“How I wish that today you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes.
. . . Because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Luke 19:42, 44
This “day” that Luke (and John) is referring to is what Daniel talked about when he said,
[נגיד, nāghı̄dh, “leader,” “ruler”, “noble”, “prince.” Of royal lineage. Prince or King]“Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there shall be seven sevens, and sixty-two sevens . . . After sixty-two sevens, the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.”
Daniel 9:25-26
This passage or concept is commonly referred to as “the seventy weeks of Daniel”. This idea, relating both to the First and the Second Coming of the Messiah, was made popular by Robert Anderson in his book “The Coming Prince”.
“From the command to rebuild Jerusalem, until the time when the Anointed One (the Messiah) comes, will be 7 sevens and 62 sevens. We have got a 69-week period of years and then a gap and then the 70th week. The 70th week refers to the Messiah’s coming again. We can calculate the time between when the decree was issued to when the Anointed One comes down, to the day. There are 69 weeks of years: that is typically how Hebrew prophetic time is measured — in weeks of years. So it is 69 x 7 x 360. Which comes to 173,880 days.
If you are tracking with me, you may think I am trying to trick you on this one. We know there are 365 days in a year. So why do you multiply the 69 x 7 and then x 360, Ian? Because Daniel’s prophecy was made in Babylon and the Babylonian calendar year consisted of 360 days. Many “bible experts” have looked at the fit of this prophecy and found the dates didn’t work out, until they substituted Babylonian days instead of Roman days. We know the time when the command was given to rebuild Jerusalem. Artaxerxes Longimanes gave it on March 14, 445 BC. That is already in the history books but on the basis of the Gregorian calendar (the calendar we use) which has 365 days per year. Yes, it all gets a little complicated to juggle the pieces but bear with me.
When did the Anointed One come? When did Israel recognise that Jesus Christ was the Messiah? Did Israel recognize Him at His birth? The answer is “No”. The angels did, but the people didn’t. Did the people recognize it at His death? No, only a Roman Soldier acknowledged He wasason of God,but meaning something different to what Jesus was intending. When did Israel recognize Him? During the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. That’s when the nation of Israel; the people who were present, stood along the roads and called out,Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.And that is the very statement lifted out of the Old Testament that applies to Messiah. Here are Jewish people, standing along the road into Jerusalem chanting out this message, straight from the Old Testament.
When was Jesus Christ crucified? There is controversy over this? Was it 31 AD, 32 AD, 33 AD or 34 AD? Well, let’s assume it was 32 AD. Luke 3:1 records that Jesus ministry began in the 15th year of Tiberius. Tiberius Caesar was appointed in 14 AD. Thus, the beginning of the 15th year, Tiberius would have been within the year28 AD; 29 ADin the Gregorian calendar. The Passover of the year 32 ADwould have been Jesus’ fourth Passover of ministry, and thus his last one. The one on which he was crucified – 32 AD! If it was that year, then we know the day of the High Sabbath – in the Passion Week. It was April 6, 32 AD! How do we know that? Because the stars in the heavens are so accurate and precise in their movements, that astronomers can plot the movements of planets and stars in the heavens over the centuries. They are that predictable.
If we calculate the days from March 14, 445 BC through to April 6, 32 AD we end up with 173,740 days. That is 476 years times 365 days in a year. [We have to use a 365 day Gregorian calendar, because that is the calendar used when those days were written in the history books.] Then we must take into account the difference between March 14 and April 6: giving us 24 additional days. We add together the leap years in that period of time, 116 of them, and we end up remarkably with 173,880 days.
I get really excited about that. Why? Do you see the point? It substantiates exactly what Luke is saying. That is why Luke is making the changes in his gospel. He is picking out a very strong Hebrew statement from Daniel 9 that refers to Ha Meshiah Nagith. Messiah, the Prince // Messiah, the Coming King. Luke picks up the word prince / king out of Daniel 9, and puts it in his gospel. And he saysto them, “If you had only known what would bring you peace today, but you didn’t know it and you totally missed the day of the coming King”.And when is he saying this? Re the day of the Triumphal Entry! This was the predetermined day for the revealing of the Messiah publicly and hence John’s theme— “the time is not yet come”. Absolutely amazing! Not only that, but what Daniel wrote 600 years before Christ came, was fulfilled to the day, at the Triumphal Entry. Now that is spectacular!
Now, do you understand why Luke didn’t include the verse from Zechariah and draw attention to that prophecy? He had way bigger things to focus on. The perspective he brought to our view of the picture and God’s plan was immense. Who wants to stick with the donkeys when you have something that big up your sleeve? But note to, that the beginning of Luke’s coverage does focus on the donkey. He just uses it as an entrée to lead into the main course.
The Jewish OT combines history and prophecy as one. To God there’s no difference between prophecy and history.
Ian Vail
God has a set time as well as a set purpose, and He who orders the bounds of our habitation orders also the time of our deliverance.
Anon
A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.
C S Lewis
I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
C S Lewis
When Jesus said, My time has not yet come, He knew exactly what He was talking about.
Ian Vail