Discover How the Prophet Daniel may have revealed when Messiah would come

Jerusalem

"But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge." (Daniel 12:4)

The Hebrew Scriptures give us many clues as to when the promised Messiah would arrive.

In fact, a great many Jewish people were expecting the appearance of the Messiah even as Yeshua healed multitudes of people along the shores of the Sea of Galilee and taught on the Temple steps in Jerusalem.

Many evangelical scholars today believe that the precise timing of His arrival was revealed to the Hebrew Prophet Daniel while He was in Babylonian exile in the sixth century BC. There, the Angel Gabriel said to him:

“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.” (Daniel 9:24)

Let us look closer at how these scholars interpret the timing of Messiah in this prophecy.

70 Sevens and the Work of Messiah—Daniel 9:24–25

What might the Angel Gabriel mean by seventy sevens?

It is believed that he was giving Daniel a mathematical prophecy for calculating the appearance of the Messiah. In “70 sevens of years,” a total of 490 Jewish calendar years (70 times seven), the Messiah’s kingdom would be established.

Gabriel told Daniel that six purposes would be accomplished by this coming:

1. The first was to finish transgression;
2. The second was to make an end to sin;
3. The third to atone for wickedness (make reconciliation for iniquity);
4. The fourth to bring everlasting righteousness;
5. The fifth to seal up vision and prophecy; and
6. The sixth to anoint the Most Holy.

When would these 490 years begin?

“Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.” (Daniel 9:25)

Daniel 9:24

Clearly stated—seven sevens plus 62 sevens = 483 Jewish calendar years.

Some 483 years after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem has been proclaimed, the Messiah would come.

When was the decree to rebuild Jerusalem issued?
In the book of Nehemiah 2:1–8, we are told that King Artaxerxes of Persia gave Nehemiah safe passage to travel to Jerusalem so he could manage the task of rebuilding the city. This decree happened in approximately 445 BC.

Using a 360-day Jewish calendar year, 483 years after 445 BC brings us to AD 30, the customary year that Yeshua entered Jerusalem amidst shouts of "Hosanna! [Lord Save Us!] Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!" (John 12:13)

The Presentation of Yeshua in the Temple, by James Tissot

Daniel Prophecies When the Messiah Would Be Killed

In verse 26, Daniel gives us another clue as to how to identify who the Messiah is:

“After the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood.” (Daniel 9:26)

The Hebrew word translated cut off is a form of the verb karath, which can be translated cease, perish, or killed. In other words, the Messiah would be killed before the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the sanctuary, the Temple.

In AD 70, Titus, the son of Roman Emperor Vespasian, led the invasion of Jerusalem that destroyed the Holy Sanctuary. The Temple was burnt to the ground.

The Romans only kept the Western Wall of the Temple Mount platform intact, as a memorial to their victory. By seeing the impressive wall, people would not doubt that a magnificent Temple once stood there.

So, the riddle is this: Did Yeshua (or anyone else) finish transgression, make an end of sin, and make reconciliation for iniquity? Did this person get cut off before Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed in AD 70?

The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans Under the Command of Titus, AD 70, by David Roberts

Who Brings an End to Sin?

In Jewish law, the first three purposes of the 70 sevens—1) to finish transgression; 2) to make an end of sin, and 3) to make reconciliation for iniquity—is fulfilled through atonement, which Leviticus 17:11 says can only be made by blood through a substitutionary offering.

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.”

This was fulfilled when Yeshua hung on the Roman execution stake (cross). The prophet Isaiah also speaks about the death of the Messiah:

“He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of My people He was punished.” (Isaiah 53:8)

Yeshua fulfilled these prophesies about the death of the Anointed One and the atonement for Israel before the destruction of the Sanctuary and the city in AD 70.

As the Jewish scholar Dr. Michael Brown wisely points out, “If [Yeshua] Jesus did not fulfill Daniel 9:24, then no one fulfilled it and Daniel cannot be trusted.” (Answering Jewish Objection, volume three, p. 92.)

There are three more purposes yet to be fulfilled, which are expected to happen in Daniel's last Seven.

“Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Law by become a curse for us, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a pole.’” (Galatians 3:13)

One Last Seven

“And He shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week He shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” (Daniel 9:27)

Daniel may be seeing beyond the destruction of the Temple in AD 70 to the Last Days, the final seven-year period. He says at the end of verse 26, “To the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.”

We have seen this war and desolation in the case of Israel; however, that period has now come to an end with a return of God’s people to the Land.

This 70th week is also generally viewed by many evangelical scholars as the period of the rise of the Anti-Messiah (Antichrist) who will make peace with Israel for 3 1/2 years. He will then break the peace treaty, ushering in a Great Tribulation for another 3 1/2 years.

The period closes with the reappearance of the Messiah who returns to establish His kingdom on earth, reigning from Jerusalem.

At this time the last three purposes of His coming will be fulfilled—4) bring everlasting righteousness; 5) seal up vision and prophecy; and 6) anoint the Most Holy.

"On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south." (Zechariah 14:4)

Yeshua Goes Up Alone onto a Mountain to Pray, by James Tissot