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The first three prophecies listed below concern the relative timing and historical events corresponding with the
Messiah's appearance. The last prophecy is famous among Biblical scholars for its ability to foresee the exact
year of Jesus' crucifixion.
HE WOULD APPEAR DURING A TIME OF SPIRITUAL APOSTASY AND POLITICAL UNREST
PROPHECY: "He grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of dry ground." Isaiah 53:2
FULFILLMENT: The root out of dry ground analogy refers to the Messiah's appearance during a time of spiritual
drought and political upheaval. History shows Israel was in a state of chaos during the first century. The religious
leaders were unscrupulous, more than 400 years had passed since the last canonical prophet, and Israel was
under the tyrannical domination of Rome. Jewish rebellions were frequent and the average Jew was more
concerned with religious rites and worldly affairs instead of their love for God. Jesus appeared on the scene with
new revelations from God, established the New Covenant, urged an apostate Israel to return to God, and brought
the gift of Salvation.
HE WOULD APPEAR BEFORE "THE SCEPTER DEPARTS FROM JUDAH”
PROPHECY: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes...”
Genesis 49:10
FULFILLMENT: According to this passage, two signs would take place shortly after the Messiah appeared. Judah
would lose its scepter/tribal identity and Jewish judicial power would be eradicated. In this verse, the word
scepter is best translated into tribal staff. For centuries, each of the twelve tribes of Israel possessed their own
tribal staff. This prophecy states the tribal staff, or tribal identity, of Judah would not be lost until the Messiah
came. Even when Judah was deprived of its sovereignty during the Babylonian captivity, it never lost its national
identity or tribal staff. The people still possessed their own laws, lawgivers, and judges.
Judah began to lose its power when Herod the Great (a Gentile) succeeded the Maccabean dynasty, the last
Jewish family to reign in Jerusalem. Furthermore, the legal power of the Sanhedrin was now being limited under
Roman domination. This loss of power included the ability to execute capital punishment sometime between 7
and 11 A.D. The Jews believed the Messiah would appear before Judah lost its identity but with the legal
restrictions imposed on them by Rome, their power was rapidly diminishing. The question remained: where was
the Messiah?
The Jews were well aware of the loss of power. The Jewish Talmud even documents the lamentations of their
people with the words Woe unto us, for the scepter has been taken from Judah and the Messiah has not
appeared! But the Messiah had appeared. He was Jesus, a humble Galilean teacher, traveling about the
countryside.
HE WOULD COME BEFORE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE
PROPHECY: “And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple.” Malachi 3:1
FULFILLMENT: The above verse (and others mentioned in Psalms, Daniel, Haggai, and Zechariah) gives a
definite reference to the existence of the Jewish temple when the Messiah appears. This means the temple must
still be standing when He comes. Of course, the Jewish temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans and has
never been rebuilt- for almost 2,000 years!
The book of Daniel not only speaks of the destruction of the temple, he also provides us with an exact sequence
of events:
“...The Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the
city and the sanctuary.” Daniel 9:26
According to Daniel:
- The Messiah comes (This happened with Jesus’ birth in 1 A.D.)
- The Messiah is cut off (an idiom for killed) (This happened with Jesus’ crucifixion in 33 A.D.)
- Jerusalem and the temple are destroyed (This happened in 70 A.D.).
THE EXACT YEAR OF HIS DEATH
PROPHECY: “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city... Know therefore and
understand this: from the
issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks
and sixty-two weeks... After sixty-two weeks the Messiah shall be cut off... And the people of the ruler who is to
come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary... Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week...”
Daniel 9:24-27
FULFILLMENT: This prophecy is known as Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy. Biblical scholars agree the interpretation
of the word week represents seven years. This comes from the Hebrew word for week (shabua) which literally
means seven. Seven sets of seven (49 years) added to Sixty-two sets of seven (434 years) added to one seven
(7 years) gives us a total of 490 years.
God reveals to Daniel 483 years would pass between the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the Messiah's death.
Skeptic Interjection: Why does the above verse mention seven weeks and sixty-two weeks instead of sixty-
nine weeks?
Answer: Critics point out the fact the Masoretic Text uses punctuation between seven weeks and sixty-two
weeks. However, evidence shows ancient Hebrew did not contain punctuation or vowels. Through the evolution of
the language, punctuation was later added into the written texts.
We see in the second chapter of Nehemiah it was in the month of Nisan in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes when
Nehemiah petitioned the king to rebuild Jerusalem. Artaxerxes agreed to issue him a letter of approval to rebuild
the city. From history, we know Artaxerxes ascended the throne in 465 B.C., making 444 B.C. the 20th year of
his reign.
Skeptic Interjection: There are other decrees mentioned in the Old Testament. How do we know this is the
decree on which we should base our calculations?
Answer: There are three other decrees in the Book of Ezra (1:1-4, 5:3-7, 7:11-16), but the reader can see they
are decrees to rebuild the Jewish temple- not the city of Jerusalem.
Skeptic Interjection: The second chapter of Nehemiah states King Artaxerxes issued Nehemiah letters of
permission to accompany him on his Journey to Jerusalem. Is this the same as a decree?
Answer: We are told in Nehemiah: "'...May I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so they will
provide me with safe passage until I arrive in Judah? And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's
forest so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates... The king granted my requests, so I went to the
governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king's letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry
with me." Nehemiah 2:7-9
These verses explain the written letters King Artaxerxes issued to Nehemiah providing him with safe passage and
building materials. Because this was an order issued by the king himself, it is obvious this was a sovereign
decree. We are even told Nehemiah was accompanied by members of the king's cavalry to ensure no one
interfered with the orders.
In order to accurately calculate this prophecy, we need to understand the difference between a Biblical year and
a calendar year. In the past, men have measured the years by seasons and lunar cycles consisting of 30 days
each month. Today, we know the earth completes its revolution around the sun every 365.25 days. But a Biblical,
or prophetic, year lasts 360 days. Although there are several verses that demonstrate this, let’s use Revelation
11:2-3 as our main example:
“...They will trample the holy city for 42 months. I will give power to my witnesses. They will prophesy for 1,260
days clothed in sackcloth.”
This verse refers to the seven year tribulation and mentions two witnesses spreading the gospel for 3 1/2 years
(42 months). The Bible states the 42 month period equals 1,260 days, which gives us 360 days as a prophetic
year.
For a few more scriptural references see:
- Revelation 12:6 as compared to Revelation 12:14. The two verses compare 1,260 days to a time, times,
and half a time (3 1/2 years) equaling 360 days a year - Genesis 7:11 as compared to Genesis 8:4 and Genesis 7:24 as compared to Genesis 8:3. These verses
list the number of months and days Noah endured the flood. The 150 days the flood waters existed lasted
exactly five months from the 17th day of the 2nd month, to the 17th day of the 7th month, resulting in 30
days per month, or 360 days a year.
Skeptic Interjection: What's the point of using a Biblical year? Was God not aware of the length of a solar
year?
Answer: The use of a biblical year instead of a calendar year is for our own understanding of prophetic
interpretation. When we look throughout history, we can see the length of a calendar year has differed greatly
(usually 300 and some odd days per year) due to the ignorance of the length of an earth/solar revolution. God
was well aware of the technical length of a solar year but many ancient civilizations calculated their calendars
based on lunar cycles of a 360-day year. Daniel's prophecy is based on the 360-day lunar year which offers us a
standard to execute our calculations.
Our prophecy in Daniel tells us there will be 483 prophetic years between the decree to restore Jerusalem and
the death of the Messiah. We now know:
- A prophetic year is equivalent to 360 days.
- There will be 483 prophetic years between the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the execution of the
Messiah. - The decree to rebuild Jerusalem was issued in 444 B.C.
- History shows Jesus was crucified in 33 A.D.
- The solar-year difference between 444 B.C. and 33 A.D. is 476 years (Remember, there was no year 0 A.
D. so our answer is not 477 years).
Using this information, we can show how Daniel was able to precisely predict the year of the coming Messiah:
- Since our difference between 444 B.C. and 33 A.D. is in modern solar years, we will need to convert the
amount into prophetic years by multiplying our 476 solar-year difference by 365.25 days (the amount of
time it takes our earth to fully revolve around the sun). We get 173,859 days as our answer. - Now take our 173,859 days and divide it by 360 to reach the amount of prophetic years. Our answer is
483 years.
Just like Daniel prophesied.
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