Posted by Daniel on March 28, 1998 at 09:47:56:
To ALL,
I thought I might do the second installment of the Sabbath Resurrection. Only this time I will explain Daniel's Prophecy, i.e. Daniel 9:24-27.
(1) First some inadequate theories:
(a) calculation from 444 b.c.e. to 33 c.e. requires the redefining of a year as 360 days. The biblical year does not have 360 days.
(b) calculation from 457/8 b.c.e. to 30 or 31 c.e. This view dates the beginning of the prophecy from Ezra. But Ezra's decree has nothing to do with building either the city or the Temple. In fact the temple was finished before Ezra got his decree. And more fatally, Ezra went to Jerusalem in the reign of Artaxerxes II, in 397 b.c.e.
(2) All theories which require 483 biblical years from the rebuilding to Messiah fail, when we recognize that Artaxerxes I's decree to Nehemiah is the only one that qualifies as rebuilding the city.
(3) The key to the prophecy is to first translate it literally: "Seventy Sevens, " and not seventy weeks. There will be seven sevens, and sixty two sevens until Messiah the prince. After the sixty two sevens Messiah will be cut off. A "seven" is not a period of seven years. It is the sabbatical year itself. This is proved by Deut. 15:9, which in Hebrew literally calls the seventh year, "The year of the seven" (sh'nat HaSheva). The Hebrew here is ordinal, not cardinal. The Masoretic text shows that this is meant when it switches to the word for a seven year period in Dan. 9:27 by inserting an waw.
(4) Therefore, the Seventy Sevens, seven sevens, and sixty two sevens are all Sabbatical Years. They are all the year of the "seven."
(5) Now I must point out that in a period of 8 years we can fit two sevens, two sabbatical years, whereas if we were required to calculate two periods of seven years, then it would have to be 14 years. This shows that using the sabbatical year, we can calculate "x" sabbatical years in a period of 7*x-6 years (seven times "x" minus 6 years).
(6) The solution to the prophecy is then straight forward. Between 445 b.c.e. (the year of the decree in Nehemiah), and 397 b.c.e. (Ezra's final reformation), we have the seven sevens (7 sabbatical years), and from 397 to 34 c.e. we have the other sixty two. Thus we have 69 sabbatical years in all between 445 and 34 c.e.
(7) The first sabbatical year was fall 445-fall 444 b.c.e., and the 69th was fall 32 c.e. to fall 33 c.e. This circumstance shows a tight fit. There is no other way to fit a complete 69 sabbatical years in the interval.
(8) Thus the literal fulfilment of the Messianic Prophecy of Daniel 9 dovetails perfectly into the literal translation of the texts for the Sabbath Resurrection, without fudging any data, rearranging any history as given us from secular sources, and without introducing foreign concepts to the biblical calendar
Concluding then, this is the nearest thing to mathematical proof that Yayshua is the Messiah, and also proof that he rose from the dead on the "first of the sabbaths," after Passover in 34 c.e.
What then does the Sabbath Resurrection prove?
(1) Yayshua is the Messiah
(2) Yayshua is the Saviour (cf. Hoshea 13:4).
(3) The Church lied.
(4) And the Law was not abolished
Daniel