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The Time of Messiah’s Coming RevealedPay Attention to Daniel’s Prophecy!
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And you should know and have the insight that from the going forth of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Leader, there will be seven weeks, also sixty-two weeks. She will return and be actually rebuilt, with a public square and moat, but in the straits of the times.”—Daniel 9:24, 25.
14 This was good news indeed! Not only would Jerusalem be rebuilt and worship be restored at a new temple but also “Messiah the Leader” would appear at a specific time. This would occur within “seventy weeks.”
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The Time of Messiah’s Coming RevealedPay Attention to Daniel’s Prophecy!
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15. Into what three periods are the “seventy weeks” divided, and when would they start?
15 According to the angel’s words, the “seventy weeks” would be divided into three periods: (1) “seven weeks,” (2) “sixty-two weeks,” and (3) one week. That would be 49 years, 434 years, and 7 years—totaling 490 years.
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The Time of Messiah’s Coming RevealedPay Attention to Daniel’s Prophecy!
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The starting point would be “the going forth of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem.” When would this be?
THE “SEVENTY WEEKS” BEGIN
16. As shown by his decree, for what purpose did Cyrus restore the Jews to their homeland?
16 Three noteworthy incidents deserve consideration with regard to the beginning of the “seventy weeks.” The first occurred in 537 B.C.E. when Cyrus issued his decree restoring the Jews to their homeland. It reads: “This is what Cyrus the king of Persia has said, ‘All the kingdoms of the earth Jehovah the God of the heavens has given me, and he himself has commissioned me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God prove to be with him. So let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of Jehovah the God of Israel—he is the true God—which was in Jerusalem. As for anyone that is left from all the places where he is residing as an alien, let the men of his place assist him with silver and with gold and with goods and with domestic animals along with the voluntary offering for the house of the true God, which was in Jerusalem.’” (Ezra 1:2-4) Clearly, the express purpose of this decree was to have the temple—“the house of Jehovah”—rebuilt on its former site.
17. The letter given to Ezra gave what reason for his journey to Jerusalem?
17 The second incident occurred in the seventh year of the reign of Persian King Artaxerxes (Artaxerxes Longimanus, son of Xerxes I). At that time, Ezra the copyist made a four-month journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. He carried a special letter from the king, but it did not authorize the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Instead, Ezra’s commission was limited to ‘beautifying the house of Jehovah.’ That is why the letter referred to gold and silver, sacred vessels, and contributions of wheat, wine, oil, and salt for support of worship at the temple, as well as freedom from taxation for those serving there.—Ezra 7:6-27.
18. What news disturbed Nehemiah, and how did King Artaxerxes learn of it?
18 The third incident occurred 13 years later, in the 20th year of Persian King Artaxerxes. Nehemiah was then serving as his cupbearer in “Shushan the castle.” Jerusalem had been rebuilt to some extent by the remnant that had returned from Babylon. But all was not well. Nehemiah learned that ‘the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and its very gates had been burned with fire.’ This disturbed him greatly, and gloom settled upon his heart. Questioned about his sadness, Nehemiah replied: “Let the king himself live to time indefinite! Why should not my face become gloomy when the city, the house of the burial places of my forefathers, is devastated, and its very gates have been eaten up with fire?”—Nehemiah 1:1-3; 2:1-3.
19. (a) When questioned by King Artaxerxes, what did Nehemiah do first? (b) What did Nehemiah request, and how did he acknowledge God’s role in the matter?
19 The account involving Nehemiah continues: “In turn the king said to me: ‘What is this that you are seeking to secure?’ At once I prayed to the God of the heavens. After that I said to the king: ‘If to the king it does seem good, and if your servant seems good before you, that you would send me to Judah, to the city of the burial places of my forefathers, that I may rebuild it.’” This proposal pleased Artaxerxes, who also acted on Nehemiah’s further request: “If to the king it does seem good, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the River [Euphrates], that they may let me pass until I come to Judah; also a letter to Asaph the keeper of the park that belongs to the king, that he may give me trees to build with timber the gates of the Castle that belongs to the house, and for the wall of the city and for the house into which I am to enter.” Nehemiah acknowledged Jehovah’s role in all of this, saying: “So the king gave [the letters] to me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.”—Nehemiah 2:4-8.
20. (a) When did the word “to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem” take effect? (b) When did the “seventy weeks” begin, and when did they end? (c) What evidence points to the accuracy of the dates for the beginning and the end of the “seventy weeks”?
20 Although permission was given in the month of Nisan, during the early part of the 20th year of Artaxerxes’ reign, the actual “going forth of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem” took effect months later. This occurred when Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem and began his work of restoration. Ezra’s journey had taken four months, but Shushan was over 200 miles [322 km] east of Babylon and thus even farther from Jerusalem. Most likely, then, Nehemiah’s arrival in Jerusalem occurred near the end of Artaxerxes’ 20th year, or in 455 B.C.E. It is then that the foretold “seventy weeks,” or 490 years, began. They would end in the latter part of 36 C.E.—See “When Did Artaxerxes’ Reign Begin?” on page 197.
“MESSIAH THE LEADER” APPEARS
21. (a) What was to be accomplished during the first “seven weeks,” and despite what circumstances? (b) In what year was the Messiah due to appear, and what does Luke’s Gospel say happened at that time?
21 How many years elapsed before Jerusalem was actually rebuilt? Well, the restoration of the city was to be accomplished “in the straits of the times” because of difficulties among the Jews themselves and opposition from the Samaritans and others. The work was evidently completed to the extent necessary by about 406 B.C.E.—within the “seven weeks,” or 49 years. (Daniel 9:25) A period of 62 weeks, or 434 years, would follow. After that time period, the long-promised Messiah would appear. Counting 483 years (49 plus 434) from 455 B.C.E. brings us to 29 C.E. What happened at that time? The Gospel writer Luke tells us: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was district ruler of Galilee, . . . God’s declaration came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. So he came into all the country around the Jordan, preaching baptism in symbol of repentance for forgiveness of sins.” At that time “the people were in expectation” of the Messiah.—Luke 3:1-3, 15.
22. When and by what means did Jesus become the foretold Messiah?
22 John was not the promised Messiah. But concerning what he witnessed at the baptism of Jesus of Nazareth, in the fall of 29 C.E., John said: “I viewed the spirit coming down as a dove out of heaven, and it remained upon him. Even I did not know him, but the very One who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘Whoever it is upon whom you see the spirit coming down and remaining, this is the one that baptizes in holy spirit.’ And I have seen it, and I have borne witness that this one is the Son of God.” (John 1:32-34) At his baptism, Jesus became the Anointed One—the Messiah, or Christ. Shortly thereafter, John’s disciple Andrew met the anointed Jesus and then told Simon Peter: “We have found the Messiah.” (John 1:41) Thus, “Messiah the Leader” appeared exactly on time—at the end of 69 weeks!
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