@FBM,
neologist wrote:I'd mention Newton's explanation of Daniel ch. 9
Among other things.
I'm off to work the fair crowd.
Bye for now.
FBM wrote:Please do mention it when you have time. The details, I mean.
Sorry for the long wind. The longest of posts I can remember. And I may need to edit.
SEVENTY WEEKS
A prophetic time period referred to at Daniel 9:24-27 during which Jerusalem would be rebuilt and Messiah would appear and then be cut off; following that period the city as well as the holy place would be made desolate.
Quote:24 “There are 70 weeks that have been determined for your people and your holy city, in order to terminate the transgression, to finish off sin, to make atonement for error, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and the prophecy, and to anoint the Holy of Holies. 25 You should know and understand that from the issuing of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Leader, there will be 7 weeks, also 62 weeks. She will be restored and rebuilt, with a public square and moat, but in times of distress. 26 “And after the 62 weeks, Messiah will be cut off, with nothing for himself. “And the people of a leader who is coming will destroy the city and the holy place. And its end will be by the flood. And until the end there will be war; what is decided upon is desolations. 27 “And he will keep the covenant in force for the many for one week; and at the half of the week, he will cause sacrifice and gift offering to cease. “And on the wing of disgusting things there will be the one causing desolation; and until an extermination, what was decided on will be poured out also on the one lying desolate.” (Daniel 9:24-27)
Quote:" Many volumes have been written on these four verses and their interpretation. We shall glance first at the central element in the prophecy - the prediction of a Messiah who was to come, and to be cut off after sixty-nine weeks, or according to another rendering of the text, after sixty-two weeks. No true believer doubts that the Messiah here mentioned is Jesus Christ, and that consequently these verses contain a prophecy which has been fulfilled. But he should be able to show a good reason for the faith that is within him. Mark the importance of this decision: if it can be proved that the fulfillment of the prophecy occured at the time predicted by Daniel, it matters not whether the prediction was made 500 years or 160 years or even 100 days before the event. This is meeting the unbelieving critic on his own selected ground, for in any case the event was foretold long before the Christian era. This will stamp the book of Daniel as Divine in accordance with the seal set upon it by Christ Himself as recorded in the Gospel of St. Matthew. Moreover, the issue is more important still, for another reason: it may be regarded as the keystone of the edifice of the Christian religion. If centuries previously a Redeemer of the human race was predicted to come upon the earth, and if He came at the period foretold and offered up his life at the precise date foretold, then are His identification and His Divine mission allowed by a certainty whch belongs to no other incident in the long history of the world, and our faith can rest upon this rock of ages.
. . .
By the common consent of all scholars of the Bible, believers and unbelievers alike, the seventy weeks, or 490 days are accepted as days of years. Hence, Hence the period under scrutiny is a period of 490 years. . ."
Sir Isaac Newton's Daniel And The Apocalypse - Sir William Whitla - London. John Murray -1922- pps. 119-120
So, one may ask when the 490 years began and when did they end?
Quote:As to the beginning of the 70 weeks, Nehemiah was granted permission by King Artaxerxes of Persia, in the 20th year of his rule, in the month of Nisan, to rebuild the wall and the city of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 2:1, 5, 7, 8) In his calculations as to the reign of Artaxerxes, Nehemiah apparently used a
calendar year that began with the month Tishri (September-October), as does the Jews’ present civil calendar, and ended with the month Elul (August-September) as the 12th month. Whether this was his own reckoning or the manner of reckoning employed for certain purposes in Persia is not known.
To establish the time for the 20th year of Artaxerxes, we go back to the end of the reign of his father and predecessor Xerxes, who died in the latter part of 475 B.C.E. Artaxerxes’ accession year thus began in 475 B.C.E., and his first regnal year would be counted from 474 B.C.E., as other historical evidence indicates. The 20th year of Artaxerxes’ rule would accordingly be 455 B.C.E.— Thus, 455 B.C.E. is clearly the year from which the 70 weeks would begin to count.Insight On The Scriptures- Watchtower Bible And Tract Society- New York pps 900-901
The first seven weeks plus sixty two weeks, or 483 years would end in the year 29 C.E. This is undoubtedly why the Jews reasoned about John the Baptist:
Quote:Now the people were in expectation and all of them were reasoning in their hearts about John, “May he perhaps be the Christ?” (Luke 3:15)
This was only a few months before Jesus' baptism.
Note Newton's reckoning varies, ending the 69th week in the year 32, possibly because of his assignment of 360 days to a year and a later date for the ascension of Artaxerxes. The Jews, however, had their expectation in the correct year of Jesus' baptism.
And the 70th week? Jesus' ministry of three and one half years ended on the Passover of 33 C.E., the midweek on which Jesus caused sacrifice and gift offering to cease, with his own perfect sacrifice. He kept the (Law) Covenant in force for the many for the rest of the week, ending with the baptism of Cornelius late in the year of 36 C.E.
Newton's work is significant because of his application of the concept of 'days of years', a useful tool in calculating other important dates.
