Undoubtedly, none of the old prophetic books in the entire Bible captures the grand sweep of human history as does the Book of Daniel. From the inceptive years of human civilization during Nimrod's Babylonian kingdom, through to the Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman times, Daniel captures it all. The book is a treasure trove of information on the convoluted tapestry of human political interactions on this planet from the dawn of history right down to the present. The Book of Daniel was however declared sealed until the time of the end (cf Daniel 12:4). We are therefore blessed in the sense that we live in the momentous end-time period that Daniel, peering down the long tunnel of history, could only dimly perceive (cf Daniel 12:8). Daniel was given two milestone signs to indicate that the time of the end had arrived:
First, is the aspect of SPEED. We live at a time when the horse-and-buggy has long been replaced by motorized vehicles, flying machines have taken to the skies, and we cook using "pressure cookers" and eat from "FAST food" restaurants. In sports, athletics is now a multi-million dollar industry. Ours is also the "Information Age", in which the dissemination of information happens at staggering speeds. Indeed, no sane person can argue against the fact that we live  at a time when SPEED is a constant;
The second sign was that "... KNOWLEDGE shall INCREASE..." (Daniel 12:4, full caps added). Again, never in the world's history, are humans flooded with knowledge and technological advancement as is the current generation. From supercomputers to AI, to radio telescopes, to nanotechnology, to genetic engineering, to stem cell research, to 3D printing, to television, to the internet, etc. Human warfare has progressed from arrowheads of jagged pieces of obsidian to nuclear warheads and laser-guided missiles. Today's world is awash with tonnes of knowledge on just about any topic under the sun! There is simply no doubt that we live in Daniel's day. We should therefore be able, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, be able to understand the issues Daniel wrote about. The topic under review is one such subject.

In Daniel 9:2, the prophet learns through studying the scriptures that the desolation of Jerusalem was to last seventy years (cf Jeremiah 25:10 - 11). Thereafter, Adonai was to punish the Babylonians for the destruction of Solomon's Temple, the city of Jerusalem, and all their excesses against His people, Israel. This punishment on Babylon is set out in much prophetic detail in Jeremiah 50 and 51.

Back to Daniel, the man of God was in prayer. He was petitioning Heaven in sackcloth and ashes, via much supplication and fasting, seeking to know what would now happen to his people, as the seventy years of divine chastisement drew to a close. In response to fervent prayer, Elohim sent the Angel Gabriel, "...in swift flight, at about the ninth hour...", to update the man of God. This messenger of Heaven had this to say to the holy prophet:

Seventy-sevens (70 weeks) had been ordained for Israel and the holy city Jerusalem, in which;
i) to finish transgression;
ii) to put an end to sin;
iii) to atone or make reconciliation for iniquity (or wickedness);
iv) to bring in an everlasting righteousness;
v) to seal up the vision and prophecy, and; 
vi) to anoint the Most Holy.

Since one week has a total of seven (7) days, then seventy weeks (70 weeks) would be seventy times seven (70×7 days). A small amount of calculation would give us four hundred and ninety (490) days.
     However, prophetically speaking, one day is equivalent to one biblical year of 360 days. This prophetic timescale is set out in Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:4 - 6. Thus, the 490 days are, in real terms, 490 years!

Back to the beloved prophet. In Daniel 9:25, the angel tells him: "...know and understand, therefore, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, to the Messiah, the Prince, there shall be:

i) sixty-two weeks, and; 
ii) seven weeks..."

After the "62 weeks" within which the holy city is rebuilt, there follows "7 weeks" within which the Messiah, the Prince, shall come (Daniel 9:26). We further learn that it is in the final, "70th week" that the Messiah would "...confirm a covenant with many...", and that in the MIDST of that "week" he would be "...cut off...", thus causing the "...sacrifice and oblation to cease..." (Daniel 9:27).

Thus far, we can decant the following:
          - There would be 62 prophetic weeks to the rebuilding of Jerusalem. This essentially means 434 years (i.e. 62 × 7days/years) to the rebuilding of Jerusalem;
          - followed by 49 years (i.e 7 weeks, or 7×7days/years) in which the Messiah, the Prince, would come. 
          - followed by a final 7 years (i.e.1 week, or 7×1days/years) in which the Messiah confirms a covenant with many but is cut off (or killed) in the middle of the said week.

This gives us a total of Seventy Weeks, or 490 years, covering the entire prophetic period from the rebuilding of Jerusalem to the crucifixion of Yahshua.

Biblically and historically, the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem was given by the Persian monarch Artaxerxes in 457BC. We also learn that the actual work of rebuilding the city's wall took place under very troublesome circumstances (cf Nehemiah 4:14 - 18).

So, since the command to rebuild Jerusalem was issued in 457BC, we need to subtract 434 years (62×7=434)  from 457BC. Why subtraction? Because in the BC era the years were reckoned in the reverse. The subtraction thus brings us to 23 BC.
We then need to factor in the 49 years (the seven weeks of years, ie 7×7=49) to get the time of Yahshua's appearance to the people. This brings us to 26AD.

This was the time when, Yahshua,  aged about 30 and ready for presentation to Israel, was formally introduced to the people and began his earthly ministry    (Luke 3:23).

He was introduced to Israel by John the Baptist  (a priest and prophet from the House of Levi and therefore qualified, according to the Torah, to present the flawless Paschal Lamb to Israel). Thus, John officially introduces Yahshua to Israel as; "...the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world..." (John 1:29, 36).  Yahshua is then baptized in the Jordan, is anointed with the Holy Spirit. Fresh from the baptism in the Jordan, Yahshua is then driven by the Spirit into the wilderness for a 40-day fast in preparation for earnest ministerial work. He then afterwards arrives in Nazareth, his childhood hometown, and proceeds to the local synagogue one Shabbat morning. He is presented with a scroll of the Book of Isaiah and fulfills the scriptures by reading:

"The Spirit of the LORD is upon me,
Because He has annointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." 
(Luke 4:18 - 19, NKJV).

According to the Torah, every fiftieth year on Israel's calendar is the year of Jubilee. It is the year of the LORD's favour. "And you shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. Then you shall cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement, you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family..." (Leviticus 25:8 - 13).

This is the beginning of the "week" or seven-year period in which the Messiah was to "confirm a covenant with many", and in the midst of which he was to be "...cut off..." In so doing, He was to cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease..." (Daniel 9:27).

This final "week" also doubles up as the year of Jubilee (and therefore the "year of the LORD's favour"), in which Hebrew slaves were set free, and everyone returned to their ancestral lands, and to their families (cf Leviticus 25:8 -13).

That is what Yahshua meant when he said he had come to "...proclaim the year of the LORD's favour..." (Luke 4:19).

Thus, full of the Holy Spirit, Yahshua proclaims the Good News, heals the sick, raises the dead, restores sight to the blind, drives out demons, restores the infirm... In sum, he sets captives free from disease, demonic bondage, other limiting infirmities.

Therefore, 26AD plus the "week" (ie seven years), brings us to about 33AD. However, we must remember that Yahshua did not finish this last "week" but was "cut off" in the middle of it (Daniel 9:27). 
Thus, mathematically, 26AD plus 3 and a half years (half of seven) brings us to about 31AD. It is clear, therefore, not only from Bible testimony and prophetic calculations but also from recorded history and even from astronomy, that Yahshua was crucified circa AD31.

In dying on the tree at Golgotha, Yahshua, the perfect Lamb of God, made complete atonement for human sin (cf John 11:50). He was, therefore, able to declare: "...it is finished." (John 19:30). He therefore "made a covenant with many", since all those who believed in him during his three-and-a-half-year ministry, and after his resurrection, he was/is able to reconcile to God.
By the same token, the Levitical Priesthood of Aaron's day was annulled and became obsolete. That is why the Temple curtain dividing the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was rent in two from top to bottom (Luke 23:45). Yahshua therefore effectively "caused the sacrifice and oblation" as ordained in the Torah (Exodus 29:38-43; Leviticus 6:8-13) to cease. 
The bit about being "cut off in the middle of the week", was also a double prophecy in the sense that not only was he crucified in the middle of the last seven years, but that He also died on a Wednesday afternoon, literally in the MIDDLE of the week. Story for another day!

Finally and interestingly, the last part of Isaiah's prophecy (cf Isaiah 61:2 - last part, on bringing about the "...the Day of vengeance of our God..."), is yet future. This divine wrath is currently brewing if  events in the Middle East and the world at large are anything to go by. God's anger must indeed be visited upon the peoples of the world very soon. This will happen at Yahshua's Second Coming, when, as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, he comes to execute judgment on the enemies of Adonai at Armageddon (Isaiah 63:1-4; Joel 3:1-2; Zechariah 12:1-6, Matthew 23:37-39, Revelation 5:5 etc). This too, is a story for another day. Shalom and blessings.

Pst Ken Chang'andu