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Prophecy #3

             “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. (Daniel 9:25-26)

            The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 110:4)

            The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. (Genesis 49:4)

 

            I haven’t done the math, but I’ve read that the count of years from when the decree to rebuild Jerusalem to the estimated date of Jesus’ “triumphal entry” fits perfectly with the 62 sevens. Here’s what David Jeremiah says about it: Decoding Daniel’s Seventy-Weeks Prophecy - David Jeremiah Blog

            One of the immediate complaints I’ve heard about this prophecy is that (as David Jeremiah noted) there were four decrees. Which was the decree to which the prophecy referred? The earliest was in 538 BC but included only the temple. It wasn’t until 445 BC that Nehemiah was authorized to rebuild Jerusalem. But here’s the thing. We have records of four decrees over ninety-three years. In addition to having to be the son of Adam and Eve, Abraham, Jacob, and David, and being born in Bethlehem, he had to be born, live, and die within a 93-year period that happened to end around the time that Jesus was crucified.

            Today’s second passage says that the Messiah will be a priest…forever…according to the order of Melchizedek. The author of Hebrews addresses this in the seventh chapter of that book. I’ll just hit the basics. He will be a priest. Priests act as intermediaries between God and man. His priesthood won’t be like that of the Levitical priests, meaning the Messiah could not be from the tribe of Levi. He was to be from the line of Judah, but somehow, His intercession would be superior to that of the Levitical priests. Otherwise, why mention it? One of the ways His priesthood would differ is that it would be forever. The Levites were only permitted to serve from 25 to 50 years of age.

            So, for those who claim that Jesus is just another of many “gods who died and rose again,” how many others died at the right time? How many even have some historical record telling when they died? How many others served as an intermediary between God and man? 

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