Hi Lewis,
In Your Post (19 July 2008) you said:-
“The best scholarship has determined
there was exactly 483 Jewish 360 day years from the kings command to Nehemiah
to rebuild the walls until the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem, Daniel 9:25.....”
I guess by "the best scholarship"
you are referring to Sir Robert Anderson and his book "The Coming
Prince" who posited that it was "483 Jewish 360 day years from the
Kings command to Nehemiah to rebuild the walls until the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem as
King".
You are also obviously referring to
scholars who believe Anderson's
dates are the correct ones. Other
people who read 5 doves and your post should be made aware that Sir Robert Anderson's whole argument
absolutely depends on Jesus' death occurring in 32 A.D. However, you should also know that there
are very many scholars on both sides of the argument about Daniel’s 70th
Week who refute that date for Jesus death.
In my PDF post - Daniel's 70 Weeks (10 July
2008) in Foot-note No. 15, I refer to
Dr. Ernest L. Martin – “The Star that astonished the World” - who presents an
excellent argument for Jesus' birth on 11th September 3 B.C. Scripture tells us that Jesus was about 30 years
of age when he began his ministry, and since his ministry was “3 years and a
bit long”, that would make Jesus death at age 33 which year would be 30 A.D. Dr. Martin also brings the very latest in
astronomical data into his arguments.
I also see that Marilyn Agee has changed
her mind recently about the date of Jesus’ death ----------
Quote from her Home Page -
“Dan
9:25,26 says, "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 (69 weeks, 483 years total):
the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And
AFTER threescore and two weeks (i.e., after 27 AD) shall Messiah be cut
off" (karath, killed). The 483
years ended in the Hebrew Sabbatic Year 3787 (27 AD). AFTER that, in 30 AD,
Jesus was killed.”
However, she still postulates that there is
a seven year tribulation, even though it appears from the above quote that she
believes Jesus’ ministry began in 27
A.D. at the end of the 483 years, and therefore my logic says his
ministry must have intruded three years into the 70th consecutive week
– i.e. 28 A.D. 29 A.D. and 30 A.D. when
he was cut off!
It appears to me that Sir. Robert Anderson
chose the dates he did, solely to support his argument about Jesus’ “triumphal
entry” into Jerusalem
as King, and to try to prove the 70th Week was not fulfilled. He chose Nehemiah’s date to rebuild the
walls !! but there is NO DAY DATE mentioned in Nehemiah’s story – only
the month, so how could Anderson
possibly calculate this to the VERY DAY!!
Most people chose Ezra’s date which is
found in Ezra chapter 7. i.e.,
THE FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH IN THE 7TH YEAR OF KING
ARTAXERXES.= 457 B.C.
Refer Jamieson, Fausset, Brown Commentary –
http://www.searchgodsword.org/com/jfb/view.cgi?book=da&chapter=009 Notes on verse 24.
Ezra’s return to Jerusalem
came from the commandment to “RESTORE AND BUILD JERUSALEM” which re-established
the Jewish law in Jerusalem, allowed autonomy
from Persia,
and caused the Jewish theocracy to be re-established.
You could note that the specific phrase
which started the 490 year count-down is –
Daniel 9:25 “...the command to restore and to build Jerusalem until
Messiah the Prince....” There is no mention of “building walls” in this phrase. It is talking about the restoration of Jerusalem in judicial, civil and religious law terms, and
the collective establishment of Jerusalem as Israel’s
Capital city. This command restored
their Nationality.
It seems that modern prophetic writers like
Chuck Missler have embraced Anderson’s
dates “holus-bolus” without recourse to what the scripture says. They have been so anxious to stick to the
disembodied 70th Week philosophy that such objections to their
theory have been swept under the carpet and ignored.
This is NOT the “best scholarship”. It might have been when Anderson lived, 1841 to 1918, but it is no
longer! His dates do not stand up to
scrutiny. The 70th Week was
fulfilled for the Jews and for Jerusalem,
immediately after the 69th Week when Messiah came and fulfilled the
New Covenant of Salvation (Jeremiah 31:31-34) exclusively for the Jewish people
initially during the 70th Week, and eventually His grace was
extended for the whole World. The 70th
Week contained the ministry of Jesus Christ, and the preaching of the Gospel
exclusively for the Jews on the Day of Pentecost and the years following.
In searching out the truth of this matter,
I have come to a whole new understanding of exactly what Jesus accomplished for
the Jewish people; to which they are still blind ....but NOT forever.
God Bless You, I hope you search this topic
out for yourself and don’t take other peoples theories at face value.
EAR.