When Did Jesus Become The Messiah?
Published 20170313 -:- Revised 20250829
I am dyslexic so please bear
with me. Scripture references are from King James (KJV) unless noted other
wise.
References & Equipment
e-Sword = Bible
references are from ‘e-Sword’. The FREE Bible on line. http://www.e-sword.net/downloads.html
ACCH = Adams Syn Chronological Chart or Map of History, [based on
Ussher’s ‘Annals of the World’] (9m wall chart)
HCC = History of The Christian Church (by Philip Schaff) 1882
Edition. via e-Sword. [Phrases underlined for easy refer.]
AOTJ = Antiquities Of The Jews By Flavius Josephus
CN = Commentary Notes from e-Sword. By “NAME” on Bible Ref
“BOOK CH: Vrs” e.g. [ref CN Clark on Dan 7:7].
AOW = The Annals of the World by James Ussher’s
FoxBM = Fox’s Book of Martyrs – via e-Sword
AJFerris = The Book of Revelation by A. J. Ferris. – Publisher, “The Clarendon”
Blackheath London (3rd Edition 1941)
GPB = Great Prophecies of the Bible by Ralph Woodrow (1999
Edition) P.O. Box 21 Palm Springs, CA 92263-0021
LXXE =
The Septuagint with Apocrypha by Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton (2016 Edition). Also
via e-Sword
How Came The Question
My wife and I had an in depth discussion with four
colleagues, two pastors and elders. The subject was the Rapture, with all those
‘curve ball’ questions. Two hours plus later we parted, still good friends.
Arriving home we said to each other, “We’ve had enough, we studied a week for
that. Knock Off!” The next morning that, ‘still small voice’ asked me that
question above. Suddenly all of yesterday’s discussion fell into place. So let
me unpack the various lines of thought the Lord showed me, and I hope you will
find it as interesting as I did.
Aim
In this discussion I hope to show you a very simple way to
understand Daniel chapter 9 and the 70 weeks prophecy. Namely: - The start
point of the 70 weeks, and the end of the 69th week. Then whether or
not the 70 weeks is continuous, or the 70th week is off in future?
Daniel
chapter 9
If you are not familiar with the Septuagint, [ref. LXXE],
humour me for a moment and try this. Below is a copy of Brenton’s English
Septuagint (Brenton), obtained from e-Sword. If you refer to the Wikipedia
reference above, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septuagint],
and go to ‘History’, you will find that the majority of the English
translations stems from the Septuagint. It is a Greek translation of the
Hebrew, Old Testament and other books. From which, in the New Testament, Jesus,
Peter, Paul and others often quoted. It is accepted as quite an accurate
translation of the Hebrew text. So get your own favourite copy of Daniel and
read along with me. I have highlighted some sections to take particular note.
The background of Daniel chapter
9 is that Daniel understood that Jeremiah’s prophecy of the seventy years exile
from Jerusalem was now completed. So he intercedes in prayer for an answer as
to what happens next please Lord. The angel Gabriel arrives, and he and Daniel
as of chapter 8 are now good mates, so Gabriel starts to explain to Daniel the
70 weeks prophecy.
(LXXE Brenton), Dan
9:24 Seventy weeks have been determined upon thy people, and upon
the holy city, for sin to be ended, and to seal up transgressions, and
to blot out the iniquities, and to make atonement for iniquities, and to bring
in everlasting righteousness, and to seal the vision and the prophet, and to
anoint the Most Holy.
Dan 9:25 And thou shalt know
and understand, that from the going forth of the command for the answer and
for the building of Jerusalem until Christ the prince there shall
be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks; and then the time shall return, and
the street shall be built, and the wall, and the times shall be
exhausted.
Dan 9:26 And after the
sixty-two weeks, the anointed one shall be destroyed, and there is no
judgment in him: and he shall destroy the city and the sanctuary with
the prince that is coming: they shall be cut off with a flood, and to the
end of the war which is rapidly completed he shall appoint the city to
desolations.
Dan 9:27 And one week
shall establish the covenant with many: and in the midst of the week my
sacrifice and drink-offering shall be taken away: and on the temple shall
be the abomination of desolations; and at the end of time an end shall be put
to the desolation.
Points To Note
Verse 24. (Nearly every version of Daniel verses 24, 25 and
the first part of verse 26, has this same translation and meaning.)
(a) “Seventy weeks”. This is widely recognized as a
time period on the bases of “a day for year”. You can look up any commentary
notes to find something like this. 70 x 7 prophetic days = 490 prophetic days =
490 literal years.
(b) “determined …thy people,
and the holy city”. Meaning that the prophecy is pertaining to the Jews and
Jerusalem only.
Verse 25 “command..for the building of Jerusalem.” This is
the START Point for the “seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks”, which
many refer to as the total being 69 weeks.
“until Christ the prince”.
This is the END Point for the “seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks”,
i.e. 69 weeks should be completed!
Verse 26. “after the sixty-two
weeks”, meaning the 69 weeks in total is finished. [At a day for a year it
come to 69 x 7= 483 literal years] NB: it does not say At
the 62 weeks! So some time after the 62 weeks the following
should start to happen: -
“the anointed one (Christ)
shall be destroyed, …no judgment in him”. He (Christ) shall die, but be
innocent in the sight of God.
Who is ‘he’!
Dan 9:26, “the anointed one shall be
destroyed, and there is no judgment in him: and he shall destroy the
city and the sanctuary with the prince that is coming”. Who is the ‘he’?
Grammatically it is obviously referring to the anointed one,
Christ as the one who will destroy the city and the sanctuary, along with the
help of ‘the prince that is coming’. Different isn’t it? Actually it’s far less
confusing grammatically than many other translations. And it’s not out of line
with scripture because Christ in Matt 24 prophesied that Jerusalem would be
destroyed, and God used the Romans as His weapon of choice. We know that God
would dish out harsh punishment when He decides enough is enough. We only need
to refer to some of the well-known biblical stories of God’s punishment in
action.
Gen 6:7 And the LORD said, I
will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth …the flood
Gen 18:28 …wilt thou destroy all the city
for lack of five? … Sodom and Gomorrah
Exo 12:13 …I will pass over
you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I
smite the land of Egypt.
But what about Gods anger poured
out against Israel? Read Lev 26:14-46, through Moses, God is stressing His
absolute bottom line of tolerance! He
is stating His Punishment for Disobedience. Then I did a search in e-Sword
using the phrase ‘I will destroy’, in which the passage is directly referring
to Israel. I found the following scriptures: -
Jer 15:7 …I will destroy
my people, since they return not from their ways.
Eze 6:3 …Behold, I, even I,
will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places.
Eze 34:16 …but I will
destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
Hos 2:12 And I will
destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, ….
Hos 4:5 Therefore shalt thou
fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I
will destroy thy mother.
Amo 9:8 Behold, the eyes of
the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off
the face of the earth; …
So it is not a major leap in our
thinking to see that in verse 26, “the anointed one…no judgment
in him…and he shall destroy”, are all one and the
same person. As for verse 27 we will come back to that later.
The Start Point Of The 70 Weeks
There is a lot of ‘highfaluting’ chronology tangled up with all
this issue as to who said what, when it was said and how to do the
calculations. I will just brief over some of the points that cause the
confusion.
Dan 9:25 “… that from the
going forth of the command for the answer and for the building of
Jerusalem…” Who gave that command? Some say it was Cyrus. If you refer to 2nd
Chronicles chapter 36 you will find a brief account of Cyrus’s decree, verses
22-23 “Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the
LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in
Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The
LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.” Then in Ezra 1:1-11 there is
a more detailed account.
Arguments For and Against
(1) Some say Cyrus command was only to rebuild the Temple;
he didn’t decree the rebuilding of Jerusalem! Just consider that as a modern
day building project. The Australia Federal Government decides to build in out
back Australia, an Iron Ore Mine, the Snowy Mountain Hydro Electricity Scheme
or the Ord River Scheme. Do you expect people to live in tents during all those
years of construction? Of course not! A mining town or village is the first
thing to be established for the workers and families. Along with airport, power
station, water supply, sewage, supper market, cinema, hospital, pub, swimming
pool and a ‘Footy Oval’ etc. So why would Cyrus send thousands of people out to
a demolished city! And the only thing he wants them to do is rebuild the
Temple?
(2) Do you want to argue with
God? God decreed that Cyrus would rebuild both Jerusalem and the Temple 150
years before Cyrus was born. The account of such is in Isaiah 44:28 “That
saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying
to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy
foundation shall be laid.”
(3) The account of Cyrus’s
enthusiasm to rebuild both Jerusalem and the Temple, is recorded by
Josephus, [ref. AOTJ. Book 11, Chapter 1. “[2. This was known to Cyrus by his
reading the book which Isaiah left behind him of his prophecies; for this
prophet said that God had spoken thus to him in a secret vision: "My will
is, that Cyrus, whom I have appointed to be king over many and great nations,
send back my people to their own land, and build my temple." This was
foretold by Isaiah one hundred and forty years before the temple was
demolished. Accordingly, when Cyrus read this, and admired the Divine power, an
earnest desire and ambition seized upon him to fulfill what was so written; so
he called for the most eminent Jews that were in Babylon, and said to them,
that he gave them leave to go back to their own country, and to rebuild
their city Jerusalem, (2) and the temple of God, for that he would
be their assistant, and that he would write to the rulers and governors that
were in the neighborhood of their country of Judea, that they should contribute
to them gold and silver for the building of the temple, and besides that, beasts
for their sacrifices.]”
(4) But many argue that the
decree of Cyrus was at the wrong time! He sent back the first party to return
to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel. According to, [ACCH], Adams History and [AOW], James Ussher the
return of Zerubbabel’s party to
Jerusalem was in the year 536 BC. So do the maths! The ‘69 weeks’ as mentioned
earlier calculates out to 483 literal years. So we have 536 BC plus 483 years,
this should bring us to the END POINT, at which Christ should appear.
536-483=53 BC?? So it’s the wrong time. But there are other eminent scholars
who have proven that Adams and Ussher base their dating on Ptolemy’s work which
is some 80 years too long…..etc.
(5) But Ezra went back in the
year 458 BC! Therefore 458-483 = 26 AD, then if you apply a four years shift
because of…..etc.
STOP! STOP!….STOP with ALL
this he said, you said, I said…! Lets just go to the END of the 69
weeks
The END POINT Of The 69 Weeks
Have you ever stopped to think about what all those
arguments are trying to work out? It sounds very much like a bunch of scribes
and Pharisees in the year 20 AD, trying to work out when the Messiah should
appear! We have hindsight; we know when Jesus arrived in history. So when do
you think the 69th week ENDED?
Would you say that the 69th week culminated at the
crucifixion of Jesus? If you said yes,
then you are in good company because 95% of Christians would say the same. So
if the majority rules, regardless of whether it is right or wrong,
it must be correct? Go back to the wording of Daniel 9:25 “And thou shalt
know and understand, that from the going forth of the command for the answer
and for the building of Jerusalem until Christ the prince there
shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks.” What exactly does “until
Christ the prince” mean?
Think of this for an example.
Your renovating a house, you show your apprentice a small hallway cupboard.
“See it is 70cm wide at the top and the bottom. Trim down a door to exactly
69cm. It can’t be 69.5 or 68.5cm it must be exactly 69cm.”
Or it’s the same as when you tell your children bedtime is at 8 o’clock. “You
can stay up until 8 o’clock, then off to bed.” It is the same
principal for the prophecy, ‘69 weeks until Christ the prince. It
is right at the END of the 69th week that Christ appears. As I said
above we know when Christ appeared. So we know when the End Point of the 69
Weeks occurred, stop worrying about how we got there! So lets start from the
end of the 69 weeks and examine what happened next.
Until Christ The Prince?
Numerous commentaries and study bibles all have the same
theme that the 69th week came to an end when Christ was crucified.
You can find an excellent chart showing this in a diagrammatic form in,
e-Sword/Graphics Viewer/Timeline/Table 20 “10 BC to 110 AD”. It clearly shows
the “weeks” of Daniel’s prophecy as a red and white bar graph at the top left
of the table. You will notice that the ‘69th week’ ENDS right on the
“Death and Resurrection of Jesus”.
Another chart, which I have
copied below, can be found in e-Sword/Graphics Viewer/Larkin/Chart 20 “Daniel’s
Seventy Weeks”. You will notice the line marked, [Daniel’s “Sixty Nine” Weeks],
finishes right at the Cross ‘AD 30’. So what are they saying?
"From going forth
of command >|< 69 weeks’ >+< until Christ the prince, the anointed one
appears.”
In the simplest form all these charts etc. are basically
saying that Christ, the Messiah, did not appear until he was
crucified? But have you ever stopped to think about what they are actually
saying? Jesus only became the Messiah the moment He was nailed to the cross?
What about Jesus public ministry
of three and a half years, does that account for NOTHING? Or are they saying he
wasn’t the Messiah during his public ministry? No not quite; some scholars
claim he became the Messiah at his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey
only days before the crucifixion, Matt 21:1-11 and John 12:12-19. In other words he
was only publicly recognised at his triumphal entry. But was that the very
first time Jesus was recognised as the Messiah? Hence the question below which
I believe the Lord asked me….
When Did Jesus Become The Messiah?
The point I am trying to identify in history is the event we
would call, “until Christ the prince”! So if we can identify the
First occasion he was recognised as the Messiah then we know the END Point of
that confusing 69 weeks. In other words lets try to work things out backwards
from a known point. Then we don’t need to work out who said, “what, when, where
or how”. So the “until Christ” point in history would have to be
when Christ was recognized and active in the roll as the Messiah. My first
thoughts go back to when Jesus was baptised by John. But lets not jump ahead,
let’s eliminate the earlier occasions.
Jesus Conception
The key points from Gabriel when he greeted Mary about Jesus
were, Luke 1:32 “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son
of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his
father David: v:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob
for ever;…”etc. Then you have in Luke 1:39 to 56 the remarkable prophetic
utterance of the ‘mums to be’ Elizabeth and Mary. In all of these prophecies we
don’t have the, “until Christ the prince” point we are looking
for. He’s still yet to be born! The rest of the prophecy is still future even
today! Christ still hasn’t received David’s earthly throne, which will only
happen in the Millennium.
Jesus Birth
Refer to Matt 2:1-4. When Jesus was born the Magi asked
Herod, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” Then Herod
asked the
Chief priests and scribes, “where
Christ should be born.” Both of the underlined remarks can be
cross-referenced to the Messiah. Then the priests refer to one verse from Micah
5:2 “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah….yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me
that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of
old, from everlasting.” But if you read Micah 5:1-6, you will notice that
whole passage is a mighty prophecy about the Messiah. But in the time of Christ
the only relevant part was Christ was born in Bethlehem. The Angels greeted The
Shepherds with, Luke 2:11 “For unto you is born this day in the city of
David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”
After Jesus was born Joseph and
Mary presented Jesus at the Temple according to the Law of Moses, refer Luke
2:22-38. Simeon and Anna prophesied some remarkable things over Jesus. Luke
2:30 “For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, v:31 Which
thou hast prepared before the face of all people; v:32 A light to
lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.” There are
so many other prophecies about the Messiah, The Lamb of God, The Anointed One,
and the Christ etc. yet none to my knowledge talk about Christ doing anything
marvels or miraculous as an infant! In fact the scriptures tend to show the
opposite. Joseph and Mary where advised by an angel to hide the Christ child in
Egypt, and keep his arrival hidden from the world.
So I would say we have drawn a
blank trying to find any major announcement which would be equivalent to the
meaning of the passage in Daniel 9:25 “until Christ”. Therefore
there is also nothing at the birth of Christ to indicate the END Point of the 69
weeks.
When Jesus was Twelve Years Old
There is only one reference to that occasion it’s in Luke
2:41-52. (My Aussie Version) Briefly it was the Feast of Passover and every
year as usual Jo and Mary took the kids, (children), to Jerusalem. Heading home
they leave in the morning. It’s 80 km, “as the crow flies”, back to Nazareth,
so they camped the first night along the way. Jesus wasn’t amongst the mob of
kids as they thought. Crikey where is he! Back to Jerusalem, 3 days later they
find him in a ‘Q and A’ session with the priests. “For goodness sake son we’ve
been frantically looking high n low for you.” Young Jesus shrugged and asked,
“Why didn’t you check out the Temple? Didn’t you realise I should be here
about me Dad's business?” But now back to the KJV, Luke 2:51 “And he
went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them:
but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. v:52 And Jesus
increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” So
if he was ‘subject unto them’, presumably it means he didn’t get
involved in any independent public display until his manhood, at which time he
would be responsible for his own actions. In the Jewish world manhood was 30
years of age. So again nothing to indicate the, “until Christ”
point in time, nor the END Point of the 69th week!
Jesus Public Ministry
Now you’re talkin! Most study bibles have a time line
chart of the life of Jesus. Depending on the size of the chart it would shows
all the major events in Christ’s life along with the scripture references. The
same thing is available in e-Sword/Graphics Viewer/Timelines/ Chart 25 “Life of
Jesus Showing Coverage By All”. When we look for Jesus public ministry the
first thing you will notice is they all start with his baptism in the Jordan by
John. Each of the gospels has an account of this event, Matt 3:13-17; Mark
1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22 and John 1:29-34. Matthew, Mark and Luke’s accounts are
relatively brief and they all cover the main points, which I have highlighted
in this quote. Take Luke for example. Luke 3:21 “Now when all the people
were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying,
the heaven was opened, v:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily
shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou
art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.” The Holy Spirit
was seen as a dove. Then presumably from the wording of the scriptures the
voice from heaven was heard by all. There is no comment that some thought it
was just thunder.
But John’s account is more like a
recorded interview with John. (MKJV) John 1:29 “The next day John sees Jesus
coming to him and says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the
sin of the world! v:30 This is He of whom I said, After me
comes a Man who has been before me, for He preceded me. v:31 And
I did not know Him, but that He be revealed to Israel, therefore
I have come baptizing with water. v:32 And John bore record,
saying, I saw the Spirit descending from Heaven like a dove, and He abode on
Him. v:33 And I did not know Him, but He who sent me to
baptize with water, that One said to me, Upon whom you shall see the Spirit
descending, and remaining upon Him, He is the One who baptizes with the Holy
Spirit. v:34 And I saw and bore record that this
is the Son of God.” These underlined points are obviously a
clear identification that Jesus is the Messiah, And John is doing the public
announcement, as was done in the middle ages by the Town Crier. John doesn’t
mention the voice from heaven, but that is God saying, “the Christ is
NOW here!” It is the “until Christ the prince” point we are
looking for. But lets check further along.
What happened next? Well the good
Dr Luke was write to his friend Theophilus. Luke 1:3 (ESV) “..to write an orderly
account for you, most excellent Theophilus,” According to Luke
immediately after the baptism Jesus was tempted 40 days in the wilderness. Then
Luke gives two short verses about Jesus preaching with power. Luke
4:14 “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee:
and there went out a fame of him through all the region round
about. v:15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified
of all.” At this point other gospel accounts and timelines talk about Jesus
gathering his disciples. This must have happened quickly because Jesus first
miracle was turning water into wine, refer John 2:1-12, and his disciples were
also at the wedding feast. But according to Luke 4:16 the next major event was
when Jesus stood up to do the daily reading, which happened to be on that day
from Isaiah 61:1-3.
Luke 4:16-21 “And he came to
Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into
the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. v:17 And
there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had
opened the book, he found the place where it was written, v:18 The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the
gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach
deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at
liberty them that are bruised, v:19 To preach the acceptable year of
the Lord. v:20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to
the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue
were fastened on him. v:21 And he began to say unto them, This
day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” I believe this
passage clearly answers the question, ‘When did Jesus become the Messiah?’
Jesus is quite plainly stating that he is the anointed one
referred to in that passage he just read. Verse 18 has all the hallmarks to
identify the actions of the Messiah.
The ‘Until Christ The Prince’
Point Identified
So now we know when Jesus became the Messiah, he was
publicly announced by John the Baptised, by God audibly from heaven and by
Jesus himself in the synagogue. So in Daniel chapter 9:25 we have identified
the point in history we could call, “until Christ the prince”.
Which then identifies the END Point of the 69th week. YEA
Halleluiah! Wasn’t that an easier way to work out when the 69th week
finished? So you can see it wasn’t really important as to how we calculated the
69 weeks after all.
“From going forth
of command >|< 69 weeks’ >|< +
until Christ the prince, the
anointed one appears.”
Rethink The 70 Weeks?
Now we are suddenly in new ground, in that the 69th
week finishes 3½ years before the Crucifixion. Where does Christ’s 3½-year
public ministry fit into the 70 weeks prophecy? Or does it have nothing to do
with the 70 weeks? And is the 70th week still off in the future?
Before we go any further it is important we understand two vastly different
views or interpretations of Revelation. We can find a simple explanation of
each in, [ref. HCC Vol. 1, Ch. 12, §101.] “The Apocalypse…Interpretation.
The different interpretations are reduced by English writers to three systems
according as the fulfilment of the prophecy is found in the past, present, or
future. 1. The Preterist system. 2. The Continuous (or Historical) system: 3.
The Futurist system:” The Preterist system is hardly ever considered these
days. It is the Historical system and the Futurist system we need to
understand. By all means please take the time to read the brief description of
the two systems or interpretations mentioned in the above reference.
Why is this so important? Well
the Futurist system incorporates Daniel’s 70th week as the future
literal 7 years that the Antichrist will come into power. Where as those of the
Historical view would hold to the teaching that the 70th week was
fulfilled during the seven years from the start of Christ’s public ministry,
(the END of the 69th week), to the start of Paul’s ministry. So the
70 weeks is one continuous event. It is the Historical interpretation I would
like us to examine at this point. There are many Old scholars who publicly
denounced the Pope as the ‘Antichrist’ of 1 John 2:18, or the ‘Little Horn’ of
Dan 7:8. The Pope was there in their ‘present day’ fulfilling all the
attributes of the Antichrist. If you refer to my talk entitled “Church
History Part 2”, then go to, “The Papal Claims Of Authority”, it will give you
various links to ‘ref. HCC’ to verify the statements. So if they recognized the
position of the Pope as the Antichrist, they must have understood the Historic
view of Revelation. Some of them are well known names, and I have collected
this list from these sources. It is by no means a comprehensive list. Please do
your own research. You will notice that most of them date from before the
1200’s to the late 1800’s. So they were the ‘Old Timers’ who lived through the
persecution of the Roman Church.
[Ref. HCC Vol. 1, Ch. 12, §101]
Luther, Bullinger, Collado, Pareus, Brightman, Mede, Robert Fleming, Whiston,
Vitringa, Bengel, Isaac Newton, Bishop Newton, Faber, Woodhouse, Elliott,
Birks, Gaussen, Auberlen, Hengstenberg, Alford, Wordsworth, Lee. [22]
[FoxBM] William Tyndale, Walter
Mill, John Rogers, George Marsh, Thomas Watts, Dr. Thomas Cranmer, Rev. John
Rough, Thomas Hudson, Thomas Carman, William Seamen, Peer Bruis, John Clark,
Dominicus, Lord Schilik. [14]
[Ref. A.J.Ferris] Ferris adds to
this lists: - Wyclif, Calvin, Bishop Latimer, Knox, John Foxe, Bunyan, John
Wesley, Dr Hudson Taylor, Moody, Bishop J.C.Ryle, Principal R S Candlish,
Bishop Barnes USA, Finney, Dr. H G Guinness, Spurgeon, Dr F B Meyer, Dinsdale
Young. [18]
[Ref. GPB] Eberhard II Archbishop
of Salzburg, Walter Brute, Sir John Oldcastle, John Huss, Nicolaus Von Amsdorf,
Philipp Melanchthon, Huldreich Zwingli, Theodor Bibliander, Alfonsus Conradus,
John Napier, King James of England, Nicholas Ridley, John Bradford, John
Hooper, Thomas Becon, John Jewel, William Fluke, Roger Williams, Cotton Mather,
Samuel Cooper, Johathan Edwards, LeRoy Froom. [23]
Some
Might Say
"So what if the ‘Old Fogies’ believed the Historical
interpretation! We are a modern generation and there are far more modern books
out these days which ALL talk about a Future Antichrist, and a Future Great
Tribulation! Why believe the old writings?” If that’s the case why do you
believe the Bible? It’s Old! Just because it’s new doesn’t mean that it’s correct!
So lets have a look at some of the ‘Old Writers’, to see how they
interpreted the 70th week of Daniel chapter 9:27. If you go to
e-Sword, then find the Commentary Notes by these scholars; I believe it will
give you a refreshing insight. They are from; John Wesley (1703-1791), Matthew
Henry (1662-1714), Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (Published 1871), Geneve Bible
Translation Notes (Published 1599)
[CN J. Wesley on Dan 9:27] “He
shall confirm - Christ confirmed the new covenant, By the testimony of
angels, of John baptist, of the wise men, of the saints then living, of Moses
and Elias. By his preaching. By signs and wonders. By his holy life. By his
resurrection and ascension. By his death and blood shedding. Shall cause the
sacrifice to cease - All the Jewish rites, and Levitical worship. By his
death he abrogated, and put an end to this laborious service, for ever. And
that determined - That spirit of slumber, which God has determined to pour on
the desolate nation, 'till the time draws near, when all Israel shall be
saved.”
[CN M. Henry on Dan9:27] “[6.] He
must confirm the covenant with many. He (Christ) shall introduce a new
covenant between God and man, a covenant of grace, since it had become
impossible for us to be saved by a covenant of innocence. This covenant he
shall confirm by his doctrine and miracles, by his death and resurrection, by
the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper, which are the seals of the New
Testament, assuring us that God is willing to accept us upon gospel-terms. His death
made his testament of force, and enabled us to claim what is bequeathed by it.
He confirmed it to the many, to the common people; the poor were evangelized,
when the rulers and Pharisees believed not on him. Or, he confirmed it with
many, with the Gentile world. The New Testament was not (like the Old) confined
to the Jewish church, but was committed to all nations. Christ gave his life a
ransom for many.”
[CN JFB on Dan 9:27] “he shall
confirm the covenant — Christ. The confirmation of the covenant is assigned
to Him also elsewhere. Isa_42:6, “I will give thee for a covenant of the
people” (that is, He in whom the covenant between Israel and God is personally
expressed); compare Luk_22:20, “The new testament in My blood”; Mal_3:1, “the
angel of the covenant”; Jer_31:31-34, describes the Messianic covenant in full.
Contrast Dan_11:30, Dan_11:32, “forsake the covenant,” “do wickedly against the
covenant.” The prophecy as to Messiah’s confirming the covenant with many would
comfort the faithful in Antiochus’ times, who suffered partly from persecuting
enemies, partly from false friends (Dan_11:33-35). Hence arises the similarity
of the language here and in Dan_11:30, Dan_11:32, referring to Antiochus, the
type of Antichrist.”
[CN Geneve on Dan9: 27] “And he (a)
shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the
week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to (b) cease, (c) and
for the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until
the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
(a) By the preaching of
the Gospel he affirmed his promise, first to the Jews, and after to the
Gentiles.
(b) Christ accomplished this
by his death and resurrection.
(c) Meaning that Jerusalem and
the sanctuary would be utterly destroyed because of their rebellion against
God, and their idolatry: or as some read, that the plague will be so great,
that they will all be astonished at them.”
We Need To Combine Verse 26 And 27
Why? Well in the original Hebrew there were no verse
numbers. If we read the LXX verse 26 and 27 as one verse it helps us understand
who is establishing the covenant for one week. Try this example. (Replace verse 27 with a ‘,’) [ref. e-Sword
LXXE] Dan 9:26..the anointed one shall be destroyed, .. and he shall
destroy the city and the sanctuary…he shall appoint the city to
desolations ‘,’ And one week shall establish the covenant
with many..” It is the same person, he shall, he shall, and shall. In any case
the commentaries see it as a reference to Christ all the way through.
Summery Of The Commentaries
Lets examine the first part of the verse, “And he
shall confirm the covenant”. [LXX has ‘And one week shall establish the
covenant with many’] This was
accomplished by Christ, and not by the Antichrist. Remember John Baptist John
1:29 “..Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world!” The Lamb was the sin offering that was required by the Old
Covenant. It was the Old Covenant that Jesus confirmed. Jesus also created a
new covenant, Heb 8:13 “In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the
first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”
Then if we go to Dan 9:24 “…for sin to be ended, and to seal up
transgressions, and to blot out the iniquities, and to make
atonement for iniquities, and to bring in everlasting righteousness,
and to seal the vision and the prophet, and to anoint the Most Holy.”
Christ has confirmed all those points on the cross with His once and final
sacrifice.
The next part of the verse, “with
many for one week”? The Geneve commentary touches on this, “first to
the Jews, and after to the Gentiles”. But again if we go back to the start of
Dan 9:24 “Seventy weeks have been determined upon thy people,
and upon the holy city,” To whom does, ‘thy people’ refer? To Daniel’s
people, he was a Jew, so the seventy weeks prophecy was directed to the Jews
and the Holy City first, then to the Gentiles. ‘Then finally For one week’, (7
years), God confirmed the covenant first through Christ’s ministry, then with
the Holy Spirit working through disciples. After the 7 years the message went
to the Gentiles! With Philip and the Ethiopian treasurer, Act.
8:27. Peter and Cornelius, Act. 10:25. Then Paul the disciple to the gentiles,
Act. 9:15. So the proscribed 70 weeks prophecy, the 490 literal years, was now
finished and the Gospel was now going GLOBAL! .
Next we have, “in the midst of
the week my sacrifice and drink-offering shall be taken away”.
Christ’s sacrifice was in the middle of, “the 70th week”, and it was the final
sacrifice. Consider this, if ANYONE today started offering bulls and blood
sacrifice to God, would God accept that as a sacrifice that He still requires?
No! So my sacrifice can only be referring to a sacrifice that God
would accept, and not to any sacrifice in the future.
This is a major fault with the
Futurist teaching. Neither the Jews nor the Antichrist could start blood sacrifice
and expect it to be acceptable to God. Also how could the Antichrist “confirm
the covenant with many for one week”, then in the midst of the week he
goes back on his agreement by cancelling the sacrifice and drink offering?
Obviously he does not “confirm the covenant..for one week”, but he
confirms it for only half a week! There are too many ‘pot holes’ in the
Futurist teaching.
Conclusion
By establishing when Jesus became the Messiah we have a set
point in Christian history. And if it cannot be calculated by secular history
so what! We know that God established the Messiah 3½ years before the
crucifixion. Then we examined the
Septuagint, one of the most reliable translations of the Hebrew text. By
studying the Septuagint we find that from the establishment of the Messiah, the
70th week of Daniels prophecy has all been fulfilled. The 70 Weeks
prophecy is one continuous event!
As I said at the start, I hope you have found this as interesting as I did when The Lord popped the question into my mind.
God Bless You! [GBY]
Yours Adrian
Yours Adrian
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