DANIEL’S 70 WEEKS vs. SECULAR DATING

Daniel 9:25 (NKJV) “Know therefore and understand, That FROM THE GOING FORTH OF THE COMMAND TO RESTORE AND BUILD JERUSALEM until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times.”

Evangelical Christian (Dispensationalist) commentators link this “command” to the one allegedly given to Nehemiah by Artaxerxes Longimanus to repair the walls around Jerusalem (Neh. 2). The ONLY REASON this particular command is chosen (rather than previous commands in Ezra) is to reconcile this prophecy with the generally accepted secular chronology based on Egyptian dating. Dispensationalists count backwards from Jesus’ crucifixion (Messiah the Prince) seven “weeks” of years plus 62 “weeks” of years, equaling 483 years. Then, in order to force this into compliance with the generally accepted secular chronology, a clever scheme was invented of “prophetic years” of 360 days each. 483 years x 360 days = 173,880 days. Divide this by actual solar years of 365.24 days, and this totals about 476 solar years. Since the secular date for Artaxerxes Longimanus ’20th year (Neh. 2:1) was 445BC, adding 476 years produces the year AD 30 as the year Messiah is cut off.

But there are multiple problems with this scheme which show it is forced and not objective. The intent is to make it appear that Daniel’s prophecy is accurate based on the assumption that the secular chronology is accurate. Consequently the biblical data is fudged.

1. The 360-day year scheme is a complete fabrication. No such year exists. The “weeks” of years in Daniel 9 are based on Lev. 25 where God commanded Israel to farm the land for 6 years, and then every 7th year was a “Sabbatical” year during which they must let the land rest. These are the “weeks” of years, and they require linkage to the four seasons for farming, and this requires a solar year of about 365 days. A fictitious 360-day year would quickly become out of sync with the seasonal agricultural cycle. Each year the seasons would fall behind by 5 more days. In the first “7 weeks” (49 years) the agricultural seasons would fall behind this alleged “prophetic year” by 245 days, over 8 months! A 360-day fictitious calendar would be impossible to track and observe using the instructions in Lev. 25. Solar years tracking the four seasons are absolutely essential to agriculture which is what the “weeks” of years are all about!

2. Scripture is quite clear that the “command to restore and build Jerusalem” was the FIRST DECREE, that of Cyrus the Great, long before the decree of Artaxerxes in Neh. 2. Cyrus’ decree is recorded in Ezra 1:1-4. While this decree does not specifically mention building the city of Jerusalem, the prophecy of Isaiah concerning Cyrus’ decree does indeed name Cyrus as the one to issue the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile.

Isa. 44:26,28 & Isa. 45:1,13 (NKJV) 26 Who confirms the word of His servant, And performs the counsel of His messengers; WHO SAYS TO JERUSALEM, ‘You shall be inhabited,’ To the cities of Judah, ‘YOU SHALL BE BUILT,’ And I will raise up her waste places; … 28 Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, SAYING TO JERUSALEM, “YOU SHALL BE BUILT,” And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.’” 45:1 “Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held– To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut: … 13 I have raised him up in righteousness, And I will direct all his ways; HE SHALL BUILD MY CITY and let My exiles go free, Not for price nor reward,” Says the LORD of hosts.

It is also clear from Ezra 4:12-21 & 5:3,9 that Jerusalem and its walls were already being built (under the original decree of Cyrus) long before Artaxerxes Longimanus.

The Jewish historian Josephus included a letter written by Cyrus in which he clearly stated that he had commanded both the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem as well as the Temple.

“King Cyrus to Sisinnes and Sathrabuzanes sendeth greeting. I have given leave to as many of the Jews that dwell in my country as please to return to their own country, and TO REBUILD THEIR CITY, and to build the temple of God at Jerusalem on the same place where it was before.” (Josephus, Antiquities, Book XI, ch I).

So here are the options:

1. The secular historical chronology for the period between Cyrus and Christ is too long by about 76 years.
2. Daniel’s prophecy of the 70 weeks is wrong.
3. Jesus is not the “Messiah the Prince” who would be cut off in Daniel 9:24-27.

As a Christian, I affirm that the Bible is true and the 70-weeks prophecy is indeed about Jesus (Messiah the Prince) being “cut off.” Therefore, based on Daniel’s prophecy and Jesus’ crucifixion being in AD 30, the decree of Cyrus would have been about 462 BC. The secular chronology based on Egyptian dating, which puts Cyrus decree in 538 BC, is about 76 years too long. “Let God be true and every man a liar” (Rom. 3:4).

Ussher’s dates found in many Bibles (esp. KJV) incorporate the longer Egyptian dating for the Persian period, and thus too long for everything dated prior to the Persian period. Ussher puts the creation at 4004 BC, meaning that 2026 is 6029 years from creation. This is not correct. We have not yet reached the 6000th year from creation.