God's Signature of Authenticity - fulfilled biblical prophecy.
"It is very difficult to prophesy, especially about the future." - Chinese proverb
Our natural human existence and awareness is locked in time. While we can peer and move in three physical, spatial dimensions, we can neither move nor peer into the "dimension" of time. We always experience the natural present, we can neither move nor look into the past or future. We have very limited memory of the past (including claims of "deja vu") and we can imagine what will happen in the future, but we can't re-experience the past nor experience the future. Only a supernatural being that exists outside of the natural dimension of time, that is unconstrained by the natural present, can know for a fact what happens in our future. Genuine, reliably accurate prophecy about the future is impossible for natural beings existing in time and space, and consequently, genuine biblical prophecy is a supernatural foretelling of events, often hundreds of years in advance that are precisely fulfilled later in time.
Since the future is knowable only supernaturally, and since God has declared to have revealed that future to Daniel, and since the prophecy and its fulfillment was the coming of God's Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One, then consequently, the fact of the prophecy's advance foretelling and its subsequent fulfillment is forensic evidence for the supernatural existence of God and that Jesus is everything God foretold the Messiah would be.
Daniel's prophecy in Daniel 9 of the coming of God's Messiah Prince (mâshîyach nâgîyd) is unique in all of biblical prophecy in that it is both:
- Messianic: it prophesied about the Messiah and what would happen
- Timely: it also prophesied when Messiah would appear
We may know the Bible really is from God because His "seal", His "Signature of Authenticity" is in the Bible's fulfilled prophecy, especially the prophecy of Daniel 9 which foretold the coming of God's "Anointed Prince", His Messiah, Jesus Christ. God personally "signed" the Bible with His revelation to Daniel of when the Messiah would come. We recognize God's signature as supernaturally authentic because it is a prophecy given several hundred years in advance that was fulfilled exactly as given by Jesus Christ who miraculously demonstrated that He was from God and is God. God's signature of fulfilled prophecy can not be forged because no one can know the future as God has demonstrated, and no one can fulfill the Messianic prophecies as Jesus has demonstrated.
This website uses archaeological, historical and calendrical evidence to demonstrate, forensically, that Daniel 9:24-27 is authentic supernatural prophecy and "God's Signature of Authenticity", which we can trust as the "royal wax seal" that only God could place on the Bible.
There is a myriad of confused and conflicting explanations of Daniel 9 offered by well-intentioned Christian apologists, as well as flawed objections raised by disbelievers and skeptics, that simply do not withstand detailed scrutiny. Yes, the Bible is true, and yes, Daniel 9:24-27 correctly foretold the coming of Jesus who is in fact the Messiah, but the explanations and defenses often fall far short of the general claims. The errors and inconsistencies become stumbling blocks for sincere Christians seeking correct, defensible explanations. Moreover, questioning agnostics, skeptical but intellectually honest atheists, and even orthodox Jews might give credence to Biblical truth if they were actually presented with an intellectually substantial and verifiable explanation of Jesus as the prophesied Messiah.
Presenting such an explanation with supporting evidence is the point of this website. Simply stated, this website marshals the historical evidence that demonstrates Daniel's prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 is authentic, was revealed by God to Daniel several hundred years in advance, and was accurately fulfilled in the first coming of Jesus of Nazareth.
The chart below shows an overview of the interrelationship of the various dates, events, existing, forthcoming and planned web pages which collectively demonstrate the authenticity of Daniel's prophecy. In approximately 522 BC the entire prophecy was supernaturally revealed by God to Daniel, who in turn wrote:
- Daniel 9:25 which foretold the coming of the Messiah 69 weeks (prophetic "heptads" which equals 483 years) following a decree to rebuild Jerusalem (issued by Artaxerxes I to Ezra in 458 BC) which was fulfilled with the baptism of Jesus in AD 26.
- Daniel 9:26 which then foretold the Messiah would be cutoff, corresponding to Jesus' crucifixion in AD 30.
- Daniel 9:27, the 70th week, which is as yet future and unfulfilled. There is a gap of indeterminate length of time between Dan 9:26 and 9:27. That Daniel's 70th week is separated in time from the "69 weeks" and as yet unfulfilled will likewise be demonstrated in a forthcoming web page.
Prophesied 69 weeks = 483 years from decree to Messiah =>
605-586 BC AD 2013+ Daniel exiled
to BabylonDaniel 9
writtenArtaxerxes I
decree to EzraAntiochus IV
desecrates TempleJesus born Jesus baptized Jesus crucified Temple destroyed,
Jews dispersedRabinic Messianism**
Essene Messianic Chronology**Passion Week
harmonizedScepter
departed
Judah**Daniel's 70th week is
unfulfilled prophecy****Fall of Judah
timelineArtaxerxes I & Ezra timeline Chronologies of Herod the Great, his death in 4 BC, Archelaus, Philip & Antipas
** These explanations are in process and forthcoming in several months
*** Outlined, research is ongoing, some excerpts are posted, a full comprehensive explanation is planned but unscheduled
**** Outlined and researched, a full comprehensive explanation is planned but unscheduledWhat the chart above portrays is:
- Dan 9:25 commences with Artaxerxes I decree to Ezra and culminates in Jesus' baptism, while Dan 9:26 foretold Messiah being "cut off"
- to correctly understand the dates and durations of time as used by Daniel, Jeremiah, and Ezra as well as authors of the historical and chronological OT books, and to harmonize the Gospel accounts of Passion Week, one must understand how the dates of OT kings were reckoned and how the Hebrew calendar measures months and years, and the differences from how the Essenes and Qumran residents measured months and years.
- the Book of Daniel is historically accurate and reconciles with timelines of the Fall of Judah, and the Artaxerxes rescript to Ezra is historically accurate and reconciles to the reign of Artaxerxes I.
- Jesus Christ is an historical personage and Messiah, and His crucifixion in A.D. 30 by Hebrew and Essene calendrics harmonizes the Gospel accounts of Passion Week and reconciles with timelines of the Herods, Tiberius, and coins struck by Tiberius' prefects Gratus and Pilate.
- Jesus' acceptance as Messiah by the Essenes (who seemingly hosted the Lord's Supper as an Essene Passover Seder) but rejection by the Rabbis can be understood from their different expectations for the Old Testament "Messiah", different chronologies for when the Messiah was expected, and lastly that only in Jesus were the biblical Messianic prophecies fulfilled, and since the destruction of the Temple and dispersion of the Jews in A.D. 70 no subsequent fulfillment is scripturally reconcilable as the "scepter had departed Judah" (i.e. the time for a biblical Shiloh (Messiah) to appear had expired) .
- Daniel's 70th Week is yet unfulfilled, still to come in our future.
This website offers to the:
Skeptic, who doubts the veracity of the Bible or that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, there are detailed proofs complete with historical records and step-by-step explanations of Daniel's prediction 547 or 546 years in advance of when Jesus Christ would come. Included are answers to Jewish arguments and further proofs that the Book of Daniel was indeed written by Daniel in Babylon during the 6th century B.C. Only God could give such an exact authentic prophecy to Daniel.
Student of Bible prophecy, there are proofs that computations of Daniel's 69 weeks based on "360-day prophetic years" or conversions to lunar months are not needed because the Jews and Babylonians intercalated their calendar keeping.
Historian, there are reconciliations of:
- Differences in how Daniel and Jeremiah recorded accession and regnal years when Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem.
- All four gospel Passion Week accounts that harmonize events and also reconcile with calendars and astronomical observations, and consequently demonstrates the year of our Lord's crucifixion could only be A.D. 30, which also has implications for erroneous proofs of Daniel's 69 weeks.
- Luke's record of Jesus' baptism in Tiberius' 15th year in A.D. 26
- Eusebius' record of Jesus' crucifixion in Tiberius' 18th year in A.D. 30
- Josephus' account of the death of Herod the Great in early 4 B.C. "34 years since killing Antigonus and 37 years since being made king by the Romans"
- Josephus' "Testimonium Flavianum" as authentic and not a Christian forgery. (forthcoming)
It will be shown there is no confusion or error in the biblical accounts.
In Daniel's prophecy of 70 Weeks (found in Daniel 9:24-27) God, who knows the end from the beginning, revealed that:
The interested reader may begin with Daniel's Prophecy of 69 Weeks, shown to be fulfilled with the baptism of Jesus Christ, or jump to any of the related topics hyperlinked in the chart (above) or navigation table at the top of every page.
Upon examining all the topic and subtopic pages, it will have been proven and substantiated that Daniel's prophecies are literally true; the prophecy of 69 Weeks being fulfilled almost 2000 years ago while the prophecy of the 70th Week is unfulfilled and yet to come, but come it will. Literally true fulfilled prophecy can be forensically examined, verified and shown to be true. In so doing we see facts previously known only to God but revealed by Him to us, at times and in ways which He alone determines.
In fulfilled biblical prophecy we see revealed, God's signature of authenticity to the Bible, and accordingly we can trust that unfulfilled biblical prophecy is equally authentic and will literally come true as well.
The Book of Daniel is authentic, accurate biblical prophecy.
Without ignoring passages, altering punctuation, rearranging scripture, relying on obscure extra-biblical apostates, or ad-hoc calendar calculations, a plain reading of Dan 9:25, 26 shows that from Artaxerxes I decree to Ezra to take all the volunteers he wanted and return with them to Judah and Jerusalem, and further giving Ezra authority over the region and substantial funds, wasn't just a fact finding trip - it was to restore Jerusalem. From which event, simple addition of 69 weeks of years yields the baptism ("anointing") of Jesus Christ in A.D. 26, all consistent with history and His age, length of ministry and crucifixion ("cutting off") in A.D. 30, the only year in which the gospel accounts of Passion Week can be harmonized and reconciled with calendars. Daniel 9:25, 26 is in fact fulfilled Messianic prophecy.
But Daniel's exact foretelling, unmistakably fulfilled in a unique confluence of events, could only be foreknown and revealed to Daniel by God. It is in fulfilled biblical prophecy (the foretelling of future events controlled and known only by God, and verified after the fact) that we can recognize God's unforgeable "signature" to the Bible, and the authenticity God demonstrates in fulfilled prophecy can be extended to as yet unfulfilled prophecy and the entire Bible as well.
Fulfilled biblical prophecy is God's signature of authenticity, demonstrating to us that the Bible is not merely some fabrication of human imagination, but is indeed the trustworthy Word of God.
