Daniel 9:24-27

24 - Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 - Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 - And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof [shall be] with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 - And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Much of Seventh-day Adventist eschatology is based upon their understanding of the time-frames of Daniel's 70-week prophecy. Ellen White explains in The Great Controversy:

The 2300 days had been found to begin when the commandment of Artaxerxes for the restoration and building of Jerusalem went into effect, in the autumn of 457 B.C. Taking this as the starting point, there was perfect harmony in the application of all the events foretold in the explanation of that period in Daniel 9:25-27. Sixty-nine weeks, the first 483 of the 2300 years, were to reach to the Messiah, the Anointed One; and Christ's baptism and anointing by the Holy Spirit, A.D. 27, exactly fulfilled the specification. In the midst of the seventieth week, Messiah was to be cut off. Three and a half years after His baptism, Christ was crucified, in the spring of A.D. 31. The seventy weeks, or 490 years, were to pertain especially to the Jews. At the expiration of this period the nation sealed its rejection of Christ by the persecution of His disciples, and the apostles turned to the Gentiles, A.D. 34. The first 490 years of the 2300 having then ended, 1810 years would remain. From A.D. 34, 1810 years extend to 1844. "Then," said the angel, "shall the sanctuary be cleansed." All the preceding specifications of the prophecy had been unquestionably fulfilled at the time appointed. ¹

• The 70 weeks began in autumn 457 BC
• Christ was baptized by John in autumn 27 AD
• Christ died in spring 31 AD
• The 70 weeks ended in autumn 34 AD

Mrs. White concludes by saying these prophecies were "unquestionably fulfilled at the time appointed." While it is true that these prophecies were unquestionably fulfilled, there are a lot of serious questions about Ellen White's appointed times for their fulfillment. Elsewhere on this web site David Hill debunks Ellen White's starting date of 457 BC. This article will focus primarily on the supposed crucifixion date of 31 AD, and the seventy-week termination date of 34 AD.

Was Christ baptized in 27 AD?

First, let us take a quick look at the baptism date. According to Luke 3, John the Baptist began preaching in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, which began in October of 27 AD and ended in October of 28 AD. It is theoretically possible that Christ was baptized shortly after John began his mission, but it is more likely John preached for at least a year, if not longer, before he baptized Christ. In Desire of Ages Ellen White describes some events that transpired in John's ministry prior to the baptism of Christ that indicate a rather long elapsed time:

1. The "whole nation was stirred" and "multitudes flocked to the wilderness" (p. 104). This was in the days before mass media and modern transportation. It would take months for the message of John the Baptist to spread throughout the entire nation of Israel. Likewise, it would take time for "multitudes" to travel from throughout Palestine to visit the desert preacher.

2. "Multitudes followed this new teacher from place to place..." (p. 108). According to Ellen White, John went about preaching in various places prior to the baptism of Christ.

3. "Tidings of the wilderness prophet and his wonderful announcement, spread throughout Galilee. The message reached the peasants in the remotest hill towns..." (p. 109) Again, for the preaching of John to penetrate to the "remotest" towns would take months if not years.

Did Christ die in 31 AD?

John 19:31 tells us that Jesus died on the preparation day for a "high Sabbath". This "high Sabbath" was the annual Passover, which was celebrated on the first day of the feast of unleavened bread. On the Jewish calendar, the Passover falls on Nisan 15. On the evening of Nisan 14, the day before the Passover, the traditional Passover lamb was eaten. Ellen White informs us that Christ died on Nisan 14, the same day that the Passover lamb was slain and eaten.

They had gathered to celebrate the Passover. The Saviour desired to keep this feast alone with the twelve. He knew that His hour was come; He Himself was the true paschal lamb, and on the day the Passover was eaten He was to be sacrificed.²

The body of Jesus was hastily placed in the tomb because of the near approach of the Sabbath, that the disciples might keep the day according to the commandment. The two Marys were the last at the sepulcher. This was a never-to-be-forgotten Sabbath to the sorrowing disciples, and also to the priests, rulers, scribes, and people. The passover was observed as it had been for centuries, while the antitypical Lamb, which it prefigured, had been slain by wicked hands, and lay in Joseph's tomb.³

These types were fulfilled, not only as to the event, but as to the time. On the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month, the very day and month on which for fifteen long centuries the Passover lamb had been slain, Christ, having eaten the Passover with His disciples, instituted that feast which was to commemorate His own death as "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." That same night He was taken by wicked hands to be crucified and slain.⁴

Jewish Date	Day of Week	Event	Fulfillment
Nisan 14	Friday	Passover lamb was slain and eaten	Jesus was slain
Nisan 15	Saturday	The annual Passover day was celebrated	Jesus rested in the tomb

Now that we have established that according to Ellen White, Jesus died on the Friday before Passover (Nisan 14) and rested in the tomb on the subsequent High Sabbath (Nisan 15), we can cross-reference these dates with the Jewish Calendar and determine if these events occurred in 31 AD.

Pilate was governor of Judea between 26 AD and 36 AD. During that time period, Nisan 14 fell upon a Friday on only two years:

• April 8 of 30 AD
• April 3 of 33 AD⁵

Further evidence for a 33 AD date is based upon Peter's statement in Acts 2:16-20 that Joel's prophecy had recently been fulfilled. Part of Joel's prophecy refers to "a moon of blood". Can astronomy prove that the moon turned to blood in 33 AD?

A "moon of blood" is a term also commonly used for a lunar eclipse because of the reddish color of the light refracted onto the moon through the earth's atmosphere. ...

Humphreys and Waddington of Oxford University reconstructed the Jewish calendar in the first century AD and arrived at the conclusion that Friday April 3 33AD was the date of the Crucifixion. Humphreys and Waddington went further and also reconstructed the scenario for a lunar eclipse on that day. They concluded that:

"This eclipse was visible from Jerusalem at moonrise. .... The start of the eclipse was invisible from Jerusalem, being below the horizon. The eclipse began at 3:40pm and reached a maximum at 5:15pm, with 60% of the moon eclipsed. This was also below the horizon from Jerusalem. The moon rose above the horizon, and was first visible from Jerusalem at about 6:20pm (the start of the Jewish Sabbath and also the start of Passover day in A.D. 33) with about 20% of its disc in the umbra of the earth's shadow and the remainder in the penumbra. The eclipse finished some thirty minutes later at 6:50pm."⁷

Did the 70-week Prophecy Terminate in 34 AD?

No one knows exactly when Stephen was stoned, but scholars have dated it between 33 AD and 36 AD. Regardless of this, the more important question is: Was the stoning of Stephen the terminating point of the 70-week prophecy? Daniel 9:24 states that...

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city...

• When Paul arrived at Antioch he went into the Jewish Synagogue Sabbath on Sabbath to preach (13:14)
• When Paul arrived at Thessalonica, he preached in the Jewish Synagogue for three Sabbaths (17:1-2)
• When Paul came to Berea, he went into "the synagogue of the Jews" (17:10)
• When Paul visited Corinth, he stayed with a Jewish family, teaching in the Jewish synagogue every Sabbath, both Jews and Greeks (18:1-4)
• Three days after Paul got to Rome, he met with the leading Jews (28:17)

...he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease...

God's termination of the Old Covenant, and the ensuing destruction of Jerusalem and the Sanctuary of His covenant, did not occur until 70 AD. The book of Hebrews was written about 65 AD⁹, and Hebrews 8:13 describes the Old Covenant as "becoming" obsolete and about ready to vanish:

• ...waxeth old [is] ready to vanish away. KJV
• ...is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. NKJV
• ...will soon disappear. NIV
• ...is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. ESV
• ...is ready to disappear. NASB
• ...is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. RSV
• ...is becoming old and grows aged is near to vanishing away. HNV

...and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.

Conslusion

Based upon the evidence presented above, it is simply not possible for Christ to have died in 31 AD. Furthermore, Ellen White's 70-week starting date, baptism date, and termination date are all questionable. The evidence is abundant that Ellen White's time line is not beyond question. In fact, it is beyond belief!

Your Questions Answered Okay, I admit Ellen White's time frame does not match up exactly with historical events. But I have not seen any other methods that match perfectly either. So tell me, Brother Anderson, what is the correct interpretation? First of all, we should be clear that this timeline was not invented by Ellen White. It was one of the predominant interpretations of this passage during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The problem is that scholarship within the last century has proven beyond any doubt that this timeline is simply wrong. Secondly, you are correct that some of the other proposed timelines have equal, if not greater, problems. It is beyond our scope to discuss the pro's and con's of all the different approaches, but material is readily available on the internet. The evidence is overwhelming that the seventy-week probationary period commenced at the end of the 70-years of captivity, when Cyrus, God's annointed one, decreed the restoration of Jerusalem in 537 BC. (If you doubt this, see David Hill's article) There is also ample evidence the probationary period terminated in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem, the temple, the ending of the sacrificial system, and the dispersion of the Jews. The problem is, that turns out to be a period of over 600 years. There are two responses to that. First, it is possible that Daniel was giving us symbolic time periods which emphasized the number "7" and these times are not to be taken too literally. We can rest assurred that he was correct about every event in Daniel 9:24-27. Everything happened just as he predicted, even in the same order as he said it would. The second response demands closer inspection of the passage. The passage breaks up the 70-week prophecy into three parts: 62-weeks, 7-weeks, and 1-week. The 1-week is further divided into two 3.5-year parts. Why is it broken thus into pieces? Is it necessary for the 70-weeks to be continguous? Or can we allow for breaks between the periods? Did God intend to make the prophecy non-contiguous to keep people "on their toes" about when events would happen? Could it be that the 62-weeks and 7-weeks transpired prior to Christ's baptism, and then the first half of the week transpired between his baptism and death? And could the second half of the 1-week have taken place in the 3.5-year war and tribulation that transpired just prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD? It is the author's personal opinion the parts of the 70-week prophecy are non-contiguous, but follow in sequential order, beginning in 537 BC and ending in 70 AD. Perhaps there are other answers, but one thing we know for certain is that modern scholarship has shown that Ellen White's interpretation does not work.

1. Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy (1911), p. 410.

2. Ellen G. White, Desire of Ages, p. 642.

3. Ellen G. White, The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 3 (1878), pp. 186-187.

4. Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 399. Note that Jesus and the disciples ate the last supper on Thursday evening. Jesus was arrested later that evening. In reading this quote, one might think that Nisan 14 occurred upon a Thursday; however, it must be remembered that Jewish days begin at sunset. Therefore, Nisan 14 began when the sun set on Thursday evening. Thus, Jesus celebrated the Passover meal very early on the day of Nisan 14.

5. Colin J. Humphreys and W.G. Waddington, "The Jewish Calendar, A Lunar Eclipse, and the Date of Christ's Crucifixion", http://www.tyndalehouse.com/TynBul/Library/TynBull_1992_43_2_06_Humphreys_DateChristsCrucifixion.pdf, extracted July 19, 2009. Dr. David Reagan, "The Resurrection of Jesus in Prophecy", http://www.raptureready.com/featured/reagan/dr14.html, extracted July 19, 2009. See also the following reference posted on the CARM forum: (Ref: Table 179, Jack Finegan, The Handbook of Biblical Chronology (Revised Edition; Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998) ISBN 1-56563-143-9).

6. Colin J. Humphreys and W.G. Waddington, "The Jewish Calendar, A Lunar Eclipse, and the Date of Christ's Crucifixion", Tyndale Bulletin, 43.2 (1992), p. 335. (see link in #5 above)

7. Wikipedia, "Crucifixion darkness and eclipse", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion_darkness_and_eclipse, extracted July 19, 2009.

8. NASA "Catalog of Lunar Eclipses", http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEcat5/LE0001-0100.html.

9. Daniel B. Wallace, "Hebrews: Introduction, Argument, and Outline", http://bible.org/seriespage/hebrews-introduction-argument-and-outline, extracted July 20, 2009.

10. "But for those that were taken in the temple of Jerusalem...the golden table...the candlestick also...and the last of all the spoils, was carried the Law of the Jews." Josephus, Jewish War (VII.5.5). According to James Ussher in his Annals of the World, the Jewish Law was deposited in the Roman Palace, p. 880.