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NASB | Revelation 11:3 "And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Revelation 11:3 "And I will grant authority to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days (forty-two months; three and one-half years), dressed in sackcloth." [Deut 18:18; Mal 4:5; Mark 9:4] |
Subject: "Two witnesses." When? Who? |
Bible Note: Its true, Tim, that there are three distinct periods in Daniel 9:24-27. They equal 70 weeks. When did the prophetic "seventy 'sevens'" begin? The prophecy says: "From the issuing of the decree [word, NIV, footnote] to restore and rebuild Jerusalem." (Daniel 9:25) By comparing Nehemiah 1:1-3 with Nehemiah 2:1-8 we can see that this happened in the "twentieth year of King Artaxerxes." When is the "twentieth year of King Artaxerxes"? You say: "445 B.C." However there is strong evidence that Xerxes died in 475 BC, Artaxerxes' first year began in 474 BC, and his "twentieth year" began in 455 BC. 1) Greek historian Thucydides, respected for his accuracy, says when disgraced Themistocles came to Persia, Xerxes was dead and Artaxerxes "had lately come to the throne." Historian Diodorus Siculus says Themistocles died when "Praxiergus was archon in Athens." He ruled in Athens in 470/471 BC. The reigns of Darius and Xerxes were dual or a coregency for a time. Herodotus suggests such. 2) Several Persian bas-reliefs show a coregency around the the time of the 490's. 3) Babylonian excavations reveal a palace for Xerxes completed in 496 BC. Historians are unanimous that the first year of Darius II ended in 423 BC. Several Babylonian business documents reveal Artaxerxes reign going beyond 41 years to a 51st year! So counting 483 (49 plus 434) years from 455 BC brings us to 29 AD, "until the Anointed One." Jesus was anointed by holy spirit at his baptism just after "the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar." (Isaiah 61:1, 2; Luke 3:1, 2, 21-23; 4:16-21) "After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing." (Daniel 9:26) So sometime after the 69 weeks Jesus would die. It turns out that it was 3.5 years later. "He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering." (Daniel 9:27) What "covenant" was 'confirmed'? Not the Law covenant which was terminated at Jesus' death. (Colossians 2:14; Galatians 3:13, 14) Galatians shows it was the Abrahamic covenant becoming a blessing for the "Gentiles." The conversion of Cornelius was quite some time after Pentecost 33 AD in Acts chapter 10, apparently about the year 36 AD at the end of the 70th week! 'Putting an end to sacrifice and offering' takes place "in the middle of the final 'seven'" or week. That would coincide with Hebrews 10:1-10 which says: "He sets aside the first [sacrifices and offerings according to the law] to establish the second [the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ]." "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city." (Daniel 9:24) Matthew 23:37-24:2 shows that the "house is left to you desolate." There's no need to include a break in this 70-week time period. There's no break between the 7 weeks and the 62 weeks! If there was a break it wouldn't be a 70 week period. (Daniel 9:24) Notice, too, in verse 27, that the "he" is God who 'confirms the covenant' and 'puts an end to sacrifice' and fortells and allows "the PEOPLE of a ruler" to desolate the temple since the temple was abandoned in Jesus' day! (Daniel 9:26; Matthew 23:38) Stokeyhk. |