Proof 5: Calendar year prophecies

THE BIBLE PROVES ITSELF THROUGH SPECIFIC FULFILLED PROPHECY

SPECIFIC CALENDAR RELATED PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENTS

PROPHECY: In the 7th century BC Jeremiah prophesied that there would be a Babylonian captivity of the Jews and that it would last for 70 years (Jer 25:1-11 and 29:10).
HISTORICAL FULFILLMENTS:

Had three separate fulfillments involving the Jewish nation, the city (Jerusalem) and the temple.
Nation was captured in 606 BC, city and temple were destroyed in 587-586 BC and temple reconstruction was completed in 514-513 BC.
606 BC to 537 BC = 70 years that the nation was desolate as the Jews were exiled to Babylon.
586 BC to 517 BC = 70 years that the city (Jerusalem) was desolate, from its destruction in 586 BC until reconstruction of the temple began in 517 BC.
513 BC to 444 BC = 70 years It was 70 years after the temple was completed before the people felt safe in worshipping there, since the city walls had not been rebuilt. The walls were rebuilt in 444 BC after Artaxerxes decree to allow the city and the walls to be rebuilt.

PROPHECY: In ~536 BC Daniel (who lived from ~620 to 530 BC) prophesied that there would be a decree allowing the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem (Dan 9:24-27).
HISTORICAL FULFILLMENT:

Historically fulfilled 92 years later by Artaxerxes decree issued in 444 BC.

PROPHECY: In ~536 BC Daniel prophesied the year Jerusalem’s rebuilding would end (Dan 9:24-27).
Prophecy that the rebuilding of Jerusalem would be completed 49 years after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem was announced (in 7 7’s or 7 x 7 = 49 years).
HISTORICAL FULFILLMENT:

Prophecy was fulfilled 49 years later.
444 BC – 49 years = 397 - 396 BC.

PROPHECY: In ~536 BC Daniel prophesied that the coming Messiah would be killed (cut-off) (Dan 9:24-27) and the exact year he would be killed (Sir Robert Anderson seems to be the first to unravel this prophecy, in the late 1800's, as recorded in his book "The Coming Prince").
Prophecy that the messiah would be killed in 7 x 62 = 434 years (427 when adjusted to current calendar, which has 365.25 days per year as opposed to 360 days in the old Jewish year) after the reconstruction of Jerusalem was completed in 397 BC as we saw above.
HISTORICAL FULFILLMENT:

Prophecy was fulfilled 427 years after 397 BC when Jesus was crucified in 32 AD.
397 BC – 427 years = 32 AD (there is no year 0, and assuming mid-year to mid-year fulfillment).

DISCUSSION: These last three prophecies cover 7 + 62 = 69 of the 70 7’s that were given to Daniel. The scope of these 70 7’s is given in Dan 9:24. All except two were fulfilled by Jesus’ death, including finishing transgression, putting an end to sin, atoning for wickedness and bringing in everlasting righteousness. Two remain to be fulfilled in the future in the still missing 7 years. These include completing fulfillment of all prophecy and anointing Jesus as the King of Kings forever.

PROPHECY: In the midst of the 70 year Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BC, Ezekiel prophesied that the nation of Israel would have an additional 7 x 360 = 2520 (2484 when corrected to our current calendar) years of punishment because they had not repented of their sins. This punishment would begin when the original 70 year punishment ended. This occurred in 537 BC. (This prophecy seems to have first been unraveled by Grant R. Jeffrey as recorded in his book "Armageddon, Earth's Last Days," Tyndale House Publishers 1998)

DISCUSSION: Ezekiel prophesied that Judah (Israel) would be punished for a total of 430 years because of her sin (Ezek 4:1-8). Her sin was abandoning God and worshiping the false gods of neighboring nations. The first 70 years of these 430 years of punishment were fulfilled as shown above. God had already told the Jews that if they did not listen to him after he punished them that he would multiply any remaining punishment by 7 (Lev 26:18). After the 70 years the Jews continued in their sin, so God multiplied the remaining 360 years (430 – 70) by 7 and continued their punishment. When did this punishment end? The total of their remaining punishment was 7 x 360 = 2520 years (2484 when corrected to our current calendar). Again, God seemed to apply this additional punishment to the nation, the city and the temple (affecting Jews scattered all over the world) (Ezek 5:1-12). If we apply this additional punishment to the time that the 70 year punishments ended we will come up with the dates when God completed his punishment of the Jews. Let’s do it and see when the punishments ended.
HISTORICAL FULFILLMENT:

537 BC – 2484 years = 1948 AD. In 1948 Israel became a nation again, just exactly as prophesied by Ezekiel over 2500 years before. Israel had not been a sovereign nation since 606 BC. So we see that 2484 years after the Babylonian exile of the Jews ended in 537 BC, the Jewish punishment as a nation finally ended.
517 BC – 2484 years = 1967 AD. In 1967 Jerusalem became a part of Israel again after the Six Day War, just as prophesied. Jerusalem was redeemed and again a part of the Jewish nation.
444 BC – 2484 years = 2040 AD. What is this prophecy about? Since it starts with the year that temple worship was re-established in Israel, could it point to the future year when temple worship in Jerusalem will again be re-established? If so, that could signal the beginning of the end times. Only time will tell. It seems from Bible prophecy that the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem is a prerequisite for the end time scenario to be unfolded (Dan 9:27, Rev 11:1-2, Matt 24:15, Ezek 40:2-5, Micah 4:1-4, Isa 2:2, 2 Thess 2).

A RELATED FUTURE AND RECENTLY FULFILLED PROPHECY

1948 AD + 70 years (69 years) = 2017 - 2018 AD. Mark 13:28-31 and Luke 21:24-33 may include a prophecy by Jesus that the generation (sometimes 70 years in the Bible) that was alive when Israel was reborn as a nation would live to see the signs of the end times beginning. This prophecy may be saying that those living in 2017 - 2018 will be seeing the signs of the end times being fulfilled while they are alive. As we know very well, these signs are certainly being fulfilled as we live. The key signs that we have seen fulfilled are the rebirth of the nation, the city and the language. The Bible implies that we should be able to discern the signs of the end times as they grow near, but that we would not be able to pinpoint the exact time of Jesus’ return.

REVELATION OF THE YEAR THE FIRST JEWS WOULD RETURN TO THE HOLY LAND

Does the Bible reveal to us the first year that the Jews would begin returning to the Holy Land after their worldwide dispersion? It just might. We understand that it started in 1879. Let’s continue the same prophetic theme that we used above and see what happens if we start at the beginning of the Babylonian captivity in 606 BC and travel forward in time for the same 2484 years that we have been using.

606 BC – 2484 years = 1879 AD. Remember that 2484 is the number of current calendar years in each of the following; 7 x 360 years and 84 x 30 years, where 7 is the God assigned multiple for their punishment, 360 is the number of days in a year, 84 is the number of months in 7 years, and 30 is the number of days in a month. What is the significance of the dates? 606 BC is the year the first Jew was exiled into Babylon while 1879 is the first year that Jews began permanently migrating back to the Holy Land. Thus we see that the total Jewish exile lasted 360 weeks of years or 84 months of years. God expressed several periods of punishment on the Jews lasting 42 months of years or 2 x 42 = 84 months of years. He also sometimes expressed these 42 month periods as 3 ½ years, 1260 days, or as a time, times and ½ time (see Dan 7:25, 9:27, 12:7-13, Rev 11:2-3, 12:6, 12:14, 13:5). Let’s see what happens if we divide this period into two 42 month periods as God sometimes did.
606 BC – 1242 years = 637 AD and 637 AD + 1242 years = 1879 AD. Now, what is the significance of the year 637 AD. That was the very year that the Muslims conquered Jerusalem and the Jews who were still living there would soon lose their rights to observe many of their laws and customs. It was the beginning of the final dispersion of the Jews.

CONFIRMING PROPHECIES: God often seems to provide two or more witnesses to prove his word. God gives us another prophecy in Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel that allows us to calculate the same end time dates that we calculated above. In Ezek 4:5-6 and Num 14:34 God said that he appointed a year for a day in his punishment of Israel. Daniel’s weeks of years in Daniel 9:23-27 also uses years for days. Using that yardstick and looking at the prophecies in Daniel 7:25, 9:23-27, 12:1-13, let’s calculate the end time dates again. Dan 9:27 says that a coming world ruler would enact a covenant with the Jews. It would be in effect for 7 years. This seems to have multiple fulfillments. First, it can be interpreted as the final 7 years before the end times, a period known as the tribulation period. Second, it can be interpreted as seven 360 day years, divided into two 42 month periods. Using a year for a day as we established above, this would last for 7 x 360 = 2520 years (2484 in current calendar years). We know that Cyrus the Persian enacted a covenant with the Jews to allow them to return home from their exile in 537 BC. If we take this as a fulfillment of the covenant with the gentiles from Dan 9:27 we have the following:

537 BC – 2484 years = 1948 AD, just as we saw above.

CONFIRMING PROPHECIES: Also, Daniel 7:25 and 12:7 prophesy that the Jews would be persecuted and ruled over by others for a time, times and ½ time. We know from Rev 12:6 and 12:14 that this expression can be interpreted as 1260 days (or 42 months). We used it in that way above. However, it is interesting that the same expression can be interpreted as 2 ½ days. From 2 Peter 3:8 we know that 1000 years can be seen as a day to God. If we use this and interpret a time, times and ½ time as 2 ½ days then it would equal 2500 years. If we apply the two prophecies in Daniel to the year in which they were given to Daniel we come up with the following:

2500 years – 552 BC = 1948 AD
2500 years – 533 = 1967 AD

Also, there are some other witnesses using these same periods of punishment that confirm the super naturalness of this whole process. Let’s look at a couple of additional dates which are extremely significant to the Jews.

517 BC – 354 years = 164 - 163 BC
587 BC – 423 years = 164 - 163 BC
960 BC – 354 years = 606 BC

What are the significance of these numbers and dates? 354 years is the number of current calendar years in 360 Jewish years, 423 years is the number of current calendar years in 430 Jewish years, the basic periods of the Jewish punishment, while 163 BC is the date of the Maccabeean cleansing of the temple in Jerusalem after the abomination of desolation (the first Hanukkah), 960 BC is an accepted date for completion of Solomon’s temple and 606 BC is the beginning of the Babylonian captivity.

CONCLUDING DISCUSSION
We have just completed looking at several of the prophecies in the Bible which have specific calendar date fulfillments. A few of them are yet future. These are just a small number of the hundreds of prophecies in the Bible. I have been seriously studying prophecies for many years and I have not found one Biblical prophecy that was not fulfilled with complete accuracy. For example, there are over 300 prophecies of details of Jesus’ life and every one was fulfilled. Some which were puzzling before Jesus came to earth became very clear during his lifetime. For example, the seemingly conflicting prophecies that he would be born in Bethlehem, be called out of Egypt and be called a Nazarite. All were fulfilled. God takes prophecy very seriously. In Isaiah 48:5-6 God says that he told the Jews many things before they happened so that they could not say some other god told them. He used prophecy to prove that he was the one and only true God. He challenged them to find any other god that could speak the future before it happened, and with 100% accuracy. No other holy book dares to try to predict the future. It would be a woeful failure.
The Bible is indeed a miraculous book. It was inspired by God, transcribed in some supernatural way to the authors in such a way that every word in the original language is literally true. There are many ways we can prove this. For example, we see holographic properties in the Bible that are in no other book on earth. We see things mysteriously coded into every page of the original translations, using several types of codes. We also see that in some supernatural way every book, every story, every incident in the Old Testament models some aspect of the gospel of Jesus. We could go on and on, but it should be obvious already that one reason God gave us the Bible was to prove to us beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is God, and in fact the only God in the universe. What other conclusion can we come to? It’s scientifically absurd to think that fulfillment of all of the prophecies that are cited in this study could have happened by chance. Totally absurd!!!

CONCLUSION
We have just finished looking at about twenty Bible prophecies of specific calendar related events. All were fulfilled precisely as prophesied. How can one doubt the validity of the Bible and that the God of the Bible is the one and only God of the universe. We can also conclude from his treatment of the Jews that eventually he severely punishes those who worship other gods. The worship of other gods is a severe problem in the world today. Remember that we worship a triune God, the Father, the Son Jesus the Christ and the Holy Spirit. Worship of any other god is a sin unto death. Amen.

SUMMARY

THE BIBLE PROVES ITSELF THROUGH SPECIFIC FULFILLED PROPHECY

PROPHECY: In the 7th century BC Jeremiah prophesied that there would be a Babylonian captivity of the Jews and that it would last for 70 years.

HISTORICAL FULFILLMENTS:

606 BC to 537 BC = 70 years that the nation was desolate as the Jews were exiled in Babylon.
587 BC to 518 BC = 70 years that the city (Jerusalem) was desolate, from its destruction in 587 BC until reconstruction of the temple began in 518 BC.
514 BC to 445 BC = 70 It was 70 years after the temple was completed before the people felt safe in worshipping there, since the city walls had not been rebuilt.

PROPHECY: In ~536 BC Daniel prophesied a coming decree allowing the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem .

HISTORICAL FULFILLMENT:

Historically fulfilled 91 years later by Artaxerxes decree issued in 445 BC.

PROPHECY: In 536 BC Daniel prophesied that Jerusalem’s rebuilding would end 49 years after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem was announced (in 7 7’s or 7 x 7 = 49 years).

HISTORICAL FULFILLMENT:

445 BC – 49 years = 396 BC.

PROPHECY: In 536 BC Daniel prophesied that the coming Messiah would be killed (cut-off) and that it would happen 7 x 62 = 434 years (427 when adjusted to current calendar) after reconstruction of Jerusalem.

HISTORICAL FULFILLMENT:

Prophecy was fulfilled 427 years after 397 - 396 BC when Jesus was crucified in 32 AD.
396 BC – 427 years = 32 AD, the very year Jesus was crucified.

HISTORICAL FULFILLMENT:

537 BC – 2484 years = 1948 AD. In 1948 Israel became a nation again
518 BC – 2484 years = 1967 AD. In 1967 Jerusalem became a part of Israel again
445 BC – 2484 years = 2040 AD. Could point to the future year when temple worship in Jerusalem will again be re-established.

A RELATED FUTURE AND RECENTLY FULFILLED PROPHECY
1948 AD + 70 years (69 years) = 2017 - 2018 AD. Mark 13:28-31 and Luke 21:24-33 may include a prophecy by Jesus that the generation (sometimes 70 years in the Bible) that was alive when Israel was reborn as a nation would live to see the signs of the end times beginning.

REVELATION OF THE YEAR THE FIRST JEWS WOULD RETURN TO THE HOLY LAND: We understand that the migration back to Palestine started in 1879. Was this prophesied?

606 BC – 2484 years = 1879 AD.
Remember that 2484 is the number of current calendar years in 7 x 360 years and 84 x 30 years. God expressed several periods of punishment on the Jews lasting 42 months of years or 2 x 42 = 84 months of years Let’s see what happens if we divide this 84 month period into two 42 month periods as God sometimes does.
606 BC – 1242 years = 637 AD and 637 AD + 1242 years = 1879 AD. 637 AD was the year that the Muslims conquered Jerusalem thus starting the final dispersion of the Jews.

CONFIRMING PROPHECIES: Dan 9:27 says that a coming world ruler would enact a covenant with the Jews. It would be in effect for 7 years. This can be interpreted as seven 360 day years, 7 x 360 = 2520 years (2484 in current calendar years). We know that Cyrus the Persian enacted a covenant with the Jews to allow them to return home from their exile in 537 BC. Thus:

537 BC – 2484 years = 1948 AD, just as we saw above.

CONFIRMING PROPHECIES: Also, Daniel 7:25 and 12:7 prophesied that the Jews would be persecuted and ruled over by others for a time, times and ½ time. This can be interpreted as 2 ½ days. From 2 Peter 3:8 we know that 1000 years can be seen as a day by God. If we apply the two prophecies in Daniel to the year in which they were given to Daniel we come up with the following:

2500 years – 552 BC = 1948 AD
2500 years – 533 = 1967 AD

Index