An amazing prophecy was recorded in 600 B.C. in the Old Testament book of Daniel, chapter 9 verse 25: “know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until the Messiah, The Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks....” (NKJV). This is a mathematical prophecy with a start and end point!
FROM THE GOING FORTH OF THE COMMAND TO RESTORE AND BUILD JERUSALEM...
King Artaxerxes who ruled the Persian empire from 464 to 424 B.C. issued a signed decree to restore and build Jerusalem on March 14, 445 B. C. This was the only decree to rebuild Jerusalem that appears in recorded history.
UNTIL THE MESSIAH, THE PRINCE...
The Hebrew word “mashiach”, here translated “Messiah”, means anointed of God and set apart for service to God. The Hebrew word “naghidh”, here translated “Prince”, means contextually a leader, ruler, overseer or King. The unique phrase “mashiach naghidh”, only used in this passage, literally means The Messiah, The King.
The only public proclamation where Jesus presents Himself as and is received as the Messiah and King, the “mashiach naghidh” of Daniel 9:25, occurred on Palm Sunday April 6, 32 A.D. This event is well documented in Luke 19:28-38, Matt. 21:1-9, Mark 11:1-10 and John 12:12-19, where Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey and the crowds lay their clothes and tree branches on the road, hailing Him as “The King who comes in the name of the Lord!” and “He who comes in the name of the Lord!”, The King of Israel!”(Ref. Also Ps. 118:22-26). Notice the awesome comparison between these passages and the Prophet Zechariah’s description of this event 532 years before the fact: “... shout, O daughters of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you;... riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zech. 9:9).
THERE SHALL BE SEVEN WEEKS AND SIXTY-TWO WEEKS...
The Hebrew word “shauva”, translated “weeks” here, means a “period of seven” and can denote seven days or seven years depending on Hebrew construction and usage. In this passage shauva means seven years and denotes a period of 49 years (i.e., seven weeks or 7 x 7) and 434 years (i.e., sixty-two weeks or 62 x 7). Added together these 483 years define the time period from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until the proclamation of the “mashiach naghidh”, the Messiah King. Since the Hebrews used a 360 day calendar year these 483 years are made up of 360 day “years” or 173,880 days (i.e., 483 x 360).
Start point: March 14, 445 B.C. King Artaxerxes’ decree
Plus: 173,880 days Intervening time interval
Equals: April 6, 32 A.D. Jesus proclaimed as King
This passage, 600 years before the fact, exactly, not approximately, but exactly predicted the proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah King. But there’s more!
Daniel 9:26 (the very next verse): “and after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off (i.e., destroyed) ... shall destroy the city (i.e., Jerusalem) and the sanctuary” (i.e., Herrod’s temple). Jesus was crucified five days later on April 11, 32 A.D. In 70 A.D., 38 years later, the Roman General Titus used the 5th, 10th, 12th and 15th Roman legions to lay siege of Jerusalem for two years, ultimately destroying the city and killing 1.6 million Jews. During the fall of Jerusalem the temple was gutted with fire and all the gold utensils and ornamentation melted and flowed between the large stones forming the buildings’ outer wall. These stones, measuring up to 12' x 12' x 40' and stacked 60 ft. high, were removed by General Titus to retrieve the gold. This was a fulfillment of the prophecy Jesus gave (Matt. 24:2, Mark 13:2 and Luke 21:6) in relation to the temple, that “not one stone shall be left upon another.”
There are over 300 Old Testament prophecies, written between 1,000 B.C. and 400 B.C., which predict with amazing accuracy the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The statistical odds of any other man in history, other than Jesus, fulfilling these prophecies are 10 to 157th power. That is 10, followed by 157 zeros. To put this in perspective, there are only 10 to the 80th power electrons in the whole universe, and any statistical odds greater than 10 to the 50th power are absolutely impossible, per Dr. Emil Borel, the inventor of the Law of Probability. (Ref. Sir Robert Anderson, The Coming Prince
JESUS, THE MESSIAH,
THE SON OF GOD
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