduction of 14 words, the 13th word of which reminds us to discern or understand (713) the vision. As you can see from the provided charts, the final 5 verses of Daniel 9 are exactly 100 words in length. The numerical center of this passage being the two words shabuwa’ sheba (Sevens 7) found in verse 25.

 

This numerical center then makes for 49 words before and 49 words after the Hebrew words shabuwa’ sheba “Sevens 7” which itself is a representation of 49. In other words, these two words shabuwa’ sheba which represent the heart of this prophecy are numerically equal to 49. These words are also the 13th and 14th word of Daniel 9:25 – the central verse of the prophecy.

Further showing the design of this prophetic passage was meant to emphasize the word “seven” which begins the numerical center of Daniel 9:23-27, we find that this word is the 50th of the passage and its first letter the 50 letter of verse 25.

This unique occurrence of “seven” in Daniel 9 has the numerical value of 377 or 13×29. This does not seem to be an accident as I’ll explain below. Bringing special attention to this word the Masoretes marked the letter Ayin with an Etnachta. This cantillation mark was used to mark a pause or dividing point in the passage. In this case the letter Ayin under which this mark is used has the numerical value of 70. Obviously, the Masoretes saw some significance to this word and its numerical placement in the text.

Digging Deeper
It worth reiterating here, as partially noted at the beginning of this article, the 13-word numerical center of the first 7 verses of Daniel 9 begins with yadah (confess/praise) – this word is the 49th word of Daniel 9. Incidentally, yadah comes from the root yad which means hand. So, one might see there in the numerical center of this passage, the hand of Daniel raised in supplication for YHWH to remember his oath (shabuwa’) that He the living god of the Bible sware (shaba) with Abraham. This contrasts with the numerical center of the entire chapter of Daniel 9 which acknowledges and calls upon the mighty “hand” of YHWH which delivered Israel out of Egyptian bondage.

13 & 14 in Daniel 9
By now it’s apparent that the numbers 7 & 13 and their derivatives 14 & 26 have a certain prominence and structural significance in Daniel chapter 9. As we’ve seen, this is especially apparent in the fact that the two words 7 Sevens (49) of the numerical center of Daniel 9:23-27 are the 13th and 14th words of verse 25. I believe the significance of this has been underappreciated by scholars.

I’ll explain more of this significance later but to recap, Daniel opens his pleadings with a call for YHWH to remember His “covenant and mercy” – a phrase, which comes by way of Moses, from Gen. 22:16 and YHWH’s “oath” (shewbu’ah) that “by Himself” He sware (shaba) with Abraham, an swaring of sevens if you will, that promised (in part) that through Abraham’s seed “all nations of the earth would be blessed”. Then in answer to Daniel’s pleadings YHWH sends a prophecy of Shibiym Shabuwa’ (70 Sevens) both Hebrew words which find their roots in the Hebrew word Shaba / Shiba (sware / seven) and YHWH’s oath (shaba) with Abraham, the first “swaring of sevens” with any man in the Biblical record. Exquisitely congruent to say the least!

I believe it is important to note here that YHWH’s answer to Daniel’s prayer with the prophecy of 70 Sevens is primarily redemptive in nature. Of the six goals that will be fulfilled by the coming “anointed” one, four are specifically redemptive in nature.

Daniel 9:24 4 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.

This redemptive context is important to the numerical symbolism of the Bible in general and Daniel 9 in particular because these numbers -13 & 14 – are intimately connected to the sacrificial redemptive rites given in the Torah. Each month and during nearly every one of the 7 Biblical holy days throughout the year, Israel was required to make atonement with 13 or 14 sacrifices. The following are exemplar.

The Use of 13 & 14 in Daniel 9:23-27
Now let’s look at what happens when we view the prophecy of 70 Sevens through the numerical structural lens of 13 & 14:

  • The 13th and 14th words of verse 23 tell us to “discern or understand the vision”. Again discern (biyn) has the numerical value of 713.
  • The 13th and 14th words of verse 24 emphasize the redemptive nature of the prophecy with the words “atone for iniquity”.
  • The 13th and 14th words of verse 25 – “seven sevens” (49) are the numerical center of the prophecy. Both words find their roots in the Hebrew shaba/shiba a “swaring of sevens”. These words are a richly symbolic answer to Daniel’s plea for YHWH to remember His “covenant and mercy” – the oath that He sware with Abraham – an oath that New Testament authors claimed was fulfilled in Yeshua – the promised “seed” through who all nations of the earth would be blessed.
  • Counting down from the numerical center and climax of the passage the 13th and 14th word are “cut off anointed” and parallel the OT idea of a suffering servant.

Isaiah 53:4-5
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows:

yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon him;
and with his stripes we are healed.

 

After the numerical center of Daniel 9, the prophecy takes a decidedly negative turn. After the 13th and 14th word of the numerical center mentions “cut off anointed”, there does not seem to be any further numerical significance to these numbers in the prophecy (that I can find).

Daniel 9 and the New Testament book of Matthew
In light of the redemptive nature of Daniel 9 and the symbolism of 13 & 14, one can’t help but think of Matthew’s representation of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) lineage. As described in Matthew 1, there are 14 + 14 + 14 generations from Abraham to Yeshua. As give in the text though, Yeshua is the 14 + 14 +13 generation from Abraham – thus symbolically making Yeshua both the 13th & 14 generation.

This unique arrangement is further emphasized by noticing the location where the author removed 4 kings from Yeshua’s generations. 3 kings are removed between the 6th & 7th generation and 1 king is removed from between the 13th and 14th generation. Incidentally both 6 & 7 and 13 & 14 are cycles representative of the Bible’s lunar/solar calendar. More on the significance below.

Like the author of Daniel who uses the numbers 7, 13, & 14 to emphasize the divine and redemptive nature of Daniel 9, Matthew uses those very same numbers to represent Yeshua as a descendant of Abraham and David. Matthew seems to have understood the messianic symbolism of Daniel 9 and used that very same symbolism in his opening arguments to prove that Yeshua was the Bible’s promised Messiah.

A New Testament Perspective
It is worth noting here that from a New Testament perspective there are strong grounds to believe that Matthew saw in Yeshua of Nazareth a fulfillment of the prophecy of Daniel. Aside from the symbolic parallels between the lineage of Yeshua in Matthew 1 and the numerical structure of Daniel 9, the Biblical calendar, and the Bible sacrificial rites, a reasonable chronological case could also be made that Yeshua’s birth fulfilled the statement of Daniel 9:25a.

Daniel 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,

This countdown to the Messiah begins with a “commandment” to restore and build Jerusalem. Interestingly, the English word “commandment” comes from the Hebrew dabar. Dabar is used 1439 times in the Old Testament and of those, the vast majority refer to the “dabar” or word of YHWH the living God of the Bible.

In Daniel 9 dabar is used four times including the instance in Daniel 9:25. Excluding Daniel 9:25 the other three occurrences clearly refer to the words of YHWH (Dan. 9:2, 12, 23). For comparison here is the 3rd and 4th occurrence of the word dabar in Daniel 9:

Daniel 9:23
At the beginning of thy supplications the dabar (commandment) came forth…

Daniel 9:25
Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the dabar (commandment) to restore and to build Jerusalem…

Surprisingly few Biblical scholars today consider the possibility that Daniel 9:25 refers to the word (dabar) of YHWH despite the contextual use of the word in the Bible in general and its use in Daniel 9 in particular. This oversight is especially problematic because we have a specific and datable dabar of YHWH to restore and build Jerusalem given through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah and witnessed by Ezra 6:14:

This dabar of YHWH commanded the Jewish people to return and build YHWH’s holy sanctuary., the very beating heart of the city of Jerusalem. If there was one de facto event that marked the return and building of Jerusalem then it would have been YHWH’s house, the very event that Daniel interceded for in his prayer to YHWH in Daniel 9:17.

Daniel 9:17
17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.

Ezra 6:14
14 And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel….

Zechariah 1:7, 16
Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of YHWH unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,…..

Therefore thus saith YHWH; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith YHWH of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.

Both Haggai 1 and Zechariah 1 date YHWH’s divine “word” to return and build the Temple to year 520 BC. For the sake of argument, let’s assume that Matthew saw in this divine decree the starting point of Daniel’s 70 Sevens countdown to the Messiah.

Now that we have the starting point (terminus a quo) in 520 BC, verse 25 states that it would be “Sevens 7” (Hebrew is read from right to left). It should be noted here that most scholars assume Hebrew reads sheba (7) shebuwa’ (sevens) but this assumption is based upon the Masoretic vowel pointings which were added over a thousand years later.

As given, the Hebrew (without vowel pointings) would have read Seventy 7 (shib’iym sheba). Literally 490 periods of time. So, in other words, from the dabar of YHWH until the coming of the anointed prince there were 490 periods of unspecified time.

Keep in mind here the numerical center of the prophecy was the 13th and 14th words of Daniel 9:25. Scholars have long acknowledged the curious fact that prophecy of 70 Sevens does not specify the units of time the prophecy was to be measured in. Many evangelical scholars see that unit of time as a “prophetic” year of 360 days. Others see a year of 365.24 days. Still other see a jubilee period of time.

These units of time aside, one must ask how the Jewish people to whom this prophecy was given might have calculated time. Most scholars acknowledge that the Biblical calendar was lunar/solar. The solar side of the calendar regulated the day. As mandated by the Torah, these days were arranged into a cycle of 6 & 7 days. Six days of labor and a day of rest. There were 52 (4×13) cycles of these in a year.

The other half of the Biblical calendar, (the lunar side of the calendar) regulated the various Biblical holydays throughout the year, as demonstrated in the charts above, each of these holydays had mandated sacrificial rites which often included 13 or 14 sacrifices. Because the lunar side of Israel’s calendar was regulated by the moon and its 29.53 days lunar cycle, each month there were two cycles of 13 or 14 waxing days of (visible) light followed by the same 13 or 14 days of waning (visible) light. Each month through the centuries these cycles of waxing and waning light were the means by which the Israelites kept “time” and marked events on their religious calendar.

So one might argue that “time” in the Bible was not a certain number of days, but rather a certain number of lunar cycles. Most years it was 12 lunar cycles of 29.54 days each for a “year” of 354.36 days. Every 3 years or so though, a Biblical intercalary year of 13 lunar cycles of 29.53 days was needed to rebalance the Biblical calendar. This intercalary “year” was 383.89 days.

With these facts in mind it would not be unreasonable to entertain the idea that the Jewish people might have considered the 70 Sevens units of “time” in the Bible as a “year” of 12 or 13 lunar cycles.

Curiously the 13th word of verse 25 is “seven”. This unique occurrence of the Hebrew word sheba in Daniel 9 – right in the numerical center of the prophecy – believe it or not, has a numerical value of 377. The factor of which are the prime numbers 13 and 29 – the very factors that delineate a 13 month Biblical “year”.

Summary
To summarize, the 13 words of Daniel 9:25 tell of a dabar to restore and build Jerusalem. A contextual Biblical case can be made that this dabar was the word of YHWH given through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah in the year 520 BC. Further, this 13 word Hebrew passage tells that the “anointed prince” will come after 70 seven. The 13th word of this passage is a unique occurrence of the Hebrew word sheba or seven (unique to Daniel 9). This unique occurrence of sheba in Daniel 9 has the numerical value 377 and the factors of 13 & 29. These factors being the very root of a 13th month Biblical year of 383.89 days.

By the way the Hebrew word Sevens (Shabuwa’) in Daniel 9:27 has a numerical value of 383. Which as demonstrated above is the number of days in 13 month Biblical (lunar) year.

Using a 13th month year of 383.89 days multiplied by 70 seven or 490 periods of time gives 515.05 solar years. From the terminus a quo in 520 BC, theoretically this places the coming of the anointed prince in the year 5 or 4 BC. It doesn’t take much imagination to see why the New Testament authors would have seen in Daniel 9:25 a fulfillment in Yeshua of Nazareth who by many conservative estimates was born in 4 BC and thus would have been conceived in 5 BC.

In Conclusion
Daniel 9 and the Prophecy of 70 Sevens was uniquely designed to highlight the “divine” numbers 7 & 13 – numbers which are intimately woven into the Biblical calendar and its sacrificial rites. The New Testament’s belief that Yeshua (Jesus) was the promised Messiah appears to have both a chronological and symbolic connection to the prophecy of 70 Sevens found in Daniel 9. This connection likely contributed to the early New Testament’s basis for their belief that Yeshua (Jesus) was the promised Messiah.

For a more in-depth explanation of Daniel 9 and the Prophecy of 70 Sevens you can download my free book: Daniel’s 70 Weeks: The Keystone of Bible Prophecy at the following link: Free Book Download Please note my books at this download link are several years old and do not reflect my latest research on the prophecy of 70 Sevens such as this present article.

Maranatha!

 

A Treasure Hunt for Next Time
For those of you who like to dig deeper on your own I have a special challenge for you. As this article demonstrated, the numerical center of the first 7 verses of Daniel 9 is a reference to “covenant and mercy” of YHWH – a quote that comes from Gen. 22:1-19 by way of Moses in Deu. 7. This covenant and mercy was but a reference to the first oath Yahweh swore with any man in the Bible. An oath which promised in part that through Abraham’s “seed” all nations of the earth would be blessed. A promise which the New Testament authors clearly demonstrates as being fulfilled in Yeshua.

Yahweh willing my next article will take a look at the numerical structure of Genesis 22:1-19 to see what Biblical treasures we can find. To give you a hint of how amazing this passage is there are a total of 307 words which tell of Abrahams willingness to sacrifice Isaac – and his faith that He and Isaac would return home. A faith that was rewarded by YHWH with an oath that promised through Abraham’s “seed” all nations of the earth would be blessed. This wonderful messianic picture of YHWH “providing Himself a lamb” has long been seen as a foreshadowing of Yeshua.

The numerical center of this passage is a single word – a name. See if you can figure out who’s name is highlight by the numerical arrangement of the text. There are 153 words before this name and 153 after. The first verse of Genesis 22 has 13 words in it and the last verse of this passage (v. 19) has 14 words. Believe it or not!

So see if you can figure out how the author of this passage organized it to highlight its redemptive message. I hope you enjoy the treasure hunt.

 

For Further Reflection
Its also worth mentioning that Yeshua and His twelve disciples made 13. Later when Yeshua called Paul as the apostle to the Gentiles this made 14.

Paul and the Middle Wall of Partition
As the apostle to the gentiles, Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians described Yeshua and his work at Calvary as breaking down the “middle wall of partition”. This “wall” was built to keep the gentiles from entering the temple proper and by extension the presence of Yahweh. Only the Jewish people had access through this wall. In a symbolic picture par excellence it is fascinating to note that during Paul’s and Yeshua’s era that middle wall was access by 14 steps and 13 gates:

Ephesians 2:13-14
13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

 

Click on images to enlarge

Daniel 9: A Word, Decree, or Commandment?

How many of you can tell me what this verse means?

Jeremiah 29:10
For thus saith YHWH, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

Before discussing the meaning of this verse, a bit of context is important. This verse is part of a letter the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the Jewish captives in Babylon. In the letter he tells them to get use to their new home because they will be there for another 70 years. Jeremiah also told them that they were not to lose hope, because after this 70 years captivity YHWH would cause them to return to Jerusalem.

Notice in this passage a couple of key words. In the verse Yahweh promises that He was going to perform his good “word” towards the Jewish captives by causing them to “return” to Jerusalem. The Hebrew for “word” in this passage is dabar. According to my concordance dabar is used 1439 times in the Old Testament. As exemplified in this passage, of the 1439 times the word is used in the Bible, the majority refer to the word, speech, or utterance of Yahweh, the living God of the Bible.

Jeremiah 29:10
For thus saith YHWH, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word [dabar] toward you, in causing you to return [shuwb] to this place.

Now let’s look at the word “return” in the passage above. This word “return” is the Hebrew shuwb and it is used over 1000 times in the Scripture. The majority of the time the word is translated return… again, turn…back, etc. The word is most often used in the sense of turning back or returning to something, somewhere, or someone.

As we can see here in Jeremiah 29:10 Yahweh gave His “word” – His dabar that He would cause the Jewish people to “return” – to shuwb to Jerusalem. 70 years later Yahweh’s word was confirmed in 2 Chron. 36:22-23 with the following record:

2 Chronicles 36:22-23
22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word [dabar] of YHWH spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, YHWH stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation [abar] throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath YHWH God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? YHWH his God be with him, and let him go up.

It’s important to note in this passage that Cyrus’ “proclamation” (abar) was given because Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus to confirm His (Yahweh’s) “word” (dabar) that the Jewish people would return (shuwb) to Jerusalem after 70 years. As we explore this a bit deeper just remember that Yahweh gave the “word” (dabar) and Cyrus confirmed that word by issuing a proclamation or decree (abar).

Daniel 9 and the Word to Return and Build
You are probably wondering what this has to do with Daniel 9. Let me show you. Based upon what we’ve learned about the dabar (word) of Yahweh which promised that the Jewish people would shuwb (return) to Jerusalem after 70 years, let’s now apply that understanding to Daniel 9:25. Here is the first part of that verse from the KJV as most of you are probably familiar with it:

Daniel 9:25
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,….

Now take a look at the same verse with me pointing out the words dabar and shuwb as they appear in the Hebrew text of Daniel 9:25a:

Daniel 9:25
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the dabar [word] to shuwb [return] and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks,….

Kind of changes how you understand the verse, doesn’t it? If we used our opening verse of this article in Jeremiah 29:10 as a model for understanding Daniel 9:25, then it makes more contextual sense to see the start of the 70 Sevens prophecy begining with a “word” (dabar) of Yahweh that tells the Jewish people to “return” (shuwb) and build Jerusalem.

You’d think, in light of the context of how dabar and shuwb is used in the Hebrew Bible, that at the very least, those who teach on the subject would mention that Daniel 9:25 and the terminus a quo (starting point) of the 70 Seven might refer to the word of the Yahweh. Unfortunately, that has not been the case.

Why are the vast majority of today’s scholars and teachers blind to the possibility that Daniel 9, arguably the most important prophecy in the Bible, begins with the word of Yahweh? Why won’t they at least offer the “word” of Yahweh as one of the options for the fulfillment of Daniel 9:25? I can’t answer that question. It makes absolutely not sense to me.

To drive home the contextual necessity of seeing the “dabar” of Daniel 9:25 as the dabar (word) of Yahweh, take note of the following. In Daniel 9, dabar is used three other times. Each of those occurrences refer to the “dabar” (word) of Yahweh. Here, take a look:

Daniel 9:2
In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word [dabar] of YHWH came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

Daniel 9:12
And he hath confirmed his words [dabar], which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.

Daniel 9:23
At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment [dabar] came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.

Daniel 9:25
Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment [dabar] 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.

With this contextual light shining on Daniel 9 and its “word to restore and build Jerusalem”, can you explain to me why the authors in the articles below do not even mention the possibility that the very God they exalt and serve is not one of the candidates for giving the word to restore and build Jerusalem – a word that begins a countdown to the fulfillment of the most important messianic prophecy in the Bible?

Even if you didn’t have a clue how the 70 Sevens were meant to be fulfilled, the most plain sense reading of the verse requires us to at least look for a “word” of Yahweh that commanded the Jewish to return and build Jerusalem.

To give you a sense of the disconnect, here are four of my peers who are highly respected for their views on Bible prophecy. As you read through these quotes, try to find any mention that the “word” of Yahweh commanding the Jewish people to “return” and build, might be one of the options worth considering when interpreting the dabar (word) of Daniel 9:25 and its countdown to the Messiah.

David Reagan
The crucial question relates to when the decree was issued “to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.” There are three possible dates:

    • 538 B.C. — Cyrus, King of Persia, issued a decree to Zerubbabel to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-3; and Ezra 6:1-5).
    • 457 B.C. — Artaxerxes, King of Persia, issued a decree to Ezra authorizing him to reinstitute the Temple services, appoint judges and magistrates, and teach the Law (Ezra 7:11-26).
    • 445 B.C. — Artaxerxes issued a decree to Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:1-8). (David Reagan, Daniel’s 70 Weeks of Years – – For the full context of this quote please see the following Link)

Thomas Ice
There are at least three different decrees that are considered in an attempt to “know and discern” the beginning of the seventy weeks of Daniel.

First, there was the decree of Cyrus (Ezra 1:2-4; 6:3-5), issued in 537 B.C., which I will call decree one. Second, the decree of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:11-26) given in 458 B.C., (decree two). Third, a second decree from Artaxerxes (Neh. 2:5-8, 17, 18) given in 444 B.C., at the time of Nehemiah’s return to Jerusalem, (decree three). I want to note at the outset of the examination of these possibilities that the third decree is the only one that literally fits the exact words of Daniel 9:25, as we shall see….

Artaxerxes’ Decree
It is clear to me that of all the options available, the only decree that specifically fits the statements of Daniel 9:25 is the one by Artaxerxes given in 444 B.C. as recorded in Nehemiah 2:1-8. Why? Because decree one and two relate to rebuilding the Temple. Only decree three speaks specifically of Jerusalem. It is clear that Nehemiah received a decree to “rebuild and restore Jerusalem” from King Artaxerxes. (Thomas Ice – The Seventy Weeks of Daniel – – For the full context of this quote please see the following Link)

Joel Richardson
X. WHAT DECREE? (DAN. 9:25)

25 “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.

    1. The only position that literally fulfills the requirements of the passage seems to be the decree from Artaxerxes as recorded in Nehemiah 2:1-8,17-18 given on March 5, 444 B.C.
    2. 483 sabbatical years (the first 69 weeks) were fulfilled to the day on March 30, A.D. 33, the date of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. (This is 476 years according to the Julian Calendar). Jesus was crucified four days later on April 3, A.D. 33.
    3. Various “decrees” that have been set forth as the terminus a quo:

    4. Only one decree matches or fulfills the Scriptural criterion of a decree issued specifically to rebuild the city. (Joel Richardson, Daniel’s 70 Weeks: An Introduction – – For the full context of this quote please see the following Link)

Mark Hitchcock
When the clock starts ticking

    1. The divine prophetic clock for the seventy weeks or 490-year period began ticking on March 5, 444 BC, when the Persian king Artaxerxes issued a decree allowing the Jews to return to rebuild Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2: 1-8). (Hitchcock, Mark. The End: A Complete Overview of Bible Prophecy and the End of Days (p. 68). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.)

 

Ignoring the Context
Let me illustrate how difficult it is to come up with a reasonable interpretation of Scripture when you ignore the context as has been done by the authors above. Each one of the authors above claims that the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus in 444-445 BC as described in Nehemiah 1-8, 17-18 was the “decree” of Daniel 9:25, a so called “decree” which you now understand is really a dabar (word). I want to reiterate here that I believe each of these authors are well-meaning, sincere, and intelligent brothers in Christ. Yet by ignoring the context of Daniel 9:25 and the “word” to restore and build, they must stretch the credibility of their argument to come up with their terminus a quo (starting point) in 444-445 BC. Here, take a look at the passage, they claim is the “decree” to return and build Jerusalem. As you read this, see if you can ascertain this “decree” and the exact date it was given:

Nehemiah 2:1 – 20
And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king,…

4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it. 6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return [shuwb]? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; 8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. 9 Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king’s letters….

7 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. 18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words [dabar] that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

Notice in the passage above that exact day when Nehemiah and Artaxerxes talked is not given in the text. It only states that Nehemiah went before Artaxerxes in the 1st month of his 20th year. Nor does the passage above tell use when Artaxerxes gave Nehemiah the letters which granted him the authority to building the walls and gates of Jerusalem. The fact of the matter is that there is no specific word, decree, or commandment given here in Nehemiah 2 that allows us to begin the 70 Sevens countdown without making several assumptions that we cannot prove. Do you really believe that Yahweh, the living God of the Bible gave a countdown to the coming of His Anointed Prince but instead of giving us an exact starting point left it up to us to guess?

We are not just talking some ambiguous prophecy here. We are talking about the definitive proof of Old Testament prophecy, the central thrust upon which the entire history of the Bible pivots, and the best Yahweh could give us was a text that we had to make several critical assumptions about?

Say it isn’t so!

And if that is not enough to stretch the credibility of their interpretations, in order to make the math work, from the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus in 444-445 BC to the birth of Christ, they then have to use a so called “prophetic year”, which as I’ll try to explain in my next article, has as much basis in Biblical fact and calendric science as those who use the Bible to claim the earth is flat.

Returning to Nehemiah 2, those who’ve read the passage above carefully, I did highlight the Hebrew words shuwb and dabar in the text. Some who read this passage out of desperation might claim the usage of these words fulfills the criteria of Daniel 9:25. This is not the case for several reasons.

    • First all, the usage of return (shuwb) in verse 6 refers to the king Artaxerxes questioning Nehemiah as to when he will return to Shushan and his service to the king. This is not a statement of when Nehemiah will return to Jerusalem and rebuild its walls.
    • Second, the usage of dabar in verse 18 refers to the spoken conversation between Nehemiah and king Artaxerxes and does not specifically tell us what the conversation was about.
    • Third, Nehemiah does not provide a specific date for his conversation with Artaxerxes.

Again, even in the most desperate attempt to fit this to the criteria of Daniel 9:25 we must assume several critical pieces of information that the text does not provide us.

A House of Cards
For those who still insist that the Nehemiah’s conversation with Artaxerxes and the letters he was given constitute the “word to return and build Jerusalem” of Daniel 9:25 you still must overcome the chronological impossibility of the position. Here are several real contextual facts that make it impossible to prove Artaxerxes Longimanus and Nehemiah (using and reasonable rending of the facts) were contemporaries.

    • During the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus, the palace at Shushan was destroyed by fire.
    • Ezra, whose father died in the 19th year of Nebuchadnezzar would have been a minimum of 140+ years old by the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus. By no reasonable interpretation of the text could he have performed the activities attributed to him in these passages.
    • The books of Nehemiah and Ezra show that the priest and Levites who came up with Joshua and Zerubabel in the 1st year of Cyrus (536 BC) were the literal fathers of the priests and Levites who served during the reign of the unnamed Biblical “Artaxerxes” of Nehemiah. In others words, the sons of the priests and Levites who came up under the decree of Cyrus in 536 BC, still served during the reign of “Artaxerxes” of Nehemiah. These priests and Levites were 1st and 2nd generations, not the multi-generational span required by the Artaxerxes Longimanus assumption given by the authors above.
    • Mordecai’s presence in both the Biblical and historical record helps date the chronology of Ezra and Nehemiah and thus confirms that the “Artaxerxes” of Ezra 6 & 7 and book of Nehemiah is the Persian king Darius I (the great) son of Hystaspes. The chronological fact related to his service also help explain the identity of the “queen” mentioned in Nehemiah 2:6.
    • Ezra 4, 6, & 7 provide compelling evidence to show that the events of Nehemiah and Ezra (Ezra 6 onwards) take place during the reign of Darius ‘the Great’ whom the Bible also identifies as “Artaxerxes”.

For those of you who take your Berean duty seriously, here are several articles that more fully explore the chronology of the 2nd temple era. These articles were part of a response I wrote to an Associate for Biblical Research article by Rick Lanser which was critical of my work on the 2nd temple era chronology related to the Artaxerxes Assumption made by the authors above and most of their peers. They might help you better understand the challenges of assuming the “Artaxerxes” of Nehemiah and Ezra was the Persian king Longimanus.

IntroductionThe Associates for Biblical Research Responds to the Artaxerxes Assumption
Part ICyrus to Darius: The 2nd Temple Context of Ezra 4
Part IIDarius & Artaxerxes: The Context of the Word to Restore & Build Jerusalem
Part IIIDarius the great Persian Artaxerxes: A Contextual Look at the Book of Ezra in the Light of Persian History
Part IV – Darius and the Kingdom of Arta
Part VDarius, Artaxerxes, & the Bible: Confirming Royal Persian Titulature
Part VIMordecai & the Chronological Context of Esther
Part VIIEsther, Ahasuerus, & Artaxerxes: Who was the Persian King of 127 Provinces?
Part VIII – Darius I: A Gentile King at the Crux of Jewish Messianic History
Part IXThe Priests & Levites of Nehemiah 10 & 12: Exploring the Papponymy Assumption

The Word to Return and Build Jerusalem
So, if Artaxerxes didn’t or couldn’t have give the “word to return and build Jerusalem” as described in Daniel 9:25, who gave this word to return and build and what was it?

As I’ll show you there is only one “word” (dabar) to “return” (shuwb) and build that truly fits the contextual requirements of Daniel 9:25. That “word” was given by Yahweh, the living God of the Bible. Fittingly, not only was this word given by our Creator, He made sure it was witnessed not by one, but two prophetic voices in the Biblical record. Further, those voices were confirmed by the witness of Ezra 6.

I opened this article with a quote from Jeremiah 29:10 in order to help you understand the meaning of the Hebrew word dabar and shuwb.

Jeremiah 29:10
For thus saith YHWH, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word [dabar] toward you, in causing you to return [shuwb] to this place.

I also used this verse to help you understand that every aspect of Daniel 9 and its related chronology should be seen through a Yahweh centric lens. It was Yahweh’s dabar (word) which was the catalyst that stirred Cyrus to make a decree that allowed the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem and build the city and temple.

There is little question that Yahweh’s “word” began this process. How many of you can tell me though what happened after Cyrus’ decree that allowed the Jewish people to return and build the city of Jerusalem and the temple? Based upon the Biblical record, basically nothing happened for the next 16 years.

Did you know that Joshua the chief priest, Zerubbabel the governor, and the people only got some of the foundation stones laid on the temple before their construction efforts on Yahweh’s house ceased. For those 16 years they were still building Jerusalem, only their priorities had shifted from Yahweh’s house to their own houses, and other construction effort in the city.

Then something happened in the 2nd year of Darius ‘the Great’ that completely changed the dynamics of the 2nd temple era. Yahweh, through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah gave them a “word” which commanded the Jewish people to – return – and build His house, the very beating heart of the city of Jerusalem which they had been neglecting.

As you read the Biblical passages below keep in mind as I demonstrated in my last article Daniel 9: Building Jerusalem the Bible is clear that building the temple (Yahweh’s house) was in fact “building” the city of Jerusalem. Those who claim that building the temple was not building the city of Jerusalem are making a spurious argument that they – have not – and cannot prove with any reasonable rendering of the Biblical record.

Here are the dabar (words) of Yahweh to return and build Jerusalem:

Haggai 1:1-15
In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word [dabar] of YHWH by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, 2 Thus speaketh YHWH of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the YHWH’S house should be built…

3 Then came the word of YHWH by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? 5 Now therefore thus saith YHWH of hosts; Consider your ways…

Thus saith YHWH of hosts; Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith YHWH.

9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith YHWH of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. …

12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of YHWH their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as YHWH their God had sent him, and the people did fear before YHWH. 13 Then spake Haggai YHWH’S messenger in YHWH’S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith YHWH.

14 And YHWH stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of YHWH of hosts, their God, 15 In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

In the passage above we find the word of Yahweh telling the Jewish people to return, turn back and build His house. Here is the same “word” witnessed by the prophet Zechariah:

Zechariah 1:1-17
In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word [dabar] of YHWH unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 2 YHWH hath been sore displeased with your fathers. 3 Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith YHWH of hosts; Turn [shuwb] ye unto me, saith YHWH of hosts, and I will turn [shuwb] unto you,…

12 Then the angel of YHWH answered and said, O YHWH of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?

16 Therefore thus saith YHWH; I am returned [shuwb] to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith YHWH of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.

17 Cry yet, saying, Thus saith YHWH of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and YHWH shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.

In this passage we have the word of YHWH telling Zechariah that His house would be built and the construction “line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.” Notice in this passage this “word” of Yahweh came at the end of His 70 years of divine indignation. In other words, up to this point, (including the decree of Cyrus), the Jewish people were still under a divine cloud of Yahweh’s anger. That is why (in part) the construction efforts of the Jewish people could not get any traction during the 16 years following the decree of Cyrus in 536 BC. It was only after this divine indignation was lifted, Yahweh had returned to Jerusalem “with mercies”, and commandment the Jewish people to return (shuwb) and build His house that those efforts shifted into high gear. Four yeas later in the 6th year of Darius (516 BC) the temple was completed.

For those who might be wondering it was no accident that Yahweh waited until the 2nd year of Darius to lift his 70 years of Divine anger. The related Biblical chronolgy proves this. As I’ve shown in my book The Jubilee Code: Prophetic Milestones in Yahweh’s Redemptive Plan, (free book download here) the 2nd year of Darius (Hystaspes) marked an important pivot point in the Yahweh’s redemptive plan for mankind. 520 BC was the end of the 71st and the beginning of the 72nd jubilee cycle from Adam. This date also marked the end of the 2nd of three separate 70 year periods of time which all had their origins in the 70th Jubilee.

In other words, you could see this chronology as represented in the Biblical record as 70 jubilee cycles from Adam, then 70 years of Divine anger, at the end of which began Yahweh’s word (dabar) was given that started the 70 Seven’s countdown to the Messiah Yeshua. (70 Jubilees > 70 years > 70 Sevens = Messiah)

And to wrap this all up with the contextual finality that demands we pay attention; we have a third witness in Ezra 6 to the “word” of Yahweh as given through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. For those of you who must have a “commandment” note in this passage that the “word” of Yahweh through Haggai and Zechariah is described a commandment (ta’am).

Ezra 6:14-15
4 And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment [ta’am] of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. 15 And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

This passage then confirms that the dabar of Yahweh was not just a “word” but as seen from the witness of Ezra, this word was also considered a ta’am which is translated in the Bible as a decree or commandment.

Yahweh’s Word begins the Countdown
As you consider the implications of the information, I’ve shared in this article I hope it will challenge you to give Yahweh, the living God of the Bible, the credit He deserves for His part in the Bible’s most important prophecy.

I think it is worth remembering that Revelation 19:10 reminds us that the “spirit of prophecy” is the testimony of Yeshua – that is – Yahweh’s Salvation (Yeshua means Yahweh’s Salvation). Daniel 9 is the Bible’s most detailed testimony of Yahweh’s Salvation, as such why would we expect its countdown (terminus a quo) to begin with anything less than the very word of Him who gave us the prophecy.

Maranatha!

Next Time
Yahweh willing, next time in Daniel 9: What Time is It? we’ll explore how the prophecy of 70 Sevens keeps time. Does Daniel 9 give a specific measure of time to be used in calculating its “sevens”? What about those who claim Gen. 29:27-28 uses the term shabuwa’ to refer to a period of seven years, thus the “sevens” of Daniel 9 should also be understood as periods of 7 years? Or how about a so called “prophetic year” of 360 days? Was there really ever such a year in Biblical history? I hope you’ll join me next time as we put to rest some of these myths about Biblical “time”.

Daniel 9: Building Jerusalem

Heaven forbid, but let’s say for arguments sake that Washington, D.C. was destroyed on December 22 of this year. Then after all the dust settled and events stabilized Congress reconvened to vote on the city’s reconstruction. What particular reconstruction efforts would be considered rebuilding Washington, D.C.? Could you choose just one reconstruction effort? Would rebuilding the streets, bridges, and other infrastructure be considered “building” D.C.? How about Congress, the White House, and the Supreme Court? Would reconstruction of these iconic symbols of America’s government also be considered, “rebuilding” the city of Washington, D.C.?

Daniel 9 and Rebuilding Jerusalem
Today, I want to consider the 2nd temple era reconstruction efforts of Jerusalem in a similar light. 70 years after Nebuchadnezzar razed the city and destroyed Solomon’s temple, Cyrus of Persia gave a decree which allowed the Jewish people to return and build Jerusalem. This rebuilding effort included the reconstruction of the temple.

But there is a rub…

Today most leading teachers on the prophecy of Daniel 9 claim that rebuilding the 2nd Temple was not part of rebuilding the city of Jerusalem as described in Daniel 9:25. Is this an accurate understanding of the Biblical record? Today we will explore this most important subject.

First take a look at Daniel 9:25 then compare it to the following quotes by Thomas Ice, David Reagan, and Joel Richardson:

Daniel 9:25
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,…

Now here are the explanations of Thomas Ice, David Reagan, and Joel Richardson on “decree” of Daniel 9:25a:

Thomas Ice

Artaxerxes’ Decree
It is clear to me that of all the options available, the only decree that specifically fits the statements of Daniel 9:25 is the one by Artaxerxes given in 444 B.C. as recorded in Nehemiah 2:1-8. Why? Because decree one and two relate to rebuilding the Temple. Only decree three speaks specifically of Jerusalem (Thomas Ice – The Seventy Weeks of Daniel – – For the full context of this quote please see the following Link)

 

David Reagan

    • 445 B.C. — Artaxerxes issued a decree to Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:1-8).

On the surface, the third decree, the one issued to Nehemiah, seems to be the most obvious candidate for the starting date of the prophecy, for it is the only one that specifically relates to the rebuilding of the city. For that reason, most commentators have selected it as the beginning of the 70 weeks of years. (David Reagan, Daniel’s 70 Weeks of Years – – For the full context of this quote please see the following Link)

 

Joel Richardson

A. The only position that literally fulfills the requirements of the passage seems to be thedecree from Artaxerxes as recorded in Nehemiah 2:1-8,17-18 given on March 5, 444 B.C….

D. Only one decree matches or fulfills the Scriptural criterion of a decree issued specifically to rebuild the city. (Joel Richardson, Daniel’s 70 Weeks: An Introduction – – For the full context of this quote please see the following Link)

A Distinction without a Difference
In the quotes above, notice how the authors claim a very narrow definition of building “Jerusalem”. If you read the fuller context of their quotes, you’ll find that they make the arbitrary distinction between building Jerusalem (the city) and building the temple of Jerusalem. Just think about the logic of that for a second. Is not the temple part of the city of Jerusalem? Why do the authors above claim that building the walls and streets of the city is building Jerusalem, yet the reconstruction of Yahweh’s house, the very beating heart of Jerusalem is not part of building the city?

Clearly, Daniel 9:25 makes no such distinction, so why have these respected authors made such a distinction? What is the basis for their claims? Frankly, I don’t know because as I will show you, the Biblical record does not support such a claim.

First let’s start with the context of Daniel 9 and Daniel’s petition to YHWH as found in verses 9-20:

Daniel 9:16-20
16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain:

because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.

17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.

18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name:

for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.

19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

20 And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before YHWH my God for the holy mountain of my God;

Notice from the perspective of Daniel, Jerusalem, (the city) was Yahweh’s “holy mountain”. This statement demands we ask, why? Why was Jerusalem the city considered Yahweh’s “holy mountain”. From an Old Testament perspective Jerusalem was Yahweh’s “holy mountain” because this was the place Yahweh choose to meet with mankind. It was the place “called by” His holy name. We get that sense from reading Daniel’s prayer, don’t we? Verse 17 & 18 clearly associates the “desolation” of Yahweh’s sanctuary with the “desolation” of the city and its people. So, if the desolation of the city was part and parcel with the desolation of the temple, would the reconstruction of the temple also be part and parcel with the city’s reconstruction?

Building the Temple was Building Jerusalem
To get a firmer idea of the Biblical association between the house of Yahweh and the city of Jerusalem let’s look at the words of Yahweh concerning Cyrus of Persia and his divine impetus to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. Notice how the two are clearly associated in this passage:

Isaiah 44:28
28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

Look now at the fuller context of Isaiah 45 to get a better sense of how Yahweh, through the prophet Isaiah, describes Cyrus’ decree to rebuild the temple and city of Jerusalem.

Isaiah 45:1
Thus saith YHWH to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;….

11 Thus saith YHWH, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. 12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. 13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith YHWH of hosts.

From the above passage it is rather difficult to argue (as claimed by Mr. Ice, Mr. Reagan, and Richardson) that the decree of Artaxerxes is the only decree which “specifically” dealt with rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. For reasons I’ll explain more fully later, I don’t believe that Cyrus’ decree was the “decree” of Daniel 9:25. Nevertheless, those who claim the decree of Artaxerxes was the only decree that “specifically” decreed the rebuilding of the “city” of Jerusalem are certainly incorrect in this claim.

Further as Isaiah 45:1-13 describes, Yahweh rose up Cyrus to build his city and let his captives go free. This building of the city was centered around the restoration of Yahweh’s desolate sanctuary. This is confirmed in the book of Ezra to which we will now turn.

Ezra 4 and the Building of Jerusalem
The passage below is focused on the efforts of the Jewish people to reconstruct Yahweh’s desolate sanctuary. For context sake, keep in mind these events take place after the decree of Cyrus in 536 BC. As you read the passage below also keep in mind the passage acknowledges that the enemies of the Jewish people harassed their efforts to build the temple from the reign of Cyrus until the reign of Darius. Further context shows that this was roughly the years 536 to 520 BC.

More particularly notice that in the eyes of those trying to stop the construction of the temple, they considered building the temple – building Jerusalem.

Ezra 4:1-5 JV Ezra 4:1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto YHWH God of Israel; 2 Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither. 3 But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto YHWH God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us. 4 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, 5 And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Ezra 4:12-13 12 Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations. 13 Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings.

Ezra 4:17-24 17 Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and unto the rest beyond…

21 Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me….

23 Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power. 24 Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

As you see Ezra 4 opens with the Jewish people’s efforts to restore the temple and the harassment of those trying to stop this effort which they considered building the city. Finally, in the reign of a Persian “Artaxerxes” the enemies of the Jewish people found a willing ear and this Artaxerxes gave a commandment that “this city be not builded”. Ezra 4 then closes with the devastating words: “then ceased the work on the house of God which is at Jerusalem.” So, it ceased unto the 2nd year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia.”

Building the Temple was Building Jerusalem
Contrary to the well-intentioned but unsupported claims by Mr. Ice, Mr. Reagan, and Mr. Richardson, that building the temple was not building Jerusalem, we see from the context of the quoted verses above that in the eyes of Yahweh, Daniel, Cyrus, and the enemies of the Jewish people, building the temple was indeed building Jerusalem. Further Ezra 4 makes plain that “Artaxerxes” decreed that the “city be not builded” concerned primarily the reconstruction efforts of the Jewish people towards the temple. This decree stayed in effect until the 2nd year of Darius.

So, what happened in the 2nd year of Darius that changed the fortunes of the Jewish people? What event could have caused the Jewish people to disregard the decree of the Artaxerxes and restart construction on Jerusalem and the temple?

What happened was a “word” (Hebrew dabar) was given that profoundly changed the vector of events. As we explore this subject further, you’ll see that this pivotal event of the 2nd temple era is completely overlooked by the vast majority of prophecy teachers and scholars because they arbitrarily choose to redefine what constituted rebuilding Jerusalem. As we will see, this foundational error has led to an array of interpretational errors which have skewed the redemptive nature of this important prophecy.

A Word To Restore and Build
So you have a crystal clear understanding of the context here. Remember Cyrus’ decree which allowed the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem and build the city (including the reconstruction of the temple) was given roughly in the year 536 BC. For the next 16 years until the 2nd year of Darius (son of Hystaspes) the Jewish efforts to rebuild the city – i.e. Yahweh’s holy sanctuary, were unsuccessful. As just noted above, in fact, a Persian king Artaxerxes at some point previous to the 2nd year of Darius (520 BC), stopped construction of the city and its temple.

Then something happened which unaccountably is ignored by Mr. Ice, Mr. Reagan, and Mr. Richardson, as well as the vast majority of Biblical scholars today. A Word of Yahweh was given that commanded the Jewish people to return and build.

Yahweh willing my next article will explore this “word” to restore and build Jerusalem and explain why this “word”, given by Yahweh the living God of the Bible is the clearest and most consequential choice for consideration of the so called “decree” to restore and build Jerusalem of Daniel 9:25.

Maranatha!

Daniel 9: What is Your Foundation?

If I told you that I believed the 2nd coming of Christ was going to take place next year because I heard several of today’s leading prophecy teachers (whom I respect) are making the claim – what would you think? What would you think if I further told you, that I could not verify their claims from the Bible but I believed them because they were really decent, smart, and sincere?

If I ever were to make such claims, I hope you’d have the good sense to be skeptical and instead of taking my word for it, make sure you search the Scriptures to “see if these things be so”.

Now I certainly don’t have any special insight about the return of Yeshua next year and I don’t know of any prophecy teacher making such claims. Inexplicably thought, most of today’s smart and sincere expositors of Daniel 9 and the 70 Sevens prophecy, expect you take their word (without Biblical evidence) for the starting point of the Bible’s countdown to the first coming of Christ.

Don’t believe me? Let me show you what I’m talking about. Most of you know or have heard of Thomas Ice, David Reagan, and Joel Richardson. By most standards, these men are well-spoken, smart, and sincere believers and teachers of the Bible’s prophetic word. Each one of them though, when it comes to Daniel 9 and the prophecy of 70 Sevens, instead of laying a sound Biblical chronological foundation for the starting point of the prophecy of 70 Sevens, simply ask you to take their word for it. Here take a look:

Thomas Ice

“Artaxerxes’ Decree
It is clear to me that of all the options available, the only decree that specifically fits the statements of Daniel 9:25 is the one by Artaxerxes given in 444 B.C. as recorded in Nehemiah 2:1-8. Why? Because decree one and two relate to rebuilding the Temple.”
(Thomas Ice – The Seventy Weeks of Daniel – For the full context of this quote please see the following Link)

David Reagan

    • “445 B.C. — Artaxerxes issued a decree to Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:1-8).

On the surface, the third decree, the one issued to Nehemiah, seems to be the most obvious candidate for the starting date of the prophecy, for it is the only one that specifically relates to the rebuilding of the city. For that reason, most commentators have selected it as the beginning of the 70 weeks of years. ”
(David Reagan, Daniel’s 70 Weeks of Years – – For the full context of this quote please see the following Link)

Joel Richardson

“The only position that literally fulfills the requirements of the passage seems to be the decree from Artaxerxes as recorded in Nehemiah 2:1-8,17-18 given on March 5, 444 B.C….

    1. Only one decree matches or fulfills the Scriptural criterion of a decree issued specifically to rebuild the city.”
      (Joel Richardson, Daniel’s 70 Weeks: An Introduction – – For the full context of this quote please see the following Link)

Here is the trouble with the statements above. What the above well meaning authors fail to tell you is that there are at least two “Artaxerxes” mentioned in the Bible and at least three Persians who bear this throne name. Further complicating the issue is that word “Artaxerxes” originated as a Median administrative title which was then later used by Persian kings as a throne name. So even though Greek sources identify three Persian kings with the throne name of “Artaxexes”, the word may well have been used as an administrated title by Meads and Persians before it became a throne name taken by Artaxerxes I (Longimanus).

I find it Inexplicable that Mr. Ice, Mr. Reagan, and Mr. Richardson assert that Artaxerxes I (Longimanus) was the Persian king who gave a decree to “restore and build Jerusalem” in 444-445 BC, yet they make absolutely no effort to apprise their readers of the critical facts which let them to this conclusion. They simply make this foundational statement without a single Biblical chronological reference to back them up. Collectively, these men represent nearly a century of accumulated Biblical knowledge, yet none of their writings to date (that I’m aware of) provide a single piece of evidence to back up the most important foundational claims they are making regarding Artaxerxes’ decree and the date 444-445 BC.

Think about that for a moment. This date (444-445 BC) is the fixing point of their calculations for the countdown to the coming of the Messiah. All three authors admit the importance of the starting point of the 70 Sevens (Terminus a Quo) to a proper interpretation of the 70 Sevens. Further, each of the authors also acknowledges the profound importance the prophecy of 70 Sevens has to our understanding of Yeshua’s first coming and our understanding of His second coming as well. Yet, each fails to build his interpretation upon a solid Biblical foundation, rather they all, in respect to this critical subject, defer to the opinion of their peers.

Why is that? Why are most of today’s leading prophecy teachers like Mr. Ice, Mr. Reagan, and Mr. Richardson loath to give you a solid Biblical chronological foundation for their Terminus a Quo of Daniel 9 and the prophecy of 70 Sevens?

I won’t speculate as to their motivations but what I will say is that each day, each month, and each year that goes by, that they do not address this important subject, it undermines their credibility and ultimately the credibility of the Bible’s most important prophetic utterance. The only prophecy, it’s important to note, that provides a specific and datable timeline for the coming of the Messiah Yeshua.

I encourage you to ask them why they haven’t provided the basic Biblical fact to back up their claims. I’ve personally asked two of these authors how they arrived at their conclusions regarding this critical 2nd temple chronology of Ezra, Nehemiah, and their chronological relationship to the Biblical “Artaxerxes”. Neither could provide a single Biblical fact to back up their claims.

Do you want to know just how well your prophecy teacher understands the basic foundational chronology upon which they claim Artaxerxes Longimanus was the king who gave the commandment “to restore and build Jerusalem” of Daniel 9:25? Ask them to explain to you the following questions related to the 2nd temple era of the Bible. If they can’t give you clear and reasonable answers then you know they really don’t have the depth of understanding necessary to make definitive claims about this important prophecy.

Here are questions every prophecy teacher on Daniel 9 should have a grasp of in order to make any claim about the Terminus a Quo of Daniel 9:

  • Who is the Artaxerxes of Ezra 4 and what does the chronology related to that king tell us about how the term is used in the Bible?
  • What does the use of the Medio-Persian word Arta tell us about the use of Arta-xerxes in the Bible?
  • Who was the Artaxerxes of Ezra 6 that gave a commandment to restore the rebuild the temple that was completed in the 6th year of Darius?
  • Explain the chronological transition from the temple completion in the 6th year of Darius I to Ezra’s excursion to Jerusalem in the 7th year of a Persian king known as “Artaxerxes”.
  • How could Ezra still be alive in the 20th year of Artaxerxes Longimanus when his father died in 19th year of Nebuchadnezzar?
  • How could the Priests and Levites who officiated in the days of Joshua and Zerubbabel be still alive in the 20th year of Artaxerxes Longimanus?
  • Explain the 1st and 2nd generational relationship between the Priests and Levites of Nehemiah 10 and 12.
  • Who is the Mordecai of Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7, how is this man related to Esther and why is this important to understanding the chronology of the 2nd temple era and the Persian king “Artaxerxes”?

The prophecy of 70 Sevens is the Bible’s definitive proof given to the Jewish people (and all mankind) to prove that Yeshua of Nazareth was the promised Redeemer of the Old Testament. I challenge you to carefully read Mr. Ice’s, Mr. Reagan’s, and Mr. Richardson’s papers on Daniel 9 and the 70 Sevens that I’ve linked in this article and see if you can find a single Biblical fact you can use to verify their claims that the Persian Artaxerxes I (Longimanus) in his 20th year (444-445 BC) was the “Artaxerxes” who gave the dabar (word) to “restore” (return) and build Jerusalem” described in Daniel 9:25. If you cannot, then I encourage you to write and ask them to explain their position with real Biblical evidence not just the well-meaning opinions of their peers. I want to stress here that I believe all three of these men are sincere believers who have a passion for sharing the Bible’s prophetic words. That being said, their interpretation of this wonderful prophecy is an illustrative example of what happens when you don’t laid a solid Biblical foundation for your teachings and beliefs.

In Closing
I’ll leave you with a quote from each of these authors showing in their own words just how important this prophecy is to our Biblical world view. As you read their well-spoken words, ask yourself why, if this prophecy is as important as they say it is, didn’t take the time to establish it upon a rock-solid Biblical foundation as Yahweh, the living God of the Bible clearly intended? Also, ask yourself if they can’t provide you with verifiable Biblical facts related to their claims that Artaxerxes Longimanus gave the decree which began the Bible’s countdown to the Messiah, (no matter how well intentioned) what confidence can you place in their other conclusions about the prophecy, be it the 1st or 2nd coming of Christ?

To My Peers
Mr. Ice, Mr. Reagan, and Mr. Richardson I sincerely hope you’ll take the criticisms expressed in this article in the spirit in which they are intended and use them to sharpen your exposition of this wonderful prophecy. Your unsupported assumptions regarding Artaxerxes Longimanus undermine the credibility of your claims about Yeshua and His fulfillment of the Bible’s most important prophecy. It is time for you and your peers to remedy this serious deficiency.

Thomas Ice

“One of the most important prophecy passages in the whole Bible is that of God’s prophecy given to Daniel in Daniel 9:24-27. This passage constitutes one of the most amazing prophecies in all the Bible. If worked out logically, this text is both seminal and determinative in the outworking of one’s understanding of Bible prophecy.”

Joel Richardson

“The prophecy of 70 weeks is one of the most critically important eschatological passages in the Bible, which the Church of the last days must properly interpret and understand.”

“F. Several critical issues are at stake in the proper interpretation of this passage.

      1. 1. At stake is the recognition of the present-tense, ongoing election and calling of the Jewish people.
        2. At stake is the nature of this final future period of tribulation as necessary to accomplish all of the following specifically on behalf of Israel:
          1. “To finish the transgression”
          2. “To make an end of sin”
          3. “To make atonement for iniquity”
          4. “To bring in everlasting righteousness”
          5. “To seal up vision and prophecy”
          6. “To anoint the most holy place”

        3. At stake is the Church’s recognition of the defining timing markers given to us by the Holy Spirit in Daniel and by Jesus personally.4.At stake is a proper understanding of the very nature of the Kingdom of God.”

David Reagan

“One of the most remarkable and important prophecies in the Bible is found in Daniel 9:24-27. It is the cornerstone of Messianic prophecy because it establishes the timing of both the First and Second Advents of the Messiah.”

Next Time – A WORD to rebuild Jerusalem
Yahweh willing next time I look at the assertions made by Mr. Reagan, Mr. Ice, and Mr. Richardson about the “commandment” of Daniel 9:25. This commandment they claim referred to “building Jerusalem” which they arbitrarily limit to the reconstruction of the city walls and other infrastructure. Each of these authors claims that only the decree of “Artaxerxes” in 444-445 BC qualifies as a command to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and by their definition rebuilding the temple was not part of rebuilding Jerusalem. Is this an accurate point of view that can be supported from the Biblical record? I think you’ll be surprised at what the Biblical record reveals.

And what about the divine “word” Yahweh the living God of the Bible gave to the Jewish people to “return” and build? A word witnessed by Zechariah, Haggai, and Ezra? Why is this central event of the 2nd Temple era not even mentioned by Mr. Ice, Mr. Reagan, or Mr. Richardson, even though the “word” (dabar) of Yahweh is mentioned three other times in Daniel 9?

As we explore these important subject I think you’ll be surprised at how much the context of the 2nd temple era illuminates the starting point of Daniel 9 and the “word” to restore and build Jerusalem.

Maranatha!

Further Food for Thought:
Why would a prophetic passage so exquisitely designed by Yahweh be given such an uncertain starting point as proposed by the authors above? Here are just a few amazing facts about Daniel 9 that shows why it is the crowning prophetic passage of the Bible and why its Terminus a Quo deserves a better foundation than well meaning assumptions:

Daniel 9:23-27 consists of:

  • 100 Hebrew words designed in a manner to showcase the “7 sevens” (49) as the numerical center of the passage. In other words, Daniel 9:23-27 is 49+2+49 words. The two words sheba shebuw’ah in the numerical center of this passage themselves are an expression of 49.
  • 100 Hebrew words consisting of 418 Hebrew letters designed to showcase the 10 letters that spell 7 sevens. These 10 letters are proceeded by 204 letters and 204 letters follow them. (204+10+204) In other words the 49 words that proceed the “7 sevens” in the numerical center of this passage, themselves consists of exactly 204 letters. The last 49 words of the passage also consist of 204 letters.
  • The word Seven in the numerical center of Daniel 9:23-27 is proceed by 49 words.
  • That same word Seven in verse 25 is the 13th word of verse 25 and it also is proceeded by the 49 letters of verse 25.
  • The Hebrew word “seven” in verse 25 is the 13 word of that verse. This word in Hebrew has the numerical value of 377. (13×29)
  • The Biblical calendar used by the Jewish people for thousands of years is lunar/solar. This lunar solar calendar typically has 12 lunar month but once very three years it is reconciled by the intercalary 13th month (13 x 29.53). If one were to calculate the 70 Sevens (490) units of time using this 13th month as a basis, those 70 Sevens would be a equal to a period of 515.05 years. From for “word” (dabar) to restore and build Jerusalem given by Yahweh, the living God of the Bible in the 2nd year of Darius as witnessed by Haggai, Zechariah, and Ezra there it are precisely 515 years to the winter of 5 BC. By many conservative scholars calculations, 9 months later in the fall of 4 BC Yeshua of Nazareth was born. If the birth of Christ took place in the fall of 4 BC then his conception – that point when Yahweh’s Salvation – Yeshua – became flesh – would have taken place in the winter of 5 BC.

For a more detailed explanation of the incredible design of Daniel 9 please see my related article: The Numerical Structure of Daniel 9 and the Prophecy of 70 Sevens

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