Page 39 - bv19

Daniel’s “Seventy Weeks” 39

YEHOVAH God’s spirit has given us proof upon proof that, from Yeshua’s baptism and
manifestation to Israel, he was, in the fullest sense, the MESSIAH or the Anointed of YEHOVAH
God. Obviously there was no previous event in the lifetime of the Messiah that could, in any way,
be taken as fulfilling the words of Gabriel. And it is equally as clear that no subsequent event could
be taken as the fulfillment of those words. There could be no subsequent occasion when the Mes-
siah was any more the “Anointed One” than when the spirit descended upon him at his baptism in
the Jordan. Thus the scriptures themselves exclude all other possibilities and lock squarely onto the
occasion when he was Anointed and presented to Israel in his Messianic role. HIS BAPTISM
THEREFORE MARKED THE TERMINATION OF THE 69 WEEKS OF DANIEL 9:25 AND
THE BEGINNING OF THE LAST OF THE 70 WEEKS.

In addition to the above evidence, we have the culminating proof that the epoch of his bap-
tism -- and this alone -- is formally dated in the Bible, and his age at the time is stated. For in Luke
3:1-3 the time of the preaching and baptism of John is given with extraordinary accuracy -- which
certifies to us that that era has a place of special importance in connection with Bible chronology as
a whole. It is an impressive fact that both Cyrus’ decree and John’s baptism -- that is, both the
BEGINNING and the ENDING of the 69 weeks -- are set before us with the greatest detail, and that
they are given with reference to the reigns of Gentile rulers. One is given as occurring “in the first
year of Cyrus, king of Persia,” and the other “in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.”
Writes Philip Mauro –

This is a clear indication that the things which were to be consummated within the “deter-
mined” period of seventy weeks were matters which concerned, not the Jews only, but all
mankind, having to do with the salvation of Gentiles as well as Jews. God’s dealings there-
tofore had been matters of Jewish history; but now, beginning with the voice of one crying
in the wilderness, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord,” a new era was beginning, one in which
God’s dealings were to be matters of world-history. It is appropriate, therefore, that we
should have at this precise point a change from terms of Jewish to terms of Gentile chronol-
ogy.

The One Week

We have seen that 69 of the 70 prophetic weeks were completed at the baptism of Yeshua
the Messiah and his manifestation to Israel through the testimony of John the Baptist. This leaves
but “one week” (Daniel 9:27) of the prophetic period. In the prophecy that week is set apart from the
other 69. The reason for this is the fact that in that particular “week” there occurred the most fantas-
tic and transcendent events of all time -- and of all creation! For this is the period wherein the Mes-
siah was made known to Israel and began his ministry; and the period wherein he made atonement
for the sins of the people and wherein the holy spirit came down from heaven and the Kingdom of
YEHOVAH God was opened to all believers.

There are many out there, including some in the Churches of God, that erroneously teach
that the 70th week of the prophecy of Daniel 9 is disconnected from the other 69 and thrust way into
the future. These false teachers claim that Daniel 9:27 has nothing to do the Messiah -- but with a fu-
ture Antichrist. It is not the purpose of this article to cover this deceptive doctrine, but suffice it to
point out that the expression “seventy weeks” -- as a measure of time -- can only mean

The Berean Voice March-April 2003