Friday, April 22, 2005
AP Math
H-hm. Shall we pretend we know Jesus was crucified in 33 A.D.? I’m game. There is a message behind the Seventy Sevens and it would be a shame to get tripped up in historical dating and so disregard the historical calculations here. God’s prophecy clearly states 483 years is a key number of years leading up to this moment in time. We, in hindsight, are actually cheating a bit after all, with all those decrees before Jerusalem finally got underway…who could know how to interpret Daniel?!! I would love to go on to explain why God muddled matters so thoroughly. Lots of decrees—and seven sevens plus sixty-two sevens!! Not to mention the discrepancy with a 30 A.D. Good Friday! Holy! Absolutely, He is. I cannot explain and won’t pretend otherwise.
But anyway—here’s the math for Walvoord’s interpretation:
But anyway—here’s the math for Walvoord’s interpretation:
Jewish Calendar
(360 days/year)
(7 x 7)+(62 x 7) years = 483 yrs.
483 yrs.
x 360 days
=173,880 days
Now, take a look at the Gregorian Calendar:
(360 days/year)
(7 x 7)+(62 x 7) years = 483 yrs.
483 yrs.
x 360 days
=173,880 days
Now, take a look at the Gregorian Calendar:
(365 days/year)
444 B.C. to 33 A.D. = 476 yrs.*
476 yrs.
x 365 days
=173,740 days
+ 115 days in leap years
+ 25 days (March 5 - Mar. 30)
=173,880 days
*One year between 1 B.C. and 1 A.D.
I figured somebody was pulling a fast one, conveniently tacking on 24 days in March! But I knew March coincides with Nisan, of the Jewish calendar and Nisan 14 is Passover. So, I found a detailed explanation of Harold Hoehner’s (an expert, far be it from me) research. March 5 is the calculated date in 444 B.C. of Artexerxes’ decree. The 25 days needed to EQUAL prophetic years (483) takes this researcher right to the very day Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, March 30,
33 A.D. or Nisan 10 of that year.
If that doesn’t amaze you, well…maybe you didn’t understand. I’ll say it this way. God told Daniel He would rebuild Jerusalem so that Jesus could achieve His purpose there, and He told Daniel, and all who would hear, exactly when. It is so pretty, breathtaking even, that I hate to let the former mentioned ideas taint it. Let me tell you that when I read Dr. Kennedy’s take on it, I was devastated. I have not personally asked him about the problems his belief creates. There are things he leaves unexplained in his book, Messiah. For now, I hope you will take in the beauty of this mathematical amazement, at least to ponder.
I figured somebody was pulling a fast one, conveniently tacking on 24 days in March! But I knew March coincides with Nisan, of the Jewish calendar and Nisan 14 is Passover. So, I found a detailed explanation of Harold Hoehner’s (an expert, far be it from me) research. March 5 is the calculated date in 444 B.C. of Artexerxes’ decree. The 25 days needed to EQUAL prophetic years (483) takes this researcher right to the very day Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, March 30,
33 A.D. or Nisan 10 of that year.
If that doesn’t amaze you, well…maybe you didn’t understand. I’ll say it this way. God told Daniel He would rebuild Jerusalem so that Jesus could achieve His purpose there, and He told Daniel, and all who would hear, exactly when. It is so pretty, breathtaking even, that I hate to let the former mentioned ideas taint it. Let me tell you that when I read Dr. Kennedy’s take on it, I was devastated. I have not personally asked him about the problems his belief creates. There are things he leaves unexplained in his book, Messiah. For now, I hope you will take in the beauty of this mathematical amazement, at least to ponder.
