We have been looking at the timeline for the first coming of Christ.  As I drew on the white board in this conference room, there is a definite pattern that comes all the way from the time of creation.  We were speculating about a fictional believer that Mr. Camping gave the name of “Nathaniel” in his book “1994?”   Using the Old Testament, could Nathaniel have discovered the timeline for the first coming of Christ?

Why this is so important and significant for us today is because we know the dates.  They were already established regarding His first coming.  There was 7 B. C., 33 A. D. and even 29 A. D. when He was baptized.  Those dates come from the Bible, but there is also secular evidence to support them.  For instance, King Herod died in 4 B. C., so we know Christ was not born in the year “0” as our Gregorian calendar would indicate.  We are in the year 2018 A. D., so it would be supposed we could go back 2,018 years and that was when Christ was born, but Herod died in 4 B. C.  So, if we add 4 to 2,018, we would get 2,022 and then we would minus “1” because there is no year “0,” and we would get 2,021.   Already it is off that much.

Remember when Herod tried to ascertain from the wise men what time they had seen the star.  It says in Matthew 2:16:

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.

So, Herod interrogated them: “When did you first see this star?”  It must have been two years earlier, because he was not going to take any chances in finding this new-born king that he felt was such a threat to him.  He sent and slew all the male children that were two years and under in the coast of Bethlehem.  Since we know from secular records that Herod died in 4 B. C., it had to have been no later than 6 B. C. when Christ was born.   But there is no indication in the Bible that Herod died immediately after sending the soldiers to kill the children.  Given all the other evidence in the Bible that points to a Jubilee Year (as the birth year of Christ) and the character of a Jubilee Year, which is deliverance, and Christ is the essence of deliverance; and given the fact that it was at least 6 B.C., we have strong support that the actual birth year was 7 B. C. 

Of course, an Old Testament saint would not know that information or, possibly, even the date of creation, but he could have known the date of the birth of Jacob and Esau and the date that David became king in 1007 B. C.  He could have seen from these timelines that there were exactly 2,000 years from the birth of Jacob and Esau to 7 B. C. and exactly 1,000 years from the date that David became king to 7 B. C.  There is much more supporting evidence that we may look at later regarding the foundation of the temple.  We would like to do a study on the date of the foundation of the temple, Lord willing, because that date of 967 B. C. leads to the cross in 33 A. D., which is exactly 1,000 calendar years.  That date also leads to 2033 A. D.  If we add 967 to 2033, it is exactly 3,000 years.  That is another major time path because we see the number “3,” along with multiples of “10,” which indicates God’s purpose and completeness.  Again, this was from the laying of the foundation to 2033 A. D.

In other words, even if this Nathaniel did not know the creation date, there was still evidence where 7 B. C. would have been a year to examine, especially since God orchestrated the circumstances with Zacharias and Elisabeth and the birth of John the Baptist.  There was Mary’s conception, even though she was a virgin.  Then there was Simeon to whom it was revealed by the Holy Ghost that he would not die until he saw the Lord’s Christ.  And Christ came in 7 B. C.

I would like to talk about something we read in Daniel 9.  I will read some verses there.  You know, Mr. Camping wrote a very good booklet called, “The Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9,”  looking at what it says in Daniel 9:24-25:

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 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: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

I will stop reading there.  There were seventy weeks determined.  And then God said, “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.” 

By the way, that is a time path.  Those that criticize the idea of time paths and projecting time from one date to a future date never acknowledge that God does this.  We just read where God laid out a time path.  He was saying, “Here is a starting point from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah.  He gave a starting point and He also gave a timeline, did He not?  There were seven weeks and there were “threescore and two weeks” or sixty-two weeks, from the commandment to the Messiah.  Does that not make time paths Biblical if God does it? 

You know it is not considered the worst thing today to be Pentecostal with people “falling over backwards,” and it is not terrible that over 500 million professed Christians “speak in tongues.”  But the worst possible thing to be is the dreaded “date setter.”  It is the heresy of heresies.  You might as well give up and die, if you are a date setter.  All the churches came together with one voice leading up to May 21, 2011: “No man knows the day or the hour.”  Amazing, just amazing.  Name another thing where all the corporate churches have ever been unified with one voice.  Name a doctrine, whether it be baptism, the Lord’s Table, a woman’s role in the churches, the qualifications for elders and deacons, or any other doctrine.  With one voice, they were certain, and that certainty ought to frighten anyone that was listening to them: “Well, these churches have never been certain about anything or spoke with one voice.  As a matter of fact, this is the end-time church, so it is a church that has fallen away.  They cannot find the handle to the door because they are wandering about in spiritual blindness.  Are we supposed to take their word and trust them because they have finally come together in agreement and the world  supports it?  Their declaration, “No man knows the day or hour,” is a definite Bible teaching that they hold to, so that gives me no assurance and it makes me think I had better look more closely at it, because these churches have never agreed on truth.  They are stumbling around in the dark.  So, they are so sure, and they make the charge, “You are a date setter, and you better not get involved with that.”  

And, yet, the “number one” date setter is God.  You can go Genesis 15 when God spoke to Abram and told him:  “Thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.”  He was giving another time path.  It was yet another time path that led from a specific point to the point they would come out of Egypt.  And what was Jonah’s message to the Ninevites?  Was Jonah a “date setter” because he said, “And yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown”?  Did this come out of Jonah’s own mind?  He did not even want to go to Nineveh.  He did not want to tell them anything.  He did not want to give them this date, but God sent him, and God said to him, “Preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.”  That preaching was a timeline leading to destruction.

And, here, in Daniel 9, God is giving a definite time path until the Messiah.  In the book, “The Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9,” Mr. Camping pointed out that you had to find the starting point of the commandment, and there were a few possibilities with a few different kings of the Medes and Persians.  It does no good to know the number of weeks if you do not know where to start.  When he looked at some of the possibilities, it was a sort of dead end that did not go anywhere of significance, but then he realized that Ezra was sent by a king of the Medes and Persians to establish the Law.  (We will look at some of those verses.)  Spiritually, that qualifies as restoring and building Jerusalem: “to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah.”  Then Mr. Camping said that it was in the year 458 B. C., which does seem to work out very nicely.  From 458 to 33 A. D., minus “1” equals 490 years.  However, there is a concern, and one which I have always had.  How did Mr. Camping arrive at the date 458 for Ezra?  Where did that date come from?  I think it came from secular sources regarding the reigns of the kings of the Medes and the Persians. 

This is the reason I said yesterday that I just want to present this.  It is a test, and it really does not have to do with the year 2033 and the timeline for that year.  It has to do with the first coming of the Lord and the timeline related to that, but we just want to make sure we are on solid ground.  So, I want to present this, but I am not saying that this is how it must be.  I am not saying to get rid of the timeline from 458 B. C. to 33 A. D, but I am going to present it because I want to get feedback; I want others to start looking at this and, hopefully, they will share with me what they see and understand. 

I think the Bible has a timeline for the birth of Christ that can be proven from the Bible, using only the Scriptures.  The Bible says, “from the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.” The command was given to Ezra and it was to be spiritually understood, but I think there is some evidence the date for Ezra could be incorrect.  And that evidence needs to come from the Bible, and instead of 458 B. C., it would be another date.  And that is what I would like to look at now.

First, let us remember that  Josiah, King of Judah, was slain in 609 B. C. which began the historic seventy-year period of tribulation for Judah.  It lasted from 609 to 539.  In Daniel 5, Cyrus and the Medes and Persians took Babylon in 539 B. C., which was the end of the seventy years.  Then Cyrus issued a proclamation that the Jews be allowed to return to Jerusalem to build the temple.  It says in Ezra 3:8:

Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem…

If you read Ezra 1, you will see that proclamation by the king of the Medes and the Persians.  Then God gave the genealogy of those that left Babylon to go to Jerusalem.  Then in chapter 3, they begin building the temple; it was the time of the laying of the foundation.  So, this was the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem.  Again, it says in Ezra 3:8-10:

Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of JEHOVAH. Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites. And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of JEHOVAH, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise JEHOVAH, after the ordinance of David king of Israel.

So, we see it was the second month of the second year since coming out of Babylon that the foundation of the temple was laid.  Since they came out in 539 B. C., the second year would have been 537 B. C.  That is when the temple foundation was laid. 

Then it says in Ezra 4:1-6:

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto JEHOVAH God of Israel; Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither. But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto JEHOVAH God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us. Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

The enemies that were round about wanted to help and take part in building the temple, but they were refused.  This has a spiritual dimension because it was really God’s elect that were used of the Lord to bring together His spiritual house.   But these enemies were the heathen.  They were unsaved.  They were not permitted to build the temple. 

Building the temple is a holy thing.  Remember in the days of Solomon when they cut the stones for the temple.  They did not cut the stones at the temple site.  They cut them away from the temple and then carried the stones to the temple and fit them in place, so no sound of the hammer or any workman’s device could be heard in the temple.  God jealously protected the idea that we are saved by grace and it is all His work, not man’s work.  So, there could not be workmen hammering away at the temple site and making “sounds” of work, which would point to man being involved in the work of the construction of the temple or house of God.  The house of God typifies the spiritual house, as we are told in Hebrews 3:6: “…whose house are we.” 

So, too, in Ezra 4 it was only the Jews that could build the temple, and not the heathen round about that were told, “Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God.”  They did not like hearing that, and they were offended, so they tried to oppose the construction.  They hindered it as much as possible.  And, of course, they went and told on the Jews.  They wrote a letter to the king, accusing the Jews of sedition, and telling the king that the Jews were going to rebel against him.  So, the king did a search, and it says in Ezra 4:11-16:

This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king; Thy servants the men on this side the river, and at such a time. Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations. Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings. Now because we have maintenance from the king's palace, and it was not meet for us to see the king's dishonour, therefore have we sent and certified the king; That search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers: so shalt thou find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time: for which cause was this city destroyed. We certify the king that, if this city be builded again, and the walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side the river.

Then it goes on to say in Ezra 4:17-22:

Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and unto the rest beyond the river, Peace, and at such a time. The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me. And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein. There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom, was paid unto them. Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me. Take heed now that ye fail not to do this: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?

They began to build in 537 B. C. and after the people around them complained to the king and search was made, the king found the history of Solomon, David and the kings of Israel and Judah.  He saw that they were once a mighty kingdom, so he accepted the charge against the Jews without proving it.  It was easy for him to do.  He told them to stop working, and they did stop working.  I am not sure how long the work had been going on until it was stopped.  I do not know if the Bible gives us that information, but the Bible does tell us when they started (work) again.

First let us go to Zechariah 1.  A lot of these books are connected (like Zechariah, Haggai, Ezra and Nehemiah) in discussing this same period of history.  It says in Zechariah 1:1:

In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of JEHOVAH unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,

Then the book of Zechariah was given to him in the setting of the second year of Darius.

It says in Haggai 1:1-2:

In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of JEHOVAH by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, Thus speaketh JEHOVAH of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the JEHOVAH'S house should be built.

The house had been under construction; the foundation was laid.  But then the work stopped.  It was a prolonged period of time that they had not been working on the temple.  But then look at Haggai 1:13-14:

Then spake Haggai the JEHOVAH'S messenger in the JEHOVAH'S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith JEHOVAH. And JEHOVAH stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of JEHOVAH of hosts, their God,

God stirred their spirit at this time, but we still do not know when it was yet.  But if we go back to Ezra 5, it says in Ezra 5:1-2:

Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them. Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them.

It is definitely drawing on those two other prophets that God moved to prophesy at that time, and when they prophesied the inactivity came to an end and they began to build.  Now they had not received any further news from the king of the Medes and the Persians.  It is probable that the king that had given the proclamation to stop the building was no longer alive, and there was another king on the throne. 

The names of the kings of the Medes and the Persians are complicated because different kings were called the same title and we tend to think these are “names,” like Darius, Cyrus, Artaxerxes and Ahasuerus.  We think they are names, as that is how we tend to read it, but it is really like a title such as “Pharaoh” or “Caesar.”   They were titles that were given to the kings of the Medes and Persians.  Because they had a vast empire and two strong groups of people (the Medes and the Persians), one title would apply more specifically to one group of people, while the other group of people would show respect using another title.  So, one king could be given any of these titles.  We will look later at how the Bible does prove that, and that is part of the key for understanding the timeline for the building of Zerubbabel’s temple.

You know, is it not interesting that God gave us such an exact time for the building of Solomon’s temple?  It was, according to 1Kings 6:1, “ in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month.” It was the year 967 B. C. that the foundation of the temple was laid.  It was in the forth year of Solomon’s reign, so how long did it take to build Solomon’s temple?  In one place, the Bible says it was seven years and in another place it is more specific, giving us seven years and six months.  We are told the month and the year it was begun in the reign of Solomon and the month and year it was completed in the reign of Solomon.  It is very exact.

Then when it comes to Zerubbabel’s temple, we can gather the year of 537 B. C. as the starting point, but due to the work stoppage there seems to be a lack of clarity with that timeline and we do not know when the temple was completed.  And, yet, God is very specific regarding the dates, if we go to Ezra 5:5:

But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, that they could not cause them to cease, till the matter came to Darius: and then they returned answer by letter concerning this matter.

I am sorry, but I did skip verses 3 and 4 where they began to build again because of the prophesying of Zechariah and Haggai, and the people of the surrounding nations wrote again to the king.  This time they seemed a little more reasonable and less prejudiced than their predecessors.  They wrote to the king and this is the content of their letter.  It goes on to say in Ezra 5:6-7:

The copy of the letter that Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shetharboznai, and his companions the Apharsachites, which were on this side the river, sent unto Darius the king: They sent a letter unto him, wherein was written thus; Unto Darius the king, all peace.

I am going to jump down to Ezra 5:11-13:

And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and set up. But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon. But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon the same king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God.

Then it says in Ezra 5:16:

Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and yet it is not finished.

This is the second time we have read those two words, “in building.”  Just keep that in mind.  It had been in building, and yet, it was not finished.  From this statement, we can gather that it has been a long time since the foundation was laid: “and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and yet it is not finished.”

Then it goes on to say in Ezra 5:17:

Now therefore, if it seem good to the king, let there be search made in the king's treasure house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.

In the next chapter, it says in Ezra 6:1-3:

Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon. And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record thus written: In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits;

Then it says in Ezra 6:7-8:

Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in his place. Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered.

Now the work would continue with the king’s blessing and help until it was completed. 

Let us read a couple of more verses in Ezra 6:14-15:

And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

This is very precise.  It was the third day of Adar, which is the twelfth Hebrew month, and it was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius.   Among the other verses we read that it started in the second year of Darius, and God even gave the month, but I cannot remember the month.  From the second year of Darius to the sixth year of Darius the  house of God was “in building,” and then it was finally finished.  But, again, when was it finished?  If we just stay in the Bible, we can learn the timeline for that house from John 2, because in John 2 the Lord was having a discussion with some Jews, and it says in John 2:18-20:

Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building…

There are those two words “in building,” again.  We found this term a couple of times in the book of Ezra.  And how do we learn these things in the Bible?  We see where God uses the word or term elsewhere, especially when it is in the same context.  It is in the context of the temple when the Lord was going about His earthly ministry.  They said, “Forty and six years was this temple in building.”  We see those two words “in building,” which we found a couple of times in Ezra.  That is how we learn from the Bible.  So, this temple was 46 years in building.

But if you read commentaries, most of them will tell you it refers to “Herod’s temple.”    Herod was another evil king.  (Herod was probably also a title, like Pharaoh, Caesar or Darius.)   There was work done on a temple in the time of Herod, according to secular sources, and it was a vast renovation of a temple because the foundation of the temple was laid in 537 B. C. and now it is the first century.  So, over five hundred years had passed and a lot of “wear and tear” can occur to any structure over five centuries.  Perhaps Herod was trying to appease the Jews he reigned over, so he did a renovation.  When you renovate a place, you are not normally building it.  It is not construction, like laying a foundation or building upon that foundation.  You are putting a “fresh face” on it, but you did not build it. 

And we know that Herod did not build it because of what Zerubbabel said to the people of the nations round about.  Did he allow them to participate in building the temple of Zerubbabel, which was God’s temple?  No – he told them, “Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God.”  So, no individual from the surrounding land that was not a Jew was permitted to contribute anything to the building of the temple.  We can also look at the temple of Solomon.  Building a temple is a very holy thing in God’s sight because of what it represents, so the idea that Herod built a temple (as the theologians claim) and then Jesus would enter into that temple during his earthly ministry is not even possible.  Anything Herod would have constructed would have been contaminated and would not be considered a “holy place.”  I do not know how it worked out after the Ark of the Covenant was taken by the Babylonians, but it was still a “holy place” in that it signified the presence of God with His holy people.  It was not until the veil of the temple was rent in twain when Jesus went to the cross that the Jews ceased to be the holy people because the temple ceased to be the “holy place.” 

So, the temple that was “forty and six years in building” does not refer to Solomon’s temple.  We know that temple was built in seven years and six months, and it was also destroyed.  But the Jews (in John 2) were referring to a temple that was before them, so it must have been Zerubbabel’s temple.  So, that gives us a timeline from 537 B. C. when the foundation of the temple was laid.  So, if we take 537 and minus 46, we get 491 B. C.  There was 46 years from the foundation of the temple that it was “in building.” 

By the way, I am not looking at secular sources.  I am not trying to fit this in with what secular historians and archaeologists say about the dates of the kings of the Medes and Persians.  This is only from the Bible.  It must be tested, so someone may later come to me and say, “There is a secular source that says that a certain king reigned during a certain time.” 

But, first, we would still need to consider the way these kings were referred to using various titles.  For instance, in Daniel 6 where Daniel was in the lion’s den, it says in Daniel 6:28:

So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

The conjunction “and” can also be properly translated as “even,” and that is how it should be translated here because it is saying, “in the reign of Darius, even…Cyrus the Persian.”  It was one king, with two titles.  He was “Cyrus” and he was “Darius,” and these titles could have been used to appease the two different groups he reigned over.  So, when he would visit one land, he would use the title “Cyrus” and when he would visit the other group, he was known as “Darius.”  This king could also have been the king referred to as “Artaxerxes,” so let us go back to Ezra 6 where we read that they finished the temple, and it says in Ezra 6:14:

And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

Notice it does not say “commandments,” but it says, “according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.”  It is singular.   And the word “and” could be read “even.”   There was one commandment.  We would think if there were three (different) kings, it would say, “according to the commandments.”  Notice what else is singular.  It says, “according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.”  The word “king” is also singular, and God is very careful with grammar.  Remember that He referred to “seed” (singular) to point to Christ, in the book of Galatians.  God is very careful, and it says it was according to the commandment of the king (singular), because it was referring to one king that possessed three titles.

I know you can read a history book or commentary that may refer to Darius or Cyrus, but how can you know who is who?  They sometimes refer to Darius I or Darius II, but that is still shaky ground.  Just look at how they are re-writing history in our present time.   We had learned the history of America from a hundred years ago, but if time were to continue into another generation, they would find a lot of things they did not know, including some things that are not correct because “history” is being altered and corrupted in our day.  That is man’s tendency.  This is the reason we have so much misinformation concerning the flood account.  All the world would have known about the flood because everyone descended from Noah and his family after the flood.  You will find references to a flood on ancient tablets from Babylon or other ancient nations and, yet, it barely has any relationship to the flood account of the Bible.  It is the nature of man to corrupt anything he touches.  Therefore, I would not trust secular sources above the Bible.

So far, we have been looking only at the Bible for the timeline of 46 years.  Again, it is important that we understand that Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes are one and the same king because the temple was completed in the third day of the twelfth month in the sixth year of the reign of Darius.  Four weeks from that point would be the first month and seventh year of Darius.  This was toward the end of the year when the temple was completed, so now let us turn to the next chapter.  I mentioned earlier about the commandment, and this is the chapter where you would look to see that commandment given by the king which Mr. Camping referred to as the starting point of the seventy weeks of Daniel 9.  We will not read it, but you can find it in Daniel 9:11-14 and Daniel 9:25-26.  It is an amazing thing that a heathen king would give that commandment, but it is because he is a picture of Christ.

It says in Ezra 7:6-7:

This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which JEHOVAH God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of JEHOVAH his God upon him. And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.

Some people think Artaxerxes is a different king and a later king because in chapter 6 it talks about a king called “Darius.”  But remember that there were three titles for the one king and “Artaxerxes” was one of those titles.  In chapter 6 it mentioned the twelfth month of the sixth year of Darius and we turn the page and we read of the seventh year of Artaxerxes, so the year fits chronologically.  But then notice what it says in Ezra 7:8-9:

And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.

It took him four months.  But, again, he went up on the first day of the first month.  Can you imagine this?  You are Ezra the priest, a faithful man of God, and you have just heard the report in the previous month that it was finished on the third day of the twelfth month.  It is  not like today when we just hop in our cars and we go where we are going.  Maybe we just throw a few things in a bag and we are off to the Towson Bible Conference.  But in that day, this was a major journey of four months.  He had to prepare supplies and I think he went with a contingent of people, so there had to be some organization of these things.  It took them a few weeks to get everything settled, but as soon as he heard he was anxious to get going.  He also had the blessing of the king, which indicated the blessing of God for this project.  So, in the first day of the first month he was packed and ready to go to Jerusalem to the finished temple.  This was in the seventh year of Darius (Cyrus or Artaxerxes).  The timeline fits. 

Now if this had said it was the tenth month of the sixth year of Artaxerxes, it would not fit.  But as far as the chronology, the first month follows the twelfth month and the seventh year follows the sixth year.  It all fits into place, indicating that the year the commandment from the king was given to Ezra to go establish the Law and to restore and to build Jerusalem, spiritually, is the year 490 B. C. 

Now let us go to Daniel 9 and look at the verse we read earlier.  It says in Daniel 9:25:

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, and threescore and two weeks:

There is the starting point of 490 B. C., which is the key because you cannot do a time path unless you know where you start from.  It is just like when you go to Map Quest.  Where do you begin?  I put in my home address and then I put in my address destination, and then it gives you the directions.  It is the same thing with time paths in the Bible.  You must have a major Biblical event and from that point to another major point is how God does time paths, and that is who we learn from it.  Again, it says in Daniel 9:25:

… 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.

The word “week” can be understood as “seven,” and, therefore, seven weeks would be “seven sevens” and the threescore and two weeks is sixty-two weeks or sixty-two sevens.  If we put them together, we get sixty-nine sevens.  So, 69 x 7 equals 483.  So, 483 years from 490 B. C. lands on 7 B. C.  Who was born in 7 B. C. ?  It was the Lord Jesus Christ, so this seems to point directly to Messiah the Prince.

This part seems wonderful, but the problem is the seventieth week.  It does not seem to fit as smoothly, so that is why I am hesitant to say that we are making correction to Mr. Camping’s booklet about the seventy weeks of Daniel 9.  Our information is all based on the Bible and not from any secular source.  We did not get any year for the kings of the Medes and the Persians except from the Bible.  We did not get the year for Ezra except from the Bible.  The seventy weeks of Daniel 9 that Mr. Camping wrote seems to come forth, but maybe I am wrong.  Maybe someone knows of a way that the year 458 B. C. was arrived at from the Bible.  If we can derive that date from the Bible, then I would not say this, but it seems to have come from secular sources in the booklet.  And I have mentioned that we cannot fully trust secular sources, even though it seems to fit so well: the time path from 458 to 33 A. D. is “490,” which would be “70 x 7.” 

We may talk about this a little bit in our next Bible study before we go on to other things.