The Correct Interpretation of Daniel's Seventy Weeks Prophecy
Sometime after his dream of the four beasts, Daniel studied the writings of Jeremiah, an earlier prophet who prophesied of Jerusalem’s destruction. Jeremiah prophesied that the exiled children of Israel would be held captive in Babylon for seventy years as punishment for worshipping the pagan god Ba’al.[i] Daniel was overcome with emotion as he studied Jeremiah’s prophecy. He began fasting and praying for God’s forgiveness for his sins and the sins of the Israelites who had neglected their faith. While praying, Daniel received a visit from the angel Gabriel, who told him that God greatly loved him. The angel explained that he had come with a message that he would give Daniel the ability to understand.[ii]
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Daniel wrote the angel’s message in Daniel 9:22-27. Gabriel prophesied seventy weeks would elapse between the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the arrival of the Messiah, who would “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.” The angel said this would “seal up the vision and prophecy,” implying the promise of God’s covenant with David would be fulfilled.[1]
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Daniel 9:24-25
24 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.
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, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
In Daniel 9:25, Gabriel advises the prophet that the first sixty-nine of the seventy weeks would pass between the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem and the start of the Messiah’s ministry. Following his annexation of Babylon, Cyrus the Great issued a proclamation to rebuild the Temple in 539 BC, but this decree did not order the rebuilding of the rest of the city.[iii] Artaxerxes I Longimanus most likely issued the decree to rebuild the entire city in 458 BC, his seventh year as the king of the Achaemenid Empire.[iv]
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The month of the decree is not listed in the Bible, but we do know Ezra left for Jerusalem on the first day of the Hebrew month of Nisan in 457 BC.[v] The decree would have been given several months before that point, likely near the end of 458 BC, to allow enough time for Ezra to recruit volunteers and procure supplies to prepare for a departure in late March or early April.
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According to the writings of Luke, the ministry of John the Baptist began during “the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.”[vi] Before becoming emperor, Tiberius started a military campaign in Illyricum in 10 AD, which lasted two years.[vii] According to the historian Suetonius, “After two years he returned to the city from Germany and celebrated the triumph which he had postponed, accompanied also by his generals, for whom he had obtained the triumphal regalia. And before turning to enter the Capitol, he dismounted from his chariot and fell at the knees of his father, who was presiding over the ceremonies…the consuls caused a law to be passed soon after this that he should govern the provinces jointly with Augustus.”[viii] Tiberius most likely became co-regent in 12 AD, which would be considered the first year of his reign. Therefore, the best estimate for the start of John the Baptist’s ministry and Jesus’ baptism is 26 AD, or year fifteen of Tiberius’ rule. Since Jesus’ baptism is considered the official start of his ministry, this event would mark the arrival of the Messiah and the end of the sixty-ninth week of the Seventy Weeks Prophecy.[ix]
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Many Christian traditions regarding the timing of Jesus Christ’s death are incorrect. Certain contradictions in the Biblical text cannot be resolved with a single Sabbath during Christ’s crucifixion week. For example, according to Mark 16:1, Mary, the mother of James, Mary Magdalene, and Salome bought and prepared spices to anoint Jesus’ body after the Sabbath day.[2] However, Luke 23:56 says this took place before the Sabbath.[3]
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In ancient Judaism, the week of the Passover usually had two Sabbaths. The traditional weekly Sabbath would have occurred on Saturday, while the Passover was considered a High Sabbath. Recognizing this fact gives a much clearer picture of the date of Jesus’ crucifixion.
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The Passover would have been observed on the night before the first full moon of the Hebrew year. Three and a half years after Jesus’ 26 AD baptism, this full moon occurred on April 6, 30 AD.[x] That year, the Passover would have been celebrated from Wednesday at twilight until Thursday at sunset, as days began and ended at sunset in the Hebrew calendar. Since the start of Passover and the Last Supper were most likely observed on Wednesday night, Tuesday night into Wednesday would be the Day of Preparation, when the Jews did all the necessary work before the Sabbath to prepare for a day of rest. The Olivet Discourse would have occurred earlier on Tuesday, before sunset, as the Bible says these events happened two days before Passover.[4]
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Jesus’ arrival in Bethany occurred six days before the Passover, which would have been on Friday before sunset. According to John’s account, that evening—considered the next day in the Hebrew calendar—Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anointed Jesus’ feet with oil and cleaned them with her hair. Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem occurred the next day, on Palm Sunday.[5] The Cleansing of the Temple, when Jesus overturned the moneychangers’ tables, would have occurred on Monday.
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With this understanding, events after the 30 AD Passover also become clearer. Matthew 27:1 places Jesus’ trial and crucifixion on the morning after the Last Supper. Therefore, he would have been crucified on Thursday late morning and afternoon.[6] Joseph of Arimathaea obtained Christ’s body from Pontius Pilate on Thursday afternoon and buried him after sunset,[7] because Luke wrote that Jesus was buried on the Day of Preparation.[8] On Friday, the women from Galilee bought and prepared their anointing spices. This event occurred on the day between the Passover Sabbath and the weekly Sabbath, which reconciles the perceived conflict between Mark and Luke. It was also on Friday that the Pharisees asked Pilate to place guards outside of Jesus’ tomb out of fear that his body would be stolen so that his followers could claim he rose from the dead.[9] The following day was the weekly Sabbath, when no events are recorded in the Bible.[10] Finally, as the women brought their spices to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body the morning after the Sabbath, they found him risen from the dead—on Sunday, April 9, 30 AD.[11]
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Events around the death and resurrection of Jesus shown in Hebrew days,
which began and ended at sunset. Sabbath days are displayed in white.
Note that in 30 AD, the day Mary, Mary, and Salome bought and prepared spices
for Jesus’ body was in between the Passover and weekly Sabbaths,
which resolves the timing conflict between Mark 16:1 and Luke 23:56.
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Reconciling the evidence in the gospels proves a 30 AD crucifixion date, meaning we now have established 458 BC as the start of the Seventy Weeks Prophecy and 26 AD as the end of the prophecy’s sixty-ninth week. As you can tell, this is far longer than the time frame predicted by Daniel. Because there was no year zero, 458 BC to 26 AD is 483 years. But this is where the prophecy becomes fascinating; sixty-nine weeks equals 483 days.
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The first sixty-nine weeks of the prophecy predicted the exact year of the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. To avoid confusion, we will refer to time within the context of a prophecy as prophetic days, months, or years. When discussing days or years in the fulfillment of a prophecy, we will refer to them as calendar days or years. For example, Daniel predicted that 483 prophetic days would elapse between the order to rebuild Jerusalem and the coming of the Messiah. In real time, those 483 prophetic days were fulfilled by 483 calendar years. This formula, which theologians have termed the “day-year principle,” consistently applies to all end-times prophecies in Daniel and Revelation.
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However, this only covers the first sixty-nine weeks of the prophecy. The last two verses of Daniel 9 explain what would occur in the final prophetic week. The Futurist and Preterist theologians have distorted these verses to discredit the Historicist interpretation of the end times. For this reason, it is essential to fully comprehend the rest of the Seventy Weeks Prophecy exactly as it was written.
Daniel 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Gabriel explains that once sixty-nine weeks pass, the Messiah will be “cut off,” meaning Jesus would be killed. Daniel 9:27 provides precise timing for his death, stating, “In the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” In the Old Testament, God made several covenants with the Israelites, including a promise to David in II Samuel 7. God told the prophet Nathan to visit David and deliver a message—if David would build a Temple to God, the Messiah would come from his lineage.[12]
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In Daniel 9:26-27, Gabriel prophesies that the Messiah would confirm the Davidic Covenant “in the midst of” the seventieth week. This implies that Jesus’ crucifixion, the event that fulfilled this covenant, would occur in the middle of the final seven calendar years, three and a half years into his ministry. These last two verses cover the seven years from 26 through 33 AD, when Jesus ministered to the Jews for the first three and a half years and his disciples followed his example until they fled Judea in 33 AD.
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Jesus’ crucifixion in April of 30 AD—three and a half years after his fall of 26 AD baptism—marked the end of the Old Covenant, under which God required animal sacrifice to atone for sins. With the New Covenant, Jesus—the Lamb of God—was sacrificed on the cross as one final offering for the atonement of sins. After his death, animal sacrifice was no longer necessary.[xi]
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The People of the Prince Who Shall Come
The most misunderstood part of this prophecy is the phrase, “and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” The “prince who shall come” is the Antichrist, who we know from Daniel 7 would eventually come from Rome—making the Romans his people. The commonly misinterpreted aspect is that this verse discusses “the people of the prince that shall come,” not the prince himself.
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When the Roman general Pompey invaded Palestine in 63 BC, a wealthy and influential Edomite named Antipater supported Rome. After Pompey conquered Palestine and seized Jerusalem, Julius Caesar rewarded Antipater with the position of procurator of Judaea in 47 BC. Antipater then appointed his son Herod as governor of Galilee in the same year.[xii] The Roman Senate elevated Herod, who would eventually be known as Herod the Great, as their puppet king of Judea in 40 BC.[xiii] Herod was uniquely positioned to be king—he was a Jew, a loyal ally of Rome through his lifelong friend Mark Antony, and his mother was the daughter of a nobleman from the Nabatean kingdom to the east.[xiv]
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After more than a century, the Jews had grown weary of Roman rule. Their list of grievances was long, and the tension would not require much instigation to explode. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus tells us in The Jewish War that the violence began with a seemingly benign event in Caesarea during the twelfth year of Emperor Nero’s reign, in 66 AD.
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According to Josephus, the Greeks had obtained the right to govern Caesarea from Nero despite its location in Judea. The Jews had attempted to purchase a building near their Caesarean synagogue from its Greek owner, going so far as to offer to pay several times its value, which the owner refused. Instead, he built several other shops on the land until the Jews only had a narrow path to their synagogue.
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The Jews protested to Gessius Florus, the Roman procurator in the city. Florus was a Greek himself and had a history of discriminating against the Jews. He refused to allow the Jews to use force, so they offered to give him eight talents to stop the new construction. After getting his payment, Florus left Caesarea and traveled to Sebaste. In Josephus’ opinion, this was his way of turning a blind eye and allowing the Jews to use force after all.[xv]
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The next day, as the Jews were crowding into their synagogue, a Greek man “of a seditious temper” upturned a large terracotta jar at the entrance to the synagogue and used it to sacrifice birds. To the enraged Jews, this was an appalling insult. In Jewish religious law and customs, sacrificing animals to pagan gods was a desecration of their synagogue. The Jews did not know that the Greeks nominated this man to incite the Jews to fight, but it would not have mattered. Their anger only needed a minor spark to ignite.[xvi]
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In response, Eleazar ben Hanania, the governor of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, convinced the officiants of “divine service” to decline any gifts or sacrifices on behalf of any foreigner. As a result, all offerings on behalf of the Roman emperor Nero ceased. According to Josephus, this was the moment when the skirmish between the Jews and Greeks of Judea evolved into a war between the Jews and the Roman Empire.[xvii]
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Rather than returning to Caesarea to quell the Jews’ anger, Florus instead dispatched soldiers to Jerusalem with an order to steal seventeen talents from the Temple’s treasury. The soldiers’ act of entering the Holy of Holies—the most sacred part of the Temple and off-limits to anyone but the Jewish high priest—was the abomination of desolation predicted in Daniel 9:26-27. This was the event that Jesus indicated would be the warning to flee Judea and take refuge in the mountains during his Olivet Discourse.[13]
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After learning of the theft, the local Jews ran to the Temple in disbelief. Enraged, they mockingly passed around a basket, collecting money for Florus as if he were a beggar. Once word reached Florus, he prepared his army to march on Jerusalem to suppress the revolt and steal from the Temple again.[xviii]
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When he arrived in Jerusalem, Florus unleashed his soldiers with orders to plunder the Temple’s Upper Marketplace and kill anyone who gave them resistance. But the Romans not only looted the Upper Marketplace; they forced their way into every house, killing the Jewish residents and stealing anything of value.
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Once the Jews witnessed the unfolding chaos, they attempted to flee the city. Many could not escape the soldiers, who captured everyone they could. Josephus wrote that many of the detained “quiet people”—those uninvolved with the revolt—were brought before Florus, who ordered them flogged and crucified. Josephus estimated that around 3,600 men, women, and children were massacred that day by the Romans.[xix]
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As a result of the violence, the final Roman client-king of the Herodian dynasty, Herod Agrippa II, fled Jerusalem for Galilee with his sister Berenice. When Nero learned of the rebellion, he dispatched his general Titus Flavius Vespasianus, who would later become the emperor Vespasian, to quell the violence. By 68 AD, Vespasian and his son Titus, who would succeed him as emperor, had recovered most of the territory lost to the Jewish Zealots.[xx]
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However, in June of 68, Nero committed suicide in Rome. Nero’s lack of an heir apparent caused turmoil throughout the empire, leading to the “Year of the Four Emperors” in 69 AD. This power vacuum encouraged Vespasian’s army and the Roman legions stationed in Egypt and Syria to take an oath of loyalty naming him the new emperor.[xxi] Vespasian then returned to Rome to assert his claim to the throne, leaving his son Titus in charge of the army to march on Jerusalem and finish the war.
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The Romans were initially unable to breach the city walls. As a result, they set up camp, dug a trench around Jerusalem, and laid siege to the city. Jews who attempted to flee Jerusalem were caught in the trench and captured by the Romans. Josephus wrote, “They caught every day five hundred Jews; nay, some days they caught more.” Titus, who did not want to dedicate the manpower necessary to guard such high numbers of Jewish deserters, instead chose to have them tortured and crucified, an event predicted by Jesus.[xxii], [14]
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After seven months, the Roman army successfully penetrated the walls of Jerusalem. The Jewish soldiers inside the city quickly lost ground to the invading army and were forced to take refuge in Jerusalem’s last fortified stronghold, the Temple. Titus recognized the battle was essentially over and ordered the Temple to be spared from destruction.
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This attempt to protect the Temple infuriated Titus’ men to the point where he began to fear for his safety. When he believed his soldiers might turn their anger onto him if he did not reverse his position, Titus gave the order to light the building’s gates on fire.[xxiii]
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The fire swiftly escalated and engulfed the rooms around the Temple. Titus hurried to the complex to command his incensed soldiers to extinguish the flames. However, once he entered the building and found its riches were far more than he had imagined, Titus’ focus promptly shifted to plunder. The Roman army enthusiastically looted the complex, leaving the fire burning to consume the sanctuary.[xxiv]
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Rome’s demolition of the Second Temple marked a critical moment in Jewish history. It was a demarcation between two distinct religious periods—the Temple era and the post-Temple era. Imagine being a Jew in the first century. The Temple had stood in Jerusalem for your entire life—585 years, in fact. Then, in one day, it was gone.
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By the end of the sack of Jerusalem, the city was destroyed, and ninety percent of the population lay slaughtered. Fighting would continue outside of the city until as late as 73 AD. By its conclusion, the war had claimed the lives of approximately one-third of the Jews in all of Judea and left the region desolate, just as Gabriel warned it would in Daniel 9:26-27.[xxv]
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Gospel Preached in All the World
Daniel 9:27 tells us the Messiah “shall confirm the covenant with many for one week.” We have seen how the prophecy’s seventieth and final week began with Jesus’ baptism in 26 AD. Jesus ministered to the Jews of Judea for three and a half years—the first half of the week. His crucifixion occurred in the middle of the concluding week, exactly as Gabriel predicted. So, what happened in the second half of week seventy?
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The purpose of Jesus’ ministry was always to save God’s chosen people, the Jews. Matthew 15 contains a story of a Canaanite mother whose daughter was “grievously vexed with a devil.” The woman pleaded with Jesus for help, but he ignored her until his disciples asked him to send her away. In response, Jesus told her, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”[xxvi]
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Eventually, Jesus exorcised the demon, but this story illustrates how he viewed the Jews as the focus of his ministry. After his death and resurrection, the disciples followed Christ’s example and continued to minister to the Jews vigorously. When Christianity began to spread, the same Jewish leaders who killed Jesus became increasingly envious and hostile toward his disciples.
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One example of the persecution of the earliest Christians is found in Acts 4:1-22. After Peter and John healed a crippled man, they were arrested and threatened by the Sadducees. Acts 5:17-42 details a separate event in which Peter and several other apostles healed the sick and cast out demons. Again, the apostles were arrested by the high priest and the Sadducees, incarcerated, interrogated by the Jewish Sanhedrin, and lashed.
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Over time, the Jewish assault on Christianity intensified. After preaching in Jerusalem, Stephen, a Jew of Greek descent, performed “great wonders and miracles.”[xxvii] When the other Greek Jews in the synagogue tested Stephen on his teachings, he methodically refuted every one of their challenges. This embarrassed the synagogue’s members, who dragged him to the Jewish court and falsely claimed he had been preaching against both God and Moses.[xxviii]
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When the high priest of the Sanhedrin asked Stephen if the accusations were true, he denied them and delivered a long dissertation on the history of Israel’s relationship with God. From Abraham to Moses and eventually to Jesus, he utilized the history of Judaism to prove Jesus was not undermining Mosaic law but fulfilling it. Stephen then asked the Jewish leaders, “Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?”[15]
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Stephen’s question sent the Sanhedrin into a frenzy. The committee was insulted by Stephen’s mastery of the history of the Jewish people and how he had used it against them so effortlessly, accusing them of murdering the very Messiah whom God had promised. Not helping his case, he ended his lecture by stating, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.”
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This claim provoked the Sanhedrin into a murderous rage. They dragged Stephen outside of Jerusalem and furiously stoned him to death, making him the first known Christian martyr. Fearing for their lives, many of the disciples fled Judea and “went everywhere preaching the word.”
Acts 7:59-8:4
59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
8:1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.
3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.
4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.
From the start of Jesus’ ministry until the stoning of Stephen, the Jews were the sole target of Christian evangelism, while the Gentiles were mainly ignored. Stephen’s death marked a fundamental change in Christian history; the moment God stopped attempting to gain acceptance from the Jews and instead turned to the Gentiles. This was the shift Jesus predicted in the Olivet Discourse when he told his disciples, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations” before the Second Temple would be destroyed.[16]
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Stephen’s stoning also marked the end of the Seventy Weeks Prophecy, which lasted not 490 days but 490 years. The prophecy correctly predicted the year of Jesus’ baptism and the start of his ministry in 26 AD, 483 years after Artaxerxes I Longimanus’ 458 BC decree to rebuild Jerusalem. It foretold his crucifixion three and a half years later, in the middle of the seventieth week. Importantly, it provided the necessary knowledge to decipher the day-year principle and determine the length of all other end-times prophecies.
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The Bible never declares that the end times will be a short, seven-year period leading up to Christ’s second coming, as the Futurists claim. Acts 2:17 indicates the end times had already begun by the first Pentecost.[17] On that day, the 120 closest followers of Jesus received the Holy Spirit, empowering them to begin ministering in foreign languages they did not previously know. The beginning of the end times period likely aligns with the New Covenant—the time following Jesus’ crucifixion as an atonement for our sins, after which animal sacrifice was no longer required.
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Timeline of the Seventy Weeks Prophecy.
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Christians as God’s Chosen People
The conclusion of Daniel’s Seventy Weeks Prophecy marked the end of the Jews’ time as God’s people and the beginning of Christian evangelism to the Gentiles. Evidence of this reversal can be found shortly after Stephen’s martyrdom. In Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas were preaching in Pisidia, a town near Antioch in Anatolia. When the local Jews noticed that most of the town had gathered to hear the apostles’ sermon, they became envious and began “contradicting and blaspheming” against them. The apostles replied that they had come to the Jews first, but when the Jews rejected the gospel, they turned to the Gentiles.
Acts 13:45-46
45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
Nascent Christianity dealt with several questions on what was required of Gentiles who joined the faith. Since Jesus spent his entire ministry striving to reach the Jews, he provided no precedent or advice for the assimilation of non-Jews into the faith. Acts 15 describes a scene featuring a debate amongst some of the earliest followers of Christ. The issue in question was whether Gentiles who found salvation should be compelled to follow Jewish law and be circumcised. Paul and Barnabas headed to Jerusalem to speak to Jesus’ original apostles and listen to their opinions.
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After some debate, Peter stood and gave his input, “Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe,” he said. “And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.”[xxix] Peter felt a person’s background as a Jew or a Gentile was irrelevant once they accepted Jesus as their savior.
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When Peter finished speaking, James addressed the conference. In his monologue, the apostle referenced a passage from the Old Testament book of Amos, written around 750 BC. In chapter nine, Amos revealed a prophecy that, on its surface, predicted the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians and its eventual reconstruction. However, this prophecy—like many others in the Bible—had a double meaning.
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The Tabernacle was a temporary, tent-like structure built by King David for the Israelites to worship God and offer sacrifices. It preceded the First Temple, which was completed by David’s son and successor, Solomon.[xxx] The word “tabernacle” was also used later in reference to the Temple.
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In his speech, James focused on the symbolism behind the “Tabernacle of David.” Scripture repeatedly states that Jesus was a descendant of David.[xxxi] In Amos 9:11, the prophet used the pronoun “his” to describe the Temple’s ruins. This word selection indicates Amos’ focus was on the metaphorical meaning of the original passage, as “his ruins” would mean the crucified body of Jesus Christ would be “raised up” and resurrected. When James said the “Tabernacle of David” had “fallen down” and would be “built again” in Acts 15, he was referring to Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.
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When you read the words of Amos 9 and Acts 15 in parallel, you can see the similarities between the passages. Rather than “possessing the remnant of Edom,” as Amos wrote, James declares the purpose of Jesus’ crucifixion was to allow men to “seek after the Lord.” He also cleverly replaces Amos’ word “heathen” with “Gentiles” in his oration to show that non-Jews were now the people chosen by God.
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Summary
Seventy Weeks Prophecy
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Predicted the years of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and crucifixion
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This prophecy established the day-year principle, where one prophetic day in end-times prophecy represents a fulfillment of one calendar year
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Began near the end of 458 BC when Artaxerxes I Longimanus issued his decree to rebuild Jerusalem
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The first sixty-nine weeks—or 483 calendar years—ended in late 26 AD with the baptism of Christ and the beginning of his ministry
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In the middle of the seventieth week, the Messiah would put an end to sin and “cause the sacrifice…to cease,” representing Jesus’ fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant
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The prophecy ended in 33 AD with the stoning of Stephen, which caused the disciples to flee Jerusalem
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This event marked the end of the Jews’ time as God’s people
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According to Acts 8:4, the disciples “that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word” to the Gentiles
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[1] II Samuel 7:12-16 12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. 14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: 15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. 16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
[2] Mark 16:1 And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
[3] Luke 23:56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.
[4] Matthew 26:2 Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.
Mark 14:1 After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.
[5] John 12:1 Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.
[6] Matthew 27:1 When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:
[7] Matthew 27:57-58 57 When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple: 58 He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.
[8] Luke 23:54 And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.
[9] Matthew 27:62-63 62 Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, 63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.
[10] Luke 23:56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.
[11] Matthew 28:1 In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
[12] II Samuel 7:5, 12-13 5 Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?…12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
[13] Matthew 24:15-19 15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
[14] Luke 19:43-44 43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
[15] Acts 7:52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
[16] Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
[17] Acts 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
[i] Jer. 25:11-12, 29:10 (KJV).
[ii] Dan. 9:20-23 (KJV).
[iii]  II Chr. 36:22-23 (KJV).
[iv] Lanser, Rick. 2019. Scriptural Support for the Decree of Daniel 9:25. November 15. Accessed February 26, 2023. https://biblearchaeology.org/abr-projects-main/the-daniel-9-24-27-project-2/4589-the-going-forth-of-artaxerxes-decree-part1.
[v] Ezra 7:7-9 (KJV).
[vi] Luke 3:1-3 (KJV).
[vii] Speidel, Micheal P. 1994. “Tiberius.” In Riding for Caesar: The Roman Emperor’s Horseguard, 8. London: Batsford.
[viii] Tranquillus, Gaius Suetonius. 1914 [c. 121 AD]. “Life of Tiberius.” In The Twelve Caesars, translated by John Carew Rolfe, 323. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
[ix] Matt. 3:13-17 (KJV); Mark 1:9-11 (KJV); Luke 3:21-23 (KJV).
[x] Espenak, Fred. 2014. Phases of the Moon: 0001 to 0100. December 21. Accessed February 4, 2024. http://astropixels.com/ephemeris/phasescat/phases0001.html.
[xi] Heb. 10:1-18 (KJV).
[xii] The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2023. Herod. August 10. Accessed August 13, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Herod-king-of-Judaea.
[xiii] The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2023. Jerusalem. January 5. Accessed February 13, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/place/Jerusalem/Roman-rule.
[xiv] The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2023. Herod. August 10. Accessed August 13, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Herod-king-of-Judaea.
[xv] Josephus, Flavius. 1850. “The Jewish War 2:14:4.” In The Works of Flavius Josephus, Vol. I, translated by William Whiston, 262. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co.
[xvi] Josephus, Flavius. 1850. “The Jewish War 2:14:5.” In The Works of Flavius Josephus, Vol. I, translated by William Whiston, 262-263. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co.
[xvii] Josephus, Flavius. 1850. “The Jewish War 2:17:2.” In The Works of Flavius Josephus, Vol. I, translated by William Whiston, 272-273. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co.
[xviii] Josephus, Flavius. 1850. “The Jewish War 2:14:6.” In The Works of Flavius Josephus, Vol. I, translated by William Whiston, 263. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co.
[xix] Josephus, Flavius. 1850. “The Jewish War 2:14:9.” In The Works of Flavius Josephus, Vol. I, translated by William Whiston, 263-264. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co.
[xx] Josephus, Flavius. 1850. “The Jewish War 3:1:1-3.” In The Works of Flavius Josephus, Vol. I, translated by William Whiston, 293. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co.
[xxi] Josephus, Flavius. 1850. “The Jewish War 4:10:4.” In The Works of Flavius Josephus, Vol. I, translated by William Whiston, 365. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co.
[xxii] Josephus, Flavius. 1850. “The Jewish War 5:11:1.” In The Works of Flavius Josephus, Vol. I, translated by William Whiston, 402. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co.
[xxiii] Josephus, Flavius. 1850. “The Jewish War 6:4:1.” In The Works of Flavius Josephus, Vol. I, translated by William Whiston, 426. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co.
[xxiv] Josephus, Flavius. 1850. “The Jewish War 6:4:7.” In The Works of Flavius Josephus, Vol. I, translated by William Whiston, 428-429. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co.
[xxv] Herr, Moshe David. 1984. “The History of Eretz Israel.” In The History of Eretz Israel: The Roman Byzantine period: the Roman period from the conquest to the Ben Kozba War (63 BCE-135 CE), edited by Menahem Shtern, 288. Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi.
[xxvi] Matt. 15:22-24 (KJV).
[xxvii] Acts 6:8 (KJV).
[xxviii] Acts 6:11-15 (KJV).
[xxix] Acts 15:7-9 (KJV).
[xxx] II Sam. 6:17 (KJV).
[xxxi] Isa. 9:6-7 (KJV), Matt. 1:1 (KJV), Luke 1:32 (KJV), John 7:42 (KJV).
