While the prophet Daniel was living in Babylon, God gave him several visions of the future. These visions were often awesome and very detailed. The things in them referred to important, future events.
For years, prophecy buffs have tried to decode prophecies in the Bible. Some prophecies are for the city of Jerusalem. Some are for the country of Israel. Some are for the entire world.
The prophecy in Daniel 9:24-26 is a very important prophecy. This prophecy was given so that the Jews and the Gentiles would know the Messiah. There are many prophetic scriptures about the Messiah, but this one is very special.
The angel Gabriel gave Daniel this vision and here is how it went.
Daniel 9:20-26 "Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God, yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, 'O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:
Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks, Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.'"
At first glance, this prophecy may seem "too deep" or "too coded" for understanding. However, it's importance demands attention. Here is how this prophecy is translated.
This prophecy is a coded message that explains the exact amount of time between the "command to restore and build Jerusalem" and when "Messiah the Prince" (Jesus Christ) will arrive in Jerusalem! Only God knows the future and He proves that He is God and Jesus is the Messiah by Daniel's prophecy.
To understand this prophecy fully, we must read the scriptures about the timing of the command to rebuild Jerusalem. We find them in Nehemiah.
Nehemiah 2:1-18 reads, "And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. Therefore the king said to me, 'Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.' So I became dreadfully afraid, and said to the king, 'May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste, and it's gates are burned with fire?' Then the king said to me, 'What do you request?'
So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, 'If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it.'
Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), 'How long will your journey be? And when will you return?'
So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. Furthermore, I said to the king, 'If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.'
And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me. Then I went to the governors in the region beyond the River, and gave them the king's letters.
Now, the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel. So, I came to Jerusalem and was there three days. Then, I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the one on which I rode. And I went out by night, through the Valley Gate, to the Serpent Well, and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and it's gates which were burned with fire. Then, I went to the Fountain Gate and to the King's Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass. So, I went up, in the night, by the valley, and viewed the wall; then, I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the others who did the work.
Then I said to them, 'You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and it's gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.' And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me and also of the king's words that he had spoken to me. So they said, 'Let us rise up and build.' Then they set their hands to this good work."
According to the scriptures, the command to rebuild Jerusalem was given in the "month of Nisan and the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes". This king was the King Artaxerxes Longimanus of Persia. The day when he gave the command to rebuild Jerusalem was March 14, 445 B.C.
History records Artaxerxes' reign as being from 465 - 425 B.C. Historians have also recorded that "The first of Nisan is a new year for the computation of the reign of Kings and for festivals", so we know that the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, which would have been a major decree, was issued on the first of Nisan. In 445 B.C., this day fell on March 14.
Now, we have explained the prophecy and shown when the command to build Jerusalem was given. Before we reveal the computation of this prophetic equation, let's reveal when Jesus entered Jerusalem as King.
All throughout Jesus' ministry, He had a supernatural purpose for His miracles, teachings, actions, etc. Timing was obviously very important to Him. Here are some scriptures about God's timing.
John 7:6 and 8 read, "....my time has not yet come....You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."
Matthew 8:29 reads, "And suddenly they cried out, saying, 'What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?'"
Matthew 13:30 reads, "Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, 'First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"
Matthew 26:18 reads, "And He said, 'Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, 'My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.'"
The timing for Jesus entering Jerusalem was very important and significant. The Jews should have known this date. This was the day Daniel had prophesied, hundreds of years before it's fulfillment. When Jesus fulfilled this prophecy, it showed that He was the Messiah.
Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. In the past, He had taught the Israelites without publicly declaring His Godhood. This time, He was letting the people call Him the Meshiach Nagid or Messiah the King (or Prince).
Palm Sunday is four days before Passover. Here are the instructions for Passover and the important, dating information.
Exodus 12:1-11 reads, "Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 'This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now, you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire; it's head with it's legs and it's entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD'S Passover.'"
Staying on task, because there is a lot of awesome information and several prophecies are being fulfilled here, we can see how Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem on the 10th of Nisan. (He was crucified on Passover, on the 14th of Nisan.) Palm Sunday was when Jesus publicly entered Jerusalem and proclaimed Himself to be king. This was April 6, 32 A.D. Here is the biblical account of this event.
Luke 19:28-44 "When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, saying, 'Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, Why are you loosing it?, you shall say to him, Because the Lord has need of it.'
So, those who were sent went their way and found it, just as He had said to them. But, as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, 'Why are you loosing the colt?' And they said, 'The Lord has need of him.'
Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road. Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: 'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!'
And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, 'Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.' But He answered and said to them, 'I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.'
Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, 'If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.'"
Now, we see how the Bible has told us about the important events of the command to build the temple, Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and His subsequent crucifixion (or "cutting off"). Here is the math.
One week, in this context, equals seven years. This is a common, Hebrew occurrence. Each week is a week of years (another Hebrew algorithm). Therefore, we have a math problem that looks like this:
69 weeks x 7 years x 360 days in a year equals 173,880 days.
(Remember: Daniel 9:25 says, "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.")
The Babylonian calendar of 360 day years was being used. Daniel was in Babylon. Plus, at this time, the Jewish calendar and many other calendars were based on a 360 day, which is also called a "lunar year". It's interesting to see that this prophecy is still fulfilled with other calendars and other ways of calculations!
At any rate, if you add the days between March 14, 445 B.C. and April 6, 32 A.D. you get 173,880 days.
This is an enormous and supernatural fulfillment of prophecy! Since God wrote it and it happened, any calendar (as long as you know the history and system of the particular calendar) will bring you to the same number of days.
For instance, here is the computation and fulfillment of this awesome prophecy on the Gregorian calendar.
445 B.C. to 32 A.D. (476 years x 365 days) = 173,740 days
March 14 to April 6 = 24 days
Days In Leap Years = 116 days (119 - 3 = 116)
Total = 173,880 days
(A total of 476 years divided by four (a leap year every four years) gives 119 additional days. However, three days must be subtracted from 119 because centennial years are not leap years, though every 400th year is a leap year.)
Gabriel's prophecy, given to Daniel five centuries before it's fulfillment and translated into Greek three centuries before, was fulfilled to the exact day!
The Dead Sea Scrolls authenticate Daniel's prophecy. Skeptics have said that Daniel must have been written after the time of Christ, but the Dead Sea Scrolls have proven otherwise.
I encourage and challenge you to consider this fulfilled prophecy! Only God knows the future. He told us about Jesus' "triumphal entry" into Jerusalem when Jerusalem was in ruins. Numerous passages in the Bible authenticate Jesus Christ as God's one and only Messiah. Here is another verse of scripture that was fulfilled with Jesus' triumphal entry.
Zechariah 9:9 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey."
