It is in the book of Daniel you have the most prophetic passages of the entirety of the word of God.
It is here where you will find a road map, an outline, a grid for biblical prophecy.The prophet Daniel, while reading in the Book of Jeremiah, discovered that the seventy years of servitude was almost over for Israel which had been taken captive by the Babylonians and he began to pray for his people. As a burdened Daniel is seeking God, his prayer is interrupted and a prophecy, a vision is sent forth that is unquestionably the most remarkable passage in the entire Bible.
Lets look at who Daniel was, and what He was doing at the time this Word from God came regarding the prophecy based on seventy periods of seven year cycles.
Kidnapped and Deported
Jeremiah 25: 4-7
“And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but YE HAVE NOT hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear. They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever: And GO NOT AFTER other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands TO YOUR OWN HURT.”Daniel was among the Jews who were carried off into captivity in Babylon
The Babylonians, led by King Nebuchadnezzar conquered the Hebrews living in the kingdom of Judah and were taken back to Babylon as prisoners. God allowed this because of their disobedience as God warned them through the prophet Jeremiah.Although just a boy and from nobility, amongst those whom were taken was Daniel.Even though Daniel did not partake in the sins that led to this captivity , God Allowed and for great reason.
Exiled as a teenager at about 14 years old,Daniel was taken from his family in Judah and deported to Babylon to be brainwashed into Babylonian culture for the task of assisting in dealing with the imported Jews.
The Babylonians wanted to wipe out any identification with his past, so they took away his name Daniel,which meant God is my Judge and gave him the name Belteshazzar, which meant “Bel protect the king.” However, Daniel did not succumb to the ways of the Babylonians , their life style, their indulgences or the worship of any other god,Idol or King. Instead, he did the complete opposite and honored God in all things, Every day and in every way…
Daniel Prayed
When you read the book of Daniel , you find the one specific thing that really shows the character and heart of Daniel and that is that he was a faithful praying Man… Daniel prayed on his face humbly before God, And when King Darius reigned (after Nebuchadnezzar) he would be persecuted for praying to his God but as the scriptures prove he was always victorious for it.King Darius was to put Daniel in charge of the entire kingdom, the other advisers became so jealous they conspired against Daniel by tricking the King into issuing a decree forbidding worship of any other god or man for a 30-day period. Daniel knowing of this decree, refuses to follow it and instead prays to the one and only true God, even boldly out loud with the windows wide opened!
Because the decree could not be broken , the trickery of the advisors gets Daniel thrown into a den of hungry lions but the hungry lions mouths are shut by the Angel of the LORD and Daniel is found unharmed. Then King Darius casts Daniel’s accusers into the lions’ pit where they are instantly devoured.
Yes, Daniel was a praying man and because he set his heart towards God. God heard the prayer of Daniel and just like the prayer of that in the Lions Den, God hears Daniel and sends him a very special visitor.
Daniel Read The Word
Now near the end of the Babylonian captivity, Daniel is approximately 80 years old at this point in his life. Daniel, is reading the Book of Jeremiah, his heart becomes very burdened (The Prayer of Daniel Proves this) and this is why…Jeremiah 25:3-11
the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken
unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened. And the
LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and
sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear
to hear. They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and
from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath
given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever: And go not after
other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to
anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. Yet ye
have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to
anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have
not heard my words, Behold, I will send and take all the families of the
north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my
servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the
inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will
utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing,
and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of
mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the
voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the
candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
Gods Promise To Return Israel
Daniel 9:1-2
1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; 2 In the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolation’s of JerusalemDaniel while reading Jeremiah, concluded that the 70-year period of Israel’s bondage is virtually almost over, and that return to their own land was nigh.
With this hope, Daniel begins to pray for himself and his people. His prayer of confession and petition is answered, In such an AMAZING way…
Daniel Cries Out To God With All Of His Heart
Daniel 9:3
3. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes…Daniels Prayer Of Lamentation
Daniel 9:4-18
9:4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;9:5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
9:6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
9:7 O LORD, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
9:8 O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.
9:9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him;
9:10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
9:11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
9:12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
9:13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.
9:14 Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.
9:15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
9:16 O LORD, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.
9:17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.
9:18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolation’s, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.
9:19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name…
Interrupted By An Angel
Daniel 9:20-23
And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God; Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said,O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision…
Daniel’s prayer was interrupted by Gabriel because God heard Daniel right at the beginning of his prayer and sent Gabriel with a word from God of the most incredible vision and prophecy.
Gabriel appearances are mention in 4 different places in the scriptures, twice in the Old Testament to Daniel and once to Mary and once to Zechariah (and most likely because of the angel’s message,with Joseph, Marys husband, although, he is not mentioned by name). In light of the scriptures of this vision and prophecy, consider this, no matter what the message is or who it was given to, one thing is for certain, the proclamations given are always centered on The Messiah, the Savior to come.
The Vision and Prophecy From God through the Angel Gabriel
Daniel 9:24-25(part of 25 is continued below)
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem….In fulfilling God’s command, three kings of Persia would need to make decrees regarding the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
Ezra 6:14
“And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.”Artaxerxes’ Decree: Beginning The 69 Weeks Of The 70 Weeks
The letter from Artaxerxes I to Ezra in 445 B.C. is authentic. Artaxerxes declared he had in fact “issued a decree” (as Daniel’s prophecy stipulates) and it represented Ezra as an overseer to re-establish Jewish law (which is the Jewish way of life) in Judah and Jerusalem, and further provided for a population of Jews to accompany him, a Temple offering from Artaxerxes, funding, made the Temple and its administration free from taxation, and Ezra and his accompaniment were free to do as they wished with any excess funds. It was a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem and it marks the beginning of the 70- weeks prophecy. In the salutation of the letter Artaxerxes calls himself “king of kings” and addresses Ezra as the scribe of the law of the God of heaven. There can be no question that Artaxerxes was divinely moved in all he did.
Artaxerxes’ Decree to Ezra:
Ezra 7:11-15 (this is the part of the decree of permission to the return to Jerusalem)
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. 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. 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. Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellers, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand; And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellers have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem…Daniel 9:25-26 (part of 26 is continued below)
25…unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.26. …and after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself:
God sent Gabriel, His angel, to give Daniel understanding and insight into the vision he had received, enabling him to see the near future in perspective. God wanted Daniel to understand the relationship between Israel’s soon return to the land and the rebuilding of the temple and God’s promise to restore His people and establish His kingdom
Gabriel’s appearance and announcement provides Daniel and his reader with an increasing level of understanding of the vision God Sent with Gabriel and for the first time in Daniel’s prophecy, the suffering and death of Messiah is introduced.
Read this beautiful Amazing Prophecy in Daniel 9:26 again …
“And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself:”
The book of Daniel, which was written hundreds of years before the birth of Christ and in it holds by far the most amazing of all fulfilled prophecies. It predicts the day that Jesus would make his triumphal entry into Jerusalem down to the exact day of fulfillment.
The Triumphal Entry
The story behind Palm Sunday begins, not in Jerusalem in the time of Christ, but in Babylon several hundred years earlier.These inspired words of prophecy speak of the days to come. They also speak of the coming Messiah, through whom God will provide the forgiveness of sins and bring to earth the kingdom of God. They speak of the hope which lies ahead for every believer. They speak of those future certainties which put present events in perspective.
the 69 Weeks prophecy of Daniel 9:25,26 can be interpreted plainly and consistently with all of scripture and history to show Jesus Christ is the `adh-mâshiyach nâghiydh, the Anointed Messiah Prince; the baptized begotten son of God who came into His anointing in A.D. 26, 483 years from Artaxerxes I decree to Ezra to ‘return and see to Jerusalem’ (Daniel 9:25), and was crucified fulfilling His being “cut off”(Daniel 9:26).
The prophecy states that 69 weeks of years (173,880 days using the 360 day prophetic year) after the command goes forth to restore and rebuild the city of Jerusalem the Messiah will come. If we count forward 173,880 days from March 14th 445 B.C. we arrive at April 6th 32 A.D. The very day Jesus Entered into Jerusalem
173880 Days: The “To the Day”
A Foretelling Of An Amazing Prophecy
We know that a week equals seven years as used in the context mentioned in Daniel. “Seven weeks and sixty two weeks” would tally up a total of sixty nine weeks. The Jewish calendar has a three hundred and sixty day year, so sixty nine weeks of three hundred and sixty day years would equal 173,880 days, Artaxerxes gave the command to rebuild Jerusalem no later than March 14, 445 B.C., Jesus pronounced Himself King on April 6, 32 A.D., from March 14th, 445 B.C. to April 6, 32 A.D. is a total of 173,880 days. Right on target.Let’s look further and do the math using the Jewish calendar using a 360 day year.
69 weeks of years equates to 69 (weeks) x 7 (years) = 483 (years)
483 (years) x 360 (days of the year) = 173,880 (days until Messiah)
March 14, 445 B.C. to April 6, 32 A.D = 173,880 days
And this even works if we use the 365 day calendar year.
476 years (from March 14, 445 B.C. to March 14th, 32 A.D.) x 365 days per year = 173,740 days
173,740 days + 116 days (leap years) + 24 days (March 14th to April 6th) = 173,880 days.
Confirmation: Evidence of Angels, Kings, and Days
Before we go any further in this prophecy, lets establish that all that is spoken of here from the Bible, The Living Word Of God, are of TRUE ACCOUNTS of People and Beings and days that are not from Fables and Fairy tales but Actually Existed as declared.
Consider the Day…
Is there any way to verify the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ on April 6, 32 A.D.?In the book of Luke we find that Jesus was baptized in the 15th year of Tiberius, in which his reign began on August 19, 14 A.D. This places the starting point of Jesus‘ ministry in the year 28 A.D., which spanned three and a half years. Placing the triumphal entry on April 6, 32 A.D. Couple this with the prophecy of Genesis 49:10 and many of the Jewish writings concerning the appearance and timing of the Messiah and you have a significant display of God’s foreknowledge. There are other aspects to this, one of them being that the Messiah would be cut off …
Consider the King…
If a decree came starting these days,Is there any proof that King Artaxerxes existed? Yes, there Most Definitively is
Artaxerxes I
The Silver Bowls From The Royal House Of The King
This silver bowl dates to the 5th century BC and comes from ancient Persia. It was used as a wine-drinking vessel, and it comes from the royal house of the Persian ruler Artaxerxes I. It is inscribed with the name of Artaxerxes himself, as well as his father Xerxes and his grandfather Darius. Of interest is the fact that the Biblical figure Nehemiah is listed as a cup-bearer to Artaxerxes in Nehemiah 2:1. Found before 1935,* it is nearly 12 inches in diameter and is one of four such bowls discovered so far. The inscription is in the Old Persian language using cuneiform script, and the bowl is on display in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the name of the King is on the rim of these bowls is Artaxerxes.The inscription has been translated as: “Artaxerxes the Great King, King of Kings, King of Countries, son of Xerxes the King, of Xerxes who was son of Darius the king; in whose royal house this silver saucer was made.”
Coin of Artaxerxes I
Lydia – Persian Imperial Coinage – Xerxes – Artaxerxes I –
17mm (5.50 grams) Struck 486-450 B.C.Period of Artaxerxes I-Darius III 450-330 BC – archer carrying dagger
King Artaxerxes I was the fifth King of Persia from 465 BC to 424 BC. and was the third son of Xerxes
Artaxerxes , among all the kings of Persia the most remarkable for a gentle and noble spirit.
Consider The Angel…
And Gabriel, Is there any proof of this Angel sent by God ? Surprisingly, there is.
Gabriel’s Vision Stone Tablet
Found At The Dead Sea In Jordan
This first century B.C. stone tablet discovered a decade ago near the Dead Sea in Jordan has been translated, showing it to be an apocalyptic description attributed to the angel Gabriel. The text of the tablet makes clear references to the Messiah who will destroy evil and bring in righteousness. In the stone tablet, Gabriel commands the Messiah to live after three days, a seeming reference to the resurrection of Jesus.The Dead Sea scrolls were discovered about 60 years ago, and something else quite Amazing has been found as well.
The discovery of a first century B.C. stone tablet near the Dead Sea appears to extend the ancient prophecies of the “suffering servant” to include his death and resurrection three days later. The prophecies given in the tablet are attributed to the angel Gabriel, the same angel who announced the birth of Jesus to Zacharias and Mary, as well as bringing the Vision and Prophecy of Messiah himself to Daniel
The stone tablet was discovered and purchased by David Jeselsohn, an expert and collector of antiquities. A few years ago Jesselsohn showed the stone to Ada Yardeni, an expert in ancient Hebrew, who determined that the text dated from the late first century B.C., based on the shape of the script and the language. Yuval Goren, a professor of archaeology at Tel Aviv University has analyzed of the chemistry of the stone and commented that he has no reason to doubt its authenticity.
The tablet consists of two partially-preserved columns of Hebrew text. The first column describes the breaking of evil by righteousness:
“By three days you shall know that, thus said the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, the evil has been broken by righteousness.”
This text is reminiscent of the passage from Daniel, which declares that the Messiah will “make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness. The text of Gabriel’s Vision goes on to describe the timing of this event as in being “in just a little while”:
“In just a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth.”
Since the dating of this tablet has been set to the late first century B.C., this “little while” would have been just a few years before the birth of Jesus, described in the Bible as being at the time of king Herod (who died in 4 B.C.).5 The text goes on to speak of the Messiah:
My servant David, ask of Ephraim (that he) place the sign; (this) I ask of you.
At the time of the writing of the Gabriel’s vision, David had been dead for 1,000 years, so, obviously, the text does not refer directly to David. However, in the prophetic passages of the Bible (e.g., Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel), the text often refers to “My servant David” as King David’s descendant and the Messiah to come.
According to Jeremiah, the Messiah is the “righteous Branch” of David, who will be known as “The LORD our righteousness,” which goes along with the text listed above. Line 80 begins with the phrase “by three days” in three days followed by the word “to live” or “be resurrected” live/resurrected, with the source being the angel “I, Gabriel” . Because of the poor preservation of the text, the object of the command is not clear. However, the next line contains the phrase “prince of princes”. Elsewhere in the prophetic passages of the old testament, Messiah is known as “Prince of Peace.” Daniel defines Messiah as “Messiah the Prince” and makes direct reference to him as the “prince of princes.”
Given the significance of the Messianic nature of the text, and the juxtaposition of “prince of princes” to Gabriel’s command, it would be reasonable to believe that the resurrected one is the Messiah. So, the likely translation would be “By three days, live, I Gabriel, command you, prince of the princes.” Therefore, this stone strongly supports the New Testament’s claim that Jesus is the Messiah who died for the sins of the people and rose again the third day.
The Temple Is Destroyed 70 A.D.
Satan Bids His Dirty Work
Daniel 9:26
26. …and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.”9:27 And he 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 cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
The prince spoken of here is an Evil one who is YET TO COME, he’s not there at that time, “but the people of the prince who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary” … Who are the people in this prophecy? It was the Romans who did this work of “their prince” who destroyed the city and the Temple in 70 A.D.
As soon as the walls were breached on the 9th of Ab in 70 A.D., a Roman military force of about 30,000 troops under the command of Titus marched into Jerusalem and began a systematic slaughter of the Jews and the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem.
The Romans brutally killed 600,000 people in Jerusalem including many of the Passover visitors who had been trapped there for the 143 days during the Roman siege. Many of the people who were not killed by Roman soldiers were shipped off to the gladiatorial games, Roman mines, and otherwise exiled from Judea and scattered throughout the Roman empire and other nations. By the year 73 A.D., all traces of a self-ruling Jewish nation had completely disappeared.
This happened precisely as Daniel and Jesus had predicted. In fact, as one carefully examines Jesus’ specific words, it appears that He held them accountable to know this astonishing prophecy in Daniel 9! “Because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” (Luke 19:44)
The Seventieth Week: The Time Of The Gentiles
There is the final portion of this prophecy yet to be fulfilled.
.seventy weeks of Prophecy
Daniel 9:27
27. ” And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week”…
This final week of years is in a very special sense the final fulfillment of the “TIMES OF THE GENTILES” – it is the final attempt by Satan the devil to establish HIS KINGDOM, a counterfeit of the Kingdom of God, with his FALSE MESSIAH .
The Final Three And A Half Years The Time Of Great Tribulation
Daniel 9:27(continued)
27. …and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
The Last 3 1/2 Years
The final 3 and 1/2 years of this false rule of the false Messiah will be the cruelest, wickedest, most sadistic and horrible time of all human history. Jesus Christ referred to it as “great tribulation,
such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matt.24:21).
Those who’s eyes are on Jesus looking for his return will escape this terrible time (His Bride, I will do an article on this soon)
Here are three scriptures to think on…..and while you read this remember this very very important thing… the bible, ever scripture, every book was written by believers(through the Holy Spirit) to believers these words are not for unbelievers…. (but so powerful and life transforming to read it could touch an unbelievers heart….turn a stone heart to clay and cause them to believe) …these words are for those believe… Jesus is speaking to the Church Not the World
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. Luke 21:28Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. Luke 21:36
“Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” Rev 16:15
John 20:31
“But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
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