So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.
In this post I am going to explain why I believe the beginning point for this prophesy given in Daniel 9:24-27 is 457 BC.First, I want to clarify some things about calendars and year designations. I will be using the traditional means of distinguishing years - BC (Before Christ) to designate years counting back from the supposed year Jesus was born; and AD (Anno Domini / Year of our Lord) to designate years since the supposed year Jesus was born. Note I said, "the supposed year Jesus was born". In about 500 AD a Christian monk scholar attempted to device a calendar based on his calculation of the year of Jesus' birth. His calendar became the basis for the modern year designations we use. With the help of modern astronomy and other scientific and historic means, however, modern scholars have established that the monk's calculations were off by about four years. Scholars now believe that Jesus was born in about 4 BC. Here are the traditional and the modern designations that are used today:
- Traditional:
- BC (Before Christ)
- AD (Anno Domini / Year of our Lord)
- Modern:
- BCE (Before the Common Era)
- CE (Common Era)
- Modern Scholars believe Jesus was born in about 4 BC.
Second, I want to provide a timeline for the period during which Jerusalem was under threat, under attack, then destroyed, then rebuilt. The prophets Jeremiah and Daniel were active during this period.
The period of destruction and captivity
- 627-587 BC - Jeremiah speaks out in Jerusalem
- 605-536 BC - Daniel speaks out in Babylon
- 605 BC - Jeremiah first prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem and 70 years of captivity and oppression for the Jewish people.
- 605 BC - Babylon invades Judah the first time and takes prisoners captive back to Babylon.
- 605 BC - Daniel as a young man, possibly a teenager, is one of those taken to Babylon.
- 605-603 BC - Daniel, among others, is taken into the royal palace in Babylon and trained to be a servant of King Nebuchadnezzar.
- 603-550 BC - Daniel has several visions from God.
- 588 BC - In Jerusalem, Jeremiah sends a letter to the Jewish captives in Babylon explaining again the 70 years of captivity, but also talking about a restoration of the people to their home land and a rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple.
- 586 BC - Babylon's final attack on Jerusalem leads to the destruction of the city and the temple and a scattering of the Jewish people.
- 539 BC - Daniel is reminded of Jeremiah's letter from many years ago and prays for his people, the city of Jerusalem, and the temple.
- 539 BC - As a result of Daniel's prayer, God gives him the vision of the seventy 'sevens'.
The period of return and restoration
- 538 BC - Cyrus, king of the Medo-Persian empire, decrees that some Jewish exiles can return to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding the temple. Zerubbabel was the Jewish leader of the effort.
- 517 BC - Darius, then the King, reaffirms the decree of Cyrus.
- 458 BC - Artaxerxes, then the King, authorizes Ezra, a priest and scribe (scholar of the Jewish scriptures), and others to return to Jerusalem for sacrifice and worship at the temple.
- 458 BC - Ezra arrives at Jerusalem, realizes that many there have intermarried with people from surrounding non-Jewish areas, and are worshiping false gods as a result. For several months Ezra instructs the people in the Law of God and resolves the issue of intermarriage and worship of false gods
- 457 BC - Ezra goes beyond what Artaxerxes authorized, and gave the word (command, decree) to begin rebuilding the walls of the city of Jerusalem.
- 445 BC - Artaxerxes authorizes Nehemiah and others to return to Jerusalem and continue rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us, but has extended lovingkindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.
(Ezra 9:9 NASB)
(Ezra 9:9 NASB)
Further, work on the wall of the city is mentioned in Ezra chapter four as being attempted during the reign of Artaxerxes, which matches the time that Ezra is leading the people of Jerusalem. It appears that the author of Ezra did not intend for the events of chapter four to be in chronological order . He seems to be summarizing specific types of events through the reigns of several Persian kings.
- Verses 1-5 mention people from the first phase of the return to Jerusalem: Zerubbabel, King Cyrus, and King Darius; the subject is the rebuilding of the temple.
- Verses 6-23 mention two kings of Persia, Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes, who followed King Darius; the subject of this section is the rebuilding of the walls and the city. Ezra was the active leader of the Jewish people in Jerusalem during the reign of Artaxerxes.
- Verse 24 again mentions King Darius, who reigned before Artaxerxes and Ahasuerus; the subject again is the work on the temple.
Thus it appears that Chapter four is not chronological and verses 6-23 seem to be describing events that fit with the later parts of the book, during the time of Ezra's leadership.** It seems reasonable to conclude that "the decree [word, command] to restore and rebuild Jerusalem" was made in 457 BC by Ezra.
*Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology (Princeton: University Press, 1964)
**James E. Smith, Ph.D., DANIEL A Christian Interpretation, Second Edition ©2015 James E. Smith, All Rights Reserved
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**The Chronology of Ezra 4, Copyright (c) 2010 by Frank W. Hardy, Ph.D. http://www.historicism.org/Documents/Jrnl/Ezra04.pdf
Scripture quotations labeled as NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible
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