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Darkness Precedes the Dawn
307
“But you, Bethlehem, ...
Out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.”
Matthew 2:6
God revealed the time of the first advent to Daniel. “Seventy
weeks,” said the angel, “are determined for your people and for your
holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make
reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to
seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.”
Daniel
9:24
.
The Time of Christ’s First Coming Specified
A day in prophecy stands for a year. See
Numbers 14:34
and
Ezekiel 4:6
. The 70 weeks, or 490 days, represent 490 years. The
prophecy gives a starting point for this period: “Know therefore and
understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and
build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks
and sixty-two weeks” (
Daniel 9:25
)—69 weeks, or 483 years. The
command to restore and build Jerusalem by the decree of Artaxerxes
Longimanus went into effect in the autumn of 457 b.c. See
Ezra 6:14
;
7:1, 9
. From this time, 483 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, at His baptism, Jesus received the
anointing of the Holy Spirit (see
Acts 4:27
;
John 1:33
), and soon
afterward He proclaimed the message, “The time is fulfilled.”
Mark
1:15
.
Then, said the angel, “He shall confirm a covenant with many
for one week [seven years].” For seven years after the Savior entered
on His ministry, the gospel would be preached especially to the
Jews—for three and a half years by Christ Himself, and afterward
by the apostles. “In the middle of the week He shall bring an end
to sacrifice and offering.”
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 torn (see
Mark 15:38
), showing that the time had
come for the earthly sacrifices to end.
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