186
The Desire of Ages
Numbers 14:34
;
Ezekiel 4:6
. The seventy weeks, or four hundred and
ninety days, represent four hundred and ninety years. A starting point
for this period is given: “Know therefore and understand, that from
the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem
unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and
two weeks,” sixty-nine weeks, or four hundred and eighty-three years.
Daniel 9:25
. The commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, as
completed by the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus (see
Ezra 6:14
;
7:1, 9
, margin), went into effect in the autumn of B. C. 457. From this
time four hundred and eighty-three years extend to the autumn of A. D.
27. According to the prophecy, this period was to reach to the Messiah,
the Anointed One. In A. D. 27, Jesus at His baptism received the
anointing of the Holy Spirit, and soon afterward began His ministry.
Then the message was proclaimed. “The time is fulfilled.”
Then, said the angel, “He shall confirm the covenant with many
for one week [seven years].” For seven years after the Saviour entered
on His ministry, the gospel was to be preached especially to the Jews;
for three and a half years by Christ Himself; and afterward by the
apostles. “In the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and
the oblation to cease.”
Daniel 9:27
. In the spring of A. D. 31, Christ
the true sacrifice was offered on Calvary. Then the veil of the temple
was rent in twain, showing that the sacredness and significance of the
sacrificial service had departed. The time had come for the earthly
sacrifice and oblation to cease.
The one week—seven years—ended in A. D. 34. Then by the ston-
ing of Stephen the Jews finally sealed their rejection of the gospel; the
disciples who were scattered abroad by persecution “went everywhere
preaching the word” (
Acts 8:4
); and shortly after, Saul the persecutor
was converted, and became Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles.
[234]
The time of Christ’s coming, His anointing by the Holy Spirit, His
death, and the giving of the gospel to the Gentiles, were definitely
pointed out. It was the privilege of the Jewish people to understand
these prophecies, and to recognize their fulfillment in the mission of
Jesus. Christ urged upon His disciples the importance of prophetic
study. Referring to the prophecy given to Daniel in regard to their time,
He said, “Whoso readeth, let him understand.”
Matthew 24:15
. After
His resurrection He explained to the disciples in “all the prophets”
“the things concerning Himself.”
Luke 24:27
. The Saviour had spoken