- May 29, 2018
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Purpose
The purpose of this expository is to determine who will kill the two witnesses—Avraham Shaul and Sarah Leticia—in Jerusalem on Monday, August 11, 2025, according to Biblical prophecy.
Seventy Weeks and the Messiah
“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the wrongdoing, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. So you are to know and understand 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 streets and moat, even in times of distress. 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. And he will confirm a 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 the one who makes desolate, until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, gushes forth on the one who makes desolate (Dan. 9:24–27).”
The Issuing of a Decree
“So you are to know and understand 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 streets and moat, even in times of distress (Dan. 9:25).”
Ezra Journeys from Babylon to Jerusalem
“Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra went up to Jerusalem; Ezra was the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest. So this Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all he requested because the hand of the Lord his God was upon him. Some of the sons of Israel and some of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes [458 BC].
“And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king [458 BC]. For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him. For Ezra had firmly resolved to study the Law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel (Ezr. 7:1–10).”
King’s Decree on Behalf of Ezra
“Now this is the copy of the letter which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, learned in the words of the commandments of the Lord and His statutes to Israel: ‘Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, perfect peace. And now I have issued a decree that any of the people of Israel and their priests and the Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. Since you are sent on the part of the king and his seven advisers to inquire about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God which is in your hand, and to bring the silver and gold, which the king and his advisers have voluntarily given to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, with all the silver and gold which you find in the entire province of Babylon, along with the voluntary offering of the people and of the priests, who offered willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem; with this money, therefore, you shall diligently buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. And whatever seems good to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do according to the will of your God. Also the utensils which are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem. And the rest of the needs of the house of your God, for which it may be incumbent upon you to provide, provide for them from the royal treasury.
“I myself, King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the provinces beyond the Euphrates River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it shall be done diligently, up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred kors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, a hundred baths of anointing oil, and salt as needed. Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, it shall be done with zeal for the house of the God of heaven, so that there will not be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons. We also inform you that it is not allowed to impose tax, tribute, or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.
“And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges so that they may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the Euphrates River, that is, all those who know the laws of your God; and you may teach anyone who is ignorant of them. And whoever does not comply with the Law of your God and the law of the king, judgment is to be executed upon him strictly, whether for death or for banishment, or for confiscation of property or for imprisonment (Ezr. 7:11–26).’”
The Day-Year Principle
“Then you are to lie down on your left side and put the wrongdoing of the house of Israel on it; you shall bear their wrongdoing for the number of days that you lie on it. For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their wrongdoing, 390 days; so you shall bear the wrongdoing of the house of Israel. When you have completed these days, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the wrongdoing of the house of Judah; I have assigned it to you for forty days, a day for each year (Eze. 4:4–6).”
1 day = 1 prophetic year
Jeroboam’s idolatry (976 BC) – 390 years (Eze. 4:5) = destruction of Solomon’s Temple (586 BC)
Crucifixion of Jesus (AD 30) + 40 years (Eze. 4:6) = destruction of Herod’s Temple (AD 70)
Seven Weeks
7 weeks * 7 days/week = 49 days
49 days * 1 prophetic year/day = 49 prophetic years
King’s decree on behalf of Ezra (458 BC) – 49 years (Dan. 9:25) = restoration and rebuilding of Jerusalem (409 BC)
Nehemiah’s Prayer Answered
“And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes [444 BC], that wine was before him, and I picked up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. So the king said to me, ‘Why is your face sad, though you are not ill? This is nothing but sadness of heart.’ Then I was very much afraid. And I said to the king, ‘May the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the site of my fathers’ tombs, is desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?’ Then the king said to me, ‘What would you request?’ So I prayed to the God of heaven. Then I said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, I request that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.’ Then the king said to me, with the queen sitting beside him, ‘How long will your journey be, and when will you return?’ So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time (Neh. 2:1–6).”
Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem’s Walls
“Then I said to them, ‘You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates have been burned by fire. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a disgrace.’ And I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, ‘Let’s arise and build.’ So they put their hands to the good work (Neh. 3:17–18).”
The Wall Is Finished
“So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul [444 BC], in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they realized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God (Neh. 6:15–16).”
The Restoration and Rebuilding of Jerusalem
“… it will be built again, with streets and moat, even in times of distress (Dan. 9:25).”
The wall of Jerusalem was completed in 444 BC, but there is no mention of streets and a moat. The streets and moat would have been completed by 409 BC.
Messiah the Prince
“So you are to know and understand 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 (Dan. 9:25);”
Sixty-two Weeks
62 weeks * 7 days/week = 434 days
434 days * 1 prophetic year/day = 434 prophetic years
Restoration and rebuilding of Jerusalem (409 BC) – 434 years (Dan. 9:26) = baptism of Jesus (AD 26)
The Messiah Cut Off
“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 (Dan. 9:26).”
The Suffering Servant
“He was oppressed and 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.
By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off from the land of the living
For the wrongdoing of my people, to whom the blow was due?
And 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 (Isa. 53:7–9).”
A Stop to Sacrifice and the Grain Offering
“And he will confirm a 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 the one who makes desolate, until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, gushes forth on the one who makes desolate (Dan. 9:27).”
1 week * 7 days/week = 7 days
7 days * 1 prophetic year/day = 7 years
Baptism of Jesus (AD 26) + 3 ½ years (Dan. 9:27) = crucifixion of Jesus (AD 30)
Crucifixion of Jesus (AD 30) + 3 ½ years (Dan. 9:27) = conversion of Paul (AD 33)
Christ, an Offering for Sin
“For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:3–4).”
Conversion of Paul
Council of Jerusalem (AD 50) – 14 years (Gal. 2:1) – 3 years (Gal. 1:18) = conversion of Paul (AD 33)
A Covenant with the Many
“This is what God the Lord says,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread out the earth and its offspring,
Who gives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk in it:
‘I am the Lord, I have called You in righteousness,
I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You,
And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the nations,
To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the dungeon
And those who dwell in darkness from the prison (Isa. 42:5–7).’”
A Light to the Gentiles
“The next Sabbath nearly all the city assembled to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming. Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, ‘It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you repudiate it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us,
‘I have appointed You as a light to the Gentiles,
That You may bring salvation to the end of the earth (Acts 13:44–47).’”
The Prince Who Is to Come
“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 (Dan. 9:26).”
The Destruction of Herod’s Temple
"Nero entrusted the job of crushing the rebellion in Judaea to Vespasian, a talented and unassuming general. In early AD 68, Roman General Vespasian landed at Ptolemais and began suppression of the revolt with operations in the Galilee. By July 69 all of Judea but Jerusalem had been pacified and the city, now hosting rebel leaders from all over the country, came under Roman siege. A fortified stronghold, it may have held for a significant amount of time, if not for the intense civil war that then broke out between moderates and Zealots.
"In the summer of AD 69, Vespasian departed Judea for Rome and in December became Emperor. Command of the Roman legions passed to his son [Prince] Titus, who was now in charge of the siege of Jerusalem.
"Following a brutal five-month siege, the Romans destroyed the city and the Second Jewish Temple. On Tisha B’Av, AD 70 (August 30), Roman forces finally overwhelmed the defenders and set fire to the Temple. Resistance continued for another month, but eventually the upper and lower parts of the city were taken as well, and the city was burned to the ground (Wikipedia)."
The Abomination of Desolation
“And he will confirm a 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 the one who makes desolate, until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, gushes forth on the one who makes desolate (Dan. 9:27).”
The Dome of the Rock is the abomination of desolation. It is an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, a site also known to Muslims as the al-Haram al-Sharif or the Al-Aqsa Compound. Its initial construction was undertaken by the Umayyad Caliphate on the orders of Abd al-Malik during the Second Fitna in AD 688–692, and it has since been situated on top of the site of the Second Jewish Temple (built in c. 516 BC to replace the destroyed Solomon's Temple), which was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70.
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