I would like to share with you the most amazing, incredible and convincing Messianic prophecy from the book of Daniel that identifies key events in the life of our Messiah Jesus Christ. It is a mathematical prophecy that predicts the exact day the Messiah would begin his ministry, when the Messiah would be crucified and when his teachings would be spread to the gentiles.
Before we begin we need to do some homework. When dealing with prophetic calculations we are told in Ezekiel to take each day for a year.
Ezekiel 4:6
And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.
Thus in prophecy 1 day = 1 year
1 weeks = 7 days = 7 years
Examples: 7 weeks = 49 days = 49 prophetic years
62 weeks = 434 days = 434 prophetic years
70 weeks = 490 days = 490 prophetic years
1 year = 360 Days (old calender)
490 x 360 = 176,400 days
Therefore : 70 weeks = 490 years = 176,400 days
Also 69 prophetic weeks = 483 years = 173,880 days
This prophecy is found in Daniel 9:24-27.
Daniel 9:24-27
24
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
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: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26
And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Chapter 9:25 explains that this prophecy begins on the Commandment to restore Jerusalem. It also explains that the Temple would be restored in 7 weeks (49 prophetic years), then in threescore and two weeks (62 weeks = 434 prophetic years) the Messiah the Prince is to arrive.


Records show that the decree to restore and build Jerusalem occurred in 457 BC. This occurred during the Decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus, the Persian ruler. By calculating 457 BC + [49+434 years] (not including the Year 0000 since that never existed) this date comes to the year 27AD. This prophecy predicts that Christ’s ministry should begin in 27AD.
So when did Christ’s ministry begin according to scripture and history?
Records show that Tiberius was appointed in 14AD (Augustus died in August 19th, 14AD), and Luke 3:1-2 explains Christ’s ministry began within the 15th year of Tiberius.
Luke 3:1-2
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, 2.Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness
In todays traditional method of counting years, this comes to the year 28AD, but Luke may have been using any of several methods to define the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.
Lets have a closer look.
Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the Great, who ruled Judea until March or April of 4 B.C., when he died (Encyclopedia Britannica on the web).
“…Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king …” (Matthew 2:1 KVJ)
It is unknown how soon Jesus was born before Herod’s death. However, Jesus was born no later than April, 4 B.C., the latest possible month of Herod’s death.
In eastern provinces [of the Roman empire]…years were reckoned from the accession of the reigning emperor, the second beginning on the first New Years day after the accession, and the date on which this occurred varied from one province to another. (Encyclopedia Britannica, Chicago, IL, USA: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. 1994, vol 15, p. 421)
Based on the above passage, Luke may have counted Tiberius’ accession year (the time between Tiberius’ August accession and the following New Years day) as his first regnal year. The earliest possible New Years day may have been in the Jewish lunar month of Tishri (September/October).
“R. Hisda said: The rule [that New Year for kings is in Nisan] was only meant to apply to the kings of Israel, but the years of non-Israelitish kings are reckoned from Tishri…” (Talmud, Rosh HaShanah, 3a)
Or the New Years day may have been, as the passage below states, on October 1.
Luke possibly used the Syrian method, which counted the interval between Aug. 19 and the beginning of the new year (Oct. 1) as the first regnal year. In that case, the fifteenth year extended from, Oct.1, 27AD till Oct. 1, 28AD. Jesus, therefore, was baptized toward the end of the year 27. (Brown, Raymond Edward. The Jerome Bible Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA: Prentice Hall, 1968 [Logos Library System 2.1, 1997])
Based on the information in the three quoted passages above, the earliest possible first regnal year of Tiberius extended between August, A.D. 14 and the autumn of A.D. 14. His earliest possible second regnal year extended between the autumn of A.D. 14 and the autumn of A.D. 15. John the Baptist’s ministry, therefore, began no earlier than the autumn of A.D. 27. John baptized Jesus sometime afterward. The Jordan river, between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, is below sea level, and the weather there is warm year round, so Jesus could have been baptized at any time of year.
Below is a summary of what has been presented so far:
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Herod the Great died in March or April of 4 B.C.
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Jesus was born no later than April of 4 B.C., while Herod was alive.
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John the Baptist began his ministry in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.
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The earliest possible time for the beginning of the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar’s reign was the autumn of A.D. 27.
So we are witness to this incredible prophecy, which predicted the exact year Jesus of Nazareth would begin his ministry. Jesus Christ is the only true biblical Messiah.
So far we have dealt with the first 69 weeks. In Daniel 9:27, we read that “..and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease”. This refers to the final week of prophecy. The final week, which is composed of 7 prophetic years is divided into two 3½ years duration from the baptism. After the first 3½ years, it is predicted the Messiah will be crucified and sacrificed on the cross for humanity. 3½ years from the fall of 27AD leads us to the spring of 31AD. Thus, Christ was crucified exactly on time.
The correct translation of the words “..cut off..” in 9:26 comes from the word Karat, which meas to eliminate, to kill, to execute. This prophecy depicts the death of Jesus Christ. These verses tell that the Messiah would die by crucifixion on the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month in the year 31AD. And these predictions have been fulfilled in every detail.
The final 3½ years of the prophecy brings us to 34AD. According to the prophecies of Daniel, God’s covenant with the Jews would cease in 34AD. Thus the sacrificial system was complete and perfected as Jesus our Messiah fulfilled this. In 34AD, Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was stoned. The Jewish leaders rejected the Gospel and it went to the Gentiles, thus completing the final phase of the 70 week prophecy.
Below is the final expression of the 70 week prophecy of Daniel.

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