THE “SEASONS” REVEALED IN

“DANIEL’S SEVENTY WEEKS”

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven… A time to search and a time to quit searching…”

Ec 3:1,6 NLT

“…Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.” Jer 5:24 KJV

“But now I will take back the ripened grain and new wine

I generously provided each harvest.” Hosea 2:9 KJV

The Bible clearly teaches anyone who will see and hear that the Lord has overlaid His prophetic plan for the nation of Israel and the world upon the agricultural calendar year of Israel . The past, present and future events in this magnificent plan cannot just occur at any time haphazardly, at random or on an arbitrary basis. As taught in the Biblical texts above, “for everything there is a season,” an “appointed harvest” in which to begin and end God’s judgment against national Israel and the world. These “appointed weeks” cover two harvests- the “grain harvest” which always begins in the season of spring time at the end of “the latter rain” and four months later, in the season of “grape harvest” at the end of summer, just before “the season of former rain” begins to open.

You remember the great prophetic promise that the Holy One of Israel made to His people, Israel , in Hosea 6:1-3:

“Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.”

This is a telescoping prophecy, a recurring promise, the last half of which has already been fulfilled…and yet…waits…to be fulfilled again. It is a “seasonal” promise! Proper understanding of this text reveals an appointed “seasonal year”…in appointed “seasonal month(s)” for Y’shua’s coming to His people, Israel . Also by understanding Scripture, the particular appointed “harvest(s) seasons” in which these events will occur may also be clearly discerned.

By understanding Zacharias’ appointment to the “eighth priestly course of Abijah,” it is possible to know that Elizabeth , his wife became with child (John the Baptist) around the end of June or early July. Scripture tells us that Elizabeth “hid herself for five months” before she visited Mary who was with child, who obviously was “overshadowed” by the Holy Spirit in the season of winter when “the WORD became flesh” in Kislev (late November-December). Nine months later, Y’shua, the Savior and the King of Israel, was born in the month of Tishri, in the season of fall at the time of the “early/former rain.” About 30 years later, Y’shua appeared to Israel in the spring season at the time of “the latter rain” when He was immediately “announced and anointed” as the Messiah of Israel at His baptism by His Heavenly Father, followed immediately by His 40 day “trial” in the wilderness. Y’shua the Messiah of Israel was anointed at the beginning of His ministry, NOT at the Cross!

You will notice that three of the four annual agricultural “seasons” have already been fulfilled by Y’shua on His own “prophetic calendar.” The fourth season, summer, yet remains to be fulfilled in the future. This will be “the season of wheat harvest” preceded by the barley and flax harvest a little earlier in the spring. The grain harvest reveals the time of the opening of the first half of the Tribulation, known as “the travail of the woman,” when the called-out remnant of Judah and Israel begin to be judged along with a remnant of Gentiles. This “appointed” season of wheat harvest covers a real and a symbolic time of “four months” during the summer time when the Jewish and Gentile remnant are gathered in the first half of the Tribulation as “wheat,” brought to the “threshing floor” of Y’shua’s judgment, where they must be “threshed out and fanned” in order that the “wicked chaff” can be separated out and blown away by the summer breezes. Daniel 2:35 says this: “Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.”

Y’shua spoke about the wheat harvest in John 4, representing the first 3.5 years of the Tribulation, and then mentioned the second harvest “four months later” in verse 35, as a symbol of time that begins the last half of the Tribulation, in the middle of the Tribulation as the “appointed” season of grape harvest at the end of summer. The grape harvest opens the time of the full, unrestrained outpouring of the wrath of God upon the wholly wicked of Israel and the Gentiles, and represents the last 3 ½ years of the Tribulation, “the times of the Gentiles” and will also be the terrible time of ‘Jacob’s Trouble.’

Now we can understand what was meant by God’s prophecy to the nation of Israel about the beginning of their final Day of Judgment in Hosea 2:9-11, when He said:

“Therefore do I turn back, And I have taken My corn (grain) in its season, And My new wine in its appointed time, And I have taken away My wool and My flax, covering her nakedness. And now do I reveal her dishonour before the eyes of her lovers, And none doth deliver her out of My hand. And I have caused to cease all her joy, Her festival, her new moon, and her sabbath, Even all her appointed times…”

Young’s Literal Translation

Surely, “for everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.”

But wait, there is something so exciting to realize and recognize about the wondrous prophecy and puzzle of Daniel’s “Seventy Weeks,” which concerns the “determined time” for two subjects…“upon thy people” and “upon thy holy city.”

In Daniel 8:13, “that certain (S)aint” whose transliteration in Hebrew is “Palmoni,” the “Wonderful Numberer”…the “Numberer of Secrets” who is none other than Y’shua, Himself, tells Gabriel to go forth and give Daniel “skill and understanding” in order “to show” Daniel what the future held for his own “thy people.”

There are ‘4’ revealed, progressive steps to Daniel’s prophecy, with one step implied, which makes a total of ‘5’ steps or parts. The number ‘5’ in Scripture represents the number of “Grace” and “God’s Goodness” to His people, according to Ed Vallowe’s ‘Biblical Mathematics, Keys to Scripture Numerics.’

In addition to the seasons of the appointed harvests in their appointed months revealed in the prophecy, there is an additional recurring “season” which is, inside “the Sabbatical year” of the nation of Israel ! A repeatable pattern for this “season” is able to be documented from history and from Scripture which pertains to 3 parts of the puzzle, implied for the 4^th, with absolute Scriptural proof for the 5^th.

To begin, the Lord allowed a most important historical date to be recorded in II Kings 18/19, which awaited discovery for thousands of years in the future. This involved the important attempted destruction of the city of Jerusalem by “the Assyrian,” king Sennacherib, in “the fourteenth year of Hezekiah.” Hezekiah’s “fourteenth year” is a historically documented date of 701 b.c.,* as that attempted invasion was recorded on a stone “stele” by Sennacherib himself. But the very important fact about this date is…through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord gave His reassuring message to king Hezekiah in II Kings 19:29 , that all would be well, when He said… “And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.”

What the Lord repeated to Judah and king Hezekiah at that time was the Sabbatical and Jubilee principle found in Leviticus 25: 1-13,22. We can be assured by using the phrase “this year,” the Lord was not only referring to a Sabbatical year that year for the nation of Israel, but that it was also their ‘49^th’ year of a ‘Jubilee cycle with its 50^th year to follow (the eighth year that followed the seventh year), which is actually year 1, of the next 49 years. {*pgs 174-176, “The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings,” by Edwin R. Thiele. Only one of several reference sources available}

The Bible does not tell us in what month or harvest “season” Sennacherib made his attempt to invade Judah . But we can surmise that it most likely was in the spring time, at the end of “the latter rain” in order for the chariot wheels not to become stuck in the mud. Also, there is an over-arching principle laid down in II Samuel 11:1, that says this: “And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel ; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem .” From Exodus 12:1 through to the end of the Bible, all Bible dating is recorded as beginning on the Sacred year, from Nisan to Nisan, from spring to spring.

From that very critical Sabbatical year which began on Tishri 1, 702 b.c. of which the majority year was 701 b.c., telescoping forward 245 years, (or five Jubilee cycles, 5x49), one comes to 457/456 b.c.

The Bible student is able to verify from several sources that 457/456 b.c. was the historically documented “seventh year of king Artaxerxes,” who gave Ezra, the prophet and priest, his decree. Ezra was a lineal descendent of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the high priest, and from Seraiah, the chief priest.

11: Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel .
12: Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time.
13: I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee. Ezra 7

Note how the Bible describes Ezra, a man well qualified to “restore and build Jerusalem ”…as to the judicial system, the levitical system, the society of Judah in general…

6: Thus Ezra went up from Babylon ; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him his entire request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.
7: And there went up some of the children of Israel , and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem , in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. Ezra 7

[ Many try to say that it was Artaxerses’ “decree” to Nehemiah that began the count-down of Daniel’s ‘70’ weeks. But by close reading of the text of Nehemiah 2, you will note from the KJV that a “decree” was NEVER given to Nehemiah by Artaxerxes. Nehemiah only received “letters” upon which were written the king’s instructions and guarantee for safe passage through various territories through which Nehemiah had to travel in order to reach Jerusalem . Note again carefully, what the Bible says:

7: Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;
8: And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. Nehemiah 2

Nehemiah, the cupbearer to the king, was only appointed to rebuild the WALL of Jerusalem . Note this verse in Nehemiah 1:

3: And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.

Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem between 445-444 b.c. This was 12-13 years AFTER the beginning of the countdown of Daniel’s ’70 weeks’ in 457/456 b.c. Neither 445 b.c. nor 444 b.c. were Israel ’s Sabbatical year, and therefore could never qualify for the beginning of Daniel’s “seventy sevens!” (449 b.c. and 442 b.c. were the nearest Sabbatical years. ‘69 weeks’ or 483 years forward from 449 b.c. would have put Y’shua’s arrival in Israel at 34 a.d., and 442 b.c. plus 483 years would have been 41 a.d, for His arrival, both of which are completely out of the realm of possibility for the date of the beginning ministry of Y’shua to the nation of Israel! ) Nehemiah was a ‘political’ figure, as he later became the governor of Judah . Ezra was a ‘priestly, Levitical figure who was the one qualified to “set up” the society on all levels in Judah . Again, only 457/456 b.c. is the historically documented date for “the seventh year of Artaxerxes” in Ezra 7. Ezra was the “appointed man” for the “appointed hour” in order to accomplish the “appointed task.”

Another absolutely important point to make is the following: The Holy Spirit means EXACTLY what He says…when He writes the phrase: “Seventy weeks are determined…” He expects us as Bible students to understand this as written. This is a mathematical computation written in words: “70 7’s,” 70 x 7 ! Not parts of 70...based upon “fractional counting” in order to make a preconceived pattern fit properly! He has written simple and straight forward “baby mathematics”…70 x 7 = 490 years! “Seven weeks” = 49 years. “Sixty-two weeks” = 434 years. “Seven weeks + sixty-two weeks = “sixty-nine weeks” = 69 x 7 = 483 years!

As this prophecy is written exclusively to Daniel’s “thy people,” which are to be understood as the Jewish people, and Judah, in particular, it is absolutely clear that the Holy Spirit meant for this puzzle based on “seventy sevens”…to be interpreted in terms of Israel’s own God-given 7 year Sabbatical cycle. To attempt to calculate this very key Bible prophecy apart from that ongoing, consecutive Sabbatical schedule of the nation of Israel , will ALWAYS lead the Bible student into faulty interpretation based upon gross error! This is the reason God allowed particular and key dating to be known and preserved throughout history in order to establish His correct anchor points marked out all along the way in order to lead the Bible student and the believing Jew…into the true interpretation of this prophecy, from the beginning to the end!

Daniel’s chapter 9 prophecy:

Step 1: Verse 25 says: “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem …” This was the beginning of Daniel’s ’70’ weeks. On Tishri 1, 457 b.c.** the “appointed season” of Israel’s Sabbatical year opened, which was not only a ‘7^th year’ but was also ‘a 49^th year’ of a Jubilee cycle! While the Bible does not clearly state exactly what month Artaxerxes issued his appointed “decree” to Ezra in Ezra 7, the Bible clearly does tell us what “season” the “70 Weeks” begins! It was the season of spring time in the year 456 b.c. Ezra 7:9 says: “For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon , and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem , according to the good hand of his God upon him.”

Please note that “the appointed season” for Year 1, 457/456 b.c., of Daniel’s ‘Seventy Weeks’ prophecy…BEGAN in the appointed month on Nisan 1, during the spring- inside the Sabbatical year, and Ezra’s journey to Jerusalem covered the major portion of summer time until his arrival on Av 1! This would have been in the season of the barley and the wheat harvest!

**How can we truly determine the date of King Artaxerxes’ decree to Ezra to calculate if indeed, this would fulfill the requirements of the angel Gabriel’s instructions? Remember: In Judaism…the Civil year and the new Sabbatical year, begin in the fall of one (Gregorian) year…on Tishri 1, for 3 months, with the majority of that same Jewish year continuing over into the following (Gregorian) year, which I refer to as “the majority year,” which then ends on Elul 29, in late summer.

First: from dedication.www3.50megs.com/456.html:

Quote: “Historians compare many things in history to make up a historical calendar to which we can relate. One of the more reliable ways is to compare the Egyptian calendar with the Ptolemy's Canon or history record. The Egyptian's did not adjust their calendar. They had exactly 365 days in each year and didn't seem to worry if the calendar got ahead of the stars. Sir Isaac Newton studying this historical evidence concluded that Ezra took the Artaxerxes' decree to Jerusalem in 457 B.C. This was placed in the margin of the King James Version in 1701.” [end of quote]

The Holy Spirit gives us clues to the answer of this question. First, Ezra 7:7-8 says: “And there went up some of the children of Israel , and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem , in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.”

[ If Artaxerxes ‘7^th’ year began in the fall of 457 b.c., the following spring of the new year, 456 b.c. would STILL be ‘Artaxerxes 7^th year’ according to the Jewish calendar! ]

A majority of scholars agree that the ‘Artaxerxes’ of Ezra was the Persian king Artaxerxes I, who was also known as ‘Longimanus.’ It is a documentable, historical fact that his father, King Xerxes, was King Ahasuerus of the book of Esther. King Xerxes died in December of 465 b.c. At the time his son Artaxerxes I came to the throne, the Persians determined the year of their kings’ reign from spring to spring. The months preceding the first spring of their reign were considered to be the ‘ascension year.’

restoredcog/articles/witswo.html says the following:

“According to the Jews, the first year of Artaxerxes’ reign was from September, 464 b.c., to the following September, 463 b.c. This means that the seventh year of Artaxerxes’ reign would have taken place from about September, 457 until September, 456 b.c. Since the trip of Ezra and his company took five months to complete and they arrived at Jerusalem during the fifth month (Ezra 7:8), therefore, the return still would have fallen within the seventh year of Artaxerxes’ reign.”

(**Ezra 7: 9 says: “For upon the first day of the first month [Nisan, spring time] began he to go up from Babylon , and on the first day of the fifth month [Av] came he to Jerusalem .” 457.5 b.c. would have been the spring of 456 b.c. )

“Basically, from 536 b.c. to 456 b.c., (80 years), the Israelites were a struggling group of people with no real government, city or well-defined country. They built themselves houses and managed to build a temple. It wasn’t until Artaxerxes came to the throne in 464 b.c. that we actually see them rebuilding the city. It was during Artaxerxes’ reign that the adversaries (on the other side of the River Euphrates ) appealed for legislation to stop Israel , for they were ‘building a rebellious and evil city.

So we see Ezra receiving his decree from Artaxerxes in 457.5 b.c. (in the spring of 456 b.c., in the seventh year of Artaxerxes). The decree gives further help in establishing the temple, but it also gives Israel the right to self-government