THE prophet Daniel
lived more than 500 years before the birth of Jesus. Nevertheless, Jehovah
revealed to Daniel information that would make it possible to pinpoint the time
when Jesus would be anointed, or appointed, as the Messiah, or Christ. Daniel
was told: “You should know and have the insight that from the going forth of
the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Leader, there
will be seven weeks, also sixty-two weeks.”—Daniel 9:25.
To determine the time of the Messiah’s
arrival, first we need to learn the starting point of the period leading to the
Messiah. According to the prophecy, it is “from the going forth of the word to
restore and to rebuild Jerusalem.” When did this “going forth of the word” take
place? According to the Bible writer Nehemiah, the word went forth to rebuild
the walls around Jerusalem “in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king.” (Nehemiah 2:1,
5-8)
Historians confirm that the year 474 B.C.E. was Artaxerxes’ first full year as
ruler. Therefore, the 20th year of his rule was 455 B.C.E. Now we have the
starting point for Daniel’s Messianic prophecy, that is, 455 B.C.E.
Daniel indicates how long the time period
leading to the arrival of “Messiah the Leader” would last. The prophecy
mentions “seven weeks, also sixty-two weeks”—a total of 69 weeks. How long is
this period of time? Several Bible translations note that these are, not weeks
of seven days, but weeks of years. That is, each week represents seven years.
This concept of weeks of years, or seven-year units, was familiar to Jews of ancient
times. For instance, they observed a Sabbath year every seventh year. (Exodus 23:10, 11)
Therefore, the prophetic 69 weeks amount to 69 units of 7 years each, or a total
of 483 years.
Now all we must do is count. If we count from
455 B.C.E., 483 years takes us to the year 29 C.E. That was exactly the year
when Jesus was baptized and became the Messiah!* (Luke 3:1, 2,
21, 22)
Is that not a remarkable fulfillment of Bible prophecy?
*
From 455 B.C.E. to 1 B.C.E. is 454 years. From 1 B.C.E. to 1 C.E. is one year
(there was no zero year). And from 1 C.E. to 29 C.E. is 28 years. Adding these
three figures gives us the total of 483 years. Jesus was “cut off” in death in
33 C.E., during the 70th week of years. (Daniel 9:24,
26)
See Pay Attention to Daniel’s Prophecy! chapter 11, and Insight on
the Scriptures, Volume 2, pages 899-901. Both are published by Jehovah’s
Witnesses.
For more information please see 'What Does the Bible REALLY Teach' at www.jw.org
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