Church of God News

The “sons of Ishmael” is a reference to Arabs.

As far as the Israeli elections setting up for the Messiah, notice the following from Breaking Israel News from this past June:

Rabbi Kaduri Predicted 40 Years Ago That Current Election Difficulties Presage Messiah

A cryptic message by the most prominent Kabbalist of this generation has finally appeared: when there are elections but no government is selected, the Messiah is right around the corner.

Forty years ago, Rabbi Eliyahu Merav was a young man and searching for his path to serve God. Rabbi Merav frequented the court of Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri, a rabbi and Kabbalist from Baghdad noted for his utter devotion.

“It is very important to understand such things in context,” Rabbi Merav told Breaking Israel News. “Rabbi Kaduri spoke very little so it was very important to understand precisely what he intended. One day, he was taking questions and someone asked when the Moshiach (Messiah) would arrive and whether there were signs the would precede his arrival. The rabbi answered, ‘When there will be elections but there will not be a government’.”

Rabbi Merav noted that at the time, this statement was very confusing.

“It seemed contradictory,” Rabbi Merav said. “How could there be elections but no government? If there are elections, there will be a government. That is simply the way things work. No one understood him at the time but this is really how it is with prophecy; you don’t understand it until it happens.” 06/11/19 https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/131363/rabbi-kaduri-predicted-40-years-ago-that-current-election-difficulties-presage-messiah/

Now, I do NOT believe that it is possible for Jesus to return for some time.

Based on scriptures such as Daniel 9:27 and Revelation 13:5, I do not believe it is possible that Jesus can return until seven years after the deal of Daniel 9:27 is confirmed by “the prince” (Daniel 9:26).

That being said, we may well see this deal confirmed with the next several years and the Messiah will come.

As far as the Jews and parts of Daniel 9 go, notice the following :

Daniel 9

The ninth chapter of the Book of Daniel has been used by various ones claiming Christianity as a type of numeric proof that Jesus was the Messiah.

Actually, it has often been pointed as strong proof of Jesus’ messiahship. Since Christians did not write the Book of Daniel, many believe that Jews (and others) should accept the messiahship of Jesus because of the timing associated with prophecies in Daniel 9.

Notice some of what Daniel was inspired to write:

²⁴ Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sin, and to forgive iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal vision and prophet, and to anoint the most holy place. ²⁵ Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem unto one anointed, a prince, shall be seven weeks; and for threescore and two weeks, it shall be built again, with broad place and moat, but in troublous times. ²⁶ And after the threescore and two weeks shall an anointed one be cut off, and be no more; and the people of a prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; but his end shall be with a flood; and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. (Daniel 9:24-26, JPS)

How is this proof of Jesus’ messiahship?

Well, it shows that the Messiah was clearly to come before the Temple is destroyed.

²⁶ Then, after the sixty-two weeks, Mashiach will be cut off and have nothing. The people of a prince yet to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary, but his end will come with a flood, and desolations are decreed until the war is over. (Daniel 9:26, CJB)

The “anointed one” is the Messiah (rendered as the “Mashiach” in the Complete Jewish Bible).

So, the Messiah had to come before the Temple was destroyed. If not, the Bible is not true and Jews should consider the ramification of Daniel 9:26.

Furthermore, the prophecy in Daniel 9:24 ties the timing of the “anointed one/Mashiach” in verse 26, to a decree. This is the decree of Ezra 7:12-26. Daniel also mentions that Jerusalem will be rebuilt and that happened as we can see in the Book of Nehemiah.

Daniel 9:25 says that after the cutting off of the “anointed one” the city (Jerusalem) will be destroyed and the sanctuary (the Temple) will be destroyed as well. The sanctuary/temple was destroyed by General Titus in 70 A.D.

In the Continuing Church of God, we have taught that Jesus was resurrected in 31 A.D. or possibly 30 A.D. (this is also partially based upon the date on the Hebrew calendar Jesus took His last Passover, plus outside confirmation related to darkness that happened per Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33, and Luke 23:45). Hence the Temple was destroyed after the Messiah came.

Now, let’s look at an explanation from the old Radio Church of God about the Daniel 9 prophecy:

At the time of Jesus’ life on this earth, Herod — the king in Judea — the wise men from the nations to the east, and many of the priests, scribes, and elders, as well as the common people, realized that the seventy weeks prophecy of Daniel 9 was nearing its completion. The Messiah, the Prince, was eagerly looked forward to, to free them from the yoke of Roman oppression. The Messiah was expected because of an understanding of this prophecy. But He was misunderstood when He appeared in the fulfillment of this prophecy, because they refused to recognize the first portion of the prophecy and hung their hope only on the last portion. …

Here, very plainly, is listed the exact time at which the prophesied Messiah would appear to begin to do the work mentioned in verse 24. The command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem was given by Artaxerxes in 457 B.C. Much of the book of Ezra and the entire book of Nehemiah cover this particular event. Seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks equal sixty-nine weeks. So the prophecies show that from the going forth of the command to rebuild Jerusalem in 457 B. C. it would be 483 years until the appearance of the prophesied Messiah to begin fulfilling the works of verse 24. (Hill DJ. HERE’S WHY Jews Reject Jesus and Christians Reject Christ! Plain Truth, April 1962)

Adding 483 to the year 457 B.C. brings the year 27 A.D. (there was no year “zero” between B.C. and A.D.). That brings us to the time that Jesus began His ministry (apparently in the Fall of the year). His ministry is believed to have lasted 3 ½ years, hence the veil would have been torn in the Spring of 31 A.D.

Thus, the ministry of Jesus, as well as the subsequent destruction of Jerusalem is consistent with that prophecy in Daniel 9.

Based on that timing, one would think that the Jews would accept Jesus, but that is generally not the case.

Let’s look at a Jewish argument against Daniel 9:

Christians based their understand {sic} with a belief that the starting point of the prophesy begins in 444 BCE with the decree issued by King Artaxerxex (Ezra 7:11-16). Sixty–nine weeks (483 years) would bring you to 39 CE. This is 7 years off the commonly accepted date of 32 CE being the year Jesus was put to death. …

This seven-year discrepancy is resolved by Christian theologians who redefined the definition of a “year.” They claim that prophecies like Daniel’s are to be understood in “Prophetic years” that have 360 days rather than 365 ¼ days. (Daniel 9 – A True Biblical Interpretation A brief explanation of Daniel Chapter 9. Jews for Judaism http://jewsforjudaism.org/knowledge/articles/daniel-9-a-true-biblical-interpretation/ accessed 04/24/18)

The two issues with the above are that while some Protestants may have used 444 B.C. as their starting point, the ascension year for King Artaxerxes began in 464 B.C.E., which placed his seventh year as 458-457. So, if you use 365¼ day years, you arrive at 26-27 A.D.

Let’s look at what Ezra recorded (some verses not included for space):

7 And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinim, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. 8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. (Ezra 7:7-8, JPS)

11 Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even the scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of His statutes to Israel:

12 “Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, and so forth. And now 13 I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and their priests and the Levites, in my realm, that are minded of their own free will to go with thee to Jerusalem, go. (Ezra 7:11-13, JPS)

25 And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God that is in thy hand, appoint magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people that are beyond the River, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye him that knoweth them not. 26 And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him with all diligence, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.”

27 Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who hath put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem; (Ezra 7:25-27, JPS)

Now, the two main Jewish arguments against the timing seem to be 1) which decree, by whom, and when and 2) the anointed one does not have to be the Messiah (Jews for Judaism; other Jewish sources were also consulted to conclude this).

Yet, if one accepts the decree in Ezra 7 and that Daniel 9 was referring to the Messiah as the Anointed One (as the Complete Jewish Bible and other sources confirm), all should accept that Jesus fulfilled the timing of that.

According to Jewish writer, Abba Hillel Silver, many Jews did expect the Messiah during the first century:

The Book of Daniel, the one canonized apocalyptic tract out of many which were widely circulated and held in high regard by the people dwelt upon the mystery of the “end of days” …

Prior to the first century, Messianic interest was not excessive …

The first century … witnessed a remarkable outburst of Messianic emotionalism. This is to be attributed … to the prevalent belief induced by the popular chronology of that day (Silver AH. The History of Messianic Speculation in Israel. Written 1927. Kessinger Publishing paperback 2010, pp. 4,5)

So, there was a lot of Messianic expectation in the first century, based upon calculations from writings such as Daniel.

Shlomo Yitzchaki, also known as Rashi (RAbbi SHlomo ben Isaac), of the 11^th century, wrote about Daniel 9:24,26:

Seventy weeks [of years] have been decreed on Jerusalem from the day of the first destruction in the days of Zedekiah until it will be [destroyed] the second time. to terminate the transgression and to end sin so that Israel should receive their complete retribution in the exile of Titus and his subjugation, in order that their transgressions should terminate, their sins should end, and their iniquities should be expiated, in order to bring upon them eternal righteousness and to anoint upon them (sic) the Holy of Holies: the Ark, the altars, and the holy vessels, which they will bring to them through the king Messiah. The number of seven weeks is four hundred and ninety years. The Babylonian exile was seventy [years] and the Second Temple stood four hundred and twenty [years]. …

And after those weeks. the anointed one will be cut off. Agrippa, the king of Judea, who was ruling at the time of the destruction, will be slain and he will be no more Heb. וְאֵין לוֹ, and he will not have. The meaning is that he will not be the anointed one Heb. מָשִׁיחַ. This is purely an expression of a prince and a dignitary and the city and the Sanctuary lit. and the city and the Holy and the people of the coming monarch will destroy [The monarch who will come] upon them. That is Titus and his armies. (Rashi. Judaica Press Complete Tanach, Daniel – Chapter 9)

So, Rashi admitted Daniel 9 was a messianic prophecy that was fulfilled about the time of Jesus.

“Herod” Marcus Julius Agrippa was king of Judah from around A.D. 27—basically the same time Jesus started His ministry. So, if the timing of Agrippa is right like Rashi wrote, then obviously the timing of Jesus was in accordance with Daniel 9:24-26.

As far as Agrippa goes, the Jews revolted against him in 66. Later, he helped the Romans and their general Titus conquer Jerusalem. Agrippa was rewarded for his efforts in helping Rome and lived and reigned decades after the fall of Jerusalem. King Agrippa II was not the anointed “King Messiah.”

As far as Rashi goes, apparently the reason for the messiahship going to Agrippa was because of Israel’s sins. Rashi also declared:

After 2000 years of Torah it was God’s decree that the Messiah would come and the wicked generation would come to an end and the subjugation of Israel would be destroyed.

But Jesus did come at the right time and the Temple was afterwards destroyed as was prophesied in Daniel 9:24-26.

Consider further that Abraham ibn Ezra (1092-1167), who is considered one of the most distinguished Jewish biblical commentators in the Middle Ages, also taught “Daniel … (chap. 9) leads up to Titus and the destruction” (Silver, pp. 212,213).

So, even Jewish authorities have agreed that Daniel 9 was pointing to the time of Jesus.

Yet, notice something related to some messianic teachings in the Talmud:

The Messiah will come not in accordance with the opinion of our Rabbis, (Sanhedrin 97b, v. 5)

Of course, the Messiah comes in accordance with scripture and God’s plan. Yet it may be that the above came out because Daniel 9 pointed to Jesus and as well as the disappointment associated trying to time Daniel 9 with Simon Bar Kokhba.

Jews should accept the “chronology” of Daniel 9 which clearly pointed to the time of Jesus and the subsequent Temple destruction.

There is no doubt the Temple was destroyed.

There should be no doubt that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah. (Thiel B. Proof Jesus is the Messiah. Nazarene Books, 2019)