The Bible in the first and last books show that God is on a 360 day year.  This would be found in the books of Genesis and Revelation.  When calculating the coming of King Messiah from 445 BC, it is critical to count the time according to the Bible's calendar which is a 360 day year and not by the 365.25 day solar calendar that is currently being used.

Genesis, the first book, records the events of Noah’s flood.  According to the Bible, the flood began on the 17th day of the second month and ended on the 17th day of the seventh month.  The number of days for this event was listed as 150.  The difference between the months is five so 150 days divided by five equals 30.  The five months were exactly 30 days each.  A year of 12 months would then total 360 days.  The verses to show this follow:

Genesis 7:11 (The Flood Began) “In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.”

Genesis 8:3-4 (The Flood Receded) “And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.”

Revelation, the last book of the Bible, also documents that God is keeping time by a 360 day year.  Most of the book of Revelation deals with the time period just prior to the second coming of the Lord Jesus.  As these events are unfolding, a time reference is given.  The reference is 42 months and then 1260 days.  When 1260 days is divided by the 42 months, the result is 30 day months.  The period of the book of Revelation covering this 30 day month, occurs immediately prior to Daniel 7:13,14 when King Messiah returns with the “Clouds of Heaven” to establish His kingdom on earth.  The verses from Revelation follow:

Revelation 11:2 “But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. (3) And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore (1260) days, clothed in sackcloth.”

Revelation 12:6 “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore (1260) days.”

Revelation 13:5 “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.”

With the establishment of a year with 360 days, the exact time for the revelation of King Messiah can be determined.  To identify the exact time, the 360 day years have to be first reconciled with the 365.25 day solar years by which the current calendars are kept.  The method for this is to obtain the total amount of days in the 69 weeks.  This is done by 69x7 which totals 483 years; then multiplying this number by 360 days for each year.  The total is exactly 173,880 days until the coming of King Messiah.  This number equals 476 years of the current calendar.  This number was obtained by dividing 173,880 by 365.25 which equals exactly 476.

Starting from the month of Nisan in 445 BC and working forward 476 years for the revelation of King Messiah would be the month of Nisan 32 AD.  This is obtained by realizing that when converting from BC to AD there is no year zero.  There are a total of 476 years minus the 445 BC years which leaves 31 years in AD.  The 31 years plus the one for year zero the comes to Nisan 32 AD.  The  countdown to King Messiah which begun in Nisan 445 BC with the decree to rebuild Jerusalem by the Persian King Artaxerxes ended in Nisan 32 AD.

The Prophet Zechariah wrote that King Messiah would be revealed to Israel by riding into Jerusalem on a donkey with her colt.  He would come to Jerusalem lowly with salvation.  According to Daniel 9:25, this would take place during the month of Nissan 32 AD.  This is the exact time according to the New Testament that Jesus of Nazareth rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and presented Himself as King Messiah to Israel .  Today, His entry into Jerusalem on this day is known as Palm Sunday.  The verses to show this follow:

Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion ; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem : behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass (donkey), and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”

Matthew 21:6-9 “And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, And brought the ass (donkey), and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.”

The two comings of King Messiah can now be clearly seen.  Daniel in chapters two and seven have already shown the coming of King Messiah in great glory and power to establish His kingdom over all the earth.  Daniel first showed the coming of King Messiah to set up His political kingdom.  Now in chapter nine, he is showing that before King Messiah comes in great glory, He will appear lowly riding upon a donkey with salvation.

    King Messiah must first come with salvation from the bondage of sin.  This prophecy started with the people being given 70 weeks to deal with the problem of their sin.  The prophecy was given for them to focus on their sin and to realize that sin must be addressed for the coming of King Messiah who is everlasting righteousness.  King Messiah came at the end of 69 weeks and addressed the bondage of sin.  The Scriptures to show the two comings of King Messiah follow:

The first coming of King Messiah:

Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion ; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem : behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”

The second coming of King Messiah:

Daniel 7:13 “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. (14) And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”

The prophecy of Daniel has a second aspect about the timing of King Messiah’s first coming.  The prophecy shows that the Jubilee was critical to understand the coming of the Messiah.  The year of Jubilee would focus the attention of the people to His coming and what it would be like under His rule.

The prophecy was for 483 years to the coming of the Messiah.  The Jubilee was every 50 years.  The Jubilee occurring every 50 years meant the Messiah was going to appear after the ninth Jubilee.  This is calculated by dividing 483 by 50 which equals 9.  After the ninth Jubilee or 450 years, the Messiah would be revealed to Israel .  The 450th year is very important.

When Jesus of Nazareth began His ministry, the Bible shows He was about 30 years old, Luke 3:23.  His public ministry lasted for about three years which means He was 33 years of age at the time of His crucifixion.  The prophecy was for 483 years, so if you subtract His life which was 33 years, the result is 450.  This means that King Messiah was born during the ninth Jubilee year!  King Messiah who was God’s Jubilee was born during a Jubilee year.  He was born during a Jubilee year and then revealed at the conclusion of the 483 year prophecy.  God’s timing of these events is awesome.

There is no record from the Bible or history that Israel ever kept the Jubilee.  If the Jubilee had been kept, the people would have been focused on the soon appearing of their Messiah.  They failed to obey the law of Moses and thus did not have the expectation of the Jubilee.  It is very possible that because Israel failed to keep the Jubilee, the people’s eyes were blinded to the revelation of King Messiah.  For the people to be blessed under the law, they had to keep both the seven year sabbath rest of the land and the Jubilee.

The Book of Daniel clearly shows the two comings.  There is a powerful statement in the next Scripture, verse 26, which establishes the purpose of King Messiah’s ministry at His first coming. This prophecy can only be fulfilled by Jesus of Nazareth.  King Messiah was revealed at the end of the 69 weeks, Nisan 32 AD, just as was written by the prophet Daniel.  His second coming will be fulfilled just as was written in Daniel 7:13,14.

Daniel 9:26 tells what will happen after the revelation of King Messiah at the end of the 69 weeks.  The prophecy also focuses on Jerusalem and clearly gives the fate of this city.  Daniel is an awesome prophet of God to write all this over 500 years in advance of the events.  There is no other book like this in the Bible.

Messiah To Be Cut Off, But Not For Himself

Daniel 9:26 “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.”

The prophecy continues by stating that after King Messiah was revealed at the end of the 69 weeks, He would be cut off or killed.  It is most important to realize that the Messiah is killed after the completion of the 69th week.  Jesus of Nazareth was crucified within seven days after He was revealed to Israel .  He was cut off but not for Himself just as Daniel had written.

The death of King Messiah for others ties directly in with the part of this prophecy concerning iniquity, transgression and sin.  The underlining foundation of this prophecy of 70 Weeks is that sin must be dealt with.  During this entire time period, the need to deal with sin has been there.  Now God is showing how sin is finally going to be dealt with.

Daniel shows God's method to deal with the problem of sin.  King Messiah was cut off because of the penalty of sin.  This was not because of His own sin, for He is righteous, but He was cut off because of the sin of the people.  The Bible is very clear that everything about King Messiah is righteous.  But, He paid the price for sin that the people deserved.

The idea of King Messiah suffering at His coming can be seen in the writing of other prophets in addition to Daniel.  The prophet Micah identifies King Messiah as the judge of Israel and all the nations.  Then the prophet writes that the Judge of Israel shall be beaten with a rod on the face.

Micah 4:3 “And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

Micah 5:1 “Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.”

The prophet Zechariah wrote that the man whom God referred to as His shepherd would be stricken and His followers scattered. God refers to this shepherd as “My fellow.”  This person was close to God as “My fellow” indicates a term of endearment.  The prophet Ezekiel shows that King Messiah is referred as God’s Shepherd (Ezekiel 37:24).  The Shepherd that would be stricken is King Messiah.  The verse to show God’s Shepherd was stricken follows:

Zechariah 13:7 “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.”

The prophet Isaiah in chapter 53 ties together very clearly the suffering of King Messiah, God’s righteous Servant, for sin.  King Messiah is God’s righteous Servant and this Servant is the subject of this chapter.  Isaiah explains why the Messiah was cut off but not for Himself.  The foundation for understanding this chapter is the Day of Atonement as it is found in Leviticus 16.

On the Day of Atonement, the high priest of Israel performed the rituals which temporarily cleansed the people of their iniquities, transgressions and sins.  This was temporary because it had to be performed every year.  The high priest would slay a bullock and goat and then bring the blood of these animals into the holy place of the temple.  He would then sprinkle the blood on the Ark of the Covenant.  He would also place His hands on the head of a live goat.  He would then confess all the iniquities, transgressions and sins of the nation over this goat, and the goat would then be taken into the desert to die.

The picture created by the Day of Atonement was an innocent animal had to die in place of a person who sinned.  A person could not pay the price for their sin, but the innocent animal’s death could.  A vicarious death was needed for sin.  The Day of Atonement resulted in the person being clean of sin before the holy God of Israel.  But this innocent death was essential for the people to be clean before the LORD God of Israel .

Leviticus 16:30 “For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.”

The prophet Isaiah shows that the Day of Atonement was a picture of how King Messiah’s death would be the final atonement for sin.  He paid the permanent penalty of death for sin.  His death would make clean or justify those that would believe on Him.

Isaiah 53:11 “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”

The way He would justify the people was by taking upon Himself the punishment for sin, the punishment that was due the people.  He would be made sin for them.  He took all the punishment for iniquity.

Isaiah 53:4 “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (5) But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Isaiah said that King Messiah would be cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of the people.  He was not killed for something He did, but His death was necessary because of the sin of the people.  The prophet Daniel uses this very language.  King Messiah was cut off after the 69th week but not for Himself.  Isaiah tells why King Messiah was cut off, and Daniel tells the time period of His death.

Daniel 9:26 “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself:...”

Isaiah 53:8 “...for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.”

Isaiah actually states that King Messiah’s soul was made an offering for sin just as the animals were made an offering for sin on the Day of Atonement.  The death of God’s righteous Servant would please the LORD because He would bear the sin of the people. King Messiah’s death would reconcile the holy God of Israel with His people.

Isaiah 53:10 “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin,... (11) He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. (12) ...he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

According to Daniel, in early 30 AD, King Messiah would be cut off but not for Himself. Isaiah reported this death would be vicarious for the sins of the people.  There is only one person in all of history who fits this ministry of King Messiah and that is Jesus of Nazareth.  He was God’s righteous Servant who died for the sins of mankind.  Because of  His sacrificial death, sinful man can be reconciled to the holy God of Israel.  He became the fulfillment of Daniel 9:26 and Isaiah 53.  The New Testament shows this is exactly what the Lord Jesus’ accomplished.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he (God) hath made him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Just as Isaiah wrote, when Jesus of Nazareth died He bore the sins of mankind in His body.  By His death for sin, we are made clean or righteous before God.  King Messiah’s death was God’s master plan to reconcile man to Himself.

1 Peter 2:24 “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”

On the Day of Atonement, blood was required to pay the price or atone for sin.  It was blood that made an atonement for the soul.  It was the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ which made the final atonement for sin.  Mankind has the ability to be made clean from sin by His death and shed blood.

Revelation 1:5 “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,”

Daniel gives the exact time that King Messiah would be cut off and shed His blood, not for Himself, but for His people and all of mankind.  The Prophet gives the exact time frame for the first coming of King Messiah to deal with the problem of man’s sin.  Daniel chapters two and seven show the coming of King Messiah to crush the nations of the world and establish His kingdom.  Daniel chapter nine gives the exact time of King Messiah’s first coming to confront the issue of man’s sin.  And as Scriptures show, sin must be dealt with before His kingdom can be established.  

Shall Destroy the City and the Sanctuary

Daniel 9:26 “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.”

Daniel’s prophecy of the 70 weeks deals with three major issues.  It deals with sin, the coming of the Messiah and the city of Jerusalem .  The prophecy ends with the future of Jerusalem and the second coming of King Messiah to establish His kingdom.

The prophecy starts with the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem , and we know the city is once again going to be destroyed.  A people are coming to destroy Jerusalem and the temple just as the Babylonians did in 586 BC.  This verse shows that the destruction of the city is going to be after the 69th week but does not state it will be during the 70th week.

The destruction of Jerusalem is reported to be after the 69th week just as the death of the Messiah is also placed after the 483 years are complete.  There is a reason for this because the 70th week does not begin immediately after the 69th week.  The 483 years ended with the revelation of King Messiah which completed this part of the prophecy.  The 70th Week or the seven remaining years will begin at a future date.  The death of the Messiah and the destruction of the temple occur in the time interval between the 69th and 70th week.  When Daniel 9:26 and 27 are reconciled in the next chapter, the interval between the 69th and 70th week is very clear.

Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed in 70 AD by the Roman army.  The Babylonians committed the first desolation of Jerusalem in 586 BC.  There was a 657 year interval between the two desolations.  Jerusalem was never again the capital of Israel until 1967.  From 70 AD until the present time, Israel has been without a temple and priesthood.

Daniel wrote that there would be wars involving Jerusalem until the end.  The end would be like a flood and from the Jewish perspective the city would be desolate.  The city was destroyed by the Romans, and for 1900 years Jerusalem was under Gentile control.  Jerusalem lost its luster and although never abandoned, it was a wasteland for centuries--exactly as the prophecy in Daniel 9:26 revealed.

This verse states that the city would be subject to war and desolation until the end. Daniel has already written that the end to this will come when King Messiah crushes the Gentile nations and establishes His kingdom over all the earth.  The end will come when the “Stone cut out without hands” crushes the kingdoms of the nations (Daniel 2:34).  The end will come when the Son of man comes with the “Clouds of heaven” and establishes His kingdom on earth (Daniel 7:13,14).

The Prophet Zechariah shows the final war will be over Jerusalem .  The nations of the world will gather their armies in one last attempt to destroy the city.  This city will be the focus of the entire world!  The nations gathering in one last attempt to destroy Jerusalem will trigger what the prophets describe as the Day of the LORD.  This phrase is used by the prophets for the time when the God of Israel will judge the nations and King Messiah will rule from Jerusalem .

This final battle will result in the near total desolation of Jerusalem .  Just as Daniel wrote, Jerusalem would be subjected to war and desolation right to the end.  Daniel wrote the coming of King Messiah would crush the nations that are in rebellion against the God of Israel.  Zechariah adds great detail to the destruction of the nations and the second coming of the Lord Jesus:

Zechariah 14:1 “Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. (2) For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.”

Daniel writes about King Messiah coming with the “Clouds of heaven” to establish His kingdom.  Zechariah writes that the Messiah will stand on the Mount of Olives which is just east of Jerusalem .  King Messiah coming is referred to by Zechariah as, “The LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.” (Zechariah 14:5).  Both of the prophets write about the supernatural awesome coming of King Messiah.  Daniel describes Him coming with the “Clouds of heaven” while Zechariah sees Him coming with the “saints.”

Zechariah 14:4 “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley...(5) ...and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.”

It is the very presence of the Lord Jesus’ second coming which stops the desolation of Jerusalem and smashes the nations of the world gathered together in one last attempt to destroy the city of David .  Daniel describes King Messiah’s coming as a great mountain smashing the rebellious nations of the world.  Zechariah reports of the affects of this judgment on the nations.  He describes the judgment of the people trying to destroy Jerusalem similar to the effect of a neutron bomb.

Zechariah 14:12 “And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.”

Daniel 2:44 “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”

By John McTernan
Defend and Proclaim the Faith

Blog: John McTernan’s Insights at www.johnmcternan.name