Newton's Interpretation
Sir Isaac Newton provided a very simple interpretation to only a part of
the prophecy. He did not claim to understand all of it, and he felt
that part of it referred to the Second Coming of Christ. As stated in
last month's article, Newton did not believe that it was the duty of
commentators to interpret the
meaning of future prophecies, as that is the job of prophets. But he
did feel that anyone could
point out the fulfillment of prophecies in the past as a witness of
God's foreknowledge.
Thus, Newton focused only on the two end points of the seventy weeks. To him it was clear that
the prophecy meant that
it would be seventy weeks of years from the beginning of the rebuilding of
Jerusalem until the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
The book of Ezra gives the year of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem as
being
the seventh year of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:7). While that might not mean
much to the average modern reader, Newton's extensive knowledge of
ancient history allowed him to identify that Persian king as Artaxerxes I
(Artaxerxes Longimanus), and to place the decree in the year 458 BC.
Newton then calculated the Crucifixion date as being either in AD 33 or
34. The way he did it was
remarkable. He used his own new theory of gravity to calculate the
position of the moon in
antiquity to reconstruct the Judean calendar to find a year in which the
day of the preparation for
Passover fell on a Friday. He was so far ahead of his time that his
work was almost entirely overlooked, and that same method was
"rediscovered" two centuries later, with essentially the same results.
[4]
Newton then pointed out that Daniel's prophecy of seventy weeks, or 490 years, would fit
perfectly either between the year of Ezra's commission in 458 BC and AD 33, which he
acknowledged as the commonly accepted year for the Crucifixion, or it could also fit between the
years 457 BC when Ezra actually got started working and AD 34.
[5]
Newton favored the latter choice for two reasons. First it makes
Daniel's prophecy come out even
not only in weeks of years, but both ends would also fall in the sacred
seventh sabbatical year of
the cycle. That is, both the years 457 BC and AD 34 were Jewish
sabbatical years, which seemed
like a very tidy fit to Newton because the entire prophecy was about
weeks of years. Secondly,
Newton favored AD 34 because he thought he found evidence for the
Savior's ministry having been 4.5 years, rather than the traditional 3.5
years. This evidence has not been accepted by modern scholars, who do
not consider AD 34 as a plausible year for the Crucifixion.
2. Prophecy Fulfilled
Newton provided the key to understanding the prophecy when he explicitly
stated that for those
who prefer AD 33 as the year of the Crucifixion, they could count
exactly seventy weeks
from the year that Ezra began his journey. Because of new facts found
since the time of Newton,
to me the evidence is overwhelming that the crucifixion of Jesus Christ
occurred on Fri, 1 Apr AD 33 on our Gregorian calendar, as published
nearly two decades ago.
[6] Last month, while writing the
article reviewing Newton's interpretation of Daniel's prophecies, it occurred to me to follow up on
Newton's suggestion, which he had left as an "exercise for the student," to see just how accurate
Daniel's prophecy might really have been, based on the AD 33 crucifixion date.
Let us now determine the exact beginning point of the prophecy.
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Ezra, the Scribe
2.1 Ezra's Commission: Sat 3 Apr 458 BC
Ezra provides us with the exact date of when he left to begin to restore
Jerusalem. He states that it was on the first day of the first month
of the seventh year of Artaxerxes that he left Babylon to
restore Jerusalem (Ezra 7:7-9). Sir Isaac Newton placed that event in
the year 458 BC, but saw no
need to refine that estimate further. What does modern scholarship say
about that date?
The standard reference for dates of that period on the Babylonian
calendar is a set of tables produced by Parker and Dubberstein, which
give the exact day for the first day of every month. The day listed in
their tables, which is guaranteed not to have been influenced by any
desire to force the prophecy to come out neatly, is Sat 3 Apr 458 BC.
[7] Thus, modern scholarship agrees perfectly with Newton
on the year. Even though common interpretations of the prophecy also begin from Ezra's
commission to rebuild Jerusalem, the date usually listed is 456 or 457 BC. There is rarely a reference
justifying those years. They appear to have been chosen simply to accommodate
one particular interpretation of the seventy weeks prophecy. Any departure from the Parker and
Dubberstein value should require some sort of explanation.
2.2 Crucifixion Date: Fri 1 Apr AD 33
There are only two viable dates accepted by scholars for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The more
popular is Fri 5 Apr AD 30 (on our modern Gregorian calendar), but several scholars prefer the
other choice of Fri 1 Apr AD 33.
[8] The best summary of modern scholarship is Jack Finegan's
Handbook of Biblical Chronology, and these are the two dates which he lists as possible. Recent evidence has now persuaded him to favor the AD 33 date.
[9]
Briefly, the AD 30 date best fits all of the evidence concerning both
the birth and death of Christ,
including secular sources, whereas the AD 33 date is the one that best
fits the New Testament
account of the Crucifixion. For nearly two decades my work has
emphasized that it is the AD 33 date which must be correct, and that the
secular source of Josephus is wrong about the date of Herod's death.
The only reason to prefer the AD 30 date is to accommodate the death of
Herod having been in 4 or
3 BC as Josephus states (and hence Christ's birth about 6-5 BC). Now
evidence indicates that
Herod died about February of AD 1.
[10]. Thus, there is no longer a compelling reason to abandon the biblical Crucifixion date of Fri 1 Apr AD 33.
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The Crucifixion: Fri 1 Apr AD 33
2.3 Accurate to the Day in Enoch Years
We have determined what are apparently the two dates of the beginning and endpoints of
Daniel's seventy weeks prophecy. What is the interval between those two dates? As Sir Isaac
Newton pointed out, the interval is 490 years, being seventy weeks of years, the very number
indicated in the prophecy. That interval was derived free from any prejudice about trying to force
some special interpretation on the scripture. Indeed, Newton's own prejudice for having the
prophecy begin and end in a Jewish sabbatical year seems to have influenced him to change both
dates to be one year later, as he himself implies.
Those familiar with my work will know that in virtually every case, the Lord's prophecies are
fulfilled not only to the year, but to the very day. Can that be the case with the seventy weeks
prophecy?
On our modern Gregorian calendar, the two dates are very close to
exactly 490 years apart. After all, the interval begins on April 3 and
ends on April 1. But we have no reason to suspect that the Lord has
ever employed our Roman calendar, which is a corrected form of that
proposed by Julius Caesar. What
is the interval on calendars which the Lord has authorized, such as the
Hebrew Calendar and the
Enoch Calendar?
On the Hebrew Calendar, the day of Ezra's departure was the first day of the first month (1
Nisan),
[11]
and the crucifixion of Christ was on the day on which the Passover lamb was sacrificed (14
Nisan). So the interval is nearly two weeks more than 490 years on the Hebrew calendar.
What about the Enoch Calendar? The solar calendar of Enoch is much more like our Gregorian
calendar, except that it is based on
weeks so that it begins
every year on a Sunday, and adds an
entire week of days when needed to keep the first day of the year near
the spring equinox (21 Mar). Because this calendar is based on weeks
(of days), it seems especially appropriate for
consideration as a candidate to have been used in a prophecy concerning
weeks (of years). As has
been explained in previous articles, the first day of the Enoch year
tends to be the Sunday on or
after the spring equinox.
[12] In the year 458 BC the first day of the first month of the Enoch year
fell on Sun 21 Mar, on the very day of the spring equinox. That means that the day of Ezra's
departure, Sat 3 Apr 458 BC, was the 14th day of the first month (14 Spring), which is Passover
on that calendar.
As has been published previously, the day of the Crucifixion, Fri 1 Apr AD 33, was the day
preceding Passover on the Enoch calendar.
[13] Passover always falls on a Saturday on the Enoch
calendar. The Friday Crucifixion completed exactly 490 years to the very day on the Enoch
calendar, because the 491st year would have begun on Passover, 2 Apr AD 33.
[14]
Thus, the interval from Ezra's departure to rebuild Jerusalem to the date on which the Savior was
cut off from life was
exactly seventy weeks of years to the very day on the Enoch calendar.
2.4 AD 33 Crucifixion
The seventy weeks prophecy also becomes a strong witness of the date of
the Crucifixion. There
has been a controversy for years over whether the Savior died in AD 30
or AD 33, but there is no real controversy over when the seventh year of
Artaxerxes occurred. The best modern
dates for Artaxerxes match Newton's to the very year. The fact that the
very day
listed in the standard tables for the date of Ezra's departure exactly
fits with the very day in AD 33,
is compelling evidence that the AD 33 Crucifixion date is correct. Thus,
Daniel's prophecy not
only witnesses of the foreknowledge of God, it also helps resolve a long
controversy about the
exact date of the Crucifixion.
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Daniel prevails over his adversaries.
2.5 Daniel Vindicated
The Book of Daniel has been under attack for centuries as not being
authentic. The fact that this
prophecy of seventy weeks was fulfilled to the very day on the Enoch
calendar, which has only
been understood recently, is a convincing vindication of the book's
validity. The Savior quoted
prophecies from the book (Mat. 24:15), which is also a very powerful
endorsement. Even as Daniel was not hurt in the lions' den, he also
emerges unscathed from attacks by critics.
3. Conclusion
Sir Isaac Newton provided the key to understanding the seventy weeks prophecy of Daniel. When
one reckons from the day that Ezra left to rebuild Jerusalem (Sat 3 Apr 458 BC), to
one of the two possible dates for the Crucifixion (Fri 1 Apr AD 33), the interval is almost
exactly seventy weeks of years (490 years) on our calendar. When the Enoch calendar is used,
then the separation of the two dates
completes exactly seventy weeks of Enoch years, to the very day. This precise timing provides a
strong witness 1) of God's foreknowledge of both dates, 2) of the authenticity of the Book of
Daniel, and 3) of Fri 1 Apr AD 33 as the date of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Truly the Lord
has provided several witnesses of the key dates in the Savior's life.