It is also difficult to understand when to begin the count of 490 years according to Christian interpretation. Four hundred and ninety years before Jesus’s death does not seem to correspond to any significant event, making it unclear what starting point Daniel’s vision had in mind.
This seems to be the primary key in this article. When do the 490 years start to prove that Daniel 9 is referencing Jesus? 2 Chronicles 36:21 seems to suggest that it began with Cyrus, but that still doesn't help when there is nothing recognizable that would have happened at the end of this timeframe. Either way, this would be the easiest way to address this article without all the fluff that has been added in response to it.
...none of which explains why our proposed “psudo-Daniel” could have hit on the timing of the coming Messiah with the prophecy of the 70 weeks. I await further enlightenment!
Chuck Missler examines some of the most provocative passages in the Bible - the Messianic and end-times prophecies in the book of Daniel.
www.khouse.org
Your article should respond to this question in InfinityLoop's article Red, but it doesn't. The scenario from this website only works if you can prove that, "The commandment to restore and build Jerusalem was given by Artaxerxes Longimanus on March 14, 445 B.C." (from your article).
This seems all fine on the surface, except the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 36:22-23
"
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth
and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them.’
Daniel 9:25 says.
"Know and understand this:
From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One,[
f] the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble."
It kind of sounds like Cyrus is the one who did this, not Artaxerxes. So this would have happened in the 5th century BC, not the 4th.
It seems like this would have been an obvious error to catch before going to the trouble of doing all the math about the 360 day years when you see in 2 Chronicles 36:21 it says.
"The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah."
Second Chronicles is confirming that this began in the 5th century by saying that this time period was completed and then Cyrus said that a temple should be built and the people should return. However, we can still see what the Rabbi is saying because it becomes difficult to identify a significant event taking place at the end of this time period. So this article is nowhere close to being the nail in the coffin that proves the dating of the book of Daniel. I think it even hurts the cause of reaching any kind of conclusion on this matter.
The reference for the closing date is also questionable. "This is the only occasion that Jesus presented Himself as King. It occurred on April 6, 32 A.D.
[9]"
Footnote 9 says "Luke 3:1: Tiberias appointed in A.D. 14; 15th year, A.D. 29; the 4th Passover occurred in A.D. 32."
There is more than one problem with using Luke 3:1 as the starting point for deriving this date. The first one, which is the primary reason, is that this reference in Luke 3:1 is referring to the beginning of John the Baptist's ministry. In chapter 3, you are left in the same position as the Rabbi. There is no real way to identify when Jesus enters the picture according to this reference. I don't really know why it was even used at all.
The second problem with this comes into the picture when you consider the final year of 32 AD in relation to Luke 3:1. If Tiberius began his reign on September 17, 14 AD according to Britannica Encyclopedia, then the fourth Passover year from the beginning of his reign would be AD 33
Missler says that AD 29 is the 15th year of Tiberias' reign and says that the Jewish calendar is using a 360 day calendar. If we ignore that Luke 3:1 doesn't tell us that Jesus began his ministry at the same time, and assume that he did, the fourth Passover should be in AD 33. This Passover in AD 29 would technically be in the 14th year of his reign unless you or Missler has a reason to assume that the years are calculated from the beginning of the calendar year rather than the anniversary of when he began his reign.
So there is nothing about this article that verifies the dating of Daniel at all. In fact, I think it further highlights how Christians can take a message for granted and believe something without double-checking dates and references. This is what makes it easy to create Christian propaganda in our generation. The church idealizes going backward rather than going forward with a more objective view of the scriptures. A lot of these articles satisfy this longing to go back to a time when the Bible wasn't questioned for historical accuracy, as though it will help the church increase in purity and its ability to witness, but this attitude is hurting the church more than it is helping it.
