THE CRUCIFIXION

THE PROPHECY

In Daniel 9:24-27, a prophecy lays down a time line regarding the coming of Jesus. To understand the prophecy and the time measure indicated by 70 weeks, we have to understand the Jewish concept of week. The Hebrew word for "week" is "shabua" and literally means a "seven". In Hebrew the idea of 70 weeks is "seventy sevens (of years)." The Jews were familiar with a "seven" of both days and years. Josh McDowell's "Evidence that demands a Verdict", studies in depth the prophecy and time line:

The prophecy is given in three specific parts concerning the Messiah. The first part states that at the end of 69 weeks, the Messiah will come to Jerusalem. (The 7 and 62 weeks are understood as 69 seven-year periods.) The starting point of the 69 weeks is the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. This decree was given in 444 BC , based on the following:

• ". . . In the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes" (Nehemiah 2:1).
  
• Artaxerxes' accession was in 465 BC.
  
• There is no date specified, so according to the Jewish custom, the date is understood as the first day of the month, which would be Nisan 1, 444 BC.
  
• March 5, 444 BC is our corresponding calendar date.
  

The second part states that after the Messiah comes, He will be cut off (idiom for His death). Then the prince to come will destroy Jerusalem and the temple.

All of the above, according to Daniel 9:24-26, takes place after the 69 weeks of years. But Daniel l9:24 mentions 70 weeks (7+62+1), not just 69. The final week described in 9:27 seems to refer to a different person, to a time still to come.

If Daniel is correct, the time from the edict to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (Nisan 1, 444 BC) to the coming of the Messiah to Jerusalem is 483 years (69 x 7), each year equaling the Jewish prophetic year of 360 days (173,880 days ).

The terminal event of the 69 weeks is the presentation of Christ Himself to Israel as the Messiah as predicted in Zechariah 9:9. H.Hoehner, who has thoroughly researched this prophecy in Daniel and the corresponding dates (H.Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, Zondervan Publishing), calculates the date of this event:

"Multiplying the sixty-nine weeks by seven years for each week by 360 days gives a total of 173,880 days. The difference between 444 BC and AD 33 then is 476 solar years. By multiplying 476 by 365.24219879 or by 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45.975 seconds [there are 365¼ days in a year], one comes to 173,855 days, 6 hours, 52 minutes, 44 seconds, or 173,855 days. This leaves only 25 days to be accounted for between 444 BC and AD 33. By adding the 25 days to March 5 (of 444 BC), one comes to March 30 (or AD 33) which was Nisan 10 in AD 33. This is the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem."

After the termination of the 69 weeks and before the commencement of the 70th week, two events had to occur: The "cutting off" of the Messiah (Daniel 9:26) and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the (Roman) prince [Titus] in 70 AD. If all calculations and the basic date of the decree in 444 BC are correct (see also "calendars"), Christ was crucified April 3, AD 33, the Friday following his triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

Josh McDowell

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