The one thing I receive from your responses is just how dedicated you are to the Word of the Lord... and it is quite clear you have put much time and effort in following and honoring our Lord... I wish I could say the same about myself... can't!
And I certainly do understand your concern with the "decree" that was issued and by whom... I had to go through this exercise myself when I discovered that, despite all the truly brilliant and well educated folks that have spent years of their lives interpreting Daniel, even they could not come to a consensus... so I do understand the skepticism of many of their interpretations. Which is why I spent the last 5 years studying Daniel. And it took me more than a few months just to focus on this specific issues since I did not accept the few interpretations that were "out there." That does not mean the amount of time and effore guarantees my interpretations are valued, but I feel they are fairly solid and they indeed depart from MOST of "today's accepted interpretations."
Below is a cut / past from my commentary on Chapter 9 regarding the timing of the 70 weeks of years prophecy. All I ask is that you might consider it .... that is all. Sorry the following is long... but, that is what I have found to offer the right basis for the time of the decree.
Daniel 9:25
25Know 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: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
25a-Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem
Verse 25a provides the start of the clock when this prophetic event will take place. This is one of the "timed" internal” borders found within this prophecy. It represents the time of the arrival of the Messiah, the Prince. When the command is given to restore and build Jerusalem, there will be a period of seven weeks (49 prophetic years) and sixty-two weeks (434 prophetic years), for a total of sixty-nine weeks (483 prophetic years),
then the Messiah. On the first day of the seventieth week, the Messiah would arrive to be baptized in the Jordan. This is the beginning of His ministry, which will last 3.5 years until He is “cut-off” (crucified). So, when was this decree given?
Unfortunately, most commentators are not in agreement on when this decree was given, and there are some who disagree on who is giving it. Some contend the one issuing the decree is Cyrus; consequently, they would start their prophetic clock around 538/7 BC. Others claim it represents a decree issued by Darius (not Darius the Mede, but Darius the Persian) in 419 BC, but few have accepted this. But the majority finds that the one who would issue this decree is Artaxerxes, the Persian king who would come to power in 465 BC. However, the controversy would continue since he would issue two separate decrees: Artaxerxes would issue a decree in 457 BC (recorded by Ezra in 7:7-8) and another in 454 BC (recorded by Nehemiah 2:1–17). There is no shortage of supporting work for either of these dates, and each group feels their interpretation should stand. Perhaps there is another approach that will move the needle to one side or the other. So, we might want to start from the beginning—not the beginning of either of the two dates of Artaxerxes decrees, but before the start of these proposed starting dates.
Study by Pastor Derrick Walker
Daniel's 70 Weeks (490 years) gives a major clue that God determines and measures the redemptive history of Israel in cycles of 70*7=490 years. In particular, it defines the last of these cycles as running from the Ezra Decree to restore Jerusalem (458/7 BC) to Messiah's sacrificial atoning Death and Resurrection (AD 33). Matthew 18:21-22 also implies there is something special about 70*7 = 490:
“Peter came and said to Him: “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him: “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to SEVENTY times SEVEN (70 x 7 = 490). From this passage, we see that 490 is the amount of FORGIVENESS.
Thus, the cycle of 490 years can be seen as a Forgiveness cycle (70*7 years) as well as a Great Jubilee cycle (10*49 years).
Both concepts agree in emphasizing God’s Mercy and Grace, so that we would expect these Great Forgiveness cycles to start and end with great national ‘Jubilee’ events of forgiveness, release and restoration. We would expect the intervention of God at these times in grace and power, forgiving the past, restoring them and giving them a new start. Thus, this Great Jubilee would seal off the previous 490 years, and then open up the new cycle of 490 years.
THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL - ITS FOUR GREAT JUBILEE CYCLES
These 490-year cycles are indeed confirmed in the history of Israel. Israel had a national Jubilee every 490 years. The outpouring of grace at these times demonstrated God’s forgiveness of the past and His blessing for the future. Thus, God has marked the very structure of time with the revelation of the Jubilee: Forgiveness and full Salvation through the Blood of the Atoning Sacrifice (Leviticus 25). God set apart 4 distinct units of 490 years, and determined these four Great Jubilee cycles to form the backbone for Israel’s history. He fulfilled His purpose through these cycles:
1. Abraham to Exodus,
2. Exodus to Dedication of Solomon’s Temple,
3. From the Dedication of Solomon’s Temple to Artaxerxes decree to restore and build Jerusalem in 457 BC,
4. And finally, the fourth and last Great Jubilee from Artaxerxes decree to the last week in Daniel’s 70 weeks of years prophecy totaling 490 years.
(New Book: Daniel’s 70 Weeks, Appendix 6: Israel’s 490 Year cycles Oxford Bible Church, Pastor Derick Walker).
My study
As a result, Pastor Walker determined there were 560 literal years from the dedication of Solomon’s Temple to Artaxerxes decree in 457 BC. This was comprised of two separate time elements: the ten Jubilee cycles of 49 years (490 years) and the 70 years the Jews were in captivity in Babylon, which would be considered
unreckoned years and would not be counted towards the Great Jubilee cycle. Therefore, it would take 560 literal years before God would accept or count the required 490 years to complete the third Great Jubilee Sabbatical cycle. Consequently, the end of the third cycle would become the start of the fourth cycle in 457 BC (Artaxerxes’ decree).
There may also be another approach to tackle this contested issue. But it would start with a comment based on the work of a second-century BC Seder, Olam Rabbah, stating the first Temple stood for 410 years until its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar in 587/6 BC. If correct, this means Solomon’s Temple would have been dedicated around 996 BC (587/6 plus 410 literal years). Consequently, the third Great Jubilee cycle would still need an additional eighty years (490–410) at the time of the Babylonian destruction before the 490-year period (ten 49-year cycles) was reached to complete the third Great Jubilee cycle.
There was a total of 49 years from 587/6 BC, the year Nebuchadnezzar physically destroyed the Temple, until Cyrus issued his decree allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem in 538/7 BC. These represent the number of years the Jews were not in the land of Israel; the Temple was physically destroyed. These years would not be counted towards the Jubilee cycle. Thus, the required number of years to complete the third Great Jubilee cycle would still be short by 80 years. However, the Jews would return to their land after Cyrus’ decree in 538/7 BC, and in exactly eighty years, Artaxerxes would issue his decree in 457 BC. This would reconcile the 490-year requirement between the second and third Great Jubilee Sabbatical cycles and begin the fourth and final Great Jubilee Sabbatical cycle. Now, Daniel’s seventy-weeks-of-years (490 literal years) would begin in 457 BC and end in 33/34 AD.
And to add another layer of support to the 457 BC start date for the fourth and final Great Jubilee cycle, we will find Ezra’s reading of the law in the month of Tishri, 445/444. This would represent the end of the second seven-year sabbatical cycle
after their return to Jerusalem. Consequently, if we were to add back two seven-year sabbatical cycles totaling fourteen years, it would bring us back to the 458/7 BC date of the Artaxerxes decree.
Look forward to your thoughts....
