This is an interesting idea. I need to process it a bit (a LOT) more.....but could it mean there's a layered prophecy here in the weeks/years? I believe Herod most definitely KNEW Jesus' birth was about to happen (and fulfill the prophecies of the Messiah) or else he wouldn't have ordered the death of the male babies during the time of Jesus' birth.
And I think this is certainly a possibility that we have layered prophecies of weeks and years.
Another thing to be aware of though is that the Scripture can be kind of "tricky" that what is being explained as prophecy might not be immediate to the time spoken.
As you point out; Daniel states in verse two that Jeremiah had prophesied that the Babylonian captivity would be 70 years. Verse 12 stats that Daniel has acknowledged that God has fulfilled that.
12
And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
Now note what Daniel is actually praying for:
16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.
17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.
18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do
not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.
19 O Lord, hear; O Lord,
forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
Note that though the reader would understand the intent to be Jerusalem, Daniel doesn't actually name earthy Jerusalem. He says: "Your city and Your people who are called by Your name.
Also "the sanctuary that's desolate". The place where the high priest performed the sacrifice to atone for sin. Jesus was all three. The "sanctuary" the "high priest" and the "sacrifice".
So Daniel isn't praying for an earthly city and a physical temple. He's praying for the heavenly to come to pass as had been promised by God to all the previous prophets going all the way back to Adam.
Interestingly too though; there's no mention in the Scripture post the onset of the Babylonian captivity that the ark of the covenant ever made it back to earthly Jerusalem. So when you do get to the verses about the abomination of desolation and sanctuary being cleansed (or actually "vindicated") they actually are talking about Jesus. I'll post my explanation in a minute.
20
And whiles 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 for the holy mountain of my God;
21
Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
I'm confused about your timeline, though. I understood Jesus to have been born around 3-4 BC (and isn't that due to the adjustment of calendars - Jewish lunar to ....is it our Julian calendar?). As I understand it - Nisan 14 fell on a Friday, Preparation Day,
twice: on
April 7 of 30 AD and April 3 of 33 AD (Table 179, Jack Finegan, The Handbook of Biblical Chronology (Revised Edition; Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998) ISBN 1-56563-143-9) - but then I've read this as well:
We know from Roman records that Herod the Great died in 4 BC, so Jesus had to have been born at least 2 years before that because he was 2 years old when Herod tried to kill him and they spent at least a year in Egypt. This would bring us to 7 BC; which was also a Jubilee year.
Tiberius became Caesar (emperor) to the death of Augustus Caesar the August 17 of the 14 C. E.
The 15th year of Tiberius Caesar would have been 29 AD not 27 AD. 14+15=29.
This jives with historical evidence too. There was a solar eclipse in 29 AD that commenced on the first day of the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius. The Romans minted a coin starting in 30 AD to commemorate this event because they believed it was some sign from the gods of favor on Tiberius's 15th year. (They were right! LOL - they just didn't realize it!)
Now interestingly, on the front of this coin has Tiberius "in eclipse" but on the back of this coin has the Jewish temple!
(I believe this is the coin; but I'm not sure. I've seen a picture of it before; but currently, I can't find the article.) I'll keep looking.
Now Scripture says that John appeared in the wilderness at the commencement of the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. The feast of Trumpets commenced that year on August 7th, which exactly a week later would have commenced the beginning of Tiberius's 15th year; and also this solar eclipse! Now all the sudden, the leaders of Israel (apparently along with the Romans) take note of this guy in the wilderness preaching repentance!
If we speculate that John began his ministry in the Rosh Hashana (Festival of Trumpets), this has much prophetic sense as the ten days of awe or reflection until the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) are very much in agreement with the preaching of John the Baptist. If
Y’shua was baptized shortly after Rosh Hashana in the 27 C. E. this meets perfectly with the prophecy of the prophet Daniel for the three and a half years, half of the week “years” (
Daniel 9:26 ) , forty and two months, 1260 days of the Messiah’s ministry.
I agree with you here too that 3.5 years / 42 months / 1260 days all correlate to the public ministry of Jesus as well!
Daniel 8:
9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.
10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.
11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of the sanctuary was cast down.
12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered.
13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
…
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
26 And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.
Herod the Great:
These two passages are somewhat parallel to each other. This "king" and "little horn" are Herod the Great. Herod the Great was of Greek ancestry, although he really wanted to believe he was the Messiah (and he wanted other people to believe he was the Messiah too).
He magnifies himself against the "Prince of the Host" and against the "Prince of Princes". the Prince of the Host and the Prince of Princes is Jesus Christ.
By him (King Herod) the "daily sacrifice is taken away" and "the sanctuary is cast down". He also sets up the "transgression of desolation" and is "broken without hand". This transpires in the course of "2300 days" and there are "1290 days" between the sacrifice taken away and the abomination set up.
So, what does this all mean?
Herod became client king of Judea in (elected by the Roman senate) in 40 BC. In 19 BC, he began reconstruction on the temple. He tore the entire reconstructed Solomon's temple down and totally rebuilt it. It was rededicated 10 years later in 9 BC; although we don't know when, we know it was before Passover.
Around about Passover of 9 BC (or 8 BC - depending on which calendar we are talking about - the "sacred" or the "secular"; because these calendars started 6 months apart) comes John the Baptist's father "in the course of Abia". (End of March) July of that year, John is conceived. Six months later, Jesus is conceived. About Passover of 8 BC, John is born. Six months later; (which would have been right after the secular new year of 7 BC) during the feast of tabernacles, Jesus is born. (End of September.)
Joseph, Mary and Jesus stay in Bethlehem for 2 years. The Magi show up probably around the fall of 5 BC. Mary and Joseph take Jesus to Egypt. Herod dies in the spring of 4 BC. They return from Egypt in the summer time of 3 BC.
The time span this takes place in is 2300 days. I.E. - 6 years and 4 months.
Now; the first communication from God in 400 plus years, comes to John the Baptist's father, Zechariah while he's in the temple. (We'll say Passover of 8 BC because we'll use the sacred calendar. This would have been the beginning of the year.) Roughly a year later John is born. 1.5 years from the angel coming to Zechariah, Jesus is born. 2 years after Jesus is born; Herod kills the babies in Bethlehem.
This time span is 1290 days. I.E. - 3.5 years. (Daniel 12)
So what does "take away the daily sacrifice" and "set up the abomination that causes desolate" mean?
First off, we have to define terms. The word "sacrifice" is not in the Hebrew. "Daily" in this passage is best translated "continuous" or "ceaseless". "Take away" means to "magnify". I have no idea why they translated these verses the way that they did.
11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the Prince of the host, and by him the ceaseless exaltation and the place of the sanctuary was cast down.
12 And an host was given him against the ceaseless by reason of transgression, and it (the host) cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered.
13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake. How long shall be the vision concerning the ceaseless and the transgression of desolation, to give both the Holy One and the host (army) to be trodden under foot?
Now this hearkens to Jesus making reference to "destroy this temple and I'll raise it on the 3rd day". He wasn't talking about a building, he was talking about his body.
14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be vindicated.
Jesus was "vindicated" of Herod the Great, when He returned from Egypt.
Now looking at this translation, it makes a whole lot more contextual sense. "Daily sacrifice" is a poor translation because Herod didn't take away the daily sacrifice, as was related to animal sacrifices; God took that away as soon as the Messiah was conceived; because He was the final sacrifice.
So, moving on from Jesus's birth to Herod trying to kill Him when He was two; this is where the "abomination that makes desolate" was set up. The first announcement that the Messiah was coming, was made by the angel when he appeared to John the Baptist's father. 3.5 years later, the coming of the Magi announces to the nation that the "King of the Jews" is born.
This makes contextual sense and fits into the 1290 day, as well as the 2300 day time table(s); both connected to the same king who "understands dark sayings".