Messiah's Timing

Do the scriptures tell us when to expect the Messiah to come? Yes, they do. But they don't circle a date on the calendar for us. There are some intricacies in the language and minor uncertainties that make a precise determination a bit difficult for a layman like myself. But I believe I can calculate to at least the generation of His appearance.

Dan 9:25-26 "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. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: 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."

One could fill a nice library with books written about the prophecies of Daniel. So I'm going to try to summarize and simplify this as much as possible. The weeks Daniel refers to are not seven day weeks, instead they are weeks of years. Let's do the math. 69 x 7 = 483 years.

Some debate over using the standard solar years we use today and the 360 day calendar many ancient people, including the Hebrews used. The amount of time will be unchanged with either the lunar or solar years. The difference is that solar years are standard now. But then we have the inconsistencies of the Gregorian calendar to contend with. So it stands to reason there may be some difficulty pinpointing a date. So I need to convert the lunar to solar years for the sake of our modern calendar. To convert the 483 360 day years to fit our calendar: (483 x 360) = 173,880 / 365.25 = 476 solar years.

I'm just going to find a date for the decree to restore Jerusalem and add 476 years to it. The only decree I can find that seems to have any bearing here is the decree from Artaxerxes to Nehemiah in 444 B.C. I got that date from Nehemiah 2:1 "In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes." Nehemiah received the decree then returned to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding. And Artaxerxes' accession was in 465 B.C. Convert to solar years and do the math...444 B.C. 443 B.C. is the first year we count to and 76 years later is 33 C.E.

So, based on Daniel's prophecy, the Messiah would be revealed in approximately 33 C.E. But is there any other scriptural evidence that might support this timeframe?

Genesis 49:10 " The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be]. "

Historically, the scepter departed from Judah a little more than 30 years before the destruction of the second temple in 70 C.E., when the Sanhedran lost the power to exercise capital punishment and became incapable of upholding the Law.

SUMMARY: What does it all mean? Either Messiah came in the first generation of the first century, or something is seriously wrong with the Tenach. Since I'm giving YHWH credit for the Tenach, I'm not suggesting that it is in error. It is possible that my date could be off some, but historically speaking, it could have been no later than 40 C.E. I see no other way to interpret the information, regardless of Daniel's prophecy.

Next, Messiah's Image, the Summary!