The lineage of Yeshua/Jesus in Matthew 1 has long been an enigma. For centuries scholars and critics have argued about its legitimacy. The list claims to be 3 sets of 14 generations (3×14=42), yet it only has 41 names. Further complicating the list is the fact that Yeshua’s lineage is missing 4 Old Testament kings. Why would a list like this be placed in the 1st chapter of the 1st book of the New Testament?
I am sorry to disappoint those of you who are skeptics. This list was not an accident, it was intentional. The “mistakes” are keys to solving an ancient code. Could it be one of the greatest ciphers of all time? I will let you decide.
See if you can solve it, The 13th Enumeration is the key!
Matthew 1:1-17 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon: And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor; And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.
Daniel 1:1-6 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god. And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes; Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:
1 Chronicles 3:10-20 And Solomon’s son was Rehoboam, Abia his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son, Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son, Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son, Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son, Amon his son, Josiah his son. And the sons of Josiah were, the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum. And the sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son. And the sons of Jeconiah; Assir, Salathiel his son, Malchiram also, and Pedaiah, and Shenazar, Jecamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah. And the sons of Pedaiah were, Zerubbabel, and Shimei: and the sons of Zerubbabel; Meshullam, and Hananiah, and Shelomith their sister: And Hashubah, and Ohel, and Berechiah, and Hasadiah, Jushabhesed, five.
Numbers 29:12-13 And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work, and ye shall keep a feast unto YHWH seven days: And ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto YHWH; thirteen young bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year; they shall be without blemish:
Numbers 29:17 And on the second day ye shall offer twelve young bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without spot:
Numbers 29:20 And on the third day eleven bullocks, two rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish;
Numbers 29:23 And on the fourth day ten bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish:
Numbers 29:26 And on the fifth day nine bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without spot:
Numbers 29:29 And on the sixth day eight bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish:
Numbers 29:32 And on the seventh day seven bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish:
More Articles related to the prophecy of 70 Weeks and 2nd temple era chronology:
The “Artaxerxes” Assumption – The best kept secret of Old Testament chronology.
The Fifth Command – Why do prophecy teachers ignore it?
Ezra: Priest & Scribe – Part I – Defining “Artaxerxes” in the context of Ezra.
Ezra: Priest & Scribe – Part II – Ezra, Darius even “Artaxerxes”.
Nehemiah: The Governor– Nehemiah’s place in the 2nd temple chronology
Queen of Persia – Part I – Defining Esther is the context of the 2nd Temple era.
Queen of Persia – Part II – Defining Esther is the context of the 2nd Temple era.
A New Testament Cipher – The key to unlocking the prophecy of Daniel’s 70 Weeks.
Ezekiel’s 13th Month– Key to understanding Biblical “time” in the 2nd Temple era
6 milestones – Seventy Weeks – Defining the purpose of the Messiah within Daniel’s 70 “weeks”.
The Messiah Factors (Part I): Decoding 13 & 14 – Symbolism of the Messiah
The Messiah Factors (Part II): The Countdown – Proving Yeshua/Jesus is the Messiah promised in Daniel 9.
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The yellow text is difficult to read, but I do believe that there are few accidents when it comes to this kind of thing in the Bible. There is something hinted at. I wish I understood it as well as you do, but I’ve read your countdown to the Messiah and see you’re very good with finding macro and microcodes.
Hi William,
Good to hear from you. Yellow obviously was not the best choice. I was just trying to emphasis the other parts. Thank you for the kind words. Are you still studying up in Tucson?
Regards, William
Might not Yeshua be counted as two. Crucified Jesus and Risen Christ?
Hi Martin,
Yes, He was both the 13th and the 14th. I believe that was part of the symbolism. Regards, William
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I am working on walking through all your posts, very interesting and imagine some of my Bible teaches in college never put the hours in that you have to research. Your vast knowledge is humbling.
Great Site!
God IS Awesome! “Elohim” ( 1 ) GOD Father-Son-Spirit ( 3 )
Genesis 1:3 “light=56” A – Z Gematria A=1 B=2 C=3…
GOD IS LIGHT = PURE LOVE / POWER / WISDOM / THE ALMIGHTY CREATOR!
Genesis 1:1((( In the=56) beginning God (created=56) the heavens and the earth.
The Bible IS ( 1 ) Massive Equation Of Perfection…
Revealed IN Proper Context – Hebrew – Greek – English
= Structure of Every Letter / Number / Word (Will Correlate IN CONTEXT)
Also Correlating IN Chapter And Verse (Content)
Great Research William! Shalom~
Some Examples…http://www.asis.com/users/stag/englishg.html
http://www.fivedoves.com/light/GenesisMatrix.htm
http://www.fivedoves.com/revdrnatch/112th_Triangle.htm
Hi Rick,
Thank you for the interesting information. I though you might appreciate that my book The 13th Enumeration is published by PalmoniQuest. :)
Regards,
William Struse
Hello my Brother in Christ!
Thank you for sharing this chart!
Also, thank you for sharing the answer with us at the top of the chart – Lineage of Yeshua/Jesus.
It is also written in Isaiah 9:6-7, “For unto us a (Emmanuel/Jesus) Child is born, Unto us (Yeshua the Messiah) a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Almighty GOD, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. . . ”
The information the Holy Ghost gives you to share with GOD’s people is such an inspiration.
Blessings of our LORD to you and your entire family.
Your Sister in the LORD,
Rosa Banks
Good evening Rosa,
Thank you for the kind words and the wonderful verse.
Warm Regards,
William Struse
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Thanks to all who have taken time to study and to put all ths precious information on line. It is great and more helpfully. I need to go on read and understand and I think I should write some notes foe myself. Then I will remember and will know little
Is it worth,,,,,,,, IWeb can meditate on the crucified SAVIOR, on His Love and Sacrifice. That will be more better.
Why not. We have time and we are alive we can do both, by the Grace of God
Thank you
Thank you for your comments Charles.
Warm Regards,
William Struse
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I can’t explain all the why’s,, but I’ll add two considerations for #14s in Matthew chapter 1..
1- #14 is a number symbolic of kings and #14 is constantly related in the Bible to Jesus the King and Redeemer. Matthew chapter 1 is a chapter declaring Jesus is the king and messiah God prophesized of. There are 3 number 14s in Matthew chapter 1.
2 – 14+14+14=42; IE 42 months, 1260 days; 3.5 (times, time and 1/2 a time) until Messiah’s return
Worth noting, Matthew chapter 1 is the 930th Bible chapter. It follows the 39 books of the Old Testament. Not an accident and is explained on my website.
Hi Norm,
Thank you for sharing the interesting information. I always enjoy looking at such things.
Related to your post David’s name = 14 as well.
Regards, William Struse
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Thank you very much, William Struse, for investing your time and energy in putting up such a great resource site for Bible teachers/students like me. Thank you for your passion for history. God bless you with more joy and love as you keep on validating His present and future by the past!
All the happy wishes for your labor in the Lord,
Glitter Moreño
* I really wish I could get hold of your latest book soonest. :( It’s not available on bookstores near me. I’m in central Philippines.
Thank you for the kind words Glitter. I hope the same for you! I just sent you a copy of the book to the email address you listed in your post. I hope your enjoy it. I look forward to your feedback. Warm Regards, William Struse
Hi William,
I finished reading the 13th Enumeration a few days ago and have since been rereading, taking notes & discussing the info related to 13 & 14 and the 70 weeks prophecy. First, let me say that I enjoyed the book very much and look forward to reading your next one. You are certainly knowledgeable on a wide array of subjects and clearly a deep, original thinker. My husband and I think highly of those traits and find them, unfortunately, rather rare in our society.
I find the use of 13 and 14 in the Scripture and the natural world (as you’ve spelled out in the book) to be too significant to chalk up to coincidence or even manipulation of the facts. I’m fascinated & amazed once again at the complexity of our God!
I do have a number of questions and doubts regarding your application of the information on 13 & 14 to the decoding of Daniel’s 70 weeks. I hope it’s ok to ask these in this format, since you haven’t spelled out your exact views on this blog like you have in the book. If it’s not, I apologize.
Anyway, here are my questions:
*Why doesn’t the date for Jesus to be “cut off” using the 14 lunar cycles come out to the exact date? According to your book it falls a few years short. It seems that, if such a complicated formula was God ordained, it would certainly be precise?
*I also don’t understand your explanation of Dan.9:25 and messiah coming after seven sevens (p.394). Why, in figuring the birth of Christ do you change the formula from 69 x 7 = 483 to 490 (the total # of 7’s instead of 69– 70 weeks x 7 =490)? I recognize that this particular formula does come out to the precise date, but the change in the formula seems to be manipulating the data to arrive at your forgone conclusion. My problem with all of the explanations of prophecy teachers that I’ve thus far come across for Daniel’s 70 weeks timeline is that everyone seems to be manipulating some aspect–whether it be historical dates, the Scriptural beginning or ending of the 70 weeks, or calendars–in order to make their theory work.
*Also, I wasn’t clear from the book what Scriptural basis you have for considering the “sevens” to be periods of time (achieved by use of complicated formulas) when the other uses of “sevens” in the OT all refer to years?
I have other questions, but I’m afraid I may have overstepped as it is. Please understand that my questions are asked out of a sincere desire to understand God’s Word and not to be antagonistic towards you. As I told you earlier, I am preparing to teach a Bible study to a large number of women on these topics, and I take very seriously God’s call to “rightly divide” His Word. I appreciate all of your information and insight on these matters.
In Christ,
Marci
Hi Marci,
Glad to hear you like the story. Your questions shows the heart of a true Berean. By no means did you overstep you bounds. I truly love discussing/searching these things out. I will never claim to have it all figured out. To me that is part of the joy of the journey. We will never exhaust the treasures we can find in YHWH’s word.
I ask for your understanding tonight as I don’t have time to give you the answer your questions deserve. I have a two day job coming up starting tomorrow early and I must prepare for it. Hopefully by this weekend I will have the time necessary. I have purposely not written about the fulfillment of Daniel 9 on this blog until I have address the 2nd Temple era chronology. I have always felt Daniel 9 must be laid on a strong Scriptural foundation.
So until then, good night my sister in Yeshua.
Warm Regards,
William Struse
Hi Marci,
I will try to go through your question one by one. Here is part of your first:
Daniel 9:26 says the Messiah will be cut off “after” the 62 weeks. Based upon a 14 lunar cycle the 69th week ended in Sept/Oct of 27 AD right where Luke 3 records the baptism of Yeshua. Most commentators place the “cutting off” in-between the 69th & 70th week. In my opinion this is not a reasonable assumption. How can the most important Messianic prophecy in the Scripture ignore the very reason for the Messiah’s coming? (i.e. Mankind’s reconciliation to YHWH?)
Daniel 9:26 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself:
Luke 3:21-23 21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, 22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. 23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,
Daniel 9:25 25 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.
Few commentators have been able to explain the first part of Dan. 9:25. How can the Messiah come after just 7 weeks if he is then “cut off” later after 69 weeks? Some claim this refers to two different Messiah’s.
From what I have read, the term “weeks” in the text of Daniel 9 is shavuim, the plural masculine form of shavua. (seven) Excepting Daniel 10, all other places in the OT use the feminine form, where it refers to a literal week. Most commentators agree that the plural masculine form of shavua has significance they just don’t agree on what that significance represents.
My belief is that the first seven “weeks” of Dan. 9:25 represents a coded (if you will) reference to the Yeshua’s conception. What are the odds that a 13 lunar cycle x 70 weeks from YHWH’s divine command = the conception of Yeshua in the winter of 5 BC? Then a 14 lunar cycle x 69 weeks from YHWH”s divine command = the time when Yeshua was baptized in this 30th year.
*Also, I wasn’t clear from the book what Scriptural basis you have for considering the “sevens” to be periods of time (achieved by use of complicated formulas) when the other uses of “sevens” in the OT all refer to years?
I am not aware of any other “shavuim” in the OT which are used in the context of a “year”.
Warm Regards,
William Struse
Thanks! I’ll check back in a few days.
Marci
Hi again,
I don’t mean to be difficult, but I feel a bit like I did in school whenever I asked a math teacher to explain a math concept: The teacher’s response made perfect sense to him but made too many assumptions to communicate an understandable explanation to me. Written responses are quite limiting as well. (Any chance your family would like to take a vacation to Orlando & have a free place to stay? How I would love to pick your brain for an evening!)
I have spent so many hours (a drop in the bucket, I realize, compared to you) trying to search out & understand the prophesies from the book of Daniel & their fulfillment in history. I am in awe at our God over what I do understand but am starting to feel like Daniel when he says in 8:27, “I was appalled by the vision; it was beyond understanding.”
You have thoroughly convinced me of the Artaxerxes assumption & that most likely the starting point of the 70 weeks was in Darius the Great’s 2nd year. The problem is that believing that thoroughly ruins the other commentators (just about everyone in Christendom) explanations for the time table of the 70 weeks. Thanks a lot! That leaves me with only 2 other explanations that I’m aware of–yours & Tim Warner’s. Yours I don’t understand properly because it is phenomenally complex and makes a number of biblical assumptions that I’m not yet comfortable with.
Perhaps, we could go back to the last of my 3 questions. The question is regarding your interpretation of the seven weeks as periods of time rather than years as used elsewhere in the OT. I went back and looked up all the other uses of weeks in the OT and the Hebrew word used. You said that only Daniel 9 & 10 use the masculine form of the word & the others are obviously referring to literal 7 day weeks.
You are correct that they are referring to literal weeks elsewhere. What I was confused by is that I thought Lev.25:8 was using the term “weeks” when it describes the year of jubilee. It does not; however, it does spell out something so similar to Dan. 9 that I find it hard to believe the Daniel passage isn’t harkening back to it.
Lev. 25:8 says, “And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.”
As Tim says, the wording in Dan.9:25, specifically the distinction of the first seven weeks, points the Jews & us back to the sabbath & jubilee calendars. After all, according to the incredible chart you sent me that shows the jubilee years, the year of jubilee even fell in Darius’ 2nd year. I don’t mean this antagonistically, but why do you choose to discount a simple explanation for a complex one?
I don’t want to waste your time in having to respond to my questions. I gather you have many irons in the fire currently and appreciate the time you have already spent replying. If & when you have time to shed more light on these matters, I will be grateful.
May God bless you,
Marci
Hi Marci,
Sorry for the delay in replying to you. I am trying to juggle a lot of responsibilities right now.
Before I try to answer your question in this post let me respond to your post after this one. You have in no way caused any offense to me. I am thrilled by your serious questions and genuine interest in the subject. I would like to stress here that I do not claim to have all the answers. I will give you my best but that in some cases may not be enough! In the event that is the case I can only encourage you to continue your own personal quest in the Scripture. As the proverbs says: “It is the glory of God the conceal a thing and the honor of kings to search out the matter.” I am fine with both your posts, and frankly I think they illustrate to other readers what a real Berean should be doing. So unless you request me to remove your posts I would like to leave them up.
Now to address this post. Believe it or not I have felt the same you have described when I first realized that the majority view of Daniel 9 was seriously flawed.
RE: Tim Warner’s view of Daniel 9. There are several reasons I don’t agree with his interpretation.
1. His Jubilee cycles are not synchronized.
2. He must disregard all secular chronology, including all eclipse records.
3. He doesn’t base the prophecy on a Divine command.
4. He starts the 70 weeks in the reign of Cyrus despite the fact that the Jewish people are still under the wrath of YHWH.
I have nothing against Tim. In our conversations he has been forthright and courteous but his interpretation is only “simple” on the surface. I realize my interpretation seems complicated but only because we no longer see “time” from the perspective of the 2nd Temple era. That and whatever constraints are place upon it by my explanation.
Keep sorting through the evidence. You’ll find the answers YHWH intended.
Warm Regards, Bill
P.S. If we are ever in Orlando, I would love to sit down with you and have this conversation face to face. I love discussing the wonders of YHWH’s word.
Hi Mr. Struse,
I’m guessing by your silence that I have caused offense by my last post. I am truly sorry if that is the case. I knew when I wrote that response that I was too discouraged about the whole matter to respond properly, but I did it anyway. Please forgive me. (Feel free to delete these last 2 postings, if that’s possible.)
In Christ,
Marci
Hi again,
Thank you so much for your gracious reply. It is a tremendous relief to me. I am and will continue searching & praying for understanding. The words of the angel Gabriel to Daniel in 9:25 when he says, “Know and understand this…” and then proceeds to give the 70 weeks prophecy lets me know that God intended for that particular prophecy to be understood.
Whether or not we come to the same conclusions, I want to again thank you for all of the time you’ve invested in searching these things out yourself and making the information available to others. Thanks also for your willingness to answer my questions, even under the weight of many other responsibilities.
In Christ,
Marci
I just have a comment to make. I’m no where near the understanding that all of you seem to be. In all practicality, I’m really just beginning my journey that should’ve began years ago as a new believer. The discussion and Q&A session between you and Marci really impressed me. The information was great but the attitude with which the both of you handled what could have been misunderstood as antagonistic was handled with great love and concern. I’m so happy to see Christian Love being lived out. Thank you. I needed that this morning. Just a bit of information…I have never heard of you. I saw a review you did on a book on Amazon.com and followed the link to your page. Thank you again…~J.R.
Welcome J.R.! Thank you for stopping by and thank you for the words of encouragement. They were what I needed this morning!
Regards,
William Struse
b”h
Shalom bro Struse,
I have been reading through your blogology here and appreciate the thought you’ve put into the questions about Dan 9 and Ezra-Nehemiah and Esther, et al.
Within the last few weeks I’ve been reexamining the 70 sevens of Dan 9 myself and I had just come to the conclusion a few days ago that the יובל Yovel (Jubilee) year may definitely be part of the solution. However, according to Jewish tradition (which I find reasonable in this case) Ezra re-established the count of the seventh-year שמיטה “shmitah” (fallow-land) after he returned to Jerusalem. There is no counting of the Yovel-Jubilee unless there is a counting of the shmitah, and that seven year count is tied to Israel’s inhabitance of the land of promise. In other words, there have to be Jewish inhabitants in the land of Israel for there to be a need for counting the seven year shmitah in the first place. The implication following from that is that until Jewish people return to the land of Israel, there would be no counting of the shmitah and hence, no counting of the Yovel-Jubilee. Indeed, the 70 years of desolation (during exile) decreed by the Almighty through Jeremiah was based on Israel’s previous dwelling on the land, not merely on a cosmic stop watch. But after the exile, once the Jewish people return, then they are obligated to count the seven years, and this is evidently what the returnees pledged to do in Nehemiah 10:31. Jewish tradition indeed says that the seventh-year shimitah, and the fiftieth-year Yovel-Jubilee, were re-established by Ezra and counted during Second Temple days. After reading you remarks here, I just read Tim Warner’s article on the Jubilee.
http://www.answersinrevelation.org/chronology/70weeks.pdf
In his final paragraph he writes:
“Using this new understanding of the 70 weeks, the crucifixion of Jesus after the end of the 69th week must be dated to 493 years after the command given by Cyrus, one week short of the 70 weeks which totals 500 years. Cyrus’ decree must be on a Jubilee year, that is, his decree is to be synchronized with the already existing Jubilee calendar.”
I have made no final decision about when the final “decree” was made, and I am inclined to think it was associated directly with Ezra, not Cyrus. The point you make about Zechariah’s and Haggai’s prophecies is compelling as well. In any case, Warner has made a bit of a mistake here, according to his wording. One only counts a Yovel-Jubilee after seven-sevens; so the number of years at the end of the 69th week would be 492. If he means 493 as a result of 483+10, then this is incorrect, since to that time there had only been NINE – 9 Yovel-Jubilee cycles. In other words the tenth Yovel-Jubilee is only counted after the final week of the seventy. However, if one reads the verse as “after the 69th week” to mean that we are in a new year, then it would be the 493rd year since the start of the count by virtue of being “after” the 69th week.
In any case there is a hint that after the 70 week there will be a cosmic Yovel-Jubilee, which IMHO might be reflected in Romans 8:19-23.
Best wishes.
–
Good evening Hanoch,
If you would like some more research on the Jubilee Sabbath cycle I have put together a chart which lists the evidence chronologically. You can find it here: http://www.the13thenumeration.com/Blog13/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Chronology_6030_Full13.pdf
In the list you will see most all historical Rabbinic references to the Sabbath/Jubilees. You’ll also find the ‘shmitah’ of Nehemiah/Ezra synchronized with the reign of Darius “Artaxerxes”. (Where he read them the law in the 7th year).
Also worthy of note is Ezekiel 1-2 where it mentions the “30th year”. This may be the only reference to a Jubilee cycle found in the Scripture. This “30th year” corresponds to the 5th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity. On page 7 you’ll find that indeed the 30th year of the 70th Jubilee cycle does fall on the 5th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity. On page 8 you’ll see that Nehemiah’s governorship/reading of the law took place on the 3 ‘shmitah’ of the 72nd Jubilee cycle.
Ezekiel 1:1-2 Ezekiel 1:1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. 2 In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity,…
For what it is worth chronlogists have long speculated about this 30th year. No king of Judah, Israel or Babylon was in their 30th year at this point in history. Some have speculated it might have been Ezekiel’s birth year. In any case a good case can be made that it was the 30th year of the Yowbel/Jubilee cycle.
* * *
Regarding Tim Warner’s interpretation of Daniel 9, since I am constrained by time this evening I hope you don’t mind if I copy and past part of an email I wrote to friend of Tim’s who asked me what I thought about his material. The following are several area’s where I disagree with Tim:
1. He discounts the secular eclipse records as they relate to the Persian Era
2. His calculation of the Jubilee cycle
3. Ignoring the context of YHWH’s “command”.
My first problem is with using Cyrus as the starting point for the “command”. He must disassociate the date for Cyrus’ rule from any secular chronology. YHWH gave the secular synchronisms in the Scripture so that we could connect the coming of the Messiah with our calendars. Tim also overlooks the eclipse records which clearly define the Babylonian and Persian era. Sure Ptolemy could have been wrong about the exact date of Cyrus’ reign. (I think he was off by 2yrs.) But you can’t just move the reign of Cyrus without changing the dates of Nebuchadnezzar and Darius who ruled on both sides of Cyrus. We have actual clay astronomical records which date the reign of Nebuchadnezzar and Darius. It’s worth speculating that in fact Daniel as chief “magi” was responsible for the very records with which we date the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.
The best work on the existing eclipse records that I know of is by Richard Stephenson called Historical Eclipses and the Earth’s Rotation. Mr. Stephenson lists & interprets all available eclipse records from around the world to determine the Delta T of the earths rotation. Kind of pricey but well worth the money. Bottom line, there is no reasonable way to discount eclipse records which give specific astronomical sightings for the dates of the reign of Babylonian and Persian kings. On balance the eclipse records, (written by or under the direction of Daniel) prove the reign of Cyrus started about the year 536 BC and the reign of Darius Hystaspes started 521 BC.
Once Tim determines the length of his Jubilee cycle relative to the 70 “weeks” he then has to “date” this relative to his modified secular dating system. If Tim’s contention is correct that we do not need any secular chronology to determine the Old Testament chronology as it relates to the Persian era then it seems incongruent to use secular dates to then try and prove a version of said chronology correct. If the secular date of 536 BC for the start of Cyrus reign is irrelevant then so is the secular date of 27 AD for the ministry of Yeshua. You can’t unhinge one end of your argument from the secular data then claim the other end of your argument proves Jesus is the Messiah according to secular data. That is circular reasoning.
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Second, I disagree with how Tim counts the Jubilee cycle. From my perspective the Biblical record is congruent in how it defines the daily and yearly Sabbath cycles. Tim believes the yearly Sabbath cycle is interrupted by the Jubilee year at the end of 49 years. I believe the evidence shows that the yearly Sabbath cycle is continuous and not interrupted. This makes for a unique cycle which matches how we celebrate Shavuot which is a “little” Jubilee. Just as Shavuot falls on the 1st day of the week following 7 weekly cycles the Jubilee also falls on the first year of the new Jubilee cycle following 7 yearly Sabbath cycles.
Tim’s “intercalated” Jubilee year require an additional 10 years to be added to his reckoning of the 70 “weeks”. Here is how he figures the math:
70×7 = 490 = 49×10 = 490+10 = 500
This math makes each “week” of Daniel 9 equal to 7.142857 years. (7 years 52.177 days)
Thus making each “year” 372.7 days long.
In my estimation this reckoning of “time” would have been unrecognizable to the Jewish People of the 2nd temple era and for that matter those of this era. This method of calculating the “weeks” of Daniel 9 is disassociated from any reckoning of time they would have understood. The returning Judean captives were so ignorant of the “law”, Ezra had to come up to Jerusalem to explain it to them. In fact Neh. 8:17 states the Judean’s built “booths” for the feast of Tabernacles for the first time since the days of Joshua.
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Tim’s greatest oversight, in my opinion, is his focus on the decree of Cyrus to the neglect of the degree of YHWH. The following quote from his study illustrates my point:
“Consequently, the decree of Cyrus in his first year is the only possible start for the 70 weeks prophecy. It is the only decree for which we have a definite date in Scripture, and it is the first decree to meet the criteria in Daniel’s prophecy.”
This statement in clearly not accurate as it ignores the testimony of Ezra 6:13-15, Haggai and Zechariah which clearly defines the 2nd year of Darius Hystaspes as the year YHWH gave a “commandment to return and build” Jerusalem. This also breaks Tims own rule on dating that era. The whole chronological sequence builds from the decree of Cyrus in 536 BC to the climax of these events in the 2nd year of Darius Hystaspes (520 BC) when YHWH “returned to Jerusalem with mercies” after 70 years of absence (Zech 1). From a Jubilee perspective this year marked the 72nd Jubilee cycle from Adam and the half way point to the 144th Jubilee.
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I hope this answers more questions than it raises.
Warm Regards,
Bill
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With fear must say that you people do dig deep into Scriptures, your understanding and how you all explaine the Holy Book amaizes me.
Aren’t the three missing kings in a row all relatives of Ahab?