Originally posted by whodey
Here is the verse in question. Daniel 9:24-27
24 "70 weeks are determined upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression for iniquity, 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 ther ...[text shortened]... ate, even until the consummation, and that determined will be poured upon the desolate."
Here is a break down of the verse in question.
http://100prophesies.org/weeks.htm
Crhonological summary of Daniel 9:24-26
1. There would be a decree to rebuild Jerusalem.
2. Jerusalem and the Temple would be rebuilt.
3. Then an anointed one (Messiah) would be "cut off" (an idiom for rejected or killed)
4. Then Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed again.
Summary of how Daniel 9:24-26 was fulfilled.
1. After the Medo-Persians had conquered the Babylonian empire about 2540 years ago, they ruled a vast empire that included the land of Israel. About 2446 years later (about 445 BC), Persian king Artaxerxes gave permission to the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem, which was still in ruins after having been destroyed earlier by the Babylonians.
2. The Jews rebuilt the Temple and the city of Jerusalem.
3. Then, in about 33 AD, Jesus entered Jerusalem as the Messiah who had been promised by the Old Testament prophets. But, many people rejected Jesus as the Messiah and he was crucified by the Romans.
4. About 40 years later after Jesus was crucified, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. (The temple has not been rebuilt since).
Pretty impressive so far even without calculating the dates, no?
Fulfillment to the day, regarding Daniel 9:24-26 according to scholars such as Josh McDowell.
First McDowell, and other scholars, seperate the prophecy into three parts.
1. The "7 sevens" in Daniel 9:25.
2. The "62 sevens" in Daniel 9:25
3. And the 70th "seven" in Daniel 9:27
Then, they combine the first two periods for a total of 69 "sevens". They combined the first two periods because it is at the completion of those two periods that the anointed one appears, and that is what we are trying to calculate - when the anointed one was suppose to appear.
Next, they interpret the "sevens" as "seven years" or periods of seven years, rather than a period of seven days or seven weeks or seven months. Part of the reason that this is interpreted as "years" is because of the reference to years in Daniel 9:2. (Daniel 9:2 referes to the "seventy years" prophecy that Jeremiah spoke of in Jeremiah 25)
The Mathematics of calculating Daniel
At this point, we are adding 7 "sevens" and the 62 "sevens" for a total of 69 "sevens". And we are interpreting the 69 "sevens" to mean 69 periods of seven years, for a total of 483 years. So, we are saying that there would be a period of 483 years from the time that a decree is given to rebuild Jerusalem to the time that a Messiah is to appear.
Some Christian scholars say that the period of 483 years should not be thought of in terms of our modern solar calendar which is based on a 365.25 days to a year. Instead, we are to use a "prophetic" calendar which has 360 days to a year. Many ancient calendars, including Jewish calendar, was based upon a lunar year of 12 months, with each month lasting 30 days each. Many ancient peoples, including the ancient Jews, did realize that there actually were more than 360 days to a year and so they would tack on an extra 5 days at some point during the year.
So we take the 483 years that we had calculated earlier and we multiply the 483 by 360. In other words, we are viewing the 483 year period described in Daniel 9:25 as "prophetic years" of 360 day each. And, 483 times 360 equals 173,880. And that gives us a total of 173,880 days.
Now, we want to apply these 173,880 days to our calendar, which has 365.25 days to a year. Why? So that we can use our calendar in trying to to figure out the year that this part of Daniel's prophecy was to begin its fulfillment and when this part of Daniel's prophecy was to be completed. So, we divide the 173,880 days into years of 365.25 days. And, that equals 476 (solar) years. Now, we need to figure out when this 476 year period was supposed to begin.
When was Daniel's "69 weeks of years" suppose to begin?
At this point we are trying to figure out when the 476 year period begins. The prophesy 9:24-26 begins with a decree to rebuild Jerusalem. Many people have proposed different years for different decrees. And I won't pretend to have the "only correct answer", because I don't know if I have that or not. In any event, here are four decrees that are often discussed in relation to Daniel 9:24-26.
1. The decree from Cyrus in 539 BC (see Ezra 1:1-4)
2. The decree from Darius in 519 BC (see Ezra 5:3-7)
3. The decree from Artaxerxes to Ezra in 457 BC. (see Ezra 7:11-16)
4. The decree from Artaxerxes to Nehemiah in 444 BC (see Nehemiah 2:1-8)
(The article then goes into why the decree in 444 BC is the most widely accepted starting point. Read it on the web site if interested)
We are now at the point where we can try to pinpoint when the Messiah was suppose to make his appearance. If we agree on the points that have already made, then we simply calculate 476 years into the future, using 444 BC as the starting point. To do that, if I am not mistaken, we count 443 BC as the first of 476 years. Why, because the first began in 444 BC and ended in 443 BC. so we start counting from 443 BC. So, we have 443 years on the BC side of measuring time and that leaves us with 33 years on the AD side to account for 476 years. Using this formula, we arrive at 33 AD the year in time in which the Messiah was to appear. And this is when we see Christ riding on a donkey into Jerusalem being hailed king of the Jews.