Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His nameImmanuel.
Isaiah 7:14 NASB
The Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
Mary’s Song
46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
Keisha Castle-Hughes (left) stars as “Mary” and Oscar Isaac (right) stars as “Joseph” in New Line Cinema’s release of Catherine Hardwicke’s drama, The Nativity Story.
The Birth of Jesus
2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
Is the God explained by the Jewish Rabbis from the Talmud; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? What about Chabad-Lubavitch; the Orthodox Hasidic Jews in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York. Do they have the true wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of the God of Israel? Is the seventh Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson really the promised Moshiach? Since the Rebbe passed away on June 12, 1994, does this mean the Moshiach will come twice? How about Kabbalah Judaism; is this Jewish mysticism revealing the hidden mysteries about the God of Israel through their esoteric method, discipline and school of thought? What about the Messianic Yeshuanikim; do they have revelation of the divine nature of Yĕhovah Elohim from Yeshua the Moshiach? Other Jews are non-religious, and consider themselves Secular Jews; and range from humanism, agnosticism to atheism, intertwined with various aspects of rationalism. Many believe that man and all of creation is the result of random change, plus time; over billions of years of evolution. For the humanist, agnostic or atheist; their only hope for the redemption of Israel will come from the collective intelligence, work and military strength of the Jewish people. Such diverse theological positions and non-theological positions.
Who is the God of Israel?
The prophet Moses wrote in the Torah about Abraham’s grandson Jacob, the son of Isaac. We read in the book of Genesis chapter 28;
28 So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said to him, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2 Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. 3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. 4 May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.” 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. Genesis 28:1-5 NASB
May El Shaddai bless you and make you fruitful
El Shaddai is the God of Abraham and Isaac. El Shaddai is the Mighty God who nurtures His people. El Shaddai is the all-sufficient Mighty God. [1] El Shaddai was the God of Abraham and Isaac but would Jacob serve the God of His fathers?
Jacob’s dream at Bethel, by José de Ribera.
On his journey back to Paddan-aram Jacob had a dream.
“the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac”
10 Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 He came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place. 12 He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. 14 Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Genesis 28:10-17 NASB
“the Elohim of your father Abraham and the Elohim of Isaac”
Yĕhovah said He is the Elohim of Abraham and the Elohim of Isaac. The Hebrew word “Elohim” is a plural masculine noun for God. Elohim is the plural of El (or possibly of Eloah) it is the first name for God given by Moses in the Tanakh: “In the beginning, God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth” Genesis 1:1 [2]
Yĕhovah the Elohim who created the heavens and the earth is the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac. Yĕhovah the Elohim of Abraham and Isaac appeared to Jacob in a dream and spoke to him and made promises to him about the future of the land he was sleeping on, multiplying his descendants and that through one of his offspring; all the families of the earth would be blessed. God made promises to Abraham, and these promise were passed on to his grandson Jacob. [3]
Bethel
18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top. 19 He called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, 21 and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the Lord will be my God. 22 This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.” Genesis 28:18-22 NASB
Bethel means “House of El” or “House of God”. [4]
“El Shaddai” & “Thy Word” performed by Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith
Moshe wrote in the Torah in Genesis chapter 32 that Jacob wrestled all night with a “man” who later Jacob stated is God (El). The Person from heaven who looked like a man but turned out to be God changed Jacob’s name to Israel and blessed him.
Who is this “man” who turned out to be “God”?
Jacob Wrestles with God
24 Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. 30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.” 31 Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. 32 Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.
Genesis 32:24-32 NASB
The prophet Moses wrote that Jacob was left alone, “and a man wrestled with him until daybreak”. Who was this man that wrestled with Jacob? Why did Jacob think this man had the authority to bless him?
Who is the God of Israel?
Some believe that Jacob wrestled with an angel. Yet Moses wrote that Jacob said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.” Was Jacob right? Did Jacob wrestle with God, and see God face to face? Jacob was so convinced he had a real encounter with God that he named the place Peniel, which means “face of God”.
Jacob’s new name Israel means to “struggle with God” and man and prevail. Jacob wrestled all night with God, and persevered in faith; to be blessed by God. Israel is the new name given to Jacob by God. Some believe the “man” who later is revealed to be “God“, who blessed Jacob and gave him the new name Israel; is the pre-incarnate Moshiach, the Son of the living God. The prophet Micah wrote that the Moshiach existed from the ancient days long before His incarnation, long before His birth in Bethlehem;
“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.”
Micah 5:2 NASB
Jacob asked the “man” he wrestled with, “Please tell me your name.” But the “man” who turns out to be God said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” The God-man eluded Jacob’s question with another question and left His identity obscure. Jacob has had a real encounter with the God of Abraham and Isaac, yet he does not know His name.
The God of Israel, is the Lord of hosts
The prophet Isaiah wrote that the Lord of hosts, is the God of Israel;
“O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
who is enthroned above the cherubim,
You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth.
You have made heaven and earth.
Isaiah 37:16 NASB
Isaiah had a vision of the Lord of hosts on His throne;
In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.”
Isaiah 6:1-3 NASB
Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying,
“Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Isaiah 6:8 NASB
Isaiah receives his call as a prophet from the Lord of hosts. Isaiah responded, “Here am I. Send me!” Why does the Yĕhovah refer to Himself both in the singular and in the plural? “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” (See Genesis 1:26) The triune Almighty God — Elohim (plural noun for mighty God) who is revealed in the Torah is a unique unified one, therefore the verbs and adjectives used with Elohim are singular.
Yehovah Elohim exists, He causes all things to come into existence. Yehovah Elohim is the self-existent One. Yehovah Elohim is the great “I AM”; who is, who was, who is to come. He is the first cause; Creator of the universe, all that is seen and unseen, all that is visible and invisible. Yehovah Elohim, the Lord our God is a unique unified one.
El is a Semitic name for God. The Hebrew word “Elohim” is a plural masculine noun that means the strong supreme One, Almighty God. Moses also writes in the Torah of our Almighty God (Elohim) in the plural in Genesis 3:22 and Genesis 11:7.
Then the LORD God said,
“Behold, the man has become like one of Us…”
Genesis 3:22 NASB
The prophet Isaiah tells us that the Lord of hosts created the heavens and the earth.
12 “Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called;
I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.
13 “Surely My hand founded the earth,
And My right hand spread out the heavens;
When I call to them, they stand together.
Isaiah 48:12-13 NASB
Isaiah explains more of who was involved in the creation of the heavens and the earth in Isaiah chapter 48, verses 12-16. The “Me” mentioned in verse 12 is identified as “I am the first, I am also the last” who is the maker of the heavens. Who is the “I AM the First, I AM the Last” who made the heavens and the earth? If we look back in Isaiah 48, verse 2 we see the “Me” is identified as “the God of Israel; the Lord of hosts”. The Lord of hosts, Yĕhovah Tzeva’ot is the Commander of heavens armies.
The Lord of hosts, Yĕhovah Tzeva’ot is the First and the Last; who created the heavens and the earth. In chapter 48, verse 16 we see that the “Lord of hosts”, who is “the First and the Last” maker of the heavens and the earth was sent by the “Lord GOD” (Adonai Yĕhovah in Hebrew). What is the significance of the fact that the Lord GOD sent the Lord of hosts? We see that the theology of the Tanach is consistent with the teaching of Yeshua the Moshiach and the New Testament writers. The belief that Elohim is a unified one Lord is supported by numerous scriptures throughout the Tanach, one being Isaiah 48:16 which includes a reference to three distinct divine Persons.
“And now the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit.”
Isaiah 48:16 NASB
1. Lord GOD
2. “Me”
3. His Spirit
So who is this “Me’ in verse 16? The “Me” in verse 16 is the Lord of hosts, the First and the Last who created the heavens and the earth. If we turn to the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation to find a clue who this mystery Person is. The apostle John writes, “Fear not, ‘I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” Revelation 1:17-18 John reveals that the one speaking is Yeshua the risen Savior, the promised Moshiach. Yeshua is the Lord of host; who said, “I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.”
1. Lord GOD = Adonai Yĕhovah
2. “Me” = the Yĕhovah of hosts, who is Adonai Yeshua
3. His Spirit = His Ruach (Spirit of Adonai Yĕhovah) [5]
“And now the Adonai Yĕhovah has sent Me, and His Spirit.”
Isaiah 48:16
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace
In chapter 9, Isaiah wrote a prophecy concerning the Moshiach;
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
7 There will be no end to the increase of
His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.
Isaiah 9:6-7 NASB
Michael Card and Sara Groves sing El Shaddai
What is this blessing promised to both Abraham and Jacob that would bless all the families of the earth?
Through Jacob’s family line, the Moshiach was born and He will bring redemption for all the families of the earth; those chosen before the foundation of the world, from every tribe and language and people and nation. [6]
Saul of Tarsus, from the region of Cilicia was the son of a Pharisee from the tribe of Benjamin who was schooled under Rabbi Gamaliel in Jerusalem. Saul in his religious zeal was a persecutor of the early church. Later, Saul became a believer in Yeshua the Moshiach. Saul like Jacob was given a new name after his encounter with the Moshiach. Jacob was given the name Israel, and Saul was given the name Paul when Yeshua appeared to him in a vision on the road to Damascus. [7]
Paul the apostle wrote to Jewish and Gentile believers in Moshiach this commentary on Genesis;
6 Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. 7 Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. 8 The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. Galatians 3:6-9 NASB
Yeshua the Moshiach is the blessing promised to Abraham. So that now, both Jews and Gentiles may receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. [8] Moshiach is the One who would come and bless all the families of the earth. The promises were made to Abraham and to his decedent, namely the Moshiach. [9]
Can a Jewish person find eternal redemption by attempting to obey the 613 Laws of Torah? Can a Gentile person find eternal redemption by attempting to obey the 7 Noahide Laws? Will both Jew and non-Jew be assured of a place in the World to Come (Olam Haba), the final reward of the righteous; by keeping the Law of God?
Moses wrote in the Torah; that Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness. [10]
The Law given through Moses does not nullify the promise God made to Abraham, of righteousness by faith. The 613 Mosaic Laws were given 430 years after God made the covenant with Abraham, which included among other things; the promise of the Moshiach and righteousness by faith. The apostle Paul explains; the law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18 For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. [11]
Why then, was the law given?
The Law was given because of transgressions until the Moshiach had come. [12] The Moshiach is the descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who would bless “all the families of the earth”. [13]
13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; 15 for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation. Romans 4:13-15 NASB
The promised Moshiach came at the appointed time, He lived among us and then willingly laid down His life as a sacrificial offering for our many sins. The sinless Moshiach took all our sins upon Himself, so that we might become God’s righteous people by faith. The prophet Zechariah wrote about the invasion of Israel and the siege of Jerusalem by many nations just prior to the return of the Moshaich;
2 “Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. 3 It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it. Zechariah 12:2-3 NASB
5 Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘A strong support for us are the inhabitants of Jerusalem through the Lord of hosts, their God.’ Zechariah 12:5 NASB
Then one day, the Lord of hosts will return to Jerusalem; and the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will look on the Lord of hosts, “whom they have pierced”; and they will mourn. We read in Zechariah 12:10 “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.”
The God of Israel is the Lord of hosts. The Lord of hosts is the One who was pierced for our transgression; Yeshua the promised Moshiach. [14] In Zechariah chapter 14, we read about the millennial reign of the Moshiach King on earth when He will rule from Jerusalem; 16 Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. Zechariah 14:16-17 NASB
[6] If you belong to Moshiach then you are Abram’s descendants, heirs according to promise; Galatians 3:26-29. People redeemed from every tribe, language, people and nation; Revelation 5:9-10. The saints (elect believers in the Moshiach) were chosen by God before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1:4-6 and 1:11-12.
[7] Saul of Tarsus, Acts 21:39. Saul from the tribe of Benjamin, Romans 11:1. Saul was schooled by Rabbi Gamaliel in Jerusalem, Acts 22:3. Saul a persecutor of the early church, Acts 8:3. Yeshua appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus, Acts 9:1-31.
[8] In Moshiach the Gentiles receive the promise of the Spirit through faith, Galatians 3:14.
[9] Moshiach would bless all the families of the earth, Galatians 3:16.
[10] Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:6 NIVUK.
[11] The 613 Laws given by Moses, do not nullify the promise God made to Abram of righteousness by faith; Galatians 3:17-19 NIVUK.
[12] Why was the Mosaic Law given? Galatians 3:19.
[13] All the families of the earth will be blessed through Abraham’s descendant the Moshiach, Genesis 12:3 and 28:14 and Galatians 3:16.
[14] “But He was pierced through for our transgressions”, Isaiah 53:5. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf”, 2 Corinthians 5:21.
Roman soldiers brought back a Menorah and other holy relics from the Second Temple in Jerusalem.
By David Cook
The Mäshiach had to come before 70 AD. Let me explain why. In the Tanakh we read prophecies about the suffering, death and resurrection of Yeshua our Lord; the promised Mäshiach. [1] In Daniel chapter 9 we read about important events that were predetermined in heaven for the benefit of the Jewish People;
Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish transgression, to make an end of sin, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Daniel 9:24 HSV
The angel Gabriel brought an important communique from heaven to Daniel, foretelling that sin would be atoned for in the future and that everlasting righteousness is available for those who have faith like Abraham. Gabriel prophesied that the Mäshiach would make an end of sin and finish transgression, and be put to death. Yeshua our Savior redeemed us from the debt of our sin with His own blood. The prophet Isaiah wrote extensively of the suffering and crucifixion of God’s Righteous Servant, Yeshua the promised Mäshiach in Isaiah chapter 53. Gabriel gives Daniel these significant points in Daniel chapter 9 verse 24;
To finish transgression.
To make an end of sin.
To atone for iniquity.
To bring in everlasting righteousness.
To seal up the vision.
To seal up prophecy.
To anoint the most Holy.
Then Gabriel explained that a decree would be made to restore and rebuild Jerusalem;
Therefore know and understand that from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Yerushalayim until the Mäshiach Prince there will be seven ‘sevens’ and sixty-two ‘sevens’. The streets will be rebuilt, and the wall, despite treacherous times. Daniel 9:25 HSV
From the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Mashiach comes there will be a certain period of time. The period of time is given in weeks of years, similar to a decade only in seven year periods. There will be seven ‘sevens’ and sixty-two ‘sevens’, for a total of sixty-nine ‘sevens’. Sixty-nine ‘sevens’ or sixty nine weeks of years is equal to 483 years. So after the decree is issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem there will be 483 years and then the Mäshiach will come.
From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem on March 14, 445 BC by Artaxerxes Longimanus until Yeshua arrived and was presented in Jerusalem riding on a donkey as the Messianic King on April 6, 32 AD. This is celebrated by believers of Yeshua the Messiah on Palm Sunday. We discover that when we calculate 69 weeks of years (or 483 years and correct for leap years) it figures out to be 173,880 days to the day. [2]
How is this possible, to announce the coming of the Anointed One, the Lord’s Mäshiach, the King of Zion; almost five centuries before the historical event transpires in precise detail? The Tanakh is an amazing collection of books, our awesome God orchestrated it. YHVH our Elohim is omniscient, the future is as clear to Him as the present and the past; He knows the beginning from the end.
After sixty-two ‘sevens’ the Mäshiach will be put to death, and will have nothing. The people of the prince that will come, will destroy the city and the temple. The end will come with a flood. War and desolation are determined until the end. Daniel 9:26 HSV
So after the sixty-two ‘sevens’ and the before mentioned seven ‘seven’s (483 years) the Mäshiach will be put to death. Then the people of a future prince will come and destroy the city of Jerusalem and the Temple. YHVH Elohim sent Gabriel to tell His people that an Anointed Prince, who is the promised Mäshiach must come, atone for sin and be put to death before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple. The destruction of Jerusalem and the second temple occurred in 70 AD, during the siege of Jerusalem; when the Roman legions fought under Titus Vespasian and the Roman army leveled the city. The Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD was the catastrophic and crucial event of the First Jewish-Roman War. [3] The Roman army, led by the future Emperor Titus and Tiberius Julius Alexander second-in-command, along with the enlisted soldier legionnaires in Judaea, conscripted provincial soldiers from Syria, other soldiers from Alexandria and in collaboration they besieged, destroyed and conquered the city of Jerusalem. [4]
Josephus wrote that “Vespasian sent his son Titus [who], came by land into Syria, where he gathered together Roman forces, with a considerable number of auxiliaries from the kings in that neighborhood.” [5] Josephus goes on to give us these details; “Malchus also, the king of Arabia, sent a thousand horseman, besides five thousand footmen, the greatest part of which were archers; so that the whole army, including the auxiliaries sent by the kings, as well as horsemen and footmen, when all were united together, amounted to sixty thousand.” [6]
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman senator and historian. He wrote extensively on the history, of this period of the Roman empire. Tacitus includes the Roman attack on Jerusalem and gives details of the specific legions and the peoples that comprised the attacking army: “Titus Caesar . . . found in Judaea three legions, the 5th, the 10th, and the 15th . . . To these he added the 12th from Syria, and some men belonging to the 18th and 3rd, who he had withdrawn from Alexandria. This force was accompanied . . . by a strong contingent of Arabs, who hated the Jews with the usual hatred of neighbors.” [7]
The siege ended with the sacking of the city and the destruction of the Second Temple. The destruction of both the first and second temples is mourned each year at the Jewish fast Tisha B’Av. The Arch of Titus, celebrating the Roman sack of Jerusalem and the Temple, still stands in Rome. The Arch of Titus, was built in 82 AD by his younger brother Emperor Domitian to commemorate Emperor Titus’ victories, including in the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
Photo by J. E. Howard, “The Arch of Titus”; built in 82 AD to commemorate Emperor Titus’ victories; including in the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
The Jewish People Did Not Recognize the Visitation of the Mäshiach
Tragically, most of the Jewish people did not recognize the time of their visitation by Yeshua the Mäshiach, God’s promised Messianic King. As the Mäshiach King approached Jerusalem, He wept over the city and He gave the reason why the city of Jerusalem and the Second Temple were destroyed as predicted by the angel Gabriel in Daniel 9:26;
41When He approached Jerusalem,
He saw the city and wept over it,
42saying, “If you had known in this day,
even you, the things which make for peace!
But now they have been hidden from your eyes.
43″For the days will come upon you
when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you,
and surround you and hem you in on every side,
44and they will level you to the ground
and your children within you,
and they will not leave in you one stone upon another,
because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
Luke 19:41-44 NASB
Both God’s envoy the angel Gabriel and Yeshua the Son of God, the promised Mäshiach prophesied the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the Temple. In the Bible we see both the severity of God’s judgment and the mercy and love of our Father who is in heaven. Yeshua the Mäshiach explained God’s plan for our redemption and salvation, and how to receive eternal life.
14“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
15so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
16“For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
17“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world,
but that the world might be saved through Him.
18“He who believes in Him is not judged;
he who does not believe has been judged already,
because he has not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 3:14-18 NASB
In the fullness of times, Mäshiach did come and was presented as King in Jerusalem. In the Gospel of John we read how God blesses all those who believe in and receive His Son, Yeshua the promised Mäshiach.
11He came to His own,
and those who were His own did not receive Him.
12But as many as received Him,
to them He gave the right to become children of God,
even to those who believe in His name,
13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh
nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:11-13 NASB
In the book of Daniel 9:26 we read how God sent the angel Gabriel to Daniel in response to his fasting, repentance and contrite prayer to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Gabriel told Daniel that the Mäshiach will come and be put to death before the destruction of the Jewish Temple and the city of Jerusalem. We know from history that the siege of Jerusalem by Emperor Titus happened in 70 AD; and this is when the temple and the city of Jerusalem were destroyed. So the Mäshiach had to come before 70 AD. Why then are so many Jewish people still looking for the coming of the Mäshiach?
Is it because they put more faith in the oral traditions of the Talmud taught to them by the rabbinic community; rather than the Word of YHVH Elohim in the Tankh?
[1] Suffering of the Mäshiach, Isaiah chapter 53, Psalm 22:1-24; death of the Mäshiach in Daniel 9:26, Isaiah 53:8-9, resurrection of the Mäshiach Psalm 16:10, Isaiah 53:10-12.
[2] Missler, Chuck, “Daniel’s 70 Weeks”, Koinonia House, 2004. (Also, the recording of “Expositional Commentary on Daniel”)
Inside the empty garden tomb of Messiah Yeshua in Jerusalem.
by David Cook
Long ago, God promised the Good News of redemption via Messiah’s atoning death; as a ransom for all our sins. In the holy Scriptures, we read of God’s righteous Servant Yeshua and His victory over death by His resurrection from the dead; which was foretold by the Jewish prophets in the Tanakh. Sha’ul of Tarsus (known to many as the apostle Paul) also wrote about Messiah Yeshua, who is God’s beloved Son and a descendant of King David;
2 God promised this Good News long ago
through his prophets in the holy Scriptures.
3 The Good News is about his Son.
In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line,
4 and he was shown to be the Son of God
when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 1:2-4 NLT
In the Tanakh we read prophecies about the suffering, death and resurrection of Yeshua our Lord; the promised Messiah. In Daniel chapter 9 we read about important events that were predetermined in heaven that would transpire in the holy city of Jerusalem;
Seventy sevens are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish transgression, to make an end of sins, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 Therefore know and understand that from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Yerushalayim until Messiah the Prince there will be seven sevens and sixty-two sevens. The streets and the wall will be rebuilt, despite treacherous times. 26 After sixty-two sevens the Messiah will be put to death and have nothing.Daniel 9:24-26 HSV
The angel Gabriel brought an important communique from heaven to Daniel, foretelling that sin would be atoned for in the future and that everlasting righteousness is available for those who have faith like Abraham. Gabriel prophesied that the Messiah would make an end of sins and finish transgression, and be put to death. Yeshua our Savior redeemed us from the debt of our sin with His own blood. The prophet Isaiah wrote extensively of the suffering and crucifixion of God’s Righteous Servant; Yeshua the promised Messiah.
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
Isaiah 53:4-6 NASB
In the book of Zechariah we read that Yehovah of hosts foretells that in the last days Jerusalem will be attacked by many nations. The Yehoavh of hosts is the Lord of heaven’s army, He will “set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem”;
9 And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. Zechariah 12:9-10 NASB
The Yehovah of hosts is Yeshua, the resurrected Messiah; who will return and fight the wars of God for His people. The Lord of hosts prophesied that the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “will look on Me whom they have pierced”. They will mourn for the Lord of hosts and will weep bitterly over Him like someone who mourns for an only son.
Nicole C. Mullins – My Redeemer Lives
One night while Messiah Yeshua was fulfilling His ministry on earth, a Pharisee named Nicodemus who was a ruler of the Jewish people; sought answers on how to enter the kingdom of God. Yeshua explained to him;
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:16-18 NASB
When Messiah Yeshua returns to rescue the remnant of Israel, the house of David and the people living in Jerusalem; will see that Yeshua is their Messiah and will mourn and weep bitterly. Isaiah explains that God’s righteous Servant, Yeshua the Messiah; was suffering on our behalf, to atone for our sins. Each and every one of us has turned away from God to go his own way. Like straying sheep that are lost and are away from the flock and are in need to be rescued by the Good Shepherd.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
9 His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
10 But the Lord was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:7-13 NASB
The prophet Isaiah wrote that not only will God’s righteous Servant, suffer and die for our sins; but He will live again! Messiah Yeshua will see His offspring, namely those who believe in Him will be born again to eternal life! [1] These are the children of God, as many as believe in and received Yeshua the Messiah as Lord. The apostle John wrote concerning Yeshua’s offspring;
10 He came into the very world he created,
but the world didn’t recognize him.
11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.
12 But to all who believed him and accepted him,
he gave the right to become children of God.
13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth
resulting from human passion or plan,
but a birth that comes from God.
John 1:10-13 NLT
In Isaiah 53:10 we read that Messiah’s Father will “prolong his days” throughout all eternity. God’s righteous Servant, Yeshua our Savior makes many of the unrighteous; righteous by faith. By God’s grace, the just Messiah who is God’s righteous Servant foretold of in Isaiah 53 is the One who justifies the unjust.
Yeshua the Messiah Himself prophesied that He would suffer, be crucified and rise again on the third day;
“The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected
by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed,
and on the third day be raised.”
Luke 9:22 ESV
The empty garden tomb of Yeshua the Messiah located in Jerusalem, outside the city walls and close to the Damascus Gate.
“the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men
and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
Luke 24:7 ESV
In Psalm 16, King David wrote that Yehovah God would not allow His “Holy One” to undergo decay;
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
Psalms 16:10 NASB
God’s “Righteous Servant” written of by Isaiah in chapter 53 verse 11 is the “Holy One” written of by King David in Psalms 16:10. Yehovah’s “Holy One” is Messiah Yeshua, who is without sin. Yeshua did not undergo decay since He rose from the dead on the third day. Messiah Yeshua is my Adonai. [2] As Job declared long ago, I know my Redeemer lives!
“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. 26 “Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; 27 Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another.
Job 19:25-27 NASB
Hillsong – Stronger
The apostle Peter gave this sermon in Jerusalem at the portico of Solomon, which was at the eastern edge of the outer court of the Jewish temple; [3]
But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you. 23 And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days. 25 It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ 26 For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.” Acts 3:18-26 NASB
Yeshua gave this promise of the hope of resurrection from the dead and eternal life for those who would come to Him and believe;
No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. John 6:44-47 NASB
[1] Yeshua explained to Nicodemus, a Jewish Pharisee how to be “born again” in John 3:1-18.
[2] Psalms 110:1&5, Messiah is King David’s Adoni mentioned in verse 1 and his Adonai in verse 5.
The angel Gabriel visited the prophet Daniel while he was exiled in Babylon. Gabriel delivered an important message for the people of Israel. Gabriel spoke of “seventy weeks“, the first sixty-nine weeks predicted the time when the Messiah would come and be declared the Messianic King. The seventieth week is about the seven years that precede Messiah coming on the clouds with power and great glory and the rapture of God’s elect.In the book of Daniel, chapter nine we read about Gabriel visiting Daniel in Babylon in response to Daniel’s humble and contrite prayer. The angel Gabriel delivers an important communique from heaven concerning “seventy weeks” (a time period of 490 years) of significant events that will take place in Jerusalem and concerning the people of Israel.
24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. 25 So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27 And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” Daniel 9:24-27 NASB
In this scripture Gabriel speaks of two very different princes, one Prince in verse 25 is the protagonist, the other prince referred to in verse 26-27 is the antagonist. The first Prince, the protagonist is the Mashiach (the Messiah) of whom both Moses and the prophets foretold would come. The angel Gabriel explains exactly when in history the Messiah would come and be announced in Jerusalem as the Messiah. Gabriel states that sixty-nine weeks (seven weeks and sixty-two weeks) after “a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem” Messiah the Prince would arrive in Jerusalem.
Then after the sixty-two weeks
the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing
Daniel 9:26 NASB
In verse 26 it is prophesied that an anointed One who is the Messiah “will be cut off”. This tells us the Messiah will be executed and die and seemingly have nothing. But much was accomplished on our behalf by Messiah’s atoning death on the cross. Messiah Yeshua Himself prophesied His sufferings, death and resurrection while He was on earth;
“The Son of Man must suffer many things
and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed and be raised up on the third day.”
Luke 9:22 NASB
Let’s take a closer look at Daniel chapter 9. Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon began a siege against Jerusalem and in 587 BC, his army broke through the walls and conquered the city. [1] Then most of the Jewish people were taken into captivity and exiled to the Babylonian empire. After living in Babylon for many years Daniel began fasting and praying for the sins of his people and asking God in behalf of the holy city, Jerusalem.
We read in the book of Daniel;
7 “Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You. 8 Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him; 10 nor have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets. 11 Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him. 12 Thus He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth. 14 Therefore the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice. Daniel 9:7-14 NASB
Daniel is honest with the Lord about the condition of his own life and of the lives of his people, the people of Israel. We continue reading in Daniel chapter 9 verse 20;
20 Now while 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 in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21 while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. 22 He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. 23 At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision. 24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. Daniel 9:20-24 NASB
In response to Daniel confessing his sin, and the sin of his people Israel; God sent the angel Gabriel to Daniel to give him insight about important events that would take place for God’s people and their holy city, Jerusalem.
Seventy weeks have been decreed for God’s people and their holy city, Jerusalem.
to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin,
to make atonement for iniquity,
to bring in everlasting righteousness,
to seal up vision and prophecy and
to anoint the most holy place.
When Messiah the Prince came and sacrificed His life as a ransom for many, the payment for transgressions was finished. God’s righteous wrath was appeased. Yeshua is our salvation, His sacrificial death on the cross was an atonement for our iniquity.
Isaiah wrote prophetically of Yeshua’s atoning death on the cross for our sins;
But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.
Isaiah 53:5-6 NASB
The Lord caused the iniquity of us all to fall on His Son Yeshua. The debt of all our sin was paid for by the Moshiach, by His sacrificial death on the cross; He was pierced through for our transgressions.
When Yeshua received the sour wine,
He said, “It is finished!”
And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
John 19:30 NASB
Just before Yeshua died on the cross He said, “It is finished”. What was finished? Was Yeshua’s life finished? He did die on the cross, but His death on the cross was to atone for our sins. The Just died for the unjust, so that we could be justified before a just God. To pay the debt we owed to God for our sins. After Yeshua gave His life as a sacrifice on the cross and poured out His life blood as a ransom for all sins, the debt was canceled out and paid in full; it is a completed transaction. Yes Yeshua died but His life wasn’t finished forever, His body remained in the tomb for a brief time and then on the third day He came back to life. Yeshua is the resurrection and the life. [2]
John the beloved disciple wrote;
“He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,
and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
1 John 2:2 NIV
Messiah paid the debt we owed to God for all our transgressions, Yeshua made an end of the sin debt, He redeemed us with His own blood. Messiah canceled our debt, it is finished!
The apostle Paul explained to believers in Yeshua the Messiah;
13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness,
and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
14 in whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13 NASB
Saint Paul wrote;
13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-14 NASB
Through faith in Yeshua the Messiah we can have everlasting righteousness! God made His Son Yeshua, who knew no sin to become the scapegoat. Messiah Himself is the sacrificial Lamb who took all our sin upon Himself on our behalf, so we could be declared righteous by God through faith.
He made Him who knew no sin
to be sin on our behalf,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB
We continue to read in Daniel chapter 9;
So you are to know and discern
that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem
until Messiah the Prince
there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
Daniel 9:25 NASB
Here the angel Gabriel tells Daniel when in history the Messiah will arrive. Gabriel explains that “from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince” there will be a period of time measured in weeks of years, “seven weeks and sixty-two weeks”. Here in chapter nine of Daniel “weeks” is weeks of years instead of weeks of days. So at this time in Jewish culture many things were measured in units of seven instead of the Greek custom of units of ten. A week of years is a seven year period of time, similar to a decade that is a ten year period of time. When you add seven weeks and sixty-two weeks you have sixty-nine weeks. When you multiply sixty-nine (weeks) times seven years we end up with 483 years. So from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be 483 years.
From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem on March 14, 445 B.C. by a Persian king named Artaxerxes Longimanus until Messiah Yeshua arrived and was presented in Jerusalem as the Messianic King on April 6, 32 A.D.; we discover that when we calculate 69 weeks of years, it figures out to be 483 years to the day. To be exact, it is 173,880 days to the day when you correct for leap years. [3][4]
“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”
28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.” 35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. 37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” 40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” 41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” Luke 19:28-44 NIV
On April 6, 32 A.D. Yeshua made His entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey coming down the Mount of Olives. His disciples joyfully proclaimed, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” This was the arrival of the Messiah in fulfillment of Gabriel’s prophecy of the sixty-nine weeks. The sixty-nine weeks prophecy given by Gabriel foretold when Messiah would arrive in Jerusalem and be proclaimed the Messianic King!
The Jewish prophet Zechariah prophesied that Messiah the righteous King would come to Jerusalem to provide salvation. Yeshua means “salvation” in Hebrew. Zechariah wrote that the just Messianic King would arrive in Jerusalem, humble and riding on a donkey.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
He is just and endowed with salvation,
Humble, and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Zechariah 9:9 NASB
In Luke chapter 19:41-44 Yeshua wept over Jerusalem and the people He loves, His own people. He came to the Jewish people and the majority rejected Him as the promised Messiah. If only the Jewish Sanhedrin would have known on that very day, that the prophesied Messiah was in their midst and honored Him as the anointed King of Israel, they could have made peace with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by receiving His beloved Son. Yeshua said, “but now it is hidden from your eyes.” Then Messiah prophesied the attack and devastation on Jerusalem and the destruction of the Jewish Temple, because the Jewish leadership and majority of the people did not recognize the arrival of God’s Messiah, Yeshua; the Son of the living God.
43 The days will come upon you when
your enemies will build an embankment against you
and encircle you and hem you in on every side.
44 They will dash you to the ground,
you and the children within your walls.
They will not leave one stone on another,
because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Luke 19:43-44 NIV
This prophecy in Luke 19:43-44 was fulfilled in 70 A.D. Yeshua foretold of the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the second temple during the first Jewish-Roman War. The Roman army, was led by the future Roman Emperor Titus. [5] The war, resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple which was initially prophesied by the angel Gabriel to Daniel;
and the people of the prince who is to come
will destroy the city and the sanctuary.
And its end will come with a flood;
even to the end there will be war;
desolations are determined.
Daniel 9:26 NASB
So Gabriel prophesied about the sixty-nine weeks that foretell when Messiah would come and be proclaimed the Messianic King. Then Gabriel prophesied of the war in Jerusalem, that the city and the temple would be destroyed. But what about the remaining 70th week?
Gabriel explains about the 70th week in Daniel 9:27
27 And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” Daniel 9:27 NASB
The prince who is to come “will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering”. A future prince will make a firm covenant with many (Israel and other nations) for seven years. Or he will “confirm a covenant with many” is how it is translated in the New International Version. It is possible this prince will confirm and or revise an existing covenant or peace agreement for an additional seven years. In the middle of the seven year covenant or three and a half years after the covenant is enacted, the prince “will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering”. Who is this future prince who will make a covenant with the rulers in Jerusalem? Who is this prince who will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering?
The prophet Isaiah wrote of this covenant;
14 Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, O scoffers, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, 15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.” 16 Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. 17 “I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place. 18 “Your covenant with death will be canceled, And your pact with Sheol will not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through, Then you become its trampling place. 19 “As often as it passes through, it will seize you; For morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night, And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.”
Isaiah 28:14-19 NASB
Isaiah prophesied that the Jewish rulers in Jerusalem will make a covenant with death, and deceptively make a pact with Sheol.Isaiah went on to prophecy that the covenant will be canceled. In Daniel 11:40-45 we read that the king of the North (who many believe is “the prince who is to come” spoken of by Gabriel in Daniel 9:26) will attack Egypt (who is the king of the South) and then enter the “beautiful land” which is Israel. Here in Isaiah 28 we learn that an army will “pass through” and trample some of people in Israel and seize others for exile. This time in Jerusalem will be a time of great tribulation like no other, a time of sheer terror. [6]
Zechariah prophesied about an army that will pass by Israel and then return and be an oppressor of the people of Israel. This is the army of the king of the North (spoken of in Daniel chapter 11:40-45) who goes down to attack Egypt and “passes by” Israel and then returns and oppresses the “Beautiful Land”, namely Israel.
But I will camp around My house because of an army, Because of him who passes by and returns; And no oppressor will pass over them anymore, For now I have seen with My eyes.
Zechariah 9:8 NASB
The prophet Zechariah wrote of the horrendous time when Jerusalem would be attacked by the nations surrounding Israel and that they will plunder and divide the possessions, capture the city, ransack the houses and the women will be raped. Half of the people in Jerusalem will go into exile but the rest will remain in the city.
A day of the Lord is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up within your very walls. 2 I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. Zechariah 14:1-2 NASB
Therefore thus says the Lord God,“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.
Isaiah 28:16 NASB
The stone laid in Zion, the tested stone, the costly cornerstone laid for the foundation is Yeshua the Messiah, our solid rock. [7] Isaiah tells us that the person who “believes in” Messiah Yeshua the cornerstone will not be disturbed.
The remainder of Daniel 9:27 gives us an important clue to the identity of the antagonist of Messiah, this future “prince who is to come”;
“and on the wing of abominations
will come one who makes desolate,
even until a complete destruction,
one that is decreed,
is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”
Daniel 9:27 NASB
The future prince will perform an abomination, he will make the Jewish Temple desolate. This event, known as the “abomination of desolation”; is written of both in the Jewish Tanakh in the book of Daniel and in the New Testament Scriptures by Yeshua the Messiah and the apostle Paul. Yeshua the Messiah and Son of the living God was asked by His disciples; “what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” [8] One of the signs Yeshua gave to His disciples to signal His coming was very soon is the “abomination of desolation”.
15 “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. 18 Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22 Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.” Matthew 24:15-22 NASB
The apostle Paul wrote of the “abomination of desolation” to the church at Thessalonica. Paul also explains who it is who desecrates the temple.
2 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 NASB
The apostle Paul explained that “the man of lawlessness” or “son of destruction” take his seat in the temple and display himself as God; this is the abomination of desolation. This “man of sin” is the anti-Christ spoken of by Gabriel in Daniel 9:26 as “the prince who is to come”. In the scripture passage above Paul explains to the church at Thessalonica that the coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah and our gathering together to Him (the rapture of the elect) will not happen until two events take place first.
The apostasy comes first (the great falling away from the faith) and;
The man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction who takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God (the abomination of desolation).
The prince who makes a seven year covenant with the Jewish rulers in Jerusalem and other nations. Then 3.5 years later, in the middle of the seven year covenant this prince will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering. Later the prince commits the abomination of desolation, this “prince who is to come” is none other than the anti-Christ. The anti-Christ is referred to by Saint Paul as “the man of lawlessness” and “the son of destruction”. The anti-Christ is the antagonist of the Messiah.
The Jewish prophet Micah foretold that the Moshiach who existed from eternity past would be born in Bethlehem, and then later shepherd His flock during His millennial reign upon the earth from Jerusalem. Prior to Messiah’s millennial reign of peace, Israel will be invaded by the “Assyrian” who will trample Israel’s citadels. The “Assyrian” is “the king of the North that we read about in Daniel chapter 11:41 who will invade the “beautiful land” — Israel.
And He will arise and shepherd His flock
In the strength of the Lord,
In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God.
And they will remain,
Because at that time He will be great
To the ends of the earth.
5 This One will be our peace.
When the Assyrian invades our land,
When he tramples on our citadels,
Then we will raise against him
Seven shepherds and eight leaders of men.
6 They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
The land of Nimrod at its entrances;
And He will deliver us from the Assyrian
When he attacks our land
And when he tramples our territory.
Micah 5:4-6 NASB
The prophet Micah wrote that Messiah will deliver Israel from the Assyrian, when the Assyrian attacks and tramples Israel’s territory. The ancient Assyrian empire included modern day Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Jordon, Israel, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, and Ethiopia. The Assyrian spoken of in Micah chapter 5 is the anti-Christ, “the prince who is to come”. The prophet Daniel wrote about the anti-Christ in chapters 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12. The anti-Christ is called by various names in the book of Daniel, the little “horn” in chapter 7:11, 7:20-26 and chapter 8:9-19, “the prince who is to come” in chapter 9, the “king of the North” in chapter 11:36-45, and in chapter 12:7-11 details are given of the anti-Christ concerning his authority for time, times and half a time (3.5 years) “finish shattering the power of the holy people” and that he will abolish the regular sacrifice and grain offering and then later “the abomination of desolation is set up”. In Daniel chapter 11 and elsewhere we read that the anti-Christ (king of the North) conquers the nations that made up the ancient Assyrian empire (except for the modern day Kingdom of Jordan), thus he is referred to by the prophet Micah as the “Assyrian”.
In Daniel chapter seven we read this description of the anti-Christ who is called a “little horn”;
7 After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts. Daniel 7:7-8 NASB
In this vision both the ten horns (and eleventh “little horn” who is the anti-Christ) represent rulers, princes or kings. We continue to read and we learn of the ultimate demise of the “beast” kingdom that is the anti-Christ empire;
11 Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire. Daniel 7:11 NASB
20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. Revelation 19:20 NASB
14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:14-15 NASB
In chapter 10 of the book of Daniel, Daniel has a vision of a Messenger from heaven who explains to him in great detail things that will transpire during the last days, during the 70th week; that is the last seven years preceding the coming of Messiah on the clouds with power and great glory. Some interpret this Messenger from heaven as an angel with great authority, others believe the Messenger is the per-incarnate Messiah.
2 In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks. 3 I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed. 4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris, 5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphaz. 6 His body also was like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult. 7 Now I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, while the men who were with me did not see the vision; nevertheless, a great dread fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves. 8 So I was left alone and saw this great vision; yet no strength was left in me, for my natural color turned to a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength. 9 But I heard the sound of his words; and as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground. Daniel 10:2-9 NASB
In Daniel chapters 11:36-12:4 this special Messenger from heaven foretells of the battles and wars of the “king of the North” (the anti-Christ) who will attack and defeat the “king of the South” (the king of Egypt), Libya, Ethiopia and the king of the North will also invade the “Beautiful Land” (which is Israel). But we read that Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon (modern day Jordan) “will be rescued out of his hand”; Jordan won’t be invaded by the king of the North. The anti-Christ will hear rumors from the East and from the North that will disturb him (most likely rumors from China and Russia). Finally, the king of the North (the anti-Christ) will “pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain” (Jerusalem).There in Israel, the king of the North “will come to his end, and no one will help him.”
36 “Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done. 37 He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all. 38 But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures. 39 He will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price. 40 “At the end time the king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow them and pass through. 41 He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon. 42 Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. 43 But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels. 44 But rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many. 45 He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him. 12 “Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. 2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 4 But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.” Daniel 11:36 through 12:4 NASB
We read in Daniel chapter 12;
11 From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Daniel 12:11 NASB
At some point in the future we can see that the third Jewish Temple will be built in Jerusalem and that regular sacrifice will begin again. Here we are given some very important information to understand future prophetic events. From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished by the anti-Christ until the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.
The 70th week (seven years) begins with the covenant the anti-Christ makes with the Israeli rulers. (Daniel 9:27, Isaiah 28:14-15)
3.5 years later the anti-Christ abolishes the regular sacrifice. (“in the middle of the week” or in the middle of the seven year period, Daniel 9:27)
1,290 days later (3.58 years) the abomination of desolation is set-up. That is, the anti-Christ takes his seat in the temple of God and declares himself to be God. (Daniel 12:11, Matthew 24:15, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)
The 70th week is a prophecy about the seven year period of time that precedes the coming of Messiah on the clouds in great power and then He will send out His angels to gather His elect! Daniel has a vision of four kingdoms (empires) and then he sees the kingdom of Messiah. The fourth kingdom is that of the “little horn”, a king who increases in power and might on earth. This fourth kingdom is the empire of the anti-Christ.
15 “As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me, and the visions in my mind kept alarming me. 16 I approached one of those who were standing by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things: 17 ‘These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth. 18 But the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come.’ 19 “Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet, 20 and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts and which was larger in appearance than its associates. 21 I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them 22 until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.
23 “Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. 24 As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings. 25 He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. 26 But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. 27 Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.’ Daniel 7:15-27 NASB
The apostle John wrote about the kingdom of the anti-Christ in Revelation 13:1-10. The seventieth week is a seven-year period of time that soon will be upon us. This seven-year period of time is revealed to us prophetically by the Lord our God in much detail by the prophets. [9] At the end of God’s prophetic 70th week, after the abomination of desolation there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. This period of great tribulation is known as known as “the time of Jacob’s trouble”. [10]
Then we read about how blessed is the person who keeps waiting and preservers until the 1,335 days arrives!
12 How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days! 13 But as for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age.” Daniel 12:12-13 NASB
What is the blessing the person receives who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days? This blessed event happens 45 days after the abomination of desolation.
Yeshua explains in Matthew 24 that after the abomination of desolation, there will be a short time of severe tribulation and then a blessed event will take place; we meet Messiah Yeshua our Lord in the clouds!
29 “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31 And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. Matthew 24:29-31 NASB
This blessed event is the rapture of the elect. Yeshua the Messiah, the Son of the living God will come on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. He will send His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect people from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. [11]
Paul explains that at “the last trumpet” believers in Messiah who have died will be raised to life and transformed into glorified bodies, and that the believers in Yeshua the Messiah who are alive on earth will be transformed into glorified bodies! At the last trumpet the people of God will be transformed from mortals to immortals, from perishable bodies to imperishable glorified bodies. [12]
50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 NASB
Isaiah prophesied that God’s departed people (those who have faith in God’s promised Messiah) will rise from the dead and live! They will be taken up to to our Father’s mansion in heaven via the rapture of the elect [13] and wait for a little while in their rooms until God’s righteous indignation is poured out on the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
Your dead will live; Their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, For your dew is as the dew of the dawn, And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits. 20 Come, my people, enter into your rooms And close your doors behind you; Hide for a little while Until indignation runs its course. 21 For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
Isaiah 26:19-21 NASB
Then God’s righteous wrath will be poured out on the earth [14] and then Messiah will return as promised and fight the wars of God [15]
But He will be indignant toward His enemies.
15 For behold, the Lord will come in fire
And His chariots like the whirlwind,
To render His anger with fury,
And His rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For the Lord will execute judgment by fire
And by His sword on all flesh,
And those slain by the Lord will be many.
Isaiah 66:14-16 NASB
The prophet Zechariah wrote;
3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. 5 You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. 6 On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. 7 It will be a unique day – a day known only to the Lord – with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will belight. Zechariah 14:3-7 NASB
8 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.’ 3 Thus says the Lord, ‘I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.’ 4 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of age. 5 And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.’ 6 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight?’ declares the Lord of hosts. 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; 8 and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.’ Zechariah 8:1-8 NASB
“The Lord of hosts” is a title for Messiah Yeshua, He will set up His messianic millennial reign of peace; [16] where He will rule the nations in the strength of His might with a rod of iron from Jerusalem. [17] Daniel is given more information about Messiah’s eternal kingdom in Daniel chapter seven, that ultimately the saints of the Highest One will be given the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven during the millennial reign of Yeshua the Messiah on earth. [18] Blessed are those who long for His appearing. Amen. Come Adonai Yeshua!
[2] Yeshua is the resurrection and the life, John 11:25.
[3] Missler, Chuck, “Daniel’s 70 Weeks”, Koinonia House, 2004. (Also, the recording of “Expositional Commentary on Daniel”)
[4] Nehemiah 2:1-4 Gives an account of the permission granted in “the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes”, andthe subsequent decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem on March 14, 445 B.C. by Persian king, Artaxerxes Longimanus.
[6] Yeshua prophesied about a time of great tribulation in Matthew 24:21.
[7] Messiah Yeshua is the cornerstone, the stone the builders rejected. Psalms 118:22, Isaiah 8:14, Luke 20:17, Ephesians 2:20, 1 Peter 2:4-10.
[8] Matthew 24:3 NASB
[9] The 70th week in Daniel 9:27, Daniel 11:36-45, Daniel 12:1-13, Matthew 24:9-15, Revelation 6:1 to 11:14.
[10] Jeremiah 30:1-24, Zephaniah 1:15, Matthew 24:15-29, Revelation chapters 8:1 to 11:14.
[11] a great trumpet rapture Matthew 24:30-31, trumpet of God rapture 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, rapture 2 Thessalonians 2:1, last trumpet rapture 1 Corinthians 15:50-52, seventh trumpet rapture Revelation 11:15-17, great trumpet rapture Isaiah 27:12-13.
[12] at the last trumpet believers in Messiah Yeshua are transformed from mortals to immortals 1 Corinthians 15:42-57.
[13] The “dead in Messiah” will rise from the dead and be raptured, 1 Thessalonians 4:16, Matthew 24:29-31, 1 Corinthians 15:50-52, 2 Thessalonians 2:1, Isaiah 26:19-21, Daniel 12:13, Ezekiel 37:1-14.
[14] God’s righteous wrath poured out on sinful mankind. Isaiah 26:21, Isaiah 63:1-7, Revelation 16:1-21.
When thinking about Moshiach, Jewish people generally find the idea of the Messiah both suffering and also achieving glory, hard to cope with. If he suffers he can’t be Moshiach, he must have failed! But is this really the case?
As Hannukah ended, and with Christmas approaching, I was reading about Jacob and Esau in the Torah. I reached Genesis 35:16-20, about what Jacob did after escaping from Esau and then returning to Bethel, heading towards Eprath:
Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor. And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for you have another son.” And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni [Son of Sorrow]; but his father called him Benjamin [Son at my Right Hand]. So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day. Genesis 35:16-20 ESV
Interestingly, on the way to Bethlehem, a son is born, who is named Son of Sorrow, but is renamed by the father as “Son at my Right Hand.” Isaiah 53 speaks of a “man of sorrows” acquainted with grief, yet later on in the chapter we are told that God will give him a portion among the great. Elsewhere, Psalm 2 promises the future king of Israel and Son of God that he will sit at God’s right hand.
Here early on in Genesis, we see a fusion of these ideas already, before Isaiah and David are even alive!
At this place, on the way to Bethlehem, death gave way to life. The death of Rachel facilitated the life of Benjamin. In a way, we can think of Yeshua, who had to die to bring us life.
The prophet Micah (verse 5:2) tells us that a ruler will come out of Bethlehem Ephrath, though the place is “small among the tribes of Judah.” This ruler will be “from eternity”:
This ruler, Yeshua, would eventually be the Son at God’s Right Hand. Like Benjamin, He was also a Son of Sorrows, and also to be born in Bethlehem. He would be renamed, in effect, also by his father, “Son at the Right Hand.”
So there you go, if you were wondering how Moshiach could both suffer and be glorified, and also be born in Bethlehem, well – your answer is already in the Torah!
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1 NIV
Moses wrote the Torah in Hebrew, the predominate word for God in Genesis chapter one is “Elohim”. We gain this understanding when we read verse one in Hebrew; In the beginning He created, Elohimcreatedthe heavens and the earth.
Who is Elohim? He created the heavens and the earth. Elohim is a Hebrew plural noun for God with a masculine suffix. Elohim, He created the heavens and the earth. But with the plural noun for God normally a singular verb is used. Why did Moses use a singular verb with Elohim? The Tanakh explains Elohim as the unified one God. Why did Moses use the word “Elohim”, a plural noun; for the true and living God? Elohim is the one true triune God; the heavenly Father, His Son and the Spirit of God.
In verse 26 of chapter one Moses gives us this insight about Elohim (the one triune God);
Then God said,
“Let us make mankind in our image,
in our likeness…”
Genesis 1:26 NIV
Here Moses reveals that man was made in the image of Elohim (Father God, His Son and the Spirit of God). One Person of the triune Elohim is speaking to two other Persons of the divine Trinity. In verse two we see that the Spirit of God is a Co-Creator with Father God and His beloved Son, “and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
Yehovah Elohim is self-existent,
the first cause of all;
He made everything visible and invisible in the heavens and on earth.
Since Elohim (the one true triune God) existed before He made the heavens and earth, He is the first cause of all; He is the Creator of all things. Elohim Yehovah is self-existent. Elohim existed before the earth rotated around the sun, before time began as we know it; He existed from eternity past. This is why the prophet Daniel called Him the “Ancient of Days”.
“I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
“And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations,
and men of every language
Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed.
Daniel 7:13-14 NASB
God the Father gives to His Son the Messiah an everlasting dominion which will not be destroyed. Elohim existed before time, is now and always will be. God is self-existent and eternal, He existed from everlasting to everlasting.
Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Psalm 90:2 NIV
The Jewish Prophet Isaiah wrote that the Almighty lives forever, He dwells on a high and holy place and with the contrite and lowly of spirit;
For thus says the high and exalted One
Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,
“I dwell on a high and holy place,
And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit
In order to revive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of the contrite.
Isaiah 57:15 NASB
John a disciple of Yeshua the promised Moshiach wrote;
1 In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things came into being through Him,
and apart from Him nothing came into being
that has come into being.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
5 The Light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness did not comprehend it.
John 1:1-5 NASB
So who is the “Word” that the apostle John wrote of? The word John used for the “Word” is “Logos”, a Greek masculine noun. The “Word”, is a title for the Son of God, Yeshua the promised Messiah. The “Word” was with God in the beginning, He is the living Word, Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Here John tells us that the “Word” (the Son of God) is a Co-Creator with His Father and the Spirit of God; “All things came into being through Him”.
Later John wrote about the “Word of life”;
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— 2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete. 1 John 1:1-4 NASB
So who is the “Word of life” that the apostle John wrote of? The “Word of Life” that the apostle John wrote about is the Son of God, Yeshua the promised Moshiach.
The Biblical narrative has central characters to the overarching story. A primary character of the Biblical narrative is the promised Messiah (Moshiach in Hebrew, which means “anointed”) The Moshiach is mentioned in the beginning in the book of Genesis and throughout the Tanach. The Moshiach made His advent into visible human history in the fullness of time, as foretold by the Jewish prophets. The prophet Micah foretold that Moshiach would be born in Bethlehem the city of David. Micah gives us this insight of Moshiach that He existed from long ago, from ancient days, from eternity past.
“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to
Be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.”
Micah 5:2 NASB
Moses (Moshe in Hebrew) begins the Biblical narrative with these words,
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” [1]
The Hebrew word used here for God is Elohim. Elohim is a plural masculine noun for God. Why did Moshe chose a plural noun for God?
Elohim said,
“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;”
Genesis 1:26 NASB
Here in the first chapter of Genesis Moshe quotes Elohim speaking to other Persons of the triune Elohim in the plural. Is Moshe consistent in the the Torah about the nature of Elohim?
“Hear O Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
Deuteronomy 6:4 NASB
Why did Moshe use the word “one” to describe Yehovah Elohim? Moshe wanted Israel to understand that Yehovah Elohim is one, a unified one. The word “one” in Hebrew is “echad”, which like the English word “one” has more than one meaning. The word echad can mean one alone, that is a singularity; or a unified one, such as the Holy Trinity. The Yehovah our Elohim is a unified one Lord. Was Moshe theologically wrong to use a plural noun for God? Did Moshe misquote Elohim when He said, “Let Us make man in Our image”? Who are the “Us” or Co-Creators involved in the creation of man? Moshe was not wrong to use the plural noun Elohim as the Creator of the heavens and earth, but very accurate; Moshe wrote under the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord.
12 “Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last. 13 “Surely My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together.
Isaiah 48:12-13 NASB
Isaiah explains more of who was involved in the creation of the heavens and the earth in Isaiah chapter 48, verses 12-16. The “Me” mentioned in verse 12 is identified as “I am the first, I am also the last” who is the maker of the heavens. Who is the “I AM the First, I AM the Last” who made the heavens and the earth? If we look back in Isaiah 48, verse 2 we see the “Me” is identified as “the God of Israel; the Lord of hosts”. The Lord of hosts (Yĕhovah Tzeva’ot) is the Commander of heavens armies.
The Lord of hosts, is the First and the Last; who created the heavens and the earth. In chapter 48, verse 16 we see that the “Lord of hosts”, who is “the First and the Last” maker of the heavens and the earth was sent by the “Lord GOD” (Adonai Yĕhovah in Hebrew). What is the significance of the fact that the Lord GOD sent the Lord of hosts? We see that the theology of the Tanach is consistent with the teaching of Yeshua the Moshiach and the New Testament writers. The belief that Elohim is a unified one Lord is supported by numerous scriptures throughout the Tanach, one being Isaiah 48:16 which includes a reference to three distinct divine Persons.
“And now the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit.”
Isaiah 48:16 NASB
1. Lord GOD
2. “Me”
3. His Spirit
So who is this “Me’ in verse 16? The “Me” in verse 16 is the Lord of hosts, the First and the Last who created the heavens and the earth. If we turn to the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation to find a clue who this mystery Person is. The apostle John writes, “Fear not, ‘I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” Revelation 1:17-18 John reveals that the one speaking is Yeshua the risen Savior, the promised Moshiach. Yeshua is the Lord of host; who said, “I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.”
1. Lord GOD = Adonai Yĕhovah
2. “Me” = Lord of hosts (Yĕhovah Tzeva’ot)
3. His Spirit = His Ruach (Spirit of Adonai Yĕhovah) [2]
“And now Adonai Yĕhovah has sent Me, and His Spirit.”
Isaiah 48:16
Is what Isaiah wrote concerning the nature of God consistent with the teachings of Yeshua? Is Isaiah’s prophecy in chapter 48 consistent with the New Testament writers about the nature of God?
The apostle John wrote;
“In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came into being by Him,
and apart from Him nothing came into being
that has come into being.” [3]
The apostle Paul is in agreement with both the Jewish prophet Isaiah and John the apostle. Paul wrote to believers in Yeshua the Moshiach and explained to them about how Elohim’s plan is centered on His beloved Son, the incomparable Moshiach;
“For He delivered us from the domain of darkness,
and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
And He is the image of the invisible God,
the first-born of all creation.
For by Him all things were created,
both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created by Him and for Him.
And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” [4]
John tells us this about Yeshua the promised Moshiach;
“There was the true light which,
coming into the world, enlightens every man.
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him,
and the world did not know Him.
He came to His own, (the Jewish People)
and those who were His own did not receive Him.
But as many as received Him,
to them He gave the right to become children of God,
even to those who believe in His name,
who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God.” [5]
So we see that what Isaiah wrote in chapter 48 is consistent with what Moshe wrote in the Torah, as well as the writings of the New Testament apostles and the teachings of the Moshiach Himself.
1. Lord GOD = Adonai Yĕhovah = Father in heaven
2. “Me” = Yĕhovah Tzeva’ot = Son of God (Adonai Yeshua Moshiach)
3. His Spirit = Ruach of the Adonai Yĕhovah = Spirit of the Lord GOD
Yeshua the Moshiach said;
“My sheep hear My voice,
and I know them, and they follow Me;
and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish;
and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.
My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all;
and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
I and the Father are one.” [6]
The Moshiach and His Father in heaven are echad, a unified one Elohim. The Adonai Yĕhovah (Lord GOD) sent Yeshua the promised Moshiach in the fullness of time just as the Jewish prophets foretold. So Isaiah was writing under under the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord in his book to Israel when he wrote quoting the per-incarnate Moshiach;
“The Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit” [7]
Yeshua returned to Nazareth, where He grew up; and as was His norm, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. He opened the book and turned to the place where it was written;
“The Spirit of Adonai Yehovah is upon Me,
Because Yehovah has anointed Me
To bring the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To announce liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
To announce the year of favor of Yehovah.”
He closed the book, and He gave it back to the attendant, and sat down.
Every one in the synagogue fixed their eyes on Him.
Then He said; Today this scripture is fulfilled as you listen.
Luke 4:16-21 HSV
Yeshua read from Isaiah chapter 61:1-2, in this scripture we see the triune God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Adonai Yehovah is upon His Son the Messiah. Yehovah anointed His Son to bring the gospel to the poor. Yehovah sent His Son, Messiah Yeshua to heal the brokenhearted. Here is an original song about the fulfillment of this prophecy in Isaiah chapter 61 by Lara Landon from her OVERCOME album, “The Spirit of the Lord”.
God gave His people the Tanakh, made up of the Torah, known as “the Law”; the five foundation books written by Moses, and the Neviim and Treisar, known as “the Prophets”; the prophetic writings of the major and minor Hebrew prophets, Ketuvim, “the Writings”; the Psalms of David, the Wisdom of Solomon, the sufferings of Job and the Megilot which includes these five books; Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther. The Tanakh, known as the “Old Testament” in the Christian Bible; is a most unique and amazing collection of literature. The triune Almighty God — Elohim (a Hebrew plural noun for Almighty God) who is revealed in the Torah, is a unique unified one. Elohim has been actively involved in the Biblical story line throughout history, from the beginning until now; as well as working in and through each writer. The Creator of the heavens and earth, the King of the universe, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has given His people light, truth, revelation, and insight to understand His prophetic plan for humanity. The central character of God’s plan of redemption is the promised Messiah foretold by the prophets.
First and foremost we learn from the scriptures written by Moses in the Torah, to love the LORD your God with all your, heart, soul and strength;
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your strength.
6 These commandments that I give you today
are to be upon your hearts.
7 Impress them on your children.
Talk about them when you sit at home
and when you walk along the road,
when you lie down and when you get up.
8 Tie them as symbols on your hands
and bind them on your foreheads.
9 Write them on the doorframes
of your houses and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 NIV
Our second priority is to love people, loving your neighbor as yourself. If we love our neighbor we won’t covet what belongs to our neighbor, his house, his car, his fine threads or his wife. These two priorities, loving God with our all and loving all of our neighbors sums up the writings of the Torah and the Hebrew prophets.
8Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another;
for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
9For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,
YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL,
YOU SHALL NOT COVET,”
and if there is any other commandment,
it is summed up in this saying,
“YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
10Love does no wrong to a neighbor;
therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Romans 13:8-10 NASB
If only we could do this each day, to love the Lord our God and to love every person in every instance. But let’s be honest, not every day nor in every way; have we loved God with our all and loved all of our neighbors as ourselves at all times, at least I know I haven’t. The prophet Isaiah tells us that I’m not alone.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
Isaiah 53:6 NASB
Who is this righteous suffering Servant spoken of by Isaiah? Who is this sacrificial Lamb who the Lord causes all of our iniquity to fall on? All of us need a redemption. We need a Redeemer, a Deliver, all of us need a Savior. We need someone to redeem us, to deliver us, to save us from our all of our iniquities. When there is no repentance, when there is no faith in God and His provision for our sin, then judgment comes. Our sins have consequences, when God’s people refuse to listen, repent of sin and heed His Word, then the consequences are severe.
We read in 2 Chronicles chapter 36;
15 The LORD, the God of their fathers,
sent word to them through his messengers again and again,
because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place.
16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words
and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD
was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.
17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians,
who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary,
and spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged.
God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar.
18 He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God,
both large and small, and the treasures of the LORD’s temple
and the treasures of the king and his officials.
19 They set fire to God’s temple
and broke down the wall of Jerusalem;
they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there.
20 He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant,
who escaped from the sword,
and they became servants to him and his sons
until the kingdom of Persia came to power.
2 Chronicles 36:15-20 NIV
God’s own people mocked His messengers, despised His word and scoffed at His prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against His people and there was no remedy. Why do we do this? Why such contempt of the Almighty, who is both our Father who is in heaven and a righteous Judge executing justice? Since Adam in the garden after the fall of man, the sin problem has spread from one generation to the next, without remedy until God’s plan of atonement by His righteous suffering Servant was revealed as foretold by Isaiah. How would God solve the “sin” dilemma, the problem that all people of all time have sinned, (except one) and bring redemption for those He chose and those He loves? God’s people despaired when they arrived in Babylon, it seemed no hope was to be found, and they were in captivity for many years. The first temple and much of Jerusalem including the wall were burned and destroyed. Many men and women, young and old were killed with the sword by the Babylonian army, but a remnant of Israel survived and were carried off to Babylon in exile for seventy years.
The Tanakh is a collection of scriptures inspired by God, when we read it or hear it read your faith may commence and increase. God gave His people an amazing prophecy in the book of Daniyel chapter 9 about the arrival of an anointed Prince who would atone for our iniquities, His advent is paramount for Israel;
“You are to know and understand
that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem
until one anointed, the Prince,
there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
it will be built again, with plaza and moat,
even in times of distress.”
Daniel 9:25 HSV
What important message was Gabriel sent to earth to communicate? Gabriel was sent to Daniel to let God’s people know when the Messiah the Prince would appear in history. Gabriel informed Daniel that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince is presented, would be a specific period of time, “seven weeks and sixty-two weeks”.
When was the decree issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem?
We read in the book of Nehemiah chapter 2,
1 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,
when wine was brought for him,
I took the wine and gave it to the king.
I had not been sad in his presence before; 2 so the king asked me,
“Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill?
This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”
I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king,
“May the king live forever!
Why should my face not look sad
when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins,
and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king,
“If it pleases the king and if your servant
has found favor in his sight,
let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried
so that I can rebuild it.”
Nehemiah 2:1-4 NIV
We read in this scripture that Nehemiah asks permission of the ruler of the Persian Empire, King Artaxerxes; if he may go and rebuild Jerusalem in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of the reign King Artaxerxes. As we read further into the chapter we find out that permission was granted, with protection for safe passage to return to his homeland and building materials were provided as requested by Nehemiah. So the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem was issued by Artaxerxes Longimanus on March 14, 445 B.C. [1] Other mandates were issued by Cyrus King of the Persian Empire, we read of one in the book of Ezra chapter 1 verses 1 through 4. Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild the Jewish Temple, but since Gabriel stipulates in Daniel chapter 9 verse 25, “with plaza and moat” to restore and rebuild the city of Jerusalem (not the temple), therefore we can conclude that the decree issued by Artaxerxes Longimanus is the starting point to calculate the 69 weeks.
Israel’s hope and future is intimately intertwined with the advent of the anointed Prince, the promised Messiah. From the beginning God knew He would redeem His people, so that our sin would not separate us from knowing the true and living YHVH, the self existent God; who is the first cause of all. Out of God’s great love for His people it was His purpose to send His righteous Servant to atone for all our iniquity. The Hebrew prophets foretold that God’s promised Messiah, the anointed Prince would die a sacrificial death as a scapegoat for all sin.
Moses gives us a foreshadowing of this concept through the father of faith, our father Abraham. As you know, Abraham and Sarah were unable to have children but God gave him a promise that he would have a son, whose birth was a miracle. Our father Abraham, a loving father was tested, he was asked to sacrifice his beloved son on the altar, although God stopped him. [2] This is known in Hebrew as the Akedah. Because Abraham obeyed Elohim’s voice, God gave Abraham the promise that one of his “Seed” or offspring would bless all the nations of the earth.
“In your seed
all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,
because you have obeyed My voice.”
Genesis 22:18 NIV
Who is the promised Seed who will bless all the nations of the earth? This is a promise by God about the Messiah who would come to earth, in the fullness of times. God gave us the Akedah, the account of Abraham offering Isaac as a sacrifice in the Torah, in order to see what He Himself would be required to do for His people in the future. The Lord our God would provide a sacrifice for sin, His own beloved Son of promise, whose birth was a miracle, is the innocent Lamb who atoned for all our sin. God did provide for Himself the perfect Lamb, this was His plan for redemption for His people, to deliver us from our sin.
While Israel was in exile in Babylon, in response to Daniels contrite confession of his sin and the sins of his people God sent Gabriel with a special communiqué from the Almighty about the advent of an anointed Prince who would atone for the iniquity of us all – the promised Messiah.
24“Seventy weeks have been decreed
for your people and your holy city,
to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin,
to make atonement for iniquity,
to bring in everlasting righteousness,
to seal up vision and prophecy
and to anoint the most holy place.
Daniel 9:24 NASB
Some say we should look for the anointed Prince after 7 weeks (or 49 years), although when we look 49 years after the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem there is not an anointed Prince in Jerusalem who came to atone for sin. But when we look in history 69 weeks after the decree we discover who the anointed Prince is. So let’s go figure. When we think of a “week” we think of 7 days, but in Daniel 9:25 a “week” refers to seven years instead of seven days. A “week” of years is similar to a decade. A decade is ten years; but a “week” of years is seven years. So we have 7 ‘sevens’ and 62 ‘sevens’. If you add 7 weeks plus 62 weeks there is 69 weeks of years.
69 weeks of years is 69 times 7 years which equals 483 years.
The U.S.A. currently uses the Gregorian calendar that is a 365-day year, based upon the Anno Domini system that counts years from the traditional incarnation of Yeshua the Messiah. Ancient calendars by the Hebrews, Egyptians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Persians, Greeks, Phoenicians, Chinese, Mayans and other civilizations were based on a 360-day year. These ancient calendars usually were based on twelve 30-day months. [3] We see this reflected in Bible prophecies in both the Tanakh (Old Testament) and New Testament with a 30-day month and a 360-day year, referred to by some Biblical scholars and theologians as a “Prophetic Calendar” [4]
So 69 times 7 years equals 483 years,
and 483 years times 360-days equals 173,880 days.
Gabriel gave insight to Daniel that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an anointed Prince there will be seven seven-year periods plus sixty-two seven-year periods of time; which equals 483 years. Then when we multiply 483 years times 360-days this equals 173,880 days. This anointed One, the Mäshiach, who is the anointed “Prince of Peace”, the “Prince of princes”, the King of kings; came to redeem God’s people and atone for our sins; “the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” [5]
The English word “prince” used here in Hebrew is “nagid” – a leader, ruler, prince, commander-in-chief, or king. [6] Isaiah tells us that Mäshiach is “Mighty God”, “Prince of Peace”. [7] He is also the “Commander of the host” of heaven, the “Prince of princes”, [8] He is the anointed “King of kings” and Lord of lords. [9]
When did the anointed One, the Mäshiach, the anointed King come to Jerusalem? Yeshua the Mäshiach rode into Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of a donkey and was presented as King on April 6, 32 A.D. [10]
The Hebrew prophet Zachariah prophesied under the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord;
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Zachariah 9:9 NIV
We read in chapter 19 of Luke’s account about an important event of the ministry of Yeshua the Mäshiach;
35They brought it to Jesus,
and they threw their coats on the colt and put Jesus on it.
36As He was going, they were spreading their coats on the road.
37As soon as He was approaching,
near the descent of the Mount of Olives,
the whole crowd of the disciples
began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice
for all the miracles which they had seen,
38shouting: ”BLESSED IS THE KING
WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD;
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him,
“Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”
40But Jesus answered,
“I tell you, if these become silent,
the stones will cry out!”
Luke 19:35-40 NASB
From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem on March 14, 445 B.C. by Artaxerxes Longimanus until Yeshua arrived and was presented in Jerusalem as the Messianic King on April 6, 32 A.D.; we discover that when we calculate 69 weeks of years (or 483 years and correct for leap years) it figures out to be 173,880 days to the day. [11]
How is this possible, to announce the coming of the Anointed One, the Lord’s Mäshiach, the King of Zion; five centuries before the historical event transpires in precise detail? The Tanakh is an amazing collection of books, our awesome God orchestrated it. YHVH our Elohim is omniscient, the future is as clear to Him as the present and the past; He knows the beginning from the end. YHVH our Elohim is the A & Z, the beginning and the end, the Creator and the Judge. Our Father in heaven wanted His people to know exactly when His Son, the Prince of princes and King of kings; would arrive on earth and step forward as the Messiah. God is faithful, He keeps His promises, He is not like men, nor is He like the sons of men who do not fulfill their word. [12]
In Daniel 9:24 God’s angelic messenger Gabriel communicated that it had been our heavenly Father’s plan to redeem us by paying the debt of sin, in order to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, and to bring in everlasting righteousness. The penalty for sin was paid for. Messiah’s sacrificial death on the cross was not for his own transgressions, but His suffering and excruciating execution on the cross were for our sin; His life was given as an atonement for our transgressions. His human body was “cut off”, he was crucified. Yeshua is the perfect sacrificial Lamb who is without sin, the day of His death on the cross was God’s provision for all sin for all time; it was the day of atonement. He is the one who came to save His people from all of our sins.
The city of Jerusalem and the glorious second temple were destroyed as foretold by Gabriel to Daniel in chapter 9 verse 26;
After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off,
but not for Himself.
The people of the prince that will come;
will destroy the city and the temple,
the end will come with a flood
and desolations are determined until the end of the war.
Daniel 9:26 HSV
YHVH Elohim sent Gabriel to tell His people that an Anointed Prince, who is the promised Messiah must come, atone for sin and be killed before the destruction of Jerusalem and the second temple which occurred in 70 A.D., when the Roman legions fought under Titus Vespasian and the Roman army leveled the city. Tragically, most of the Jewish people did not recognize the time of their visitation by Yeshua the Mäshiach, God’s promised Messianic King.
“because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
As the anointed King approached Jerusalem, He wept over the city and He gave the reason why the second temple and the city of Jerusalem were destroyed as predicted by Gabriel in Daniel 9:26;
41When He approached Jerusalem,
He saw the city and wept over it,
42saying, “If you had known in this day,
even you, the things which make for peace!
But now they have been hidden from your eyes.
43″For the days will come upon you
when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you,
and surround you and hem you in on every side,
44and they will level you to the ground
and your children within you,
and they will not leave in you one stone upon another,
because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
Luke 19:41-44 NASB
Both God’s messenger the angel Gabriel and Yeshua the Son God, the promised Messiah prophesied the destruction of the second temple and Jerusalem. In the Bible we see both the severity of God’s judgment and the mercy and love of our Father who is in heaven. Messiah Yeshua explained God’s plan for our redemption and salvation, and how to receive eternal life.
14“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
15so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
16“For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
17“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world,
but that the world might be saved through Him.
18“He who believes in Him is not judged;
he who does not believe has been judged already,
because he has not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 3:14-18 NASB
In the fullness of times, Messiah did come and was presented as King in Jerusalem. In the Gospel of John we read how God blesses all those who believe in and receive His Son, Yeshua the promised Messiah;
11He came to His own,
and those who were His own did not receive Him.
12But as many as received Him,
to them He gave the right to become children of God,
even to those who believe in His name,
13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh
nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:11-13 NASB
The seventieth week is a seven-year period of time that soon will be upon us, known as “the time of Jacob’s trouble”. This seven-year period of time is revealed to us prophetically by the Lord our God in much detail by the prophets. [13] At the end of God’s prophetic 70th week, there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. [14] Yeshua the Messiah, the Son of the living God will come on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. He will send His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect people from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. [15] Then God’s righteous wrath will be poured out on the earth [16] and then Messiah will return as promised and fight the wars of God [17], set up His messianic millennial reign of peace; [18] where He will rule the nations in the strength of His might with a rod of iron from Jerusalem. [19] Blessed are those who long for His appearing!
Source Notes:
[1] Anderson, Robert, The Coming Prince, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1894. The classic work on the Seventy Weeks of Daniel.
[2] Genesis 22:1-19
[3] Missler, Chuck, “Hidden Treasures in the Biblical Text”, Koinonia House, 2001, Page 43.
[6] New American Standard, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible; Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries: Holman, Nashville, TN.
[7] Isaiah 9:6
[8] Daniel 8:11 & 25.
[9] Revelation 19:16
[10] Luke 3:1, Tiberias appointed in A.D. 14; 15th year, A.D. 29; the 4th Passover occurred in A.D. 32. Also, read the thought provoking book by author: McDowell, Josh, “The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict”, Thomas Nelson, 1999, page 199.
[11] Missler, Chuck, “Daniel’s 70 Weeks”, Koinonia House, 2004. (Also, the recording of “Expositional Commentary on Daniel”)
[12] Numbers 23:19
[13] Jeremiah 30:1-24, Matthew 24:15-35, Revelation chapters 6 to chapter 19.
I have wondered about the mysterious Melchaideck, the priest and king whom Abraham paid tithes to that Moshe wrote of in the Jewish Tanakh in the book of Genesis.
17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine.
He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
20 And blessed be God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Genesis 14:17-20 NIV
Is Melchizedek a priest and king who foreshadows Yeshua ha’Moschiah or was he a pre-incarnate visitation of Yeshua ha’Mashiach?
Melchizedek (from Hebrew melech-i-tzédek, means “King of righteousness”) who certainly is an enigmatic person listed in the Torah. Melchizedek is the King of righteousness and the King of Peace. Moses does not tell us who is his father or mother, nor his genealogy. We are not told of his birth or his death, he has no beginning or ending. Who is this righteous King who is greater than Abram? He is a conundrum for those who study the scriptures, Melchizedek either foreshadows the Messiah or is a pre-incarnate appearance of Messiah at a strategic time in the embryonic phase of the birth of the Jewish people.
Moses writes of Melchizedek in the Torah in Genesis chapter 14. Melchizedek is mentioned as the King of Salem, and priest of God Most High (Yĕhovah, El-Elyon), in the time of the biblical patriarch Abram. This King of righteousness who also is King of Salem and a priest of Yĕhovah, El-Elyon who brought out bread and wine, blessed Abram, then Abram gave Melchizedek tithes of all the spoils of battle he had acquired.
King David wrote poetically and prophetically of the Moshiach in Psalms 110.
The Moshiach is a Prophet like Moses, a triumphant Warrior like David and a righteous King who shall rule upon the throne of David during a millennial messianic reign on earth from the messianic temple in Jerusalem. The King of kings and Lord of lords is like no other, “in righteousness He judges and wages war.” God’s Moshiach, “is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.”
The Moshiach is a Priest forever of the order of Melchizedek.
Here in this Psalm, King David writes about Messiah; who is the “son of David” receiving His messianic kingdom on earth. Even though Messiah is David’s son, David calls Him “my Lord” (my Adoni) in Psalms 110 verse 1 and Adonai (divine Lord) in Psalm 110v5. Yeshua ha’Moshiac is the “Son of Man” and Lord (Adonai), He is Immanuel – God with us, the incarnate God-man. The Moshiach is seated at the right hand of the Yĕhovah, Yeshua is an eternal priest according to the order of Melchizedek. The Messiah is the King of Righteousness, and when the last trumpet blows the saints of God will rise to meet Him in the clouds, and be taken back to His Father home in heaven for a time. This warrior KING of Kings will return with His army of saints in holy array and the Warrior King, Yĕhovah Tzeva’ot; the Lord of armies will shatter kings in the day of His wrath and He will judge among the nations.
The Anointed Son of David is Lord, Priest, Warrior and Judge
A Psalm 110 written by King David
1The LORD says to my Lord:
“Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
2The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”
3Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power;
In holy array, from the womb of the dawn,
Your youth are to You as the dew.
4The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”
5The Lord is at Your right hand;
He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath.
6He will judge among the nations,
He will fill them with corpses,
He will shatter the chief men over a broad country.
7He will drink from the brook by the wayside;
Therefore He will lift up His head.
Psalm 110 NASB
The Messiah is the “Son of Man” and the “Son of David”. The Anointed One is the Son of God, who existed from eternity and at the preordained time was born of a virgin in Bethlehem, He is God incarnate — Emmanuel! But He is also a Warrior KING!
Yĕhovah is a warrior;
Yĕhovah is his name.
Exodus 15:3 HSV
Yĕhovah is a “man of war”, the Lord is an Almighty Warrior. The Lord Most High who Daniel refers to in chapter 7:13 as the “Ancient of Days” grants authority, glory and sovereign power to the “Son of Man” who existed with His Father from ancient days, from the beginning. In his Jewish commentary on the Tanakh, Rashi wrote that the Son of Man in Daniel 7:13 is “King Messiah”. Son of Man is a title that Messiah used referring to Himself that we read of in the gospel accounts of Yeshua. King Messiah, the Warrior KING of kings; will returns on the clouds of heaven[1], the last trumpet will sound[2] and the angels will gather His saints from the four corners of the earth. Then Almighty God’s wrath will be poured out upon the earth in judgment[3] the Warrior KING will return to earth and fight the wars of God beginning with destroying all the nations that attacked Jerusalem[4] and then Armageddon; the war of that great day of God Almighty.[5]
Judge of the Nations
31“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory,
and all the angels with Him,
then He will sit on His glorious throne.
32“All the nations will be gathered before Him;
and He will separate them from one another,
as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
33and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
34“Then the King will say to those on His right,
‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Matthew 25:31-34 NASB
After Armageddon comes Judgment day, the day of reckoning; where the eternal destination of each individual will be determined by the righteous Judge whose judgment is true and just. His royal Majesty, the Moshiach, the Son of our Father in Heaven, the anointed LORD of lords, the valiant and courageous Lion from the tribe of Judah, will rule the nations with an iron scepter[6] and usher in an era of world-wide peace during His millennial messianic reign. We read in Daniel chapter 7, verses 13-14; that all peoples of all nations of every language will worship Messiah. The Mashiach’s dominion is an everlasting dominion, His kingdom will never be destroyed. The last and final war will be the battle with Gog and Magog.[7] Afterwards “the new heaven and the new earth” and the new “Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” [8]
The Holy City, the new Jerusalem
3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.
They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
4He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,
Advent of Messiah 