Our first parents disobeyed the Lord’s command and put the human race into a dying condition. (Genesis 2:16,17; 3:17-19) However, God promised a seed (heir) that would destroy Satan (Genesis 3:15). This meant man’s return to favor with God, and no more death. Death would be swallowed up in victory.—Isaiah 25:8; 1 Corinthians 15:54
Eve hoped that her son Cain would be the promised seed. Thus, she named him Cain which means acquired. Little did Adam and Eve know that it would be thousands of years before the promised seed would come to save mankind. Several Millennia later, the prophet Daniel prayed for an understanding of the vision God had given him. The Angel Gabriel was sent to Daniel to explain the vision so Daniel could record it.—Daniel 9:23
God’s due time for the seed’s arrival is shown in this prophecy of the Seventy Weeks found in Daniel chapter 9. “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 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.”—Daniel 9:24-25
Here, the time length for fulfilment of the vision (prophecy) regarding Messiah’s coming was 70 weeks. The rebuilding of the walls at Jerusalem establishes the prophecy’s starting point. Bible chronology shows us this rebuilding of the walls and the city was accomplished in 454 B.C. Next, the prophecy tells us the overall time period covered is 70 weeks or 490 days. Numbers 14:34 reveals the concept that in time prophecies, each day represents a calendar year. “After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years.” With a starting point is 454 B.C., the Prophecy (490 years) would end in 36 AD.
Now, the focus of this prophecy is the coming of the Messiah, culminating in the death of our Lord Jesus on the cross. God made it possible for our Lord to become the satisfaction of justice for Adam’s sin by preparing a perfect human body for him. (Hebrews 10:5) This allowed Jesus to give his earthly life as a ransom for Adam releasing him and his descendants from the condemnation of death. “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: … And he shall confirm the covenant with many [in Israel] for one week.” (Daniel 9:26-27) Daniel 9:25 tells us that the vision was for seven and 62 weeks or 69 weeks. Thus, in the 483rd year of the prophecy, at age 30, Jesus was baptized at the Jordan river becoming Israel’s Messiah. For the next 3½ years he preached the good news of the Gospel—the promised ransom, restitution and resurrection of all mankind. His death—Messiah being cutoff—took place “in the midst” of week 69, or year 486 of the prophecy—Friday, April 3rd, 33 AD.
Confirming this, Caesar’s decree for the census was B.C. 2. Thus, Jesus was born around September 29 of that year. He was baptized and began his ministry 30 years later—29 AD. Jesus was killed after 3½ years later, in the midst of the prophecy’s last weed—33 AD. Thus, the Scriptures provide the true dates for Jesus’ birth and death.
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