In various issues of Thy Kingdom Come over the past few months, I have highlighted prophecies concerning the Second Advent, most particularly the prophecies of Daniel 12, Lazarus, Ezekiel 47: 3-4 and the Lord’s Great Week. All these prophecies suggest that this particular moment in time might be the most momentous period of history. Yet, the Lord’s Return is an event still to come so it’s natural that any interpretation of prophecy is still suspect. After all, in each of the previous prophecies, it is still interpretation. It begs the question, “Is there a similar type prophecy, yet one that is fulfilled, that we might view to determine whether Second Advent prophecies are credible. Of course, there is, it is the Prophecy of the First Advent, carefully laid out by the Lord God Almighty in the Book of Daniel. If we can determine that this prophecy unfolded as God intended, then we should be able to look at Second Advent prophecies and anticipate without a shadow of a doubt that they will also come to pass exactly as He intends.

The prophet Daniel was among the first captives taken to Babylon when Nebuchadnezzar conquered the Nation of Judah in 604 BC. Through prophecies he was divinely inspired to record we have gained much insight into God’s Plan for the world in the last days of this age. One evening in prayer, Daniel received a visit from the Angel Gabriel through a vision and this most critical of all prophecies was imparted to him.

“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end to 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” (Daniel 9: 24)

Seventy weeks! It is a very explicit time frame pronounced upon the Nation of Judah. We know that seventy weeks is 490 days (70 x 7) and if we apply the conversion formula of Ezekiel 4: 6, “I have appointed thee each day for a year,” the seventy weeks converts to exactly 490 years. The prophecy began when the remnant of the House or Nation of Judah (the Jews) were permitted to return from Babylon to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the Temple. The seventy weeks ended when the Lord Jesus Christ took the Kingdom of God from the Jews and gave it to the Birthright tribe of Joseph. Before proceeding further, it is important to realize that this particular passage also set out a six-point program that Jesus Christ the Messiah would accomplish. Space doesn’t permit comment on this program but Howard Rand’s “Documentary Studies,” is recommended for the interested reader.

Once the timing and six-point plan had been revealed to Daniel, God made him aware of the various planks of the plan.

“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. 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. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week; 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 the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate” (Daniel 9: 25-27)

The reader will note that the seventy weeks is split into three different time periods. First, seven weeks or 49 years was to be spent re-building the city of Jerusalem, which Nebuchadnezzar totally destroyed along with the temple in his final assault against Jerusalem in 586 BC. Second, the Jews (a small percentage of the Judahites, Benjamites & Levites) were to spend 62 weeks or 434 years awaiting the Messiah. Thirdly, the Messiah would walk among them. His mandate was to cover a period of one week or seven years (known as Daniel’s seventieth week). In the middle of the week, a significant event was to occur.

It is at this point where opinions diverge. Most theologians teach that God’s clock stopped at the end of the 69th week and the 70th week is still to come. According to them, it begins with the Rapture, that the the Anti-Christ makes a covenant with the Jews (the innocent Jews are fooled) after three and a half years and the week ends with the return of Christ. Others suggest that the crucifixion occurred mid-week (or after 3½ years into the 70th week) and believe the other 3½ years is to be fulfilled at the end of the age, immediately before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some believe that the 3½ years expired with the stoning of Stephen and the exodus of the Apostles from Palestine to teach the lost sheep of the House of Israel. When Christian writer Stephen Jones outlined his interpretation of the 70th week, it seemed to solve the mystery of the 70th week, at least as far as I am concerned, and after a short study, I concluded as well that the 70th week was played out in its entirity in Christ’s Life, Death and Resurrection. Thanks to the work of Mr. Jones, much of the balance of this study is possible.

To begin, we must determine two dates. Firstly, we need to know the date of the “going forth of the commandment to restore” referred to in Daniel 9: 10. Secondly, we need to determine beyond a doubt the year Jesus Christ was born. Surprisingly, both of these dates are easily determined through a short study of Bible passages and secular history.