Is there any way to know precisely when the Messiah was to appear in history? Most of the prophets were not given predictions as to specific times for their prophecies to be fulfilled. Except for one—Daniel.

Daniel (yes, of “lion’s den” fame) was exiled to Babylon in the first wave of deportation from Israel in 605 B.C.E. There he was put into the service of King Nebuchadnezzar where he was in charge of all the “wise men” that counseled the King.

Daniel had a number of graphic visions about the succession of future world governments as well as prophecies about the coming of the “anointed one,” the Messiah. In the first few verses of Chapter 9, we find that Daniel had been studying the prophecies of Jeremiah regarding the length of the exile [70 years].  Daniel earnestly prays and pleads with God to have mercy on Israel’s backsliding and rebellion, which caused their exile. He cries out to God for deliverance and restoration. While he is praying, the angel Gabriel appears and gives Daniel this prophecy beginning with verse 23:

       Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.

       Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until the anointed one [Hamashiach, The Messiah], the prince, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with a trench, but in times of trouble. After sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the anointed one will be cut off and will have nothing [alternate translation: “but not for himself.”] The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.

What does this mean? The word ‘sevens’ (shavuim) can mean seven of anything. Daniel had been thinking in terms of years, i.e. 70 years of captivity, how many were left, and what God would do when these years were completed. But the prophecy speaks not of 70 years but of seventy sevens of years, i.e. 490 years must pass before the restoration of Israel occurs, which he so longed for.

Let’s see what will happen.

1. 490 years from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, Israel’s transgression will be finished, her sins ended.


2. Reconciliation will ensue.


3. Everlasting righteousness [God’s Kingdom] will be brought in.


4. Vision and prophecy will be completely fulfilled.


5. The most holy will be anointed.


6. The decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem after the exile occurred in 444 B.C.E., during the 20th year of the reign of Artaxerxes [see Nehemiah 2:18].  Let’s do the math: 7 x 7 = 49 years in which Jerusalem was rebuilt plus 62 x 7 = 434 years = a total of 483 years. In ancient times, our modern calendar system was not in use. In other prophetic passages, a year of 360 days is used. To convert to our modern system, which uses the longer solar year, we must divide the total number of days (360 x 483 = 173,880) by the number of days it takes for Earth to orbit the Sun, which is 365.24. So 173,880 divided by 365.24 = 476 years on our calendar.


7. Adding 476 years to 444 B.C.E. we arrive at 33 C.E. as the year when “Hamashiach,” “The Messiah” was to be cut off, a Hebrew idiom for “killed.”


8. Then the people of the ruler to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. This occurred in 70 C.E. when the Roman commander Titus and his army utterly destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. So the Messiah had to have come and be killed before this.

Has The Messiah come?  Yes He has. The final seven years of Daniel’s prophecy are yet to occur, but that is beyond the scope of this journey.

On Stone 9, we will discover a most unusual prophetic psalm, describing just how The Messiah was cut off.

Proceed to stone 9. ->

Prayer:  "God, has my Messiah come?"