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Daniel’s Mysterious Seventy “Weeks”
Seventy Years?
Chapter 26, Part 2 Preview: Among the most important prophecies in the Scriptures, the one usually referred to as the “Seventy Weeks Prophecy” stands out. It is the “chief cornerstone”, so to speak, of Messianic prophecies because it establishes the time line of both the (so called) First and Second Comings of the Messiah. In fact, it is the only pre “Messianic” Scripture that calls the Messiah the “Messiah”; so technically, it is the only “Messianic” prophecy of old. The Daniel 9 prophecy is very specific. It pinpoints four exact “milestone” events, three of them were prophetic. For several centuries individuals have been able to approximate within a few years, the Messianic timetable. Some few have even been able to pinpoint the very years, but there is absolutely no consensus on how the details have been—and yes will be fulfilled.
The historical context of the book of Daniel is that the northern ten tribes of Israel had already been taken captive into the land of Assyria. Because of the southern tribes continuing apostasy, Jeremiah prophesied that they too would be taken into captivity. As promised, the tribes of Judah and Levi, along with a remnant of others from various tribes and were taken into Babylonian exile.
When Gabriel visited Daniel, his beloved city of Jerusalem was a pillaged shambles. The once bountiful fields of Israel rested for decades—catching up on missed sabbatical (shemitah and Jubilee) years. Daniel was just a boy when the Babylonians captured him, but was now an older man. Altho he was a privileged and honored captive; he was still enslaved. It was after almost 70 years of oppression in captivity that Daniel learned about the 70 years prophecy.
Daniel 9:1-2 It was the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent. He had been appointed king over the Chaldean empire. 2 In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from the 'Scriptures' (according to the Word of Yehovah given to the prophet Jeremiah) that Jerusalem was to lie in ruins for seventy years. —The Gabriel Bible
But why was the penalty to last for seventy years? Yehovah’s Torah required Israel to refrain from working the ground every seventh year—sort of a “land Sabbath”, as well as every 50th year, the Jubilee years. (Leviticus 25). For 490 years Israel had ignored those laws and failed to heed His prophets, so:
2 Chronicles 36:18-21 He took everything to Babylon—all the articles of Elohim’s 'Temple', large and small, the treasures of Yehovah’s 'Temple', and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They burned Elohim’s 'Temple' and tore down the walls of Jerusalem, burned all its 'palaces' and destroyed everything of value. 20 He deported to Babylon anyone who survived the 'slaughter', and they became slaves to 'the king' and his sons until the rise of the Persian Empire. 21 This fulfilled Yehovah’s message spoken thru Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. During the time it was desolate. It experienced seventy complete Sabbath years.
The seventy years of captivity represented 490 violations of cumulative Sabbatical and Jubilee years. Because the Southern Kingdom didn’t learn anything from the misfortune of the Northern Kingdom, they too went into captivity. In Daniel’s rear view mirror he could see nearly five centuries of contemptible historic neglect, while at the same time he was privileged to see thru the windshield—490 years in the future—the time when the “Anointed One” would have My Year of Redemption [Jubilee, Jubilee #120 . In Daniel’s side view he saw hope for his people’s immediate future.
For more information on the Sabbatical years you could check out Why the Land Sabbath? (Shemitah)
While the evidence is clear here that Yehovah cast Israel into captivity due to her violations of the Sabbatical years, it is even more certain that breaking of the weekly Sabbaths prominently figured into the condemnation and captivity. I have included Ezekiel 20 here, first, because it emphasizes that breaking the Sabbath was the “final straw” that broke ancient Israel, and secondly because, a careful reading shows that all twelve tribes of Israel—“ALL OF THEM” will serve Yehovah in the 'cherished' [holy] (holy) Land in the future after yet another captivity—and for the same reasons! This will begin with the coming Third Temple when Yehovah will “require your offerings”. Can this bold concept be demonstrated Scripturally? Yes, beyond all doubt! See The Time After Jacob’s Trouble.
Isaiah 1:ALL On the tenth day of the fifth month of the seventh year, some of the elders of Israel came to consult Yehovah, and sat in front of me. 2 Then the Word of Yehovah came to me. He said, 3 “Human son, tell the elders of Israel that the Sovereign YEHOVAH asks: Did you come to consult Me? As long as I live,’ declares the Sovereign YEHOVAH, ‘I won’t be consulted by you.’
4 “Will you pass judgment against them, human son; will you pass judgment? Explain to them the highly detestable practices passed down from their ancestors. 5 Tell them, ‘The Sovereign YEHOVAH says that on the day He chose Israel, and swore to the House of Jacob’s family—when He revealed Himself to them in Egypt—He swore to them, “I am Yehovah your Elohim.” 6 That day He swore to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that He had chosen for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands. 7 He said, ‘You must all get rid of the vile images you look to, and stop defiling yourselves with the idols of Egypt, I am Yehovah your Elohim.’
8 “But they rebelled against Him and refused to listen to Him. They didn’t get rid of the vile images they looked to, or abandon their Egyptian idols. So He considered pouring out His fury on them to satisfy His anger against them within Egypt. 9 But He acted for the sake of His 'reputation', so that it wouldn’t be dishonored in the sight of the nations where they were living, who saw Him reveal Himself by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. 10 So He took them out of the land of Egypt and led them into the wilderness. 11 He gave them His unchanging tenets, and explained His regulations to them, so that if they did them they’d live. 12 He also gave them His Sabbaths as a sign between Him and them, so that they would realize that He is Yehovah who makes them 'special'.
13 “But the House of Israel rebelled against Him in the wilderness, they didn’t 'live' by His unchanging tenets, and they rejected His regulations, that if they had obeyed, they would have lived. They violated His Sabbaths, so He resolved to pour out His wrath on them in the wilderness, to annihilate them. 14 But again He acted for the sake of His 'reputation', so that it wouldn’t be dishonored in the sight of the nations, who watched Him bring them out. 15 He swore to them in the wilderness that He wouldn’t bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey that He had promised them—the most beautiful of all lands— 16 because they rejected His regulations, refused to 'live' by His unchanging rulings and violated His Sabbaths, because they were determined to follow their idols. 17 But He saw fit to spare them, and didn’t destroy them. He refrained from annihilating them in the wilderness.
18 “Then I warned their children in the wilderness not to live by the unchanging rulings of their ancestors, obey their regulations or defile themselves with their idols. 19 He said: ‘I am Yehovah your Elohim. Follow My unchanging tenets. Obey My regulations and practice them. 20 Keep My Sabbaths 'special', and they’ll be a sign between Me and you, so that you’ll fully realize that I am Yehovah your Elohim.”
21 “But the children rebelled against Me. They didn’t 'live by' My unchanging rulings or obey My regulations, tho a person who obeys them will live by them. They also violated My Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out My wrath on them to end My anger against them in the wilderness. 22 But I withheld My hand and acted for the sake of My 'reputation', so that it wouldn’t be dishonored in the sight of the nations who had watched Me bring them out. 23 I 'swore' to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them into other countries, 24 because they hadn’t practiced My regulations. They had rejected My unchanging tenets, and dishonored My Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on their ancestors’ idols. 25 I also allowed them to follow unchanging rulings that were not good and regulations that they couldn’t live by [verse 18]. 26 I pronounced them unclean because of their sacrifices—they caused all their first born to pass thru the fire—so that I would devastate them and remind them that I am Yehovah.
27 “So, human son, speak to the House of Israel and tell them, ‘The Sovereign YEHOVAH says: This is the way your ancestors blasphemed Me when they were unfaithful to Me. 28 When I had brought them into the land that I swore to give them, they offered sacrifices on every high hill and under every deciduous tree they saw and presented their offensive offerings there! They also sent up their pleasing aromas and poured out their drink offerings there. 29 Then I asked them, ‘What is this high place you are going to called?” (It’s been called Bamah [high place] ever since.)
Never Again!
30 “So say to the House of Israel: The Sovereign YEHOVAH asks: Do you intend to dishonor yourselves the way your ancestors did, and keep prostituting yourselves with detestable idols? 31 When you offer your sacrifices, 'burning your children alive', you’re continuing to defile yourselves with all your idols. And you want to question Me, House of Israel? As long as I live,” declares the Sovereign YEHOVAH, “I won’t be questioned by you!
32 “What you have in mind will never happen. You think you want to be like heathens, like the tribes of other countries, serving gods of wood and stone.
Israel’s Coming Shotgun Wedding [1]
33 As surely as I live,” declares the Sovereign YEHOVAH, “I’ll rule you with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I will be your King! 34 I’ll bring you out of the nations and gather you out of the countries where you were scattered with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out. 35 I’ll bring you into the wilderness of the people [Isaiah 1, Hosea 2:14], and I’ll judge you there face to face, 36 just like when I judged your ancestors in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, that’s how I’ll judge you, declares the Sovereign YEHOVAH. 37 I’ll make you pass under the shepherd’s rod, and I’ll bind you in a [Kimchi] [New] Covenant, 38 and I’ll purge out the rebels from among you and those who disobey Me. I’ll bring them out of the land where they were living, but they won’t enter the land of Israel. Then you’ll realize that I am Yehovah.
39 “Now concerning you, House of Israel, the Sovereign YEHOVAH says: Go serve your idols, but later you’ll surely listen to Me, and you’ll no longer profane My name with your gifts and your idols. 40 On My 'special' mountain, on the high mountain of Israel,” declares the Sovereign YEHOVAH, “the entire House of Israel will serve Me there in the land. I’ll accept you there, and I’ll require your contributions and choice gifts with all your 'special' things. 41 I’ll accept you there like a fragrant aroma when I gather you out of the nations, and bring you out of the countries where you’ve been scattered, and I’ll prove Myself 'special' thru you as the nations watch. 42 You’ll realize that I am Yehovah WHEN I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country that I swore to give to your ancestors. 43 There you’ll remember your conduct and everything you did and how you defiled yourselves, and you’ll despise yourselves when you face all the evil you’ve done. 44 You’ll realize that I am Yehovah when I’ve dealt with you for the sake of My name, rather than with regard to your evil and corrupt behavior, House of Israel, declares the Sovereign YEHOVAH.”
45 The Word of Yehovah came to me. He said, 46 “Human son, face the south and speak out against it. Prophesy against the forest lands of the Negev, 47 and tell the forest of the Negev to listen to the Word of Yehovah. The Sovereign YEHOVAH says: I’m about to set you on fire, and destroy every green tree and every dry tree in you. The blazing flame won’t be extinguished, and the entire surface from south to north will be scorched by it. 48 And everyone will see that I, Yehovah, set this fire. It won’t be extinguished.”
49 Then I said, “Sovereign YEHOVAH [“Yeshua”]! They’re saying that I’m just telling stories!”
[1] More on this shotgun marriage is found in Ezekiel 16:59-63 and Jeremiah 31. But in this wedding, anyone opposed to the ceremony is under the gun!
Daniel Read Jeremiah—And Was Shocked!
After the exile. Jerusalem was in ruins. It is amazing that a nation could lose total awareness of its heritage in a mere 70 years! But here is the prophecy that young Daniel noticed in the book of Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 25:4-12 Yehovah has sent all His servants the prophets to you, sending them 'again and again', but you haven’t listened or even 'paid attention'. 5 They said, ‘Everyone turn from your evil ways and deeds, and live in the land that Yehovah permanently allotted to you and your ancestors. 6 Don’t follow other gods or serve and worship them, and don’t provoke Me to anger with your hand made workmanship, and I won’t cause you any harm.’ 7 “Yet you haven’t listened to Me”, Yehovah says, “You continued to provoke Me to anger with your hand made workmanship, bringing harm on yourselves.
8 So this is what Commander Yehovah says: “Because you didn’t listen to My 'message', 9 I’m going to send for all the tribes from the north,” Yehovah says, ‘and I’ll send for My servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and bring them against this land and its people, and all the surrounding nations, and I’ll completely destroy them and make them objects of horror, a hissing scorn and a perpetual ruin. 10 I’ll take away the sounds of joy and happiness, the sounds bridegrooms and brides, the sound of millstones and the light of lamps. 11 This entire land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. 12 “Then when the seventy years are over, I’ll punish the king of Babylon and that nation,” Yehovah says, “for their wickedness, and I’ll make the land of the Chaldeans a wasteland forever.
Jeremiah had twice explicitly foretold of Israel’s captivity by the Babylonians, because they refused to follow Yehovah, and had specified that the captivity would have an exact duration of 70 years. Daniel personally applied the statements “You will call on Me, and you will go and pray to Me” and “You will seek Me, and find Me” to his own life. Gabriel came in answer to Daniel’s specific and continuing prayers about the “seventy years”.
Jeremiah 29:10-14 This is what Yehovah says: “After the seventy years have passed in Babylon, I’ll come to you and fulfill the promise toward you of bringing you back to this place. 11 I know the plans that I have for you,” says Yehovah, “plans of peace—not harm, to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you’ll call on Me, and you’ll come and pray to Me, and I’ll listen to you. 13 You’ll search for Me, and find Me, when you search for Me with all your 'being'. 14 I’ll allow you to find Me,” Yehovah says, “and I’ll bring you back from captivity, and I’ll regather you from every nation, and from every locality where I’ve banished you,’ says Yehovah, ‘and I’ll bring you back to the 'same' place where I had sent you into exile from.”
Had someone else read the book before Daniel did, and applied the words to themselves, a book might have been written bearing another name.
However, it was Daniel who appears to be the first person to realize that a remnant of Israel was soon to be freed from captivity! This amazing discovery caused him to pray the prayer quoted in part below:
Daniel 9:2-6, 20-23 In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from the 'Scriptures' (according to the Word of Yehovah given to the prophet Jeremiah) that Jerusalem was to lie in ruins for seventy years. 3 So I turned my attention to Yehovah Elohim in prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to Yehovah my Elohim and confessed: “Oh Yehovah, You are the great and awesome Elohim who honors His covenant of faithful love with those who love Him and preserve His Commandments. 5 But we have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly and rebelled by turning away from Your commandments and regulations. 6 We haven’t listened to Your servants the prophets who spoke in Your name to our kings, leaders, ancestors and all the people of the land...
20 While I continued to pray, confessing my sins and the sins of my people Israel and presenting my request before Yehovah my Elohim on behalf of the 'cherished' mountain of my Elohim, 21 and while I was still praying, the man Gabriel, who I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me breathless from swift flight, and touched me about the time of the evening ze’bak [sacrifice]. 22 He gave me this explanation: ‘Daniel, I’ve come here to give you insight and understanding. 23 As soon as you began praying, a message was given. I’ve come to convey it to you, because you are so precious. So consider the message and understand the vision.
The Seventy “Weeks” Prophesy is only four very detailed verses in length. Including Thomas Ice’s articles we have covered the first six future aspects of Yeshua’s ultimate, soon to occur, prophecy. But all of the itemized conditions will be fulfilled when all of the world’s survivors all see Him return, and not to be forgotten:
Revelation 1:7 He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Yes, Aw-main'.
When Daniel was given his prophecy, the following prophecy by Jeremiah had already taken place:
Jeremiah 9:11-16 “I’ll make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a lair of dragons, and I’ll destroy the cities of Judah so that they’ll be uninhabitable.” 12 Who is wise enough to understand this? And who has Yehovah revealed this to so that they can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and scorched like a desert that no one can cross?” 13 Yehovah replied, “Because they’ve forsaken My Torah that I set in front of them. They haven’t obeyed what I said or 'followed' it. 14 Instead, they followed their own stubborn inclinations, and worshiped the Baals the way their ancestors taught them. 15 So this is what Commander Yehovah, the Elohim of Israel says: “I’ll feed these people with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink! 16 I’ll scatter them among the nations that they and their ancestors haven’t heard of. I’ll send 'armies' after them until I’ve annihilated them.”
The above prophecy occurred when King Nebuchadnezzar attacked the city in 586 BC. Gabriel told Daniel that a decree to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem would be made. But this was only the first of a series of prophesied events. Gabriel further said that from the day when this decree would be made, that a total of 69 weeks of years would go by before Messiah the king would arrive, after which He was to be “cut off” (killed) “and will have nothing”.
Nebuchadnezzar began taking young men from what they called “Hatti land” (Palestine/Syria) as hostages to Babylon at his first opportunity. The captivity had actually begun in the year 605/04 BC (Babylonian spring to spring calendar); this was even before the destruction of Jerusalem.
Which Decree Began the Countdown to the Messiah’s Coming?
Daniel’s prophecy states that the 70 sevens of years countdown was to begin as follows:
Daniel 9:25 So know and understand that from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem [Ezra 7], until the Messiah the Prince [Anointed One], there will be seven septad time periods, and sixty-two septad time periods. It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat in distressful times. [1]
[1] The prophecy in this chapter is the key to understanding the chronology of a vast portion of end time events. I highly advise wading thru the large amount of text devoted to it in Benson’s Commentary and Barne’s Commentary particularly beginning in verse 25.
The first critical factor in understanding the countdown to the 69th “week”, the “First Coming” prophecy, is to determine in which year the decree was issued “to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.” The “Second Coming” will occur immediately after the 70th “week”, the seven shemitah years before the long awaited 120th Jubilee year. The anciently acknowledged 7000 Year millennial Plan is divisible by Jubilees (50 year periods). So every Biblically correct millennium ends with a Jubilee year. As I understand it, this Jubilee will immediately follow the 7 shemitah years between the spring of 2024 and the spring of 2031 AD!
There is much debate about the 70 weeks prophecy, so much that I have decided to delete from this article most of the various viewpoints that I had posted here as curiosities for so many years. But any attempt to decipher the 70 weeks would have to end with a year “until Messiah the Prince” (Daniel 9:25) around 28 AD, when Yeshua began His ministry. But we really need exact beginning and ending dates to really be a match. It’s really too late in the prophetic scheme of things to now consider benchmarks in time such as when Yeshua was born or when He began His ministry + 2000 years (two millennia days) as the end point of 70 weeks. Now that I know that His ministry was 3 years and 15 days instead of 3 and 1/2 years, it no longer makes sense to wonder if His ministry was half of the 70th week as I had heard for years.
Adding two millennial days to those years would put us into the seventh millennium; and judging from the news that doesn’t at all add up. For over 50 years I was happy with the idea that Yeshua was born on a fall Feast day, until Jonathan Cahn had to come along with a monkey wrench :) and prove it wrong, demonstating beyond any doubt in my mind that He was really born on the first day of some year (tho his year of choice is quite early). (More on this in part 3.) Anyway, His ministry ended the 69th week, and it ended just days after the 4th millennium ended. That leaves one exact seven year long shemitah week before Yeshua will finish the serious business of Isaiah 6:
Isaiah 61:2-6...AND THE DAY OF VENGEANCE of our Elohim, [Jubilee, 2031/2032 AD!] and to comfort everyone who mourns [due to the end time calamity];
3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them crowns instead of ashes on their heads, the oil of joy instead of mourning, clothing of praise instead of a spirit of weakness, so that they can be called ‘terebinth trees of righteousness’, ‘a cluster planted by Yehovah’, so that they can display His splendor.
4 They’ll rebuild places desolate since antiquity, they’ll rebuild the ancestral places and places now wasted and deserted, and they’ll restore cities parched from heat, and places deserted for many generations.
5 Foreigners will tend your flocks; they’ll farm your land and work your vineyards.
6 And you’ll be called the priests of Yehovah, people will call you the ministers of our Elohim. You’ll savor the wealth of the nations. You’ll change places with them. Here is one prediction from Isaac Newton that so far he is half right on—the latter part. “About the Time of the End, a body of men will be raised up who will turn their attention to the Prophecies, and insist upon their literal interpretation, in the midst of much clamor and opposition.” But I don’t know the context of this common quote and why he believed it. The “be raised up” clause indicates that they would really understand what they will be saying So what makes sense to me now is the 70 weeks decree to rebuild happening in 456 BC and culminating in week 69 in 28 AD when Yeshua began His ministry, with 7 years left on the clock to finish. There is no indication that Daniel was referring to anything other than solar years. Apparently years were actually 360 days in length until about 700 BC, as revealed in THE YEAR OF 360 DAYS. And there certainly appears that there will be again in the near future, but they have been 365 1/4 days long since about the 7th century BC. I believe in real weeks, not ancient or future weeks, but I do expect a very significant event in the heavens, perhaps the entire solar system to get out of whack during the seven years. This will create a need for a “new heavens”. Isaiah 65:17 [1] “I’m going to create a New Heavens and a New Earth, and the previous ones won’t be remembered or come to mind! [This is in the context of burning the wicked and blessing the world’s better survivors at the end of the age as they live out their lives.] “Solar years” (the only kind of year there was) contained exactly 12 lunar months of 30 days. Months are now only 29.5 days long, so lunar calendars are adjusted for the shortage of days with an additional 13th month during some years to remain in sync with the revolutions of the earth. Scriptural years are always in harmony with the agricultural cycles because they are based on plant phenology. In 1750 the Swedish scientist Linnaeus is credited with turning plant watching into a systematic science now known as Phenology—in essence “discovering” the Scriptural planting system! The “harvest” Feasts of Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles stay on the correct seasonal marks based upon observing barley maturity. Were years to lose five or more days annually as on a strictly lunar calendar (like the Muslim calendar), the harvest feasts would soon be in the dead of winter, and then moving thru every other month of the year as do the Muslim holidays. Daniel had no trouble understanding that Gabriel was telling him that 70 literal years of captivity were soon to come to an end. In his much cited book, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, Harold Hoehner calculated that there were 173,880 days between Nehemiah’s decree and a supposed crucifixion in 33 AD. By choosing the wrong decree, and then changing its date from 445 to 444 BC, and then assuming that 360 day long years were somehow still in effect, he at least got into the ballpark. Yeshua was “about thirty years of age” when He began His ministry. Hoehner’s chronology would have His crucifixion when He was 35 years old. The earth will again be reminiscent of Genesis 1 Genesis 1Genesis 1:1-2 In a/the beginning Elohim [1] created/transformed the heavens and the earth. [Enlarged Bet] [2]
2 But [3] earth [4] had become a desolate wasteland and an undistinguishable ruin [Compare Isaiah 45:18], and darkness covered the surface of the primeval ocean when Elohim’s spirit [feminine] fluttered over the surface of the water. [1] The Hebrew word usually rendered “God or gods” is “Elohim.” The word “god” came from paganism, as this link explains, all the way back to Abraham. Many other theological terms are likewise derived from paganism, such as theology, amen, church, holy, sacred, saint, sanctuary, and even sacrifice. Note: there is an Enlarged Bet in this verse.Prophetic Years?
or Psalm 104:
Psalm 104:2-9 You wear light like a robe. You stretch out the heavens like a tent. 3 You lay the beams of Your upper chambers in the atmospheric water. You make the clouds Your chariot. You ride on the wings of the wind. 4 You make the winds Your Messengers; flames of fire Your servants.
5 You laid the foundations of the earth’s crust, so it would never move out of 'orbit'. 6 You covered it with 'oceans' as with a garment. The water was higher than the mountains! 7 At Your command the water fled, at Your thunderous voice it hurried away. 8 The mountains rose and the valleys sank to the place You established for them. 9 You’ve enclosed a boundary so that the water can never return and cover the earth.
If we count forward from 456 BC as the starting point by 483 years (69 X 7 years of weeks) we will arrive at 28 AD (approximate new year to new year). Don’t get tripped up with the year “0”. Several popular chronologists such as Henry Halley in his Halley’s Bible Handbook make this mistake. In crossing from BC to AD you must allow for the primitive Roman system that did not recognize the concept of “0”. To correct for this, when crossing the line, the AD date equals the period of years from the BC date +1 year—the date BC. AD 30 crucifixion advocates often add the 3 1/2 year ministry to AD 26 to achieve a 30 AD (Friday) crucifixion. Those who make the “0” hurdle often resort to a 2 1/2 year ministry to reach the same Friday, April 7, 30 AD date, rather than 31 AD (Wednesday: crescent moon, aviv, no postponements).
When Did Yeshua Die?
As stated earlier in this chapter, we can prove that Yeshua died on a Wednesday. All of the Wednesday proponents I know believe that the crucifixion was on April 25, 31 AD—but for the wrong reason! They believe that without a “postponement” of one day, starting from the astronomical “invisible conjunction” that Passover would have been on a Tuesday. This they claim is proof that the postponements were in effect in the first century. No Jewish encyclopedia would concur with such slight of hand, but these people never cite that the Jews openly claim to have “temporarily” changed the rules due to what might be called the “diaspora tribulation”. However, in this instance, the time lapse between the “astronomical new moon” and the visible new crescent moon comes out on the very same day as the calculated new moon (Molad) with a one day unbiblical postponement.
There is a CORRECT way for there to have been a Wednesday Passover in 31 AD, that a small minority of 31 AD proponents believe in.
Here is the bottom line from an excellent, highly detailed article written by Frank Nelte, who I met two years after he wrote it in 1998.
Orthodox theologians reject Wednesday crucifixion, even though the Scriptures entirely support this.
Interestingly, modern calculations show that the moon was 100.0% full at 3:14 PM on that fateful Wednesday. “Coincidentally”, the “darkness over the whole land” ended at exactly 3:00 PM according to Mark.
(As a brief digression from the timing, why did Yeshua say,
Psalm 22:1 1a For the music director, to the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” A Psalm by David. 1b My Elohim, my Elohim, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, and from my anguished cries?
The most obvious objection I have is to the alleged “Good Friday” timing is the use of Preparation Day. People are conditioned to believe that every Friday is a Preparation Day, yet every reference to Preparation Day in the Bible applies it to the Passover—specifically Yeshua’s last Passover—and never to a preparation for the weekly Sabbath! In fact John said in John 19:14, and in John 19:31 “Because it was the Preparation Day, the Jews said, “These bodies must not remain all night on crosses; because the Sabbath was approaching; and that particular Sabbath was a Great [megas] Day”. So they asked Pilate, if they could break the legs of those being crucified, and take them down. (Compare Matthew 27:62, Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54, John 19:14 & 31 & 42, Ephestians 6:15) Then there is the usual: “three days and three nights” between the death of Yeshua and His resurrection...being “a figure of speech”...or “one and a half days” ploy. Others lean on a theory that there were “two Passovers” that year.
My daughter Jennifer, independently studying the crucifixion year, found the following chart put out by the United Church of God (UCG) that purports to show all of the variables in use by different chronologists. The committee responsible for the table decided that their “Church” must use the “Calculated with Postponements” method:
The dates are using the Julian calendar (Not Gregorian).
4) Based on details provided from a variety of sources, including: Herman H. Goldstein, New & Full Moons: 1001 BC to AD 1561, Vol. 94, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, 1973; Colin J. Humphreys and W.G. Waddington, “Dating the Crucifixion,” Nature 306 (December 1983): 743—746; Jean Meeus, Astronomical Formulae for Calculators; Karl Schock, Table for the Visibility of the New Crescent; and the Royal Nautical Almanac.
Jennifer wrote “I could not find any errors in the calculations and I also came to the spring of 31 AD. Those comparing only two calendar options (Calculated with Postponements vs. Calculated without Postponements) use this information to conclude that using the Calculated Calendar with Postponements is the correct method as it is ‘the only way that Passover could have been on a Wednesday in 31 AD’. Their conclusion, therefore, is that the current Jewish calendar system must be correct. However, as we can see above, a Wednesday Passover would also have been possible in 31 AD using Observation.
“Problem: The [modern] Jewish calendar adds the 13th month in a fixed pattern over a 19 year cycle. The above calendar appears to take into account the fact that there was a change made to this pattern sometime after 100 AD. I came across several calendar converters that convert dates based on all of the current Jewish calendar rules (the fixed days of each month, with the exception of postponements, and fixed pattern for adding in the 13th month) and they all placed Passover in the year 31 AD—one month earlier than in the chart shown above”. [March rather than April]
“Using the fixed calendar of today and the fixed pattern of adding the 13th month, Passover in the year 31 AD would have been on a Monday! Of course this does not prove that the rest of the rules surrounding the present Jewish calendar are incorrect—just that the fixed pattern of when to add the 13th month is incorrect. To understand more about the other rules used by the current Jewish calendar, we’ll have to look elsewhere”.
In addition to Jewish “postponements” and “calculated new moons” (also created in the 4th century) that mark the invisible conjunction rather than the visible crescent—one to two days later—another major error of most chronologists is that they believe that to determine when Passover is we must factor in the spring equinox. Such an assumption is not the case: See Biblical Festivals And Equinoxes—Is there A Connection?. [It does appear that when the year was 360 days long, that the equinox always coincided with a New Moon, which accounts for so many ancient calendars being based on it rather than the barley harvest in Israel. Yet Biblical months are precisely based on harvests.]
According to the translator of Josephus, the last Jubilee Year that was celebrated before the Diaspora (70 AD) was in 27 AD. But after the 177th Seleucid year (or 135-134 BCE) there were no Jubilee years celebrated in Israel because the Jews were under Roman control! What were called Jubilee years were actually every seventh Shemitah year—every 49th year, which the Romans did permit. And they were “kind enough” not to tax them during those years.
Now for Part 3 of Daniel’s Mysterious Seventy “Weeks”
