VIDEO #10
CRUCIFIXION TO DESTRUCTION OF FIRST TEMPLE
Now we come to the final presentation of this timeline series which will take us from the Crucifixion of Christ to the destruction of the first temple. It will connect our present day calendar to what has been given thus far. It has shown the tracking of time from the seven-day week of creation to the dedication in 3999 AM or 948 BC of the first temple Solomon built.
In the first presentation it was shown how God created time through the cycle of the moon circling the earth, while the rotating earth circled the sun. This fixed astronomical movement is known as the Metonic cycle and is God’s Sacred Calendar. Meton was a Greek astronomer who is credited with the discovery of this cycle.
Recognizing this cycle, which has never been known to change, has enabled the making of the Calendar Generator found on the web site: www.biblicalcalendarproof.com
As shown in the previous presentation, the many declarations of historic events that God has given in the Bible has resulted in a timetable that establishes the exact year, month and week of the dedication of the first temple. See the article SOLOMON’S TEMPLE DATED.
WHAT DANIEL KNEW
Using the Daniel 9 prophecy it will become clear how the words of the Old Testament are connected to the New Testament and to our present AD Gregorian calendar. In the 9th chapter Daniel writes this prophecy from the point of view that the date of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by Nebuchadnezzar was known by the Jews of his time. The future date for the crucifixion of the Messiah was what Daniel prophesied in chapter 9. This is borne out in John 11:49-52. “And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.’ Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.’” Caiaphas could only make this statement by knowing the prophecy of Daniel 9 and the year of the destruction of the first temple and Jerusalem. The people of this present age must look back to verify this unknown date and this can only be done if the correct date of the crucifixion is known.
Utilizing the Calendar Generator and the Daniel 9 prophecy in reverse, and by knowing the correct year of the crucifixion, it is possible to reveal the date of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.
USING THE CORRECT CALENDAR
The prophecies and the historical record from the Bible can only be understood and correctly dated into man’s history by the use of the Sacred Calendar, the Metonic cycle, which is often known as the Hebrew Calculated Calendar. Not only will the exact year, the day of the month, and the day of the week for the destruction be revealed, but also a clear explanation of the sixty-nine week portion of the seventy week prophecy of Daniel 9.
The first challenge is in reading Daniel 9 without applying previously learned definitions of Bible chronologists. There are those who manipulate plain prophetic statements to fit their beliefs in a series of presently accepted dates for these events. They wrongly use secular history instead of following the dates from the Bible.
The calendar used throughout this timeline is the Sacred Calendar. It is biblically, as well as historically accurate. The proof of this calendar can be found by reviewing the video PROVING THE CALENDAR GENERATOR.
Clicking on the heading CALENDAR GENERATOR a yearly calendar can be produced for any year from creation to the present. It will show side by side the Gregorian calendar, either AD or BC, the sacred calendar, and the solar calendar.
Beginning with creation this Calendar Generator traces the entire history of man in seven-day increments. The seven day cycle of the solar calendar, which has never changed in all of man’s history, is the unbroken biblical standard.
The Generator’s calendar is presented here for the year of creation. The blue lines are the solar calendar in seven day increments. The red lines are the corresponding days of the sacred calendar – the Metonic cycle. The black lines are the Gregorian calendar with the corresponding seven day increments. All three of these calendars use the seven day creation week in the unbroken seven day cycle, coming forward to the very week we presently observe.
MANY BIBLE DATES
An example of a biblical date is found in Ezekiel 1, verses 1 & 2. “Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. On the fifth day of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity……”
Usually this is read over, ignoring the information, and continuing to read on in the Ezekiel account, a dramatic event. At best you might wonder as to its significance. The truth is that up until the present no one possessed an accurate calendar with which to ascertain these dates and their significance. God put these dates there for a reason!
Remember! The bible is God’s instruction book for man and is an accurate history proving His might and control of man’s ultimate end.
DATE OF CRUCIFIXION SET BY DANIEL 9
Daniel 9:2 says, “In the first year of his reign I, Daniel understood by the books the number of years specified by the word of the Lord, given through Jeremiah the prophet that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.”
This is the first fact given that the city would remain in a state of disrepair for seventy years. The remaining prophecy of weeks should be understood in years and not in days of the week. Those who are new to the study of prophecy need to know that times in prophecy are often represented as one day equaling one year. This is what Daniel 9 is speaking of.
The next important time period is revealed in Daniel 9:24. “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end to sin, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and the prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.”
Because there are seven days in each week the time period here is seventy weeks times seven. . As already explained, in this prophecy days represent years, resulting in seventy weeks times seven years, or 490 years. This period of 490 years is then broken into segments, and defined in the next verses. It is the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple, and its relationship to the crucifixion of Christ, which is defined by chapter 9. The time period here must be in years because the topic of Jerusalem’s desolation in Daniel 9:2 is in years.
The beginning point for the 490 years is given in Daniel 9:25. “Know therefore and understand, that at the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until the Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.”
Here Gabrielle notes two time periods within the 490 years. He explains a time span of seven weeks (seven times seven equals 49 years), and sixty-two weeks (62 times 7 = 434 years); a total of sixty-nine weeks, or 7 x 69, which equals 483 years. The seven weeks Gabrielle mentioned comes before the 62 weeks, leaving a 7 year period at the end. This will not be addressed at this time; making the total years addressed here not 490, but 483 years.
Daniel 9:26 states “And after sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself. “At the end of sixty-two weeks, which followed the seven weeks, the Messiah is cut off, suffering the death penalty. This identifies the end point of the sixty-two week span, 483 years after the proclamation to rebuild.
This presentation is given to address only the 483 year period, leaving the last seven years unaccounted for. This places the crucifixion of the Messiah 483 years from the proclamation to rebuild Jerusalem. Remember! It is counting from the order to rebuild, not from the actual work of restoring Jerusalem that gives this number.
It should be understood that Jerusalem would remain unrestored for 70 years. When adding the two intervals together the destruction date can be found. The 483 years, plus the 70 years, equals 553 years to the crucifixion from the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.
PASSOVER DAY IS KEY
To know the year of the crucifixion one must know the correct day of the week on which Christ was killed. Many teach the untruth of a Friday crucifixion simply because they have been told this by their teachers who cling to a tradition rather than teaching the truth of the bible. Matt.15:3. “He answered them and said to them, ‘why do you also transgress the commandments of God because of your tradition?’” Christ was killed on the Passover day, thus it is vital to find when the Passover day is observed to understand when He was crucified.
It is a matter of historical record on which weekdays the Passover was kept. Only four are possible. These are Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. There is a fixed pattern to the Passover day that repeats itself every 247 years, and this pattern is what the Jews have followed for more than 3,500 years. Knowing this fact it can now be established which AD years have a Friday Passover, and which do not. Looking at the approximate time of Christ’s death, either before or after 30 AD, the record of a Friday Passover can be determined. Consulting the Sacred Calendar the earliest first year before 30 AD, which has a Friday Passover would be AD 22. This is too early, and the next would not happen until AD 36, which is too late to fit the historical event. This alone proves that the popular belief in a Friday crucifixion is impossible and a myth constructed to promote a Sunday resurrection – Easter Sunday – the celebration of Estere, the pagan goddess of spring.
Contrarily, the dates for a Wednesday Passover are AD 26, 30 and 33. AD 30 is the correct date proven by the following information and shown on the calendar for 30 AD.
Once a Friday crucifixion has been shown to be impossible, what day of the week does the Bible teach the Passover fell on? What day and what year? By understanding the correct year you will understand the correct day of the week on which it occurred.
30 AD ESTABLISHED
The following historical information establishes 30 AD as the year of the crucifixion. It has been settled that the death of Herod the Great, the one who ruled Judea at the time of Christ’s birth, was sometime in 4 BC. Wikipedia places Herod the Great’s reign at 37 BC to 4 BC, confirming the birth of Christ in the year 5 BC. The crucifixion date is placed by the following information found in the International Bible Encyclopedia, page 1381, far right column. Quote: “The only time he (Herod the Great) is mentioned in the New Testament is in Matthew 2 and Luke 1. In Matthew he is associated with the wise men of the east, who came to investigate the birth of the ‘King of the Jews.’ Learning their secret, Herod found out from the ‘priests and scribes of the people’ where the Christ was to be born and ordered the massacre of the innocent. His name is perhaps more generally associated with that than with any other act of his life. Herod died in 4 BC and some time elapsed between the massacre and his death (Matt. 2:19). We have here a clue to the approximate fixing of the true date of Christ’s birth. Another clue is an eclipse of the moon, the only one mentioned by Josephus. (Antiquities 15:11, v 1, 4; text and note.) “The eclipse was seen shortly before Herod’s death. This eclipse occurred on March 13th in the year of the Julian period 4710, therefore 4 BC.” End Quote
THE FIRST DAYS IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST
To better understand the passage of time being referred to here the following will set the record straight. Unlike the false tradition presently promoted that the Wise Men presented their gifts at the birth site, a stable, the bible account tells a much different story. Matt. 2:1-12 tells the story of the Wise Men. The truth is revealed in verse 11. “And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him.” Note that He was no longer a newborn babe in a manger in a stable, and nowhere does it say there were three Wise Men, another myth.
Consulting A Harmony of the Gospels it is found that the arrival of the Wise Men was after Christ’s circumcision, and after Mary’s purification of 33 days. See Lev. 12:2-8. At this time Christ was presented at the temple as shown in Luke 2:22-24. “Now when the days of her purification according to the Law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.’”
Clearly this is not speaking of a newborn babe. As the bible account shows the Wise Men came to see Christ after these ceremonies were completed. This happened before Herod’s death in 4 BC. It states that the Wise Men returned on a route avoiding Herod in Jerusalem. As Bethlehem was within 10 miles of Jerusalem the king quickly realized he had been duped. He then carried out a decree to slay the innocent babes in an attempt to make sure the Messiah was killed. This was in the later part of 5 BC.
CHRIST’S MINISTRY BEGINS
Having established His birth in 5 BC the beginning of His ministry would have been in the fall of 26 AD because Luke 3:23 says: “Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about 30 years of age.”
The term “about 30 years of age” is taken by some to mean that His age could be less or greater than 30. What Luke is saying is that the exact point in time that Jesus began His ministry was unknown, but that he was 30 years of age when He began His ministry. There is no year zero in the Gregorian calendar, therefore the beginning of His ministry would have been in 26 AD. The biblical account that is given in the four gospels records Christ’s ministry to be about three and one half years.
With this information it can now be determined what year He was crucified because His death occurred on the 14th day of the first month, Nisan. There was part of the 26th year, plus the half year, and all of 27th, 28th and 29th years, totaling three and one half years. This places His crucifixion on the 14th of the first month at the beginning of 30 AD.
THE COUNT OF DANIEL 9
Once 30 AD is recognized as the year of the crucifixion there remains just a straight forward math problem. From the beginning of 30 AD to BC 1 there are 29 complete years. The 483 years to the proclamation is 483 minus 29 equaling 454 BC, and is the year of the proclamation to rebuild. The actual work of rebuilding Jerusalem began the following year when they reconstructed the wall in 453 BC. By adding the 70 years of desolation the year 523 BC is revealed for the destruction on the fifth month, the tenth day that followed the Sabbath of the 9th.
This is established by the following scripture and the Mishnah. Jer. 52:12-13. “Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month (which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon), Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the Lord and the king’s house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great men, he burned with fire.”
Additionally, the Mishnah tells the time of the day that the work of destroying the temple began.
There are two important disasters in Jewish history; the destruction of the first and second temples in Jerusalem relating to a Sabbath on the ninth of Ab. According to the Mishnah these two events occurred in exactly the same month, the same day of the week, in different years.
Quoting from the Mishnah tract, Arkin 11 B, Page 65, “The day on which the temple was destroyed was the ninth of Ab, and it was the going out of the Sabbath. The fires were started as the Sabbath ended, making the destruction on the 10th. The same thing happened the second time. This statement shows the second temple was burned in 70 AD on the same day of the week, in the same month that Solomon’s temple was burned.”
The Calendar Generator shows that 523 BC and 70 AD, both have a Sabbath on the ninth day of the fifth month. The ninth of Av, a Sabbath of the fifth month, happens only in a year when the Feast of Trumpets falls on the second day of the week, Monday. This occurs only seventy times in the 247-year cycle.
As has been shown, the crucifixion occurred at the beginning of 30 AD. The temple was destroyed in 70 AD, a difference of 40 years. This was a time of testing which God gave to the religious leaders to accept Christ as the Messiah. He replaced the temple, which had been the focal point of salvation.
These ten presentations connect our modern AD Gregorian calendar to the BC years of the Old Testament. They prove that God tracked time to the exact days, months and years, as He spells out in the Bible. Now, is there any question of who made time? Or of who created man? Or of who controls the destiny of man? Man may not like it, but he cannot ignore the record of time God has created for him. And this has been proven in these ten timeline presentations.
THE WORD OF GOD IS THE FOUNDATION OF KNOWLEDGE!