Q. In your recent lecture, you referred to Christ’s Resurrection as 33 AD and that this date was the end of the seventieth week of Daniel 9: 24. This goes against everything I have been taught. In my church, we are told that Christ was crucified in 30 AD, which was the end of 3½ years of his ministry and that the other 3½ years of the seventieth week is to be fulfilled just before Jesus returns to end the great tribulation. Hal Lindsay and other ministers also teach this. How can you support your comments?

A. This is a very debatable issue these days but I suppose no more so than the Israel Truth. Yet, from studying the Scriptures, I have become certain of one thing beyond any shadow of a doubt. The Lord God Almighty is exact; He makes Himself crystal clear by making sure that all the road signs are there for the enquiring student to discover. A lawyer once summed up his evidence concerning a glove, by saying, “If it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t fit.” Well, God has given us mathematical prophecies and the 3½ dangling period, as promulgated by fundamentalists, doesn’t fit, doesn’t fit, doesn’t fit. And there is absolutely no way you can make it fit! I hope I can get this across to you in an understandable way.

In dealing with Daniel’s visit with Gabriel (via his vision, while in prayer), let’s examine just those portions of the verses that contain mathematical calculations.

Daniel 9: 24 sets out the overall time frame, i.e., “seventy weeks,” which all scholars agree is 490 years, by employing Ezekiel 4: 6 “I have appointed thee each day for a year.”

Daniel 9: 25 establishes the date of the beginning of the 490 years, “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem…” When did this happen? The Bible tells us. Ezra 7: 6-7 tells us it was in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king’s reign. The Encyclopedia Britannica tells us he began his reign on 465 BC so seven years after brings us to 458 BC. Bible scholars also have no difficulty accepting this date as the date of “going forth.”

Daniel 9: 25 goes on, “to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks: the street shall be built again, …” So the Messiah will come after the seven weeks or 49 years, and 62 weeks or 434 years or a total of 483 years. Beginning with 458 BC and adding 483 years it brings us to 26 AD. Remember here that we must add “1” to compensate for the cross over year going directly from 1 BC to 1AD rather than 1 BC to 0, then to 1 AD. In this calculation, it is 458 + 26 + 1 = 483. Bible scholars generally agree with 26 AD as well.

Daniel 9: 26 tells us that after the 62 weeks, Messiah will be cut off, obviously this has to mean some point in the last or 70th week of the prophecy.

Daniel 9: 27 tells us the Messiah will “confirm the covenant for one week” (this means 7 years) and at the midpoint of this seven years (i.e. in the midst of the week) “he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” Adding the 7 years to 26 AD means that the seventieth week ends on 33 AD. Now, if the Crucifixion took place in 33 AD, the prophecy would be neatly tied up. Yet, the “midst of the week” statement has caused most theologians to speculate that the Crucifixion took place at that time.

With most believing that Christ was born in 4 BC, these Christian students place the beginning of His Ministry and His Baptism by John at 26/27 AD, the beginning of the seventieth week. They have him attaining the age of thirty at that time, which age was necessary to become a priest. Then, they date His Crucifixion at 30 AD, 3½ years from 26/27 AD, thus leaving another 3½ years for His disciples to complete what He began, that is, “he shall confirm the covenant for one week” (seven years).

Still, did the Crucifixion occur in the “midst of the week” or did Jesus Himself confirm the covenant for seven years as was prophesied? Remember, nowhere in the prophecy did it say that He would just begin the process and have others complete it. Let’s look quickly at the Gospels to see if they shed any light.

Luke 1: 36 clearly shows that at the time of Jesus conception that Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, was six months pregnant. So, John would have been roughly six months older than Jesus and would likely have begun his ministry at the accepted age of 30, approximately six months before Jesus.

Luke 3: 1-3 shows that John the Baptist began his ministry in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Emperor of Rome. The date Tiberius began his reign is one of the best-documented dates in history, even from coins that were minted in his honour. The Encyclopedia Britannica confirms the date at 14 AD. This clearly proves John must have begun his ministry fifteen years after 14 AD, or, in 29 AD, three years past 26 AD, the beginning of Daniel’s seventieth week.

Then, Luke 3: 23 tells us that Jesus was thirty years of age when baptized, obviously six months after John began his ministry, i.e., in the fall of 29 AD, or, in the midst of the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy.

The Gospel of John demonstrates that the Ministry of Jesus Christ covered a period of 3 ½ years, that He attended three Passover celebrations and at the 4th, was crucified. This would have been 33 AD.

To me, it’s pretty clear. The “midst of the week” statement represented the Baptism of Jesus. It was 29 AD, the fifteenth year of Tiberius’ reign, the beginning of Christ’s Ministry and half way through Daniel’s seventieth week. When Daniel said, “he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,” he was referring to the Law of Ordinances, the sacrifice of animals for sin offerings, which was subsequently nailed to the Cross (Colossians 2: 14).
I could not summarize it any better than the words of Raymond Capt, well known archaeologist, historian, author, lecturer and Bible scholar. In his book “The Great Pyramid Decoded” one of his graphs is accompanied by these words.

Spring 26 AD – Beginning of Daniel’s 70th Week - Messiah present on Earth. He observes the Law Covenant for 7 years more, thus confirming it for “one week” (of years).

Autumn 29 AD – Christ offers Himself as sacrifice for sins on Day of Atonement – Causes typical “sacrifice and oblation to cease” in God’s sight – Baptism in water follows.

Spring 33 AD – Christ’s sacrifice consummated, “it is done” – Crucifixion – Resurrection – Ascension – Pentecost.

In fact, look at this depiction (taken from the Great Pyramid, the Bible in Stone) in Capt’s book about the Birth, Baptism and Crucifixion of Christ.

Archaeological findings have recently established September 29, 2 B.C. as the birth of Christ and April 3, A.D. 33 as the precise day of His Crucifixion. The base length of 30.043 Pyramid inches converted to years and projected on the slope of the Ascending Passage marks October 14, A.D. 29 which is the date of His baptism, exactly 3½ years before His death on Calvary.